Saturday 28 March 2015

Scrapstore visit, and other stuff

Hello from North Lincolnshire on this blustery wet Saturday morning. I have not ventured out yet, when it blows over me and the dawg will go for a bimble around the church and back. He likes that. 
Yesterday we went to Hull Scrapstore, they were advertising an Open Day, with childrens workshops, artist studios meet the artists, and demonstrations. Worth a look and to support their efforts. Rocky is welcome there, they all make a fuss of him.
They have a yard out the back which must have been the old school playground. Plenty of space for large exhibits, it had a carnival atmosphere about it. These two played their characters amazingly well, don't they look lovely. 

Also making an appearance was The Gold Man, he didn't do much though, stood as still as a statue. Andy Train has a web site, this is one of his many jobs, he loves entertaining. Click on the link to see a short video.
How to turn a supermarket shopping trolley into a bird.

And another one. These models have been used for the Freedom Festival.

There were lots of books for sale, I picked out these three for £2. I fancy making a book, and another weaving project, and the pocket encyclopedia will come in very useful. 


Another 'pop into Tesco on the way back', got me a wholemeal loaf for 15p, yes I have the gall to walk out with just the loaf, not spending a penny more. The Spar shop gave me six eggs for 50p, a bag of salad for 50p, and a punnet of mushrooms for 35p. They will keep me going. 
Someone asked what is saag aloo, I didn't know what it was either, but with no meat and at 37p it was worth a try. It's an Indian dish of spicy potato and spinach, a perfect accompaniment to a plate of steamed veg. My kitchen ponged like a curry house for a couple of days, ha ha.  
Another plate of steamed veg last night. The last of the celeriac, cheap potatoes and broccoli, and carrots are a good price at the moment.

 I bought this little gizmo the other day, a mini processor for small quantities. I specifically wanted one for seeds and nuts. I often wondered if it is worth eating linseeds if they are going to come out the other end in exactly the same state as they went in the top. How can your body extract the goodness from them? It baffles me. As you can see this handy little gadget smashes them to bits. Now I can sprinkle it on my food, add it to fruit, porridge, to smoothies and home made veggie burgers, and the nutrients be dispersed around my body where it is needed. Makes the job much easier than bashing it in pestle and mortar. There will be more seeds going into my shopping basket from now on.

Bet you are wondering who this trucker chappie is. Dave is an avid reader of my blog, having remembered  me from the 1980's. He recollects meeting me in a transport cafe. I can't remember him as I met hundreds maybe thousands of truckers during my 32 years on the road. Of course I stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only female trucker on the park, who could forget me, ha ha. He also remembers me from the transport magazines because I often had letters printed in them, and articles written about me.  
Last night Dave sent me a text, he was delivering in my area, so a good opportunity to meet up for a chin wag while he had his break. It brought all the memories flooding back, we talked about how we both got our HGV driving licence, or first job, the types of lorries that we drove, and how things are much different now. His next drop was at Hull, then back home across the M62. It was nice meeting you Dave, and thanks for awakening my interest in trucking. You can take the woman out of trucking, but you can't take the trucking out of the woman, ha ha. 
Right, I must get on, things to do, looks like the rain has stopped. Thanks for popping in. Have a nice Saturday.
Toodle pip.

19 comments:

  1. I've always thought the same as you about seeds just going through the body. We loved those shopping trolley birds ! Bet you will have a nice time going through those books, just the thing for inspiration. Not that you need much as you are always full of ideas of your own.
    We always notice Dave in your comments so thought it was nice of him to get in touch for a "truckers" chin-wag.
    Wendy (Wales)

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  2. Well, I had no idea you had been a truck driver, but I guess I'm not surprised. You are definitely a unique lady. Your veggies look good, and what a fun time among the artisans. I love the couple in costume. Have a good day!

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  3. Stand tall and proud! I recently bought a reduced loaf in Morrisons(15p) and paid in 1p coins for it. It was a nice seedy one too. I think bargains taste better :) :)

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  4. You will LOVE making books! I've made many of them, some as gifts, some as sign in places for my exhibits, and it's the greatest fun. It will involve all the skills you like: stitching, color selection, decisions about design, recycling, the lot! looking forward to pictures soon.

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  5. love the scrapstore pictures. the weather is awful here too although its dry and sunnyish now but far too windy to go cycling.

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  6. Love the idea of a scrapstore. We have a few re-stores here in Canada, that sell second hand building supplies, salvage and used but still good appliances, fixtures, plumbing parts and even furniture. We also have new craft supplies, but something the likes of your scrapstores would be great. Mary Jane in Canada.

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  7. Cute little sun etc:). Dave looks like Charlton Heston.

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  8. Enjoyed your sharing, the artisans are amazing, loved the trolleys!
    Nice to see Dave! Good for you both to meet and greet!

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  9. OOh sag aloo. One of my top 5 favourite meals in the whole world.In fact it probably IS my favourite meal.I also like noodles, with spinach.
    We have a Scrapstore now, with a lovely light room which they hire to craft groups and parents.
    Nice to hear Rocky is still out and about.

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  10. What a great place. love the birds. Great bargains you always find.
    Rosezeeta.

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  11. We, in fact, do not digest whole linseed/flaxseed. It has to be ground for humans to extract the omega-3 out of it. I love to use ground flaxseed in my baking.

    Sag Aloo, Yum! I love the way folks from the Indian Sub-Continent combine spices to make such tasty food.

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  12. I love the trolley birds, particularly the blue, green and purple one.

    Making a book sounds like fun so I will watch to see how you do it.

    Hope your weather improves.

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  13. Hull Scrapstore looks like fun, the costumes look great and theres a lot of hard work gone into them.
    Apparently our stomach acids are nothing like as strong as our ancestors so thats why somethings like seeds and sweetcorn pass right through.
    It was nice to meet up for a chin wag and to meet Rocky, he's luvvley.
    The picture of me is a bit of a shocker, if you put it on the mantlepiece it'll keep the kids away from the fire.
    Dave.

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  14. Hi Ilona, Oooh Dave!! Is he a little bit of a crush? Ha ha! Only kidding with you. But?

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  15. Hi.Your visit to the "open day" looks fun and interesting, and very unique.Gosh I really must get out more!Lately I have beeen such a homebody.As varied comments have said, grinding those seeds is the way to get nutritional value from them as you know,and I really like your mini processor,Ilona.Ah,so nice of Dave to stop by and visit with you,it's always nice to catch up on the good old days,yes?We don't have any "Scrapstore"type stores here yet, but I snoop around the thrift stores for items that might be found at a store like that.It would be great to just go to one that carries all the crafty stuff in one place.It seems Ontario,Canada is a bit behind in these kind of things but I hope that will change someday.Thank you for sharing, D.

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  16. Hi ilona,
    I am really pleased you mentioned your new mixer thingy because I have had my eye on getting something like that for a while but needed the push to go and get it! Can I ask, do you think it would be suitable for blitzing almonds into an almond butter? And can I ask what is the model name of it and how much it cost? Thank you for sharing it with us!

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  17. Hi ilona, my comment appeared here yesterday but now it's gone. Should I post again? it was a question about your new mixer.

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    1. Hi Katy. I was looking for your comment today and couldn't find it, then it turns up in my spam box. I think Blogger is playing tricks. Very strange. It's a Kenwood mini chopper, model CH180A series, I paid £16 for it from Westgate Department Store, which is a branch of the Co op.

      In the instructions it says you can grind nuts, eg almonds, walnuts. It will process until chopped, but the consistency of fine ground almonds will not be achievable. I imagine that will be because they are very hard and maybe the machine is not robust enough to do that.

      I bought a packet of mixed fruit and nuts and removed the fruit to grind only the nuts. There was a few almonds in there. They did grind quite small, and were about to turn into butter but I stopped it because the machine was getting a bit warm and I didn't want butter anyway. There is more oil in the peanuts so it would turn into butter more quickly. I have got some almonds in the cupboard now so I'll give it a try in the morning and see what happens. I suspect that it would need longer. I'll report back.

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    2. Hi Katy. I whizzed some almonds in the mini machine, they turned to crumbs quite quickly. I find you have to stop start, and poke them about a bit to loosen those trapped on the bottom below the blade line. Not just with almonds but any nuts. I decided not to carry on because the motor was getting a bit warm, slight smell of burning rubber, there must be a small belt inside from the motor to the bit that whizzes round.

      I don't know if you add anything else if you want to make almond butter, perhaps some liquid would help it along, but I feel it was too much work for the little motor to cope with using just nuts. Peanuts would probably work because they have a higher oil content. I think a more robust machine would be needed for your almond butter.

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