A good day as I spent quite a bit of it outside, filling the Compostumbler, the leafmould pile, stacking logs, and dealing with the big old willow tree which had shed a large lump of rotten wood, and when I climbed up to see where it had come from, I found another big loose piece which easily came away, so i brought that down the ladder and cut it up with the bow saw and stacked it in the dry.... and to help the tree I'll pollard it this year. It was pollarded about 4 years ago and it's got big and bushy again, and I think another topping would give it a new vigour. It will also give me a big pile of home-grown logs!
At 5pm I got ready to go to the Seahorse to have a meeting about Towards a Sustainable York 2013, and we agreed wording for the leaflet table application form, and a few other bits and bobs.
Late into the evening I created a facebook 'event' page, which Ivana will make a 'bit.ly' address for, and maybe a QR code for people to scan in.
So,a good day.
Friday, 21 December 2012
Friday, 7 December 2012
Wednesday 5th December 12
Tried to do lots today but failed, although did do some stacking and compost loading, the usual rounds of washing up etc, and went down to town to sort out our money situation, since Gill discovered we had -£14 in the bank, whoops, and I collected my bike from Cycle Heaven which has £120 worth of new back block, gear shift, chain and front drive wheel, all of which had worn down and were getting jumpy.
At 4.30 I met John Henderson in the pub to talk about a website he's setting up and then at 5.30, met up with Edward, Ivana, Spin and Alastair to talk about Towards a Sustainable York 2013.
At 4.30 I met John Henderson in the pub to talk about a website he's setting up and then at 5.30, met up with Edward, Ivana, Spin and Alastair to talk about Towards a Sustainable York 2013.
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Thursday 29th November 12
A very hard-working day, physically, and latterly, mentally.
So, up early as Ian said he'd pick me up at 9.30 to go to Heslington to do the oak tree. We found the gate was open but the lane so churned up that his pick-up couldn't easily get along it, so we went round to Halifax College and got in through there. We did three loads. The first one we took back to his house towards Clifton Moor, the second to ours, where I made a brief lunch, and the third, he took back to his but dropped me off at home.
I enjoyed sharpening his chainsaw teeth, lugging big chunks around, and helping him. I also like his stories and anecdotes. He's really good to work with.
We finished about 3pm and I did a bit of sawing and moving stuff around in the front for an hour, before going to the Seahorse for 5pm for a meeting with Edward and Peter, first (except Peter was late), and then a whole bunch of other people turned up for 5.30, and I chaired and took notes, and we moved forward on the 'Towards a Sustainable York 2013' event.
This meeting finished soon after 7pm, with an agreement to meet next week and finalise things.
So, up early as Ian said he'd pick me up at 9.30 to go to Heslington to do the oak tree. We found the gate was open but the lane so churned up that his pick-up couldn't easily get along it, so we went round to Halifax College and got in through there. We did three loads. The first one we took back to his house towards Clifton Moor, the second to ours, where I made a brief lunch, and the third, he took back to his but dropped me off at home.
I enjoyed sharpening his chainsaw teeth, lugging big chunks around, and helping him. I also like his stories and anecdotes. He's really good to work with.
We finished about 3pm and I did a bit of sawing and moving stuff around in the front for an hour, before going to the Seahorse for 5pm for a meeting with Edward and Peter, first (except Peter was late), and then a whole bunch of other people turned up for 5.30, and I chaired and took notes, and we moved forward on the 'Towards a Sustainable York 2013' event.
This meeting finished soon after 7pm, with an agreement to meet next week and finalise things.
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Saturday 7th January 12
A good day, despite seeing my favourite veg shop being emptied and closed.
I'd agreed to collect Sally's compost this morning. For a couple of years, she's been bringing her waste veg and fruit peelings once a week to Country Fresh, where they've been added to a box or bag which I've then taken home. She is really keen on keeping as much as possible out of landfill and only throws away a tiny amount every few months. So with the shop closing, she was in a bit of a difficult position, and rang me up to ask if I'd be prepared to collect the stuff from her, once a week or once a fortnight. I agreed to do a weekly pick up from her back yard. I then went to the shop and Rich wasn't there, but said (over the phone) that he'd be there in 20 minutes, so I collected two Christmas trees and cycled home... and back again to the shop.
I took a large quantity of the last of the fruit and veg from Richard, who was going to the skip site with boxes for recycling, and black sacks of mixed stuff for landfill. I just did one journey back home, and asked Rich to let me know if there was more to help with later in the week.
I spent a bit of the afternoon sorting out some good fruit and veg from the genuinely compostable stuff, and loaded quite a few heaps high with sacks of materials.
In the evening our youngest went to spend time with a friend, and was invited to have a sleepover, and that gave space for our eldest to have a game of Scrabble with us, he joined forces with Gill and soundly thrashed me 359 versus 289. I had a very unlucky game letters-wise. No excuse really, between them they had some excellent words and I'm quite glad it ended up like that as our son will be more likely to play if he thinks he can beat me.
I'd agreed to collect Sally's compost this morning. For a couple of years, she's been bringing her waste veg and fruit peelings once a week to Country Fresh, where they've been added to a box or bag which I've then taken home. She is really keen on keeping as much as possible out of landfill and only throws away a tiny amount every few months. So with the shop closing, she was in a bit of a difficult position, and rang me up to ask if I'd be prepared to collect the stuff from her, once a week or once a fortnight. I agreed to do a weekly pick up from her back yard. I then went to the shop and Rich wasn't there, but said (over the phone) that he'd be there in 20 minutes, so I collected two Christmas trees and cycled home... and back again to the shop.
I took a large quantity of the last of the fruit and veg from Richard, who was going to the skip site with boxes for recycling, and black sacks of mixed stuff for landfill. I just did one journey back home, and asked Rich to let me know if there was more to help with later in the week.
I spent a bit of the afternoon sorting out some good fruit and veg from the genuinely compostable stuff, and loaded quite a few heaps high with sacks of materials.
In the evening our youngest went to spend time with a friend, and was invited to have a sleepover, and that gave space for our eldest to have a game of Scrabble with us, he joined forces with Gill and soundly thrashed me 359 versus 289. I had a very unlucky game letters-wise. No excuse really, between them they had some excellent words and I'm quite glad it ended up like that as our son will be more likely to play if he thinks he can beat me.
Friday 6th January 12
More paper shuffling in the morning, then went to town after lunch to have my teeth cleaned and polished, and went to my Building Society to shuffle yet more paper, to Dixons to ask what might be wrong with the phone, and then on to Alligator to pick up their compostables and buy some peanut butter.
When I got home, the phone was mysteriously working again. Very odd.
I did a little bit of log splitting and stacking.
I had an early tea... soup with vegetables in, and then headed for David's where we went for a coffee at City Screen. Thee was no-one there that David knew to talk to, so we read papers and came away in less than an hour, and I left his place at 7.30, and came home via a logpile.
When I got home, the phone was mysteriously working again. Very odd.
I did a little bit of log splitting and stacking.
I had an early tea... soup with vegetables in, and then headed for David's where we went for a coffee at City Screen. Thee was no-one there that David knew to talk to, so we read papers and came away in less than an hour, and I left his place at 7.30, and came home via a logpile.
Thursday 5th January 12
I spent a good part of the day dealing with assorted paperwork and admin stuff. I really don't like doing this, but now and again it has to be done!
I found, much to my annoyance and dismay, that our home phone is not working properly... well, at all! The buttons when pressed don't register the number on the screen with a bleep immediately, making me think that press hadn't made contact... so I pressed it again and thus got the wrong number on the screen... and then when I pressed 'call' it just wouldn't, and finally when I tried to ring it from my mobile the base station rang but the handset didn't. Very annoying. I do hope we don't have to buy another phone.
Gill went to the hospital to see why her right elbow was hurting so much, after her tumble. She came back late lunchtime having had an X-ray, which revealed she has chipped her ulna and burst a synovial bursa.
I needed to make some phone calls and did a couple with my mobile but not those which I had to wait for a long time in a queue... and the lovely Maria round the corner came to my rescue, saying I could come and use hers, mainly for the call I had to make to Yell to deal with a problem with a recent invoice. I'd already called with my mobile and the 0800 number, which is free from a landline, is not free on a mobile, so I wasn't happy to just wait for 10 minutes and pay I don't know what... so thank you to Maria for letting me do that call from her house. I also got through to the chap at the Council who the compensation form went to, and he asked us to put Gill's new medical diagnosis in writing and send it to him.
Late in the afternoon I had a bath... washed hair as I was due to perform in Leeds, an event hosted by Leeds Green Drinks, called Yorkshire Green Laughs.
This was a successful event, doing my balloon show plus banter. I got some positive feedback.
I found, much to my annoyance and dismay, that our home phone is not working properly... well, at all! The buttons when pressed don't register the number on the screen with a bleep immediately, making me think that press hadn't made contact... so I pressed it again and thus got the wrong number on the screen... and then when I pressed 'call' it just wouldn't, and finally when I tried to ring it from my mobile the base station rang but the handset didn't. Very annoying. I do hope we don't have to buy another phone.
Gill went to the hospital to see why her right elbow was hurting so much, after her tumble. She came back late lunchtime having had an X-ray, which revealed she has chipped her ulna and burst a synovial bursa.
I needed to make some phone calls and did a couple with my mobile but not those which I had to wait for a long time in a queue... and the lovely Maria round the corner came to my rescue, saying I could come and use hers, mainly for the call I had to make to Yell to deal with a problem with a recent invoice. I'd already called with my mobile and the 0800 number, which is free from a landline, is not free on a mobile, so I wasn't happy to just wait for 10 minutes and pay I don't know what... so thank you to Maria for letting me do that call from her house. I also got through to the chap at the Council who the compensation form went to, and he asked us to put Gill's new medical diagnosis in writing and send it to him.
Late in the afternoon I had a bath... washed hair as I was due to perform in Leeds, an event hosted by Leeds Green Drinks, called Yorkshire Green Laughs.
This was a successful event, doing my balloon show plus banter. I got some positive feedback.
Wednesday 4th January 12
Woke fairly late, and had a good chat with a friend who's in a pretty desperate situation. There's nothing I can do to help, really, apart from listening and being sympathetic. Lots of this person's friends are offering advice and ideas and these don't help as the person is unable to make any decisions or change their situation. It all makes me very sad as I'm very fond of them. I hope to go and visit sometime soon.
I didn't get a lot done today really... the only 'things' on were to go to Country Fresh towards 4pm to take some of the last fruit and veg, as today is the last trading day before it closes, and then to take our eldest to Cafe Scientifique in the evening. I did do mountains of washing up, finished making the soup I started last night, and nearly finished making the passata - stewed, whizzed, sieved tomatoes.
However, I made the trip to Country Fresh into a circular journey, by going via Hazel Court recycling centre to put a load of drinks cartons into the carton bank, some low energy lightbulbs in the CFL barrel, some iron nails etc out of the stove grates into the metal skip, and a load of small plastic bottles in the plastic bottle bank.
Seeing Country Fresh was sad... I've enjoyed my relationship with them for nearly 10 years, helping to reduce the amount they've had to send to landfill.
I didn't get a lot done today really... the only 'things' on were to go to Country Fresh towards 4pm to take some of the last fruit and veg, as today is the last trading day before it closes, and then to take our eldest to Cafe Scientifique in the evening. I did do mountains of washing up, finished making the soup I started last night, and nearly finished making the passata - stewed, whizzed, sieved tomatoes.
However, I made the trip to Country Fresh into a circular journey, by going via Hazel Court recycling centre to put a load of drinks cartons into the carton bank, some low energy lightbulbs in the CFL barrel, some iron nails etc out of the stove grates into the metal skip, and a load of small plastic bottles in the plastic bottle bank.
Seeing Country Fresh was sad... I've enjoyed my relationship with them for nearly 10 years, helping to reduce the amount they've had to send to landfill.
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