It's all an act, but not with me it isn't

Hiya. I'm about to switch off the computer for the rest of the day, after the morning check of comments and emails. Spend too much time with a screen in front of my face. Just popping in to say, here we go again. Another email has arrived from a production company researcher, they are making a programme about people who over spend and people who may be able to help them cut their spending to a reasonable level. They think I might be the person to do that. I probably am the right person, but at this early stage anything can happen.

I was contacted a couple of months ago by another company for something similar. After a lengthy phone conversation an appointment was made for someone to come and interview me face to face. A day before this was due to happen I got the call saying they had to postpone it due to having business to attend to in the south, and they could not get here. I gave it a week and sent an email to remind them that I was still interested, and could they let me know when they wanted to visit. Never heard anything more from them, didn't expect to. What I think really happened was that they found someone else, and the 'busy in the south', was a polite let down.

There is such a plethora of wannabe TV personalities out there, that they have lots to choose from, in the mean time they have to do the research and many hopefuls fall by the wayside. I have learnt to take these requests with a pinch of salt now, I have a laid back attitude, it might happen but then it might not.

Mind you, I'm not sure I want to put my head on the chopping block again, look what happened to A Girl Called Jack. While it is great that she is earning a living from her blog, her article writing for newspapers, her radio and TV appearances, she has a lot to put up with. Endless targeting from trolls, bitchy people that keep dragging up snippets of her life from the past, chewing them up and spitting them out completely unrecognizable from the original story. You've got to be a tough cookie to put up with that.

I know my stuff where frugal living and money saving is concerned. I could put people on the right road to becoming debt free and living within their means, but film production companies are making a product they need to sell. They need to be sure they have the right people to perfect the model, and that means following their script. I can't learn lines so my acting is ad lib, it's whatever comes out at the time.

As you know I like to put a slant on things which detracts from the straight and narrow. I like to filter out some of the serious parts of life and turn them around to breath fresh air into an otherwise humdrum existence. I spread the word that life isn't too bad, if you strive to get a grip on things. Sinking is not an option with me, I will paddle like mad, even though I can't swim, ha ha.

I don't know if I fit the mould of what they are looking for. I'll maybe find out when we speak, that's if they decide to contact me again.

Right, lunchtime, have a nice weekend. Bit cold here, overcast, I'm hungry.
Toodle pip.

Two suckers are better than one ;o)

Howdy pardners. I am now a two Dyson household. You may remember I got the purple machine out of a skip last year, didn't expect it to work but when I plugged it in, it sprung to life. Amazing. It was pretty filthy though. It's been in the shed out the back awaiting a good clean and today was the day. It was sunny so I had it outside on the table and gave it a good going over. 

I did think about giving it away, but now I will keep it because it will make the job of cleaning the stairs a lot easier. That cumbersome yellow upright thingy is a bugger to balance half way up the stairs. I have to steady it by wedging it between my legs as I get the nozzle into the corners. The dinky little purple one will be much more suited to that job. Only trouble is that there are no attachments with it. I tried a flat nozzle from the other one thinking they might be interchangeable, but it didn't quite fit. Then I remembered I had an old nozzle from a previous machine and went searching for it. Eventually it dawned on me that I had probably thrown it out. Typical, I tidy up, dumping stuff I don't want, then ages later I need it. I did find a plastic pipe though from a very old machine, and the flat nozzle fitted the end of it. As the pipe was tapered, it was a matter of sawing six inches off the narrow end which meant that it fitted into the sucking bit of the purple one. I don't know if you can understand that, but briefly I found a piece of plastic pipe which joins the two pieces together. Success. Now I have one for upstairs and one for downstairs, and no lugging that awkward upright about.  

I found another door yesterday for my project. There has been a skip on someone's driveway for about a week, nothing exciting in it, just building rubble. Yesterday I noticed a door had been put on the top, but there was no one in the house to ask. I stood chatting to another dog walker for five minutes, when a car pulled into the driveway, that was lucky. The lady said I could have the door so I went round in my car and picked it up. It's in very good condition, perfect in fact.

Heidi's scabby face wasn't getting any better so I took her to the vet today. We have a nice lady vet who comes twice a week to the next village. She comes from a big practice a few miles away and uses a little empty terraced house as a makeshift surgery.  She is very popular, you don't make an appointment, just turn up and wait in line, and she stays till everyone has been seen.

She doesn't think the injuries are from a fight, and I am tending to agree with her now. If it was a fight it should have healed by now. Marion took a sample of scabby fur and will analyze it, she thinks it is some sort of allergic reaction, so Heidi had a shot of antibiotics and I have some lotion to put on. Poor Heidi, she was very calm while on the table, and didn't mind the car journey too much.

Is it the weekend again already, where does the time go. Enjoy yourself whatever you are doing.
Toodle pip

Let's get this straight, four dogs and a cushion cover

Hello. I had a nice day with a nice friend today. Lady Helen, pack leader, invited me to her house for a catchup chinwag, some dog walking, and a sewing lesson. It was raining first thing so it was a good idea to sit in her kitchen having a good old gossip over a mug of coffee. Helen only has one dog, Henry choc lab, you've seen him before. Ten minutes after I arrived friend Roy dropped his two dogs off while he went to town. Angus is the white Westie, and Guinness the black lab. The rain eased off so we took them out for a walk. Rocky had to stay behind because he would have been too slow to walk the distance we had planned. I had already taken him out earlier so he was happy to snuggle up on the mat next to the radiator. 

When we got back it was lunch time. Here we have the three dogs waiting patiently for Helen pack leader to offer some tasty morsels. 

'Oh no, she's walked away, where's she gone. When are we getting some food.'

'That's not fair, she's gone over to Rocky, hey, we were here first.'

Food all eaten and plates cleared away, the sewing machine was put in position on the table. Helen is thinking about buying her own machine and taking up sewing as a hobby, so I took mine to show her the basics. Last year she tried a sewing class, but the teacher didn't take into account that Helen last used a machine at school, and couldn't remember much about it. Getting her to put a zip in on a first lesson was not a good idea. Today we made a simple envelope style cushion cover, and an easy to make shopping bag. Here she is, concentrating on getting the seam right. Her straight line sewing is perfect, she just needs practice, and to learn a few more techniques.
 

On the way home I pass three shops, a small Tesco, the Co op, and a Spar shop. I called in all three in the hunt for reductions. A few bargains found their way into my shopping bag. Mushrooms, black grapes and green grapes, cucumber, potatoes, cheddar slices, yogurt, stir fry veg, broccoli and cauliflower florets, and macaroni cheese. My dinner tonight was half the macaroni cheese with a little extra grated cheese on top, a potato in the microwave, cut it up and add the two together. It is definitely lacking in colour, but not in flavour. Very tasty, cost, 70p.

A very enjoyable day, relaxing, chatting, laughing, and putting the world to rights, with a good friend. Thank you for your comments yesterday, I really appreciate it.
Tatty bye and Toodle pip.
Ilona

What can I sell you?

Hello. I will have a picture free post today. Not that it matters how many pictures I post, I pay Google the exorbitant fee of £4 per year which gives me way above the permitted capacity to store them.

I got a book out of the library which is one of those 'how to books', the sort you pick up and dip into when you have a few  minutes to spare. Stan the library man is swapping some of the books in the non fiction shelves, where I usually have my nose. He has taken note of my comments that I am struggling to find books which I haven't already read, among those which I have no interest in reading. Good old Stan the Van Man :o)

The book is all about how to grow a business through the internet, using Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, and more. The man is so good at following his own advice his book is up there with the Amazon best sellers. Clever chap, writing about how to use social media to market your business, then adopting the strategy of, 'do as I say', and reaping the rewards.

I've come to the conclusion that this is where I am falling down at the first hurdle. I don't preach the, 'do as I say', method, I am more like a 'this is what I do, you can please yourself,' sort of girl. Maybe I ought to be thinking about writing a self help book myself, incorporating all my common sense ideas and logical thinking. Several flaws with that, I can't be bothered, I don't want a job, and I don't need the money. But what I can do is peddle my wares here in a fun, tongue in cheek way, dishing out what I see as the bleedin obvious, while drawing on my many experiences at the University of Life.

If you want to take advantage of joining my 'tell it like it is' course, here is an opening offer which you might like to consider. No monetary recompense is required, it is free for the taking. The only investment you will need to make is a large deposit of your time, depending on how long you want to stay on the course. A good starting point would be to click on the 'Reflections on Life'  button on the side bar and re read the posts in this section. It will familiarize you with my style, and will give you some alternative ideas that you may not have  thought of.. If you have already read these, a quick skim over will suffice.

So, to join my course you need to invest some time. How much is entirely up to you. As with anything in life, the more time you give to something the better you get at it. Common sense really. If you want to improve your sewing and cooking skills, practice, practice, practice. If your aim is to get rid of the dead wood, you need to start pruning, so why not do it now.

Over the years I have had a lot of people saying to me, 'Ooooh, I wish I could do that'. My reply, 'You could do if you really wanted to'. This is then followed by the excuses, why they couldn't possibly do it. I say to them, don't wish your life away, don't ever wish you were someone else, or somewhere else. What I do, I do it for myself, you could do the same. You are in the here and now, life doesn't stand still, time is running out. That's common sense to me.

I am often called an inspiration, I feel quite chuffed about that, but I don't want you to read about my life then feel a bit miserable because you think you are missing out on something. That's not the aim. You don't have to be like me, you don't have to follow my example, all you have to do is take control of your own life and steer it in the direction you want to go. I really really want you to do that, will you make a start today?

If you are happy most of the time, that's great, if you are happy all of the time, that's brilliant, you are where you want to be. I suggest you keep a happy diary, note down the times when you are happy, and the times where you are not. Is it a good balance? We all have to do things we don't want to, that's life, but to repeatedly do the things we really don't want to do, that's daft. I don't repeatedly get my Dyson out, and do the dusting, because I get no pleasure from it at all, but I do get pleasure out of getting the best food bargains, it's a challenge, it's fun to try and beat the system, and to keep on top of the game.

All through my life I have been able to move on, don't like my job, get another one. don't like the boyfriend, get another one. Resistance to change can lead you up a dead end. I don't want to be in a dead end, I want a way out, and that is down to me, no one else. The only dead end I expect to be in is when I am on my death bed, hopefully by that time I will have done all I want to do, and going through the door will be a happy occasion.

Love the words of this song.



Are you with me on this? If it aint broke you don't need to fix it, but if your engine is a coughing and a spluttering and about to conk out, why not give yourself a full service. You can do it.

Thanks for reading, and best wishes.
Toodle pip