Saturday 26th February 11

Quite a relaxed day, managed to have a read before I got up, which is a rarity these days.  Usually I read for a few minutes before I drop off to sleep...

The weather was initially not conducive to going out, so Gill and I did some tidying and sorting... going through papers and putting rubbish in the bin, putting the recycling out, hoovering the carpet, bagging up several kilos of nails and other ferrous rubbish from the stove, that kind of thing.  It's always good to have a blitz.

However, in the afternoon, I did a bit of pallet butchery, chopped up 6 of them, and did a load of stacking.  I had some woodpile-arty-fun with some of the sycamore logs I brought back yesterday, splitting them into 6 or 8 wedges, and then stacking them in their original shapes, as unsplit half-rounds, and I may be able to set them into the logpile as rounds, with the splits just showing like lines on a jigsaw.  When I've finished this, I'll take a photo and post it here....

I had a good phone conversation with the woman who rang me from the garden centre in Huddersfield, and she booked me for 19th June to do some Professor Fiddlesticks and John the Composter. It's a small family-run firm and I'm looking forward to going already!

In the evening I put a last lot of 29 supermarket bananas on the drying racks, and jarred up some of the ones I dried earlier in the week. 

Friday 3rd December 10

Another quiet day.  Our youngest was off school as it was a training day, so both boys had a computer game-based day.  Gill had planned to take them both out to see a film but eventually they decided not to go, and a friend came round and they all played computer games. 

Gill did go to town and got some clothes and perspex to continue triple glazing the house.

I did a little bit outside but generally had a lazy day inside, due to the bitter cold and deep snow. I kept it warm inside by keeping both stoves going all day.

Mid afternoon I received a phone call from Jane who was about to set out on foot to deliver her broken laptop to the computer shop on Hull Road, very near us, and she asked if she could pop in.  So she came for a wood-fired cuppa and chat, and met Gill... they got on well.

I spent a lot of the day reading, including the questions for Julian Assange about the WikiLeaks intrigue, and later, his answers.  I submitted my application to World Book Night, a plan to give away a million books next March.  I also did some cooking to add to tea... just slices of winter squash, boiled on the stove and then roasted at the same time as Gill's potato and leek quiche cooked.

So, a fairly nothingy day.  Hope tomorrow is more active.