Wednesday 9th June 10

Well a busy day... Gill went to Fountains Abbey with our youngest's class, so I had most of the day to myself. I did a bit of work on the computer and decided I really didn't want to be stuck inside all day, so I did a bit of a tidy up in the garden. I did a variety of little jobs, including some weeding, finding broken plant pots and other plastic rubbish and binning them, and a bit later, some stacking of logs, chainsawing, more stacking and pallet butchering.

At 7pm I got a phone call from the Progressive Radio Network, a US-based web-radio, who had asked to interview me about green funerals. The show is hosted by Steve Barnett and is called Paradise Parking Lot, and explores green issues. So the producer rang me up and a few minutes later I was chatting to Steve about this sensitive issue. The archive recording is here (or better, here).

It went well, and although I was nervous beforehand, I enjoyed the experience. Rory was online for some of the time and trying to prompt me, but I really had to concentrate on what the interviewer was saying.

So I had a happy evening after this... a feeling of relief, and glad that it went well.

I also had a 'first'. I don't have a mobile phone... but Gill has an old one which she's lent to me for situations where it might be useful for me to have one, and today I put £10 credit on it. So I'm still learning new technology.

Tuesday 8th June 10

Got up fairly early with earache. Very painful. Gill advised me to have some ibuprofen after breakfast, which within an hour seemed to work, and by midday the pain had gone completely.

I spent the morning on Novaterium, adding more natural and woodland burial sites, and I rang up several site owners and proprietors to get an exact location of their site. I also added a company who specialise in green funerals.

Just before lunch, Edward cycled round with the York in Transition cheque book to get me to sign a couple of cheques, and we spent nearly an hour chatting about all sorts of things including diet and health, green funeral options, and his book that he's rewriting.

Gill went into town on the bus to try to find some shoes which give her more support. Because her GP had suggested a certain shop, she had her gait tested several times and eventually got a pair of rather expensive but very comfortable and well made trainers. She says she looks like a chav but I don't really know what she's on about and as I love her I don't give a damn what she looks like or wears. I'm just glad that her pain might be reduced.

I had a good afternoon, including an invite from Steve Barnett of the American Progressive Radio Network, inviting me (or Rory) to talk about green funeral solutions tomorrow, on his programme 'Paradise Parking Lot'. So I agreed to do it, over the phone... it should be between 6 and 7pm tomorrow, UK time (1pm til 2pm Eastern Time).

Gill had a go at making chapattis for the first time and cooked some rice and an un-curried bean and veg stew. I liked the chapatti she made for me but it could have done with something else in it... caraway seeds, or cumin, or fenugreek... not sure... but next time she'll experiment, or I will!

At 6.15 I took a small notebook that Lynn left at the LETS meeting round to her and then on to the Planning Panel meeting, which was mercifully quick as I had to get back for 7pm, as we were expecting Tony and Sylvia, beekeepers, to visit. I gave my details to the local apiarist club and this couple rang me, saying they would be interested in putting a hive or two in our garden. So I took them down and gave them a quick tour, and I showed them where I'd thought that a bee hive or two could go. They agreed, and so I'll prepare the area and they'll prepare two hives. Very exciting!