Dead easy bags

I have discovered a new way to do the tops of these bags. If you sew the two sides together first, then make the handles, then sew the hem around the top last with the handles pinned into place, it makes for a neater finish into the top corners. If you get my drift.

This sweatshirt comes with it's own design so I don't have to add anything . I got it from a charity shop ages ago, don't know why I bought it, never liked it very much.

Another sweatshirt given to me that is uncomfortable to wear. The tartany bit across the middle is from a dress I got from a car boot sale. I like the fabric and have used it as a lining for other bags. The dress was horrible but it doesn't matter when you are cutting them up.

I've made five bags now, and got it down to 40 minutes per bag. Dead easy really.

Sell by dates, brilliant invention.

I have just finished the bag of potatoes which I got for a reduced price of 10p. The sell by date was 29th June. So 19 days after this date I ate the last ones. Admitted I had to cut away the shoots that had started sprouting from them, maybe I would have been better planting them, ha ha. But I have got loads in the garden waiting to be eaten, I'll start on them tomorrow.

So much for sell by dates. Keep on marking the prices down Tesco, and thank you very much for my cheap food. Shhhh, don't tell everyone though, it's already a scramble to grab what you can. Sharpen your elbows.

A splash of colour

The born again cup is on display.......looks good, brightens it up a treat.

Where's the path?

The weather has been a bit wild just lately, yesterday it was very windy with threats of rain, but nevertheless I thought I would take a chance and go for a walk. If it does rain it won't be for long, with the clouds scooting across the sky at breakneck speed. I went over the Humber Bridge, and parked up in a little village called Kirby Misperton, midway between Malton and Pickering, North Yorkshire. This walk came in at 14.44 miles.

The picture below shows the entrance to my first footpath at Kirby Misperton Bridge, as you can see there is no stile, the hedge and weeds are overgrown, the gate is locked, and there is wire on the other side of it.

But, there is a signpost, well what's left of one, engulfed by the neglected hedges. The land owner is obviously not a fan of walkers over his land. This is a public footpath, a legal right of way.

Oh well, I'll take the next left down a farm track, a designated bridleway, that should be passable. I can hear the screams of the kids on the roller coaster at nearby Flamingo Land, I'm surprised this is still running in the high winds.

After one false start I came across another obstacle, and was beginning to wonder if all landowners were the same round here. I turned down a track towards Wintofts Farm and came to the entrance of a big garden, there should be a path to the right of the building. Could I find it? Could I heck!

I was about to knock on the door of the farmhouse when an elderly woman came out. I say elderly but she was probably about the same age as me, but looked a bit frail. I asked her where the path was. She said, 'just a minute. I will have to move the geese to another field.' I waited while she shoo'ed them through a gate. I showed her a map of the path I was looking for, she said, 'I don't understand maps.' She pointed to a gate and said, 'it's over there, but it's a bit rough.' I thought she meant it was the weather that was a bit rough.

This is the gate. It has a sign which says, 'Please shut the gate.' In my estimation this gate has not been opened in ten years. I say this because on the other side is a bridge over a stream, and the bridge itself has ten years of weeds growing on it.

I climbed over it, it has some chicken wire over the bottom half and someone has cut a hole in it so you can get your boot onto the third bar, without doing yourself an injury in your nether regions.

Next was to find the path on the other side, it should go left and run alongside the stream. After trying several alternatives, wading along the edge of a field of oil seed rape, trying to find a way into a field through electric fencing, I had to give up and go back. A bit rough, that's an understatement!

Here I am about to go back over the bridge and climb the gate back to the house. I was sorely tempted to knock on the door and tell the woman I was going to report the situation, but decided not to. I think she had an inkling that the path was not acceptable, but it's probably not her fault. I will find out who I have to report it to.

I love pictures of trees like this. A bit sad that it is dead, but an interesting contrast to it's surroundings. I'm glad they haven't cut it down.

Always a pleasure to see swans. These were on a stream next to Low Mill Cottage, fancy having this view outside your door, bliss.

Oh dear, another blatant disregard for walkers. A stile that has been completely destroyed, this time by driving a heavy machine over it. I wonder when they will get it repaired, probably never.

This made me chuckle, a sign eating tree ;o)

I stopped in Pickering to eat my lunch and carried on in an easterley direction along Ruffa Lane.

At last a lovely place to walk, Howl Dale Wood. Not many feet have passed this way before, it was very pleasant listening to the roar of the wind through the trees, yet warm in the sunlight because of their shelter. I stopped several times to pick the wild raspberries.

There is a big pond in Thornton le Dale, with lots of ducks and fish. It's a lovely little touristy town. I had to partake of an ice cream, my favourite Magnum of course.

The Beck runs all the way through Thornton, these cottages have it flowing right past their front doors.

I was a bit late back to my car, but no matter, I was late starting out. A couple of places to call in on the way back. I made a short diversion to a village called Rillington on the A64 near Malton. There is a pub called The Coach and Horses which has lots and lots of pot cats in their lounge. I remembered this place from about seven years ago when I called in for a drink once. They are still there, so I took lots of photo's. That's another post so look out for it next week.

It will be too late to cook a meal when I get back, so I stopped at Wetwang for a tray of chips. This place is always busy, but I have never had time to join the queue. The queue's have gone now so I got my chips. Ate half of them, the other half I will microwave for lunch today.

Almost home and a beautiful sunset again. I will not be following this footpath, it's going in the wrong direction :o)

Wow, I'm an artist

Whoopeeeeee, my first piece of artwork in a proper exhibition at a proper Arts Centre, I'm chuffed to little mint balls. I took the MacD paper cup to 20 21, and they liked it, and said they would put it in the cabinet with the others. So now I feel like I'm proper artist. I will go and take a picture of it in a couple of days or so :o)))

My two very best friends

Just look at my two babies, sleeping soundly in their favourite places. Ginger Bugsy on the landing at the top of the stairs just outside my office door. He looks blissfully happy, always turns his head round like that, nose pointing to the ceiling.

And Tabby Lilly. He has his own duvet on the floor next to my bed, I fluff it up for him and he loves to snuggle up with Poo Bear.

Two very happy cats. They are getting on a bit now, 14 nearly 15, and their companionship and loyalty is very comforting. My two very best friends.

All is lovely in the gardens

I had a free bus ride today to Hull, I haven't been for a while. I like people watching so I sat on a bench in Queen Victoria Square eating my sandwiches. There were a lot of graduates standing around in their caps and gowns, and people taking photo's of them, I think it was their presentation day.

I looked in some charity shops but didn't see anything I fancied, so I got a jar of coffee and a bag of sugar from Home Bargains. I had a little treat, some chocolate from Thorntons, I love their chocolate.

The flowers are lovely in Queen's Gardens, here are a few photo's. The last time I was here the Parks and Gardens Department were planting these up, don't they look fabulous.

It started raining at about half past three so I got the bus back. A very short day out.

Sweats V Tees

I don't believe it another bag, before breakfast, I need therapy ;-O

This one is made out of a teeshirt. I used the sleeves for the handles, there is very little left of the teeshirt now, just the seams and the neckline. Although this would do the job of carrying shopping, I think the sweatshirts make a more robust bag which would last ten times longer than this one. The beauty of them is they can be chucked in the washing machine along with all the other dirty clothes.

I have seen pictures of Morsbags which have been made out of rather lightweight girly fabric. Although they look very attractive, I think for a shopping bag you need something that can be stuffed full of lumpy items and thrown in the back of a car.

The only drawback I can see with the sweatshirt bags is that they might stretch a little. I need to give one to someone who will do a test drive for me. I don't do enough shopping to do it myself, it would take me six months before I got a result. I will give one to a friend and ask her to use it every week and see how she gets on with it.

No stopping me now!

I got up this morning and made another bag. The pots are unwashed, there is muck on the floor, the windows need cleaning, and the washing basket is full, and I make another bag!!!

Turn your clothes into bags

Here it is, my first Mors bag, just for Josie.

Made out of a grey sweat shirt which was given to me, I didn't wear because it was too tight round the neck. It is 18 inches high and 14.5 inches wide. I more or less followed the pattern on the Mors web site. I used one sleeve for the handles, and made up my own measurements. Because I inserted the waistband inside the handles they are very thick, so I couldn't stitch the X on the front with the machine. Instead I did an extra row of stitching along the top very close to the edge to miss the thickness of the handles. I have sewn a line across the bottom corners to give it a flat bottom.

A good way to use up unwanted clothing. I will probably make some more, and I wont mind giving them away as I don't actually need them for myself. I always use my fantastic blue gazebo bags. Thanks for reminding me about this Josie.

It's not trash !

The exhibition on at the moment at the 20 21 Arts Centre is make an artwork out of a paper drinks cup. It hopes to highlight the environmental concerns surrounding the use of disposable packaging in takeaway food, as well as breathe new life into the humble paper cup.
I found a very sad and lonely paper cup lying on the grass verge outside the church. We have a MacD about four miles away, and no doubt some uncaring moron had drained the life out of the cup and tossed it out of their car window. How cruel is that. It has served it's purpose, and it is now just trash.
At first I drove by it, thinking I might pick it up later. My concerns were so great, that this innocent cup might soon become a victim of another moron who would delight in squashing it flat. I had to turn round and go back and rescue it.
When I got it home I washed all the stickiness from it and put it on the window sill to bask in the sunshine. It's the least I could do.
My cup has been saved, but wait a minute, I could do more, I could make it into a star. It deserves a second chance after all the trauma it has been through. So here is my cup reborn, centre stage would be a fitting place for it.
It has a new sparkly gold dress on, and a big red bow with red ruffles around it's neck. Pink pearls adorn it, with a silver scrolled belt around it's waist. Pink frothy raspberry ripple soda spills out over the top, with eight jazzy straws dancing with delight.

So next time you throw something in the trash bin, take another look at it. Is it really rubbish with no further use, or could you breathe new life into it.

I have spoken to the lady at the Arts Centre to see if my cup will be allowed to take it's rightfull place in their exhibition. She will pass my request on to the man in charge. I do hope he will find it in his heart to make a small space for it.

Re use, re cycle

My legs are aching now. I've been on the go all day on my stand, at Jerry Green's Dog Rescue Open Day. I originally booked the space for the Scrapstore, but as it has closed I thought I might as well use it and take my own stuff to show, and hopefully inspire others.

My friend Lorraine came to help me, which gave me a chance to have a look round the rest of the show. I wasn't away very long though, every step is painfull.

People were very interested and many asked the price of something. They were taken aback when I said they weren't for sale, they are just to demonstrate how rubbish can be recycled in different ways. Most people understood the message behind it, think about what you are throwing away, and can it be used for something else. But a few couldn't see the point. I explained how to make some of the items and suggested that they have a go themselves.

I think there are some people who will never understand the importance of re using, they have got so used to chucking things in the bin and buying another. The only way the message is going to get through is if the whole world either goes bankrupt, or the earth's natural resources are destroyed through climate change. Anyway, I have done my bit, and now I am going to bed. Goodnight.

Putting my best foot forward

Here we go on the second walk, no running on this one, in fact the more leisurely it is the better. The visitors Centre is part of the Waters Edge Country Park at Barton, it's a lovely nature reserve. We are a group of fourteen, and here we are setting off along the boardwalk.

It has been sweltering hot today, we needed frequent stops for drinks. I drank far more than I normally do, glad I took an extra bottle. The route took us along part of the Viking Way, and at Horkstow we left it to go down the lane to the River Ancholme. The pretty Horkstow Bridge was busy. You can cross it in a car, but not many do because it goes nowhere. Today there is a group of youths larking about, throwing themselves into the water. This seems to be the craze at the moment. I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not, there were cans of lager being consumed. It's the kind of situation which ends up as headline news, when some unfortunate lad comes a cropper. Is he going to jump?

There he goes.

We stopped off at the Hope and Anchor at South Ferriby for lunch. Me and a few others sat outside with our sandwiches, the rest went in to order their food. They were unlucky, the pub had suffered a power cut and couldn't prepare any food. It's always best to take your own. Behind me is the River Humber. I am glad of this stop because I am starting to feel a little bit weary, time to recharge the batteries.

Off we go again along the waters edge. No chance to build sandcastles here, it is all shingle, a bugger to walk on.

Almost back in Barton and you pass this old factory, they used to make tiles but it's been closed many years. It looks like they are having a bit of a tidy up, a digger machine is clearing the yard. Look at that neat wall that has been built out of stacked up roof tiles.

Must have took someone ages to lay them that perfectly, it's a pretty long wall. A good example of using up the materials you already have.

Nearly back now, the Humber Bridge from this angle is magnificent. You can hear the vehicles rattling over it. Amazing how it is all suspended on those massive wires.

I'm having a bit of a sit down now, but got to get up in a minute to get things ready for tomorrow. Oops nearly forgot, need to water the veggies as well. Groan. Shouldn't complain, I have achieved so much today :o)

Me, jiggered? Not likely!

Just time to do this before I jump into the bath before I go off to the next walk. It went well last night, off on the dot at 10pm. I glanced round to my friend Helen, and we both knew that this is where we part company, I was fired and raring to go.


A few piccies by the football ground before we set off, these are the before photo's. Our numbers are pinned on our backs. You can see my little black boots again, they are lovely and soft, I can walk miles in them ;0)

It was two circuits of six miles each with a twiddly bit in the middle, and I did most of it by myself. On the second circuit I walked with a nice young lady for ten minutes or so, but it wasn't long before I broke into a jog. I was determined to beat the three hours from last year.

Oh dear, 13 miles later and I am jiggered. Yep, I beat it by seven minutes. I have my medal, and my goody bag. Breakfast was served and I took the veggie option, a bowl of fruit and a cup of orange juice.

Ha ha, only kidding, I feel fine. In bed by 1.45am. A good nights work and loadsa money raised for the hospice.

Off I go again.

A walk in the dark

I am going out in about an hour, don't bother to look at the clock on my blog, it is wrong, but at 9pm I shall be off to the football ground to do the sponsored walk. Hopefully I shall be in bed at about 1.30am, having done 13 miles.

Then I shall get up at 8am, and go and do a 13 mile ramble, so I reckon that makes it almost a marathon.

Now what shall I wear tonight. It is supposed to be a sleep walk and we should be dressed in our night wear. That might be a bit difficult in this weather, I might get arrested :o) Toodle pip, not sure when I will be back here.