Sunday 22nd May 11

A very hard-working day but a real goodie! I got up at a fairly normal time and did my usual thing of breakfast and laptop, and I lit the stove so that I could have a shave and bath before work.

I was all washed and lovely by midday, and due to be at Museum Gardens by 1pm, for the annual Colitis and Crohn's fundraising walk, which has entertainment available for when the sponsored walkers return from their 3 miles around York.  There was a good band  which I enjoyed devilsticking to, and I did a load of unicycling round, hopping off at intervals to make balloon models for assorted children. At 2pm, the band had a break and I was asked by my handler, my friend John Gray, to try out a radio mic, which is something I'm not really used to.

However, it worked well, and I needed it as the audience stretched up the grassy bank quite a way. The strong wind would have made my voice, strong though it is, pretty inaudible for the 'back row'. I sped through the show, doing most of my activities but keeping it to about half an hour.

We finished at 3pm as all the walkers had returned.  There was an estimate that £10,000 had been raised.

I cycled home, and had a fairly short time before my second appointment, with David at 6pm.  However, I did make time to go down to Country Fresh and pick up a trailer full of resources which would have otherwise gone to landfill.

David wanted me to sort out his radios and tune one into Radio 4 (the one on the right of his bed) and one into Radio 3 (on the left) and he also asked me how to work his Pure DAB radio, which I couldn't work out but promised to research on the 'net for him.  We then went out to City Screen and met a nice couple, both Council employees, but as usual we didn't stay a long time, and I took him home to make his tea, and I got off at 8.10.

I had half an hour in the garden, loading up today's stuff into the Compostumbler and the current sit and wait pile.

A quiet evening, the highlight of which was getting my headcamera fixed to my bike helmet, and watching one of my favourite films, Inside I'm Dancing.  I found the info about the Pure Sonus 1xt radio very easily and will show David how to work his radio soon.

Sunday 23rd May 10

Working today, at the Colitis and Crohn's fundraising walk. So I had a fairly quiet morning, got my bike and circus gear ready and had an early lunch. I cycled down to the Museum Gardens in costume as it is close enough for me to do that, and I didn't want to have to get changed there, in the Hospitium. John Gray the organiser was there, pleased with the huge turnout. There was a really good band playing, the Brampton Community Band based in Chesterfield.

My role was to do a bit of entertaining whilst the band played, then at 2pm do a 30 minute performance, and then whilst the band did a second set, give out balloon models. John gave me a NACC teeshirt, which is red like my costume, so I exchanged what I had on for the more appropriate themed tee shirt. I did some unicycling and then a load of devilsticking to the nice boppy music, then it was my turn. I got some children to move a bit closer and then did the first half of my show/workshop, which went well. Then I had a half hour or more of kids queuing for balloon animals. When the event finished, I stayed back to pick up all the burst balloons from the finish line, to bring them back for composting.

I was pleased to learn that this event had raised about £13,000, which will be spent on research into the condition/s.

I came home via the lemonade stall at the bottom of Parliament St, to collect their halved lemons, Richard at Country Fresh, for a box of stuff, and Freshways for whatever they had, which was just one small bag. But they did have two other bags of fruit/veg, been put into the skip, so I left them but made a mental note to return later.

Was glad to get home and have a cool-off, took my laptop upstairs and played a bit of Scrabble and answered a composting enquiry on facebook, on the 'Organic Gardening 101' page. At about 5pm I popped back out to collect the sacks of resources from Freshways, and found about 40 packets of biscuits in the bin. Not sure what I'll do with them but I think they'll come in useful for something... cheesecake base anyone? Then I had tea, a burgery thing in a bap, made from yesterday's grain mixed with beans and fried in a burger shape, made with a hommous pot mould.

Then I worked in the garden til 10pm, potting up more plants for the conservatory, another layer on the compost heap, enjoying birdsong and the relative cool of the evening.

Sunday 15th June 08

Another day working, an early start to get to Museum Gardens by 10, for the Colitis and Crohn's fundraising walk, which left at midday. My two hours of entertainment seemed to go down well and I was back home by 1pm.

Had a quiet afternoon, some time with the boys, some time on my own.