Welcome 2025

Ok, so I made a video of the walk I did yesterday. The sunset was too tempting, so after the photographs I changed cameras. It's a bit boring. Ten minutes walking along a field edge, and looking back at the sun going down. 

Today has been very windy. Me and Billy got blown about. I stopped to chat to someone from the Coffee Morning, but Billy gets restless and wants to keep moving. It was too cold to chat anyway. 

If any of the International Walking Group want to check in with their mileage, can they please do it here. I have finished on 872 miles. I wont be doing the challenge next year. I will still be walking, but won't be recording every mile. I encourage everyone to keep walking, or cycling, and do their own challenge. I am sure the exercise has improved your health and well being both physically and mentally. As I keep saying walking outdoors is a great way to keep the joints and muscles working. 

It's just over three hours to midnight. I don't usually stay up late, but I may have to tonight. The cats are indoors with me at the moment. Oscar usually wants to go outside when I go to bed. I expect some fireworks will be let off. I know Mickey is scared of loud bangs, and it would be better if Oscar waits until it is over.

Now I'm going to have a glass of Port and watch a video. A Happy New Year to everyone who visits my blog and watches my videos. Let's make 2025 the best year ever. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

My pledge.

Hello. I spent the morning learning a new craft. Back in the summer I bought a basic kit for Punch Needle Embroidery, from a lady at a craft fair. Doncaster I think it was. Liberty Lodge Crafts have an Etsy shop. Here is the link if you want to have a look. Here are some examples of what can be achieved once you have got the hang of it. 

In the basic kit is a punch needle tool, 5" super lock hoop, base fabric, embroidery thread, and a video link tutorial. First attempt was a bit messy, I will need to practice the technique. 

It was a good drying day, sunshine and breezy, so I put all the pet beds in the washing machine. 

After a lunch of beans and egg on toast I went for a walk. I usually sit on a bench at the halfway point and watch people going about their daily business. Today three men were on a house roof doing some repairs. I noticed a lot of small birds were sat in a tree in the churchyard opposite. I wondered if I could zoom in with the camera and get a picture. Some of them flew away but this seems quite sharp even though they were some distance away. 

I wasn't going to take any more pictures of sunsets, but this was too tempting. 

It was dark by the time I arrived back home. 

No cooking tonight. Warm up a bowl of the vegetable stew I made last night. 

Thanks for popping in. Last day of the year tomorrow. I'm trying to think of some new year resolutions, but nothing comes to mind at the moment. I don't think I need to make any changes. Just the usual pledge to myself to make the best life I can. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Not all the same.

 I keep hearing the words, 'we are not all the same,' bandied about. Pretty obvious, eh! Each and every one of us has our own preferred way of organising our lives. We live where we best fit in. Picture is from the book of faces, you know what I mean. People living and travelling in their vans, congregating at a park up for the night. 

The comments are split between those who think it's a good idea to be in the company of others. Safety in numbers and meeting like minded people. And others who think this is hell. Far too close, dangerous, a fire risk, and we like to get away from people. Hence the statement, 'we are not all the same'. 

In another comment someone says, 'each to their own,  just enjoy what is right for you in the moment and everyone is happy'. Another saying bandied about. 'each to their own'. What does that mean? Like it or lump it, you can always bugger off when you've got wheels.  

So what happens if one has set up camp and hasn't got wheels? What do they do when newcomers appear and move in right next door? The chances of them being 'all the same' are pretty slim. What happens if they don't look the same, they come and go at all hours of the day and night, they have friends visiting, they have big families, and they make a lot of noise.

One has the option of moving to a different place I suppose. But without wheels the upheaval would be massive. But what happens when you find your your new haven, the place where you feel safe, and then  others decide they want to set up camp there as well. The empty spaces become filled up, and you are back to where you were before. Living with people who are different. So, no, we are not all the same. True statement. 

This is not a post about van life and camping. Some people like space around them, location is important, access to the outdoors is a must. Others are happy in a block of flats where they walk to their local facilities. Stating the bleeding obvious, 'we are not all the same'. 

If 'each to their own' is to be followed through, then planning laws have to be tightened. Riding roughshod over people and forcing them to accept an invasion, is detrimental to living in harmony. 

Happy Sunday. The sun is out. Thanks for popping in. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Sunsets again

Hello. Another foggy day today. I went a walk to the park and was surprised to see quite a lot of people there. Families with kids, roller skating, scooting, and cycling along on the tarmac paths. Looks like Father Christmas was busy. 

No sun at all today. These are the rest of the sunset pictures from Christmas Eve. I like to put the flash on to see what happens.  

With flash.

Without flash. 

This is a reflection in the Village Hall window. 

Another reflection in the upstairs windows of a house. 

And a reflection into a living room window. They are watching the telly. The curtain is half closed to keep the sun out.

This is the same Village Hall window. I positioned the camera up close to it. The glass is frosted that's why it's blurry. I tweaked the saturation to bring out the red. 

A lot of zoom on this one, and extra saturation. These windmills are half a mile away. 

That's it for now. I am starting to fill in some dates for days out in 2025. There is an arts and crafts event at Harrogate Showground in March. 

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

Influencers.

Good evening. Here is a little something I knocked up earlier. Off the top of my head, an opinion. Who influences you? Where do you look for inspiration? If the answers are nobody, and nowhere, good for you. You have the confidence and the tenacity to solve your own problems, and to make your own plans. 

It has been a wet and foggy day today. A Billy dog walk was all I managed. 

Let's hope for a better day tomorrow. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Four years ago

 Looking back. It's four years since I made this photo collage. Worth another showing I think. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Coffee by the sea at Cleethorpes.

Seaside towns are full of brightly coloured shop fronts to entice the holiday makers to come inside. On Christmas Day none of them were open. Amusement arcades, slot machines, Bingo, fish and chip shops, ice cream and sweet treats, all make a fun day out but not very good for your health. 

These rides on the sands have seen better days. What an eyesore, and not at all safe to play on. The Big Wheel, Helter Skelter, and the Roller Coaster look like they are about to collapse. The support legs are rusted all the way through on some of them. Perhaps they have plans to remove them during the winter shut down.  

There are some strange wooden structures on the promenade. The seats are obviously for sitting on, but I don't know why anyone would want to do exercises on the benches in full view of everyone. Strange idea. 

I finished my visit by having a cup of coffee before the drive home. I was so lucky with the weather.  

Today, it has been thick fog, cold and damp, all day. I did a couple of present deliveries in the village, that's all. That's Boxing Day done and dusted. I was going to do some housework and got as far as sweeping the kitchen floor, then lost interest. A coffee and a natter with my friend seemed a better idea. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.   ilona

Christmas Day beside the sea.

Yes, I am definitely here. I can vouch for that. But where am I? 

I saw a boat.

And another boat. 

There was a pier. It was closed. 

Flowers on the railing.

I saw lots of seagulls. 

They all came down when someone scattered some bread.

Is that it, or will there be some more. 

I saw a blind dog, and the owner was happy to talk to me about it. He said I could take a photo. The dog is 10 years old and has been blind from birth. It can't see me but it turned it's head towards me when I asked it to look my way. What a nice couple to adopt a disabled dog. 

I walked along the sand and looked out to sea. 

I walked underneath the pier. 

I saw a lot of wind turbines a few miles out to sea. 

It was a lovely day out. The weather was perfect. I'll tell you a bit more about it tomorrow. 

I hope you had a nice day. Thank you for popping in and thank you for your comments. 

Toodle pip. ilona. 

Christmas Eve.

It's been very warm today. Haven't got the heating on, don't need it. Very strange. 

Santa has brought me four presents. The German tradition was to open them on Christmas Eve, but I will resist the temptation and open them tomorrow. 

Today I did my Christmas shopping at the Farm Shop. I got there just before they were closing at 1pm. This is what I bought. I won't wrap them as I don't know who will get them. I will give them out willynilly, to whoever I come across over the next week. I hope I can resist the temptation of eating them myself. 🍪🍩🍰🎂

I will also give my hearts away. 

Yes, I have a Christmas tree. I put it up last Christmas and it has been there all year. I switch it on every night. 

As I finished the Billy walk this afternoon I could see that there was going to be a lovely sunset. I picked up the camera and went in search of some photo's. Here are two of them. I'll post some more soon. 

Have a good day tomorrow. I have an invitation pending to go to Nottingham, but it will have to be postponed. Aunty Lyn is not very well and not up to visitors just yet. I have another idea. I always have a plan. See you soon. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

A nice walk, but no sun.

Hardly any wind today. Quite a pleasant walk, it's a pity it was so overcast though. No sun at all. I shall keep on taking my vitamin D supplements. 

I scoured the woods as I walked along the track close by, looking for the odd deer or two. Oh, there's one. The white bum is the giveaway. It spotted me as I got the camera out of my pocket, very slowly. Please stay there, don't move. I set the zoom in motion. Gotcha. A second one came into view and I hoped I could get the two together on the same photo. Sadly they moved on and I lost them as they disappeared further up the bank. 

It's been a couple of weeks since I have been along here. This field is almost bare of it's crop now. Nineteen pallets of good quality turf, ready for loading on a 40 tonne truck. I would like to see how they scrape it all up with the machine, leaving the land so smooth and flat. And stacking it so neatly on the pallets. The soil is very sandy around here. Ideal conditions for turf growing. I wonder if a lorry will come and pick this up tomorrow, or if the job will have to wait until the end of the week. Years ago they used to have to rope and sheet this load. Nowadays they use a curtain sider. Drivers have got it dead easy now. 

Time to get a bite to eat. Now what shall I have. Check the fridge first to see what jumps out at me. Make it up as I go along. 

I hope all your Christmas plans are coming together and you will be ready for the big day. Please don't feel sorry for this pensioner spending Christmas Day alone, because that's how I like it. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

Fun at the Tractor Rally.

The video is done. Here are a few more pics to go with it. This Sparrows wrecker was my favourite, of course, although I love anything on wheels. The more wheels the better. 🚌🚚🚜🚙

Someone has spent a lot of time getting their tractors ready for this. Painstakingly securing the lights to as many surfaces as they can so they don't fall off during their journey.  

Even the vintage tractors were lovingly adorned with Christmas attire. 

I spoke to a young man about this one. It is his pride and joy, and is almost as old as me. He does all the mechanical repairs himself. A fantastic hobby for a young person to immerse himself in. 

The pub car park was buzzing. The event brought a lot of the locals out to chat and swap stories, over a pint or two. 

I was running to catch the start of the arrivals, so the beginning of the video is a bit rushed. 

It's been bitterly cold today. The wind was biting. Almost blew me and Billy boy off our feet. 

Let's see what tomorrow brings. We are past the shortest day thank goodness. Things can only get better.

Thanks for popping in. A very Merry Christmas to all who read my blog and watch my videos. 

Toodle pip.   ilona