Big and Small

• Today, some young people around the UK are gathering to protest the risks of humankind not doing enough to stem unalterable climate change. So it's worth letting you know that individuals and organisations are meeting in Derby next Tuesday evening, February 19th, to consider what can be done to get Derbyshire County Council to declare a 'climate emergency' and commit to greater efforts to achieve zero carbon status in the medium term, as other councils have already done. A group of folk are going from Hayfield, via a minibus organised by Graham Hirst. It leaves The Royal car park at 5.45p.m. and costs £7. There are still some seats left. If you'd like to be involved, please contact Graham at hirst34@icloud.com.
• A reminder that Village Greens and Grains will be outside The Pack Horse as usual, tomorrow, Saturday, 10-12.00p.m., with their delicious foods. This week, each V Green vegetable box will also contain a dessert recipe this week (roasted pineapple with chilli syrup). And there's the healthy, multicoloured fruits and veg we know!
  Grains will bring an exotic range of breads, rolls and cakes, as well as their delicious staples. Look out for flavourful cheddar & cumin, olive & rosemary, walnut, focaccia, and Danish pastries as well. Can you afford not to be there? Can you please bring your own shopper bags (about half of you do), since Grains want to cut down on the bags they have to issue – and we know that makes all-round sense! As ever, to be sure, order in advance (V Greens 01457 852456, Grains 01457 862346), and then just collect!
• And we in Sustainable Hayfield need someone to help our established team source, cultivate and support an appropriately varied range of stallholders and activities, to help ensure our Apple Day offers a vibrant and appealing range of attractions. Could this be you? Do you have (some) time to give? To begin with, you’d be shadowing someone experienced in this field, so you'd find out about what’s needed, before taking on more responsibility. If you’re interested, and want to become part of our ‘team’, please contact me in the first instance for a chat. I'm on 01663 745940 or 07867 578326 and at lauriejamesis@btinternet.com. Thanks very much for considering this!

One Gone and Two To Come

Thanks to those 20 or so supporters and friends who attended the presentation on home automation we arranged on Tuesday. Though turnout was less than we'd hoped for, those present made up for it in the range of questions and issues raised, and we hope you found John Blain's presentation informative and thought-provoking. We've also received a number of requests, from people unable to attend, for copies of the information presented. You can download that here. We hope it's of interest but recognise that some of the context (linking comments, elaboration and nuance) is lost by not being able to be present.

Two other things coming up:

• ever thought of baking your bread, but not sure how? What's the right mix of ingredients, how can we ensure it 'rises' in the right way, what is sourdough? Our Food group is hoping to answer these questions and many more and give you hands-on experience via a breadmaking skills course it's arranging at the Village Hall, provisionally for Saturday 23rd Feb, 2-5.00p.m. Utensils, ingredients and tea/coffee are provided, but a small charge (around £5) would be levied per person. If you'd like to attend such a course, whether or not you can make 23rd February, please let Ellen Bennett know at ellenkbennett@yahoo.co.uk by next Monday, 11th February. That will help Ellen and team determine whether they're in a position, numbers-wise, to proceed on Feb 23rd or seek alternative date(s). Thanks!
• we can confirm that this year's Village Spring Clean is going to be held 10-2.00p.m. on Saturday 6th April, again using the Village Hall as its operational base. Last year, around 70 villagers turned out for an hour or more to 'do their bit' to help rid the village of unsightly litter, a great effort leading to around 60 bin bags of rubbish - and larger items too - being collected, a good part of which was separated out, so it could be recycled. If we can achieve the same this year, we'd be delighted! We'll supply much more information in due course about this event, held jointly with Hayfield Civic Trust and the Parish Council, but we thought we'd confirm the date now - so, hopefully, you can put it in your diary! It's a grand day, with a really good community spirit underpinning it.

Coming Up Fast...

• Tomorrow, (Saturday) Grains and Village Greens will be doing their 'usual' outside the Pack Horse, 10-12.00p.m. Grains Bakehouse will be bringing, in addition to their usual offerings, seeded sourdough and wholemeal sourdough rolls, olive and rosemary fruit loaves, and Danish pastries for 'treats'. Village Greens, who were delighted how quickly their very early season rhubarb went last week, will be bringing some more, plus cheeses and, of course, their £5 veg bags and £5 fruit bags too. Delicious! See you there...!

• Tempted, confused or just wanting to know more about Nest, Hive, remote control service and security systems for your home? Come along to our free illustrated talk next Tuesday (Feb 5th) at the Royal Hotel, 7.30p.m., when John Blain will be introducing us to the potential of home automation for saving hundreds of pounds a year in energy costs, having heating, lighting, laundry and other services on only when you want/need them and having control of these when you're away from home. Increasingly, we're being encouraged to make our homes 'smart', and there are real financial gains in doing so. But what's the overall picture, what should we look out for, what downsides might there be? John Blain, an energy specialist, will be sharing his personal and professional experience with us in a quirkily titled talk 'Home Automation - Just Big Boys' Toys or The Future of Domestic Energy Efficiency?' It should be an informative and interesting evening. You've maybe seen posters around the village - here's your own, as a reminder!