Saturday 29th October 11

I woke having had an odd dream that a young foreign woman had come to the door saying her business needed to recycle some food scraps, and would I help.  Gill had answered the door and sent them away saying that we didn't need yet more composting going on, and then I got to the door and called the woman back and it turned out she was from somewhere like Norwich Union, and I got a contract with them to set up a Jora system, composting at their premises, and managing it too, so an ongoing 'job'.  Funny dream!

There wasn't much morning left after I got up and breakfasted and got dressed....

The afternoon was good as I went up Marion and Dave's Winter Pear tree again.  I saw Marion on the way down the garden and she said she was very happy with the 3 trays of pears I'd taken up the garden for her, and I could have all the rest.  I'm very happy with that!  I picked a load more but there's still more to get.

I'd agreed to go over and see Anna, Douglas and Loony, in Sheffield, and Anna had suggested we have a meal out, and said could I be at the station for 5.30?  I got the 4.09 which went via Leeds, and I chatted a bit with a pleasant young law student called Natasha, from Newcastle, and visiting a friend in Birmingham.  I also took my pumpkin seeds (last years) and peeled the outer layer off them, one by one.  I got a lot done, on both legs of the journey.

Anna and Douglas like a particular Chinese restaurant called the Hong Kong Wok, and they'd booked a table. I had spring rolls and a green pepper in batter for starters, and then tofu and veg with egg fried rice for main meal.  It was lovely to have some relaxed chats with Anna, sitting opposite me, and Loony's 3 year old daughter was very entertaining too.

We spent just over an hour here, and then Anna drove us back to Middlewood where she and Douglas live, very close to the end of the tram line.  I had a coffee and shelled more pumpkin seeds, and at just after 9 set off for the tram, the 9.26 which would get me to the station for my 10.06 train back.

A late night but all went like clockwork, very smoothly.  A lovely evening, thank you Anna and Douglas.  

Saturday 1st May 10

Woke feeling a bit excited as later today I'm heading off to Manchester to (hopefully) take part in an art installation by Spencer Tunick.

I had a busy morning outside once I prized myself out of the house, and then went to Country Fresh, and back to light the stove to get bathwater and tidy myself up.

Enjoyed my bath lots.

Just after 5 I cycled a child back to his parents and then came home, had tea and escaped from Dr Who, by listening to Tracey Smith on Internet Radio.

At 8.30, started getting ready to go to the station......

I got to the station in good time and got an open return for £22, and once on the train I had a really interesting chat with a young man whom I'd overtaken on the bike earlier in town, who was heading back to Huddersfield. He was Paul who works for the Tyndall Centre, and was therefore a great person to converse with. We chatted about how to assign carbon allocations to shipping and aviation, which currently doesn't show in any individual country's carbon emissions. What luck to sit with such a knowledgeable guy!

Tony got on the train at Leeds and he immediately inspected Paul's bike as Tony love bikes, as well as being a naturist and keen on participating with the Tunick installation. Paul got off at Huddersfield and Tony and I chatted about organising the York World Naked Bike Ride and several other subjects.

We got into Manchester soon after 11pm, and took the tram to Harbour City which is the nearest Metro stop to The Lowry. There was another guy who got off the tram who looked like he knew where he was going, so I asked him if he was going to the Lowry, and we walked together across a Dutch-looking metal bridge and to The Lowry, which was still open and people were beginning to accumulate inside as it was very cold and windy outside.

I chatted with some of the people in the group we joined, and as we had over 3 hours to kill, did some balloon modelling which went down very well. I worked with a woman called Jane who had previously done some balloon sculpture and she made a couple of animals. She loved the teddy bear I made.

Sometime after midnight we all went outside as the queue had started to develop, and people were getting chairs down from a terrace so they could sit and wait in the queue... as registration wasn't til 3.30am.

Friday 13th November 09

Up early and to the station for the 8.30 train to Sheffield. Met several friends on the train; Andy spent some time explaining about his work on interfaces and architecture. I was left reasonably baffled. I did understand some of what he said. Melody and her daughter were off to Birmingham to an audition, as Natalie is a singer and has the potential to go far.... possibly further than Birmingham.

I got the first tram up towards where Ali lives and walked the last mile instead of waiting for 20 minutes to get the tram to then walk half a mile.

We had a good day together, went to pick up her little daughter from school who was very over excited to see me as she'd requested a diabolo workshop. This didn't go particularly well as she has a disability in one arm/hand caused by Cerebral Palsy, which meant she couldn't hold one of the diabolo sticks. But she has such a strong character that I think she'll find a way to overcome it, perhaps by strapping one stick to the non-functioning arm, or by using some type of belt or corset which will enable her to hold the stick still. Ali spoke on the phone to the local Green Top Circus and they have a trainer who is a specialist with young children and people with disabilities. I'm looking forward to hearing what happens! There are several circus and performance tricks available to people with only one functioning hand, and I'm going to get her a yoyo and maybe a set of yoyo balls, and there are other things too. I'll have a think and an ask around.

We went out for tea at a local pub, and a bit later I got the tram back to the station, the train back to York and my bike back home.

Wednesday 10th June 09

Excellent day, although got off to a slower start than I would have liked.

Gill went to art and I did the washing up before cycling down to the station so I could go over to Sheffield to see Ali. I took some climbing bean seedlings, a squash and a yam, for her raised beds. The train was a bit late and then there was quite a wait at the tram stop, so didn't get to her until after midday. But hey, that's life!

Had a lovely afternoon with her and at 3 went to collect 'littleboo' from school and she was, as usual, ecstatic to see me... and then when home, helped me plant the beans and other things. Hope the cats don't dig them up with their pooing activities. I buried a load of cat poo under the squash plant as extra fertiliser!

Ali had received an invite to go and see Carol Ann Duffy, the new Poet Laureate, perform a reading, and this is one reason I'd come over, to help Ali get there. We had decided to go on the tram, but the rain started coming down quite heavily so we changed our transport options to her car.... which turned out to be a good thing, as if we had of gone by tram, we would have been completely stuck. The rain came down, hail, thunder and lightening, continual cloud burst for some length of time, resulting in flash-floods all over central Sheffield, tram lines closed and traffic jams everywhere. We spent an hour and a half getting to where we wanted to be... we had intended to go and eat first but this time was used up with the chaos caused by closed roads.

But we got to the church where Carol Ann Duffy was due to speak. She'd taken the train over from Manchester but the floods had prevented her from getting any further than Dore, where she got a bus into town. I loved the poems she read, well, most of them, and her humorous commentaries. She started with a selection of her poems from her book 'The World's Wife' including 'Mrs. Midas', 'Mrs. Tiresias', 'Mrs. Aesop', 'Mrs. Faust' and 'Anne Hathaway', which is I think n the GCSE syllabus. Then she did some more personal stuff, 'A Child Asleep' and a series from Rapture, 'Text', 'Tea', 'Row', 'Syntax' 'Art', 'The Love Poem', and finally 'Prayer' and Premonition, a new poem about her Mother who died a few years ago, and she's only just got to a stage in her life that she can write about her. (see this page for biographical information and a selection of poems read by the author..)

After this we went to a nearby 'stuff yer face for a tenner' and did just that, after which Ali took me to the station. Lots of cancelled and late trains. I eventually got one to Leeds, which got in at midnight, and waited for the 12.34 to York which got in at 1.15. Fortunately a nice young lady was happy to chat, and she, Ruth, told me about her cybernetics degree at Reading Uni, and about her laptop, and I told her about some of my writing and entertaining activities. It made the journey go quicker for both of us.

Home just before 2am, damp but full of buzzy thoughts. Quite a day!

Wednesday 6th May 09

Woke at 7.30 and soon got up to help get things ready for a quick getaway for Ali to take her daughter to school and me to get the tram and train back to York. I got the 8.54 and was back home by just after 10, enough time to get washed and scrubbed up ready for my Fiddlesticks gig today.

I took the 11.38 train to Malton and walked up to Norton to meet Tony, who's an NLP practitioner. This was an interesting gig as I don't often teach one-to-one and not often adults. And he wasn't learning the skills because he had a particular interest in circus skills, but he wanted to use them in his NLP work. Neuro Linguistic Programming is used by people to (usually) achieve more in their business or personal lives. It is based on modelling what successful people do, and those things are identified and can be used by others who wish to improve something, overcome something, or learn something new. Tony also told me about a number of other things he's studied...so it was very interesting.

I caught the 3.10 train back to York, and popped in to Country Fresh, but Richard was off and so Martin the shop owner (Richard's brother) gave me the compostables, two sacks and a box.

Good to see my family. All was well and happy. Decided not to go out to the Cafe Scientifique, but spent the evening preparing fruit and chatting on Facebook.

Tuesday 5th May 09

Cycled into town as I had a dental appointment, a check-up and spring clean... I was very pleased as I like making my dentist happy... and I did today as my teeth are much cleaner than they used to be and my gums don't bleed anymore. It is also much nicer for me as there's much less scraping and ultrasounding. I'm obviously doing the right thing!

After this I went to the railway station to get tickets for the trip to London later this month and for my gig tomorrow in Malton. Then went to Building Society to pay cheques in and get a cheque and cash out, and then came home via Freshways who had one sack of compostables for me and a box of green potatoes.

Did a bit more paperwork and washing up then headed into the garden. When I came in I had a message from Ali saying she really needed some help this evening and could I come over?

Gill was fine about me going over to do some 'emergency PA work', due to Ali being unwell and having a hole in her care package at the moment, as Sarah has just left to go and live in Leeds.

I agreed to get there by 8pm , so got the 6 something to Sheffield, and the tram up to Ali's. On the train I chatted to a lovely old chap form Stratford upon Avon who was a keen train enthusiast and as now retired, travels all over the place, often with his 'our kid' brother, and he had assorted stories and anecdotes about his mini-breaks.

I was able to help a bit, I don't know how useful I actually was but I guess it would have been much more difficult for Ali to get her little daughter (who also has a disability) ready in the morning. I slept on a sleeping bag on the couch, not as uncomfortable as it might have looked!

Saturday 28th March 09

Woken too early by a phone call from one of the boys' friends, who then came round.

I had breakfast and then tried to find something to do for my Community Care blog... I'm not feeling inspired at the moment.

So I used someone else's inspiration... Danny Chivers, a poet, whom I met at a gathering of Climate Speakers in London earlier this year. See http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/green-living/2009/03/green-man-wonders-how-to-get-t.html
I love this poem! It's even better hearing him perform it whilst you read along...

Got this done by midday and got dressed and up, ready to go to Sheffield for a performance of the Ukulele Orchestra.

I was picked up at Sheffield station soon after 2 and spent some of the afternoon with Ali and her daughter and their new PA Sarah, who is lovely too. At 5ish, we headed down to town on the tram to go to the Blue Moon, to meet up with Al's parents and an ex-carer who's become a friend and a soon-to-be ex-carer who they will both miss. This meal was part of a Mother's Day present from Ali to her 84 year old Ma. Blue Moon is a lovely place, veggie and vegan, and caters for other special diets such as gluten free. I had a good main meal, a cauliflower thing with some spinach and feta pie with salads... and some of Ali's too, as she didn't like the bean-heavy thing she had ordered, so I was stuffed and didn't have cake. Sarah took Ali's daughter home, as he was very tired... she is only 5years old.

Then the short walk to the newly refurbished Crucible Theatre, where the brilliant Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain were due to perform. I knew nothing about this bunch but was really impressed. A line-up of 7, as one member (Kitty) wasn't well, so I hope she gets better soon. But the performance was awesome... really, really clever, funny, very 'tight' arrangements with brilliant mixing of different songs. All of us enjoyed it, although Ali's parents missed some of the 'in jokes' according to her Dad, as many of the pieces were post 1960s and some post-Punk. Afterwards, we hung around as Ali wanted to get her CD and DVD signed.. she has bought a Ukulele, as she used to play the guitar but has found it more and more difficult to hold but the Uke is more manageable. Her daughter has also got one and loves the UOOGB too. They have another fan as of tonight!

We went home on the tram and I had a comfortable night on a sofabed, the one the PA usually uses... she slept on a matress on the floor in Ali's daughter's bedroom.

Thursday 26th March 09

Off to Sheffield to see Age of Stupid at the Showroom, and to see Franny Armstrong, the film-maker, introduce it and answer questions afterwards.

I had quite a busy morning at home but got a train just after midday, then a tram in Sheffield up to near where Ali lives, and then a 10 minute walk to her house. Arrived at 2 and spent some of the afternoon with her before going to a meeting that she chairs... a nursery which has loads of kids... I think 60 children under 4 years old... I didn't attend the meeting, I did some balloon animals for the few children who were still around, but when they went I sat in on the last 10 minutes.

At nearly 6 we went on to the Showroom where there was a queue for the Age of Stupid special screening, sold out as Franny Armstrong was due to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. As we were queueing for a mocha, I spotted Franny, I was glad she'd made it, as earlier I'd received a mass email saying it was touch and go whether she'd be able to get up to Sheffield.

The film is brilliant... this was the second time I'd seen it and I got more out of it this time... some bits I'd missed the first time, and also the linking theme of oil which connects all the stories was much clearer. But I still cried and cried at one point near the end, when the years roll forward to 2055. I think it's the music actually, it's so, well, emotional!

I enjoyed the Q+A, although one question, asked by a young teen or child, about what Franny herself does to be climate friendly, was answered in a bit of a tough way, as many people have asked her, in one way or another, whether she's a hypocrite? I don't think this young person was actually asking that complex a question, they just wanted to hear that she was vegetarian, charged up her laptop with solar panels and didn't drive, or fly on holiday (although being a film-maker means that she has flown and will be travelling by air to the US next month).

Afterwards, we went to the local groups discussion, hosted by Transition Sheffield and Sheffield Against Climate Change. Before I went to get my train home, we went to Subway for a sandwich and I then got the 10 15ish train to Leeds, had a 25 minute wait in Leeds and arrived in York soon after midnight.

A super day! Rerally good to see Ali, and AoS again, and glad to share this with Ali, who enjoyed it too, if 'enjoyed' is the right term!

Tuesday 13th January 09

I cycled our little one into school with some of the Oyster Mushrooms for Simon. Then bombed down to the station.

Got the 9.20 train to Sheffield, and when there, the tram to near Ali's. Had a lovely day, including sharing some Oysters fried with garlic in olive oil. Ali had never had them before and she liked them... we had them in a warm baguette, really delicious. At 2 her carer arrived and a bit later she brought Ali's daughter back from school, who seemed overjoyed to see me! She is just SO enthusiastic and happy, climbing all over me, asking for piggy back rides, pretending to be a little baby, pretending that I was a giant that ate children, playing games with a wooden spoon she'd drawn a face on and called Daisy, etc etc. Delightful and occasionally overwhelming!

Ali had a physio visit her after which we all went out to get something to eat, at a nearby pub. Then we went on to meet Ali's parents as Ali had something to give them. They'd met me before, when I did the birthday party last year. Then we went on to my parents' house, as I wanted to give a borrowed book back and give my Dad some Oysters, as he too likes wild mushrooms. I was surprised that they invited us all in, and we spent up to an hour socialising which was nice. Then I was dropped off at the station, and didn't have long to wait before the York train... and as I sat down, my Green Festival buddy Rob said hello... he was coming back from Birmingham airport (!) as he'd been to Spain to help some of his friends do up a castle! So chatted to him and his friend Cheryl all the way to York, and then a quick cycle home getting in just after 11pm.

Phew what a day!

Thursday 18th December 08

Went early to the station so to get the 8 something train to Sheffield so I could get to see Ali before her meeting. I got the tram to her house and was there for just after 10 and had a nice chat with her son who was most civil and pleasant... made me a cuppa before he went out.

The meeting went well and went on for 2 hours, after which I went to the local Co-op and did some shopping for her... and our lunch which she hadn't got in!

Ali's carer came and we soon went to pick up Ali's daughter from school.. and she was delighted to see me, and I was just as happy to see her! She and the carer went to buy some Christmas presents for Mum, whilst Mum and I went to a supermarket to get a load of stuff to help their Christmas be 'traditional'... presents for neighbours who help her, for her carers, relatives, both her children and even something for my boys!

When we got back to Ali's house I gave her 5 year old her wrapped present, to put under the tree (which isn't up yet) and the Flipside Vision Climate Change Calendar to Ali. Then I went to get the tram down to the station.

My brother lives very close to the station so I walked up to his place where he was expecting me, and I joined their family meal of nutloaf, red cabbage and parsnips... lovely!

Then I dished out their presents and another 3 calendars, one for my bro and family, one for my sis and her hubby and another for my folks, when they get back from their globetrotting. After cuddles with their three kiddies and a short but good chat, I went back down to the station and got a train to Doncaster (good chats to a pair of Christian youth workers) and eventually, a train back to York, getting in just before 10. A long day.

Gill had put up our usual Christmas tree, which is an old 'artificial' tree which Gill's Mum first bought in the early 1960s... and it's been reused nearly every year. On some years we've got a branch of a tree and done a 'pagan style' decorated non-Christmas tree, and I think once I was given a mis-shaped 'real' tree which I was happy to use before shredding and composting it. But we like our really old well-re-used plastic jobbie... very eco-friendly!

Saturday 22nd March 08

Was woken by shouting downstairs so came down to see if my being there might calm things down, which it did appear to, but an hour later, in the middle of a game Gill was playing with them to keep them occupied, and I'd been joining in with a bit, there was another unprovoked bout of shouting and throwing things which set off my feelings of depression again.

However, my computer was working again this morning... I wonder if the problem was with the server last night not me? I escaped from the anger in the other room and within a few minutes all was calm again. Unfathomable.

The rest of the day went well... a slow continuous pulling together of assorted bits so that we could go and celebrate my Sister's 40th birthday. We got a train at just after 3. We headed for Sheffield via Pontefract, which today is quicker than going the mainline way, as today the York to Doncaster line is having work done on it so the trains are going via Leeds and they are taking an extra hour or something, so the Pontefract brach line, which takes just an hour and 20 mins is a good one. We also like this route as the trains are not too packed and there's usually space to sit down.

So got to Meadowhall as the last mile or so is also being worked on, so we got a tram to the City centre, and then a bus to Walkley. It started snowing which was pretty.

I was a bit stressed seeing my folks as things are not always easy, but things went quite smoothly and I was able to help them by filling a compost compound which my Dad has created, so I used my energy and enthusiasm to move the compost pile I turned last time into the new pallet-bin compound. This kept me out of the way and gave me 'Brownie Points' before teatime.

Had a peaceful evening.