Fannying around

 I wish they would stop fannying around. In the meantime thousands are arriving every day. What a farce. 

Shabana Mahmood MP

@ShabanaMahmood

·

50m

This country welcomes those who seek a new and better life within it. But there is an expectation that they will play their part, contribute to their community and become a part of our national life. Settlement should not be automatic. It should be earned.

Home Office

@ukhomeoffice

·

1h

Anyone seeking settlement, regardless of when they arrived in the country, will first need to meet four non-negotiable conditions: A spotless criminal record - up from the current threshold of a 12-month suspended sentence English spoken to a high standard with an equivalent to A-Level English as a foreign language No debt owed to the taxpayer A record of sustained National Insurance contributions

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Why should they play their part when everything is given to them. Don't need to work, just go out and rob shops and houses. Our puppets are just following orders.

Toodle pip. ilona

The great escape

I have picked out a photograph from 1973. I was 24 years old. There is a story behind it. I was living in Birmingham at the time. and had a friend called Janet. We both liked Majorca having been on holiday together there before. We decided we would like to go and live there. We booked a cheap five day package trip, which was the cheapest way to get there, and we didn't come back. 

Our intention was to find an apartment and get a job. There was an English newspaper which we searched every day for jobs and accommodation. It was March time and we couldn't find work as it was too early in the season. We would have taken any job, in hotels, cleaning rooms, kitchen work, but no, sorry, nothing today.

 After five days at the hotel, we had to check out. But hey, all was not lost. I had managed to snare a handsome young man who had an apartment, so we didn't have to sleep on the beach. We were invited to stay with Chemari. I don't know if that is the correct spelling but that is how you say it. He was French, and had a job working on the beach renting out pedaloes. 

Our job searching continued. After a month, still nothing. Our money was running out. Not to worry, Chemari bought the food and we had a roof over our heads. Another month and Janet was getting very worried. She rang her parents, and they paid for a return flight back to the UK. I couldn't do the same because my mum had no money to spare. I was on my own. 

For something to do I used to go to the beach and sit with Chemari while he did his job. Hence the photo. I remember one day I got chatting to an English man who came to hire a pedalo. It was such a relief to be able to speak to someone in my native language, without gesticulating every word. 

Chemari became very agitated about this and was very angry that I should be speaking to a male on his own. That was the first time I saw jealousy on his face. I had to be careful after that. I didn't want to get thrown out of his apartment. 

Another month went by and I knew I had to leave and go back to the UK. But how to do that when I had very little money left. Chemari didn't know that I was plotting how to get away from him. He wanted to own me and I didn't like that. He wanted me to stay there forever. 

I checked the English newspaper every day. In the personal column I saw that someone was selling a return ticket to fly back to the UK. This woman had already got a job lined up to go to, so she didn't need the ticket. I contacted the seller and agreed to buy it. I just had enough money.

I hid the ticket because I didn't want Chemari to see it, he might destroy it and I would be trapped. I only told him a couple of hours before I left the apartment. I explained that it was just a visit back home and I would return to Majorca. He accepted that. A car arrived from the seller to take me to the airport late at night. I think today this would not happen. You can't take a flight using someone else's ticket. Passport control and ticket checks then were two separate barriers to pass through. No one noticed. It could have also been a scam, but in 1974 everyone was more trusting and honest. 

I learnt a lot of lessons from this episode in my life. I have a very strong independent streak running through me, and no one can override that. I have since survived two more controlling situations, and removed myself from two unhappy relationships. The decisions I made were right for me. 

Please make sure that the decisions you make now are right for you.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Twelve

A sunny start to the day. 

We have twelve for breakfast this morning at 9am, and the white one is back.

I will have to go to The Range to buy more bird seed. They do a big bag, 12.75kg, for £10. Also need to stock up on cat food, so that will be my afternoon job today. Now I get ready for Crafty Club. 

Have a good day. Toodle pip.   ilona

A Sunday afternoon pick

Millions of pumpkins are grown, and sold in the run up to Halloween. I found these two on a roundabout in the middle of the road this afternoon. Don't know how they ended up there among the bushes.   

I did a couple of hours picking litter this afternoon. There was a race meeting on yesterday, all the surrounding roads were full of parked cars. I had to give up on that and go elsewhere. Today there were no cars, just some passing traffic. I filled a red bag. A pair of trainers anyone? Someone had bought a new pair and left the old ones behind. The soles were in a poor state. Designer trainers are not made to last. 

The land next to the Raceway is rough ground, so I had a nosey around there. Found three food delivery boxes. I wonder why anyone would throw them over a hedge and into a field. Perhaps they didn't like the job they were doing and decided to jack it in. A foldable chair had seen better days. 

These items were too big to fit into my car, so I parked them at the gate. Someone will find them when they turn up for work tomorrow. Let them deal with it. They are in pretty good condition, maybe someone could make use of them as storage boxes. Technically it's a fly tip but I won't bother the Council with it. 

I've just made a stir fry so I am going to tuck into that. Noodles, mushrooms, spinach, and peas. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

No laughing matter

 And, my last blog post for today is about Litter Picking. When I have done my chores around the house I like to get out for a couple of hours. Today it was Flixborough Industrial Estate. Firstly the road leading from the village to the Estate, then onto Sixth Avenue. Fairly quiet today. 

Someone has been stripping wire from these plastic casings. Just dump the debris on the roadside. 

Next I found four nitrous oxide cannisters. AKA laughing gas. Do parents know what their little cherubs are getting up to. Sniffing this is dangerous and poisonous. 

Glass bottles and a wheel trim. 

Added to my pile, awaiting collection by the Council.

I have a new way of labelling my bags. The white labels don't always stick very well, especially if the bag is wet. I have some rolls of strong red and yellow tape. I got them from Hull Scrapstore a few years ago. It is ideal for this job. The only problem is that I have to write them one at a time, as and when I need one. 

Two shifts for duck breakfast this morning. Three came at 9am, then five more came at 10am. 

The weather has been warm and sunny today. Let's hope for more of that tomorrow. 

Now chilling with a video. Toodle pip.   ilona

Too crowded for me

 It's the Goth event at Whitby this weekend. I went in 2015 in April. They usually have two events a year. Here is a picture. Some weird and wonderful costumes can be seen. I like Whitby. 

I wrote about this event in October 2023. I thought about going, but when I saw a video after the event I was glad I didn't go. Apparently it was very busy. 

Look at it now. A picture on faceboook. A lot of the comments are saying it is completely ruined by hoards of people who are not Goths. They see it as a dressing up weekend. 

That looks like hell on earth to me. It was great ten years ago. Shame that it has lost the magic of the mysterious Goth fraternity. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

EDIT

If you want to see pictures of real Goths, Carole Grady was there to fight through the crowds.  

Listen to Liz

 She is right of course. 

Seven Prime Ministers in ten years. 

The system is broken.

What needs to change? 

The system.

STOP fighting about politics. Stop fighting each other. STOP being angry. Calm down. 

Have a good weekend.

Toodle pip.   ilona

 

Tractors on tour

 Welcome to super Saturday.

This is a short video of the tractor run which I didn't see last night, oooops, ha ha. 

Thanks to John Wilkinson. 

🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜

Have a good weekend.

Toodle pip.   ilona

Scrubbed clean

I had a bath today. I recorded a video while having a soak. I was amazed at how quickly this uploaded to yoootooob. A matter of a few minutes with my new fibre broadband, as opposed to the usual 4 - 5 hours. 

This afternoon I went to the Arts Centre for a chat with Nikki. She was busy getting her work sorted out as she is going on holiday tomorrow. I asked about another application form so I could enter four pieces of art instead of the allowed three. The computer says no. 

I wanted to fill one bag with litter, so I went to the Football Ground to do that. There is so much rubbish around the edges of the car park. I did it in ten minutes, then dropped it off with the two black bags from yesterday.

I made a pan of veggie soup. It is a lot better than the last one I made. Then I took a walk to the next village to see the decorated vintage tractors that were due to pass by at 6.40pm It was a bit scary walking along a dark road. It was foggy as well so visibility was very poor. Oh dear, the tractors were going too fast, and there was only about ten of them. One blink and I missed them. 

Back in my village I took a few snaps at the park. 

Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

Quacking heck

They are back. The ducks have landed. 

I put out the left over cat food on the garden this morning. I wondered why the water bowls were filthy, who has been paddling in them. I have seen pigeons splashing about, but they usually come later to scoff the cat food. 

I spotted the culprits, hiding behind a bush. Two ducks have found their way back into the garden on the look out for food. I still have some wild bird seed left from last winter, so I threw a handful out. Then the invasion began, more ducks arrived. So, eight in total for breakfast this morning. 

Thank you for the comments on my artwork, which three shall I enter in the Open Art Exhibition. I will deliver them to 20 21 Art centre on Tuesday, for them to consider which of the three they want to put in the exhibition. It starts on November the 14th and runs through to February next year. 

I was out litter picking yesterday, on the Industrial Estate. Most of the leaves are on the ground now so it is quite difficult to find every bit of litter. A double deck load, with a lot of glass bottles. Now awaiting collection by the council at my usual dropping off litter bin. I found two black bin bags so I thought I might as well use them. My sticky labels tell them this is not fly tipping. 

I did a Billy dog walk when I came back. Good to see that carol is back from the hospital. I won't have to take Billy every day now, he is happy that his mummy is home. He can run about in the garden. 

The weekend is coming. Apparently we have a farm tractor run around the villages later today. They are due to come through our village about 3.30pm. If I miss that I can walk half a mile down the road and they will pass there about 6.40p. I will take my camera and see if I can get some photo's. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Which one?

The changeover to fibre broadband seems to have gone smoothly. Someone has asked about speed of browsing. It is ever so slightly faster, but it was ok anyway. I don't want to go faster, my brain works at it's own pace and I go with that. I have no need to rush anything. I have just loaded these photos to the blog and that was slightly faster. Now I have to match the speed of my fingers across the keyboard to keep up. 

I have a decision to make. An Open Exhibition is coming up soon at the 20 21 Arts Centre. Local artists are allowed to enter three pieces of art for consideration. I have narrowed my choices down to four, so I need to remove one of them, in case I have to stick to the three. Surely they could change the rules for me. 😜😍😁 Which one should I leave out? 

I haven't done any litter picking for a week. I must go and do a bit this morning. I will have a lot of catching up to do. I am still helping to look after Billy dog. He is very sad that his mummy isn't around. Lots of extra cuddles from me. Maybe Carol will come home today.

Must get on. Breakfast then go out.

Toodle pip.   ilona

It's almost time. (edited)

 Fifteen minutes to go, time is running out. This base station will be closing down shortly. A visit is scheduled for my home office to be disconnected from my landline broadband, and re connected to a fibre cable running under the ground from the road outside, into this very room I am sitting in.

Some men will arrive to do the work. I am informed that it has to be done because the wires from the telephone pole outside are antiquated and BT can no longer get spare parts for repairs. If I don't have this work done now, I might forever be banished from the internet forever. No doubt my trolls would love that to happen, but ha ha. This old lady ain't done yet. 

Catch you later, on the other side.

Toodle pip.   ilona

EDIT

The deed has been done. A nice young man called Adam has been fiddling around with the inner workings, and outer workings, of my broadband connection. I was mistaken about a cable having to be laid underground. He went up the pole across the road, added a new wire to it, brought it across to the house, drilled a hole in the wall and stuck the end of it through there into my office corner in the living room. I have a new router and a new box. All done while I was still online. No interruptions whatsoever. He checked everything, so it's all system go. 

I had a nice chat with Adam, and I hope he has taken some of it in. I don't give advice, I talk about what has worked for me. From what I could gather he has ambitions and knows what he wants from life. I left him with a quote, 'Don't be a follower, be a leader'. 

I went to the Farm Shop to buy a few items before they close at the end of the month. Stocked up on preserves. Then I paid my utilities bill at the Post Office. £220 for three months. I have had a letter from the Government saying I qualify for a winter fuel payment of £200. It will appear in my bank. 

I am waiting for a call to pick up Billy for a walk. Still no news about when Carol might come home. 

Toodle pip. again. 

Solidarity.

 Only one word needed. 

Solidarity

WOW. Thousands of French patriots attended a Marine Le Pen rally in France.

Despite the mass riots, many French people have not given up hope

They want to take their country back.

😀😁😂😃😄😛😜😝

It has to happen.

Toodle pip. ilona

Mean machine

 I started to write a new post this morning. The words had started to flow, then I realised that I would not have time to finish it so I left it in drafts. I will revisit it tomorrow and add a bit more to it. 

I am still dog sitting during the afternoon, then I had to go shopping to Aldi. I went back to Carols house after to take Billy a walk and I sat with him until 7pm. Carols daughter has taken him back to her house for the night. She will let me know when she brings him back tomorrow then I will take over, while she goes to the hospital to see if her mum can come home. 

I went to the big Aldi, because there is a hold up of traffic going through roadworks near the smaller store. I thought it's best to give that a wide berth. The big Aldi is near the motorway roundabout on a retail park. There is a layby just there, it's a favourite pull in for a break before lorry drivers join the M180 to head south. This is what I saw in the layby. Lucky that I had a camera in my pocket. Take a look at this amazing beast.  

The curtains were drawn in the cab, no sign of the driver. Was he asleep inside, probably not. He may have been on a daily rest break and had a room in the nearby Travelodge. Road resurfacing sometimes takes place at night to minimise traffic disruptions. 

This Scania tractor unit went through the Auctions at Doncaster at some point. It was refitted with all mod cons inside the cab, and given a new livery. I must say I prefer the new modern paint job.  

Truck spotting is my hobby. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Wild night

Did you survive the storm?  Secure any loose objects in your garden. My neighbour didn't get that message. I will ask him if he wants to borrow my litter picking stick. 😁😎😰😛😝

What did you do with the extra hour? I put on my dressing gown, went downstairs and made a mug of coffee. Can't say 'cup' of coffee because I don't have any cups. I drink out of mugs. I cut a scone in half then divided each half into quarters. No butter, no cream, no jam, just scone. I took the coffee and scone back to bed. I like a slow start to the day. Relax for half an hour planning in my head what I am going to be doing today. 

Carol is still in hospital and is expected to be allowed home sometime today. I will walk Billy and sit with him for a while. 

A comment has arrived from someone who is just not getting the message from me. Why do they keep coming back if they don't like what I say? I may publish and reply, or I may chuck it in the bin. They need to sort their own life out.

Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.   ilona