Friday 9 March 2007

Friday 9th March 07

One of my big 'sit and wait' compost heaps has for a while looked as if it needed turning and making less hospitable for it's rodent inhabitants, and I'll replace it with one built on top of a couple of pallets which are less rodent friendly to burrow into. So I got a 'duppy bag', the builders materials woven nylon one cubic metre sack and started forking the heap into it, as a first turn. I have to take out lots of contrairies and either bin them or chuck them in a container of rainwater which washes the composty nutrients off so I can pour the 'fertiliser water' on various garden plants. I then bin the plastic bits, as they're not recyclable. Also I can at this stage take out any unrotted sticks, fabrics, rubber bands etc, and pop them on the next heap, as they'll rot down in time.

After this I stacked some recently chopped and split logs and had an early lunch and cycled into town to give my bike to Cycle Heaven for a front-wheel rebuild, as my heavy loads plus heavy braking has worn away the rim. I get wheels built as an 'off the shelf' one wouldn't last long with the use (abuse?) I give it. I borrowed the lovely Filibus load carrying bike and went to Out Of This World to pick up a load, and to the Nationwide Building Society to bank a tax refund, always a nice thing to be able to do, will pay for the wheel rebuild!

Met a friend in Parliament St, Daphne who I met through AVP, who was pleased to see me and asked if I'd watched the Channel 4 programme last night on 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' which Gill recorded as I was out. She said I must watch it as it refuted many of the current percieved certainties that CO2 is responsible for climate change. I like scientific debate and will always listen to well-put arguments, as I do my best to keep an open mind. I look forward to watching it on video. Collected another 2 sacks of grot from Heslington Rd and brought them home for my favourite recycling methodology, the hot tumbler.

I picked up the boys, the Filibus bike again causing a bit of a stir as it looks different to a normal bike, and my youngest had a ride on the front load-carrying platform as a treat, just around the playground for a minute.

I did some more outdoor stuff before tea, and then at 7pm went out again, to the Yorkshire Museum to hear/see Dick Strawbridge doing a talk on 'How Green Can You Be?' He is a really good speaker, and really committed to living as sustainable life as he can, within his desire to 'be normal' and have motor vehicles, eat meat, etc etc. His house move and refit, and how his family coped was the subject of a BBC programme last year called 'It's Not Easy Being Green' which we watched and really enjoyed. I met his wife Bridget at the Big Green Gathering, and for Chrismas was given the book of the series. After the talk I asked Dick to sign the book, and he said he'd worked out who I was, as I'd emailed B saying that I planned to see D do his presentation.

Came home quickly so I could watch 'Castaway' with my wife, a pleasant, relaxing evening in, followed by washing up in scalding stove water and a good session with my laptop... hence another day's blog, my new addiction!

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