16 decorated circles.

I bought this macrame covered hanger thingy from a charity shop for £2.50. I think it's a hanger for your scarves. Put them through the circles and hang it in the wardrobe. I saw something else. I want to fill the 16 circles with colourful felt and decorate them. I saw it had potential to become a wall hanging. Each one is cut to the right size and stitched onto the back of the macrame frame. 

I have photographed it on a black background so the colours stand out more. When they were all finished I cut 16 more circles and stitched them onto the back to cover up the messy stitching. I like a tidy back. 

I didn't do the macrame, I just designed the 16 centre circles. I had no particular theme in mind. The decorations are all embroidered by hand. No glue has been used. 

Lots of praise from the ladies in the Crafty Club this morning. I am pleased with how it has turned out. As usual I am not in a hurry to sell it. I will keep it for a while until such time that I will let it go. It will be wrapped up and stored in the wardrobe to keep it clean. 

There will be an Open Exhibition at the 20 21 Arts Centre in town, later in the year. I might enter it in that. 

Time to get the hedgehog food out. I mowed the lawns this afternoon and the garden looks lovely. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona 

An interview worth watching.

I'm a bit late getting this out tonight. It's fascinating watching five hedgehogs running about on the garden.

I have been following UK Column for a few years now This is the news channel that you can rely on for what is really going on in the world. They have recently put out this interview with Jonathan Marshall. Here is a little bit about him taken from his web site.

Jonathan Marshall has been a professional falconer and horse trainer since 1985. He has performed at some of the largest outdoor events in the world and has entertained audiences of up to tens of thousands at a time. His Free Spirits live experience is totally unique and includes stunning horses and falcons which work together in a carefully choreographed performance. 

As a motivational speaker and story teller Jonathan is considered a master. He can hold the attention of any crowd and have them rolling with laughter one minute and crying with emotion in the next. In recent years it became increasingly obvious that it was Jonathan's ability as a communicator that was his gift and by using his horses and falcons he continues to spread his powerful message at his live performances and personal appearances.

After a spectacularly well received UK Column interview in April 2025 (https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/thinki...) Jonathan Marshall is back.

In another riveting conversation with Charles Malet, Jonathan discusses the influences pushing young people toward a life of introspective compliance and the danger that poses.

Jonathan is a member of the wide awake club, know what I mean. He has sussed it all out. A smashing interview that gives me some hope that it will all come right in the end. 

After spending the morning sewing, I wanted to get the arty project finished, I did a dash to Aldi this afternoon. They shut at 4pm on a Sunday. I made time to do a litter pick. I parked on the Industrial Estate, and went down the long back alley. Frustrating to see litter trapped behind an eight foot high fence with no access to get it out. 

I got halfway down there and my bag was full, so I decided to walk right to the very end of it, to see how much litter there was, and where it came out at the other end. Oh my, lots and lots and lots of litter and fly tipping. What an awful mess. It's going to be too much for me to tidy up. I will keep checking my Industrial Estates. Just one bag today. 

 

Now I have to go and get Mayze in. She would stay out there all night if I let her. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Changing direction

Good morning.  🌞🌞🌞

I put this video out a couple of days ago on yooootooob. Almost forgot about it, so I post it here, now. 

3,567 views 12 Jun 2026

When you want to go in a different direction, is it wise to make drastic changes, or do you tread carefully? It may or may not work out. If you made a mistake can you go back to where you were?

It's Sunday and the sun is shining. I have a list of things to do. Will have to get my skates on to get through them all. 

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

Tidying up a car park

Good evening.

It's been an odd weather sort of day. Doesn't seem to know what it's going to do. Sunny, warm, windy, cold, and cloudy, it changes by the minute. I can see the clouds scooting across the sky right now this minute. 

I waited for the rain to stop this morning, then I went out to do a bit of litter picking. There is a small car park close to a long distance path, the Trent Valley Way. It has two names actually. Also known as the Nev Cole Way. 

I haven't checked this for a while. I drove there because if there is a lot of litter I'm going to need my trolley. Good idea, There was plenty to fill a red bag. There are two piles of fly tipping, I'm not going to touch them. First I pull out all the litter which is partially buried in the tall grass and weeds. 

There is a bin but it is overflowing. I will have to get everything out of there. 

It took a while, about two hours. I took my shears and secateurs with me so I could chop down the weeds around the bin. That's better. A few ramblers walked past and stopped to chat. 

Everything loaded back into the car. I dropped the bag off next to the litter bin in the village. Hopefully people will notice that someone is making an effort to keep the countryside tidy. It might make them think twice before throwing their litter down. 

After a late lunch I took Billy Dog for a walk. 

Time to get the hedgehog food out now. There has been four coming every night just lately. 

I shall be chucking out some extra posts in the next few days. 

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

Thank you David.

Some of my photo's from a visit to Saltaire in 2017. I went to see the David Hockney exhibition. Here is the blog post if you want to see more of them. I love his work. I love the way he lived his life on his terms. 

His death was announced today. 

Here is a 15 minute news report from Sky News

Eruptions and anger

 Good morning. 

Thank you to the three people who made a comment on the post yesterday. Go back and read them if you have time. 

The Government and the main stream media have all played down the incident of what happened in Belfast, where a man was attacked. They dare not use the correct description of the incident, it was an attempted murder, the attacker attempted to decapitate the victim. 

The Government are now going to be pushing for more rules about what can be reported online, because it might stir up protests. Of course it will. Of course people are angry, that is understandable. We shouldn't have to worry about strangers walking around the streets carrying knives. Women and children are not able to walk around freely. Yet we are supposed to shut up and not talk about it. 

Sooner of later there will be eruptions of anger in every major town in the UK. And the Government will blame us. They won't do anything to remove the criminals. Why? Because they have no idea on how to solve the problem. They don't want to solve the problem, because they are following orders from higher up.

Every new catastrophe follows the same pattern. Everything that happens in the world is engineered to cause the maximum disruption. Keep people in the dark, spin them a load of lies, they will get over it. There has to come a point when ordinary British patriots say enough is enough. 

Divide and rule that is what they want, and sadly people will go along with what they are told to do. Oh how I wish that one day, everyone will get themselves an injection of common sense. All it takes is for people to say, no, I am not doing that. 

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

Too many rules

 Good morning. 

I didn't post yesterday because I did three posts the day before. Sometimes I get ahead of myself, so I create a pause to allow people to catch up. Nobody has to read my blog, or comment, if they don't want to. But it's there if someone wants to dip in. 

I try and avoid rules if I can. Yes in some instances there needs to be some rules to help things run smoothly. I had enough rules rammed down my throat when I was driving. I followed the letter of the law regarding the legal side of driving a lorry. I valued my licence and wanted to keep it. 

Now I am retired I can relax a bit. I can pick and choose which rules I am willing to follow, and which I can walk away from. For me, rules have to make sense, and at the moment, the rules about free speech make no sense at all. What we are allowed to say, and what we are not allowed to say, could mean the difference between being ostracised by most of humanity, or thrown in jail.  

People are getting their knickers in a twist. What the heck does mis-information and dis-information mean? As I see it the biggest purveyors of these two accusations are the UK Government and mainstream media. The big players being the BBC, and all paid for news programmes. It is in their best interests to spin a tale so far away from the truth, that it becomes complete fiction. 

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Ofcom have sent a letter to online service providers about the risk of their platforms being used to stir up hatred, provoke violence, and commit other offences within UK law. I copy parts of the letter, you can read it here. 

Providers have duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act to protect people in the UK from illegal content, and Ofcom’s job is to make sure sites and apps have appropriate measures in place to comply with these duties, rather than tell platforms which specific posts or accounts to take down.

Your responsibilities to protect people in the UK from illegal content

Under the UK’s laws, you are required to act quickly to remove illegal content when you become aware of it. Companies can use our guidance when judging whether content or activity is illegal.

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If you want to join this group as a volunteer litter picker, these are their rules. 

Just a reminder that we expect people in the group to abide by our group rules at all times. 

If you make an unsupportive, rude or negative comment we will remove the comment and quite possibly ban you from the group. 

We are a public group with over 2300 members across the globe and have responsibility to keep it kind. 

If you are posting or commenting please think first, is it positive and upbeat? Is it kind? If it isn’t then please don’t post or comment. Try to turn it into a positive instead. 

In this group, we don’t point a finger at any particular community, ethnicity, race, gender, or age. We are all humans and people from ALL walks of life litter. 

Thank you for reading and keeping our group a positive, encouraging and upbeat place to be.

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It's a bit cold this morning. Rain is expected. I shall be sewing and gardening.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

One bag turned into four

I went out this afternoon to pick up some rubbish that I saw on Sunday. Last week some workmen were digging up a grass verge to lay some pipes underneath. They left a right mess. All the litter that was buried underneath the grass was now laid on top of bare earth. 

I filled one bag then put a fresh bag in the trolley and carried on. Then I went round the corner into the next road. Oh my, there were tons of rubbish hidden in the bushes. I set about digging it all out with my stick. Then I had to walk back to my car because I needed more bags. 

I found a lot of glass bottles and plastic bottles full of pee. As I was tidying up and bagging everything, a lorry driver pulled up to park for the night. He got out of his cab and put his gloves on and helped me to sort it out. 

All bagged up and ready to go. Four red bags, and three strong bags full of glass. 

Dropped at my usual place at the pond. I was pleased to see that those I left there on Sunday had been collected. Thank you Council workers. 

A good afternoons work. Pleased with that. 

Here's a video I knocked up this morning, along similar lines as the previous one. 

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

Hollow

 

Keir Starmer

@Keir_Starmer

The horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening. I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets. My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.

Hollow words from a hollow shell

The book stops with you Mr Starmer.

Our safe spaces are shrinking by the day.

ilona.

Rupert Lowe MP

@RupertLowe10

·

21m

I want to know exactly what that Somalian scumbag is doing in our country. How did he arrive? On what visa? Is he working? On benefits? Living in social housing/a migrant hotel? Criminal record? Who authorised it? Demand answers. I am doing that in Parliament.

Singing is her passion

 Here is a tip off. If you haven't yet discovered Chloebeth the singer, go there now. She sings anywhere and everywhere. Bursting into song in the most unlikely places. 

See ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

♡𓆪 Bringing the power of opera & classical music to unexpected places
𓆩♡𓆪 Recovering alcoholic
𓆩♡𓆪 Singing my way around the world & touching hearts

Chloëbeth the Singer

 is at Central Park, New York.

11h ·New York, NY, United States ·

Singing to people sat on park benches is one of my strengths . Not just any park though. The one and only CENTRAL PARK in New York City. A place I will always return to, to sing to passers by (who don’t stay passers by for long - they end up sitting down and listening to all my songs and I even end up making friends with some of them sometimes too ) What a wonderful life it can be, if we just look for the beauty in the things that meet our eyes every single day