Friday 6th May 11

Another busy day, mainly at the count and then a train journey.

The counting of votes was due to take place today, and what is now 'Energise' but I and everyone else in York calls Oaklands Sports Centre.  The entrance ticket said 9.30 but there were so many people wanting to get in, and having to get their round-the -neck tags saying 'Candidate' or 'Counting Agent' or 'Guest', that the count didn't really get going until nearly 10am.

The first job was to separate the Referendum grey coloured papers from the white Council Election papers, and this wasn't really a process which allowed any of the party workers to get any information.  This happens at the next stage, where individual ballot boxes, which are numbered, have their ballot papers counted and put in bundles of 50, and this number tallied with the number of people who came into the polling station to vote.  At this stage, it is possible to do a count of the numbers of ticks or crosses on the ballot paper and see what the voting patterns were in specific geographical areas, as each ballot box serves a part of the ward.  This is easiest in areas with just one Councillor, ie one vote.  However, it gets more difficult where there are two or three Councillors and you are allowed up to that number of votes.  So in Hull Road Ward, where there are two Councillors, there were two crosses on most ballots, and it was less easy to see what the outcome of the poll would be.  

So, although some of our party activists were busy scribbling down as many of the details they could during this initial count, I couldn't follow it and there wasn't a party activist giving instructions about what to do.  So I just watched the person counting and counted as well, to check they were getting it right!  I really didn't need to do this as each bundle of 50 is recounted by another person and initialled by them as well.  The referendum ballots were counted too, and bundled up into 50s, and this second lot of counting extended the whole business considerably.  At about 10am, Kirsten England, the Chief Executive of the City of York Council said she thought they'd be able to finish the job in a couple of hours, but the first result wasn't announced til 4pm!

So, after the numbers of ballots were tallied with the people who turned up to vote, the Council seat ballots from each ward were sorted into those papers where the voter had voted for both or all three of the same party, and mixed or single votes.  The 'block votes' were then counted and checked, and each candidate had their votes noted.  Then the mixed and single votes papers were dealt with, by a pair of counters, one reading out the names on the ballot, one by one, and the other with a tally sheet with all the candidates' names on and rows of very small boxes to the right of their names for putting a tiny line through or a cross in, rows of 10 and columns of 5, so each big box when full would add up to 50 votes.  This part of the operation was very important to watch, especially with one of the counters, who by chance happened to be a Council officer whom I really don't get on with as they've been rude, unhelpful and unprofessional with me in the past.  Several people noticed that this person was making mistakes, and complained, so when done, this operation was checked by  another group of counters.  All this took MUCH longer than initially planned, or desired.

However, the results started coming in, and one of the most exciting was in Acomb Ward, where the Lib Dem leader of the council, whom I think is a dinosaur who ought to have been put out to grass long ago, and his second in command, whom I think has been weak politically but is a nice guy whom I'm fond of, lost their seats.  The cheer from the gathered opposition was huge, my cheer was only for the passing of Steve Galloway, not Andrew Waller.  When the Hull Road Ward results came in, I wasn't elected either.  That's politics. 

The other interesting result was that in another ward to the west of York, Anna Semlyen was voted in.  She's been a Green supporter for a long time but was incensed by the unilateral decision by Steve Galloway to say no to a city-wide 20 mile an hour limit in built-up areas, and joined the Labour Party, and has been elected.  I now predict a few years of exciting politics.... I predict that Anna will 'make waves' and put a lot of energy into what she wants to do; I hope she remembers that she's representing the citizens in her ward and a good Councillor gets to know the area (if they don't live there, which she doesn't) and the people there.  I wish her, and the other new Councillors, and the re-elected ones, a good four years, and hope they can move the City of York to a more sustainable, lower carbon, fairer, more equal society.  One day I hope to get elected, in MY ward, for the party I've agreed with for all my adult life, and be a really hard-working Councillor.  Maybe next time?  It is, as always, up to the local voters.

As soon as our results were announced, I got my stuff and cycled briskly off, as at 6.24 I had to be on a train to Bristol.  I got back at 5 and Sue was talking to Gill on the doorstep, having collected an 'emergency' bag of dried fruit for her latest long drive.  I hadn't got any time to chat as I had less than hour to get myself ready and packed and off to the station.  This I of course I managed to do.

The train left on time and all the way to Birmingham I started working though over 100 unread emails from one of the lists I subscribe to, and once read, I deleted most of them.  However, there were still about 60 left, which I thought I might get through between Birmingham and Bristol.  But, no, I met a really nice chap on the platform waiting for the Bristol train, which was 40 minutes late, and we talked about Credit Unions, high street loan companies, how to conduct successful relationships, and much much more.  He got off at Parkway and I at Temple Meads 5 minutes later.  My friend Loony was waiting for me, and as the train was late, we'd missed the bus so we had to get a taxi.  She's got a new flat recently and is having a housewarming  party tomorrow, which is one reason why she's invited me down, to provide some entertainment.

Thursday 5th May 11 Council Elections and AV Referendum

A really busy and well organised day, hardly a minute to spare.

I got up at 7, breakfasted, and put all my circus and balloon stuff in the trailer and panniers, and set off at 8.10, first to place my votes (voting for myself and Luke Capps, the other Green candidate, and YES in the AV Referendum) and then on to Huntington, Strensall, Sherriff Hutton and to the bottom of Terrington Bank, a really steep hill.  This 14.5 mile cycle took one hour ten minutes.  The last half mile, up the bank and into Terrington, took 15 minutes.

I'd been booked by the tiny C of E primary school in Terrington, with their sister school Foston.  The idea was that I'd perform in the village hall.  However, as the election was taking up the village hall, Terrington asked the nearby private Prep school if they could use their new sports hall.  The prep school said yes... but could they add a class of children too.  So, I had 70 children, aged 3 to about 7.

I was taken down to the venue and got the hall right for the gig, with drapes pulled across the walls to reduce echo, and one area curtained off to create a performance space.  I got changed, blew up balloons for the afternoon gig, and waited for my audience.

The show went really well... although it overran, as one group were late, so I couldn't do the unicycle workshop at the end.  But it was a good show.  The children and teachers loved it.  I went back to the small school for lunch, but soon back to the venue to continue blowing up 70+ balloons.

The second show also went well, despite the children being young and lots of them.  I was finished by 2.10, and quickly got changed and loaded up to return, stopping briefly to give in an invoice to the school to trigger payment.

The trip back was slower, despite having more downhill, as it was into the wind.  It took me an hour and a half, getting in at 4.10.

I had a few minutes sit-down and then at 4.45, I set out for St Lawrence's Church to be a Green Party 'teller', collecting poll numbers so that voters who had promised to vote Green could be contacted before the polls closed if they had forgotten to vote. I chatted with the Labour Party teller Lesley, who was very pleasant. In the two hours we were there we had over 100 voters come in... the post working-day rush.

So, I was relieved at 7pm by Alison, and I cycled home.  Gill had prepared a plate of pasta.  At 7.45 I cycled off to David's as he had booked me to take him to vote at 8pm.

I walked him over to Marygate where he placed his votes, and back to his house.  I left him at 9.30 and walked along Stonegate to the Yorkshire Terrier where a group of Green Party folks were due to gather.  Stewart was already there, and soon another 10 or so joined us.  I had TWO bottles of Pear Cider, which is a lot for me... I usually stick to just one.  But a good finish to the day.

I look forward to the count tomorrow.

Wednesday 4th May 11

Woken by my eldest who had knocked something onto the floor in the kitchen and it had smashed, so I gingerly found the broom and swept it up into a tidy pile which allowed breakfast activities to continue safely.

After I'd had my breakfast I dealt with a range of paperwork and admin type things, and at about midday, went to see if Debbie would be able to help do the eve-of-poll Green Party leaflet round which we often do together. She wasn't well so I did the round myself.  It only took an hour but then I had a long chat with my physicist friend Adrian about political matters.

After lunch I went round to Debbie's again and asked if she'd got her broken key replaced.  She hadn't as she's been unwell for a few days, so I offered to get the key replaced, if I could.  I went to town to the station to pick up the tickets I bought over the net, one set to go to Bristol this weekend and another set to go down to the Little Green Gathering in July. This is the first time I've got tickets out of a machine.

From here I went to the Credit Union to pick up a cheque to pay for this term at the Steiner School, and I cycled there and paid it in, plus cash to make up the full amount.

I then cycled back with our youngest and once home, popped round to the fix it shop on Lilac Avenue, who do keys.  They were able to put the two halves of the broken key in their machine and cut a new one.  I went back to Debbie's and it fitted, and she was delighted.

As I returned from her, John Bibby was about to unload another job-lot of wood.... some oak fencing, some tree roots, and other bits of tree.  A big messy pile.  It will need a lot of sorting out.  However, it is free heating and would have been burned in a bonfire, or taken to a landfill site, so I'm relatively happy to have it.

I spent an hour doing the smallest bits, cutting twigs from branches and breaking up small lengths of fence plank.  There are some much sturdier timbers to contend with, next week when I have more time.

Gill made a simple pasta tea and then at 6.45 I set out, on foot, with our eldest son, to town to attend the Cafe Scientifique meeting at City Screen, which tonight was all about food and flavours, with a Professor from the University of Hull called John Bradley.  He started with a bit about how the tongue senses tastes and how the olfactory epithelium deals with aromas and fragrances. Because these signals end up in the Hippocampus, there is a connection between emotions and smell, memory and smell, and it's even been found that people with a reduced sense of smell are more prone to depression.  He explained about herbs and spices and volatile molecules, and then the exciting subject of chirality, the way that some molecules are left handed and the same molecule can be right handed.  This has some profound effects on odour molecules... limonene smells like lemons with one enantiomer (shape of molecule) and of oranges with the mirror-image enantiomer. However, another molecule smells like passion fruit with one and like burning rubber with it's mirror image.  Fascinating.  He then finished with a look at combining flavours, such as carrot and coriander (although I prefer carrot and tarragon), caramelised cauliflower and cocoa, banana and parsley.

Following a question and discussion session, we walked home, getting in at about 10pm... a really lovely and interesting night out, with good conversation with my son, especially on the way back.

Lit the stove when I got in and did some more dried fruit and washing up.

Tuesday 3rd May 11

Another good day... I went to the local Thomas The Baker and got a fiver's worth of 'Yesterbake', bread left over from a day or two ago and available at ridiculously low prices.  I got two small loaves, four bags of rolls, four 'naughty spirals' and some cheese straws.  Should keep us going for a few days.  I foresee a nutloaf coming on....

Gill went into town with our eldest, to the library to research oxbow lakes.... are there any in Yorkshire I wonder?  Or have all the mature rivers been so managed, there aren't any?

I went to the Building Society to put in two cheques and get out some cash to pay the Steiner School for this term.  Then I cycled down to the school and collected our youngest.  However, I was pleased to meet someone I've wanted to meet for a bit now, a writer called Kate Ravillious, who has done some cracking pieces for NewScientist.  She has a young daughter who'll be starting at the Steiner School soon... and an 11 week old son, which is why she's not writing at the moment.

Good cycle back with our lad, he's getting a lot better at cycling.  I had a short time at home... did a little bit of wood-management, but at 5.30 set out for town again to go to David's for my care work.  I was pleased to meet his cousin's daughter who helps with his accounts, and Richard, another cousin, is back from France, and it was good to see him too.  David wanted to see where his solicitor's offices were, so we explored Piccadilly, found the office block, and returned and headed to City Screen for a coffee.  We met one of David's friends Chris, who's a Professor at the University, in the Department of Education.

We didn't spend long there, but went back to David's place, where I cooked his tea and sorted him out, and was able to get away for 8pm.  I sped home and watched a really good programme on Channel 5, 'The King's Speech Revealed', followed by The Secret Millionaire on Channel 4, followed by Catfish on More 4, which i found really interesting, being in the 'online, facebook, GoogleMaps' generation!  A really interesting story. Gill watched these with me too, whilst I did more red peppers for drying.

Monday 2nd May 11

Another good day, got up quite early and after breakfast, did some fruit sorting until shortly before 12 when I got some sandwiches together and got 3 sets of devilsticks, and cycled down to May Day in the Park, which I thought was at Clifford's Tower.  I cycled round it a couple of times, went to Boots to get Gill some painkillers, and then cycled round again... no May Day celebrations.  But then had a brainwave, maybe the event was in Tower Gardens.  It was; I'd misread the proposed venue.  Anyway, the event was just four trestle tables and a few rag-tag students and older Socialists, but it grew and by 1pm there must have been about 50 people there, including a small choir with instruments to keep them nearly in tune.

I played with my devilsticks and several other people joined in, borrowing my second and third set and having a go.  I had my sandwiches and chatted with an interesting person with a wonderfully curious name, Hann Bunn, and that made me happy as I really like meeting people... and if they're interesting with a curious name, that's even better!

I left at about 3pm and came home via Country Fresh and Freshways... lots more goodies to process.

I finished potting up the sweetcorn I got from Country Fresh, each one in it's own pot with home-made compost.  I'll plant them out when the danger of frosts has gone... or reduced, at least!

I cut one of the hedges near the house, and removed a bramble which has for years been in the wrong place, so I'll keep on top of it this year and that should work.

In the evening, I had a meal of couscous and pickles, then a cycle down to The Seahorse to the YorkLETS meeting, and it was good to see two prospective members, Carol and Andrew, as well as Sue and Kay, who are existing members.  We had some good chats, mainly about growing food, allotments and how LETS works.  I got a phone call at 9 from Gill asking when I'd be home as our youngest needed a bath and the pan was on the stove, and needed taking upstairs.  I was happy to come home and do this, as the meeting had finished.  Sue dropped by a bit later to view the pallets I'd got her to make a fence with.  She'll collect them tomorrow.

Then, quite late on, I blanched a load of grapes, to make raisins, and jarred-up a load of apple, red pepper and some other odds and ends of fruit, to make space for a large load of red pepper, which I'll use to make sweet red pepper paprika.

(Added on Tuesday) I forgot to say that I got a message from Debbie saying she was in a bit of confusion about how to sort out a problem.  A visitor to her house had snapped off a key in the padlock to her back garden.  She wanted to know if I had any bolt croppers.  Well, I don't, but luckily, I had a potential solution... which worked!  I found that if I knocked the lock against the gate, I could slightly move the key so the broken edge just protruded from the slot by a tiny amount... just enough for my tiny tweezers from my Swiss Army Knife to be able to grasp it and extract it, after several minutes of trying.  The two halves of the broken key should be enough to get a new one made.  

Sunday 1st May 11

Up early despite being very late to bed last night.  Not a bad day... cycled a big load of compost over to Jenny, two sacks of potting medium, one of rich mature riddled.

I delivered 4 carrier bags of container medium to Country Fresh, to see if there was any call for it there.  I bought some sweetcorn seedlings and a cucumber plant.

I was due to go and work for David at 6pm, so I had a bowl of potato and celery soup plus a hommous sandwich before I left. I arrived on time and Linda, one of his friends/cleaners/PAs was there; it was good to chat with her for a bit.  David had been asked if he'd meet Carolyn at 7.15 at The Last Drop Inn, so I took him there and we chatted with a nice couple who have an allotment on Low Moor, and the conversations continued when Carolyn arrived.

We left at 8.10, got home quickly and I warmed up his 'meal for one' and left, clutching my cheque for the past few weeks whilst Richard has been away.  Richard, David's cousin, is back in the UK now, and will probably spend a couple of days a week with David, so I'll probably just have two or three stints with him each week, until Richard goes away again in June.  I finished at 8.30pm, and cycled home via Country Fresh where I picked up 3 boxes of compostables.

Saturday 30th April 11

Another good day, keeping busy and active.  I did quite a bit of work in the garden, finishing off splitting the last of the John Bibby logs, and stacking them under cover in the back garden too.

I did some riddling, as I've another order and need to make up a load of potting compost for the shop.

Mid afternoon I cycled down to Fishergate to deliver some spare Green Party election leaflets to Dave Taylor; it's the first time I've ever been to his house.  Chris, his partner, appeared, and she invited me in for a cuppa but I needed to go to Alligator and sort out their composting... they'd about two week's worth to collect and some of it was very liquidy. Anyhow, I brought a trailer-load home and immediately put it on the latest heap. I also got a tub of dairy-free blueberry Swedish Glace ice cream and a dairy free garlic mayonnaise from Alligator.... a bit of a treat!

Gill made an unusual tea.... a quiche which used slices of bread instead of pastry.  I'm not a huge fan of eggs but it was OK.  I enjoyed the baked beans and potatoes, and the red onion in the quiche.

Later, I did a large pile of washing up and sorted out the pineapple slices I put to dry last night.  I got some grapes today, so I started to go through them to prepare them for blanching and drying.