Colourful

How are you diddlin. That means the same as how are you doing. Did you have a good Saturday. The weather here has been miserable. Grey and overcast with no sign of a sun. 

I made a phone call with the new phone, that's after I found out to unlock it. The little instruction book that comes with it is useless, unless you want to learn any of the other 25 languages it is written in. Someone told me that when you get a new phone you have to play around with it to find out how it works. I might have to look at the web site for instructions. 

Progress report on the new artwork. I need to make a lot more of these spirals because I want it to be amazing. 

This afternoon I did a village walk and took my litter picking stick with me. I filled my bag three times and emptied it in the big litter bins. 

There was a rally today in London. This is important. If this digital ID thing goes through we are all stuffed. 

 Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.  ilona

Learning starts at birth

I was going to write a post about the current situation, until I saw this. 

I have never had a child, never wanted to be a mother, but I can see how very precious children are. 

This video sends out a clear message. 

Teach your child the skills you yourself already have. Whatever those life skills happen to be. Creativity has no boundaries. 

Have a wonderful Saturday. Toodle pip.   ilona

Out and about today.

Good evening. Another letter arrived from the TV Licensing Company today. I have got quite a collection now. Once again they are asking if I am watching the telly and if so, I need to get a licence. They say I must contact them before the end of October. I have phoned them before, and all you get is an automated recorded message, press 1 for this, and 2 for that, etc. I can't be bothered any more. 

I've been out and about today. Go to the Post Office and pay my Severn Trent water bill. £28.04. This is for surface water and highway drainage, for half a year. There will be another bill coming from Anglian Water who supplies the clean water. Again for half a year. It will be slightly more than this one. 

Then off I went to the phone shop in the big Tesco. They tell me 3g will soon be turned off, so I need a new phone which will receive 4g. The young man in there was ever so helpful.There were two cheap phones to choose from. I paid £32, which I thought was ok. It's got a few more features than my Nokia, but I shall ever only use it for calls and texts. He transferred all my numbers over to the new phone, and the price included a free £10 top up. So goodbye Nokia, you have served me well over a lot of years. 

I thought I might do a bit of shopping while I was there. I never go in Tesco now I don't need the yellow stickers. It was flippin freezing in there. The store is far too big, full of crap you don't need. The non food section is massive. I almost had a panic attack, let me out of here. I quickly grabbed some sliced chicken for the cats and I was gone. Not hanging around. 

Next I went to the Retail Park. The Range to get the cat food. Then Home Bargains for some more cat food and a few other things. 

I've just put the central heating on for an hour. Feeling a bit chilly. One hedgehog on the garden tonight, so far. It's a young one who prefers wet cat food. 

Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

For future reference

Aye up, I am half way through watching this, and will finish it later. Whitney Webb is a force to be reckoned with. She has a brain much sharper than any computer.  It's long, 1 hour 37 minutes so I will break it up into bitesize chunks. 

If you read the blurb underneath It lists key segments that you can choose from. You can also fast forward to the parts which interest you. 

0:00:01 – Introduction & The Great Reset, WEF, and Digital ID 0:10:54 – What is Digital ID? Surveillance, Predictive Policing, and Civil Liberties 0:17:06 – Digital Currency, Tokenization, and Public-Private Partnerships 0:25:29 – AI in Government, Perception Management, and the Post-Human Future 0:32:09 – Building Local Resilience, Analog Alternatives, and Parenting in a Digital Age 0:44:47 – Global Governance, Think Tanks, and Policy Synchronization 0:52:24 – Operation Gladio, Pre-Crime, and Predictive Policing in the US 0:59:33 – Palantir, Surveillance, and Intelligence Agency Ties 1:17:05 – The AI Arms Race: US vs. China and Societal Implications 1:23:02 – Jeffrey Epstein, Black Book, and Financial Networks 1:27:08 – Conspiracies, Critical Thinking, and Information Warfare 1:33:44 – Concerns for the Future: Children, Technology, and Virtualization

If you don't want to watch it that's fine. Maybe store it and dig it out a year later to see if she was right. And if history is anything to go by, her predictions are usually right. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Start the day with porridge, then go for a walk

Good evening. 

I recorded a short video this morning about what I put in my porridge . I mix it up in the Kenwood and store it in a plastic airtight tub. 

If you want to know what I put in it, all is explained in the video. 

Porridge is a healthy way to start the day. Today I added frozen strawberries and blueberries, and half a banana. 

I decided to get the earlier bus to town, and walk home. Mickey went straight back to bed after his breakfast and he was still there when I arrived back. He is doing really well for his 19 years. Since the vet visit a couple of months ago his appetite is back to normal. He is eating more food than ever now, and his coat is looking glossy. He did have some big clumps of fur on his back but they have gone now. Gradually I carefully trimmed bits off them. He is such a loving cat, and has settled in nicely with Oscar, though Mayze doesn't like either of the boys. 

I got the 11.30 bus to town. It was my lucky day, I found a £1 coin on the ground, so I put it towards the cost of a Magnum ice cream at the Arts Centre. 

On the way back I walked through the Industrial Estate for a change. There was litter everywhere, what a disgusting mess. I came across these two lorries, they had just unloaded at a factory. The project manager, Noah, was onsite so I had a chat with him. Colletts are the bees knees where heavy haulage is concerned. Take a look at the video on their web site. How to move a 145 ton load. 

My walk back took me through the turf fields again. I saw this strange contraption go in a dead straight line across the middle of two fields. When it got to the end it turned round and went back. I know you can get robots to mow the lawn but I don't think this was cutting the grass. They usually use tractors to do that job. Very strange. 

When I got back I took Billy for a walk. I couldn't let him down could I. He loves his walks. 

Now I have to stop typing to make room for Mayze who is waiting for a cuddle. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

I remember it well

I've been looking at some old photo's from my trucking years. Three years in particular when I was at Leicester Heavy Haulage. Good memories of a job that I loved. 

Intercity rail carriages. Eight of these were coming into Felixstowe Docks from Italy, every two months. We had eight wagons down there, with trailers stretched to 60 feet. They were craned straight out of the boat and onto the trailers. Easy to fasten down because they had blocks of wood at each end. Two chains, front and back. There was a 10 feet overhang at the back. Overall length 95 feet. The police escorted us out of the docks, then let us go, and West Midlands police met us when we came off the motorway and escorted us to Metro Camel at Birmingham. 

Railway sleepers complete with tracks. I picked these up from Leicestershire and took them to a small railway somewhere in Dorset. Trailer stretched out to 60 feet. This load was overweight because there wasn't any weighing facilities onsite. The next time a similar load was picked up they loaded it to three high. 

Sometimes we didn't need a trailer because the load came with it's own wheels. We just hitched up to it and pulled it out of a quarry. This was heavy and low to the ground, with only one axle at the back. I had to go over a hump back bridge to get out of the quarry. There was a danger of it being grounded. Luckily I had some timbers with me. I ran one side up onto the pavement, and lay the timbers down on the other side to lift it. The bottom just cleared the bridge by a few inches. My vehicle was plated to 75 tonnes on special types. 

 

Another piece of machinery picked up from a quarry. The problem of getting out of a quarry with a heavy load like that is loss of traction on the drive wheels. Some of the units had a lift axle which helped. Sometimes a digger machine had to be summoned to attach a chain to the front of the cab and help pull it up a slippery slope. 

The biggest load I did, 20 feet high and 17 feet wide. Six of us pulled these out from a factory at Snetterton in Norfolk, and took them to Trafford Park in Manchester to a sugar refinery. It took six days with police escorts all the way. A lot of it was done at walking pace. British Telecom came as well to put up the telephone wires we pulled down. 

I can't remember where I picked this up or where I delivered it to. Loaded on a step frame trailer, chained back and front. 

This was a very dodgy load to carry. All the weight is at the top. I had to virtually stop at every junction and roundabout to turn a corner. It was a slow journey as I remember. 

Here I had a low loader trailer to pick up this all-wheel drive tipper demonstrator. With a low loader you can split the neck from the bed, drop it down to the ground, and drive on the vehicle you are picking up. Careful not to slip off the side, the two are exactly the same width. Ratchet straps around the wheels are enough to secure the load. 

And at the end of a days work, and you have a big load, you don't get to choose where you park up. The police drop you off, and send someone from the morning shift to come and pick you up. 

Best thing I ever did was to spend £250 on ten days training to get an HGV licence. It gave me 32 years of work. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

LOL

Just got time for this quick one. I've just read six words in the comment section of another blog. 

I can't be bothered with you.

Made my day. I laughed my little socks off. 

People are waking up. 

Starmer is a joke. 

No names, but well done. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

It's everywhere

 Good morning. I often wake up with an idea for a blog post. I work it out in my head before I sit down at the computer. I collect bits and bobs in my draft folder, which can be useful for pulling something out when no new ideas have emerged. 

I had it worked out for this morning. Something quick and easy before I go to Coffee Morning at the club. But then I dip into social media and that changes everything. It's all very well to insert a few distractions into a blog, something frivolous or amusing, but at the end of the day we can't go on ignoring what is ultimately going to be the downfall and collapse of the world as we know it. It probably won't happen in our life time but things will definitely change for our children and grandchildren. 

I have a contact in South Africa. We were truckers together through the eighties and nineties. She went to SA to make a new life for herself. She is still there. This morning I received a message from her. She follows someone who it seems is fighting against the corrupt establishment. This statement mirrors our situation. No names. 

Our leaders are either devils, cowards, weaklings or are just hopelessly misguided. All of them prioritize their parties over South Africa. They are not attached to this country as you and I are. They are paid to be disconnected and only know South Africa through the foggy lenses of their party's policy book. These people are hollow - there is nothing there! Yet here you are, ready to surrender your faith unto the hands of men and women who only see you as an X next to their name.

If you join the dots it all clicks into place. What is happening here is happening everywhere. 

Now I must get my breakfast. See ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona  

Let the laughs continue.

Keeping up Appearances - the bloopers. I don't know how they ever got any work done. How do you keep a straight face when you are supposed to be funny. 

I've been working on my arty weaving project while watching old Coronation Street. I know all the characters, recognise their voices, so I can concentrate on what my hands are doing and don't have to keep looking up at the screen. 

It's muggy outside so I am not inspired to go out. Except a quick visit to the Post Office to get some cash and pay my Council Tax. 

I hope you are having a good day. Toodle pip.   ilona

Loads more titters

Now I'm addicted to watching old comedies. Hapless Frank Spencer has to be the master of slapstick. I do believe that he did all his own stunts. What a star. Now it's all sodding AI. 

Apart from going outside in the sunshine and topping up the old vitamin D levels, the next best thing is a few minutes of belly laughs. 

Click 'Watch on youtube' 

Have a good day. Toodle pip.   ilona

Tuesday Titter

😊😁😂😄😛

Hang on a minute, are you laughing? Shame on you. 

You can't say someone is dirty, it might hurt their feelings.

You can't call someone old, that's ageist.

And as for saying someone is a man, well that's a no no. They might be trans, or a she, or non binary, or identify as a cat.  😺😻😼😾🙀

Enjoy your day.  Toodle pip.   ilona

PICKLED ONIONS IN THE BATH

Digging out some old comedy. 

😍😂😝

Go on, laugh, you know you want to. 

Goodnight sleep tight.   ilona 

Not funny

 Veteran comedy writer Roy Clarke, creator of Open All Hours, Last of the Summer Wine and Keeping Up Appearances, believes modern comedy has lost its sense of fun — and that political correctness has made audiences too easily offended. Clarke, who is now 95, said the rise of what he called the “thought police” had taken away people’s ability to laugh at themselves, describing today’s viewers as “prissy” and “destructive” to genuine comedy. “It is not like the old days. Now they feel entitled to be upset. I think we have lost all common sense,” Clarke said.

Thank goodness political correctness hasn't yet reached our small gathering of Chattering Crafters. We were a few members short this morning, but that was ok. The jokes were coming thick and fast. Rude or naughty, it doesn't matter. Nobody had to watch their P's and Q's. No holding back, say exactly what you like. No subject is out of bounds. No topics are forbidden. Just a group of sassy women having fun. 

We need to rescue comedy. It's badly needed. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Understanding money

 The 2-and-20 model persists but hedge funds are getting ahead of the curve. 44% are exploring fee changes for competitive advantage, rather than the client pressure they face. Fee design becomes market differentiator.

This is my hedge fund. It won't make me a lot of money, but it will save me loads. Easy to understand, spend less than you earn, make things last longer. Six items at £1 each from a charity shop. I will never be rich but what I own is paid for by me. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Let's look at Market Rasen

Twas a lovely sunny day yesterday. After I finished at Claxby, talking to the owner of the big house, and chatting with a lady who had come to put flowers on a grave, it was time to move on. The Lincolnshire Wolds covers a vast area of hills, villages, farm land and market towns. I see I was last in Market Rasen in July 2013. Time for another visit. Let's start at the Railway Station. 

Looking good, well cared for, clean and tidy. The volunteers do a good job. 

The Methodist Church looking resplendent in it's prime position. By comparing photographs of my last visit gives me an insight on how much my skills have improved. All down to experimenting with different angles and framing the subject matter. 

Let's see what happens when I shoot directly into the sun hidden behind a tree. 

Quirky, I like quirky. I like the way some people put their own stamp on their property with amusing decorations. 

View of the church from the Market Place. I walked around the other side hoping to find a better view of the whole building but a lot of trees were in the way. 

I was interested in this building so goooglied the name to find out more. There is a short video on the site. They had an open day and invited people to come along and comment on the ideas for the property that they were planning. 

I walked up the side of it to get a photo of the size of the property. The back is blocked off like a building site. The area is covered with cameras. I took a photo but now I find that I cannot use it. I wonder if the cameras have anything to do with corrupting the file. Very mysterious.  

More info on Market Rasen House. It was on the market for £795.000 in June 2021. There are a lot of photo's, inside and out, on this Grimsby Live page. I think that with the current climate as it is, local people might be wise to watch what is going on here. 

Note added. Large derelict buildings seem to be going up in flames and smoke at an alarming rate. People should be aware of this.

A video has been shared with Cornwall Live of the ongoing blaze at at a derelict hotel in Narrowcliff, Newquay, this morning. The blaze broke out just after 3am Sunday morning. The latest update from Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service at 5am said the fire was ongoing as crews continued to tackled the blaze.

I note that Market Rasen had a sign up on the roadside that parking was free in 2013. Not so now. I often study these signs in car parks wherever I am. The charges here are quite reasonable. There is nothing to say you can't sleep, or camp in your vehicle, so van lifers might be ok to stop overnight here. 

Hey, look what I found. A quirky colourful house just made for me. 😎😜😁 And I could easily afford it. Trouble is that I have got used to a big garden and lots of open spaces around me. I couldn't move into a box squashed up with lots of other boxes. It's pretty though. 

Time to go home. It will be getting dark soon. The first thing I did was to feed the cats and get the hedgehog food out onto the garden. My hedgies are a mix of big fat ones, and some smaller ones. I had to laugh at the baby, I put a bowl of left over wet cat food out on the lawn. It reached up over the edge of the bowl and fell into it. Normally they all eat dry food, but the younger ones seem to prefer the wet variety. Perhaps their teeth are still developing. 

That's it. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.   ilona