Wednesday 7th September 11

I had quite a busy day and at 4 got on a train to Newark to go and see Lisa, my friend from London who's just moved house. It only takes an hour to get to Newark, and I didn't have to wait long until Lisa showed up at the station and we walked into Newark, collected her daughter from the after school club, and then had a wander around the town, along the canalised river and eventually back to Lisa's new house.

We had a low-key evening, a bite to eat and some nice conversations.  Lovely to see her again.

Sunday 1st November 09

A late morning but as slept on a spare bed had a better night's sleep.

I went with Ian on the tube to his house in South London and had lunch there, and then to the playbarn place where his and Lisa's daughter, who has just turned 8, was having a party.

I did a little minishow of circus tricks straight after their tea, and then whilst they were playing in the last half hour, I made all the partygoers a balloon animal.

I got the 5pm train back to Victoria, and a tube to Kings Cross, and was in good time for the 6.20 Grand Central train home.

The train journey back home was good, sitting with three sisters who had been to see a musical and were celebrating with a bottle of wine, and were quite jolly and chatty.

The train was a bit slow on one part of the journey (it apparently 'got cautioned') and got into York at 8.30, so I got home at 9pm, very tired but happy to see my little ones and my wife, and a harmonious house.

Friday 30th October 09

Got up early enough to get all my stuff together and jump on the bike at 10 and head off to the station, where I caught the Grand Central service to London just before 11am.

I met a nice woman on the train (in the seat next to me) who recognised me from the talk I did in Northallerton, and we chatted all the way down. She was going to visit a family member with her two teenage children, and we got on well... covered a lot of subjects in two hours!

When I got to Kings Cross I decided I wanted to go and see the Thames... and find somewhere to have lunch... so I got the circle line to Embankment and went up on the bridge where there was a busker playing a pan (steel drum) so I ate my sandwiches listening to him play. Memories of Trinidad!

I decided not to go to Tate Modern but to get the Northern Line to Edgware... found an internet cafe to do emails and blog, then made my way to where I'm staying tonight.

Paul, who's about the same age as me, lives with his parents following a business venture which didn't work out, and they are away so he decided to have a few people over, and Lisa, one of his close friends, invited me following our meeting in May, where we got on well primarily due to our views on sustainability and social justice. When I arrived, Paul and his friend Naomi were just finishing getting ready... in fact there were a few jobs yet to be done so I helped by mopping the kitchen and bathroom floors, as asked.

I also helped chop veg for dipping, and potatoes fo roasting. People turned up in dribs and drabs after work and as they could get to Edgware from as far away as Dagenham and even one from the Welsh borders. The conversation flowed and the food was good. I always enjoy meeting new people and Paul has a diverse bunch of friends ranging from a nightclub entrepreneur through to a teacher of adults with learning disabilities. I really enjoyed the evening and the company of these people.

Paul had provided some blow-up mattresses and things to sleep on, and half a dozen of us slept in the big living room.

Thursday 21st May 09

Up early as got a lot to try to do today. First had a hunt through various bags and piles of paper, to try to find my Oyster Card, for travelling in London. Did find my London map, though, which is good.

Gill took our youngest to school and went on to the dentist, I went down to the Nationwide to get a cheque cancelled. I had to wait quite a long time, but did eventually get this done. On the way out of there, I met my friend John Forrester from the Stockholm Environment Institute and had a nice chat, then off to Bishopthorpe to the Brunswick Organic Nursery to spend my vouchers (for volunteering with York Rotters) and when there met my friend Marit, and again, had a good chat. She's building an accessible allotment at the Glen Allotments in Tang Hall, a good project.

I found a range of veg plants; squashes, courgettes, cucumbers, calabrese, cauliflowers and tomatoes, just enough to fully pack-out my trailer, even so I cycled slowly home so not to bounce them around too much.

Home for just after 1pm, enjoyed lunch and did a quick email before getting on with sorting stuff out and getting ready for my trip this afternoon/evening.

I left the house soon after 3 and got to the station in very good time to get the 3.54 to London. Had a nice chat to an inorganic chemistry student called Michaela, and then to a chap involved in railway signalling, and soon we were in King's Cross. Thameslink was easy to find ad I got the 6.24 to Crofton Park, and chatted to a researcher in mental health. At Nunhead, a drunk with an aggression problem caused a 20 minute delay, but there was general good humour in the carriage about it. I found Lisa's house very easily, having used Googlemaps yesterday to check it out. Good for 'Streetview'!

Lisa's 15 year old son had made a lasagne, I'd taken some squash soup down, as well as gifts of home made sweet red pepper paprika, pea beans to grow and some dried fruit. I did a little balloon workshop with Lisa's 7 year old daughter, and had a very pleasant evening. One of the things we did was to go out into the back garden and Lisa watered some recently installed plants, and behind the house is some railway land, on the edge of a cutting, covered in trees... a pretty wild area, which her son and his mates use to escape from Mum... a clearing for a campfire, lots of dead wood around. Whilst we were there, we heard a lot of squarking and I spotted a colourful (Green?) Woodpecker leaving a hole in a dead tree, and obviously the noise was a clutch of babies. They've also seen foxes there. A lovely resource to have access to.