Hello. Does anyone remember when Rocky and Henry used to come and stay? It was a while ago now. I shared my bed with two dogs, it was a bit cramped, especially when Henry laid across my legs.
I haven't seen Helen and Henry for ages, we have both been busy with various things, family and holidays, and in Helen's case she has been working more hours. Today was catch up time, I went to visit.
Henry looks really chilled in the sunshine, but in truth, he's had a short walk and is tired. Sadly his arthritis is getting worse, he is lively in his excitement to go out, loves to sniff about, but can't walk very far.
We went in the car to a quiet lane and took a steady stroll while Henry amused himself on the grass verge. Oooh, all those lovely smells.
When he had had enough he told us he wasn't going any further and lay down. That's when I took these photo's. He knows exactly how to pose for the camera. Look at me, aren't I handsome. Yes, Henry, you are.
Helen walked back up the lane to fetch the car while we waited. And here is Henry's taxi arriving to take him home. Some adjustments are having to be made in their home life now to take into consideration Henry's limited mobility. Helen is like me where pets are concerned, Henry will get all the love and care he needs.
Crikey, that has choked me up, I thought I was all cried out. I'm going for a walk.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon
Toodle pip
Hello. My workspace is shrinking, this is the new en suite accommodation for my old boy Bugsy. The bedroom is situated next to the computer with hardly any room for my keyboard. He doesn't seem to want to go into the window sill any more, preferring the soft cushion topped with a towel.
He can almost have breakfast in bed, the food tray is quite close. At the other end of the corridor is the latrine. Any soiled material has to be removed periodically to control stinky smells drifting in my direction. Wee's aren't so bad but poo's need to be disposed of immediately.
I feel I am being pushed out, but if this keeps him happy then who am I to complain, I am only the servant, ha ha.
My lunch has filled my tum. Very tasty soup made with half a carrot, a chunk of butternut squash, one potato, pieces of broccoli, sprinkling of grated cheese, and spices. Bloomin lovely.
Tis very windy today, I went out with the shears and chopped off the tops of the grass sprouting out from between the paving slabs on the drive. The wind whisked up the cuttings and blew it all away across the road.
Have been for a coffee with my friend Irene this morning. She is preparing to move back home to Edinburgh, probably not until Christmas, but they have a lot of stuff to get rid of because they are downsizing. I told her that if she puts anything in a skip, I will come and take it out, ha ha.
Anyway, I'll sign off. I'm off to the Docs shortly, that ugly wart on my cheek has come back. I really don't want to be walking around with a scabby face. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello. This was a good find at the library, I absolutely love it, it's opening my eyes to a lot of possibilities. Who would have thought that there are so many alternative uses for old unwanted books. The charity shops are stuffed with them, and car booters sell them for as little as 10p each. I don't think reading will ever go out of fashion completely, but a lot of people are turning to electronic gadgets to satisfy their hunger for the written word.
So what's to be done with the trillions and zillions of books left to gather dust, unlikely to ever see the light of day again? Would be ideal if they could be shipped off to less well off countries, but I doubt that will happen. This may be the answer for a very small quantity of them. They can be used as raw materials for artworks.
I am not able to show what's in the book, but the front and back cover gives a taste of what's inside.
There are artworks by 46 different artists inside, and they are all pretty amazing. I've found some extra info by gooogleing some of their names, so those arty folks among you can also be amazed.
Alicia Martin is a Spanish Artist who created the cascade of books on the back cover. There are many more pictures of her work on this web site.
Jonathan Callan uses a variety of materials, but mainly books. Born in Manchester, he has exhibited all over the world. His web site is a catalogue of his work from 1986 to the present day.
Jim Rosenau is a quirky artist. He makes book shelves out of books. His work will make you smile.
Mike Stilkey paints pictures on books. Not just on one book, but tons of them stacked up. He started by painting on yellow pages. Take a look at his amazing pictures here.
Brian Dettmer has an amazing web site. His sculpture is on the front cover of the book. Sorry, I can't get his web site to load correctly, maybe you can. I have found a Ted video of him speaking about his art, take a look, this man is very clever, I love his art.
I've had a little play today with an unwanted book. I was intending to use it in some kind of artwork, ok, so it's a practice piece, and it's not perfect. See if you can guess the title for a bit of fun.
It's been ever so warm today, and it's forecast the same for next week. I think I ought to have a few days away before winter arrives. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello and Good Morning. The weather has turned chilly and I am wrapping up more. The heating will not go on just yet, probably another month or two before it gets really cold. We are heading towards the end of the month again, they fly by, don't they. Only three more months left to the end of the year. How's your walking going? I am on 779 at the moment, had a boost this month with the Yorkshire trip and Ranger Ramble. I have passed the September target of 749, now heading for the October target of 832. Put your best foot forward and lets all have one last surge, let's do our best.
Need a quick topic for today's post, so I'll answer an email here, thank you L for sending this, it has given me an idea.
I think my life from the outside is too boring, I love your blog and like reading about other people.
I meet up with the same people every year, a Belgium couple,loads of French etc. all who escape their cold countries to wait it out where I live. We walk our dogs,talk, swim,eat, drink. But nothing to write home about. In the mean time I'll follow you.
Doesn't it cost to blog? How do you do it?
Hi L. Your first sentence makes me want to shake you. Your life from the outside is too boring? Nothing to write home about? C'm on, surely it's not that bad. Every day activities can be made very exciting, with a few ideas thrown in. The activities you list sound pretty much OK, dog walking is fabulous, the joy that dogs give is far better than anything else. Talking to people is great, I do it all the time, sometimes for too long. I witter on a bit, but I always feel great after a brilliant conversation with like minded folks. I enjoy talking to strangers, people have fascinating lives when you ask questions.
I like eating nice food, and the food I make myself is the best. Mixing and matching different ingredients, trying new ideas, making up recipes, is never boring. Stuff the conventional, invent your own new recipes. I don't drink much alcohol, I keep it as a treat. If I supped the stuff until I was sozzled, it would probably be very boring, and expensive. Again, mix and match, preferably non alcoholic low sugar drinks made with fresh fruit.
Swimming I can't do, and I have no desire to, it does not appeal to me one bit. If you like swimming think of ways to spice it up a bit. Set targets, pool parties, design and make your own costume, fancy dress swimming. Outdoor activities I love and I never get bored with going for a walk, and looking around places.
L, do not accept that what you have is all you are ever going to have. Same every year? Well change it, do something different, and then you will have something to write home about. If you keep yourself busy with new ideas, you won't have to follow me, you will have a life of your own. The rest of the post is for everyone, read it if you like, I hope it helps.
I don't very often tell my readers what they should be doing, but today I will make an exception. My life is my life, not your life, you have your own life. You must decide what you want to do with it, you must make up your own life, not copy mine. You are not me and I am not you.
Anybody that feels they have a humdrum life........
'I want you to open your eyes in the morning and say to yourself, 'That's great, I have been given another day, I'll take a few minutes to decide what I want to do with it. In 24 hours I will wake up to another new day, so I don't want to look back and think, that was a waste, I did nothing.'
Ok, so if you are struggling a bit, things not going right, you will think that this is a load of tosh and will never work. That's up to you, but at least give it a try. We are approaching winter, a time when Seasonally Affected Disorder can sometimes creep up on us. Now is the time when we can takes steps to fight it. Our bodies need daylight, so go outside every day. Look for things to do outside, even for an hour or two.
I know it's hard to get motivated sometime, I've been there, never suffered depression but have been very fed up at times. What I've learnt is that things never seem so bad after a nights sleep. Every morning I wake up refreshed and looking forward to a brand new day. My trick? I willed myself to become content with my life, and the older I get, the more content I become. I have brainwashed myself to be happy. If I am bored, I change things. No matter what is going on around me, what other people are doing, I am not them and they are not me.
I get emails from people saying they wish their life was more like mine. Well all I can say to that is buzz off and go and get your own life. Sorry if that offends but that is how I see it. I write this blog because it's about how I live my brilliant life on a pension. I am happy that you come along and share the journey, I like company. What I don't want anyone to do is stay on the bus and forget to get off. There are plenty of stops along the way, hop off the bus and do your own thing.
This quick topic has turned into a saga, so I'll get off and do something else. Before I go, I'll answer the questions, Doesn't it cost to blog, and how do I do it?
All it costs me is £4 a year which I pay to goooglie to upload loads of photo's. There is a ceiling on how many you can post and I reached that after about three years. So now I pay them a piddling amount to carry on. The other cost is time, loads of it, but as I am in control of my time, I can allocate as much or as little as I like.
How do I do it? Not sure if you mean how do you get started with blogging, or how do I keep it up for so long. To get started you click the 'B' icon, top left hand corner, and it takes you to the home page, and follow instructions. Blogging encourages me to write, and writing is creative. it satisfies some of my creative juices. If you want to become proficient at anything it's best to do it as often as time allows. If I didn't do anything all day I would have little to write about, so it encourages me to find things to do, to keep busy with what interests me. If you don't feed your brain you get nothing back, same as if you don't exercise and eat rubbish food, your body will deteriorate.
Right, really must go, brain down time, want to do something practical. Thanks for popping in, now go away and do something new, and come back later or tomorrow to tell me what you have done.
Hello. I've got the sloppy habit of draping my trousers over the banister, because I can't be bothered to put them in the wardrobe and keep taking them out. I wear trousers all the time, alternating between four or five different pairs, so to have them handy makes dressing and undressing a lot quicker and easier.
Some of them I haven't worn for ages, so I thought I had better try them on and see if they still fit. I think I have gained an inch or two around the middle, so best to check.
Oh heck. These are my last pair of black denim jeans, it must be over five years since I last wore them. At one time I was always in denim and I preferred black rather than blue. They are a size 12 and the label inside says waist 26 inches, hips 37 inches. Looks like my bottom is not a size 12 any more. Nope, it isn't, the tape measure says I am 29 waist and 39 hip, so that's more like a 14.
Maybe if I just breathed in I could perhaps manage to fasten them up. Yep, can do that. However, I can imagine that spending any length of time with my insides squashed up like a vacuum packed trussed up chicken would result in horrendous abdominal pain as my wind struggled to find the way out. I also doubt very much that I could sit down. Nothing for it, these will have to go to the charity shop.
I don't think I need to be too worried about an extra inch or two, these are a perfect fit and so comfortable. They are lightweight and lined, with elastic around the back and a drawstring at the front, and supposedly a size 10. Very strange. It pays to try on clothes before you buy, not all labels tell the truth.
I had visitors this morning. Brenda and her family called in on their way to a caravan and camping rally at Sandringham. The car was loaded up with three bicycles, they are hoping to get some rides in while they are there. I hope the rain stops for them and it brightens up a bit. Brenda very kindly gave me a bag of fabric which she doesn't need. I'm having fun sorting through it and adding it to my piles in the stock room. I'll take some to crafty club next week to see if the ladies can find a use for it.
I forgot to take a photo while they were here, but Brenda has one so I'm sure it will appear on her blog when she gets a minute to write up her trip report. Her link is on the sidebar, but here it is if you want to look out for the picture.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello. It's been all about art today. My friend Carol from the Crafty Club picked me up and we went to the Artists Studios Open Day at The Ropewalk Gallery. I have been visiting this event for a few years now, it's held over two weekends every September. I always come away fully enthused with my arty batteries recharged and ready to start dabbling.
It was great to have Carol accompany me on this, I usually walk around by myself, but having a friend means we can bounce ideas off each other. She is of similar ilk to me, liking most things arty, and keen to find out about design and techniques. We learnt quite a lot today, and met some fantastically friendly people who were happy to share their particular art experience. I took a few snaps.
Sitting at his computer busy working is Reginald Swinney. He is a graphics illustrator and designs book covers, leaflets, event programmes, greetings cards, and anything else customers ask for. He has a blog which catalogues some of his designs back to 2010.
I had a nice chat with Keith Woodcock, and was very impressed with his amazing paintings, his speciality being aviation and automobiles. You must go to his web site and view his stunning artwork. They capture the emotions of history in the making far better than photographs can.
And here is my favoutite artist, Michael Scrimshaw and his lovely wife Helen. He has many talents, painting a large mural on a brick wall, customizing cars and bikes with airbrushing images, working with large scale sculptures, and inventing new uses for scrap. Michael has a web site but the links from his home page don't work. There are tons of pictures on his facebook page, scroll down a long way to see his latest sculpture which is a lion installed at a school in Grimsby. There are step by step photo's of how he constructed it. I'm sure he won't mind if I copy one here.
The print room was an interesting place. One lady kindly explained how she was making plates ready for printing, then demonstrated how it all works and the results.
Wendy Chan works in felting and patchwork.
Sinclair Ashman is a print maker, he has an exhibition at the Ropewalk, and these are some of the things he uses to make the plates.
I've found a video of him at work in the print room where we were this afternoon.
It was a smashing day out, we seemed to have been there for hours talking to people. Tesco next door provided us with a snack for lunch. Although there is a very popular cafe on site, it was too busy and we didn't want to sit ages waiting to get served. Luckily Tesco had two chairs near the checkouts so we sat there and people watched while we scoffed. I don't think the chairs are meant for that but we didn't care.
Right now I have a ginger cat who wants some attention and I am finding it difficult to use the keyboard with his face six inches from my hands. I'll sign off and say Tatty byes and Toodle pip
Ilona
Hello. I decided to go on a Ranger Ramble today. Sarah leads the group and I haven't seen her for a long time, so it was good for a catch up as well as a walk. Six of us turned up at the Leisure Centre in Brigg at 10.30am, and we set off towards the town. This bridge goes over the Old Ancholme Drain, it looks a bit murky.
The market looked busy. It's a Farmers Market as well where the local growers and food producers come to sell their wares.
Passing The Angel, which houses the library, the local history museum, and has a nice tea room in the covered courtyard.
A bit further on we picked up the Old River Ancholme, it's very long and straight. Here we took a few minutes break at Cadney Bridge. The weather was warm but quite windy.
From there we turned left along Bridge Lane to Cadney village, where we split up and two people took the shorter route along the road. Four of us plodded across fields, and we met up again at Claytons Corner Cafe at Howsham. This is a popular place to stop off for walkers and cyclists, it was warm enough to sit outside.. We were all quite hungry so we made our choices from the extensive menu. All food is home cooked, and the home made cake display looked scrumptious. They also sell very nice ice cream. I've had a look at TripAdvisor and they have lots of good reports on there. Nice friendly smiley staff, with quick service.
Suitable refreshed with full tums we took to the footpaths across fields, back to Brigg.
They called in at a pub in Brigg but I didn't want to so I left them too it and walked back to my car. I landed back home at just after 5.30pm. The mileage according to BikeHike was 12 miles, so that's given my total a boost making it 776 miles. Now I am chillin with a glass of wine.
It was a nice day with nice company, I might do it again sometimes.
Tomorrow is the last day of Open Studios, where the artists at the Ropewalk Gallery open their doors and invite any visitors to come and chat. I am quite looking forward to that. I hope you have a nice Sunday. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello. It's thanks to my sheddie friends Oliver and Adele, for telling me about this latest article in Good Woodworking magazine, which features both our sheds. I am not in the habit of perusing magazines of any kind, let alone one about woodworking. I might flick through the odd trucking magazine, but only to get a free read before putting it back on the shelf. However, I was in town today and spent £4.50 just to get a copy of this for my scrap book.
Next to mine was a picture of Oliver and Adele in front of their Shed of dreams. I am so pleased they won their category. They put a lot of work into that, it looks fabulous.
I had a quick whip round Aldi for a few bits and bobs. The main reason for going to town was to get the magazine, have a look at a new exhibition in the Arts Centre, and choose some books from the library. This is what I found.
The cats are all in for the night, Heidi has had her tablet, and I am not going to do my three miles tonight because I am going on an eleven mile walk tomorrow. I have a glass of wine, and I am going to sit in a comfy chair and enjoy the books. My idea of bliss.
Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your weekend. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.
Hello. Just to remind you, that my summer house won the best budget category in Shed of the Year. I'm sure you haven't forgotten already, ha ha. Remember this, the plaque I won. All the lettering was black except for the green sponsors name. They hadn't made a very good job of it so I painted the middle bit red to tart it up a bit. Looks a bit better.
Then I got to thinking that the sponsors name spoils it, it's a nice bright green gloss paint but how could I get rid of it without destroying the wood. I need to disguise it in some way. Then I suddenly thought, paint, so I called in at Wicks to get some paint of the same colour. I looked high and low on all three paint aisles, found the sponsors section, studied the charts, and no, blow me down, there wasn't any paint this shade of green. Does that mean they used paint from another company, and not their own paint? Very strange. I selected a small pot of green as close as I could get it.
And this is the result. I thought it should have flowers on it in pink and yellow to match the colours of the rosette, and the pink and yellow doors in the summer house. I added more black to the Category Winner to sharpen it up a bit.
Good innit! 100% better I think. The moral of this story is....if you don't like something, change it.
Thanks for popping in, We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.
PS, The tooth filling went well, Jim was ever so gentle, hardly felt a thing, just a little prick.
Hello. This is a blast from the past, an oldie picture of me and my best friend Carol. Taken about 30 years ago, I think. Note the big hair, ha ha, we were always having perms.
Carol wrote this on Facebook last week.
Well I think I can now say I'm officially retired. After only working half my hours in August it was time to hang up my boots. After working 51 years without a break, plus during this time the longest period out of work I had was one week. That's not bad for the amount of moves I had. I am now just waiting to exchange contracts on my sale, and purchase, and up north I will return after moving away 42 years ago. Carol is two months older than me, we have remained friends almost all of our lives, living just down the road from each other when we were at junior and secondary school. We sat together on the school bus, hung out together, people thought we were sisters. Carol went to college when we left school at 15, and I got a job in Wooly's. Her family moved to Blackpool, and when I was 17 I went for a holiday, and moved there when I was 18. I stayed three and a half years, then moved on to Birmingham, then back home to Burton on Trent. Carol met someone and married, and moved around quite a bit after that. Carol didn't have any children and neither did I. We always kept in touch, by phone, letter, and visiting each other. Now we phone, email, and text each other, with the occasional visit. I am mighty proud of my best friend Carol, she is the sweetest nicest person you would ever wish to meet. She has been through a rough patch or two but has never shown any anger or hostility to anyone when in a difficult situation. Her family are absolutely thrilled that their sister, aunt, and great aunt is coming home. It's funny that we are totally different when it comes to lifestyle choices, yet can still remain friends. Carol chose a well paying career and likes to spend her money on nice things. I did the opposite, had a career with reasonable pay, and don't place any importance on nice things. It must be down to our upbringing that we have both lived within our means. We are from working class families, and both learnt to make do and mend from our mothers. I have been nagging Carol to retire ever since I finished work at 60. She has carried on another seven years because she enjoyed what she was doing, and got used to earning extra money to fund her chosen lifestyle. Now at last she is free from work, and is about to make the move from Hampshire back up north to where the rest of her family are. After working for 51 years, an amazing achievement, I think she has done her whack, and deserves to enjoy her retirement. When she is settled in her new abode I can see a visit on the cards, I will be popping over to the west coast, and who knows, I may even take the train and walk back, ha ha. Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.
Hello hello hello. It's been a wet and miserable day, and now it's getting cooler. I need to wear more clothes. I went back to see my dentist Jim today to have a chat about my tooth which needs some attention. I call him my dentist because he is the one I have been assigned to, he has taken over from Emma who has moved on.. It was up to me whether it gets done sooner or later, so I weighed up the pros and cons, and said OK, lets do it. I went back to reception to make the appointment, thinking it might be in a few weeks time, and the lady on the desk said, how do you feel about tomorrow, we've just had a cancellation. Oh heck, alright then. It was either take that appointment or wait until October, so tomorrow I will have a numb face and will probably be dribbling out of the corner of my mouth.
I've got a few photo's of Redcar to show. It was still sunny and warm and people were on the beach and paddling in the sea. I watched a black spaniel dog chasing backwards and forwards for a while in between it's two owners. It was having a whale of a time.
I took a stroll along the promenade, there are a lot of these colourful ironwork pictures mounted into low walls. Two of the penguins have been covered in knitted overcoats.
They have a splash feature which spurts fountains of water out of the ground intermittently, the children were loving it, and some of the mums too. There were a lot of sailing boats on trailers parked up, with tractors hitched up to them.
Look at this beautiful building, sadly it is empty and for sale. I do wish someone would come along and restore buildings like this.
The tide was coming in but it was still warm.
I had a quick look around the town, this is the clock tower at the end of the pedestrianized main shopping street. Sadly some of the shops looked a bit run down with shabby fronts and there were some empty ones. Redcar suffered a terrible blow when the steel works closed down. It must be hard for people to keep up their morale when that happens. I see that some work is taking place, new block paving is being laid which looks very nice. Scunthorpe nearly went the same way, but in spite of a lot of jobs being lost at our steel works, we have been given a reprieve.
The traffic was heavy on the way home on the motorway, a bit stop and start, so that added a bit of extra time to the journey. Janet had been in to see to the cats so they were alright. It was good to get out for the day, I enjoyed it.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello. Yes, I was in Redcar yesterday for the Festival of Thrift. Apologies to those who live not far from the site, Cherie and Brenda and anyone else up in the north east, but I did not make up my mind to go until 10pm on Saturday night so there wasn't time to make arrangements. I had been mulling it over for a few days, ever since I saw Max tweeting about it. I considered making it into a two or three day jaunt but was undecided.
Then I had a closer look at the festival web site and thought a lot of the activities and entertainment was geared up for children and families. Also advertised was food, workshops, films, talks, and shopping, none of which I am particularly interested in. The only things that did interest me was the arts and crafts and the upcycling, not really enough to warrant the time, effort, and cost to get there and back.
However, when the tweets started coming in after the first day, with reports in the local media, I thought I might give it a whirl. My Saturday was a bit boring so I thought perhaps I ought to get up off my backside and just do it..
The event practically took over the whole village of Kirkleatham. When I arrived at 11.15am the road was blocked by a massive queue to get in the car park. It crawled along at a snails pace. I was not best pleased after driving almost two hours. The road to the main entrance was closed to all except disabled and trades people, so I followed the signs straight on for the car park. Just as we were coming to a roundabout I could see the queue stretching a long way into the distance, I hate queuing. Just off the roundabout to the left is a Business Park, and being a Sunday no one would be working so I thought why not park there. Good move, others had the same idea. It was a few minutes walk back along the road to the entrance. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded paying £5 to park, but I wasn't going to sit in that queue.
The event practically took over the whole village of Kirkleatham, it was spread out over several fields, and there were stalls and suchlike inside the Museum buildings as well. It took me a while to Find Max McMurdo next to the big green Gumtree bus. Those of you who saw Shed of the Year will remember him as being one of the judges. His face regularly comes up on the TV as inventor and upcycler on other programmes. Max has a book out, his first upcycling book and it appears to be very popular amongst thrifty people. If you want to have a butchers at it, click on this Amazon link. No I am not getting a cut in sales, I just think he is a thoroughly nice guy who works very hard.
With a steady stream of visitors waiting to speak to Max, I hovered for a few minutes and watched him dish out his words of wisdom to enthusiastic upcyclers.
That was tempting, the weather was hot and I could have murdered a pint of cider, but knowing that I had to drive home I supped the watered down apple juice in my bottle brought from home.
There was much to see and do. The solar powered cinema was closed for lunch, and as I didn't fancy being squeezed into a box with other sweaty people I decided to give it a miss. Nice idea though.
Lots of wood about. Two owls for sale, can't remember how much they were though.
There were stalls with all kinds of craftwork. Blocks of wood with letters carved into them, £6 per letter. I did think of getting my name but I am much too tight to part with £30 on an impulse buy.
In the stable block there were artworks from local artists. I must say though that there was only one which looked interesting. One stable had nothing in and was lit up with a coloured light. Another had a moving film of horse racing projected onto the wall with a makeshift steeple chasing jump built of branches in front of it. And two others were empty. It was a bit gloomy in there, with not much to look at.
There was a little courtyard with vintage camper vans, which was nice.
This one was for sale, 7,000 quid if you are interested. Looks fully restored on the outside but you will have to put your own innards into it. Mind you, thinking about it, it has an 02 number plate so it could be a kit car built from scratch.
Lots of vintage stalls to browse. One thing I can't understand is that once something is given the 'vintage', label how come the price rises, and rises, and rises. Baffles me that people will pay silly money for old tat, when probably family members will have cupboards full of the stuff stashed away somewhere. 'Spose it's a bit like antiques, the older something is the more valuable it becomes.
There were various cooking smells wafting around, and long queues at the stalls. If this was a thrift festival, why didn't more people get organized and take their own pack up from home and have a picnic. It was the ideal weather for it.
Jam making demonstrations here, and if you took your own fruit you could turn it into jam yourself and take it home in a jar.
The church was used for sewing sessions. Make a patchwork block and it will be added to a quilt.
Choose your pieces of fabric and sit at a machine, someone will tell you what to do. The little girls seemed to like this activity.
I had a peek in the museum while I was there.
This old dear looks happy enough perched on her stool, with the cooking pot on the fire. Fish for tea tonight.
How about a swing in a hammock. Looks very relaxing, the young lady is gently rotating the line of swinging hammocks on a turntable.
Hairdressing was popular, get your hair done in a vintage style by ladies wearing forties dresses, outside their vintage caravan. £5 a go.
My overall view of the festival was that's it's a great day out, and if you live close enough you could easily find enough to do for two days. There is no entrance charge, free to get in. The entertainment is free, and a lot of the childrens activities are free. There are drop in sessions if you want to attend some workshops. If you have money to spare there are plenty of crafty type stalls which will gladly relieve you of it. I picked up some cards and have checked out web sites which you might like to take a look at.
Sarah Turner makes hand made lighting, sculptures, and artworks upcycled from waste materials. Mainly plastic bottles and cans. www.sarahturner.co.uk
Sarah Oatley is a textile artist using a wide range of fabrics, mainly recycled and vintage. www.drawnthreads.co.uk
Scrapstore was there, only they call it Percy Creative Reuse Centre. It's at Commerce Way Middlesborough. Here is their link if you want to check it out.
I left about 3.30pm and decided to take a look at Redcar seafront while I was there, but I'll leave that for another post. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Hello. My working life ended 15 years ago. Now I just please myself. This is my diary. What I do and what I think about. You are welcome to read it. Toodle pip.
