Awoken by unhappiness downstairs. Gill rushed up saying "how CAN I think of going away at the end of the month when my child is refusing to go to school and it's only the third day?" He was shouting that he wasn't going to go to school because "WHY SHOULD I???" She asked me not to go downstairs with guns blazing, but to gently help calm things down. I think I succeeded as he started getting dressed, stopped being aggressive to his mother and went to school. Hooray!
But this still leaves the big problem that I have a few days away from home at the end of the month and I am really needed at home. This was predicted. Difficult. The next few weeks are not going to be easy or pleasant.
I had agreed to go and help out at St Nicks today, to arrive between 9 and 10 am to operate a big shredder to convert a massive pile of lopped trees, branches and bushes into a pile of shreddings for surfacing paths. When I arrived at 10 the shredder wasn't there but I'd taken my loppers so I started extracting some of the biggest logs from the pile and cutting off the branches which were just too little for logging but would be good for shredding. The van arrived at 10.30 and the chap showed me how to operate the machine, and so as he drove off I tried to start it with the handle and rope which turns the motor, and the bloody rope snapped!
I went in to show John and he rang the company and they rang the van driver who turned round and came back to collect it in order to replace the starter. So the machine eventually came back to us at about middayish. Another volunteer called Simon was working with me and we got on well... and when I got the machine going he pulled out stuff from the pile and put it for me to deal with, and feed into the shredder. This was very tough and dirty work but it went well. Came home for lunch for half an hour and then back to St Nicks to finish the job... took til 5pm, by which time I was absolutely exhausted and filthy.
I came home again and as was due to chair a meeting later, had a shower, but as our hot water isn't working, it was a cold shower and it took my breath away... especially as I had to wash my hair (full of shreddings). Had a quick tea... mainly stuff rescued from the Co-op do last night... I was last out of the building and there were loads of bits of pizza left, and quiche, and danish pastry halves, so I came away with quite a lot. It was due to sit there overnight and be thrown away in the morning, apparently!
Then at 7 went to the York in Transition meeting which I chaired, probably not as well as I can do, as I was knackered and had a bit of shredding in my eye which was giving me pain. The meeting went well and finished on time, and we went to The Swan on Bishopthorpe Road for a pint and a chat. Yorkshire Cider!!!
Home soon after 11pm.
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