Thursday 18th November 10

A very peaceful day, although I had the headache again.  The day slid by with not a huge lot happening apart from a meeting in town in the afternoon, and on the way back I went to Alligator and picked up a trailer load of compostable resources... and then came back via Country Fresh where there were 3 boxes of the same for me, which I balanced on top of the trailer and bungeed on to my pannier rack.

I was pleased to see that Shirley had sorted out some Persimmons, or Sharon Fruit, or as I remember them from a Chinese girlfriend Wai Fong Cheng, back in Leicester in the 1980s, the Chinese Love Apple.  These are mainly yellowy orange, but have naturally occurring dark patches in the flesh.  The ones with the most dark patches on had been thrown out... 14 good solid fruits, plus two which were a bit soft.  So I had 16 persimmons to wash, remove the calyx, peel and slice into 4 slices, and put on the drying racks above the stove.  When they are dry they have a curious date-like texture.  They're delicious dried.

At 4pm, one of my LETS contacts sisters arrived, with a pre-arranged delivery of a big load of brewing equipment.  Her father, who's made wine all his life, has now got too old for continuing to do his hobby, and the demijohns and plastic buckets were taking up too much space.  So Vivienne contacted me and asked me if I'd be able to get rid of this for her.  I said yes, of course, and so today she brought round 20 demijohns, 10 buckets and barrels, 2 boxes of assorted equipment and 2 plastic crates which could fit 20 bottles each.  But fortunately I had seen a 'wanted' message yesterday on Freecycle for brewing stuff... so at 5pm, Rob came round and was really happy to pick up 3 demijohns, 3 plastic buckets and a selection of filters, muslin sheets, corks and a corking machine.  Later, I called on a neighbour, Charles, and he was delighted to have 7 demijohns and some straining bags for his fruit press.  I love Freecycling!

I put an 'offered' message on Freecycle and got 21 responses asking to be given the rest of the equipment.  I contacted the most local and said yes, come tomorrow early afternoon, and sent a copied/pasted message to all the others saying sorry, and I'd hang on to their details in case of non-collection.

I made tea for the family; I cooked some Bulgar wheat, grated a carrot into it, popped some home-made raisins in, and this was a basic salad which was enjoyed by all.  Gill and I had the last of the celery soup, and I had a waste avocado chopped up in with my Bulgar wheat.

At 6 I set out for the University of York People and Planet showing of McLibel.  I've got a copy of the film on DVD but I haven't had time to watch it.  The McLibel trial was big news in the early 90s, and the story is quite amazing.  I remember the leaflet from the late 1980s, when I was getting into green issues and activism, and still have a tee-shirt from that era with MuckDonalds on it.  This is a story that should inspire anybody wanting to make a better world or campaigning for a more just society.  It shows that ordinary people... like Helen Steel and Dave Morris, can change society, get laws changed, and damage multinationals such as McDonalds, which has suffered and lost business since the trial.  I do recommend watching this film, it can be ordered here.

I got back soon after 8 and did the washing up, kept the stoves going, dealt with fruit, and caught up with the email avalanche following the Freecycle offer of brewing equipment, and wrote my blog whilst watching Panorama about whether to tax fatty and sugary foods.

Wednesday 17th November 10

Well a traumatic start to the morning but both children did go to school and this allowed us to get on with a variety of paperwork-type things, despite feeling stressed, tiredness and having a headache. I wrote and sent an invoice,  received a cheque for the Pickering Transition event, and got the paperwork through for a series of 5 gigs as Father Christmas in Dewsbury and Huddersfield.  I don't really enjoy being Santa Claus, although the excited kiddies wouldn't know that as I remain professional and do my very best.  For me, being Professor Fiddlesticks doesn't actually seem like work most of the time, as I genuinely enjoy myself, and Fiddlesticks is more the real me than John Cossham is.  But acting as Saint Nicholas is tough, it is definitely work, not play.  I'd rather not get offered more Father Christmas gigs, unless the money is very good, which in these cases, it isn't.  But I'm in a situation where I cannot afford to turn down any paid work, so I look forward to the eventual cheque and will ensure that I work hard and do a good job.

So, once I'd done some of this paperwork, and dealt with a sales phone call as politely as possible, I did some outside work... a load of chainsawing, collecting the final load of logs from the Millfield Lane house and processing them, and at 4, I cycled round to Beryl the Freecycler in Heworth, who had offered a pair of size 9 steel toe cap wellington boots, and I went to try them on.  They fitted me perfectly and she was happy to give them to me.  On the way back I got a heavy wooden pallet.  I also collected one sack of fallen beech leaves from a nearby tree, and added these to the leafmould pile.

The boys came back having had a good day at school which was a relief.

In the evening I did a big pan of stewed apple, using the tasty cooking apples from our garden, and Gill made a celery soup which was really nice.  Later on in the evening my headache went away, probably due to a second dose of paracetamol.  I enjoyed the last of the 3 programmes on the National Grid... a fascinating subject.

Tusday 16th November 10

A much busier day.  I got up early as there was a commotion downstairs but I was ineffective in solving the problem.  However I got busy with a bit of housework and at 10.30 got my bike out and headed to town as I had arranged to meet Naomi, and she'd suggested El Piano, my favourite place for a hot chocolate made with soya milk.

I met Naomi because she's a disability access campaigner and I too am fed-up with the discrimination that some people face... we also share an interest in circus skills.  She's a psychology graduate and has just got a job with Lime Trees, so we talked about child development and mental health issues too.  She asked me to help sort her compost heap (or lack of it!) at her new flat, so I think we'll be meeting again. 

I came home via Country Fresh and Freshways and hauled home a broken pallet too. 

After lunch I popped round to the house on Millfield Road which recently had a skip outside which provided me with a big haul of logs and privet sticks.  I'd seen the owner the other night and he'd invited me to take some more logs, so I took the secateurs and loppers round and helped them clear the back garden.  I got another load of privet, some hawthorn (my favourite wood for providing a really hot stove!) and some elder.  The owner appeared and was happy to remove the twigs I'd cut off and take them to his horticultural nursery, and he used his chainsaw to cut another elder trunk down.  I took a well-packed trailer full back, and then returned to collect a second load.

By this time it was dark and I was due to go to Leeds for a meeting starting at 6.30, so I had a tin of dolmades and a hommous sandwich for tea.  And then down to the station.... ran from the bike park to Platform 4 and got the 17.40 train with seconds to spare.  And was in Leeds by 6.08, and walked down to The Common Place for the Northern Green Gathering Annual General Meeting.  I've attended quite a few NGGs, and am a keen supporter of what they do.  I've provided composting services on several occasions.

I was pleased to meet my friend Dave Petty who is a long-term Director of the organisation, and there were several other familiar faces, and some new people who were friendly and nice.  There were 15 or 16 of us there, and after discussion of the accounts and a report of the past 2 years activities, there were the elections of Directors.  David and Andrea were re-elected, and Pete, Rowen, Keith, Nigel and Becky were elected as new Directors.  I was considering putting my name forward but as so many other people did, I kept my hand down. I probably have enough on my plate as is.

It was a good meeting and it looks like we have a potential venue for next year's festival, and there are some possibilities for having a presence at other festivals.

I didn't go to the pub afterwards, as I wanted to get home so I walked back to the station.  Once again there was a train just about to go, and I shelled quite a few pumpkin seeds on the way back to York.

I picked up a third load of logs from the Millfield Lane house on the way home.

Tuesday 15th November 10

A kind of nothingy day, although I did have a bit of an odd Fiddlesticks enquiry in the morning.  It was from a GCSE pupil who was at school and arranging some sort of school celebration where an entertainer was needed.  She wasn't very experienced at talking to a service provider over the phone, and I have no idea whether she'll come back to me.  I'm not sure she understood how I negotiate the fee.  But, we'll see!

Apart from that it was a quiet morning, and in the afternoon Gill went to town and I went out on the bike and came back with some logs. I did do some bits in the garden... pruning loganberries amongst other activities.

Probably the most notable thing today was that Gill got the next bit of secondary glazing done, in the downstairs loo, with a sheet of perspex and magnetic self adhesive stuff.  She had a slight accident with the self adhesive strips but it still works, and immediately the house feels warmer. 

I made tea... pasta salad and slices of stove-fried squash.  But a pretty low key day with lots of this and that, bits and bobs.  Tomorrow might be more focused.

Sunday 14th November 10

Gill let me sleep in til 10 and I woke very slowly which was nice.

I had a slow morning but did some work in the garden before lunch, and after lunch, got ready to go to a gig off Bootham at 3pm.

The gig was quite tough.  The audience were mostly 7 year old boys, who were noisy and restless and obviously unused to watching live entertainment. The mums, whom I encouraged to sit on chairs behind the children, chatted through the show, and although I asked several times for quiet, several mums chatted at the back near the kitchen, which didn't help the atmosphere of a live show.  Also, the venue was hot which meant I got quite sweaty by the end of the event.  So I enjoyed this party less than most, and I was worried that my strictness would have annoyed them... but apparently not.  The mum who booked me said she was happy with everything and paid me the agreed fee... and by 5.15pm, I was cycling home.

I stopped off at Freshways on the way back and picked up a large sack of compostable which tore as I tried to pick it up, so I put stuff into a box and that went on the pannier rack with the sack on top.  I had a quiet evening, didn't do much apart from eat, wash up, watch telly, play facebook Scrabble, dealt with emails and jarred-up the pears and pineapple. 

Saturday 13th November 10

I had a 9am start to the day, despite a late night, and caught up with some washing up, as Gill had kept the stoves going and there was hot water.  She got up at 6, as usual!

Our youngest went off to a party and eldest went to have a hair cut, and I got ready to go to Manchester for a regular social I like to attend.  I made sandwiches to have on the train and zoomed into town and got my ticket and got down to Platform 4 to get the train.  I chatted to a musician chap who had two chunky cases with him... probably guitars but I thought at first one was a cello.  We talked about being a performer and all sorts.  He was off to Cheshire to do a gig.

I had my sandwiches and read Resource magazine.  I was soon in Manchester.  I met my friends Laura and Nina, and we went to Night and Day and met another of Laura's friends Colin, and Janie and Jonathan, and Swin and Ellie, and a new attendee Simon, and Fiona and Tess, Sean turned up, and Ian, and plenty of others.  What a lovely crowd.

I had two coffees and lots of conversations and left at about 5.45, and got the 6.11 train back which was a bit late, and I spent the journey chatting to a nice retired couple who were keen to get back to Edinburgh and were slightly worried about getting their connection in York.   They'd been to a nephew's wedding at Manchester Town Hall.

And therefore I got back into the house at 9.30pm and didn't do much apart from get slaughtered at Scrabble by Gill.  She beat me by 108 points.

Friday 12th November 10 Visit to Promessa UK

Today was something I'd been looking forward to for a while, meeting one of my heroes, Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, who has invented and developed a greener alternative to cremation and burial called Promession.

I became aware of this process whilst working with Justin Rowlatt, BBC Newsnight's 'Ethical Man', during filming in my garden, and when I found out more about it I just knew that it was a big improvement on the 'traditional' methods of disposing of human bodies when someone dies.  For those of you who don't want to visit http://www.novaterium.com/ which my Canadian colleague Rory Rickwood and I have written, where we discuss the issues in more detail, the basics are:
Cremation uses fossil gas, lots of it, to reduce the body to ash, but releases fossil CO2, polluting oxides of nitrogen, mercury from fillings and other undesirables. About 70% of UK funerals are cremations.
Burial, which may seem like an eco friendly option with the 'dust to dust' bit, but means the corpse decays anaerobically and this releases methane, CH4, a greenhouse gas. The grave may also release liquids and chemicals from the often-used embalming process, which could escape into groundwater or watercourses. Burial also uses up valuable land which then isn't available for food growing or housing, etc.
'Natural' or 'Green Burial' is a version of traditional burial, often in a rural area, often with trees being planted, often without embalming and with a cardboard or willow/bamboo casket, but if placed any deeper than a metre under the ground, it is highly likely that the remains will release methane.
Promession is a fully automated process which renders the body to a state where it can be safely interred in the top 50cm of the soil where it composts aerobically.  The body is frozen with liquid nitrogen, a waste product of the oxygen industry, and because it is then brittle, is able to be shattered into tiny fragments by means of a vibrating table.  These are subjected to a vacuum which removes all the water, leaving a material which is similar to instant coffee granules.  The casket is mechanically chipped. Metals such as fillings are automatically removed.  All the biodegradable remains are put in a small biodegradable casket which may then be interred, or cremated, or, I suppose, the contents scattered in a favourite place, like the contents of a cremation urn.  The aerobic decomposition means that a small amount of CO2 is released, rather than methane, and the resultant humus is a perfect medium for plant roots to gain nutrients from.

So, Susanne spent the best part of two decades developing this process, and it is now ready to be licenced to be used.  She has now given the job of promoting it in this country to Promessa UK, which comprises a couple, Nathan and Meredyth, and a friend of theirs, Willem, who is a business advisor, and today I went to Cambridge on the train to meet the team. 

I cycled to York station and got a day return for £66, and then met Edward for 10 minutes to sign some York in Transition cheques.  I got on the 11.35 train to Peterborough.  I was already sitting down when an old colleague of mine, Gary, from Local Agenda 21 days a decade ago, got on... and we had a good chat, and the other person at the table, a nice woman called Jill joined in too.  I love trains for these conversations.

I had another interesting meeting with a young illustrator on the Peterborough to Cambridge train. I was amazed how well she could draw on a moving train!

I'd memorised the route to East Road from the station, but on the way, next to a bin at a bus stop, I found an unopened bag of 4 Tesco's Croissants, reduced to 26p.  I can't pass by a 'freegan' opportunity, even in a different city, so I picked this up.  I think it must have fallen out of a shopping bag.  I put it in my bag.

East Road was only about 10 or 15 minutes walk.  The office block where I was due to meet the team was easy to find.  I was early and they were still at lunch, so I read my NewScientist in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby.  Then they all came back, about 8 people, some of whom said their goodbyes and disappeared, and Nathan led the way to a nearby pub.  I was really happy to meet Susanne, who is as keen a composter as I am. She has fewer compost bins than me, but has been composting for longer. 

Over coffees in the bar, we had wide-ranging conversations.  I was pleased to meet Peter, Susanne's husband, and got on really well with Meredyth and Nathan, who have a long history of voluntary work, low carbon living mixed with international travel. We talked about some research which needs to be done (and could be done by me, or perhaps be overseen by me?) and a little about the Promession process itself.  We chatted about all sorts of different subjects including Paul Stamets' mushroom cultures, the failings of drug prohibition, prostitution and non-monogamous relationships, free thinkers and autism, hot composting versus cold composting, aerobic decomposition versus putrefaction, Effective Micro-organisms and much much more.

The company is still in the early stages of being set up so we didn't talk much about that.  They seem keen to have my input and want me to work with them, but it's too soon to talk about anything concrete such as roles, hours, pay or anything.  They have asked for my CV and references, so I think that once I provide those, we'll be in a better position to move forward.  All I know is that I am a keen supporter of this technology, and will do what I can to help introduce it, to help people understand why it is better than the alternatives.  I'd be very happy to work with Nathan and Meredyth, and feel honoured to be associated with Susanne.  I always admire innovators... especially if in the field of sustainable development and composting!

Our chatty social came to a close at 6pm, and Meredyth gave me a shoulder bag with the Promessa Organic Burial logo on.  Nice!  I walked back to the station, getting a 99p tub of hommous on the way, which I thought would go well with the croissants.

The train connections were good, nice chat with a Dutch prostate cancer PhD researcher from York University called Paula, and on the York train I had two croissants with hommous whilst chatting to an oil company lawyer.  I got home on the dot of 9pm, feeling amazed, wowed, happy, buoyant and very lucky.

I was just in time to watch another of my heroes, David Attenborough, about the evolution of life as explained through fossils.  I had a can of cider, and after midnight, a bottle of beer which has sat on a shelf collecting dust for a year.  A happy evening. 

Thank you Promessa, you have made my day... and more!