Thursday 26th May 11

Oh, up FAR too early for someone who goes to bed so late!!!  However, Gill couldn't face cycling to school this morning as she'd run out of painkillers and was in great pain.  So she woke me at 8 and asked me if I could cycle in and she'd fetch him back this afternoon when I'm at work.

So I took the opportunity to visit a number of cycle shops with the World Naked Bike Ride flyers.  However, before this I asked the school if they'd like me to shred their decorations from the Fair... a large pile of branches and foliage.  They were happy with this and I said I'd bring my shredder in soon.  I put WNBR flyers on some of the adult bikes parked at the Steiner school.  Then I went to Alligator and left some flyers there, then Cycle Heaven who were also happy to have some, then I cycled across town to Bob Trotters and asked about bike hire for the WNBR weekend, and they took some flyers.  Here I switched on my helmet cam to do another test, and cycled up to Heworth to Cycle Street to give them flyers.  Then I went to buy bread and came home.

I had uneventful rides, so I deleted the videos I made, but I'm not sure my bike helmet is the right place for the camera.  I might try to mount it on the handlebars.  I then had a session of removing videos I've downloaded, to make space on my disc for any future videos....

So, lunch, and tried to get on with some paperwork but mainly failed.

I had my next appointment at 4, down at David's, It was with a chap from Yorkshire Water, who came out to listen for water leaks.  There is a little patch of moisture on one wall of his cellar and it might be a mains water leak.  So I showed him the leak and he had a listen to the wall, and then the RSJ beam with a very simple device, a metal stick with a point at one end and an earpiece on the other.  Water leaks have a telltale sound which is transmitted through pipes and other materials.  He described the tiny amount of water on the wall as a 'seep' rather than a leak!

We went on a wander round to look for 'stopcocks' and water meters. These have taps which the listening device can be placed on, and on one, with a water meter, there was a slow continuous passage of water, indicating a leak.  However, it seemed unlikely that the leak attached to this meter was affecting David's property.  After a good thorough look around, the Yorkshire Water chap concluded that the leak/seep was so small, and the source of it so difficult to find, that nothing further could be done.  He suggested that sorting out the other problem might make a difference.  I went back in to tell David the news and rang Brian at the Council about the full sewer/inspection chamber which I think is causing the other water ingress.  Brian asked if he could send some chaps down immediately?  Well, this sounded good, and within half an hour, they arrived.

I showed them the pool of water in the cellar and they said they'd like to check the inspection chamber... but unfortunately it was past 5.30pm and the shop had closed and locked it's yard door.  I spoke to Brian and he said he'd meet me tomorrow at 10am.

I cycled home and had a race with some racing or touring cyclists.  They were just a bit quicker than me.

When I got back, I had a quick peep at the robin's nest in the woodpile, and the eggs have hatched.  How lovely!

I put on my laptop and asked if the WiFi had been switched off.  There was a loud wail from the front room.  Our eldest had been trying to connect his Nintendo DS to the WiFi and been getting an error code.  He looked on the website for Nintendo DS and it suggested switching the WiFi Router settings.  He thought he's try it for a few minutes, to see if the game he wanted to play became accessible.  Unfortunately, this rendered the WiFi unusable... from my laptop too!

I did a bit of compost heap management but at 7.30, Gill rang me on my mobile(!) and said Sue was here, as she'd asked for more dried fruit and I'd said yes to this evening.  So I came in and washed my hands and got a kilo of mixed dried fruit for her.

After tea, my son and I walked round to Ben's, who wasn't there.  We rang Simon, who was busy.  I really needed to go online so I paid £5 to BT Fon to get 24 hours access to the internet.

I had quite a bit to do, but also kept the stove going to try to dry the banana and orange leather (final tray-full)  and did washing up.

Thursday 1st April 10

Gill woke me just before 10 by telling me it was midday.... and then said 'April Fool'. She came to bed and then I got up and had breakfast. I went up just before midday and said, right I'm going to go and get our youngest now (fooling her that it was 3pm!) and we had another good laugh.

I spent most of the morning enjoying April Fool jokes posted on facebook... there were loads. I easily spotted the Garden Organic peas with faces one, the student living in the library one, the excellent 'Google translate for animals'(love the videos with this one!), making string out of Runner Beans, and my favourite, the AA Jet Pack one, which also has very well done videos. However, the April Fool by the Council for British Archeology had me thinking for a few minutes and therefore was the best, as it did have me fooled for a short time. I enjoyed them all. One of my friends posted something about Reiki, and I thought that was one too....

I enjoyed Anita Sancha's animation for The Big Green Idea, and the new campaign from Yorkshire Water, Edna and Mary 'Ow Much? . I also had a phone conversation with someone from this campaign, about all the ways I reduce my water use, and I said I would do something on this blog to explain what I do. I'll do that soon, in the 'Pages' section, top right.

Anyway, I came off the computer and got on with helping Gill move something heavy and then I did some stuff outside, and then at 3 I did actually go down to school to pick up our youngest.

I was extremely happy to see that Lord Deramore's School have finally bitten the bullet and got some compost bins installed!!!! Only 6 years or so after I suggested it might be a good idea, and tried to encourage them to do it!!!! The volunteer parent who was putting something into one of them didn't really welcome my offer of a suggestion that it would be better if the bin wasn't balanced on top of the soil surface, and my offering to put it down slightly into the soil, by digging a little channel for the 'foot' to sit in. This makes it slightly more rat resistant and also more stable. I guess that I'll just have to leave them to find out, by trial and error. Or I might indulge in some 'guerrilla composting' and bed the bins down for them. I did go back to my old ways and rescued some fruit bits and bobs from the bins, and put a load into the new compost bin... I just cannot help myself. The two bins there will be joined by one more, but this won't be enough for the 8kg/day the school produces. Also, they are positioned in a North-facing area, and will never get any direct sunlight, so decomposition will be slower than when mine were installed in full sun. But, again, they'll learn, I'm sure. They might even ask me what my advice is... I wonder? I doubt it somehow, I'm pretty sure they are completely pissed off with me.

I cycled my little one home and did a bit more outside work, before cycling down to La Tasca for 5.30pm, to meet Ali, her daughter and PA, who have spent the day in York, and invited me to share a meal with them. It was lovely... lots of different Tapas, and I had a bottle of cider. I did a little errand after the meal; cycled round to the station and collected Ali's suitcase from left luggage, and took it to her hotel room. I was really pleased to see my friends' daughter Emily Rhodes Bernays working there... I last spoke to her when she was a little girl and was one of the biggest Professor Fiddlesticks fans. She is now a beautiful young confident woman... what a difference 10 years makes!

And back to La Tasca, and Ali came with me to the Black Swan for a meeting of York Abundance, which is an offshoot of Edible York, which itself formed following a York In Transition 'Food Open Space' event. This was only the second meeting of Abundance. The idea is to find existing fruit trees and to ensure that any spare fruit is put to good use, and goes to local people who need it most. It was a fairly unstructured meeting but very productive. An abundance of bright ideas. Ali and I both contributed positively, and I managed not to volunteer, well done John.

I went back to Ali's hotel with her and spent a bit of time talking before cycling back home, where Gill was enjoying Sliding Doors on the TV. She'd had a good evening too.