I had a 9am start to the day, despite a late night, and caught up with some washing up, as Gill had kept the stoves going and there was hot water. She got up at 6, as usual!
Our youngest went off to a party and eldest went to have a hair cut, and I got ready to go to Manchester for a regular social I like to attend. I made sandwiches to have on the train and zoomed into town and got my ticket and got down to Platform 4 to get the train. I chatted to a musician chap who had two chunky cases with him... probably guitars but I thought at first one was a cello. We talked about being a performer and all sorts. He was off to Cheshire to do a gig.
I had my sandwiches and read Resource magazine. I was soon in Manchester. I met my friends Laura and Nina, and we went to Night and Day and met another of Laura's friends Colin, and Janie and Jonathan, and Swin and Ellie, and a new attendee Simon, and Fiona and Tess, Sean turned up, and Ian, and plenty of others. What a lovely crowd.
I had two coffees and lots of conversations and left at about 5.45, and got the 6.11 train back which was a bit late, and I spent the journey chatting to a nice retired couple who were keen to get back to Edinburgh and were slightly worried about getting their connection in York. They'd been to a nephew's wedding at Manchester Town Hall.
And therefore I got back into the house at 9.30pm and didn't do much apart from get slaughtered at Scrabble by Gill. She beat me by 108 points.
Sunday, 14 November 2010
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Friday 12th November 10 Visit to Promessa UK
Today was something I'd been looking forward to for a while, meeting one of my heroes, Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, who has invented and developed a greener alternative to cremation and burial called Promession.
I became aware of this process whilst working with Justin Rowlatt, BBC Newsnight's 'Ethical Man', during filming in my garden, and when I found out more about it I just knew that it was a big improvement on the 'traditional' methods of disposing of human bodies when someone dies. For those of you who don't want to visit http://www.novaterium.com/ which my Canadian colleague Rory Rickwood and I have written, where we discuss the issues in more detail, the basics are:
Cremation uses fossil gas, lots of it, to reduce the body to ash, but releases fossil CO2, polluting oxides of nitrogen, mercury from fillings and other undesirables. About 70% of UK funerals are cremations.
Burial, which may seem like an eco friendly option with the 'dust to dust' bit, but means the corpse decays anaerobically and this releases methane, CH4, a greenhouse gas. The grave may also release liquids and chemicals from the often-used embalming process, which could escape into groundwater or watercourses. Burial also uses up valuable land which then isn't available for food growing or housing, etc.
'Natural' or 'Green Burial' is a version of traditional burial, often in a rural area, often with trees being planted, often without embalming and with a cardboard or willow/bamboo casket, but if placed any deeper than a metre under the ground, it is highly likely that the remains will release methane.
Promession is a fully automated process which renders the body to a state where it can be safely interred in the top 50cm of the soil where it composts aerobically. The body is frozen with liquid nitrogen, a waste product of the oxygen industry, and because it is then brittle, is able to be shattered into tiny fragments by means of a vibrating table. These are subjected to a vacuum which removes all the water, leaving a material which is similar to instant coffee granules. The casket is mechanically chipped. Metals such as fillings are automatically removed. All the biodegradable remains are put in a small biodegradable casket which may then be interred, or cremated, or, I suppose, the contents scattered in a favourite place, like the contents of a cremation urn. The aerobic decomposition means that a small amount of CO2 is released, rather than methane, and the resultant humus is a perfect medium for plant roots to gain nutrients from.
So, Susanne spent the best part of two decades developing this process, and it is now ready to be licenced to be used. She has now given the job of promoting it in this country to Promessa UK, which comprises a couple, Nathan and Meredyth, and a friend of theirs, Willem, who is a business advisor, and today I went to Cambridge on the train to meet the team.
I cycled to York station and got a day return for £66, and then met Edward for 10 minutes to sign some York in Transition cheques. I got on the 11.35 train to Peterborough. I was already sitting down when an old colleague of mine, Gary, from Local Agenda 21 days a decade ago, got on... and we had a good chat, and the other person at the table, a nice woman called Jill joined in too. I love trains for these conversations.
I had another interesting meeting with a young illustrator on the Peterborough to Cambridge train. I was amazed how well she could draw on a moving train!
I'd memorised the route to East Road from the station, but on the way, next to a bin at a bus stop, I found an unopened bag of 4 Tesco's Croissants, reduced to 26p. I can't pass by a 'freegan' opportunity, even in a different city, so I picked this up. I think it must have fallen out of a shopping bag. I put it in my bag.
East Road was only about 10 or 15 minutes walk. The office block where I was due to meet the team was easy to find. I was early and they were still at lunch, so I read my NewScientist in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby. Then they all came back, about 8 people, some of whom said their goodbyes and disappeared, and Nathan led the way to a nearby pub. I was really happy to meet Susanne, who is as keen a composter as I am. She has fewer compost bins than me, but has been composting for longer.
Over coffees in the bar, we had wide-ranging conversations. I was pleased to meet Peter, Susanne's husband, and got on really well with Meredyth and Nathan, who have a long history of voluntary work, low carbon living mixed with international travel. We talked about some research which needs to be done (and could be done by me, or perhaps be overseen by me?) and a little about the Promession process itself. We chatted about all sorts of different subjects including Paul Stamets' mushroom cultures, the failings of drug prohibition, prostitution and non-monogamous relationships, free thinkers and autism, hot composting versus cold composting, aerobic decomposition versus putrefaction, Effective Micro-organisms and much much more.
The company is still in the early stages of being set up so we didn't talk much about that. They seem keen to have my input and want me to work with them, but it's too soon to talk about anything concrete such as roles, hours, pay or anything. They have asked for my CV and references, so I think that once I provide those, we'll be in a better position to move forward. All I know is that I am a keen supporter of this technology, and will do what I can to help introduce it, to help people understand why it is better than the alternatives. I'd be very happy to work with Nathan and Meredyth, and feel honoured to be associated with Susanne. I always admire innovators... especially if in the field of sustainable development and composting!
Our chatty social came to a close at 6pm, and Meredyth gave me a shoulder bag with the Promessa Organic Burial logo on. Nice! I walked back to the station, getting a 99p tub of hommous on the way, which I thought would go well with the croissants.
The train connections were good, nice chat with a Dutch prostate cancer PhD researcher from York University called Paula, and on the York train I had two croissants with hommous whilst chatting to an oil company lawyer. I got home on the dot of 9pm, feeling amazed, wowed, happy, buoyant and very lucky.
I was just in time to watch another of my heroes, David Attenborough, about the evolution of life as explained through fossils. I had a can of cider, and after midnight, a bottle of beer which has sat on a shelf collecting dust for a year. A happy evening.
Thank you Promessa, you have made my day... and more!
I became aware of this process whilst working with Justin Rowlatt, BBC Newsnight's 'Ethical Man', during filming in my garden, and when I found out more about it I just knew that it was a big improvement on the 'traditional' methods of disposing of human bodies when someone dies. For those of you who don't want to visit http://www.novaterium.com/ which my Canadian colleague Rory Rickwood and I have written, where we discuss the issues in more detail, the basics are:
Cremation uses fossil gas, lots of it, to reduce the body to ash, but releases fossil CO2, polluting oxides of nitrogen, mercury from fillings and other undesirables. About 70% of UK funerals are cremations.
Burial, which may seem like an eco friendly option with the 'dust to dust' bit, but means the corpse decays anaerobically and this releases methane, CH4, a greenhouse gas. The grave may also release liquids and chemicals from the often-used embalming process, which could escape into groundwater or watercourses. Burial also uses up valuable land which then isn't available for food growing or housing, etc.
'Natural' or 'Green Burial' is a version of traditional burial, often in a rural area, often with trees being planted, often without embalming and with a cardboard or willow/bamboo casket, but if placed any deeper than a metre under the ground, it is highly likely that the remains will release methane.
Promession is a fully automated process which renders the body to a state where it can be safely interred in the top 50cm of the soil where it composts aerobically. The body is frozen with liquid nitrogen, a waste product of the oxygen industry, and because it is then brittle, is able to be shattered into tiny fragments by means of a vibrating table. These are subjected to a vacuum which removes all the water, leaving a material which is similar to instant coffee granules. The casket is mechanically chipped. Metals such as fillings are automatically removed. All the biodegradable remains are put in a small biodegradable casket which may then be interred, or cremated, or, I suppose, the contents scattered in a favourite place, like the contents of a cremation urn. The aerobic decomposition means that a small amount of CO2 is released, rather than methane, and the resultant humus is a perfect medium for plant roots to gain nutrients from.
So, Susanne spent the best part of two decades developing this process, and it is now ready to be licenced to be used. She has now given the job of promoting it in this country to Promessa UK, which comprises a couple, Nathan and Meredyth, and a friend of theirs, Willem, who is a business advisor, and today I went to Cambridge on the train to meet the team.
I cycled to York station and got a day return for £66, and then met Edward for 10 minutes to sign some York in Transition cheques. I got on the 11.35 train to Peterborough. I was already sitting down when an old colleague of mine, Gary, from Local Agenda 21 days a decade ago, got on... and we had a good chat, and the other person at the table, a nice woman called Jill joined in too. I love trains for these conversations.
I had another interesting meeting with a young illustrator on the Peterborough to Cambridge train. I was amazed how well she could draw on a moving train!
I'd memorised the route to East Road from the station, but on the way, next to a bin at a bus stop, I found an unopened bag of 4 Tesco's Croissants, reduced to 26p. I can't pass by a 'freegan' opportunity, even in a different city, so I picked this up. I think it must have fallen out of a shopping bag. I put it in my bag.
East Road was only about 10 or 15 minutes walk. The office block where I was due to meet the team was easy to find. I was early and they were still at lunch, so I read my NewScientist in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby. Then they all came back, about 8 people, some of whom said their goodbyes and disappeared, and Nathan led the way to a nearby pub. I was really happy to meet Susanne, who is as keen a composter as I am. She has fewer compost bins than me, but has been composting for longer.
Over coffees in the bar, we had wide-ranging conversations. I was pleased to meet Peter, Susanne's husband, and got on really well with Meredyth and Nathan, who have a long history of voluntary work, low carbon living mixed with international travel. We talked about some research which needs to be done (and could be done by me, or perhaps be overseen by me?) and a little about the Promession process itself. We chatted about all sorts of different subjects including Paul Stamets' mushroom cultures, the failings of drug prohibition, prostitution and non-monogamous relationships, free thinkers and autism, hot composting versus cold composting, aerobic decomposition versus putrefaction, Effective Micro-organisms and much much more.
The company is still in the early stages of being set up so we didn't talk much about that. They seem keen to have my input and want me to work with them, but it's too soon to talk about anything concrete such as roles, hours, pay or anything. They have asked for my CV and references, so I think that once I provide those, we'll be in a better position to move forward. All I know is that I am a keen supporter of this technology, and will do what I can to help introduce it, to help people understand why it is better than the alternatives. I'd be very happy to work with Nathan and Meredyth, and feel honoured to be associated with Susanne. I always admire innovators... especially if in the field of sustainable development and composting!
Our chatty social came to a close at 6pm, and Meredyth gave me a shoulder bag with the Promessa Organic Burial logo on. Nice! I walked back to the station, getting a 99p tub of hommous on the way, which I thought would go well with the croissants.
The train connections were good, nice chat with a Dutch prostate cancer PhD researcher from York University called Paula, and on the York train I had two croissants with hommous whilst chatting to an oil company lawyer. I got home on the dot of 9pm, feeling amazed, wowed, happy, buoyant and very lucky.
I was just in time to watch another of my heroes, David Attenborough, about the evolution of life as explained through fossils. I had a can of cider, and after midnight, a bottle of beer which has sat on a shelf collecting dust for a year. A happy evening.
Thank you Promessa, you have made my day... and more!
Friday, 12 November 2010
Thursday 11th November 10
I woke feeling much more cheery. Both boys got to school and this meant we could get on with stuff around the house.
Gill was busy preparing the wall in our youngest's bedroom to take a self adhesive magnetic strip, and then put the other bit of the magnetic strip onto the sheet of perspex which I carefully cycled home last week. By the early evening, it was up... secondary double glazing, and hopefully will mean that his room will be warmer. We ought to put up Sempatap too, but it's quite expensive. The secondary glazing cost about £70.
I did quite a bit of logpile stacking, at the front door again, on the left looking out. We've had both stoves going quite a bit and we're getting through the logs quickly. I had several phone calls including my agent asking me if I'd be interested in doing several gigs as Father Christmas. I have mixed feelings, as I don't really enjoy doing this... but if it earns me an income, I feel that I need to do it. Let's see if the various local authorities and city centre managers say yes to my quote.
I visited Country Fresh to get a big bag of root vegetables and two sacks of compostables plus two boxes full. Also a sack from Freshways. Then I went straight back down to town to pick up a freecycled bag of carrier bags which I'll use to sell compost in next spring, and then on to Millers Yard to pick up 3 sacks of autumn leaves. I came back via Sainsburys to get nice bread, cheese, soya yoghurt, soya ice cream and a treat, four cans of Kopparberg perry.
I had a fairly quiet evening, editing the Novaterium website to reflect some feedback I'd had from Promessa UK. I also dealt with the three remaining pineapples and all the slices of pineapple look lovely drying on the racks. It is one of my favourite dried fruits.
Gill was busy preparing the wall in our youngest's bedroom to take a self adhesive magnetic strip, and then put the other bit of the magnetic strip onto the sheet of perspex which I carefully cycled home last week. By the early evening, it was up... secondary double glazing, and hopefully will mean that his room will be warmer. We ought to put up Sempatap too, but it's quite expensive. The secondary glazing cost about £70.
I did quite a bit of logpile stacking, at the front door again, on the left looking out. We've had both stoves going quite a bit and we're getting through the logs quickly. I had several phone calls including my agent asking me if I'd be interested in doing several gigs as Father Christmas. I have mixed feelings, as I don't really enjoy doing this... but if it earns me an income, I feel that I need to do it. Let's see if the various local authorities and city centre managers say yes to my quote.
I visited Country Fresh to get a big bag of root vegetables and two sacks of compostables plus two boxes full. Also a sack from Freshways. Then I went straight back down to town to pick up a freecycled bag of carrier bags which I'll use to sell compost in next spring, and then on to Millers Yard to pick up 3 sacks of autumn leaves. I came back via Sainsburys to get nice bread, cheese, soya yoghurt, soya ice cream and a treat, four cans of Kopparberg perry.
I had a fairly quiet evening, editing the Novaterium website to reflect some feedback I'd had from Promessa UK. I also dealt with the three remaining pineapples and all the slices of pineapple look lovely drying on the racks. It is one of my favourite dried fruits.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Wednesday 10th November 10
Quite a low mood day today. However I did get a lovely phone call from someone wanting to book me for a Christmas party in a nursery, and I explained how I could alter my usual show to fit the youthful audience. We chatted and it turned out she is on the Committee for the village Mayday celebrations, AND she's involved with a school.... so that conversation could lead to a number of gigs. Let's hope so!
As the weather was nice I did a good hour or so of chainsawing, chopping up all the chunky hazel and some of the recently rescued skipped logs. I enjoyed doing the chainsawing and splitting... I might do some stacking tomorrow, depending on how bad the weather is.
I made a nutloaf from bread, peanut butter, cooked quinoa, nuts, onions and some finely chopped pumpkin.
In the evening I cycled over to the station to buy my tickets for Cambridge on Friday, but there were no advance tickets left, so it will be a buy-it-on-the-day situation, at a cost of £66. But that's an off-peak return, so I don't have to get a certain train back... but I may not get a seat. I called in to see Dylan and did his recycling collection, and then on to Green Drinks at the Three Legged Mare. It was a fairly quiet meeting, but good to see my friend Tracy and one of her friends, Jenny and her partner, Katie and her partner, June Tranmer, both Green Councillors, a nice chap called Julian, Peter and Edward from Transition, JZ and others. Andy Chase showed up and asked me to sign the Election Expenses forms.
Towards the end of this jolly social, I noticed that there were four pumpkins/squashes, on a shelf, as decoration. One of them, the big pumpkin, was going soft and just beginning to leak. The other 3, winter squash, were sound and wholesome. I spoke to the bar staff and told the boss-lady that her pumpkin was about to leak all over the place, and would she like me to take it away for composting? She was happy with this offer... and gave me the 3 squashes too. Excellent! Apparently they had been props at the Theatre Royal and had been brought in a while ago. She'd intended to take the squashes home and cook with them, but hadn't had time to do that. I was surprised that she gave them to me.
So I cycled slowly home with a heavy load, and when inside, started to deal with the pineapples which I've had sitting outside the front door for a few days. Still feeling a bit grumpy.
As the weather was nice I did a good hour or so of chainsawing, chopping up all the chunky hazel and some of the recently rescued skipped logs. I enjoyed doing the chainsawing and splitting... I might do some stacking tomorrow, depending on how bad the weather is.
I made a nutloaf from bread, peanut butter, cooked quinoa, nuts, onions and some finely chopped pumpkin.
In the evening I cycled over to the station to buy my tickets for Cambridge on Friday, but there were no advance tickets left, so it will be a buy-it-on-the-day situation, at a cost of £66. But that's an off-peak return, so I don't have to get a certain train back... but I may not get a seat. I called in to see Dylan and did his recycling collection, and then on to Green Drinks at the Three Legged Mare. It was a fairly quiet meeting, but good to see my friend Tracy and one of her friends, Jenny and her partner, Katie and her partner, June Tranmer, both Green Councillors, a nice chap called Julian, Peter and Edward from Transition, JZ and others. Andy Chase showed up and asked me to sign the Election Expenses forms.
Towards the end of this jolly social, I noticed that there were four pumpkins/squashes, on a shelf, as decoration. One of them, the big pumpkin, was going soft and just beginning to leak. The other 3, winter squash, were sound and wholesome. I spoke to the bar staff and told the boss-lady that her pumpkin was about to leak all over the place, and would she like me to take it away for composting? She was happy with this offer... and gave me the 3 squashes too. Excellent! Apparently they had been props at the Theatre Royal and had been brought in a while ago. She'd intended to take the squashes home and cook with them, but hadn't had time to do that. I was surprised that she gave them to me.
So I cycled slowly home with a heavy load, and when inside, started to deal with the pineapples which I've had sitting outside the front door for a few days. Still feeling a bit grumpy.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Tuesday 9th November 10
Well, a mixed day... a noisy start, I came down to help get the boys off to school, which did eventually happen. Gill and I had some quiet time together before going out to a meeting, which took til lunchtime.
Then we had lunch and immediately after lunch, I had another meeting, this one with Paul from BT Retail, about an advertising package which would allow me to have a website with key words which would be flagged up with Google, Yahoo and Bing, and I'd have a 'pay per click' type account. I quite liked this offer, although I can't afford it right now and will wait until my BT advertising comes up for renewal. Currently I'm in the paper directory and have the mini-website, although I haven't done anything with the website as I haven't had time.
After Paul went, I got an email from a City of York Waste Minimisation Officer asking about my contacts within the University. This is because someone from Love Food Hate Waste is wanting to organise, or facilitate, a series of Waste Food Feasts, to feed 1000 people. I contacted Briony Pete and she told me about an event she co-ordinated in Hull. She wants to get other Universities but hasn't had any luck with York so far. I told her I'd see what I could do with my People and Planet contacts.
I spent a very short bit of time in the garden; too cold, windy, wet. But I did unload several sacks of leaves into my leafmould pile, and brought in a load of cooking apples which are all over our orchard.
I finished making the broccoli and sweet potato soup, and that's what we had for tea, it was delicious.
Then soon after 6 I headed off to Tang Hall Library to attend the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel, which was short and sweet, just two applications to look at. Then a short cycle to Langwith College at the University to attend the People and Planet meeting, to hear the updates on their composting campaign and to ask them about their initial thoughts on the Waste Food Feast idea. They are an amazing bunch of people, and were enthusiastic about the Feast. I'll invite Briony to come and talk to the group.
Came home via a logpile, and came in quickly as it was very cold. A cosy warm evening inside, more pear preparation, lots of reading, writing, washing up.
Then we had lunch and immediately after lunch, I had another meeting, this one with Paul from BT Retail, about an advertising package which would allow me to have a website with key words which would be flagged up with Google, Yahoo and Bing, and I'd have a 'pay per click' type account. I quite liked this offer, although I can't afford it right now and will wait until my BT advertising comes up for renewal. Currently I'm in the paper directory and have the mini-website, although I haven't done anything with the website as I haven't had time.
After Paul went, I got an email from a City of York Waste Minimisation Officer asking about my contacts within the University. This is because someone from Love Food Hate Waste is wanting to organise, or facilitate, a series of Waste Food Feasts, to feed 1000 people. I contacted Briony Pete and she told me about an event she co-ordinated in Hull. She wants to get other Universities but hasn't had any luck with York so far. I told her I'd see what I could do with my People and Planet contacts.
I spent a very short bit of time in the garden; too cold, windy, wet. But I did unload several sacks of leaves into my leafmould pile, and brought in a load of cooking apples which are all over our orchard.
I finished making the broccoli and sweet potato soup, and that's what we had for tea, it was delicious.
Then soon after 6 I headed off to Tang Hall Library to attend the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel, which was short and sweet, just two applications to look at. Then a short cycle to Langwith College at the University to attend the People and Planet meeting, to hear the updates on their composting campaign and to ask them about their initial thoughts on the Waste Food Feast idea. They are an amazing bunch of people, and were enthusiastic about the Feast. I'll invite Briony to come and talk to the group.
Came home via a logpile, and came in quickly as it was very cold. A cosy warm evening inside, more pear preparation, lots of reading, writing, washing up.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Monday 8th November 10
A nice simple day, although it started with a very weird lucid dream which Gill asked me about but I couldn't explain as it was far too complicated.
I got up and got to St Nicks for a York Rotters management meeting for 10am. It was a fairly short meeting as John had another meeting at 11, I was glad to chat to Sara the Waste Minimisation Officer about how I might be able to take the People and Planet composting project forward, she suggested that as the contract is with YorWaste, we need to talk to them.
I came home via Freshways and when I got back, found a freecycler had given me 5 sacks of leaves for my leafmould pile. That's the easiest way to get leafmould!
As it was raining I had a fairly quiet afternoon, some paperwork, other bits and bobs. At about 5pm, Gill got something out of the freezer to add to tea... and couldn't get the door shut again. I told Gill that this was the cue to defrost the freezer, so I got a box from the loft and we loaded the contents into that, and then I spent over 5 hours defrosting it with bowls of hot water from the stove, left to sit in the freezer and slowly melt the thick ice, and a careful but prolonged attack with a breadknife. Eventually I got it completely ice-free, dry and clean, the trays washed out and dried, and it all put back together. It was fascinating what we found underneath it! I'd wondered where that knife had gone....
So that job took most of the evening and I wasn't able to get anything much else done.
I got up and got to St Nicks for a York Rotters management meeting for 10am. It was a fairly short meeting as John had another meeting at 11, I was glad to chat to Sara the Waste Minimisation Officer about how I might be able to take the People and Planet composting project forward, she suggested that as the contract is with YorWaste, we need to talk to them.
I came home via Freshways and when I got back, found a freecycler had given me 5 sacks of leaves for my leafmould pile. That's the easiest way to get leafmould!
As it was raining I had a fairly quiet afternoon, some paperwork, other bits and bobs. At about 5pm, Gill got something out of the freezer to add to tea... and couldn't get the door shut again. I told Gill that this was the cue to defrost the freezer, so I got a box from the loft and we loaded the contents into that, and then I spent over 5 hours defrosting it with bowls of hot water from the stove, left to sit in the freezer and slowly melt the thick ice, and a careful but prolonged attack with a breadknife. Eventually I got it completely ice-free, dry and clean, the trays washed out and dried, and it all put back together. It was fascinating what we found underneath it! I'd wondered where that knife had gone....
So that job took most of the evening and I wasn't able to get anything much else done.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Sunday 7th November 10
A work day. I got up early and did my laptop catch up, and then got my Professor Fiddlesticks clothes and kit together, making sure I had everything I need. Then packed it into the bike trailer and headed down to the station to get the 11.29 to Doncaster. Here I had a 30 minute wait... and got accosted by a group who were going down to London to some sort of awards ceremony, as one of them, a child, had saved a load of people from dying in a fire. I think it was the Pride of Britain awards, at Grosvenor House. They were asking about my odd-looking equipment and requested balloon models... so I gave them one each.
The train to Brough normally goes to Hull but today, due to engineering on the line, it stopped at Brough, but that was where I was going anyway, so I didn't need to go and get a bus onto Hull, thank goodness.
My lift soon came and Paul, Dad, drove me to the party venue, which was at South Cave. I've performed at this venue before and it's a lovely quite modern community centre. There were already loads of partygoers and their parents, so I quickly got changed and soon the show was getting going, with the usual 'warm up acts' from the audience first, and then my Circus routine which went incredibly smoothly.
So then it was birthday tea... the two children who I'd been booked to do the party for, plus an unexpected extra, a girl with assorted disabilities, who apparently was a neighbour and was approaching a birthday and kind of hitched onto this event. So this meant there were maybe 50 children and perhaps 20 adults there... a good audience, but quite tough for the balloon workshop, as I had a queue of participants who burst their balloon and were asking for another. Not only this, but I only had about 25 minutes for this show, and I usually need 30 to 45 minutes. But it went well, and I finished only 5 minutes late, at 4.05pm. Everybody seemed really happy with the party, and I got paid and got changed and got my kit loaded into Paul's car and got driven back to Brough station, where I only had 5 minutes to wait for the train back to Doncaster, and got back to York just after 6pm.
I had a quick bike ride back home, collecting a box of compostables from Country Fresh, specially left out for me, and Gill had made an interesting tea... baked sweet squash and a kind of shepherd's pie thing with some wonderful ingredients, which included broad beans.
A quiet evening, various laptop stuff going on. Enjoyed 'The Sky At Night' as always.
The train to Brough normally goes to Hull but today, due to engineering on the line, it stopped at Brough, but that was where I was going anyway, so I didn't need to go and get a bus onto Hull, thank goodness.
My lift soon came and Paul, Dad, drove me to the party venue, which was at South Cave. I've performed at this venue before and it's a lovely quite modern community centre. There were already loads of partygoers and their parents, so I quickly got changed and soon the show was getting going, with the usual 'warm up acts' from the audience first, and then my Circus routine which went incredibly smoothly.
So then it was birthday tea... the two children who I'd been booked to do the party for, plus an unexpected extra, a girl with assorted disabilities, who apparently was a neighbour and was approaching a birthday and kind of hitched onto this event. So this meant there were maybe 50 children and perhaps 20 adults there... a good audience, but quite tough for the balloon workshop, as I had a queue of participants who burst their balloon and were asking for another. Not only this, but I only had about 25 minutes for this show, and I usually need 30 to 45 minutes. But it went well, and I finished only 5 minutes late, at 4.05pm. Everybody seemed really happy with the party, and I got paid and got changed and got my kit loaded into Paul's car and got driven back to Brough station, where I only had 5 minutes to wait for the train back to Doncaster, and got back to York just after 6pm.
I had a quick bike ride back home, collecting a box of compostables from Country Fresh, specially left out for me, and Gill had made an interesting tea... baked sweet squash and a kind of shepherd's pie thing with some wonderful ingredients, which included broad beans.
A quiet evening, various laptop stuff going on. Enjoyed 'The Sky At Night' as always.
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