Sunday 25th January 09

I was lucky to get a lie-in til about 9.30 which was good, and we had a quite relaxed morning. At midday I set out with our eldest to visit his friend who lives a couple of miles away... perhaps a bit less than this, depending on the route taken. We had a good ride and nice chats whilst doing it. We both acknowledged that cycling together was a good thing to do and we should do more of it.

We cycled through the University and down towards Fulford, and to Candy and Eugene's. Candy was celebrating the near end of her job... she's sick of all the travelling, despite the ethical nature of the work... she is another 'low carbon wannabe' and has been going round businesses and helping them reduce their energy bills. But, it's been a cycle ride to the station, a train journey to Leeds, a 20 minute wait, a train journey to Bramley and then a one mile walk. Too much travelling... so she's jacking it in at the end of this week and is going to write a book.

She was chatting with our mutual friend Denise, and I spent a few minutes with them before cycling back via a well-known logpile. It was agreed that I'd collect my son at 7.30pm.

So, a quiet afternoon... our other son played on the computer and had some nice gentle times with Mum. I did various jobs around the home and garden, and we had a rice stir-fry for tea, containing the home-grown Oca tubers... a wonderful flavour. I wish I'd grown more of them! Trouble is they are daylight sensitive as well as frost sensitive, so they don't start making tubers til about 4 months after midsummer, so the longer after October they can be kept frost-free, the better. These were growing at the side of the house, protected from the worst of the early frosts, so plenty of pretty pink tubers.

7pm came all too soon and I cycled back through the University grounds to Candy and Eugene's, collecting 3 logs on the way. I had another little chat about shared interests before asking my little charge to find his shoes and get ready to come home. On the way out of their house, leaving by the back door, I tripped on a stick or mini-log that Eugene had collected for their Clearview stove (yet another person influenced by seeing ours!) and landed flat on my face in the gravel, with a log or branch somehow pinning my right leg down and wedged into my welly boot, I think. I couldn't move. I lay there for a few seconds mentally checking my limbs for breakages... and decided I was OK, but couldn't move. My son, who had been walking behind me, somehow moved the obstruction off my leg and I was able to get up. Although I knew I was bruised, I needed to get home (needed to get my child home actually) so we continued on our way home, chatting happily. He'd had a good time, with two friends, a variety of activities.

When we got home I told Gill how he'd rescued me and she put an ice pack on my calf, whilst my caring son looked after me. I think he must have been shocked to see me fall over and be unable to get up.

So, a very good day, plenty of bonding activity. And not a good day for my leg which is badly bruised. Listened to a bit of Equinox 107 and then a tear jerking film with Julie Walters playing Dr Anne Turner who after witnessing her husband dying from a degenerative illness, found she was developing something similar. So she decided that when it was almost too much to bear, she would commit suicide, and the drama, 'A Short Stay in Switzerland' was about this. Really powerful, had me in tears several times. Thought provoking too, as it' such a contentious issue. I do believe though, that we have a right to die in certain circumstances... and I would probably consider this option if I found myself in a similar situation. But would I be brave enough to go through with it? The drama alluded to the statistics that many who get the go-ahead from the Swiss Clinic decide not to do it.

Not too late a night as getting up early tomorrow.

Friday 23rd January 09

I took our youngest into school. Came back and Gill was feeling very poorly and was wondering what to do. I told her to ring the hospital and/or her GP and she was offered an appointment for 3.40, but really she was so ill that I thought she needed something sooner, as she thought she was going to die. Our neighbour Marion has just retired from nursing, but is still qualified, so Gill went to ask her opinion. Dave, Marion's husband, offered to drive Gill to the surgery (shows how ill she was, as it's less than 10 mins walk but she couldn't face it. The doctor gave her a prescription for some strong antibiotics as she has an infection in her abdomen.

Somewhere in amongst this lot, we had a visit from our friend Maria who has just handed in her resignation to the school where she's recently started working. She found that the combination of so much prep and marking, having loads of different classes shared amongst relatively few teachers, and various other pressures was too much. Very sad, as she is in fact an excellent teacher... but it wasn't the teaching which she found to much, it was all the surrounding stuff. But she knows we are sympathetic and always have a cuppa and listening ear for her. I'm sure she'll find something else.

I also did a compostables collection by request from Freshways and came away with some interesting tubers which I might have a go at growing. Today I also harvested some Oca from the molasses drum at the side of the house... it's a frost-sensitive plant and the recent cold spell has rendered the tops into a collapsed state, but the soil was completely full of lovely shiny pink tubers, which can be eaten raw or stir-fried, and have a tangy lemony flavour and are crunchy. Latin name is Oxalis tuberosa, for pictures of Oca, see http://www.potager.dk/index.php?id=18&la=en and there's an excellent article with photos here: http://www.greenharvest.com.au/Plants/oca_info.html I will eat some and replant the smallest ones in pots so that I can grow them on in the conservatory for a few months before planting them out or letting other people have them.

At 2.30 I went down to school and helped prepare for the Blue Peter Mission Nutrition Bring and Buy. I got a load of tables out of the hall and put them up in the playground... Julia suggested a circular shape which did work well. One of the mums brought a load of fairy cakes and Julia had already collected some stuff to sell from a previous Mission Nutrition sale (afterwards, the stuff which hadn't sold) and parents brought stuff in today. By 3.15 we were ready to sell and it was a very busy few minutes. We hadn't put prices on anything... we just asked for offers and reminded people that it was for Mission Nutrition, and many parents and children were very generous. Lots of people got some fantastic bargains though. Later during the evening, I got an email saying we'd taken about £120. I was delighted!

I helped pack up and took some clothes which will be OK in the forthcoming York in Transition Clothes Swap, on 14th February. Then I cycled home with our little one who was pleased with his little computer game (50p) a laughing furry ball, a paper clip holder and a wooden snake for a pound, he also bought two buns, ate one and brought one back for his older brother.

Gill was back in the house when I got back but went to bed. I prepared the boys' tea on the woodstove: sliced and fried butternut squash, pasta parcels and shells with a leek, cabbage, tomato and cashew nut stew/sauce. Gill had a little bit afterwards... we all enjoyed this nosh.

At 8 our friend Will came round, as agreed during the week. He had wanted to play a game of 'co-operative Scrabble' but we also had a funding application form to fill in for the new LETS software, so we did that instead. Will left at 10.30 and I did a bit of wire stripping and Gill came down after midnight needing painkillers.