Bimbling around Kirkby, Hutton, and Gillamoor

Hello. I started this last night but after loading the photo's, one at a time because my little laptop would not let me make multiple uploading, I gave up and went to bed. Today is a new day and I am up early, so maybe I'll get this posted before breakfast.

 Wow, what a lot of birthday wishes, thank you all very much, I am chuffed. My celebrations continue and I am bimbling around North Yorkshire. Not a long walk today, as I didn't get started until lunchtime, only eight miles. The weather is warm and I was soon changing into my shorts. The car park in Kirkbymoorside is expensive and everyone seems to park on the side of the road, so I did the same. After a quick look in the church, I was on my way. I had identified a circular walk which would take me to Hutton le Hole, Gillamoor, and back to Kirkby.

The map was telling me I had to cross a stream over a footbridge. Alas, no footbridge, and no water either.

I love the North Yorkshire National Park. The Moors and Dales are just fab walking country.

Oooh look a nice Scania truck, the driver loading his logs with a grab crane. I prefer Volvo's myself, but Scania come a close second. I was brought up on ERF's though, but the only ones you see now are vintage. 

A row of dinky little shops in Hutton. I didn't cave in and get an ice cream though, I had my packup to eat. 

A quick look through the window of the museum at the entrance charge was enough to put me off going in here. £6.50 for seniors. Don't think I'll bother, I'll walk around the village instead.

It's a pretty village, with two parallel roads and a stream between them. 

Plenty of cottages, small and large.

Out of Hutton following the Tabular Hills Walk, a long distance footpath, plenty of signposts. 

There's quite a steep stretch of road to climb up into the village of Gillamoor. This is the view you get when you reach the church at the top. An elderly couple in a posh Volvo car stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift back to Kirkby. I'm sure they thought me a bit potty when I said I wanted to walk, and was counting it towards my 1000 mile target.

The church at Gillamoor.

I thought this was a neat idea, in the absence of a village shop some enterprising person has parked a cart at the front of their house. Sweets and snacks available, and a few basic provisions. 

The playing field near the school was busy, full of kiddywinks burning off excess energy by chucking a ball around. Coming back into Kirkby, it says there are remains of a castle on the map, so I went in search of it. Not a lot left, but some nice walks through the woods. Most of what is left of the castle has been swallowed up.

That's the walk done, back to my car to drive to Gillamoor for my B & B. I arrived just as the farmer was about to leave, he had left a note pinned to the door of my room, I was to let myself in. It seems very laid back here. Very nice room, time to chill and watch the tele. Load of tosh on though, might as well play on the computer.

Breakfast at 8.30 just time to jump in the bath. The weather forecast is not so good for today, hope I can dodge the rain. Thanks for popping in. Have a nice day,
Toodle pip.

And then we ate cake

Hello. It was cup cakes all round at the Crafty Club this morning. Now which one shall I chose. My birthday treat for my crafty friends. There were two left over so I gave them to the postmen. No, I didn't bake them, wouldn't know where to start. Tis easy to go to Tesco and buy them. 

Yes, May the 16th was the day I was born, so thank you to mum and dad for getting my life started nine months before.

I've had a nice day, busy. Playing around with the summer house, prettying it up. Then I went round to my friend Angela's house to show her how to make flowers out of drinks cans, she wants to make a hanging basket like mine. Afterwards she came back to my house and I gave her a few more crafty ideas and she is now looking for some sticks to paint.

Sorry this has to be a short post, I still have things to do. I have a busy birthday week ahead of me, let the celebrations begin. I will pop in when I can, maybe post some photo's.

We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.

The kids soaking up the sun

Hello. I've been outside most of the day, it's been lovely A few pictures of the kids. Cat on a plastic roof. Heidi climbs up onto the garage roof, then leaps across the gap onto the summerhouse. She is still doing well on half a tablet a day, wouldn't even know that she has a blood problem.  

Heidi, I would like to look at that map please, while I sit down for my coffee break.

Rocky has come out for a bimble around the garden to see what I am doing.

Every afternoon you will find Bugsy in his favourite place, taking in the sun on the windowsill. Every so often he will come off it and sprawl on the table, it gets very hot behind the glass.

Mayze sunbathes in the garden in her bed on the wooden shelves. She spends many a lazy hour here. All the kids are happy and content, good job they have me for a slave.

I snapped this sky out of a bedroom window last night. Isn't it fabulous. I love unusual cloud formations. 

Just a quickie tonight. I've got to go back out and water the flower beds. Haven't got many flowers yet, but I live in hope. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip

Church of many colours

Hello. I went to the opening of a new exhibition last night at the 20 21 Arts Centre. The instillation is called Our Colour Reflection. The floor of the church is covered with coloured mirrors to reflect the lights installed in the ceiling. In fact there were two exhibitions in one. Gill Hobson is an artist who works with projected light, and the walls were bathed in glorious colours to complement the floor mirrors. Her web site has some wonderful works from her past exhibitions. Well worth a look. 

The mirrors, as I mentioned on Thursday, are by Liz west. You can read the blurb about Our Colour Reflection, on her web site. Should you wish to see this it is on until the 25th of June.

The combination of the two artists worked well, but Gill Hobson's projections were only on for the opening night. I have been told that on a fine day, the church is lit up from the sun shining through the windows, so I will have to go back in the day time to see that.

Plenty to do today, so I'll say Toodle pip, have a good weekend, and we'll catch up soon.

A quiet little corner. Ssshhhhhh.

Hello and Good Morning. Let's start the day with a walk on the hills, and in the woods, and down the track, and along the road, and around the fishing pond, and back up the hill. 

I avoid this walk in the winter because of all the mud clinging to my boots. It's not nice to be slipping and sliding about. But now it's a lot drier I will bimble around here in the sunshine. It's on my doorstep so three minutes and I am there. 

Some large trees have been cut up here. It looks as though they might have fallen across the path in high winds, and someone has been along to cut them into smaller chunks and move them to one side. This is also a bridle path so any obstructions would be dangerous to horse riders. I often see hoof marks on the ground.

Past the caravan park and onto the road . Lovely blossoms out at this time of the year.

This building was the offices for the dockyard. Not many boats come in now and the land is used for cement storage and distribution. The office block houses other businesses, see the old anchor embedded into the ground, a relic of the past.

The fishing ponds have changed dramatically over the last two years after a new owner took over and had a big tidying up operation. A machine has been at work taking out all the dead wood. The landscaping has opened it up to make a very pleasant place to walk. New trees have been planted to replace the old.

Climbing back up the hill through along the footpath through the field gives a lovely view over the pond and the river beyond. We get a few visitors from the caravan park, and one or two walkers passing by, but on the whole this is a quiet little haven which only the locals know about. So, sshhhh, don't tell everyone, keep it to yourself, ha ha.

It's looking like a lovely start to the day. It's Friday, so nearly the weekend, have a good one. Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Excited by colour

Hello and Good Morning. I was in town the other day, Tuesday I think, and took a peek into the 20 21 Arts Centre to see what's going on. They are setting up a new exhibition which opens on Saturday. It looks very interesting, lots of coloured blobs and lots of ceiling lights shining down on them to send the reflections bouncing around the room. Liz West is the artist, she works with colours and lights to make amazing installations. Stunning pictures on her web site. It's open late tomorrow night for a preview so I might go to that. Should be good when it is dark outside. 

They had some strange bits and pieces in another exhibition which was all about Chinese jewelry. It was all a bit odd, but then some art is odd. Not sure how you would hang this piece around your body, the mind boggles. I could make that, ha ha.

Here is a snippet of what I am working on. I want to get this finished by the middle of June because we are having an art exhibition in the Village Hall, and I want this to be on show.

Must get on with it. Thanks for popping in. Catch ya soon. Toodle pip

The Beast speaks

Hello. I am planning a week of celebrations for my birthday. I spotted a snippet in the local paper about an event in Scunthorpe which would fit in nicely on the Friday night, so I bought a ticket. The Beast of Bolsover, Dennis Skinner, is always entertaining when he stands up and says his piece at Parliamentary meetings. Although his speeches have a serious message, it's the way that he delivers them which have the most impact. Dennis tells it like it is in his own colourful language. He has balls, he has guts, and he is not one to follow the crowd. I am looking forward to seeing him in the flesh.

Here is a yoootooob video of him being kicked out of the House of Commons, yet again.



Raining again, more sewing. Catch up later. Toodle pip

Spice it up a bit

Hello. Jo sent me an email, I'll answer it here in case anyone else is interested. 

Hello Ilona. I wonder if you could advise me on which spices you use to liven up your dishes. I don't like hot spices and have been experimenting with a little turmeric, it's supposed to be good for joint pain. I presume that you don't use salt? I use pepper as I've been told that it helps to make the turmeric work better. Do you combine herbs in your recipes too? Many thanks for your tips on healthy eating on a budget. I haven't eaten meat for many years.

Hello Jo, My knowledge of spices is very limited, there is no point in me keeping lots in the cupboards, they would never get used. I have no rules on which spices go with which foods, basically I mix them all up, use two or three in one meal. I don't add salt at all in my cooking, or on my food. I can buy these sauce mixes for 10 and 20p. I use them sparingly, adding a teaspoonful to soups and stews for a bit of flavour.

   

All these are out of date, I buy the vegetable granules from the Cash and Carry, I'm stocked up with those, it is like veg stock cubes only in powder form. The others I've had for ages and keep using them.

I get these from the Asian shop and use them the most. Curry powder, Turmeric, Coriander and Cumin. There is one missing, I've just finished the garlic powder, need to get some more.

Corn relish goes in soups and stews, and the wholegrain mustard also. Cheap from the Cash and Carry. Soft cheese makes nice sauce, 49p from Tesco or Aldi.

Tonight I had YS mushrooms, need to use them up, still some left. Quorn fillet cut into pieces, frozen sweetcorn, and Amoy noodles. Vegetable granules, mustard, and garlic powder added. Very nice but too much, very filling. I have some left for tomorrow.

Thank you for your question Jo. Sorry I can't point you in the right direction on which spices you should be buying, most of my cooking is experimental, I chuck anything in and see what happens.

Thanks very much for popping in. It's been raining here, so I've been able to get on with the sewing.
We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip

Go Ida

Good morning. Here's something inspirational to get you up and running. I've just read in The Times about Ida Keeling, the 100 year old woman who has broken a world record. I gooooglied her and found this on the CSS Sports web site. 

There is a video on yooootooob


She was asked about the secret of her longevity, she said, 'Eat for nutrition, not for taste, exercise at least once a day.'

Good on you Ida, I am working on it.

Catch you later. Toodle pip

Free food for the community

Hello. I picked up this leaflet from Tesco on Friday night, it looks as though they are going to make food donations to Fareshare. There is a web site to explain how it all works, but I am still not understanding how they are going to get the yellow sticker food which I normally buy, to the people who need it, in a short space of time. By the time it has had three markdowns, and numerous people handling it, it is often looking a bit tired, and some of it needs to be eaten within 24 hours. 

Fareshare is a go between for those donating the food and those needing the food. They receive the messages from the stores, and pass on the information to community groups who then have to organize collection. I can see this working for tins and packets, but not sure how a bag of salad is going to find it's way from Scunthorpe to Hull in the evening and be served up the next day. There isn't usually a lot left after customers have taken what they want, it's hardly going to be worth it to send a van for a few items. The only way they can make it worthwhile is to do away with yellow stickers altogether so there is more to donate and collect, but I can't see that happening. The quickest and easiest way to get rid of it is to sell it off cheap, then at least they still get a bit of income from it. We shall see.

My lunch today was YS sprouting beans, houmous, and salad leaves, with a quarter of quiche, baby toms and cucumber.

Dinner tonight was steamed potatoes and carrots from Aldi, and YS mushrooms with Quorn pieces in a creamy garlic sauce, made with garlic powder and cream cheese.

This weather is lovely, isn't it. Lets have more please. Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon.
Toodle pip

A good arty crafty site to check out.

Good morning. A quick in and out before I go to Crafty Club. It has been brought to my attention, by two people in fact, (thank you both), that Josie Russell is a brilliant artist and has a web site. I've had a look and her textile art is lovely. Worth a look for all you crafty people out there, and non crafty who want to buy greetings cards which are based on her designs.

I'm putting a call out to all bloggers to check their comments for spammers. I am getting a few disguised as real comments. Automated spam is not getting through now since Blogger changed things, but there are still some who will try. They appear to be friendly, and write a few words in connection with the post topic. Their link is embedded in their user name, so check them out before publishing. Another clue is that English is not their first language. Mum has a spam comment on her blog at the moment. If you want to keep your blog clean moderate your comments. Why let all and sundry use your hard work as a platform for their business.

Checking out. Catch ya later.
Toodle pip

Bit pricey for a smoothie

Hello. I picked up a few yellow stickers on Friday night at Tesco. This fruit platter looks very nice, but not a lot in it.  

Stuff it into the tumbler to make a smoothie.

It says it's 2 of my 5 a day and I'm eating the lot in one go. I've already had a banana for breakfast, and I will be having veg for dinner, so I'll be getting more than 5 portions today. Real price £2.50, bit pricey, who could afford that, I can't. 63p isn't so bad.

Very nice, nothing added to it, just fruit.

Cheeriebye, I'm off to bed. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.