The mowing machines have been.

I went back to the same place where I was picking yesterday, to finish the job. Parked in the corner of the Industrial Estate. The red bag I left next to the red bin has been collected. They probably wanted it gone before the weekend. 

Cross over the busy road, intending to carry on where I left off. I was surprised to find that the Council mowers had been out. As well as cutting the grass, any litter not picked up has been shredded. So I had to go over the area I did yesterday. 

This path is a long back alley that is a shortcut between the backs of the houses. I did some picking along there and it was becoming apparent that there was far too much to clear it today. 

I went so far down it and my bag was full. It goes way past what you can see here. 

There are always gloves to be found. No thanks, I never wear other peoples gloves. YUK

I have no idea what this stuff is. 

Why do people buy food, then chuck most of it away. 

Big load, double decked, plus a bag of 21 glass bottles to drag back to the car. It's a smashing trolley. Dropped them off at my usual spot next to the pond. 

On the way home I noticed that a lot of grass cutting had been going on. All those areas that I picked all need doing again. I do despair. 

Big day tomorrow with the march in London.. Wonder how it will turn out.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Funeral

Oh dear, my baby is broken. Sorry baby but we will have to have a funeral. Which would you like, burial or cremation? You have done well to last 70 years. Sorry that you have been confined to the top shelf in the wardrobe for 25 years. Never mind. I have created a memorial. 

I knew this glass I found on the roadside would be useful for something. 

There you go. Looks much better in a group setting. 

I'll have a look through this mail order catalogue. These babies are much more lifelike these days. Not AI, but a new breed of plastic dolls. 

Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

Not long to wait now.

 Pumpkin The Wheelie Westie Warrior

 

2h ·

9 days to go The Disability Dog Walk & FREE family fun day

The Exo Centre

Lincolnshire Showground – Gate 1

May 24th

10:30am – 5:00pm

Www.pumpkinandfriendscharity.org

Hello@pumpkinandfriendscharity.org

Visitor parking opens at 9:00am

Event gates open at 10:15am

Put this in your diary if you are within travelling distance of Lincoln. The Showground is a few miles north of the ring road on the A15.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend so the roads will be busy.

Catch ya later. ilona

App's rule OK?

 Well no they don't, OK.

3.9k 'like' this on faceboook. If only more people would wake up and realise how they are being manipulated by that small gadget they carry around with them. I live in hope. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

A quick pick before the rain comes

Good evening. 

I am getting fed up of this crazy weather. I wanted to go out and do a bit of litter picking today. I waited and waited for the weather to sort itself out, hoping for an hour or two without any rain. Just when I thought I had a chance, the sky goes black and I retreat indoors to wait for the storm to blow over. Eventually I took a chance and at 3pm I went anyway. 

Back to the Industrial Estate, park in the corner where the workers walk backwards and forwards to work, and back home after their shift. There wasn't much litter, so I extended my patch to include the footpaths they use on the other side of a busy road. 

This doesn't look too bad now that the grass is growing on the verges. But look more closely and you will find lots of cans and plastic bottles. 

It didn't take long to fill my bag up. It's a five minute walk back to the car. Before I left the scene I followed another path to the right of here, just to check if there was any more litter. There was, lots, and a fly tip which looks as it has been there for some time. So I think I might come back here and do a bit more picking. I will avoid shift changeover time though, because it gets quite busy. 

Back on the Industrial Estate, this Council litter bin is close to a mobile tea bar, which never goes anywhere. To save me driving to my usual drop off spot, I left this one here. I will keep my eye on it to see how long it takes the Council to pick it up. My previous pile of bags have all been collected. 

Only one bag today because I wanted to go shopping to The Range and Home Bargains. All stocked up with cat food again. I am getting through a lot of dry Purina kitten food in the pink bag. The cats eat it, the birds love it, and every night five or six hedgehogs come for it. I put several handfuls in different places. Some close to the back door, and some on the lawn. It's like a party out there. I have to get the food down as soon as it becomes dusk, as they come for it five minutes later. It's very entertaining to watch them. 

Now I am yawning. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Aldi shopping report

Good morning. 

I've got a few posts lined up awaiting publication. I like to keep ahead of things. I'll slot them in here one by one. I'll kick off with this video I recorded yesterday, and uploaded last night. It was ready at 10pm but I had already clocked off work by then. 

A foodie shopping one. What I bought at Aldi and how much it cost. Come with me into my kitchen. 

What's the plan for today? Your guess is as good as mine. With the weather being so unpredictable it's difficult to plan anything. Yesterday we had everything. Blue skies, sunshine, but that changed in an instant when black clouds came over and bombarded us with lashings of rain and hailstones. 

I need to do a bit of tidying in the garden, so I'll do that when conditions allow. 

Have a good day. Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Problem solving.

 Good morning. 

My first coffee at 6am. I shared my bed with two cats. Oscar has decided he rather likes the soft comfort of two duvets, so now he joins me and Mickey and we sleep together. I think he is fed up of waiting for me to get up in the mornings. I see it rained overnight, so that's probably why. A night on the tiles is not so appealing when it is chucking it down with rain. I thought I might water up (the pots) last night, glad I didn't bother. Nature has done the job for me. 

I wake up with all kinds of thoughts running through my head. Some of them would make good blog posts, but an hour later they have fizzled into oblivion. I will however jot down a few notes from what I remember about my early morning thoughts this morning. 

Problem solving is something I have always been able to cope with. I have never been really stuck for long. There is always a way round a problem. I can think of several instances where I have felt there is no solution. But I am often proved wrong. 

Like the time I got the lorry stuck in a small space in an unloading bay at a Kwik Save shop. I must have done a 20 point shunt trying to get out. I thought about ringing my boss and asking what I should do. I took a few deep breaths and thought, that's a daft idea. He was 100 miles away, I have got to sort this out myself, and I did. Just keep trying, don't give up.

Like the time I was in a yard in Birmingham, just loaded up some pieces of machinery on a stepframe trailer, inside a Lucas factory. All fastened down with chains and straps. Pulled very slowly through a narrow gate onto the road. Two tall pieces of machinery wobbled and crashed to the ground. A big pool of oil covered the road, which had to be closed. It was a bus route which added to the problem. So what did I do wrong? Every day driving a truck is a learning curve. I was rushed to get my trailer loaded because there were others waiting to go in after me. The crew loading with the crane wanted the job done quickly. I was inexperienced. What I learnt then was I had to work at my own pace. 

Like the time I thought I might be pregnant, I was 19. I took a chance, thankfully I wasn't. My solution was to never take that chance again. After a long time taking the contraceptive pill, I needed to find a different solution, and so I was sterilised. 

Like the time I got tangled up with someone who was a control freak. He wanted to dominate my every waking moment. The questions, the interrogations, were intolerable. The solution, I had to finish it after a couple of years. Enough was enough.

Like the time I was doing long seven day hikes. Halfway through a walk I stopped in a town and found a B & B. I was knackered and needed to take half a day off. Or, the time I was on the last day and wanted to reach my destination. I could see the Humber Bridge on the horizon hours before I got there. I kept  going even though I was at the point of collapse. I made it. From Selby to the bridge was 30 miles. Finished at 9pm. 14 hours of walking. The solution, keep going. 

Like the time I wanted to go to Moscow. I asked my friends if they wanted to come with me. This was years ago when it seemed a silly place to go on holiday. My solution, I went alone, joined a package holiday. It was fascinating. 

Like the time I bought my first house. Small terraced cottage. It needed a lot of work doing to it. For a while I lived in dust, bare walls, and no floor, while the work was done. It took all my money. Skint again when I bought my second house. Three bed semi detached. Needed work doing but I couldn't afford it so I lived in it as it was. Third house. Skint again. Moved 100 miles away. Better house I can live with the decor of the previous owner. Still here 25 years later, still not decorated. Now not skint. 

Finding a way through all the obstacles in life has not dampened my spirits. There will always be a solution. Other people may deal with their problems in their own way. There is not one solution that fits all. 

People sometimes start a sentence with 'why don't you bla bla bla'. Just because one person finds a solution to their own problem does not mean that the same solution will apply to others. Everyone has to find their own way in life. Just make sure you are going in the right direction.

Now it's chucking it down with rain. I shall go and join my friends at the Coffee Morning. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

What a cheek.

 Shropshire Council is piloting giving powers to volunteers to do highways maintenance including litter picking under certain conditions. Something to keep an eye on.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clypryry0rqo....

A new pilot scheme in Shropshire will see volunteers given powers to carry out low-risk maintenance jobs like litter picking, sign cleaning and small pothole repairs.

Volunteers will be co-ordinated by the parish council, with small scale highway and street scene works carried out at agreed locations across the parish.

One of the pilot's first tasks is to fix ditches and drains to clear road surfaces of water.

Litter picking volunteers already do a good job. They generally go above and beyond what they are supposed to do. We are told not to tackle fly tipping as the items are usually bulky and heavy. The instruction is to report any we find to the Council and they will come and remove it. Often they are not very quick to come out and do this, and there is a chance that the fly tip will grow bigger as people add to it. 

In the article they want volunteers to carry out small scale highway and street works, and to fix ditches and drains to clear road surfaces after heavy rain. 

If this scheme is successful it could be adopted in other places. If this happens I will be looking for other opportunities to volunteer. The reason I do this is flexibility. I can choose where I work, when I work, and for how long I want to work. I am not going to join a scheme where I need training, or where I am allocated certain jobs. I think this is a step too far. 

Now going to Aldi.

Toodle pip.   ilona

Community spirit

 Love Brigg The Brigg Community Partnership

Just a reminder of the next litter pick organised by CPRE in the centre of Brigg this Saturday, 16th May.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Jane

This is really catching on. People are keen to get out there and clean up their towns. 

I wonder how many people they are expecting to come. This covers Brigg Town Centre, and it appears to be for one hour only. 

Brigg Town Centre is usually quite tidy. They might be struggling to find some litter. They would find more if they split up and went further afield. 

It will be a good opportunity for pickers to socialise and make new friends. Sorry, I can't go. It is my Birthday on Saturday and I will be doing other things. Contact the organiser if you fancy joining in. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona. 

2 + 1 = 3

Here is a short video I knocked up this morning on the benefits of litter picking.

How to meet new people and make new friends

 Get yourself some bags and a litter picking stick. Put a smile on your face and people will talk to you.

I wasn't going to do any picking today. After Crafty Club I went across the road and had a natter with Angela, then went home and put the heating on because the weather has turned cold again. My intention was to get on with my sewing project. It was about 5.30pm when I suddenly jumped up and took myself off to my usual picking site on the Industrial Estate. There was something I wanted to check out. I don't very often walk around the pond, but I had seen someone having a barbeque yesterday, and I wanted to check if they had left any mess behind. 

I parked and took a couple of carrier bags with me because there's no way I could get a trolley down there. So I did a circuit of the pond, assisted by a lorry driver who was parked there for the night. We have met before. I think he was pleased that he came with me. Better than sitting in his cab all night. He will be going to bed early because he has to pick his trailer up at 4am then drive to Scotland. We filled the bags, I transferred the contents to a red bag. So there you have it. Another red bag plus a smaller bag of glass bottles. Back home by 7.30pm. 

Now I must put the hedgehog food out. It's getting dark and they will be here soon. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

The way I see it.

 Something to think about. 

Artificial Intelligence ensures we are all captivated by the bollocks of it all. 

Off to Crafty Club. See ya later. Toodle pip.   

Psychology has the answers

Every day I discover a little bit more about myself and my life. This video matches my thoughts exactly.  I've been on a bit of a roller coaster ride at times. I sometimes followed my heart, like you do when you get carried away with the moment, but eventually I followed my head. When things went wrong I knew how to put things right. I made the right choices. 

In this video, you’ll discover: • Why some women intentionally choose to live alone • The psychological depth behind independence and solitude • How self-love and emotional healing shape a woman’s life path • The connection between Jungian psychology and feminine growth • Why emotional strength increases with self-awareness and maturity

Two hours of  litter picking this afternoon, along the main road going into town. If I find any other bags I use them as well. Starting another pile. I'll add to it as the week goes on, that's unless the Council comes along and takes it away. 

Since starting this litter picking lark I am meeting a lot more people. Today a man on a bicycle stopped to chat. He was from Latvia and has been living here for ten years. He is settled and is buying a house. Not married, no partner, not gay. He laughed. I asked him because I am cheeky.

 

As I was finishing the picking a man pulled up in a van, and took his dog for a walk around the pond. When he came back I was still there tidying up. We chatted, and guess what, he has a haulage company. Of course we had lots to chat about. I told him some stories, and he laughed his socks off when I told him my CB handle. It was Flying Fanny, if you didn't know. 

So if you want to meet some new people and make some friends, don't bother with a dating site. Don't hang out in pubs and clubs. Get yourself a few bags and a litter picking stick. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Local litter checking circuit

 I did a local check round on the litter situation yesterday. Through the churchyard and out of the back gate. There is a footpath through to a housing estate, which a lot of people use as a short cut. I was surprised to see that the people in the big house in the corner has chopped down most of the hedging between the fence and their garage. The rickety fence is very old and won't last much longer. This has exposed numerous bottles and cans, and now looks a mess. I will tidy it up, even though as a litter picker, we don't go into private gardens. I dragged the church bin through the gate and put it close to the fence, so I could reach over and pick up the debris. I could do with a longer stick, so I hopped over the fence to dig out the hard to reach stuff. Looks much better now. It will be interesting to see what they do with this narrow strip of land. 

Onward I walked to the picnic area car park. They still call it a picnic area although nobody could picnic there now because it is so overgrown. 

There is a litter bin here, but it is not big enough. I pulled out the extra black binbag that someone had tried to put in, then proceeded to pick up all the fast food debris and fill the extra bag. Two nitrous oxide cannisters were found in the bushes. Here is a description. We don't get many of them around here, but I believe they are popular around town and city centres. 

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is a colorless, slightly sweet-smelling gas used medically for sedation, recreationally for euphoria, and industrially as an oxidizer and propellant. 

I left it all tidy, but this car park needs regular monitoring. 

Sunday morning and the sun is shining. 

Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.   ilona

Saturday night . . . . . . .

 . . . . . . . . is film night.

BAFTA-winning drama starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. A plucky young hairdresser starts university and meets a cynical professor who takes her under his wing. 1983

One of my all time favourite films. I bought the soundtrack on an LP, remember black vinyl. Several scenes stick in my mind. Remember the singsong in the pub where Rita's mum sheds a tear. The line, 'there has to be a better song'. There is. Never give up, there is always a better song.

It's a shame there was never a sequel to this, where she followed him to Australia. 

Goodnight. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Not again.

 Posted in 2021 on Bill Gate's vaccine website Gavi:

2000 – Gavi is the result of a broad collaboration, with the Gates Foundation as the largest financial and visionary driving force in the initial phase. Other founding partners: WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Please be mindful. Look after your own health first.

Have a great weekend. Toodle pip. ilona