Two visits to do this morning... to deliver compost to Caroline, to swap for some vegetable seedlings. I checked first that someone was in and cycled down to Fishergate with 4 sacks of well rotted but unriddled. In return I received a 'Small Sugar Pumpkin', a single Brussels Sprout seedling, a tray of Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli and 3 'Stringless Polestar' runner beans, and a bag of Tares seeds, a green manure which fixes nitrogen. I am happy with this swap. My allotment will be too.
As soon as I got home I set out again with a single sack of the same compost as Lynn had indicated that she needed some... and would swap it for a couple of squash seedlings. Lynn wasn't in but her daughter was and was happy to take the bag of compost... but didn't know which squash plants might be mine, so I said I'd be happy to have them another time.
Home for lunch and all too soon it was time for me to head down to town to go to the screening of The Age of Stupid at City Screen, hosted by York in Transition. About 140 tickets were sold, so the auditorium wasn't full, but we were reasonably happy with the turnout. This was the third time I'd seen the film but it still moved me to tears. But I sorted myself out by the end as I had been asked to sit on the panel table alongside Andy Chase the Green Party candidate for the Parliamentary seat for York Central, Daniel Vockins from Not Stupid and Andrew Waller the Lib Dem leader of the Council. Daniel talked about the film and the Not Stupid campaign first and then there were questions from the audience. This went well, apart from Councillor Waller firing off cheap party political jibe about Ralph Nader (Green Party in US) being responsible for Bush getting in. But apart from that, it was a good Q+A session.
Afterwards I gave out leaflets and some Calendars of Climate Change which Diana at Flipside Vision has sent me. Then a good chat with Bill who works for the Youth Service, about the Youth Parliament (I think it's called) and a myriad of other things, over a coffee. I also had a good chat with Alison and then Carolyn, before getting away at about 7pm.
Gill had made a rice and veg dish, which I had when I got in, and I then had an hour or so in the garden til just after 9.
Showing posts with label Lib Dems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lib Dems. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Tuesday 23rd October 07
A very good day as I spent the morning in the house doing some paperwork and housework, Gill went out for an appointment and the boys played inside the house. I also did a bit of compost heap management for half an hour.
Gill came back and we lunched, I then used Gill's bus ticket (an all day adult rover thingy) to get to town and participate in a Green Party/York Residents Against Incineration demonstration protesting about the Lib Dem Councillors voting to spend loads of money on a waste treatment plant but they don't yet know what it is going to be. I do not think that an incinerator is a good idea as it wastes materials which should be recycled. They are very expensive and can give out polluting dioxins, as well as loads of CO2 which is 'fossil' CO2 from plastics, made from oil. I would like more investment in recycling, and also think that anaerobic digestion of food waste and manures is a good idea, as it captures some of the energy which is normally lost in composting, but cleanly in the form of methane which can be efficiently used as a fuel for heating or generating energy, or even put in a fuel cell to make electricity and heat.
We had our photo taken on the steps of the Mansion House and then I walked along to Cycle Heaven to purchase my new bike. I got a set of panniers too. I had asked for 'tri-bars' to be put on the handlebars, but the shop said that the ones they would get would be another £80, so I asked them to transfer my old ones over. So the whole set up is new, apart from the tri-bars which allow me to drop down if there's a headwind or if I'm going fast. I'm glad the frame was made locally, it's steel and quite heavy, but very strong! I enjoyed cycling back with it, and got my trailer fixed up to it as soon as I got back.
Soon it was time for me to cycle along for a doctor's appointment, for a flu jab (I'm asthmatic and have taken daily medication since childhood, when it was much less prevalent) and to wave a weird patch of flaky skin on my knee at him. When I got back home, I went to the Co-op shop for some essentials and then to the allotment.
I love my bike!
Gill came back and we lunched, I then used Gill's bus ticket (an all day adult rover thingy) to get to town and participate in a Green Party/York Residents Against Incineration demonstration protesting about the Lib Dem Councillors voting to spend loads of money on a waste treatment plant but they don't yet know what it is going to be. I do not think that an incinerator is a good idea as it wastes materials which should be recycled. They are very expensive and can give out polluting dioxins, as well as loads of CO2 which is 'fossil' CO2 from plastics, made from oil. I would like more investment in recycling, and also think that anaerobic digestion of food waste and manures is a good idea, as it captures some of the energy which is normally lost in composting, but cleanly in the form of methane which can be efficiently used as a fuel for heating or generating energy, or even put in a fuel cell to make electricity and heat.
We had our photo taken on the steps of the Mansion House and then I walked along to Cycle Heaven to purchase my new bike. I got a set of panniers too. I had asked for 'tri-bars' to be put on the handlebars, but the shop said that the ones they would get would be another £80, so I asked them to transfer my old ones over. So the whole set up is new, apart from the tri-bars which allow me to drop down if there's a headwind or if I'm going fast. I'm glad the frame was made locally, it's steel and quite heavy, but very strong! I enjoyed cycling back with it, and got my trailer fixed up to it as soon as I got back.
Soon it was time for me to cycle along for a doctor's appointment, for a flu jab (I'm asthmatic and have taken daily medication since childhood, when it was much less prevalent) and to wave a weird patch of flaky skin on my knee at him. When I got back home, I went to the Co-op shop for some essentials and then to the allotment.
I love my bike!
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Friday 4th May 07, Election Count day
Got up early to try to write a letter but didn't get very far. As soon as Gill came back from the 'school run' (on her bike of course!) I cycled over to Acomb where the count was taking place. The count was in a large sports hall, with all the workers in the centre and the candidates and agents and observers around the outside, watching what was going on. It's quite an exciting process in some ways, and very boring in others, but I enjoy being there and participating in it.
The ballot papers were first sorted into block votes and split votes, these where there were two or three councillors to be voted in. Where someone had voted for both or all 3 of one party's candidates, they were placed in piles for counting. Where a voter had voted for 2 or 3 different parties, these were gone thruogh one by one and the names of the candidate voted for read out and a second election worker marked them off on a special sheet.
When all these figures were added up and ready to be announced, the candidates and agents were asked to come into a corner together and look at the disputed and spoiled ballots, and they were either agreed as good or spoiled or not filled in.
One of the first to be called was Bishopthorpe, where John Galvin (Conservative) had been voted out of last election, and soon after that, I had collared him and asked him if he would be the chair of York Credit Union Study Group. In this role I had got to know him quite well, and had grown to respect and like him, not his party politics, John as a person. So i was happy that this time he was elected back ono the council, the first of 8 Tory councillors, all new after a Tory-free term. Labour did quite well, and the Lib-Dems didn't, as they have generally been viewed as having cocked up badly this term. Fortunately the Fishergate Greens both got elected, Andy D'Agorne for a second term and Dave Taylor for his first, replacing Mark Hill.
We did quite well in some other wards, including increasing our share in my ward, Hull Road, where Andrew Collingwood and I got about 15%. Two Labour councillors got in here.
I went to see the media students during the count and after my result was announced, i think they enjoyed the process and were glad to have got involved, or at least observed it.
I cycled home via my usual compostables collection route and got hiome in time to go and get the boys. Felt quite deflated and down, as not getting in always leaves me feeling like this, even if I don't expect to get in. Also, as the phone still wasn't working, so I was unable to ring from home or do my emails. Gill spent much of the day trying to get it fixed, by going to the public call box round the corner and having to deal with automated messages...
In the evening I went round to a friend's house and used their phone to download emails and let people know what had happened, re electoral stuff and lack of phone stuff.
The ballot papers were first sorted into block votes and split votes, these where there were two or three councillors to be voted in. Where someone had voted for both or all 3 of one party's candidates, they were placed in piles for counting. Where a voter had voted for 2 or 3 different parties, these were gone thruogh one by one and the names of the candidate voted for read out and a second election worker marked them off on a special sheet.
When all these figures were added up and ready to be announced, the candidates and agents were asked to come into a corner together and look at the disputed and spoiled ballots, and they were either agreed as good or spoiled or not filled in.
One of the first to be called was Bishopthorpe, where John Galvin (Conservative) had been voted out of last election, and soon after that, I had collared him and asked him if he would be the chair of York Credit Union Study Group. In this role I had got to know him quite well, and had grown to respect and like him, not his party politics, John as a person. So i was happy that this time he was elected back ono the council, the first of 8 Tory councillors, all new after a Tory-free term. Labour did quite well, and the Lib-Dems didn't, as they have generally been viewed as having cocked up badly this term. Fortunately the Fishergate Greens both got elected, Andy D'Agorne for a second term and Dave Taylor for his first, replacing Mark Hill.
We did quite well in some other wards, including increasing our share in my ward, Hull Road, where Andrew Collingwood and I got about 15%. Two Labour councillors got in here.
I went to see the media students during the count and after my result was announced, i think they enjoyed the process and were glad to have got involved, or at least observed it.
I cycled home via my usual compostables collection route and got hiome in time to go and get the boys. Felt quite deflated and down, as not getting in always leaves me feeling like this, even if I don't expect to get in. Also, as the phone still wasn't working, so I was unable to ring from home or do my emails. Gill spent much of the day trying to get it fixed, by going to the public call box round the corner and having to deal with automated messages...
In the evening I went round to a friend's house and used their phone to download emails and let people know what had happened, re electoral stuff and lack of phone stuff.
Monday, 9 April 2007
Monday 9th April 07
A fairly early start and as a nice day I bombed into town to do a visit to Out Of This World, who had obviously been having a clearout, and waiting for me was a large pile of assorted stuff for my to recycle, some to compost and other stuff to recycle in other ways!
The most exciting thing that happened today was a visit from Dave Taylor (Green candidate, Fishergate Ward), with his 'Castle Area Campaign' hat on, with some posters about the forthcoming election and which parties and candidates had opposed the proposed development of a shopping mall around Clifford's Tower, and a brief note about those who had been in favour of the unpopular development. As I spoke at the Public Enquiry about the development, and don't support the building of yet more shops, especially in that area, I am listed in the 'Vote For' section, as are lots of other Green Party candidates, some Conservatives, a Labour candidate, a Liberal, the Respect Candidate and the Looney. The Lib Dems are the only political party who have sided en bloc with the developers, and the Castle Area Campaign suggests voting tactically to push them out.
The next most exciting thing was that I made such a filling tea, and the boys had eaten so much chocolate, that halfway through tea, as they were struggling, Gill suggested taking them on a cycle ride to check out the Fair on St Georges car park. So we cycled up to Green Dykes Lane, to the University and accross Walmgate Stray through the Barracks and down to the River Ouse near the Millennium Bridge where we turned right and went all the way into York. We walked our bikes round the Fair but it wasn't that exciting as hardly anyone was there, so we cycled on and then through town, Coppergate, Piccadilly, Walmgate and home along the Hull Rd. Their cycling is getting so much better! When they got home they both finished their tea.
Gill and I had the same basic nosh, marmite water bulgar wheat and couscous (washing out a finished marmite jar) and a stew of leeks, tomatoes, chard/spinach from the garden and cashew nuts. I also had a 'sea cake', a tofu burger with smoky seaweed from Out Of Date World!
During the day I made up some more seed compost and planted a load of pumpkin, squash and cucumber seeds. I've planted over 20 Butternut squash as they seem to do well on the allotment and I can't get enough of them. I'd eat it every other day if I could.
My evening included washing up, making raisins by blanching grapes and setting them to dry, and having a very long e-conversation with an old flame I'm back in contact with.
Another satisfying and productive day.
The most exciting thing that happened today was a visit from Dave Taylor (Green candidate, Fishergate Ward), with his 'Castle Area Campaign' hat on, with some posters about the forthcoming election and which parties and candidates had opposed the proposed development of a shopping mall around Clifford's Tower, and a brief note about those who had been in favour of the unpopular development. As I spoke at the Public Enquiry about the development, and don't support the building of yet more shops, especially in that area, I am listed in the 'Vote For' section, as are lots of other Green Party candidates, some Conservatives, a Labour candidate, a Liberal, the Respect Candidate and the Looney. The Lib Dems are the only political party who have sided en bloc with the developers, and the Castle Area Campaign suggests voting tactically to push them out.
The next most exciting thing was that I made such a filling tea, and the boys had eaten so much chocolate, that halfway through tea, as they were struggling, Gill suggested taking them on a cycle ride to check out the Fair on St Georges car park. So we cycled up to Green Dykes Lane, to the University and accross Walmgate Stray through the Barracks and down to the River Ouse near the Millennium Bridge where we turned right and went all the way into York. We walked our bikes round the Fair but it wasn't that exciting as hardly anyone was there, so we cycled on and then through town, Coppergate, Piccadilly, Walmgate and home along the Hull Rd. Their cycling is getting so much better! When they got home they both finished their tea.
Gill and I had the same basic nosh, marmite water bulgar wheat and couscous (washing out a finished marmite jar) and a stew of leeks, tomatoes, chard/spinach from the garden and cashew nuts. I also had a 'sea cake', a tofu burger with smoky seaweed from Out Of Date World!
During the day I made up some more seed compost and planted a load of pumpkin, squash and cucumber seeds. I've planted over 20 Butternut squash as they seem to do well on the allotment and I can't get enough of them. I'd eat it every other day if I could.
My evening included washing up, making raisins by blanching grapes and setting them to dry, and having a very long e-conversation with an old flame I'm back in contact with.
Another satisfying and productive day.
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