The verdict. A good idea.

Hello

A successful test drive with my new wheels today. I went to the Industrial Estate. As it's a Saturday I knew it wouldn't be busy. The only vehicles I saw were driving school cars, and learner motorcyclists with their instructor. They were practicing going around the roundabouts, there are several of them. I found an 'L' plate in the bushes. 😎 The label on the bottle said Lemon and Lime, but I am not sure if that was what was in it. I always empty all bottles out. 

I explored some new roads, and found another grot spot. I will go back to this later. The list is growing longer.  

When my first bag was full I took the pegs off and lifted it slightly it so the load settled to the bottom. Then tied the top while it was still in the trolley. I went back to the car, it wasn't very far away, and put the red bag on the ground, and inserted a fresh one. Then walked off to pick some more. When I got back I saw holes in the first bag where the birds had pecked looking for food. I double bagged it so it wouldn't fall apart and spill the contents. Have to look out for that in the future. 

With two bags filled at that location I went back to the mega grot spot where I picked 300 cans. Does anyone know a one legged person, with only one hand to match. 😆Four odd shoes and a glove. 

I had a strong clear plastic bag with me, and found a white bag, so decided to fill them with glass bottles. Didn't count them. I also found a free bucket. No damage, like new. 

All left next to the litter bin by the pond. They will be picked up on Monday. 

The verdict on the new trolley. It makes the job a whole lot easier. I pull it around and it follows me. Now I need to visit the litter picking pod to collect some more red bags. Probably sounds silly but a couple of hours picking litter is so relaxing. A simple job you can do without thinking about it is a welcome distraction from all the mayhem going on in the world. And the place looks better. 

I posted about my new trolley on the litterpicking faceboook page this morning. It has had 730 likes and comments so far. So don't worry if there are not many comments here. I have plenty to do with monitoring that, and my yoootoob channel. 

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

Game changer

 Good evening. I have a new toy to play with. Smart eh!. A brand new trolley. This will make my litter picking a whole lot easier. No more lugging heavy bags. No more filling smaller bags and emptying them into the red sacks. Now I can push this along and fill it as I go. When it's full I just lift the sack out and tie the top. With the gift voucher, and the discount, I only had to pay £10.  

How to fasten the sack to the trolley? An idea. I want one of those collapsible bags you can get for the garden. So I looked in B & M, and Home Bargains. The Home Bargains one was cheaper, only £4. That sits nicely on the trolley, and it's just the right size. Push it along in front of me with my left hand. With  the picker stick in my right hand load the litter straight into it. Perfect. 

This will fold flat to fit in the car. It means I can go out to different places to tidy up. I could even take it on the bus and litter pick at the seaside if I wanted to. Beach cleaning might be fun. it opens up a lot more possibilities rather than having to stick to the same area all the time.

 

I was going to do a test drive today, but Micheal the plumber turned up to service the central heating boiler. I didn't want to send him away as I have been chasing him up for a long time. You've got to hold on to a good plumber. I might do a test drive tomorrow if the weather improves. 

Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

OMG words almost fail me

 I am shocked. What happens to Tesco's yellow stickers if they are not sold instore by a certain time? They have an arrangement with a charity to come and collect it and distribute it to those who need it, through their food banks. Somehow 73 bagged items of bread has been found fly tipped, in Gloucestershire. Gill Thomas reports on this on her Faceboook page. 

So what happened to it once it was collected from Tesco? An investigation is now taking place. 

Cllr Gill Thomas

9 March at 18:49 ·

Spent yesterday morning taking in the litter lows along the A38, (there’s plenty!) in prep for tomorrow’s filming with the BBC, University of Gloucestershire and Litter Free.

Was particularly appalled by this fly tip of bread. Vermin aside, this flies in the face of the cost of living crisis - at a time when some people can’t even afford to put food on the table, others are wasting it and dumping it in the countryside.

What a selfish, messed up world we live in.

Cllr Gill Thomas

13h ·

Update: Following my recent post about the fly-tipped bread, I’ve now gone through all the evidence, photographed and counted it up - 73 bagged bakery items in total. Much of it was stamped with reduced-price labels and marked for ‘Tesco Community Food Connection Donations’, yet it ended up dumped illegally instead of reaching those in need.

I’ve sent a formal email to Tesco and OLIO - Share More, Waste Less demanding answers, (copying in national press for added leverage) highlighting serious questions around food waste, social responsibility and corporate ethics - this after Tesco posted a profit of £3.1 billion last year.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

My comment.

This is one of the reasons why litter must be collected, and fly tipping removed from the countryside. Why it should be reported, and why it should be photographed for evidence. The system they have here in Gloucestershire is not working as it should do. Too early to point the finger until more details emerge.

The sun is shining and I am looking forward to the day ahead.

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

Made in China

Good evening. 

I didn't think I would be going out at all today, it's been very very windy. Then I had an idea. I was given a £30 gift voucher for Christmas, to spend at Go Outdoors. There is something I really need. I went to the store which is on the other side of town. I know exactly what I need, I wonder if they will have one, and they did. I will assemble it tomorrow. Sorry, it's made in China, 

I need some food shopping so I went in Morrisons. A store I never use because Aldi is nearer. I checked a few prices and things were more expensive than what I usually pay. Oh well, it might be a good opportunity to try something new. Chuffin heck, I spent almost £49. I would have got a lot more for my money if I was in Aldi. I like good quality peanut butter, 100% peanuts and nothing else, Aldi doesn't sell it. I had one of those help yourself salad boxes, and crammed it full for £2.50. Won't need to cook tonight. There was some cat food in there as well. One thing I did notice was the amount of labels which said 'buy three' for a discount. That's a scam. I only want one. 

Back to Aldi next week. 

By the way, sometimes I publish a couple of troll comments, mostly they get deleted. They don't bother me. You never know what is going on in their lives. They could be struggling with some personal stuff. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

My loyal fans. LOL (edited)

 Good morning. 

Here's a couple of funnies for you. Landed here just before midnight last night. 

I sense that someone is a tad annoyed. 😄😵😝

Oh well, never mind. LET THEM. 💙💚💛💜💖

One day they might grow up. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Unknown commented on "I went for a walk today."

9 hours ago

More bloody virtue signalling.

By the way Valentines Day is well over.

Unknown commented on "I went for a walk today."

9 hours ago

Why do you giggle once you have said you are litter picking. Bloody hell this video is boring…you park your car! Nah can’t take anymore

I went for a walk today.

Aye up me ducks. Flying Fanny here. No flying today, a nice steady amble along a five mile walk. No picking stick, no bag, no yellow vest. Not picking today, it's my day off. Not many photo's to show. I love fluffy white cotton wool clouds. 

I looked into the distance and thought this would make a nice picture. Quite a lot of zoom needed. Grazing sheep and a lot of seagulls. 

Bet you don't know what this is. Could be a mountain range in Mongolia. 

Don't be silly. It's a pile of rotting grass cuttings in the corner of a turf field. 

The sun is going down. 

This made me laugh tonight. A pop up in the corner of my screen. A new video has been recommended to me. Erm, I made it, I know what it's about. 

And here it is. 

Now I am tired and Mayze is pestering me for a cuddle.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Full to the brim.

Good evening. 

There is an event coming up soon. It's a Tabletop sale in the Village Hall, and I have booked a pitch. The intention is to go through my drawers and cupboards and dig out some unwanted stuff and sell it off very cheap. The plan is not to make money, but to clear out some of my clutter. 

I need to transport my stuff to the venue, so I have modified my shopping trolley to do the job. First remove the bag. I have a set of three plastic drawers, and some zip-locks.  

As you can see, the platform that the bag, now the boxes, stands on is not very big. I have extended it with a metal cooling rack. All held together with zip-locks. 

 

This will do the job nicely. If I want more capacity I can add another box to the top of it. Bungee elastics will hold it all together. 

This afternoon I went back to the Industrial Estate to check out the mega grot spot, which had been tackled by some members of the Scunthorpe Litter Picking Group on Sunday. I expected to see some improvement, but was surprised that it looked much the same as I saw it a week ago when I made the video. 

I had a couple of hours to spare so I set about filling a couple of red sacks. I thought it would be sensible to separate the litter. Here we have 300 drinks cans. All stamped on and flattened by me. Yes I counted them.  

Way much lighter but bulkier, 90 plastic drinks bottles. What a job it is to tie the tops of the bags when they are full to the brim. 

As you can see from these pics, there is still a lot more to tidy up. To be honest it needs a team and a full week to get rid of it all. 

This corner of the Estate is a dead end and is only seen by the people who walk up and down from home to work and back again. I don't feel inclined to give my time to it. It's quite a big Industrial Estate so I will litter pick along the edges of the through roads. Then people might see a difference and think twice about chucking litter about. 

That's it for tonight. I see that 'To Sir with Love' full movie, is on yoootooob, so I'm going to watch that.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

New duck pond.

 Good morning

It is Tuesday and the sun is shining. Mr and Mrs Duck have been for their breakfast and are trying out their new plastic pond. Mrs Duck takes a dip while the Mr watches over her, just in case any of those pesky cats get a little bit too close for comfort. Mayze watches from the comfort of the window sill above the radiator. 

Let's see what the day brings. I have choices. I can do what I like. All my red bags have been collected by the Council truck, so where to next. 

Make sure that you have a good day. 

Thanks for popping in. Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona