Some rules are just stupid, and I'm going to write complaint letters about it until they sort it out. This is a sure sign of getting old, but I'm going to be very polite about it.

I left my umbrella on the train this morning. It's just a cheap one and there are a few holes in it that I've discretely fixed with duct tape. Later in the day I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had been handed into lost property.

They showed it to me and let me inspect it to check it was mine. Yep, the duct tape on the inside was definite proof. Then they asked me for the £3 reclaim fee. I explained that the umbrella had originally cost £2 and due to the holes and duct tape was probably worth less now.

They explained that these were the rules and they didn't have the power to change them. I let them keep the umbrella and went away feeling there was something wrong with the world.

So, to try and fix this problem for myself and all future people to lose cheap umbrellas I've written to them suggesting a revised pricing policy of 50p for umbrellas. I wonder if they'll reply.

Kirkstall Festival was fantastic this year, and we had good weather for possibly the first time this summer. I'd helped Pyramid of Arts' Youth Group make an armada of sea creatures for the parade. We joined various other groups and schools from Leeds marching through the streets of Kirkstall. Everyone’s work was fantastic, and we were particularly pleased to be given the best group prize for our underwater parade creatures.

I'd gladly volunteered to play a giant drum in the parade. I like making a lot of noise, but I didn't realise how much pain a drum can cause repeatedly hitting your legs. I now have the bruises to remind me. I was able to ignore it was the most part, but it did mean I was a bit out of time.

Our sea creature parade consisted of a giant octopus, a sea horse, various fish of previously undiscovered species and many jelly fish. The whole group had helped with the ideas, design and building of them. Kate Woodfield was the artist leading the group and did a wonderful job with this project. We also had a few samba music workshops to help us work out some music to play on the parade.

We made the creatures by first making wooden frames from withies. Withies are bendy sticks from willow trees and are fantastic for making large light frames with. We then covered them in cling film to give them a solid surface. We then covered them in tissue paper soaked in glue and paint, and finally painted on extra decoration to get them looking just right.

We were all really proud of what we'd made, and it was great to be part of that and to show it off in the parade. I'm hoping we'll make more giant things out of withies and tissue paper in the future.

I've made a 3D model of Pyramid of Arts' sculpture at Thwaite Mill. Pyramid of Arts is an arts charity bringing together artists with and without learning disabilities to work on large scale arts projects.

I wanted to have an experiment with creating 3D models in Sketch-up and see if I could get it added to Google Earth. Google Earth is a program by Google that displays pictures of the whole world and 3D models of some of it.

Pyramid made this sculpture about 3 years ago and had just finished it when I joined. It's Pyramid's first permanent work, so it would be really nice if it could be added to Google Earth. Hopefully more people will get to enjoy it that way.

I've submitted it to Google Earth, but it needs to be popular to get added so everyone can see it. Please visit it and vote for it.

• Thwaite Mill Sculpture for Google Earth

For more information about Pyramid of Arts and this particular sculpture project, you may find the following links interesting:

• Pyramid of Arts website
• Photo gallery of the group making the sculpture
• Photo gallery of the unveiling of the sculpture