Saturday 6th March 10

A funny day, didn't get up til 10 and had a moochy day, various things outside including cutting back some of last year's now dead growth, filling more compost bin with this and greengrocer's stuff, riddling another 9 carrier bags full of good mature compost, cutting up some hedge which our neighbour has taken out so the wall/fence can be constructed... I cut off the tops and whippy bits and they'll be shredded, and the sticks I chopped up into lengths and put them in wooden fruit trays where they'll dry and be ready for kindling next winter.

I did the usual rounds of washing up and home-based things, attempting to be a good Daddy type things... and in fact this did work during the evening as I invited them to watch The End Of The Line with me, and my eldest took it all in and we had some interesting conversations afterwards about algae and oxygen and dietary choices and more. Neither of them have ever eaten seafood, and I haven't since my early 20s when I went to Crete and had octopus. So I watched the programme with some degree of contempt of all the people who eat fish and seafood and don't need to, who don't care that half of it is 'stolen' and falls outside quotas, and that the people who set the quotas ignore the scientists who are telling them to set smaller quotas to conserve stocks. I get quite angry, as the seas and oceans are a shared resource and I want them left in good a condition... but most people don't care, they are selfish. Selfish for shellfish.

But, hey, I do my best, and very rarely preach, hardly ever say 'should'. I just do what I think is right. And who's to say who's wrong or who's right on any particular issue?

Sunday 25th October 09

Quite a lazy first part of the day but a hard-working afternoon. I did quite a bit of removal of accumulated compostable stuff which has built up in the conservatory and is annoying Gill, and the children helped me, just a little bit, with some hedge-stick-chopping. After I got tired of composting I switched to harvesting.

I picked all the rest of the pea beans, and took down all the spent vines. I picked the last winter squash plus a huge number of small 'tromboncino' squash which are very like courgettes. I'll use them in a meal tomorrow. I also picked two cauliflowers and a few stray broccoli spears. I steamed the cauli, broccoli and the youngest of the beans and had them with pizza and potatoes for tea. I'm so glad I've grown cauliflower as this is the first year I've done so and it's not that difficult. And fresh-cut cauli is so much better than even the big ones I buy in Country Fresh. I also picked some apples, they are quite small but will be excellent for drying on the woodstove.

So, spent some of the evening sorting through various vegetables and getting them ready for storage or eating. Also wrote to my MP Hugh Bayley about the meeting he and I attended on Saturday, and played some facebook Scrabble whilst Gill watched Emma on BBC1.

Sunday 18th October 09

Up early as was expecting a visit from old friends Tim and Anita, whom we haven't seen for about 10 years. They were due to arrive at about 9.30 and spend about an hour with us, before going to meet their friend who had a big 50th birthday party yesterday, someone Tim went to University with.

At about 9am they rang and said they were running a bit late, could be here at 10. I went out the front and started building a new logpile to the left of the front door (looking out) and soon they arrived, in a taxi. How absolutely lovely to see them again. They had a fruit tea and a walk down the garden and all too soon it was 11 o clock and their taxi back to Bootham arrived. Hopefully next time we won't leave it 10 years! I am very fond of them both.

So then I got to work as it was a lovely day, and did 2 hours hedge removal and shredding. I finished the hedge roots processing... pulling them apart and taking off soil so they are bare-rooted, and don't have any ground elder with them. Put all these aside for the chap to collect later.

Lunch and Gardeners Question time, then cycled to Country Fresh to get some veg and came back with a trailer load of gunk to put in layers with the shredded twigs, the perfect mix.

As I arrived back the Freecycler from near Easingwold had arrived to collect the last of the privet roots, about 160 of them. He was delighted, and shared some Oscar Wilde anecdotes with me, which was interesting.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out the material I'd cut off the extracted roots. Our neighbour got busy setting out where the foundations are going to go and I found him three builders 'dumpy bags' which are a cubic metre each to put the soil in. I used the rotasieve to separate roots from soil, and shredded the roots along with more of the twigs. I also collected together quite a lot of stones, which will help with the wall building apparently.

I stayed out in the rain and came in when it got dark, very achy and tired, but happy that so much has been achieved. Gill had made a good mushroom quiche, had this with potatoes and cabbage salad and some other bits and bobs.

Our youngest was very excited as he's going on a field trip tomorrow, I just kept my head down and let him bounce around and be his lovely excited self. He had a bath with water from the stove which I carried up. Played lots of facebook Scrabble and watched synthesizer stuff from my youth on BBC4.

Saturday 17th October 09

Not too early a start but as soon as I got up I went to do yet more work in the garden. This hedge removal and processing seems never-ending but it is gradually getting done.

Gill went into town with both boys on the bus to get assorted clothes. They are growing fast, and our youngest is going on a fieldtrip next week so he needs some more clothes.

I cycled round to the bread shop and bought £3 worth of 'yesterbake' bread, baked yesterday but not sold. So then it's all brought to the Tang Hall Lane Thomas the Baker and sold ridiculously cheaply, effectively at quarter of the full price. An excellent way of reducing waste. On the way back I cycled up to Harris Builders and gave them the 25% deposit cheques for the solar panels and chimney removal.

I contacted the Freecycle privet roots people and after lunch, one lady came round to pick up 25 of them, and a chap from near Easingwold is coming tomorrow to pick up all the rest.

I finished taking out the hedge, and put aside about 100 roots for the chap tomorrow. He'll be delighted. My sons also helped me start to chop up the sticks, of which there are a huge number, using loppers. This was lovely as they generally aren't interested in any garden activities. It made me very happy to work with them, although it was only half an hour maximum. Our neighbours are also very happy that I've removed the hedge so swiftly. The wall and fence will be put in soon.

Chatted on the phone to my friend Anita, who with her hubby Tim will visit early tomorrow morning. I found bus times for them as although they've got a car in Reading, they have decided to come up by train. They've a friend in York who's having a birthday. I haven't seen them for perhaps 10 years or so. Maybe more! I used to go and see them when I went to the WOMAD festival when it was held in Reading. It'll be lovely to see them again. I have lovely memories of WOMAD and it was there where I learned to do Devilsticks for the very first time.

During the evening Gill and I had a game of Scrabble. It was very close, score-wise, and whilst Gill took her goes, I did emails and wrote my blog. I won by 4 points.

Wednesday 14th October 09

A very late morning... Gill got me up at 8 to see if I could sort out a child's bike brakes (which I did) and I then went back to bed, til 11. Lovely. Partly as I was up til 3am last night... or this morning, if you want.

So, after lunch I did a big load of shredding, the stuff I cut yesterday. Then I attacked the hedge again and yanked out a load more, cutting the roots and bottom of the plant off and removing all the spare soil, and pulling congested roots apart. This realised another 60 plants, which I bunged in a sack and invited another Freecycler to come and get.

I worked up until teatime and had a quick tea and then went to the Hull Road Ward Committee meeting which was just round the corner. This was the meeting where this year's funding applications are presented. John from St Nicks presented his request... something towards a new CCTV system and another requested grant towards some new play equipment. Then people in the ward vote for which ones they like and don't like... and the Council decisdes who gets the money.

This finished at about 8.30 and I popped in back home to check all was well, and then cycled down to Green Drinks for a single pint, just one hour. Had some chats with Ivana and Graham, Dave and Jennie, and a couple of others, but I was tired and came away at 10. Glad I did as when I got home I watched Newsnight which had a piece on the Green Movement with Justin Rowlatt and Caroline Lucas. 'Twas good.

So, a quiet evening followed, ploughing through emails, following up various things I'm obligated to do.

Monday 12th October 09

A good day... got the paperwork for the new quote for solar panels, using Solartwin. My friend's worries about the photovoltaic-powered pump being from a car windscreen washing device are unfounded, and the reports from another nearby installation are really good, so we're going for Solartwin. Harris Builders are using the Solartwin installers, and Harris will provide the scaffolding, take down the unused chimney and make good the roof and re-do the fascia boards.

We are pleased we've made this decision. It will fulfill our desire to reduce our already low carbon footprint yet further. We will get some cash back from the Government for putting it in, and also will qualify for a small amount of money off our gas/electric bill from Good Energy. I don't know how much this will be.

So, after dealing with this paperwork, I spent quite a bit of time doing the shredding of the hedge that I've removed so far. Last time I took a load of hedge out, I left all the twiggy bits to the end, and then spent AGES processing them. This time I'm removing hedge, passing the roots on to people who want a Privet hedge, and processing the tops as I go. Much more sensible.

I came in for lunch at 1pm, as usual, and then at about 1.45 cycled down to the station minus my trailer so I could put the bike on the train to Harrogate, and cycle over to Karen who is using me as a subject for her Masters degree on acupuncture and ADHD.

As I experienced in the previous two sessions, I found the lying down on the treatment table to be most relaxing. I'm not sure why this is... proponents of Traditional Chinese Medicine would say something to do with Qi and energies, but I'm not sure. I wonder if it's because I rarely get a chance to lie down in the middle of the afternoon, and usually get only 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night?

Anyway, I'm enjoying the experience. I haven't felt any changes in my energy levels though, nor am I any tidier! Karen thinks I might need 15 to 30 sessions to get any lasting effect.

I got the 5pm train home and was home by 6 via Freshways... and went straight into the garden to do another hour of hedge processing. Beautiful sunset.

Pasta tea. Lover lea.

Quiet evening, did some more plums.

Friday 9th October 09

Gill got me up quite early as a wasp which had come in with the logs last night had reappeared and she wanted me to 'deal with it'. However, when I got downstairs, bleary eyed after just 5 and a half hours sleep, it had gone to ground again.

This wasp phenomenon is the only disadvantage to bringing logs in from the piles outside the house. At this time of year the queens leave the nest and find somewhere to overwinter before setting up home in the spring. Often they choose my logpiles, and I find them on the underside of logs, torpid and still, and I flick them off into another logpile to sleep the winter away. But if I don't find them, they wake up in the warmth of the living room and fly drunkenly around. They are bigger than normal wasps, perhaps about half as big again, and could be classed as a bit scary!

Anyway, much though I would have liked to go back to bed, I didn't, and after breakfast went to a road near Country Fresh to collect four sacks of windfall apples that someone wanted to dispose of, but didn't want to put in landfill. I'd agreed to collect them, and I took them to St Nicks to sort out into compostable and juice-able. About half of them were OK. When I got back home, I stayed outside to get on with hedge removal. I was expecting a Freecycle visitor at 11 but he arrived at 10.20 and I only had about 10 roots for him, and he'd wanted 20. But he was nice and said that 10 was OK, and maybe once the other enquirers had had some, he could come back for some more.

After lunch I had invited another Freecycler to come and collect a large box of perhaps 30 or 40 roots, she showed up late and this meant my day was somewhat rushed after this. Chad came round to pick up the ratchet pin for the apple press, as tomorrow they are going to get started with the juicing a bit earlier than the 1pm start. Then I had to go and collect stuff from Country Fresh and Freshways, also popped in to the new Co-op which used to be Scummerfield just to check it out, and got fed lots of free cheese and biscuits...

Then I came home and had just half an hour to spare before setting off for the station so I could get the Northallerton train at 5.43. So I had a beard-trim and shower and hair wash. My shaver settings had been mysteriously changed and I've ended up with the shortest beard I've had for years. Gill made me some sandwiches.

I ate these on the train. Sally met me at Northallerton and we walked to the Town Hall. The Northallerton and Villages Community Forum had organised the showing of The Age of Stupid and had invited me to come and say something about low carbon living and Transition. I was pleased to meet Peter Hale of the Climate Speakers Network, and he was pleased to be able to see one of his speakers speak!

I did a very similar talk to the 10:10 Scarborough launch. About 15 minutes. Whilst the film was on, I sat at the back going through my inbox and deleting emails. I got rid of 95. After the film, a break with hot drinks and local tea-loaf, and then a question/answer session and discussion, including an offer from a farmer to do some type of Community Supported Agriculture project.

I got the 22.19 train back to York, cycled fast back home and was in soon after 11pm. A good evening.

Sunday 30th March 08

Woke at the usual time but it was later than I thought as the clocks had gone forward so most of the morning had gone already... but did have some good family times then watched Countryfile between doing bits of washing up.

The weather was fine and we all spent some time outside, I chopped some hedge sticks to again try to reduce the still large pile of stuff removed to put the fence in. Even an hour of working with secateurs hasn't made the pile any smaller, it seems. But it was good to be outside and the children played on the trampoline and in the little house that Gill built.

Gill made a simple tea using a couple of oven-bottom 'stottie cakes' given to us by Debbie, who's a Geordie and had brought them back from Newcastle the other day when visiting. Gilly made a kind of pizza-analogue and something she called a Russian Salad with some leftover cooked carot, potato, cauliflower and some chives, spring onions and other fresh bits.

I had to do a column by the end of today so I spent some of the day researching 'healthy hobbies' and typed it in before midnight. However, this meant that I didn't do much of my paid blog, and whilst in the middle of it, I had a very intense conversation with K in America via Skype, which put paid to any more straight thinking...

Saturday 1st March 08

Not too early a start, and after breakfast went for lie down which was a treat. However, too sunny a day to stay in, so I went out to restart the hedge processing, as the pile of chopped hedge has just been sitting in a pile, so I really need to continue that and get it all chopped and into potato sacks for drying.

My neighbour is putting up fenceposts where the hedge was, so we chatted a little bit. But I also did some weeding, finished digging out/turning a 'sit and wait' compost heap and started refilling the same set of pallets with shredded twigs and the last of the contents of a large feather mattress that someone gave me for recycling, plus a layer of fruit and veg.

Also cut some hedge and pruned a couple of small pear trees to make them into more of an open shape, removing some crossing branches and cutting off the ends of long straggly branches, so they don't bend down quite so far when they bear fruit.

So a good day. Inside, after lunch, I washed and prepared a large pile of leek tops, cut off the white stems by the wholesaler, and then I chopped them into the big Le Cruset saucepan on the woodstove, with some olive oil, potatoes, onion, yellow pepper and tomatoes... ready to make a stew/soup for tea.

Friday 25th January 08

The boys were very fractious this morning and I trudged downstairs early to 'be a presence' and hope to ensure that they got off to school on time. They did and actually Gill had a nice little game with them in the playground before she came home again, so all was well there.

Gill went to Art Class, I went back to bed and finished reading last week's NewScientist and at 10 got up to do my tax returns. I registetred on the website... and was told I'd have to wait up to a week for a PIN activation number to come THROUGH THE POST!!!! Blimy! They didn't tell us about that on the TV ads! How annoying as I am now ready to do the return. Well, I suppose I'll just have to wait OR do it on paper... except I have mislaid the paperwork. I am so disorganised! And leave things to the last minute, almost!

So lit the stove and got some washing up water ready so Gill doesn't come home to a pile of dirty plates and pans.

We had lunch together and chatted... and Gill needed to go into town to put a cheque in so I spent some time in the garden in the wind, split some logs and did some composting and stick cutting from the pile of hedge, then at 3 I cycled down to fetch the boys, came back via the woods to fetch more logpile back!

Gill made pizza for tea, which was lovely as usual. Later, after the boys were in bed, we had a game of Scrabble, and Gill thrashed me, mainly because of a super 7 letterer on the triple score, 'ovaloid'... nice shape Gilly!

Tuesday 15th January 08

A good day, got a lot done... started with a lie-in with Gilly which was as usual lovely and then got up, leaving her for a sleep and I got on with some housework including processing a load of oranges into juice. I then went into town and got a repeat prescription for my asthma preventer, and paid the electricity bill for the year ahead... it cost £227 as last year we used 1213 units (about 3 per day) and Good Energy says that the normal usage is between 12 and 26 units a day. That annual cost includes a fixed charge of 15.63pence/day too.

I visited my friend Debbie who has recently started a manageress job in a charity shop, after several years out of work. It was brilliant seeing her 'in her element', and dealing with the public so well. I was her referee for the job, although I'd never seen her at work, unless delivering leaflets counts as work! I also met a volunteer called Rosalind, a fairly glamorous 60 year old who flirted with me which was nice.

Met Jim in Coney Street and had a good chat, and then in Cycle Heaven met Rosie, who was initially Gill's friend (I think they met through Accessible Arts) and is now friends with both of us.

Got back just in time for picking up the kiddies and got back to some dry weather (been raining all day) so I went down the garden to try to get more hedge sorted out.

Gill made a super Spaghetti Bolognaise using soya mince... very tasty.

During the evening I watched a very interesting programme with Michael Portillo, and had a good chat with K on the computer (googletalk), then Gill and I did our 'parenting' homework which we've been putting off all week.

Monday 14th January 08

Was woken early.. well earlier than I would have liked as Gill wanted me to take the boys into school, so we set off at 8.30 and I got them to school and got back at 8.50, but as was so tired, went back to bed and tried to go to sleep. I'm not very good at going back to sleep once up (infact I don't get to sleep well unless absolutely exhausted) but I lay there after reading NewScientist and drifted off... and had what I now know of as a 'lucid dream', where the dreamer is partly in control of the dream, and aware of it after waking. I read about different states of consciousness in NewScientist a few weeks ago and it was then that I realised about lucid dreaming. This one was about learning to water ski, using my feet not skis, and then going up a ramp and having to jump but worrying about banging my head as the ramp was under a bridge. I went up the ramp and went so high I flew up in the air. In the dream I cannot remember landing so I don't know if I survived or died... it was a pleasant experience, and when it ended I got up refreshed and very aware I had been partly directing the dream. Weird!

I then went down the garden to try to finish off the hedge processing... and I did get one stage of it done... there are now no more huge lumps of hedge waiting for initial cutting up. Now I just have a pile of cut hedge pieces and a big pile needing shredding and an enormous pile of sticks needing to be cut up so that they can be bagged up for drying.

Came in at 12.30 and downloaded my emails. Got another from 'Dr Evil' who obviously thinks that there is some type of competition going on, as she posted 'Dr. E:1, The Prof:0... and I just don't understand quite what her problem is. If I don't like reading something, or watching something on telly, I don't read or watch it. So I don't watch horror movies or stuff with violence, nor do I read blogs about cars or cooking meat... it just wouldn't interest me, and I certainly wouldn't complain, as I firmly believe that it is an individual's right to watch scary films or get thrills from cars, regardless of my opinions which are just one person's opinions. 'Dr. Evil' thinks that her opinions are important; I agree they are to her, but not much to me, and I suggest she stops upsetting herself by looking at blogs with content which disagrees with her. I still wish her no harm or hurt, and believe that she has been damaged by society or some event in her past. However she does have responsibility for her actions today and I would respect her more if she would not post anonymously.

However her comment yesterday did make me think about why I post this blog. I started because I wanted people to know how someone lives with a low carbon lifestyle, growing some food, using renewable fuels, participating in community and having lots of supportive friendships, but now it is less that and more a way for people I know to keep in touch with what is happening in this household.. and it is read by friends in the UK and US, relatives in New Zealand and family members... as well as anyone else who wants to read it. And I really enjoy writing it... I wrote a daily diary for 20 years and this has now taken it's place.

I got the kids from school and then spent some time oiling their bikes and pumping up tyres, as they seem to be slow... well the youngest anyway. Then split logs for a few minutes, and came in and cooked a quite inventive meal of vegetable spaghetti (a squash which when cooked kind of fluffs up into fibrous 'spaghetti' like threads, with a beans and cheese covering and small potatoes, boiled yesterday and put on the woodstove tonight and crisped up in a frying pan. Was very interesting!

During the evening I prepared some free pineapple for drying and did some preparation for another column subject which has to be in by the first few days of Feb.

I got another anonymous comment on the blog from the same person, who's decided to drop the Dr. Evil moniker this time, who assumes that Gill works and does most of the childcare, and that having a blog is just an ego trip. Well she ought to know that I earn the money and do quite a bit of the childcare... perhaps not as much as half, but plenty more than some Dads do. And I'm very happy that my low-income and part-time work means that I have time to prepare renewable fuels and not have to pay loads for electricity and gas. She may know the phrase 'downsizing' which I have not had to do as I have never been up there with the high earners and highly stressed folks! I feel I have a very high quality of life and can therefore cope with any criticism from folks who probably don't understand how satisfying it is to live a 'green' life.

Oh, and I have worked out who the anonymous Dr. Evil is, too, as this latest message, which I won't publish as it's rude, gives me another clue. I am suprised though as she is friendly to my face. A pity really that she's reduced to posting anonymous defamitory comments! She won't get another mention on this blog and I hope she continues reading and perhaps gets inspiration to green-up her life, which is one of the aims of having a blog. Maybe she should write one, and I could write kind comments about her talents!

Had a lovely happy evening with the stove and Gill who was feeling a bit better than earlier as she'd managed to have a sleep.

Friday 11th January 08

Up at a reasonable time and did some phoning and emailing... came accross an amazing website by a photographer called Belinda Mason, go and check it out
http://www.belindamason.com/mlp.html

Later in the day I did more hedge and then at 3 went to get the kiddies, and had a good chat with my friend Andy.

Did some woodpile building, the stuff that came from Woodlands and has been sitting split on the front garden (woodyard!) and is now being stacked in the covered woodshed in the back garden.

After tea, cycled over to Tadcaster Road to attend (and participate in!) a York Credit Union party/social at Walter's house. Good to see Simon and Melody, and the two Mikes, Peter, and Claire, and several people whom I didn't know. Stella's hubby Dave proved very interesting, as he is a train enthusiast, and volunteers for the Wensleydale Railway, but had some good stories about his career in the railways before he retired. Brought back lots of memories for me too, as whilst I was a teenager, I was a 'trainspotter' and travelled all over the network ostensibly to spot trains, but saw the country too. Now, of course, I am a train enthusiast, as they are a more sustainable form of transport than motorised road vehicles, and I prefer trains to coaches and buses, and obviously I hate cars!

Left at about 11pm, came home via a logpile in a wood which has been 'managed' so I managed to retrieve several logs for recycling into hot bathwater etc!

Thursday 10th January 08

Quite a long lie-in this morning... til just after 9am! Very nice! However got up as I had a lot to do, and got on with stuff in the garden. Gill did some accounting and we met up for lunch.

I did some more in the afternoon, but when Gill had a sleep (she was up at 3am for some reason) I went on the computer and had a surf around 'Facebook' which is very addictive.

I got the kiddies at 3 and they came home without any hassle, however although the day had been said to be good, there were tantrums in the evening and I felt it best to keep out of the firing line. Parenting is very difficult.

Had a really relaxing hot bath at midnight, woodstove heated, of course!

Wednesday 9th January 08

I got a lie-in til 9am and then did a little bit of work in the front garden sorting out some of the materials lopped off the top of our pine tree... very similar work to the hedge actually.

Then at 10.30 Gill and I set off for the nearby Family Centre for a workshop called 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities', basically a parenting course to help us be better parents. It wasn't very well attended but it was good, and hopefully some of the things will help us.

Lunch was good too, provided as part of the course, and we were finished by 2.30 and I went swiftly to the veg shop to pick up compostables, then home just in time to go and pick up the kiddies...

Home with them and did yet more hedge down the garden... the pile of sticks ready for chopping up is now higher than me! But I'll process that last, so it will double in size before I do anything with it...

Came in when dark and had the doggy-bag of sandwiches from lunch for tea, very convenient!

Tuesday 8th January 08

I was woken far too early as had a late night.... and I took the kids to school, as I had agreed to do last night, as Gill was expecting a tough morning, however they were perfectly behaved!

It was good to see some of the good folks at school and wish them a happy new year.. including the head teacher who is happy for me to submit something to the Board of Governors about sustainability, hooray!

I got going with paperwork when I got home, wrote several letters and sorted out a pile of old paperwork looking for booking letters and receipts etc, for the accounts Gill is starting to put together. Then went to the post office and Woodlands to hand-deliver the donation cheque I'm giving back to them as a thank you for all the wood this year!

When I was totally fed up with paperwork, did a stint down the garden and reduced the pile of unprocessed hedge... but added significantly to the pile of sticks to cut up... it's now 2m high and will take hours to cut up and bag up... but useful kindling for years I should think!

I got the boys at 3pm and they came home in good spirits and I did another bit of work in the garden before the light failed.

A pleasent evening, Gill experimented with some spare dough that had been in the fridge for a couple of days, putting it in a heavy iron pan on a low griddle on the hot woodstove... and cooking it to a flatbread consistency, it turned out ok once the alcohol smell had gone... the time in the fridge had allowed it to ferment a bit! Had this as a midnight snack.

Sunday 6th January 08

Got up early (well, 9am) and quickly had breakfast and then went to dispose of more hedge, before coming in for just before 11 to ring my brother and wish him a happy birthday, and then watch Countryfile... which today was all recycled material, which was a pity, but I took the opportunity to do emails and blog...

More hedge after that, came in for a 2pm lunch and lisened to Gardeners' Question Time on R4, then had another go in the garden, mainly removing brambles and feeding them into the shredder. Very satisfying to produce so much compostable material!

At about 3.45pm went to the allotment as I have to keep on top of that too, and did more bramble chopping, put a layer of veg waste sandwiched between bramble cuttings and then partly dug out one nearly mature heap and put it on top of another to make enough space for more chopped brambles. It's never-ending! Stayed there til dark, arrived back at 5pm.

Then went to the Co-op to buy bran flakes which ran out this morning, and got back in time to watch Time Team on C4, and try to do paid blog, but couldn't access the site, so will try later this evening.

Tried later and the website was still not playing.