Friday 12th August 11

Mick the Brick arrived to finish off the job he started yesterday.  He put a final layer of render on, making it really smooth and it looks lovely, both inside and out.  I paid him and by 11am he was gone.

I did a small amount in the garden and more in the house, working with Gill a bit to get the conservatory more tidy and usable.

At 4.15 I cycled down to town, via Country Fresh, to meet Loony off the bus which was due in at 5pm.  We walked all the way through town to Heslington Road, where her Bed and Breakfast was, and when she'd got herself together after such a long bus trip from Bristol, we got a taxi into town.

We went to El Piano as a birthday treat for Loony, where Bob the chef was doing an offer, if you bought a drink, you got a tapas dish with it.  So we sat outside, under a huge umbrella awning, and had a couple of drinks each and 3 tapas dishes between us... a tomato salsa and tortilla chips, a refried beans and corn fritter dish, and finally, vegan sushi... my first experience of sushi!  Loony had a sugar free and fat free pudding too, made from banana and coconut.  

Thursday 11th August 11

Woken comparatively early considering the late night, by 'Mick the Brick' who had come to do our little bricklaying job.  He had lost our contact details and that's why he hadn't rung us to forewarn us.

He did a great job, first removing the wooden battens which covered the gap between the back of the house and the wall which was there before we built the conservatory. He used bricks which I'd been given by Gillian round the corner, left over from building the raised bed down the garden.  He laid the bricks slightly recessed from the existing front surface, with the intention to cover the bricks (which don't match the 'clamp bricks' of the house or free-standing wall) with a cement render, to make it look like a pillar or something.  All the wires and things he put in the cavity between the bricks.

Gill and I were delighted that this will stop any rodent ingress and it feels a lot more secure with bricks not wood, which was eaten through by a rat several years ago... and I had to pile bricks up against the outside to make it rodent proof since then.

Our youngest's 24 hour party came to an end at midday and all involved had enjoyed it.  The sleepover in the tent, with 5 of them, was obviously very exciting and fun.

I went to work at David's at 6 and we went to City Screen and had a nice chat with a solicitor and a physiotherapist from Elvington, I think.  David likes it that I have an uncanny knack of being able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone!  When we got back to David's I sorted out his washing machine and got him his meal, and left him to it.

Wednesday 10th August 11

I got up at 8 as I had to be on my bike by 9 and at Huntington Library by about 9.40 latest.  It was raining hard.  I got there in about 25 minutes, including the slight diversion when I almost took my bike into the GP Surgery next door, by accident!

The librarian let me in once she'd seen me at the door, and I had a look around the venue to check it was OK to wheel my bike in.  As it had a wooden floor, the wet bike was no problem, so in it all came.  I got changed and talked through the format of the morning.

At 10 the punters arrived, a gaggle of children with Mums.  I was introduced by the librarian and then proceeded to do my usual 'warm-up-act' where I invite an 'entertainer of the future' to come and try out their skills (usually a joke or a cartwheel or something similar!) and then I got on with my show.  I particularly enjoyed the workshop, as one of the Mums proved to be really good, quite unexpectedly, at first the diabolo, then she did devilsticks surprisingly well, and when I suggested she might want to try juggling, she said 'no, I could never do that' but she was doing a three-ball cascade within a matter of seconds.  I was astounded, and I think she was too, although she wasn't one to express her emotions much.  She was just a complete natural, but had never, ever been exposed to a situation where she could try these skills.  I cycled home feeling very emotional.

In the evening I met Catherine, a student, in the Three Legged Mare, for Green Drinks, as she wanted to interview me about green groups in York. Several other people arrived and it became a more open discussion.

Tuesday 9th August 11

Working for David.  I met up with him at 2.30 and took him to the Theatre Royal to see Peter Pan.  This had been organised by Carolyn, who had brought her two grandchildren with her. 

It was a good production, and David enjoyed it a lot, which was far more important than what I thought. I did enjoy it somewhat, but it was aimed at children, mainly.

I started to try to catch up on the backlog of assorted paperwork, blog posts, etc, and all the other jobs which don't get done when on holiday!

Monday 8th August 11, Return to York

I took the tent down, not easy with windy weather.  But I was helped.  Then we got shoehorned into Rob's car, we only just fitted!  He took us to St Austell station, where we had quite a bit of time to kill, so I walked into town with the boys to find lunch and spotted an internet cafe, so I returned and had a short time using their WiFi to catch up on emails etc. 

Then we got a series of trains, one to Plymouth, and a quick connection to the Leeds train, where at Birmingham, a pair of young men got on and got out their Nintendo DS machines, and our boys, who both have one as well, connected with them and had some fun racing Mario Carts and various other games.  These chaps were even able to share some software to let our two play a game which wasn't installed on their DSes.  This made this part of the journey go very quickly.

Finally, a train to York, getting in after 10.30pm, so we got a taxi back home.  The taxi driver, when prompted to tell us what if anything had happened in York over the past week, told us there'd been a hurricane in Dunnington.  Our eldest tried to explain that it wasn't possible to have a hurricane in Yorkshire (although possible to have hurricane force winds) but the guy assured us it was a hurricane.  Later, looking through the newspapers, I confirmed that it was a tornado, not a hurricane.

It was good to get back and find everything as we'd left it. Happy to be home and have comfy beds!

Sunday 7th August 11, 9th and final day in Cornwall

Today was another fab day.... we'd been invited to go back to the marquee for midday to have a pastie lunch.

However, I had to organise the transport back to either Truro or St Austell tomorrow, and I discussed the bus situation with the chap in the office.  He explained that there wasn't a good connection between one bus and the next, and that one stopped in Veryan and then we'd have to walk a mile to Ruan High Lanes to catch the one to Truro.  So we asked about getting a taxi to the bus to Truro... or all the way to Truro or St Austell.  When I explained that we wanted to travel tomorrow, on Monday, he said he was happy to take us into St Austell, if we thought we'd fit in his car.  Well we were very grateful, as this made the journey much easier, and we said we'd see him at midday tomorrow.

So, with this sorted, we wandered along to the field with the marquee, and it was a much less organised and formal day.  The DJ had gone, and the caterers too, just leaving the marquee and tables, and kids playthings.

A good selection of pasties were supplied, and some cakes too, and lots of opportunities for conversations and getting to know people, deep discussions with our nephew Jonny about the introduction of a new green technology, and great games of frisbee with Dankie and family, mainly. 

We spent all afternoon there, just having a really super social time.  However, it started to get thinner on the ground and eventually the marquee was going to be left done up so it could be taken down the following day.  We walked up the road to the campsite, and just as I was thinking about Robin Harford and how that tomorrow morning I wouldn't have time to go to his foraging workshop, and there was a car driving into the site and it reversed and Robin leaned out of the window and said 'Blow me, it's Cossham' (or words to that effect!)... and then apologised for swearing with my family there.... and I introduced him to Gill and the boys.

A bit later, I went on a short walk with him, and then took the boys down to the beach for a little wander (we had fun throwing a golf ball up a cliff to see it randomly bounce down) and then, after dark, Gill and I went for a coffee with Robin and his wife, who was really nice.

I think this is what happened today anyway!

Saturday 6th August 11, Helen and Jason's Wedding

A really lovely day.  We got all our gear ready to go in the taxi to Portscatho, or more accurately, Treloan Coastal Holidays Campsite, south of Gerrans.  The taxi chap had arranged to meet us up the hill where it wasn't quite so steep, at 10am.  He had had difficulty last time on the steep slope and it was easier for us to lug all our gear up to him than him drive down to us and risk getting stuck.

So, we took the taxi the 13 or so miles to the campsite... it took half an hour and cost £35... but this was much quicker than (and probably a similar cost to) getting a bus to St Austell, a train to Truro and a bus to Portscatho... and later, we realised there is no direct bus from Truro to Portscatho, you have to get off one and walk for a mile to catch the connecting bus between Veryan and Ruan High Lanes, which is a complete nonsense when it comes to accessible public transport.  So we were very happy to have a quick door-to-door service, and Carl the taxi man was nice.

We got to the campsite before 11am and our pitch was not yet vacated, so whilst the other campers were striking camp, I explored the site, and was surprised to find a poster featuring my friend Robin Harford, the wild food forager, who was running a short foraging workshop on the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I was pleased to see this but saddened as we were due to be going on the Monday morning, so I wouldn't be able to attend.

I erected the tent almost single-handedly.  As it was quite windy, I pegged it down before putting in the poles, which was sensible as it was at risk of blowing away once the poles were in. It took less than an hour to do it... this was just the second time I've put it up, and last time I had lots of help.

Soon after I'd done this, it was time to go and wait for the bus that Helen and Jay had organised, so I got changed into my smart clothes in the tent, as did the others, and we went to the campsite office.  There was already a well-dressed gent there, and we asked if he was going to the wedding, and yes... he was waiting for his family to join him too.

The bus came...it was a preserved vintage one from King Harry Coaches, really beautiful and special-looking, with a wedding ribbon on the front.  There were already quite a few people on it, and we picked up others along the way, including Linda, Gill's sister, and her daughter Nancy with her boys... all looking very smart and happy.

It didn't take long to get to St Just in Roseland Church, down a narrow leafy lane, looking almost tropical in its abundance.  The church is down some paths through gardens, and the church overlooks the sea... well, a wooded inlet which is really pretty.  All the guests milled around and chatted, and then after quite a wait, we filed in and as we were the Bride's family, we sat on the left of the church... which gave us a great view of the couple when they were going through the ceremony.

Helen was walked down the isle by Mike, her father, and she was smiling and giggling and obviously revelling in the moment.  The vicar who presided over the ceremony was a very humorous woman, just perfect for Helen, who is renowned for her sense of fun. Jason is slightly more sober and sensible and I'm sure helps balance Helen's giddy personality. 

After the ceremony, we all filed outside where a pair of photographers got all the different groups of people to line up for the official photos.  I took a few as well, these are my favourites:

From the church we all got back in the two old buses and we wound our way back to Portscatho and a field just beyond Treloan, where a large marquee had been put up.

This was a wonderful reception venue.  There was Pimms served and then a lovely meal, and the traditional speeches.  Children had straw bales to play on/with, and frisbees, footballs, cricket equipment and more.  I think it was the best reception party I've been to, and I really enjoyed meeting our new relatives, Jason's side of the family, as well as the relatives we already know and love.

The party continued til midnight... there was a brief rainstorm and a rainbow, and plenty of sunshine, fun, conversation, food and drink, and later, music and both Gill and I danced.

I dedicate today's blog post to Jason and Helen Kenneally. I hope they have a long and happy life together.