Good ideas

 Good morning. I am so excited. Litter picking is taking off in a big way. I have just found this faceboook page on dealing with the bags when they fill up and become too heavy to carry. People are so inventive. 

Thanks to UK Litterpicking Groups for these ideas. I need to be more organised, I need a set of wheels. 

Happy Tuesday. Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

A busy Monday

Good evening. 

I've been multi tasking today. First a visit to the Village Hall for the Crafty Club. It was a bit quiet, heads down let the stitching and knitting begin. Once the coffee was served things livened up a bit and the conversation flowed. 

Back home for lunch I need some shopping so why not combine that trip to town with a litter picking session. I parked my car and cleared this section of a busy road. I have walked this route many times before, it looked a terrible mess. Now it's all clean. I left the bag of litter and some other rubbish under the road sign. I hope a Council pickup truck comes along and takes it away. 

I just made it back to the car as the heavens opened. It was a short, but very heavy shower. Aldi was quiet. I think a lot of families have gone away as it's half term holidays. £66 spent. Sorry no details on what I bought. 

It was dark when I came out of Aldi. I stopped on the way home to get a photo of the Fun Fair in full swing with all the lights on. Not many cars in the car park. Not surprised, it's flipping freezing cold. 

Dinner tonight was the second portion of cauliflower and potato stew. I chucked some frozen beans in as well for good measure. 

Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

Some waffle

Good evening.

I need a haircut. I'll get around to doing it as soon as a warmish day comes along. I cut it outside so I don't have a mess to clear up inside. 

Here is a video I recorded yesterday on my walk back home. It's just a bit of waffle so you might not want to bother watching it. I won't mind. I scroll through a lot of videos that I watch. Some of them are a bit repetitive. You don't have to click the 'like' button on mine, or subscribe, if you don't want to. I don't bother to check my stats, and have no idea what an algorithm looks like.  

I did an hours litter picking this afternoon. It has been raining for most of the day and I needed to get out of the house. Now I am yawning, I am winding down towards bedtime. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

What's happening at the Funfair.

Good evening. 

Have you had a good Saturday? I had one of those spontaneous get off your backside and go outside moments. The sun was shining and if I am quick I can just about make the 1pm bus to town. 

On the way back I took a slightly different route. Maybe I'll find something else to photograph. There is a shortcut path from the main road through to an Industrial Estate. I'll go that way instead. I came across this very nice yellow Volvo. It was parked in the corner away from the factories. The back door of the trailer was open and I couldn't resist having a nosey inside. There was a smell of cooking, and the driver had a pan of stew on the go on his camping stove. I said hello, he hesitated to reply. I asked him where he was from. Romania he replied. His English was almost non existent so it was difficult to have a conversation. I am happy to chat to any drivers who find themselves parked up and  away from home. I could see it was going to be difficult so I waved him goodbye and left him to get on with his meal.  

I came out of the Industrial Estate opposite the Raceway where the Funfair was taking place. I went to see how it was getting on. Is it busy, have they got enough customers. There were a lot of cars in the carpark, and some of the rides and stalls were busy. I took a few pictures. The sunshine had brought people out. Look at the blue sky. 

This is a trampoline ride. Strap your little one into a harness and let them bounce to their hearts content. 

Fancy a ride in the sky. Swinging chairs towering above everything else. 

Now are you all strapped into your seat. Let's get started then. 

Swing high, swing low, hold tight. 

You want to go higher!

Ok, here you go then. Help, let me get off, I feel sick, ha ha. 😨😵😬

Coming back down. Thank goodness for that. 

The flying chairs waiting for customers. This would be more my thing. It doesn't throw you around. 

£4 for a big sausage. They had a steady queue of customers. 

An old favourite, Hook a Duck. Great fun for the little ones. 

Even with the sun shining it was bitterly cold. I carried on walking back home.  

That's my daily dose of fresh air done. 

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

Let's Restore Britain.

 Good luck Rupert. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Work exchange visit cancelled

Good morning.

The sun is shining but it is very cold. I have had to break the ice on the birds drinking bowls scattered about on the lawn. 

I came across this snippet of news last night, so a quick copy and paste was all I had time for before I went to bed. So What's it all about? You might get the gist of it if you have time to read it. The text on the letter might be a bit difficult to read, sorry, not had time to edit it. 

VictoriaAtkins

URGENT letter to Home Secretary about animal welfare.

@ukhomeoffice

ministers have stopped 75 highly skilled sheep shearers from coming to the UK for this year’s sheep shearing season.

@natsheep

tell me that Australian and Kiwi shearers usually shear 1.5-2 million sheep in our warm months to prevent heat stroke and disease. The Home Office must u-turn on this decision urgently before the season starts in two months.

Comments from other sources. 

The government is trying to stop 75 highly skilled sheep shearers from coming to the UK for this year’s sheep shearing season.

All part of Starmer's campaign to bankrupt the UK farmers.

Preventing Australian/Kiwi Sheep Shearers from entering the UK at the height of season appears to be part of an all out attack on Farmers by its own Govt as well as this being animal cruelty.

For years there's been a partnership & friendships between Australian NZ & UK shearers & surrounding communities.

So I guess the shearers from the UK won't be able to go to NZ & Australia either. For years this partnership & friendship has existed & a petty bureaucratic breaks it. Another part of our culture destroyed

Photo from my blog post, 3rd June 2010. On holiday in Dorset. 

I chatted to the young lady as they were getting ready. She told me they are from Lanarkshire, and they go all over the world shearing sheep. They have 350 to do here today.

A story about the Labour Government trying to stop the sheep shearers coming here to help out with the mammoth task of shearing all our sheep within a limited amount of time. So what happens when our sheep shearers want to go there to work on their shearing programme? 

Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

Me again - are you keeping up.

Good evening.

Still cold, still wet. I managed to find a half hour window this afternoon when it stopped raining, to take Billy a walk. 

Lunch yesterday was half a tin of mushy peas, half a tin of butter beans. Warm in a Pyrex bowl in the microwave. Add a couple of shakes of garlic granules, and two teaspoons of sweet and sour sauce. A bit unusual for a meal, but it was fine, and cheap.  

Crafty wise I am playing with face masks, I have 50 of them. I want to paint them in different colours. It's an experiment at the moment. Using acrylic paint and diluting it with water. They look a bit blotchy  so I might have to soak them several times to get the density I want. This may take a while. 😟😜😴

I put out this video yesterday. I started a new mandala. It's smaller than the previous ones.  

Who will survive when it all goes tittts up? We are being led into a dark place. Do we have to go? No we don't. Better to prepare now.

Now it's time to chill with a glass of cider. Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend.

Toodle pip.   ilona

Pure Genius

 This is genius. Very emotional. Brought tears to my eyes. Full sound. 

It is sometimes difficult to put into words what genius is. But you do feel it when you experience it. This is Jacob Collier as he improvises with an orchestra performing with the world's first Audience Symphony Orchestra in San Francisco, a gathering of fans from all over North America, conducted by Suzie Collier. In the middle of the show, this happened - no rehearsal, no sheet music, no prior discussion.

Catch ya later. ilona

EDIT.

If you like that, you will love this. A longer version on yoootooob. Make this your treat for the weekend.

 

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views

Premiered on 9 Feb 2026

30k thumbs up.

More from Jacob Collier. 2.15 million subscribers. 366 videos.

EDIT AGAIN.

Unbelievable. I have just read some of the comments on twitter. Some of them are very critical, very scathing. This is the nature of the internet and social media. The state of the world is going downhill fast. It doesn't matter what you put out there, no matter how enjoyable it is, how good it is, there are always people who want to pull you down.

Warning

 GOOD MORNING.

Guess what, it's chuffing RAINING AGAIN. 😬😩😱

If you were spitting feathers and cursing about what Jim Ratcliffe said, your blood pressure is going to hit unbelievable heights if you read this tweet from Rupert Lowe. 

Maybe do yourself a favour and pass on this post.  

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

You can't say that.

 Free speech isn’t free. It costs. Jim Ratcliffe has apologised because his words went against the approved speech. Even Billionaires aren’t immune from the intimidation force of the mob.

His statement.

Only the brave warriors will speak out. Careful what you say or they will destroy you. 

Catch ya later.   ilona

EDIT

Andrew Lawrence has it about right. 

Industrial Lancashire

I took these photos when I was at the 20 21 Art Gallery last week. It's the kind of art that I like, with lots of skill involved. I wish I could paint pictures, but I am hopeless. Richard Barnard is a local artist. 

It's back to being dull outside today. 

I've recorded a video and I will put it out later. 

Thanks for popping in Toodle pip.   ilona

Free bridge crossings. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . but only if you walk across, which I did today. I was late setting off. It was an impulsive decision. Coffee Morning was quite busy, some new faces came along for the first time. Then I called in for a catch up chat with Angela. We put the world to rights. The sun was making a brave attempt to come out so I stuffed a few things into my rucksack and drove to the bridge. Parked underneath, I set of at 3.30pm. to walk across. I took my bus pass just in case I wanted to get a lift back. I didn't I walked. It's one and a half miles each way. 

Traffic seems to be flowing freely over it. No stopping at toll booths now. Just remember to pay online by midnight the day after. Or you can pay in advance if you keep your account topped up.  

There is a lifeboat station on the North Bank. Looks like they had been out for a practice. They were in the process of dragging the boats out of the water and back on land to the sheds. 

Coming towards the end of the bridge on the North Bank. Looking down on the A63 which runs from Hull to Leeds. There is a park down there with a restaurant/pub for meals and drinks. 

This is where the footpath ends and I go down the steps to walk underneath it. They have put barriers up and moved all the traffic over to one side. The price has gone up from £1.50 to £2.00.

I wonder if they will take the pay booths away. 

There was time for a walk, so I had an explore around Hessle. Very nice Rest Home here. 

A view under the bridge looking from north bank to south bank. The rumble of vehicles thundering overhead is deafening.  

Up on the bridge now and it's starting to get dark. 

I got back to the car just in time. It started raining heavily, and lashed it down all the way home. 

It's been a bit warmer today, let's hope we have seen the worst of the weather. I come alive when I am out in the open air. Takes my mind off the stupidity of the current situation. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Zips and buttons

Good evening. 

Another rotten weather day today. Need to do some work in the garden but everything is soaking wet. My lawn is like a mud bath because thousands of birds come down to feed every day. My fault because I like to see them. I have the fattest pigeons in the village. A seagull came to visit the other day. 

Here I reveal my latest art creation. What can you do with twelve zips and a few buttons. Sew the zips together on a piece of backing fabric. Add a lot of stitching. Hang some tiny buttons on the zipper pulls.

Add more buttons on the dark blue fabric at the bottom. 

The green zipper to hang it is hooked onto a knitting needle at each end. The top of the zips are folded over it. 

The back is fully covered. All I need to do now is remove the cat hairs with sellotape. 

It is 9.5 inches by 16 inches. Finished. 

I started off with an idea and let it take me on a journey. Changing my mind as I went along. I am pleased with the result. 

I have figured out how to add a video into a blog post. It used to be dead easy. Click on 'share' on yoootooob, that opens a window and gives you options, right click on the Blogger logo, then right click 'paste' onto a new Blogger post. That option has now gone. Now I have to go all around the houses. 

My dinner is ready. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona