Well a very snowy day, it had snowed heavily overnight, but this didn't stop me doing what I needed to do.
My first appointment was at my dentist's in town, so I set off in good time and had no problems with cycling until i got to Deangate, which had deep slushy icy snow, broken up by assorted vehicles and was difficult to cycle through. I fell off once here, which was funny as I was expecting to come a cropper somewhere along the route, and it happened just before I got to my destination.
So, had my teeth cleaned and I bought more TePe interdental brushes and cycled home, without incident.
Then we had a meeting at home with one of the teams who's helping us, to discuss home education.
Then we had lunch.
I managed to chat to someone high-up at York College who may be able to help with the Waste Food Feast, and he gave me some good advice about what might be possible and what wouldn't. I hope he gets to the meeting tomorrow. I also made initial contact with someone from York St John University Student Union, as I want these students involved too. Looks like the Waste Food Feast is slowly coming together.
Sometime during the afternoon a neighbour came round asking for a wheelbarrow of logs as they have a chimera thing in their back garden, so I reluctantly let them have a few, but I really don't feel able to let many logs go, as we need them to keep the house warm... there is no such thing as a spare log here. The same can't be said for compost or dried fruit, I'm happy to get rid of some of those! But I like to keep relationships sweet, so it was more of a social thing than anything.
In the evening I had a headache and I went to bed for a couple of hours but got up at 10 when the boys went to bed, as they woke me up. Gill and I watched a programme on BBC iPlayer about bullying; very interesting.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Sunday 28th November 10
I was happy to get a lie in, and Gill and I listened to The Archers in bed. Lovely.
I watched Country Tracks after this whilst having breakfast, and got a phone call from Barry Potter who told me he'd be passing my house within the hour. He wanted to come and check out the brewing stuff delivered a week or so ago, as he does a lot of brewing. I got dressed and he arrived, bearing gifts of cyder, metheglin, mead and some honey, as he has some bees.
He went home with six plastic buckets, three 1 gallon demijohns, two half-gallon demijohns, some airlocks, crown corks and straining bags, net curtains etc. Also, very pleased that he took two plastic crates for holding bottles. So I've managed to give away all the unwanted brewing stuff. Excellent!
So, a late lunch, listened to Gardener's Question Time and then went down to Country Fresh in a complete blizzard, and it was really nice to see Richard and we had a laugh, I did a bit of shopping and took away a sack of recyclables, although I won't be able to process them today as it's far too cold and snowy. I might chop them up in the garage tomorrow and take them down the garden ready to put on the most accessible heap. I called into the Co-op on the way back and was glad to get home with the assorted goodies.
I spent the rest of the day inside, not doing a lot, bar kitchen stuff. Hoping for an early night.
I watched Country Tracks after this whilst having breakfast, and got a phone call from Barry Potter who told me he'd be passing my house within the hour. He wanted to come and check out the brewing stuff delivered a week or so ago, as he does a lot of brewing. I got dressed and he arrived, bearing gifts of cyder, metheglin, mead and some honey, as he has some bees.
He went home with six plastic buckets, three 1 gallon demijohns, two half-gallon demijohns, some airlocks, crown corks and straining bags, net curtains etc. Also, very pleased that he took two plastic crates for holding bottles. So I've managed to give away all the unwanted brewing stuff. Excellent!
So, a late lunch, listened to Gardener's Question Time and then went down to Country Fresh in a complete blizzard, and it was really nice to see Richard and we had a laugh, I did a bit of shopping and took away a sack of recyclables, although I won't be able to process them today as it's far too cold and snowy. I might chop them up in the garage tomorrow and take them down the garden ready to put on the most accessible heap. I called into the Co-op on the way back and was glad to get home with the assorted goodies.
I spent the rest of the day inside, not doing a lot, bar kitchen stuff. Hoping for an early night.
Saturday 27th November 10
Up early as had to be in Huddersfield working by 10am, so I left the house at 8, cycled slowly though the snow and ice down to the station and got the 8.27 towards Manchester. I met two nice women on he train who were heading to Manchester to meet some old friends, flying in to go shopping. Both were interested in green issues, one had even trained as a York Rotter, but were seemingly not able to convert their concern into significant action. This is not uncommon, and is partly due to lack of knowledge. Hence my blog...see How do I do 'low carbon'?
Anyway, Huddersfield stopped the conversation and I had memorised my route to the market office, and it took me less then 10 minutes to get there. The market office people had purchased a posh Santa outfit last year for the leader of the Council to wear, and they asked me to wear it. I kept my own trousers, red dungarees, and had a tabard thing with a stuffed front, for belly-mass, and then a really nice cloak with hood. And a beard/moustache with two elastics to hold it on, a big improvement on the single elastic that my Santa beard has, which does not stay on very well. They had some welly-boot covers with bells on which were a great idea too.
My role was to walk round the French Market and greet the public and give out Christmassy Chocolate eggs. Before starting I wasn't looking forward to this that much, but as I got down to it, I began to really enjoy it. I especially enjoyed the genuine wide-eyed wonder of some of the children, the play-along-with-it make believe of some of the older children, including teenagers, and helping to overcome the shyness of another group of mainly young children. Only twice did someone say they didn't believe in Father Christmas, shouted at me by a teen, and one lad tried to pull my beard. But the overwhelming response was very positive. I didn't feel the need to alter my voice, and I was able use my verbal humour to make people laugh, which I was pleased with.
This was my first time 'out and about' as Father Christmas... the previous occasions were in a hotel just giving a present or pile of presents to guests at the lunch table, whereas in the street it was a bit more of a natural situation with lots of different sorts of possible meetings. About half a dozen children wanted to hug me (well, my legs!) and quite a few wanted me to pose for a photo with them. I did two and a half hours before I was too cold to continue, and went back to the office for lunch.
I enjoyed the sandwiches Gill made for me and defrosted, and then went out for a 3 hour stint of more of the same. I almost didn't want to finish, but I got back to the office just after 4pm and quickly disrobed, put my fleece back on and got back to the station for the 4.26 train.
When I got back to York and cycled away from the station, my bike lights weren't working very well, in fact the front one wasn't working at all. So I cycled down to Cycle Heaven and a few minutes fiddling revealed that my dynamo had worn out, or gone wrong due to overuse, so I spent £25 on a new one to replace it, and cycled away extremely well lit - much better.
I got in and Gill and the boys were very focused on some telly nonsense (a dancing competition, I think) so I made myself some tea; home grown beans mixed with a bit of tomato soup and cheese, to make a sauce to pour over a big pile of broccoli, all cooked on the woodstove.
I had an extended facebook Scrabble session, playing for over an hour, and enjoyed watching some lightweight TV nonsense... just different nonsense to what the others were into.
Anyway, Huddersfield stopped the conversation and I had memorised my route to the market office, and it took me less then 10 minutes to get there. The market office people had purchased a posh Santa outfit last year for the leader of the Council to wear, and they asked me to wear it. I kept my own trousers, red dungarees, and had a tabard thing with a stuffed front, for belly-mass, and then a really nice cloak with hood. And a beard/moustache with two elastics to hold it on, a big improvement on the single elastic that my Santa beard has, which does not stay on very well. They had some welly-boot covers with bells on which were a great idea too.
My role was to walk round the French Market and greet the public and give out Christmassy Chocolate eggs. Before starting I wasn't looking forward to this that much, but as I got down to it, I began to really enjoy it. I especially enjoyed the genuine wide-eyed wonder of some of the children, the play-along-with-it make believe of some of the older children, including teenagers, and helping to overcome the shyness of another group of mainly young children. Only twice did someone say they didn't believe in Father Christmas, shouted at me by a teen, and one lad tried to pull my beard. But the overwhelming response was very positive. I didn't feel the need to alter my voice, and I was able use my verbal humour to make people laugh, which I was pleased with.
This was my first time 'out and about' as Father Christmas... the previous occasions were in a hotel just giving a present or pile of presents to guests at the lunch table, whereas in the street it was a bit more of a natural situation with lots of different sorts of possible meetings. About half a dozen children wanted to hug me (well, my legs!) and quite a few wanted me to pose for a photo with them. I did two and a half hours before I was too cold to continue, and went back to the office for lunch.
I enjoyed the sandwiches Gill made for me and defrosted, and then went out for a 3 hour stint of more of the same. I almost didn't want to finish, but I got back to the office just after 4pm and quickly disrobed, put my fleece back on and got back to the station for the 4.26 train.
When I got back to York and cycled away from the station, my bike lights weren't working very well, in fact the front one wasn't working at all. So I cycled down to Cycle Heaven and a few minutes fiddling revealed that my dynamo had worn out, or gone wrong due to overuse, so I spent £25 on a new one to replace it, and cycled away extremely well lit - much better.
I got in and Gill and the boys were very focused on some telly nonsense (a dancing competition, I think) so I made myself some tea; home grown beans mixed with a bit of tomato soup and cheese, to make a sauce to pour over a big pile of broccoli, all cooked on the woodstove.
I had an extended facebook Scrabble session, playing for over an hour, and enjoyed watching some lightweight TV nonsense... just different nonsense to what the others were into.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Friday 26th Novbember 10
Spent the morning sorting out stuff for tomorrow's work in Huddersfield, looking at maps ant train times, contacting the market people... who were uncontactable and didn't get back to me... so I think I know what I'm doing, but it would have been good to have it confirmed.
I did a bit of assorted garden work, despite it being cold, and a visit to Country Fresh, and I sorted out a load of dried fruit for sale at tomorrow's LETS fair. I did 10 bags of 12 apple rings, 2 half pears, two half plums, two bananas, two kiwi slices, two pineapple slices, two persimmon slices... and labelled these for sale for £2 or £1 + Y1. I also did quite a few jars of fruit, again for a sterling and Yorky price, or just a sterling price. I hope they all sell!
After tea I cycled down to Heslington to take the fruit to Melody. I brought home a small bottle of truffle oil which had been prepared by their 12 year old entrepreneurial son. He'd bought a 35 Euro truffle whilst on holiday in Italy and had worked out a way of recouping his money. I now owe him £3.50's worth of dried fruit, which he loves, as a swap.
We all watched a good programme on the science of plants, and after that I had an interesting conversation with both boys based on an incident I'd read about because of a link in facebook, about a man who'd lost £80,000 from the roof of his car whilst driving to work, and a completely dissimilar event when our youngest found a pound on the sofa. So we discussed the various ethical issues involved with finding lost money. If you find a pound in the street, nearly everybody would just put it in their pocket. Would you do it with a £2 coin? A £20 note? A roll of notes adding up to £100? £1000? Where is the cut off point? What amount would you put in your pocket and think 'lucky me' and have no conscience, and at what value would you think 'I ought to report this find to the police'? Obviously there's no 'right answer', it's one of those ethical dilemmas that occasionally people have to deal with. This conversation led to a discussion about laws, speed limits, drugs, the age you can get married and more. It meant they went to bed a bit late, but it was an interesting chat.
I did some more fruit later, and had a shave and a bath.
I did a bit of assorted garden work, despite it being cold, and a visit to Country Fresh, and I sorted out a load of dried fruit for sale at tomorrow's LETS fair. I did 10 bags of 12 apple rings, 2 half pears, two half plums, two bananas, two kiwi slices, two pineapple slices, two persimmon slices... and labelled these for sale for £2 or £1 + Y1. I also did quite a few jars of fruit, again for a sterling and Yorky price, or just a sterling price. I hope they all sell!
After tea I cycled down to Heslington to take the fruit to Melody. I brought home a small bottle of truffle oil which had been prepared by their 12 year old entrepreneurial son. He'd bought a 35 Euro truffle whilst on holiday in Italy and had worked out a way of recouping his money. I now owe him £3.50's worth of dried fruit, which he loves, as a swap.
We all watched a good programme on the science of plants, and after that I had an interesting conversation with both boys based on an incident I'd read about because of a link in facebook, about a man who'd lost £80,000 from the roof of his car whilst driving to work, and a completely dissimilar event when our youngest found a pound on the sofa. So we discussed the various ethical issues involved with finding lost money. If you find a pound in the street, nearly everybody would just put it in their pocket. Would you do it with a £2 coin? A £20 note? A roll of notes adding up to £100? £1000? Where is the cut off point? What amount would you put in your pocket and think 'lucky me' and have no conscience, and at what value would you think 'I ought to report this find to the police'? Obviously there's no 'right answer', it's one of those ethical dilemmas that occasionally people have to deal with. This conversation led to a discussion about laws, speed limits, drugs, the age you can get married and more. It meant they went to bed a bit late, but it was an interesting chat.
I did some more fruit later, and had a shave and a bath.
Friday, 26 November 2010
Thursday 25th November 10
A sleepy day. But I got up at 8.20 and during the morning took on a teacher role. The curriculum our son was following had got onto cells so I asked him to find me a range of answers about Amoebae. He did that with relish, and we went on to discuss organelles, symbiosis in lichens and corals, taxonomy and the differences between plant and animal cells.
Later, Gill went out and I did some work outside, in the snow flurries, moving green logs to a carefully stacked wall at the back and bringing nice dry ones from the store at the back to the front door stack. I love stacking logs. Makes all those childhood jigsaw puzzles worth it.
After tea I walked down to the Co-op and got cereals but they had some cheap bits and pieces which was nice, like a French Stick for 20 pence and a Mars Bar for 15p. Rare treat, I hardly ever buy chocolate.
I did lots of other bits today including some tidying around the stoves, sorting out nails etc, ready for recycling, also washing up, the never-ending washing up.....
And, late on, I got my CV finished. At least, finished to my satisfaction, and have sent it to my friend Beth who is a professional CV puller-aparter. She'll put me right!
Later, Gill went out and I did some work outside, in the snow flurries, moving green logs to a carefully stacked wall at the back and bringing nice dry ones from the store at the back to the front door stack. I love stacking logs. Makes all those childhood jigsaw puzzles worth it.
After tea I walked down to the Co-op and got cereals but they had some cheap bits and pieces which was nice, like a French Stick for 20 pence and a Mars Bar for 15p. Rare treat, I hardly ever buy chocolate.
I did lots of other bits today including some tidying around the stoves, sorting out nails etc, ready for recycling, also washing up, the never-ending washing up.....
And, late on, I got my CV finished. At least, finished to my satisfaction, and have sent it to my friend Beth who is a professional CV puller-aparter. She'll put me right!
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Wednesday 24th November 10
I had an appointment at 10 to see Jane, a newish green friend who shares a love of Scrabble and has a lovely wildlife garden. We'd met at several meetings and had tried several times to meet up, failing on at least two occasions. But today's meeting had been in the diary for a while and it was good to meet up, attempt a game of Scrabble, and then give that up as chatting and Scrabble were not very compatible, and then had some lunch. Our conversations ranged from bird and tree identification, oil paintings, communication in relationships, optimism versus pessimism, food and a whole lot between.
I came back via Country Fresh where Shirley gave me the usual sack of gubbins, and then via Freshways who had a sack for me. I got back to find Gill and our eldest had gone into town to get some glasses repaired but they soon came in. I did a little bit of log stacking, and then our friend Maria came round to talk to us about home education, as she is a tutor who has some private students who learn mainly chemistry with her. She had a good pile of text books and advice about resource material to get him through to GCSE in the three sciences. Later we accepted her offer of an hour a week tuition. Things are beginning to fall into place.
I had a subdued evening, dealt with some admin stuff and tried to write an important email which I've been composing in my mind for a week or two. Late on I prepared some more apple and then a large pile of yellow peppers which I'll use to make sweet pepper paprika once they're dried.
I came back via Country Fresh where Shirley gave me the usual sack of gubbins, and then via Freshways who had a sack for me. I got back to find Gill and our eldest had gone into town to get some glasses repaired but they soon came in. I did a little bit of log stacking, and then our friend Maria came round to talk to us about home education, as she is a tutor who has some private students who learn mainly chemistry with her. She had a good pile of text books and advice about resource material to get him through to GCSE in the three sciences. Later we accepted her offer of an hour a week tuition. Things are beginning to fall into place.
I had a subdued evening, dealt with some admin stuff and tried to write an important email which I've been composing in my mind for a week or two. Late on I prepared some more apple and then a large pile of yellow peppers which I'll use to make sweet pepper paprika once they're dried.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Tuesday 23rd November 10
An odd day as we have decided to home educate our eldest child, as of today. Gill spent quite a bit of time doing the required admin with the Local Education Authority and the school, and we'll be contacting the local home schooling group which is very active. I've done a party for them, and I hope we can get involved in this group.
I'm not brilliant with major changes like this but I expect I'll get used to it. Between us, Gill and I have a lot of expertise and learning, and we have a lot of contacts who could do some specialist teaching. I am extremely disappointed that the school has been unable to accommodate our child's needs and has been unable to deal with the dreadful behaviour of some of the other pupils.
Anyway, we look forward to exciting and positive times ahead, and most important, happy times.
I did quite a bit of work outside... stacking logs, filling the leafmould pile, a bit of compost heap management, taking down bean vines and bringing in more dry beans. I even found a meal's-worth of potatoes. I had an appointment with the GP practice nurse for an asthma check and flu jab. On the way back I collected a large sack of gubbins from Freshways.
In the evening I had a use-it-up meal and did some more apple prep for the dried apple production line. I watched a great programme on the ultimate environmental absurdity, bottled water. I had an email enquiry from a Tesco marketeer asking me to do a blog post about how Tesco is green. I could hardly believe it! I'll consider writing this up over the next few days.
I'm not brilliant with major changes like this but I expect I'll get used to it. Between us, Gill and I have a lot of expertise and learning, and we have a lot of contacts who could do some specialist teaching. I am extremely disappointed that the school has been unable to accommodate our child's needs and has been unable to deal with the dreadful behaviour of some of the other pupils.
Anyway, we look forward to exciting and positive times ahead, and most important, happy times.
I did quite a bit of work outside... stacking logs, filling the leafmould pile, a bit of compost heap management, taking down bean vines and bringing in more dry beans. I even found a meal's-worth of potatoes. I had an appointment with the GP practice nurse for an asthma check and flu jab. On the way back I collected a large sack of gubbins from Freshways.
In the evening I had a use-it-up meal and did some more apple prep for the dried apple production line. I watched a great programme on the ultimate environmental absurdity, bottled water. I had an email enquiry from a Tesco marketeer asking me to do a blog post about how Tesco is green. I could hardly believe it! I'll consider writing this up over the next few days.
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