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.

Sunday 10th April 11

A very hardworking day... but a real goody.

Last night I emailed John Bibby as today I had provisionally agreed to go and finish off his huge tree trunk, but we hadn't agreed a time.  So this morning I was having breakfast, my usual bran flakes and muesli, and we spoke on the phone.  He suggested getting there before 11, so I got washed and dressed and took my new chainsaw, 50m of extension flex, maul (splitting axe) and extra oil all on the bike and in the trailer, and got there for 10.45.  I had a coffee and got working.

There was about two thirds of the tree trunk left, and I cut slices and then walloped them with the back of the maul, or tried to split them off by hitting the cut with the sharp-end of the axe.  John and Shirley went out on their bikes to see some Open Studios, and I filled their car with big lumps.  I stopped for a sandwich and drink, as it was very hot working in the sunshine, but I wanted to get it over and done with and eventually I got it all sorted.  I got a car full, and about the same volume (over a cubic metre) sitting on a blown-over fence panel.   I locked up the house at about 2.30 and came home, exhausted. 

John rang and came round with the first car full, and I filled and overflowed a builder's bag with the lumps.

I got washed and tidied for 5.30 as was working for David this evening.  I took him in the wheelchair to City Screen where we had a cuppa, and then I cooked him a meal and sorted out another cupboard of tins of mainly soup, some of which were 'best before' 2007 and 8.  So, as requested, I took anything pre 2010 and promised to 'dispose' of it! 

And guess what I had for tea when I got home?  A lovely tin of cream of tomato soup, circa 2007, was lovely, improved with age, methinks.  I followed this with a slice of Gill's quiche and some pasta and tomato salad. 

Then at about 9.30 there was a knock at the door and it was John Bibby and Will with the second lot of lumps, again, these filled a builder's bag and more, so I've a huge amount of stacking to do...  

Tuesday 29th March 11

A mixed day... our youngest went to school in a taxi all by himself for the first time and I got ready to go to John Bibby's to continue chopping up his huge log.  I delivered a rhubarb root, sprouting several leaves, to Keith as a thank you for fixing the chainsaw, and then delivered a receipt of payment to a gent who lives near John.

I soon got busy with the log, cutting it with the saw and then using the maul effectively to break chunks off.  I filled their car and just as I was getting to the end of my stint, the chainsaw broke... the motor was able to go round but the chain didn't.  Bummer.

I had a coffee with Shirley and then also John joined us, and Shirley told me about what they'd experienced in Palestine on their recent visit.

I then cycled home and 20 minutes later, John arrived in his car and I unloaded the chunks into the builders bag ready for splitting.

Had lunch, can't remember what I did after lunch but at about 3pm I took our youngest's bike down to the Steiner School on my trailer and we cycled home together.

I had a difficult phone call with my agent who's got hold of the wrong end of the stick about something and I'm not very happy with the outcome, but will go along with it to 'keep the peace'.

I had a cycle around the neighbourhood to collect signatures for the nominations papers for me and Luke, who's my running mate in the forthcoming elections. Will D then came round and collected them, and at 8.15 I went to visit Jane, as she wanted some help with doing an event page for a dance event she's organising.  So that was pretty straightforward, and we had a good chat.  I got back at about 11pm with two pallets.  Whilst rescuing the pallets from a skip, I witnessed an argument between a male and a female and when he hit her, I ran over towards them shouting 'stop that' and said I'd ring the police.  She begged me not to and urged the male to go with her, but she twice called out thank you to me.  Sad to see that sort of thing going on.

Monday 14th March 11

Another hard-working day.  I took my chainsaw over to John Bibby's as he had got an enormous log in his garden... I think it's been there for a decade, and a seat had been cut out of it, an L shaped cut.  However, John had indicated he wanted it removed (last year, actually, when I collected all of the chunks of wood from his garden which is now having a house built on it) so today, I'd arranged to go and see if I could do anything with it, using my little chainsaw. 

So I got there at about 10am and eventually we found an extension lead, and I started cutting part-slices out of it.  John only had a tiny axe, and I wished I'd brought my maul with me to clout the chopped chunks to break them off.  However, a few well-aimed kicks worked!

John was going over to the University, so he asked me to load up his car and he'd take it over to Hull Road, I'd unload and get on with my day.  So at about midday, I'd filled his car with big chunks and I cycled back with a trailer full of smaller ones and my chainsaw, which had done very well with the massive log.... I think I'd dealt with a third of it.

I had lunch and as usual, put my laptop on to get emails etc, and it just wouldn't get past the 'start' menu.  Frustrating.  However, I couldn't spend time trying to work out what to do, as at 2pm I was due to start work with David.  He wanted to go round town, and my role is to be his enabler/driver.  We went to the paper shop, his bank, Barnitts, the library, another paper shop to get a newspaper that the first one didn't have, and back to his place where I did some sorting out of his fridge, which had some very out of date items in.

I left soon after 4, and took a trailer-full of newspaper out of his bin to Sainsburys as they have paper banks, and I needed to do some shopping there anyway.  I got mayo and our favourite bread, and some dairy-free ice cream for Gill.  I met Debra in there and we had a chat at the checkout.

Home via Freshways, picked up 3 sacks, and came home to do a load of stacking, splitting and more stacking.  Jamie stopped by and chatted.

I enjoyed tea... Gill had made a pie for Pi day (3.14, ha!) and I had some of yesterday's pasta with it.

I phoned Ben and asked about how I might get my computer working... and he reminded me about 'safe mode (click F8 on start-up) and so to write this, I'm on 'Safe Mode with Networking'.  Ben suggested a hard-disc clean, and told me to save any documents I needed to save onto a dongle thingy.  We got a free one from Suma last year, so I'm going to do that, and Ben will deal with my over stuffed hard-disc.  Hope that helps!

Sunday 9th August 09

A nice day with the family. I woke quite late but got busy in the kitchen after breakfast, and it was a peaceful and very productive day.

Gill had cut down some overhanging Lilac and cut back an overenthusiastic willow, and she wanted me to dispose of this cut material. I cut off the smaller branches and shredded them, and put the larger sticks aside to be cut to a stackable length for kindling.

I then got busy further down the garden, pruned the cherry tree... cutting the long branches back to half their length to make it easier to put the net over next year. I also cut several lengths of hedge, including one which had got very long and needed work with secateurs not the shears. I shredded all this to help it rot down more quickly. I have several sacks of this mainly woody material to add to heaps and tumblers which have the mainly fruity and veggie material on them, to help with aeration and carbon-nitrogen balance.

We harvested some potatoes from the woven green sacks where they've been growing all summer, very satisfying. I also picked some Jack Edwards Climbing Pea Beans and some broccoli and a small crook-neck squash, all of which Gilly melded into a lovely meal.

At one stage during the day I got my emails and there was a Freecycle offer from John Bibby, my friend who has had quite a bit of tree work done in his garden, offering a trailer-load of willow sticks. I replied and asked if he had any of the other wood left, the pear, laburnum and better-to-burn wood, and he replied and suggested I cycle round and pick some up.

So when I got there there were quite a few of the good-to-burn logs there, and John suggested that I fill his car up and he drive a load round. I was only expecting to take a bike-trailer's worth, but he was happy to be rid of the stuff as he wanted to clear his garden. So I loaded his car, and my trailer, and I cycled back and John drove round 20 minutes later, and I unloaded his car. I must now have one of the best collections of logs in York! And a heck of a lot of work to do!

Our eldest was also busy today, preparing for his younger brother's birthday tomorrow. He has made a complicated map of the garden and cut it up and hidden the different bits in various different places, so that when all of them are put back together it reveals the whereabouts of some buried treasure. This treasure is the birthday present. So there was various help needed with this task, including keeping his younger brother unaware of the preparations. A fun task.

So, a hard working day, good moods all round, productive, happy.

Friday 29th May 09

Spent most of the morning on the computer, doing washing up, preparing fruit for drying and various other domestic stuff. With the Euro elections approaching, there's a lot of political stuff winging its way around the web, and I found this. I thought it might be fun to see if it predicted my Green intentions. But I couldn't get it to tell me which way to vote. I wonder if others can?

I responded to a Freecycle offer of lots of logs; my friend John Bibby has a neighbour who's taken down a large horse chestnut, an apple, a pear, a huge laburnum and some softwood. I agreed with John that I'd cycle round at 5pm, he'd get his car ready to take some logs over to mine, I'd load and then unload the car, and he'd take me back to pick up my bike with a trailer full. Sounded like a good plan.

I did a bit of work in the garden but it was too hot. I cycled down to Country Fresh with three carrier bags of very mature compost, and picked up a sack and two boxes of compostables plus a bit of shopping.

Came back and tried to make some space in the front garden ready for the log arrival, but my chainsaw is being difficult and only working now and then. I think it has a loose connection, so will have to get it serviced.

At 5 I cycled over to John's and we did two loads, only a small percentage of the large volumes of wood they've got. Arrived back after 7 having done two car-loads and a bike-trailer load. I did a bit of chopping with the chainsaw which seemed to be back working. Weird!

Gill had made Brazil nut sausage things, and cooked some cauliflower, and I was absolutely ready for this.

Later, I spent quite a bit of time doing the York in Transition diary on Facebook.