I went to Crafty Club to find that there was no electricity in the Village Hall. I always arrive late and two of the members had gone to the shop next door and purchased the hot drinks for everyone. As I always bring my own there wasn't any hot water to make my coffee. So I went to the shop and bought a strawberry milk shake. That will do nicely.
After lunch the plan was to do a litter pick then go to Aldi. I am running low on food. As I was passing this bin I saw that it was overflowing with rubbish. Best sort that out first. I pulled it all out and filled a red bag. The plastic drums that have been left there are full of what could possibly be diesel or oil. It looks like they came from the two trailers that were dumped on the road recently, and had to be emptied before they could be moved. I imagine the Council will come back and collect these items.
Then on to my regular tidy up spot. The grass has been mown thus chopping up the litter underneath it. By this time my second bag was almost full.
Let's call it a day, I have done enough. The bag was added to the pile. Still no Council to check out the fly tipping I reported.
I didn't get to Aldi, it was almost 7pm and I needed to go home and eat, and feed the cats, and the hedgehogs will soon be coming out for their supper, or is it breakfast if they have just woken up. I counted five on the garden. They are getting to know me now and I can walk among them.
Some pics of the Sandtoft Trolley Bus Museum visit yesterday. There are many more pics on this blog of previous visits here. Just put 'Sandtoft' in the search facility on the sidebar, and it will throw up all manner of transport related stuff.
It was a warm but very windy day. Clouds of dust swept over the open fields surrounding the Museum. Attendance was much greater than last year as I remember. A good sign that there is still an appetite for transport related nostalgia for both young and older generations.
The trolley buses went round and around the circuit all afternoon, with shifts of happy volunteers ready to take the wheel for their turn. Photographers were out in force. Eager to get one more picture of their favourite bus to add to their collection. Such is their dedication of transport matters.
The 350 is the bus I sometimes get between Scunthorpe and Hull when I cross the Humber Bridge. The fleet is much more modern nowadays, and lacks the charm of these old workhorses.
The style of this bus reminds me of years gone by when I was piloting a yellow peril lovingly known as a Stevenson's Rocket. David Stevenson had depots in Burton upon Trent, and Uttoxeter. Separate cab for the driver, window behind the seat for communication with the guard keeping order in the back.
This bus is from Portugal. Notice it's a left hooker. Apparently it is from Lisbon. Coincidentally I was watching a video the night before from Ben and Emily, who are in Portugal at the moment. Their Lisbon video is entertaining and fun. You can watch it here.
Another bus with an interesting history. Read the blurb for more details.
My favourite truck from my early days of trucking. Got to be the British built ERF from Sandbach in Cheshire. Lots of these have been preserved as showmans wagons. Lots of them were imported into Malta. They love old British trucks there.
A few interesting badges.
Plenty of classic cars to look at.
I was spotted and recognised within ten minutes of arriving. Dave and his lovely family live north of the river, and they have been following my blog and videos for ages. It was a pleasure to chat face to face.
I had other chats as well with various people. I am very bold about starting conversations with people I have never met before. The atmosphere at transport events is very friendly.
After I had finished looking around everything, I drove the ten minutes to a friends house at Belton to see if Polly was in. She was. Come in and have a cuppa she said. I have mentioned before that I don't drink tea, but on this occasion I thought I would accept her offer, and the tea was palatable. I still won't be getting any tea bags in my shopping though. Polly and me go way back. She was the first member to join the Lady Truckers Club. Our paths have crossed many times when we were both working, and socially, at the Truckshows.
It was a year since I last saw her so we had a lot to catch up on. Her mobility issues were causing her to use a scooter to get about, so I was pleased to find that she has had a knee replacement operation and is now back to being fully mobile. Whatever is thrown at Polly, health or personal, she will deal with it.
Anyway, now I must go to Crafty Club, so excuse me while I dash off. I will pop back later. toodle pip. ilona
I knocked up a video this morning before I went out. Got to keep my subscribers happy.
I did a quick one hour pick this afternoon at Foxhills Industrial Estate. Lots of discarded drinks cans and bottles. I added my red bag to the pile I picked on Thursday. Ha ha, the Council workers are gonna love me when they see this. If they don't come soon the pile could grow even bigger. 😎😆😁
Shopping at The Range and Home Bargains afterwards for the cat food.
I have added stems to the flowers. Tried them in various vases, glasses, and containers but it's difficult to arrange them into a bunch without them falling over. I think I might frame them something like this, so that they are separated, and all the colours are visible. The stems are from old artificial flowers. I have wrapped them in green wool.
I will think about it. Maybe I will add some leaves. I will have a look at the frames I have.
Colin Brazier is a household name in Britain’s news for decades. With a robust presence in television broadcasting, he is recognized by his reflective reporting, grave presentation, and extensive knowledge of world and country affairs.
Colin and his late wife, Joanna raised six children together. She sadly died in 2018 after fighting cancer. Her loss was a loss that not only affected the children and Colin as individuals but also severely affected people who were used to watching Colin all these years.
Colin Brazier is not just a newsreader. He is an old reporter, who has endured the big stories of our era—and explained them to others. From his extended tenure at Sky News to working for GB News, he has been consistent and reflective.
I was going to cut down on the litter picking and have a few days off. But . . . I couldn't resist going out today. I went a bit earlier hoping it would be a bit cooler. Only an hour, and one bag, I said to myself. Back to Bagmoor Lane.
Parked my car next to this black bag. Oh no, I recognise that smell. Didn't need to look in it, another dead animal. I started my picking a bit further along the lane.
This is the back wall of the park, with woodland on the other side. I looked over it and found fly tipping.
A shopping trolley with no handle and no wheels. Don't know how this got here, there are no shops nearby.
A lot of black bin bags, and that smell again. Another report for the Council I think. I am not touching this.
I soon filled the red bag up. Then I found an empty black bag and filled that as well.
18 glass bottles, bagged up in a sturdy bag, and labelled, Litter picked by a volunteer.
Then guess what I found. A full couples toy kit wrapped in a bag, still in the box. 😄😂😎
In the red bag it went, after I checked it for batteries. Only found one very small one which I removed.
All stacked up nicely in a prominent position on a busy road. Awaiting collection.
I posted my report on the Council web site and got a reference number. Hopefully they will come and check out those black bags which I am sure contain animal remains.
A heartbreaking tragedy has struck a Cornish family after sixty years of cherished memories and generations of hard work went up in smoke in a matter of hours.
On Sunday, July 18, a ferocious fire tore through Saddle Rock Farm in Rejerrah, sending a massive plume of dark smoke billowing into the sky that could be seen for miles across mid-Cornwall.
What began as a routine afternoon turned into a nightmare when a lithium battery left on charge suddenly caught alight, igniting a catastrophic inferno that destroyed everything in its path.
The smallholding between Newquay and Truro was far more than just a piece of land; it was a deeply sentimental sanctuary built from the ground up by the owner's late father over six decades ago.
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I have given up with rechargeable tools and equipment. They are useless anyway, never hold their charge for long enough. The only thing I recharge is my mobile phone and camera batteries. and only when I am in the house to keep an eye on them.
And as for electric cars, look how many catch fire. On driveways when charging, when parked in multistory car parks, and even when they are being transported on ferries across the seas.
I know, you have had enough of me rabbiting on about litter. Scroll through if you don't want to see the reality of how it is blighting our countryside.
On my way to Lincoln on Saturday I stopped for a few minutes at this layby on the other side of Scunthorpe. It's called Mortal Ash layby. It's a long layby set back off the dual carriageway A 18. There is a tumbledown shack that is supposed to be a teabar.
It has been a magnet for litter and fly tipping for many years. Not so long ago a team of pickers went in there over several days to clear it up. Now it's as bad again, if not worse than before. This is just one layby.
I see lots of pictures like this on UK Litter pickers page. Teams of pickers do a good job all over the UK, but we are fighting a losing battle. Things have changed since I was a nipper, I can't ever remember scenes like this when I was growing up in a village and running around footloose and fancy free. People took pride in their frontage, rubbish was stored in the right place, not just discarded wherever they felt like it.
I wish I could come up with some answers. Litter pickers will continue to tidy up their patch, but we are outnumbered by the amount of slobs who couldn't give a toss, literally, about the area around them. Chuck it anywhere, as long as it's out of my sight.
Have a nice day. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona
It is Tuesday. Another day out on Sunday. I went to Crowle Agricultural Show. I was in two minds whether to go or not. Do I feel like it, do I want to, do I need to. I looked at last years blog post. Ah ha, I bought cheese from a stall there. I will go and buy some more cheese. Big disappointment, she wasn't there.
Never mind, I'll take a few photo's. Not many, I have seen most of it before, and it's not a very big show. Have a scroll through these.
Combines are busy in the fields just now. I am seeing lots of videos of them at work. Some great drone footage coming out.
I watched a family excitedly looking at these pictures. A little girl was excited to see hers on the board.
I felt sorry for the cows, being tethered like that. It was warm but there was a breeze going through the open sided tent. People kept reaching in to stroke them. The agricultural side of these shows puts me off going to any more.
Two fluffy sheep. Looks like they had a wash and brush up before they came.
Lots of rosettes to win if you present an animal in good condition.
The bonus of this day out was that I met a smashing couple from Yorkshire. They were sat at a picnic bench and I asked if I could join them. Yes, of course. They very politely introduced themselves. Stacey and Robert. We got chatting, as you do. What a coincidence, we had so much in common it felt like we were old friends. These are my kind of people. When you know instantly that you are going to have a rapport with strangers, it's like instant connection. Events are all about meeting people.
So I went home with a smile on my face, I had forgotten all about the cheese.
Thanks for popping in. See ya later. Toodle pip. ilona
Publicity shots in France with Sir Alistair Morton on the Eurostar.
Time for a break in my truck
Guided tour of Barcelona Football Stadium
My 60th Birthday showing my first bus pass
Makeover for Chat Magazine
Trying out some roller blades I bought from a car boot sale
A walk over the Humber Bridge
Late evening charity walk for a Hospice.
Welcome, come on in
Hello. My working life ended 17 years ago. Now I just please myself. This is my diary. What I do and what I think about. You are welcome to read it. Toodle pip.
