Love my life: 2025

Monday, 8 September 2025

Doddington Hall visit 2025

Good morning. I am not going to Crafty Club today, I am far too busy. Always the same after a day out. I come back with a lot of photo's and a video or two to upload. I didn't take as many photo's at Doddington as I did last year. And checking back on those I reckon that this years art exhibition was not as good as that one.

Judge for yourself. With videos.

Now back to 2025.

Three pics from inside the house.

Seven pics from the Walled Garden.

Now I must get on. Lots to do today. A video coming out later.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona

Be alerted

Darren Jones MP

@darrenpjones

20h

Thank you for taking part in today’s Emergency Alert test, which saw tens of millions of phones successfully receive the message across the country. The test took just seconds, but will help the government keep the country safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Darren Jones MP

@darrenpjones

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Labour MP, Bristol North West.

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

Help the Government keep the country safe. Nope that's a lie.

It wasn't an emergency alert test. It was a data harvesting exercise. The Government want to know how many people they can control by sending a text message. Carry your phone with you at all times, be prepared to follow orders. What is the emergency they are planning? Who knows, they will make one up. As long as you comply you will be alright. It's already happening in China.

Thank you for reading my blog. Now chuck your phone in the nearest river and enjoy your new found freedom. lots of love... ilona

Sunday, 7 September 2025

Meeting vanlifers

Good evening. How was your Sunday? Mine has been just great. A day out at Doddington Hall near Lincoln. It was the last day of the Sculpture Trail. I almost missed it because I was planning to go to the Lincolnshire Showground for a craft event. Then I checked Doddington Hall web site and realised this was my last chance this year to see over 300 inspiring works from 58 national and international sculptors. Plenty of pictures and a video to come. Stay tuned.

I seem to have a knack of finding interesting people to talk to. Maybe I should consider recording the chats I have when I am out and about. Yesterday, on my walk back from town I stopped for a break and sat on a low wall outside an empty office building. There was a security van parked there, with a dog in the back. There has been one here for several months, but I have never seen anyone around it when I have been past. I was sat there minding my own business when a woman appeared and asked me if I was alright. So we got chatting, as you do. She was very small, very slim, and dressed in black. She didn't look big enough to me, to be doing a security job. Not sure how she would cope if someone caused trouble.

So the chat continued, probably me doing most of the talking. I was a bit hesitant at first because I was unsure about her appearance. It's not my place to comment on what she looked like, but she had obviously gone through some surgery because the scars on her neck and face were quite noticeable. Then she told me about her job, and what she did before this. She was in the police force for a long time but had to leave when she became ill. Then she bought the van and turned it into a campervan. She fitted it all out herself. She showed me inside. It looked very comfortable. The dog had it's own compartment in the back. It was signwritten as a security vehicle, and she became a self employed freelance security guard, travelling all over the country to different jobs. She said her phone is always ringing offering her more work. So, she lives in her van. On this job she does 12 hour days, 7 till 7, then someone else takes over and does the nights. What a brave woman to have got through a health setback, picked herself up, and built a new life for herself. We got on like a house on fire, as the saying goes. We chatted for ages, and the bonus was, she is wide awake to the current situation. Without any prompting from me, she said she didn't get any jabbbys. Big smile on my face. YESSSSSSSS.

And so moving on to today. I met a very nice couple at Doddington who have this van which is converted into a campervan. The Mr did it all himself. Everything. It's got portable solar power, a diesel heater, and lots of little lights. They do have a house but come out in this as often as they can. He is still working a full time job but is thinking they might make the move to full time vanlife. It is gorgeous inside. The layout is very well thought out and compact.

Very smart eh. It's a Ford Transit ex fire brigade minibus.

Three hedgehogs are here tonight. They don't seem to be eating as much now. Perhaps they are almost full and ready for hibernating.

Now I'm off to bed. Thanks for popping in. Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip. ilona

Dave Z Photography.

Good morning. I play around with photography because it's fun. Always looking for that one amazing picture that stands out from all the rest of them. Studying colour, depth, and composition. I am an amateur. Now look at this one. I wish I had taken it.

This is my version from September 2010. Same place. Helmsley. See the difference. I have maybe cropped too much. It would be better with some contrast and saturation. It's a learning curve. I have a better camera now. I hope I am improving but there is still a long way to go. .

Thanks to Dave Z for the borrow of his photo. You can see more of his work on his Facebook page. He has put together 12 of his shots and compiled a 2026 calendar of the best bits of Yorkshire.

Check it out here.

The sun is shining and I am going to enjoy my Sunday. Make sure you do too.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona

Saturday, 6 September 2025

Funky Fungi

Good evening. There is always something unusual to see at the park. Look at the size of this fungi, at the foot of a massive tree. I'm not sure how much longer it's got to live, before it starts to deteriorate. I suspect it will start crumbling soon.

Putting my boots into the picture gives an indication of it's size.

Looking at it from a different angle. I got down on my knees and placed the camera onto the ground for this shot. The underside looks smooth compared the the crinkly top.

Bigger than my rucksack.

I will see what it looks like when I next go there.

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip. ilona

Luxmuralis is at 20 21 Arts Centre

Good morning, and welcome to another Saturday. We are whizzing through 2025 now. Far too fast for my liking. So much to do and so little time left. Let's crack on.

Yesterday I got the 1.09pm bus into town. It stops at the end of my road so very convenient. My mission was to photograph the latest exhibition at the 20 21 Arts Centre. Now that my camera has had it's checks it's all systems go.

Luxmuralis is on until the 13th of September. It's a spectacular video and sound instillation. The electrifying immersive exhibition has been seen by millions of visitors across the UK and beyond. Loud pulsating music accompanies the stunning visuals. There are seats to sit down, choose a deckchair, or you can lie on a pile of beanbags if you want to gaze at the ceiling to allow the colours to wash over you. I stood at the back to take these pictures.

For more information about this exhibition take a look at the 20 21 web site.

If you want to see more pictures like this I went to a similar event in March 2024 at Lincoln Cathedral. This of course is a much bigger venue than our St Johns Church. The photo's from that showcase a much wider mixture of colours. It is a bonus however to have a scaled down version of this exhibition on our doorstep in Scunthorpe Town Centre.

Then it was time to walk the five miles back home. Some of it is road walking as I come out of Scunthorpe and pass the industrial estates. I have noticed in the past that there is always a security van with a dog in it parked at the front of an empty building, with no sign of activity in or around it. I thought that was strange. There is a low wall in front of the car park, which has barriers to stop people driving onto it. This is a handy place to sit for ten minutes or so and have a snack. The dog barked at me so I sat further away from it than I usually do. Don't want to upset a guard dog. The human doing the guarding came to speak to me. What happened next put a massive smile on my face. I'll tell you about that in another post.

Enjoy your Saturday. Toodle pip. ilona

Friday, 5 September 2025

Memories of shop work

Good morning. This is a picture of Station Street in Burton upon Trent. I am not sure of the exact year it was taken, probably way before my time. I worked in a shop a few doors down on the right hand side when I was about 16 - 17. My shop work started at Woolworths, but then I moved to Melias. It was a general grocery and food shop.

Part of it was a mini supermarket where you walked around filling your basket, and part of it was asking the assistant to serve you on the deli counter. I did the serving on the counter, as well as weighing up the blocks of cheese and butter into smaller pieces. We also had a bacon slicer so people could buy two rashers of bacon if they wanted to. I would slice up a large chunk of bacon and arrange it nicely on a tray so people could point at what they wanted and say how many slices.

Working on the till was part of the job, as was mopping the floor at the end of the day. The stock was delivered once a week at the back door so we helped Colin the driver unload it. I smiled sweetly and fluttered my eyelashes at him, hoping he would notice this skinny beanpole was interested in him. Didn't work though.

I was happy there. My best friend Sheila worked at Woolworths at the same time as I did. She was married to Basil a policeman. I remember them well.

Bernie was another staff member. She used to flirt with Mr Laidlaw the manager. I was jealous because she was getting all his attention. Funny what goes through your mind when you are a naive teenager. Crikey he was old enough to be my father, and not at all what you might call handsome. I think I was desperate for someone to love me, as my own father was somewhat lacking any affection for me.

I got my brother Stephen a job at Melias. We delivered groceries direct to people's houses. Remember Granville on his bicycle on Open All Hours? Stephen had a bike like that. The carrier on the front loaded up with boxes of food. I remember him struggling up Henhurst Hill. I don't think he lasted long on that job.

After Melias I moved onto factory work because it paid more. Roberts and Birch was a meat factory and I worked in the sausage room. I didn't last long there. It was boring and made me feel sick. I walked into a job at a toilet roll factory. Much better. Clean work with friendly people to work with. When I left there I was 18. I also left Burton, and went to live in Blackpool. Time to strike out on my own and make my own way in life. The rest is history.

It's Friday. What have I got planned for today. Something will happen for sure.

Thanks for popping in. Get ready for the weekend. Toodle pip. ilona

Thursday, 4 September 2025

The camera shop in Lincoln

Hello. I drove through a massive storm today. I was on the A15 near Caenby Corner when the heavens opened. The road turned into a river within a few minutes. Headlights on, down to 20 mph, hanging onto the steering wheel as the water dragged me into the side of the road. Thank goodness it stopped raining as I got closer to Lincoln.

I have been having trouble with my Canon camera, the one I use for photographs. It was acting very strange, switch it on take a photo, and couldn't switch it off. Tried charging the battery, that didn't work. Rather than try and sort it out myself with Mr Google, maybe best to take it to the shop where I bought it.

Didn't take them long to solve the problem. The memory card was a mess, all kinds of crap on it. The nice man put it into his computer, a few clicks, then put it back into my camera. That's sorted it, he said. A few test shots and all is well again.

I wanted to pick his brains about updating my video camera and explained what I wanted it to do. He had exactly the right camera at a price I would have paid for it. Except, I don't have a smartphone, and the camera needs to be connected to an app on a phone. Never mind. I am not going down that route, so I will carry on with the one I have already got.

I recommend the London Camera Exchange on Silver Street in Lincoln. Very helpful staff. There are other branches in other towns.

With my poorly camera now better I thought I would take a few pics while I was there. It's been a funny weather kind of day. Sunny and dark at the same time. The sky was 'black over Bills mothers', as my mother used to say. The sun from this side made the Cathedral really stand out. View from the High Street.