Part 1 - Black Country Museum

Hello. Let's start this post with cup of coffee. 

I drove down to the West Midlands on Thursday night, arriving at about 9pm. The plan was to visit the Black Country Museum at Dudley, so by getting as close as I could the night before meant I would not be rushed in the morning. Traffic is lighter in the evening, to make the journey easier. The West Midlands has changed a lot since I was last there. Road layouts are all different to what I remember, new roads, new roundabouts, concentration is needed to avoid getting in the wrong lane. I don't have a sat nav, and make notes from a map which I can glance at to check road numbers and where the next turn is. I do have a sat nav on the car dashboard but don't use it as such. The map is on screen as a back up to the paper map. 

The Museum opens at 10am and people were arriving and queueing to get in. I was a bit early so followed them in when the queue had died down a bit.  

The first thing I saw when I walked out from the pay desk was this bus. They accept cash by the way, and I paid the £3.50 for the parking at the same time. It is a massive site and this bus runs up and down the length of it for visitors who are not so mobile, and those who want the experience of travelling in a vintage bus. 

It brought back memories. I used to drive one just like this. A few months after I got my HGV licence, I did some training and got a PSV licence as well. I did some work for a local bus company doing school runs, day trips, and shoppers buses. The chug chug chug of the engine brought it all back to me. No power steering, leaning forward, heave ho, putting all my weight onto the steering wheel as I pulled it round. 

First I had a look at the coal mine. Lots of interesting old relics to check out. 

Sheds and buildings to peer into, to get a flavour of how it used to be. It must have been a very hard life. 

This is the weighbridge where they bagged the coal up. 

There are several old tiny cottages to take a look at. They reminded me of the 1939 house which I wrote about somewhere on this blog. 

Every house had a range, for keeping the place warm, cooking, and drying clothes. 

Outside people kept pigs. Look at these two snoozing in the sunshine. Yes, they are real, with a very loud snore. 

Please join us and take tea in the parlour. 

They certainly looked very cosy. I quite fancy living in a small cottage myself. 

My Grandmother used to live in one, and the lavvy was just like this. A man in a small lorry came once in a while, to empty the bucket. I never did see how he did it because we were always told not to go down the garden while he was here. I remember getting splinters in my bum, and reading the newspaper squares hanging on the wall. If we wanted a pee in the night there was a piss pot under the bed. 

I'm going to break this visit into two or three posts, so if you come back later there will be more photo's from the Black Country Museum. 

Thanks for popping in. See ya later.  ilona

Patchwork picture

This started out as an idea. What if I cut some cardboard pieces, covered them in colourful fabric, stitched them onto a black background, and mounted them on a board. Once I started making the small pieces I kept going until I thought I might have enough. There are three sizes, 10cm, 5cm, 2.5cm. I placed some of them on top of each other.  When I worked out the layout I wanted I stitched them all together with tiny stitches on the back, then added the coloured over stitching on the front. It was a tough job pulling the needle through the cardboard. A pair of pliers helped but it was a slow process. 

I left five blank squares where the black background would show through, and added small pieces. 

I have used a board which is slightly bigger, to give it a black border. Inside is the back cover of a sample book I got from the Scrapstore. The picture is laced at the back and the mess covered up with another piece of fabric. 

A little bit more information in this video.

I'm glad that is finished. I think the next project will be something smaller. Something that I can pick up and put down and doesn't take so long to make. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.   ilona

Bugs are the way forward

 The WEF would like to change the way we eat and what we eat. That's why they are steering us towards a plant based diet, followed by an insect based diet. It's all to do with climate change and the push towards zero emissions. What will we be eating next. 

They want to cover the land with solar panels and wind farms. They are buying up land to get rid of livestock. They are making it too expensive for farmers to buy fertilizers and fuel for their farm machinery. That is why the price of food is going up. They want to put farmers out of business. That is why farmers in Holland are protesting, they are being thrown off their land. And it will happen in other countries too. The UK Government have offered, nay insisted, that farmers here should retire. They will be paid to retire and give up farming. 

The WEF say everyone in the world should be on the same level playing field. There is a massive gulf between those who have more than they need, those who have what they need, and those who don't have enough. This has always been the case since the year dot. 

Their plan is to level it all up. Everything that is happening is part of that plan. They are working towards taking control of food production in all corners of the earth. In some countries huge amounts of people are dying of starvation, it has always been the case. In other countries excess food is being thrown away. One of the ways to even things out is to allow thousands of people from the poorer countries to move en masse to the richer countries. This is the plan that is being played out right now. Those who have all the money are using it to bring their plan to fruition. 

The only way they can move forward is to get people to comply, and how they do that is through fear. As it has been demonstrated over the last two and a half years. The very rich people need to keep up the fear factor, because it brings more money in. Which then leads to a digital currency that they can then control. This is why it is important to keep spending cash. They need to keep people hooked on their handheld gadget, because through that they can issue instructions. Scan this, scan that, to get the benefits which they will allow you to have. They want you to become a slave to that thing you carry around with you. 

They will stop at nothing. Can't see a doctor when you need one? They don't care if you die. Get your medical help from a screen, then treat yourself with whatever you can buy from a chemist. Can't afford fuel for your car? They want you to give up your car. Can't afford bus fares? Then get a bike or walk. Can't get a train ticket, they are on strike. Can't fly to other countries? Pilots who have been jabbed are not guaranteed to get you to your destination. Those who haven't been jabbed are being sacked. 

Pages to look at from the WEF web site, so you can see where this is heading. Once you know you can take control of your own life. Make changes if you have to. Your life was always in your own hands. It is not theirs to take away from you. 

Which countries are affected by the current food crisis? 

Ten ways companies can help tackle the global food crisis. 

The global food system is in crisis.

Nations must act together urgently and with solidarity.

Off the top of my head, all before breakfast. Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona 

A look at Tadcaster.

A few more piccys of my walk in North Yorkshire on Monday. Walking along the River Wharfe this is the first sighting of the weir at Tadcaster. I could hear a lot of jollity going on, laughter and screams, echoed around the valley. 

Revealed, the youngsters having oodles of fun, splashing about in the rushing water. A pile of clothes laid on the bank. The water is very shallow as you can see by the figure standing in it.  

I turned around to take a photo of the road bridge behind me. There are plenty of benches to sit and watch the world go by. It was breezy but not cold. 

St Mary's church is close to the river. There is more information about it here. 

A little bimble around the town. I didn't see all of it because time was getting on. I may come back for another look. Tadcaster Town Council building. 

You can't get away from the evidence that this is a beer town. Like a smaller version of my home town of Burton upon Trent. The tall buildings dominate the skyline. 

Time was getting on and I had to find a different route back to the car. Some road walking wasn't the most direct route but it made for easy and fast walking. I had no time to get lost. I picked up the A659, the main road which runs parallel to the river. This was interesting because now I could see the frontage of the big posh mansions that I had earlier seen the back of. 

I got back to the car just before 7pm, and made this little video before I set off back for home. 

We are heading towards the end of the month again, it will soon be time for the Walking Group to check in with their miles. I have reached the target of 584 miles, with a few days to spare. How are you all doing. will you get there? 

The plan for today is a dog walk this afternoon, a bit more sewing to get the new artwork finished, pottering in the garden, and checking maps and web sites for the next trip out. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Bimbling along the River Wharfe

Good morning. The plan was to drive to Tadcaster and have a look around there. There are plenty of footpaths on the map to choose from. I managed to miss the turn off the A1 motorway, should have taken the A64. Never mind, go to the Wetherby turn off and head for Tadcaster on the A659. This passes through the town of Boston Spa. Looks nice here I thought. I spotted a car park next to the church. It was an ideal spot to park. No charge and close to the river. I can walk to Tadcaster from here, so off I went. 

It was a lovely walk along the river. Peeking into the back gardens of some seriously fabulous mansions. 

I had good vibes about this walk. As it turned out it was a good move to park at Boston Spa. The mistake could very well pay off. I got chatting to a woman who was going in the same direction as me. She turned off after about ten minutes to take a short cut up a track to visit her daughter who had moved into a new modern house on a newish estate. She told me about a nice tea room in Tadcaster. I found it but it is closed on a Monday. 

Two photo's of the same bridge, different angles. There are so many nice views along this stretch of water, it's hard to pick the best ones out. 

This viaduct was quite a distance away. Worth a zoom in I thought. 

The riverside path veers off to the right along the Ebor Way. It is a 76 mile long path from Helmsley to York, and beyond. I joined the road for a short distance and headed for Newton Kyme. These sheep were squashed together like sardines in a tin, under a tree to keep out of the sun, although it wasn't that hot. They had the whole field to play around in. 

On arrival in the village I found some beautiful period houses. The very strong smell of lavender hit my nostrils here. It was full of bees going about their buzzziness. 

There were quite a few examples like this one. 

I was poking around trying to find the remains of a castle, as indicated on the map. An elderly gentleman came out of a house with his his dog. I asked about the castle. He pointed down a lane which looked like the entrance to some private houses. He said there is no public access. He suggested I take the gate to the side of the church and follow the Ebor Way to the river. 

How about this then. An amazing sight greeted me as I headed for the church. When I spoke to the gentleman I was on the other side of this. it looked like the back entrance, a courtyard with parked cars. I asked him about it, is it one big house. He said it is split into three separate residences. I took a couple of photo's. No chance to get closer, it has a moat around this side. The sky looks menacing. 

I went into the churchyard looking for a bench to sit down. By this time I am ready for a rest and a bite to eat. No benches, I sat on a tomb stone. There is no name board here, and it backs onto a stone wall which is the perimeter wall of the big house. I think this must be a private estate church.

I took a sneaky peak over the wall and found this shot. Love the statue. 

Ten minutes later the dark clouds have blown over, it was very windy, and the blue skies were back. The sky makes all the difference to a photo. 

If you want to see more pictures of this, David Armitage Photography has some cracking shots on his web site. 

Time to move on. Carry on along the river to Tadcaster. It was turning into a perfect day for walking. As long as those clouds stayed away. 

I will finish this post here, and carry on tomorrow with some Tadcaster photo's. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona