It's been a glorious day for a trip out. My arty friends Michael and Helen gave me a leaflet last weekend about an event they were attending. Hall Farm Gardens at Harpswell near Gainsborough looks like a nice place to visit, and today was Open Studios Day. There are several artists who have studios in the farm buildings
I took a turn off the main road for Harpswell, then realised I was not going in the right direction. I could see the car park across the fields. Never mind, I will have a look at the church while I am here.
Sadly it was not open today, and it looks like nobody has stepped over the threshold for a long time. The floor in the porch is full of pigeon poo. Although parts of it look a bit neglected, the grass has been cut and the stonework looks clean and tidy.
It is part of a group of churches, but looking down the list of services there is no mention of one taking place here.
It could do with a bit of tlc.
It's on quite a small plot of land, with a new modern house right next to it on the other side of a wall.
Anyway, onward and upward, I need to go to Hall Farm Gardens. It is only five minutes away. Soon be there.
Plenty of pictures coming up. I was amazed how beautiful the grounds were. More details tomorrow.
Bank Holiday Saturday and it's predicted to be a scorcher. Yesterday was hot. I have to remember to keep drinking, lots of water.
I copy a letter I received recently, from NHS England. Only it's not from the NHS it's from Capita PLC. The company who has the contract to deal with, and store, all NHS records. Capita is the same company where all the letters for TV Licensing come from.
I was puzzled. Why are they asking for confirmation of my details when they have been on my medical records from the moment I popped out into this world. I have moved house a few times, and my records have always followed me. Why are they asking me now? I made this video.
If you want to check out Capita here is the link to their web site. Or, if you want more details from external sources, Wiki do a good job of exposing their not so perfect business activities.
I see this letter as a threat. If I do not reply within 30 days, they will start the process of removing me from my GP's practice list. What if I am ill at any point in my life, will they refuse any treatment?
A very similar situation to, if you do not roll your sleeve up and take the jabbby in your arm you will be locked out of most of the social activities like pubs, restaurants, theaters and cinemas and such like. Well that didn't work did it.
The new Data Centres planned for this country, and throughout the world, will be bursting at the seams with every bit of information about all aspects of our lives. We are all paying for the loss of all our freedoms through Government taxes.
My video was published yesterday and I have had an email response to it. The subscriber is concerned that they might have acted in haste by responding to their letter. This highlights the fact that people are not doing enough research into matters which might have dire consequences. People are busy, they don't have time. This is what the Globalists want. Hurry up, they impose time limits on instructions on what to do next.
These are my thoughts. I have been to my doctors surgery, spoken to the receptionist, and as I expected she didn't have any answers for me. I will wait and see what happens next. You must do what is right for you.
It's a nice day, I will go outside.
Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend. Toodle pip. ilona
I have been sitting outside waiting for the hedgehogs to appear. Mickey decided to join me.
It was starting to get dark and one arrived and went straight to a water bowl.
Mayze is up at the summer house. I put a carpet down for her.
This is the solar ornament which my crafty club pals gave me for my birthday.
More hedgehogs came but it was getting too dark to take any more photo's. When I came in to write this post there were four on the lawn. I can walk around them and they don't seem to bother. Now I will get Mayze in. Oscar might stay out all night, but Mayze and Mickey like to be in.
I copy and paste some of his words here. You can read the whole article if you so wish.
We are acting – quickly, clearly, which people can feel in their daily lives – to help families with the cost of living and to protect them from pressures they did nothing to cause.
We have a new package of support over the summer holidays to give parents a bit of breathing room.
We are taking action on the cost of food. Through targeted tariff cuts on products like bakery goods, chocolate, pasta and nuts, we are aiming to ease pressure at the checkout.
We are committing to tougher measures to crack down on unjustified price hikes.
We are taking action to restore pride in our high streets, including clamping down on criminal fronts and money laundering operations.
We are also backing the businesses that keep the country moving.
Alongside our work to fix the NHS, these measures are part of a broader plan: to ease the pressures people feel every single day and to rebuild the foundations of a stronger, more secure country.
A government on your side
This government will always stand by working families. And we will continue to build a stronger, fairer Britain in their interests.
This government will act where we can make a difference. We will step in where pressures build. We will protect people from unfair costs and ensure that support reaches those who need it.
I was awake at 4.30am this morning. Stumble to the bathroom half asleep. There is a warm orange glow coming through the window. Oh WOW, I know what that is, I need to get the camera. I took ten photo's, here are the best of them.
Zoom in a bit closer. Tweak the contrast and saturation. Fabulous.
The previous owners put the right glass in this window.
The view from the window at the top of the stairs. The world is waking up. Here it comes. Are you ready.
It's been a busy day today. First Coffee Morning till 12noon. Then hedge trimming. I use shears, not electric. I started it yesterday but was rained off, so I have finished it today. Mind you, it is never completely finished. I pop outside whenever I have a spare half an hour just to keep it looking tidy.
I was in two minds whether to do any picking today. The sky keeps going black and threatening rain. I made a quick decision. I took a chance and went to the Industrial Estate. I'm glad I did. It was windy but warm, and no rain.
Two bags filled. There was quite a lot of walking involved because it wasn't all in one place. It was spread about on three roads and two roundabouts.
I got chatting to a lady who was walking her dog. She has been picking in the same area as me. So now we are a team of two. She goes to work so I won't be seeing her very often.
I dropped them off at my usual spot at the entrance to the pond. Pleased to see that the previous four bags plus extra glass bottles have all been collected. The Council is doing it's job. Now I need to ask them for more bags, I am running out of them.
Tonight there are five hedgehogs partying on the garden.
Now I am tired. Thanks for popping in. Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip. ilona
Fresh out of the oven, another episode of the 'no licence required' saga. I'm still waiting for a visitor from TV Licensing. They didn't turn up on the 29th of April.
Thanks for reading my blog and watching my videos. I hope you find them entertaining, and full of useful information.
The area where I am litter picking at the moment is a well used track between an Industrial Estate and a housing estate where a lot of the workers live. They are lucky enough to have found work within walking distance, and in some cases, biking and electric scooters distances.
It gets quite busy when it is shift change over time. Most who walk this route are factory workers. What I have noticed is that most of them are plugged into some kind of listening device. Smart phones and such like. They hold their little gadget in their hand and listen through their headphones or ear buds.
It's very rarely that they look up. So it's head down and march on, lost in their own little world.
The scooters and bikers whiz by me so I have to be constantly looking out for them. One or two do slow down which allows me to move to one side and let them pass. Sometimes they take me by surprise and pass by a little too close.
I wonder what kind of jobs they do. Those on wheels are in a hurry to get home, so I assume it is some kind of work on a production line. Maybe they are pleased to be released and can claim their freedom back.
There are some strollers who are concentrating wholly on what is coming through their headphones. I wonder what they are listening to. Some of them are apparently talking to themselves, but are communicating with their friends and family.
Maybe they are doing a further education course online. I like to think they are being productive and using their travelling time to better their work prospects. Who knows.
In the main, most of them are oblivious of their surroundings. It is so normal now to be walking past piles of litter and fly tipping, as they accept it as the norm. Some of the workers may be blotting out the ugliness surrounding them, so they take themselves off to a land of make believe where everything is perfectly inline with nature. They just want to get from A to B as quick as they can.
I hope that my presence of an older person picking up rubbish that some selfish person has discarded, might, just might, prick a conscience or two. Just think, if nobody ever picked up rubbish now and again, how long would it be before someone notices that we are living on a poisoned planet.
Looking like an at home day today. It's raining. Thanks for popping in.
The sun was shining yesterday at the Gardeners Market. It brought the shoppers out. I went to look at the metal flowers. I have three of them and wanted to add some more to the collection. I was only going to buy one, but decided to splash out and get two. My birthday present from me to me.
Now which colours shall I get?
It was lovely to browse the stalls and chat with people. I haven't seen Michael and Helen, my arty friends, for ages. There was such a lot of news to catch up on. Helen was selling her home made preserves. Here they are in their studio. Blimey, this photo is from 10 years ago.
My collection of metal flowers. I love them.
This morning I went to Crafty Club. As is the tradition when someone has a birthday, presents and cards are given. They gave me a solar garden ornament, which is now lit up on the table in the back garden. It looks very pretty.
This afternoon I did a couple of hours litter picking. I carried on where I left off on Friday. Still plenty to go at. I don't think I can manage to move that mattress.
I wont be going down there. Looks a bit too isolated for me.
Another double deck load. Two red bags and some glass bottles.
Hello. How was your Sunday? I have been out to a Gardeners Market at The Ropewalk at Barton. This is a popular event. I was surprised at how many stalls there were. A lot, and it was busy. Plenty of customers spending their money, including me. I have some photo's for the next blog post.
In the meantime here are the photo's from yesterdays visit to St Andrews at Epworth.
Lots of information for those who are keen to study the history of Epworth and the church.
Bluebells in the churchyard.
If you would like to come for a ramble around the churchyard, follow me.
Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for your comments.
Yesterday was a day of contemplation. I went out, and talked to people, and I stood on the sidelines and observed. I can easily retreat into my own little world when I need to.
First I drove to Belton and visited All Saints Church. Then I went to Epworth to take a look at St Andrews Church. This weekend is the West Lindsey Churches Festival. There is a brochure listing all the churches which are open to visitors. I look a few photo's.
All Saints Church at Belton.
View from the back of the church. Dead trees and dead people. There is a slight hope that the trees will recover and regrow. The people have already left the scene and gone to another place.
A lot of the grass has been left to do it's own thing. It swallows the gravestones. I like to see this natural look in a graveyard.
A memorial garden has been laid for those who wish to deposit the ashes of a loved one.
Inside the church is this simple tapestry.
There was an event on at the Pavilion so I took a short walk along a path to go and have a look. Amazingly I was spotted by two ladies walking towards their car. One of them is a subscriber to my channel and watches my videos. How cool is that.
Families enjoying the afternoon out. I chatted with the ladies from the Cat Rescue charity and bought some home made gifts.
Then I went to Epworth. There are two churches there. This the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church. Sadly I didn't have time to go inside. The gardens are lovely and there is plenty of seating. It was starting to cloud over and became quite cold, so best to move on.
Time was getting on and they close at 4pm, and I wanted to see St Andrews.
There are more photo's of St Andrews and a video, so I will put them on the next post.
Thank you very much for the Birthday wishes. I have to say that being 77 doesn't feel any different from 76. Onwards and upwards. Our time is limited on this earth. I live with an attitude of gratitude.
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.
