So far so good.

This is the state of play so far. Making the components and moving them about on the board to see where they fit best. Nothing stuck down yet, there is still more work to do on the board. I am running out of black acrylic paint, but I will be able to get some from the Scrapstore when they are ready to open. Can't get any from the shops here, I think everyone bought it up to entertain the kids at home. 

Beer bottle tops with a button stuck in the centre, stuck on a CD.

Small black zips taken apart. Running stitch along the edge and pulled tight to make it curly. The bigger ones are three pieces joined together. I think they would make nice brooches with a pin on the back. The theme is going to be mainly black, with touches of red and gold.

Looks like another hot day today. I shall stay around the house, doing a bit in the garden and coming indoors to cool off. A Billy dog walk later when it cools down.

Thanks for popping in. Cheerio, adios, adieu, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci, ciao, ta ta. Catch you tomorrow. ilona

Siting in a quiet churchyard on a sunny day.

Hello. It's very very hot ouside, extremely hot. Oscar came in for food, doesn't he always, several times a day, he was roasting hot. Scoffed then went back out again. Mayze is out there snuggled among the long grass. I hope she isn't going to get heat stroke. And this whimp is sat here eating my lunch waiting for this video to upload.

I wont be going far today. In the garden then back into the house to cool off. Here is the video I did yesterday, I made two actually, I'll put the other one out another time.



We get some more freedoms next week, so that will be interesting to watch how it all pans out. Don't forget we are coming up to the end of the month, check in day for the International Walking Group is Monday the 1st of June. The target for five months is 416 miles if you are doing the 1000 miles challenge. Three days left to catch up if you haven't quite reached that target.

Lunch break is finished and I'm going to do a bit more of playing with my bits. I'll post a progress picture soon. Looking good so far.
Toodle pip, Adios amigos,  ilona

Horsing around

I intended to set off early for my walk this morning, as it was predicted that it would be sunny and hot later. But I was faffing as usual so it wasn't a particularly early start. It was about 11am I think, when I left the house. Just a local walk again. I didn't follow the bottom of the woods this time, as the trees cast big shadows and it was a bit chilly just there, so I struck out down the track and walked through the windfarm. They are not public footpaths but no one seems to mind. If the farmers are about they ignore you and carry on with their work. It was a gorgeous blue sky. 

Can't get it all in with landscape, it cuts off the top of the blade.

Portrait better. There are six turbines. Five all together, and one stands alone.

There is a farmhouse down the bottom of this lane. A favourite place for the boy racers to come and burn off a bit of rubber. Silly beggars, don't they know rubber costs money.

The woman who comes to see to these horses is usually here in the afternoon.

I think the trees frame this picture perfectly.

Further along I went through a gate and alongside a wood, to the bank at the top. Horsey came to greet me. Isn't he gorgeous.

I joined the road and came into a village. Time for a sit down, there is a bench behind the church. I made a short video which I will upload tomorrow. 

The walk took longer than it should have done, because it was so peaceful and relaxing I didn't rush, it was a bimble. Six miles today, and boy was I hot, the sun got me. 

Now I've got to go and water the flower beds and pots. Most of the junk I put out front for people to take, has gone. So I don't need to go to the tip tomorrow. Some of what's left can be broken up and put in the grey general waste bin. 

Cheerio, tatty bye, toodle pip. ilona

George Carlin - Germs and Immune System

I came across this yesterday and thought it was funny. I haven't heard of George Carlin before, probably because I don't usually watch American comedy, I prefer old British comedy. But what the heck, give it a go.

I'm not sure if anyone else will like this, his style is a bit like the old standups that toured clubland years ago. Wheeltappers and Shunters style. The politically correct brigade will perhaps cringe at his colourful language. That's a hint that he swears a lot, so don't watch if you are offended by profanities.

I don't like swearing in everyday conversations, no need for it, but as part of an act on the stage it adds a bit of extra naughtiness to the narrative, which makes me titter. As with a lot of his comedy, some of it is very close to real life. His observations are very quirky. Having watched some of his earlier work when he was a much younger man, he definitely developed a no holds barred technique in his later years. The younger George seemed to be holding back, the older George couldn't give a shit.



George is no longer with us. He had a large following, there are plenty of videos on yooootoooob, so I have a lot more titter material to watch while I eat my meals in front of the computer. Only hope I don't splatter the screen with a mouthful of mush.

I put some stuff out on the front, free to take, yesterday, slowly the pile is shrinking. The garage is beginning to look very tidy. Last night I did a late walk and my eyes were looking up to the sky rather than the ground. My friend Janet told me that the Space Station would be going over at 10.08pm, and yes, I saw it. A bright light moving quite quickly. The sky was mainly clear with a few wispy clouds, and there it was. It disappeared for a few seconds when it went behind a cloud, then came back into view and off it went over the horizon. Apparently you can get an app from Nasa which will send an email to let you know when it will be passing over. I don't know about apps, but this web site might have the information you need if you want to find out when you can see it. Spot the Station.

Right, must go. I've had an early bowl of cereals, will need a second breakfast at about 10am.
Enjoy your Wednesday. Toodle pip.  ilona

Paint it Black - again. The Stones

Hey, fancy a bit of a Rockin and a Rollin? It's strange that whenever I write a blog post I can usually come up with a song title which can be linked to the subject matter. Yesterday I was painting bits of junk black, and later I was bimbling around yooootoooob, there it was.

A group of geriatric rockers appeared on my screen so I had to click on it. Coincidence that the first song on this set is Paint it Black. So won't you join Mr Jagger and clan and take a few minutes out to bop around your living room.



I saw the Rolling Stones in 1976, I remember getting there early to get a place near the front, standing room only. 18th of May, that must have been my birthday treat. It was also the year I passed my HGV driving test. Look at the ticket price, ha ha. I had spent all my money on driving lessons, then I couldn't get a job. I had to save up the £3.00.

Amazing that after all this time the Stones are still rockin. I am really glad I was a teenager in the sixties, such exciting times.

Another sunny day today. I sorted half the garage out yesterday, will do the other side today. I delivered some tins of donated cat food to Sue at the rescue yesterday, left at the gate, and stopped by at a friends house and joined them for a cool drink in their garden. Complying with the social distancing guidelines of course. I wonder how much longer we have got to add that declaration of social distancing after everything we report. Car didn't get washed, but some hedge trimming and weed pulling did take place at 8 o clock last night.
Enjoy your day. Toodle pip.  ilona

Paint it black.

It's predicted to be a hot day today. Already seen quite a few people walking past my window, dressed in their summer clothes, shorts, t-shirts, cut off trews, pedal pushers I think they are called. I hate those, just below the knee things. I bought some once, so irritating, had to cut them off above the knee and turn them into baggy shorts.

I see people with backpacks, and dogs, parents with small kiddywinks on bikes and scooters, or being pushed in a buggy, are out and about. It's a Bank Holiday. I don't normally go out on a Bank Holliday weekend anyway. Happy to stay in the garden. I've got nice food, I've got cider, I've got a Summer House with a comfy chair, and a nice garden to look at.

I will have another rummage in the garage to see what junk I can turf out. Pull up a few weeds. Give the plants a drink. Might even wash the car if the mood takes me.

Here are the beginnings of the new artwork. Small parts assembled from unwanted bits and bobs. I will need a lot of these. 

Hands from kids plastic toys stuck together, on the left.

These are Christmas tree lights stuck onto a plastic lid.

Tags from zips stuck onto a plastic lid.

 All had one coat of paint and will have another when stuck onto the board.

Whatever you are doing this Bank Holiday Monday, have fun and enjoy yourselves.
Toodle pip.  ilona

Playing with my bits.

I'm not going far today. After getting blown to bits yesterday I don't feel like marching into the wind today. I'm playing on my creativity table, putting a few bits and bobs together which will be the components for the big black artwork. Forget about the colours you see here, it will all be black. Once I get started with the composition I will need to get some more black acrylic paint. 

On the other side of the room I've just had lunch, in front of the computer of course. Got to watch something while I eat. A lovely salad today, and yes, I've opened a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale. That will put hairs on my chest, ha ha.

The man came for the remaining two glass panels this morning. I will see what else I can give away when I carry on sorting the garage out next week.

I will venture out later to take Billy dog a walk. I don't suppose he will care about how windy it is. Now I'm going to carry on playing with my bits.
Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Battered by the wind

I had a sort out today in the garage. I have too much stuff, some of it absolute junk. I picked up four large door size glass panels a few years ago, thought they might come in useful in the garden. They didn't, so I put them on our facebuck page, free to collect. Two of them have gone, the other two will be collected in the morning. 

I filled the car up with a pallet, cut in half because it was too heavy to lift, old wood, old plastic gate, bags and buckets of garden waste, and random odd things that I picked up from skips because I might be able to use them. There was a queue to get in the tip, about a dozen in front of me. It was all pretty organised. The attendant asked what you were chucking, and directed you to the right bin when someone had finished and moved away.  You have to take it yourself from the car, carry it up the steps and dump it over the side into the bin, Only one person at a time. It worked out fine, the garden waste was the most popular bin so you take it in turns if there is someone using the same one. 

This afternoon I thought I would brave the wind and do my usual five mile walk. It went a bit chilly when the clouds came over blotting out the sun, but most of the time it was warm. I had to put my woolly hat on top of my sun visor, just to hold it down. The wind was whipping across the fields taking the dust with it. 

This can of cider is making me tired. Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.  ilona

The Tree

See if you can spot the difference. 

Much better, more balanced. This will be fine. 

Lots of French knots.

And the messy back is covered with green felt.

There you go, another one finished. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Thank you dear reader

It was a few days ago when I wrote about searching for glue sticks for my hot glue gun. I was unlucky because it's something which is not widely stocked by arts and crafts shops. Some of them stock the small glue guns and sticks, but mine is a bit older and a bit bigger. I tried a builders merchants recommended by a friend but drew a blank there. They had sticks alright but they didn't fit my gun. 

Within half an hour of the blog post being published on Thursday, a reader emailed me to say she had some sticks. I must admit that I wasn't hopeful that they would be the right size, or there would be enough of them. I want to make a large assemblage so I will need quite a few. 

The second email gave a few more details and so I thought there was a chance that this might be exactly what I wanted. I didn't want her to go to the trouble of sending them and not being right. 

Today I had a parcel. Oooh so excited. 

Very well wrapped in a sturdy box.

Bubble wrap to protect the contents.

And look what I found. Two hot glue guns and lots of glue sticks. The sticks exactly fit the glue gun I already have. Now I have spare guns as well.

There is plenty here to do what I want to do. No need to search any longer, a kind reader has answered my prayers. She had them knocking around and doesn't need them. So a big THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

It's a good job we have Royal Mail, now that we can't travel so much, and visiting people is limited. We can still send each other things. This week I have posted off three parcels. A needle felted picture I made went to Rafi and Klee in America. Their videos have entertained me for a long time. Some tree decorations I made out of bobbins, went to a lady who has collected some and doesn't know what to do with them. I put in some felt to get her started. My nephew's little girls loved their bunting so I made up some simple sewing kits for them. My nephew will show them how to make felt hearts, that should be fun. A sewing lesson in their home schooling schedule.

It's been a very hot day today. I did my walk this afternoon, only two miles around the village and I was wilting. I will stick to night walks if it's going to be hot again.
Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona

Damn and blast and buggeration.

There is something about this that I don't like. I should have made changes before it went too far. I should have noticed where it was heading, but I carried on blindly thinking it will be alright eventually. It is near completion and it's not alright, and I am not happy. I have now got to undo some of the work that I have done, to put things right. It's out of balance, out of kilter, it's wonky and could be better. Oh well, no use procrastinating, what's done is done, now I have to undo. 

Nice day, I will sit outside and snip away at it.
Toodle pip.  ilona

This and that

Hello. I like living in this village. I took Billy a walk this afternoon, it was very hot. A kind person had put a bowl of water outside their house next to a bench. Billy must have drunk from it before because he went straight to it and greedily slurped it up. I don't charge for dog walking, it's not a job, but I did get paid today, in home grown tomatoes. Very nice. 

I posted some photo's the other day of a purple field. I thought they were thistles, but they are not. I found another field yesterday, in a different place. 

They are not prickly, look like wild flowers. Anyone know what they are. My favourite colour.

Looks pretty spectacular from a distance. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Heidi has found yet another favourite place, well it was yesterday. Today she is in my cupboard laid on my tee and sweat shirts. Every time I want to check on her I have to do a thorough search from room to room. There's no telling where she might be chilling next. Heidi is certainly living up to her name. 

I rang the vet today, she needs some more tablets. They will ring me tomorrow to let me know what time they are ready. I asked if she needs a medication review, they said they are only seeing emergencies at the moment. I suppose an emergency might be when she suddenly takes a turn for the worse. In the meantime we just carry on as we are, and hope for the best. 

I did a bit of tidying in the garden today. I might have to go to the tip later this week because they are not emptying the brown bins, and I have got piles of hedge clippings, grass cuttings, and weeds to get rid of, as well as a rotten pallet and a dead bush. I send a message to the council to ask if I can bring it. They said yes, Friday to Tuesday, closed Wednesday and Thursday, 10am to 6pm. Could be Friday then. 

7.30pm and it's still sunny. Think I'll sit outside for half an hour. Toodle pip.  ilona

My new look ;o)

Good morning. It's Monday again, looking forward to another fun packed week. I had breakfast with my two favourite men, Terry at the piano, and Bjorn the Norwegian Viking who was camping in the woods with his son. What could be better, beats boring Breakfast TV. 

This weaving is coming along nicely, the tree is attached and now I'm adding foliage and blossom. 

Yesterday was hair chopping day. It was too long, annoying me, hanging in my face, so it had to go. I speeded the job up this time because I couldn't be bothered faffing. The only trouble with doing it at home is that hair gets everywhere. I stripped off to a vest and skirt, and put a plastic covering on the floor so I didn't have to get the dyson out after. When I finished I walked out onto the back lawn, took the skirt off, and wafted it over my upper body to remove all the tiny hairs. 

And the result is my new Grayson look. One side is a bit longer than the other, and there are lots of straggly bits, but I don't care.

I really need to do some work in the garden today. I've been holding off doing any trimming up because our garden waste is not being collected. I may have to have a trip to the tip myself. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Wandering through fields

Hello. Thank you for all the good wishes you sent yesterday, it's lovely to read them. I'm not going to add a thank you reply to each one, I will just say a BIG thank you here. 

The day was no different to any other day, after all, 71 is just a number. I remembered my 70th last year when I was having a wonderful holiday in Cornwall. Maybe next year for my 72nd I will have a holiday for that. 

I went a walk of course, my usual route, keeping my eyes open for something to photograph which I hadn't noticed before. I can't understand why people walk in groups then don't notice what they are passing because they are too busy talking. I suppose they do it for the company, the safety of a group must be comforting for some people. But me, I like to strike out alone because I want to drink it all in. I want to be immersed in nature, I want to feel part of it.

I had a look at Puddings blog, he has been walking in a part of North Lincolnshire not far from me, and where I have walked many times myself. His photo's are ace. It's very hard to capture on a photo what you can see in real life. The only way to get a real feel for it is to get close up. Here are some photo's of my five mile walk yesterday. 

This photo does not capture the beautiful purple/lilac colour of these thistles, even with a bit of tweaking at the editing stage. 

I like the way these twisted tree roots are exposed due to the edge of the field falling away into a big hole. I suspect this gets full of water in the winter after heavy rainfall.

The ground around here is a mixture of clay and sand. The tracks become impacted by agricultural vehicles trundling up and down.

I should have put my shorts on today, it's warm enough.

Magnificent tree with yellow oil seed rape and hawthorn in the foreground. The yellow flowers are disappearing fast, turning to green seed pods. 

 On closer inspection the tree is being swallowed up by all the ground foliage around it.

The main road through a village was closed due to a burst water main. There was a diversion in place as the men and machines tried to sort it out. That was lucky because a man was walking his dog and turned onto a field track which I wanted to use, so I continued along the road parallel to the track, without fear of being run over. 

I got back in time to catch Terry Miles and his live stream session on yoootooob. Couldn't resist sending him a message reminding him that it was exactly one year since he made a special Happy Birthday video for me. He played a shorter version, which I was well chuffed about. 

Time for Sunday lunch now. Not the traditional kind, but whatever I have in the fridge. Nice to have a chat with my best friend this morning. I need to cut my hair this afternoon, and there's work in the garden to do. Keep busy everyone. 

Toodle pip.  ilona

Happy Birthday Doogal

A picture of my friends dog, Doogal. It's his birthday today, he is twelve years old. Isn't he lovely, his hobby is picking up sticks. The cat in the chair is taking no notice at all. Doogal likes his pussy cat friends, but they don't want to play with him. He is a rescue dog, lucky that he came to live with my friend. Happy Birthday Doogal.

A few famous people also have a birthday today.

Liberace. Mr Showman, entertainer.

Olga Korbut. Russian gymnast.

Pierce Brosnan. Actor.

Henry Fonda. Actor.

Janet Jackson. Singer.

Tucker Carlson. TV presenter.

And...…….me

We are in the exclusive May 16th club. Let's celebrate together.

I think this description is about right.
Born under the sign of Taurus, individuals born on May 16th have a courageous personality and a strong inner drive to succeed. While these people may often be quick tempered, they usually possess a strong desire to achieve balance and harmony among their peer group.

Happy Birthday to everyone born on this day.
Thanks to Vicki for the e-card.
Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your weekend. Toodle pip.  ilona