Tuesday 31st January 12

A thoughtful day, not feeling 100% positive about myself... it's not a feeling I'm that used to, and recognise it from when I've done something silly or reprehensible.

However, I kept busy, and went to buy bread before lunch.  I cycled back through Hull Road Park to look at the plot which Marie Birbeck from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust told us about last night.  The plot had been 'done' with a chainsaw gang and there were a few smallish logs on the ground from an elm tree which had been trimmed.  I spoke to a gardener who said that he'd be really happy if I took the logs, as he thought that they were going to be taken away by the chainsaw people.

So I loaded up the trailer and took a load home, and went back with an empty trailer twice.  Later in the day I chopped all this up and split it... elm does not split easily, especially when dry, so doing it whilst green is the best option.  I also split a few more bits of the giant logs delivered last week, and did some stacking too.

I unwrapped the 'hotbin' composter which was delivered yesterday morning.  I now see how it keeps the materials so warm; it is made of an expanded plastic, looking a bit like expanded polystyrene but the much tougher expanded polypropylene.  So the claim that the walls are 96% air I now understand.  I'll start using it later this week.

I cycled up to see Carolyn, who wanted to offload some sacks of leaves my way, and to ask my opinion about a tree which one of her neighbours might want trimming or removing.  I persuaded her to leave the tree for a bit, but offered to do a bit of pruning work.  Also I learned about her electric trip-switch in case she calls on me to rescue her from her lift which she occasionally gets stuck in.

I also visited Debbie over the road and heard about her short trip up to see her folks and I'm glad she's still getting on with Philip, who's back from seeing his parents in the West Country.

I heard a chainsaw down the road and it was a chap trying to chop up the big Beech trunk in the garden just over Milson Grove.  I spoke to him and he suggested I speak to the householder, who's name is Paula, and she said, yes, I could have some of the wood.  The chap attempting to do the log seemed really happy for me to take the job on, so later I contacted Ian, my chainsawing friend, and asked him if he'd help me, or if I could pay him to make the trunk into rounds.... There's a lot of wood there, way over a tonne I'd say.  I do hope he can help.

I finished the day feeling a lot more positive.

Sunday 11th September 11

A fairly quiet day, woke at 9.30 and had a slow morning, did quite a bit of fruit prep, and before lunch, cycled down to Country Fresh as Gill wanted some potatoes and I knew there would be quite a bit of compostable stuff for me.

I called in on Debbie and she was in a happy mood, and on the way back I saw Gladys who invited me in for a cup of coffee and to ask me to pick up a load of pears from the tree overhanging her garden.  I didn't really need any more pears but I took 4 bags of them away... most will be composted as they're windfalls and are bruised.

Got back for a late lunch and Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4.

After this I did a bit more sorting in the front garden.... I've done virtually nothing all summer apart from sometimes add to the pile of planks and logs.  So now I have to chop them up and stack.... this will be several days work.

Gill started bottling of the pears I prepared yesterday, by bringing them up to the boil with some sugar in the water, to make a syrup.  I helped with moving the jars when they were hot. One didn't seal properly so we'll have them soon.

So a good day, not hugely exciting or that amazing, but OK.

Monday 25th April 11

I slept in late and woke after 10, and realised that I'd agreed to go to Debbie's at 10 to deliver Green Party leaflets with her.  So I rang her and apologised, and quickly had breakfast and got dressed and round to Deb's.  We walked down to Heslington Road and did the delivery... then Debbie went on to see a family member and I walked home.

Lunch, and then outside to the garden.  I did quite a bit.... dug out the air-raid-shelter compost bin (made from two sheets of corrugated iron, both in a j shape) and filled 3 daleks with the contents, which was semi-finished and this is it's first proper turning.  I cut a hedge, with shears, and shredded the results, with my electric shredder.  I did a bit of riddling too.  I failed to finish the raised-bed work.

I had a use-it-up meal... the last chunk of Gill's pie, plus a bit of leftover noodle and veg mix.  Lovely!

Tuesday 28th December 10

Another late lie in... I'm going nocturnal, as is usual when I'm not forced to get up at a sensible time.  However, I had a busy day.  I went to the Co-op to get cereal and marmalade... Gill cannot live without Seville marmalade, apparently!  But the Tang Hall Lane Co-op didn't have the crunchy cereal that I like, so I went to the Hull Road Co-op, which did.  I popped in on Debbie, who was not yet a Grandma.

A bit later Gill said she was going to go to Marks and Spencer in town to spend her £40 voucher given to her by her sister Linda; yesterday she'd spotted that they had a DAB radio which would enable her to get Radio 7 which has various things on which she'd like to listen to. I said that instead of her buying yet another bus ticket, I'd cycle down and get it.   BUT I wanted to see if there was an energy efficient digital radio, as I'm aware they use quite a bit more power than analogue radios.  So I found this page about DAB radios, and this list of energy efficient DAB radios. Fortunately it had one of the models Gill had seen yesterday in M+S, a PURE ONE Mini, for £45. This only uses 2w when in use, and 0.8w when just left plugged in.  Obviously when unplugged or switched off at the wall, it uses no power!

So I cycled down to Country Fresh and bought a bit of fruit and veg, and picked up a small box of compostables. From here I went on to town, handed over Gill's voucher card and a fiver and within 30 minutes was back home.  Gill was delighted.  Now all she needs to do is to learn how to use it!

At about tea time we got a text message from Debbie; her son had become a father to a little boy, so Debbie's a Granny!  She'll be over the moon!

Gill was putting a load of washing on in the washing machine in the conservatory, and said she could hear running water in there.  But nothing was obvious.  Later, she heard it again and suggested I go and check the studio, which has a flush toilet and my compost toilet.  I found that a pipe had burst in the freeze and was now flowing freely into the little room which has both the (unused) flush loo and my commode which is the 'business end' of my compost toilet set-up.  I switched off the stop tap which is in there and spent an hour clearing up, pulling up the carpet, moving stuff, and by 11pm had put the dehumidifyer in there to start it drying out.  What a bummer.  However, this will force us to declutter in there, which it desperately needs. I know we're not the only people with burst pipes, and we're lucky it's in an outbuilding.

Monday 27th December 10

Another nothingy day... I slept in late, not surprising as I went to bed at about 3am.

Gill took the boys into town on the bus mid afternoon to go and buy books with the book tokens they got for Christmas, and I did a short bit of chainsawing and splitting.  I now have no more logs which need cutting and very few rounds which need splitting.  But now there's a big pile of stackable stuff which I need to attend to...

Before the family got back I hopped onto my bike to go down to Country Fresh, but they'd closed at 4pm and I'd arrived at 4,20.  I popped in to my friend Debbie as her daughter in law is due to have a baby, which will make her a grandma. So, the news was that she'd been induced, so baby will arrive... well, sometime in the next 24 hours...  I'm looking forward to the excited text message, although Debbie says I'll hear her shout from here when she hears the news!

So, tea was a pastie which Gill got from town, plus a mix of parsnip (phew, now finished!) pasta and tomato sauce.  I had a nice Skype chat with Laura after tea, to catch up with what she'd been doing over Christmas.

So, a fairly nondescript day, nothing particularly exciting.

Saturday 25th December 10

I had a bit of a lie-in as the boys were happy with the few presents they had in their 'Santa's sack' which Gill and I quietly slipped into their room last night.

When I came down, they didn't want to dive into their presents immediately, so I had my usual bran flakes and muesli and did my emails and had a few goes on facebook Scrabble.

Them before lunch we all gathered in the front room and the boys had their presents... lots of books mainly.  I gave Gill and the boys a York Monopoly as Gill's been mentioning it for ages, and I got mine from Our Celebration, which is mentioned in the game (I think in 'Community Chest') as they were offering a limited number for £20, cheaper than the advertised £25.  I hope they got them given as a fundraiser.   I was very happy to get 6 pairs of good quality socks and 3 handkerchiefs.  Excellent presents!

Because one present required batteries, I suggested that I walk down to Freshways (which is open, as it's run by people who don't celebrate Christmas) and as the boys don't get enough exercise, I said that one or both of them had to come with me.  Eventually, both of them AND Gill came down with me, a nice family walk, just 20 minutes or so, but it was nice.

I went out after a sandwich lunch and stacked logs... the very cold weather means we are racing through the supplies but there is still enough for several weeks more of the same.  I had offered to make a nutloaf for Christmas tea but the boys wanted pasta... so that's what they had, and I didn't need to cook.

I popped round to see Debbie, and had a pear cider there whilst chatting and she showed me some family photos from when her children were little.

When I got back, one of the children had walked past the back room telly with the magnetic darts board that someone gave them, and the red colour had disappeared from the screen, leaving it very greeny blue.  Apparently the darts had not been put onto the screen, but they contain super strong neodymium magnets and they only need to get near a sensitive object to affect it.  I wonder if the full colour will come back?

My Christmas tea was interesting: a few more onion bhajis thrown away by my friends at the greengrocer's, a couple of waste parsnips, some new potatoes left over form a couple of days ago... these all roasted for 20 minutes in the gas oven, with a small pile of pasta and a tomato sauce Gill made from some tomatoes which had become frozen whilst on display, thrown away, and rescued by me.  An incredibly cheap meal, with the only major ingredient purchased being the pasta, plus 20 minutes in the gas cooker.  But an unusual Christmas meal... or not, as I don't really celebrate Christmas.  If I didn't have children, I wouldn't bother. Not sure why they like to celebrate it, really.  It's mainly Gill who likes the tradition.

Anyway, the family watched telly in the front room, stuff I didn't want to watch, so I chatted with friends, played Scrabble, peeled and sliced melons for drying and had a quiet few hours.  I sent a few e-cards by Anita Sancha to friends, wishing people a 'Happy Winterlude'!  Later, I had a bath, with both big bathwater cans heated on the back room stove and it was a luxurious bath, very deep, very hot, and I must have spent a good half hour in it.  Lovely! I needed it as I've slept in the same clothes for a couple of nights and was feeling a bit grubby. 

Sunday 8th August 10

I really enjoyed today...

After a slow start, and after lunch, the family went to Scarborough on the train, with one of the boys' friends, and left me to get on with whatever I wanted.

I spent a bit of time tidying the kitchen and then got the shredder up the garden to the front, and organised various sheets and bags to deal with the huge volumes of vegetation that I was due to process. So, I took all the pine tree I cut yesterday and clipped off any twigs, leaving the slightly larger sticks for stacking into a fruit box. I shredded these twiggy bits with all of the Wisteria I ripped out yesterday, and got 5 large sacks of shredded material off it. I did this on and off for about 4 hours, taking a break to make carrot soup (carrots from unsold Alligator stuff, home-grown courgette) and to prepare another saucepan full of Cherry Plums.

I got a nice visit from Debbie who was wanting me to help with a remembrance event for her friend Debbie Fricker, but I won't be able to attend as I'm doing something else. However, I'll be able to provide a little sack of logs for a ceremonial fire she's having.

Gill and the boys got back at 8 and Gill was pleased to have some carrot soup.

I had a really good chat on MSN Messenger with Leonie, a friend of my sister whom I've met once but have become friends with recently through facebook.

So a hard-working but relaxed day, happy that the Scarborough visit went well, and I feel lucky to have such a wealth of friends.

Wednesday 28th April 10

I overslept... oh dear. I'd told Debbie that I'd be with her at 9am to go and deliver some Green Party leaflets. She had a meeting at 11 so needed to be back before then, but I woke at 10am and didn't remember about the leaflets til about 11. I popped a note through her door apologising and later she rang and we sorted out another time to deliver them.

Gill got really busy cleaning the downstairs loo, inspiring me to do a job lot of washing up with solar heated water, and some hoovering.

After lunch I was expecting Katalin to come and visit but she rang and said transport was difficult so could she come tomorrow. I had no problem with that and got busy in the garden, riddling yet more material for the large raised bed, and taking worms from this compost to one of the wormeries which I think needs some help... I've found some dead worms in it and some maggots. I wonder what that is about?

At about 5 I walked round to Debbie's and we walked down to Heslington Road to deliver 200 'Vote for Andy Chase' leaflets.

In the evening I met with Tony at the Black Swan to do some more work on the York World Naked Cycle Ride. We finalised the route, decided who was doing what with regards to contacting various people, and it's all coming together pretty well I think.

After this meeting, which took 2 hours, we spent another hour chatting and getting to know each other which was really nice, as although I've known Tony for a while, I've never socialised with him.

I got home just after 11.15 and lit the stove so I could do the washing up from tea time.

Thursday 21st January 10

I got up early to go and pick up some 'cached' compostables from Freshways! I walked my bike down with the trailer and picked up a sack and 3 small boxes. Walked back, removed the trailer and walked it down to Cycle Heaven... well, I freewheeled some of the way downhill, and I chatted to a policeman on some of the way too, so the trip was quite quick. Ash heard my tale of woe and said he'd sort out my dynamo, brake, pedal, rear mudguard, chain and anything else he came across whilst giving the bike a once-over.

He gave me a replacement bike to get home on, and I popped in to Country Fresh to have a natter with Rich and pick up a single box of goodies.

Home, and the postie had delivered the tax people's letter which means I can fill in my tax return online! Yippee!

However, I was unable to do it today as I couldn't find the accounts books. Booo!

So I got on with other things, things like washing up...

After lunch I went to Debbie Fricker's funeral. She was a friend of my friend Debbie, and I met them together on quite a few occasions over the past couple of years. She was a lovely woman, only 3 or 4 years older than me, and very open about her alcoholism. Last year her liver packed up enough for her to go to hospital, and she died last week. She was unable to stop drinking.

I went partly because she was a lovely person who liked me and I liked her... However, I made a decision not to get too involved in her life as I felt she might become a regular visitor and we have enough going on here to have to deal with that sort of visitor... a bit of a cold hearted decision, but sometimes you have to look after yourself. I did take advice on this, it wasn't just my own decision, but someone else suggested not letting her know where I lived or visiting her. It's at times like these when you reassess this kind of ethical dilemma... was it the right thing or the wrong thing to do? If I'd allowed her into my life, our lives, or got involved in hers, would anything more positive have happened?

I also went to support my friend Debbie, who is very upset about what has happened.

So, I cycled over to the Edward the Confessor church on the borrowed bike, and sat through the service. I don't really like Christian services but Debbie was a Christian so it was appropriate. I don't like hymns or prayers, but actually, at this service, two of the three hymns were ones I liked... The Lord of the Dance, and Morning has Broken. So I sang along with those... it's been quite a few years since I sang either of those! One of Debbie's old friends gave a very moving talk about her school days and her teen years, and the friendship they had for 35 years. I thanked her afterwards. I am very sorry that such a lovely person should die so young, and be so troubled. Life is not fair.

I didn't go for 'refreshments' afterwards. I cycled back to Cycle Heaven to pick up my mended bike. Ash had fitted a new back block, chain, front chain wheel, replaced the brake pads in the front disc brake, filed down the broken right brake lever and fixed the back mudguard. It's virtually a new bike!

I picked up a box of compostables from Country Fresh and got home. Felt subdued all afternoon and evening. Just had soup for tea, as wasn't very hungry.

Sorted out a unicycle wheel after tea, prior to my gig on Saturday. It wasn't a puncture, just a loose valve! Duh.

Friday 15th January 10

Got up early and got outside to split and stack three big logs I found and brought back last night on a nocturnal sortie! I also did a bit more pruning of the house-height pine tree which is too close to our house and our neighbour wants removed... and we'll be happy too as it cuts a lot of light from our front room. I'm not taking it out all in one go, as the soil will swell and damage our foundations, so I'm removing branches bit by bit, over a couple of years, and later this year I'll take the rest of it out.

So an active morning, followed by a stint of doing emails which was interesting as I engaged in some dialogue with one of the people behind we love the earth centre, about someone on the email contact list who is unhappy about the involvement of RTTG, and has proposed an anarchist 'solution' or response, and has been emailing aggressive rants to others on the list. Several people have asked for their details to be removed from the list because of this person, and I was worried that 'we love the earth centre' was being damaged.

Later in the day I had a good phone conversation with Mike from RTTG, which he said does not yet have any partners for their Earth Centre redevelopment, and that RTTG is a voluntary group with just 3 people at it's centre. Whether he means unpaid (which is what I understand by the word 'voluntary') is something I'll have to check! But what I did ascertain was that half a dozen people involved with WLTEC including myself, are invited to the first open day, where RTTG want to gather ideas for the future of the site. Should be an interesting day!

I also went to see my friend Debbie, as when I got home yesterday, she had given Gill a message about her friend Debbie F, who has died from cirrhosis of the liver; she was an alcoholic. Very sad. I knew Debbie F a bit, and she liked me apparently, but I didn't have time or energy to get to know her better or become a real friend. And as she was often drunk, that put me off trying to be a better friend or try to help. Her problems were just too deep. Anyway, sad to hear the news, and I spent an hour with my friend hearing about the fun times they got up to. I expect I'll attend the funeral next week.

At tea time I shredded the pine tree limbs which were small enough to go into my Mountfield quiet shredder and put the bigger branches in a pile for chopping up and drying.

I managed to get onto the tax website and found that they have to send me a new password in the post. What a palaver!

I went to Bryony's 'leaving drinks' do at the Yorkshire Terrier on Stonegate, and on the way there, met my old partner I lived with for 10 years, and we had a brief but friendly chat. I was really glad to get her email address, as several people from our past have asked me how she is and all I could say was 'she's in York and whenever I see her, she seems OK, but I have no contact details'. But now I'm going to be able to email people's details to her so they can reconnect. I didn't stay at the leaving do for long, as I'd promised Gill I'd get back to assist with the bedtime stuff.

Played a bit of Scrabble in the evening and chatted to Ali on facebook instant messaging. A peaceful evening.

Saturday 21st February 09

A bit of a lie-in but not a long one... and popped in to Deb's to see if she wanted any veggies at Country Fresh... got those for her and went to the allotment for an hour to do some digging up weeds and filling the compost heap! Then home via Debbie, quick lunch, and then to the bakers and the Co-op for provisions.

Our youngest went to a birthday party and eldest had a friend around. I got a phone call from Johan asking if I'd like 3 'Brazilian Pine' doors, which have been sitting on his driveway for a couple of years, their plastic wrappers trapping the rain and causing them to rot. Very nice looking pale wood, completely untreated, but unusable as lots of discolouration and at the base, rot. What a waste! However, I said yes to it and fairly quickly turned it into firewood. He came round with a second load of assorted offcuts from his woodworking. He brought Maria and their son, and so we had a cuppa with the adults whilst their son joined the other two lads for an hour.

I then carried on sorting the overflowing logging area, and did some stacking before coming in for tea... Gill had made pastry and a pie with it, containing a mushroom and pepper mix in a sauce. Very nice!

Our youngest's party was due to finish at 8pm so Gill and our other boyo walked up to collect him.. and I got a call to say that Gill had been given a glass of wine and all the boys were playing happily. They eventually came in at about 10pm!

Sunday 28th December 08

A nice late morning. Boys in good cheer. Generally a lazy day.

However during the afternoon Lorna popped in on the way back from her sister's and I went for a short walk with her, getting back at 5, and she then drove home to the Midlands. I expect we'll see her later this month, as she's visiting her sister again then.

I popped round to our neighbour Debbie who's back from visiting her brother in Windsor. She's had an unusual Christmas and is glad to be in her own house again.

The whole family watched a programme on ITV with a shrunk Nigel Marvin exploring his back garden and saying "Help! I'm no bigger than a bug" which was relatively good but not brilliant.

Soup for tea... I'd made the reddest soup possible, with tomatoes, red peppers and beetroot, and it was lovely. Had this with a pastie, and a cabbage and cashew nut thing which Gill made, plus some left over baked beans. Tasty!

Fairly quiet evening.... watched some telly, played Scrabble and answered composting questions on Facebook. Bed by 2am.