Life is a numbers game.

 Good morning. 

I've got a stat counter on my blog. It used to give me lots of extra information when it was free. Then they put a charge on it and that free information became an upgrade which incurs a payment. I decided not to go down that route, so now I still have the basic weekly update. 

Not that I am interested in numbers. A quick glance and delete the email. It doesn't matter to me how many people visit, or whether they come back again, or disappear forever. It's just numbers. 

I am not about being popular, not looking for praise, and I am not in competition with other bloggers. People will naturally find their niche, their tribe, online and in real life. Whatever makes them happy. Some people crave to fit in somewhere, I crave for my freedom to do whatever I like. That might seen arrogant to some, but it is how I have lived for most of my life. The feeling of being answerable to no one makes me happy. 

Average Daily Traffic

Page Views 671.1  Prev Week 687.1   Unique Visits 613.3  Prev Week 622.9   First Time Visits 444  Prev Week 440.6   Returning Visits 169.3  Prev Week 182.3

Daily Traffic Breakdown

Page Views Unique Visits First Time Visits Returning Visits Mon 594 559 387 172 Tue 591 542 383 159 Wed 781 705 516 189 Thu 591 543 400 143 Fri 648 588 433 155 Sat 713 650 469 181 Sun 780 706 520 186 Total 4,698 4,293 3,108 1,185 Avg 671 613 444 169 I hope you have a good day, and a good week. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

It gets me out.

 It hasn't been quite so hot today, a nice gentle breeze as I did a litter pick at the back of Tesco. Hows this for coincidence. Ten minutes after I started I was recognised. A man was picking berries, he said hello ilona. I sort of recognised him then he reminded me that he visited my garden when I was taking part in  the Open Gardens event in my village. That was ten years ago. His wife has been reading my blog for years. Nice to meet you again Paul, say hello to Sarah for me. 

Two bags filled on this pick. I used a black one because I am running out of red ones. I have some on order and they will be delivered soon. Glass bottles bagged up separately. 

My new pile is starting to grow. 

 

That's all for now. Time for bed. Toodle pip.   ilona

Making a stand.

 When I want to make a point in a blog post and I am stuck for words, it is refreshing to drop on a yoootooober who has exactly the same thoughts as me. I have been following Bjorn for a while. he is an author he writes books. He is Norwegian, and speaks excellent English, and talks a lot of common sense. 

So here is his latest video speaking the words I could have said myself. I agree with every word he says. 

Bjorn Talks shares personal frustrations regarding the increasing administrative demands and complex third-party software requirements often imposed on content creators today. This candid reflection highlights the personal toll of balancing creative passions with the bureaucratic hurdles frequently encountered when managing a digital presence.

The lesson here is find your own people. Go with your gut instincts, stop doing what you don't want to do, and concentrate on what you do want to do. 

Makes perfect sense to me.

Toodle pip.   ilona

I can do without it.

 Good morning. Looking like it might be a sunny day today. 

David is right of course. Nothing stays the same. When those with the most money, the richest one percent, decide they want more of our wages, the money we earn from working hard, they will get it no matter what. All they have to do is shut down all the little businesses who are trying to keep afloat, and offer customers the convenience of buying cheap goods online shipped from massive warehouses, and delivered to our door. Not my door I might add. I would rather do without.  

I have had a life time of not spending money I don't have. Remembering mum saying, we can't afford it and showing us an empty purse. Knowing the difference between a 'need' and a 'want', has been drilled into me from an early age. Accepting that I can't have it because I don't have the money to pay for it. 

No big warehouses with vans coming to your door. Go to town on the bus and get what you want from a shop. Meet real people. 

Enjoy your Sunday. Visit a garden centre, a stately home, or a local cafe, or a farm shop, or go to the seaside and paddle in the sea. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Simple solution

 Good afternoon.

Today's post is inspired by Rachel who has discovered that fitting a toilet seat is not as easy as you think it is. I made this discovery some time ago, so here is my solution.

I bought this seat because I like the colour. It is strong and robust, not like some of the cheaper flimsy plastic ones you see at a discount store.  

I tried to work out how to screw it to the toilet bowl, but alas failed. As you can see, the holes to the lid  do not match up, and neither do the holes in the seat. How ridiculous.  

Not wanting to take it back to complain I thought of another idea. Why do I need to screw it together anyway. There's only me using it. The seat does not move about, so I am not going to fall off. I don't need the lid to be closed. So this is my new arrangement. 

Easier for cleaning. I take both pieces outside and scrub them clean on the garden workbench. No gungy mess to accumulate around the screws. No getting down on hands and knees to look underneath. Just get a damp cloth to wipe around the bowl. 

The seat has six rubber feet to hold it steady. Make sure both surface are dry, and the seat will not slide about. 

If I don't want to take it outside to wash it, I dunk it in the bath water after a bath. Easy. 

Easy solutions are my forte. 

Here is Rachels blog if you want to read about her toilet seat dilemma. 

Enjoy your Saturday. Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Bits and bobs I found today.

Anyone need a pair of underpants? Let me know and I'll send them to you. Found this afternoon on a litter pick on the Industrial Estate

What else did I find? A posh handbag, a new toothbrush, and a strap thingy with a plastic handle. 

A football found in the brambles. I dropped that off at the playing field on the way home. 

Oh, and a cheese and beetroot sandwich. Someone didn't fancy their lunch.

That's one bag full. Note, one boot, couldn't find the other one. 

Two bags dropped off at my usual litter bin. 

This is the litter bin at the bottom end of the pond. There has been lots of picnics going on here in the hot weather. I won't bother bagging this up. The Council can load it all into their truck as it is. At least it's not spread all over the place. 

I am pleased to report that the Council have collected all my previous pickings. They haven't however checked out the fly tipping I reported. I will put in another report about that. 

10.30pm and there are five hedgehogs on the garden. 

Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

Digging and green soup

Good morning. 

A mini garden makeover yesterday. I have four raised beds at the bottom of the garden. Built by me, with second hand bricks. I used to grow veg, but with the slug problem I decided to plant them out with a variety of non edible greenery. 

They need a bit of re arranging, due to some of the plants looking scruffy. So I attacked this bed to dig out the dead leaves and twigs and pull up the roots. The plan was to move some of the plants from pots and transplant them here. Can't leave it like this, the cats will think it is a new litter box. By this time my back was getting a bit sore so I needed a quicker solution to fill the space. 

 Cue fanfare. 👸👩💁😻🙋 The crew that put a new roof on the house left me with six tiles. Perfect, I can use them to cover up the soil for now, and arrange a few pots on top. I might transplant the plants at a later date, or then I might not. It looks pretty much ok to me. A quick solution. 

Then I made a pan of soup. Chop up some broccoli, some leek, top with spinach. Add garlic granules, and some chutney. Stir in a spoonful of yogurt. 

On the gas hob for a few minutes, smash to smithereens with the stick blender. Eat straight out of the pan, with a slice of bread. Very tasty it was too. 

Did you see that mass invasion which is going on somewhere between Morocco and Spain I think. Good grief, that looks scary. I have to say that I think they won't stop at Spain. Destination UK, land of milk and honey and lots of freebies. 

Sunny today. Maybe I will go out. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Bring it on c'mon

 Where's my visitor ???

TV Licensing has revealed it operates a "fleet of vans equipped with advanced detection tools" capable of identifying households attempting to avoid paying the licence fee.

"These can identify TV receiving equipment at targeted addresses within minutes", the organisation confirmed.

A TV Licensing officer might call at your property if the company has no record of a licence at your address and hasn't received responses to earlier correspondence. "We need to check if you've been watching, recording or downloading TV without a licence."

Gotta laugh.

Catch ya later. ilona 

Notes

 Good morning, again.

It's getting rather lively out there. Chat on the current situation is hotting up. Over the years of reading I made lots of notes. Remember pen and paper. Going through my notebook is a reminder of what I found out, and who I was following. I will share some snippets here if you are interested. 

NHS assessments are being withheld if you don't want to have the swab test. (I never did by the way). Therefore they won't give any treatment if you refuse the covid test. (I never needed any treatment, still don't).

The lockdown plan. Make people dependent on the state. Pay people to stay at home. Pretend to care - for your benefit. Guaranteed income = a pittance, to control you. International monetary fund - cult agenda for every country. World debt reset programme. 

This is not a public health crisis, it was an opportunistic campaign to address a stated objective. They needed to get the public to accept a pan corona virus vaccine. They needed the media to create the hype and investors would follow where they see profit. 

The vaccinated are creating the risk. Unvaccinated develop a broad based natural immunity. Mass vaccination is the problem. The jabbed have only a selective immune response. They will need top ups. The vaccine is enhancing replication of the virus. 

The problem of our time is that we are overdosing on empathy, which is destroying our ability to build a functioning society. Wars aren't meant to be won, they are meant to be ongoing. 

It all comes back to money. The corrupt money system is teetering on the brink. Their only way of maintaining the illusion they're rich is Central Bank Digital Currency. The only way this happens is via digital ID. If you say no to digital the illusion disappears. Digital ID will not be mandatory at first. Your life will be made more awkward without it. Then it will be mandatory. They will drive this agenda through fear. Refuse to comply and you will be ostracised. Digital ID is a trapdoor into a digital prison. 

Now I am hungry and need brunch. Thanks for popping in. 

I'll be back. Toodle pip.   ilona

The truth.

 Good morning. 

They were all at it. Push push push. Get the treatment or you will be forever cast aside. A campaign built on fear. Now they are trying to save their skin by backtracking. How the mighty will fall. 

Gareth Icke

@garethicke

·

10h

Morgan blocked me for calling out his covid bullshit back in 21. Like most of the MSM, and large parts of the 'alternative', Morgan's opinions depend on which way the wind blows and the cash flows.

Quote

Nat

@Arwenstar

·

22h

Piers Morgan pretending to suddenly realise - in late July 2026! - that Fauci is—and always was—an utter fraud is peak mockery. None of us will ever forget thisnot as long as we live. It wasn’t Fauci who said it, it was Piers Morgan: 8.9M followers.

Have a good day. 

Toodle pip.   ilona 

Sharing is caring.

Chris P

 Here is some information which I will share with you, because I care about you. From Tweeeeter. 

3h ·

I’m now in the water with the migrants preparing to get onto a boat.

Mostly young men.

The French gendarmes (police) are standing on the beach watching.

 Chris Philp

  ·

Follow

2h ·

I identified and confronted the people smuggler who started the engine and co-ordinated the migrants to push off.

He then left the boat before it departed.

I asked the Gendarmes to arrest him as he walked up the beach but they refused.

Shameful dereliction of duty.

Chris Philp

 

2h ·

Gendarmes stood by and did nothing while people smugglers launched a dingy with around 100 illegal immigrants from knee deep water

Shabana Mahmood is paying over half a billion pounds for this

No wonder as soon as the sea is calm huge numbers cross

Andy Burnham is out of touch to suggest this problem is solved

Chris Philp

 

1h ·

This is jaw-dropping

French Gendarmes admit to me this morning they have orders not to stop migrants getting into boats - just to talk to them

This was moments after they stood by while a hundred migrants walked across the beach and got onto a boat and embarked for the UK

Chris Philp

 

23h ·

We just caught French authorities doing nothing to stop illegal immigrants—in fact, they handed out life jackets and waved them a cheery goodbye.

Shabana Mahmood’s deal is not working.

The only thing stopping crossings is the weather.

Chris Philp

 

Yesterday at 15:41 ·

LIVE: I am out on a boat in the English Channel tracking illegal migrants crossing from French beaches.

We have just watched a boat carrying around 80-100 people leave the French coast.

A French warship was nearby and a French rib approached them, but did nothing to stop the crossing.

Earlier this morning, the French authorities approached our boat and fired approximately 17 rounds nearby.

Yet when illegal migrants set off for Britain, they simply watch them go.

Once they arrive, British taxpayers could face millions of pounds in lifetime costs including accommodation.

Who is Chris Philips?

Father, Serial Entrepreneur, MP for Croydon South and Shadow Home Secretary. Former Technology, Home Office and Justice Minister.

Facebook page,

Just for balance. The Home Office replies.

Home Office

@ukhomeoffice

·

1h

We are aware of posts circulating online that claim French law enforcement are failing to prevent small boat Channel crossings. UK-French cooperation has already stopped over 46,000 attempted crossings since the election. In May alone, 65% of all small boat events were stopped despite soaring temperatures, which have historically led to increased crossings. But we know there is more to do. That is why the Home Secretary has signed a landmark new payment by results deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars. On top of the 46,000 crossing attempts prevented, removals of small boat migrants are at record levels and asylum claims are down by 12%. We have also removed or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally – an increase of 41% – and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.

I don't believe them.

Toodle pip. ilona