Sheridan plays Cilla

I am a bit late posting tonight. I found this film so I have been watching it. It's a long one at 2 hours 16 minutes. I have stopped it at 1 hour 30 minutes and will watch the rest tomorrow. 

I saw the film when it first came out, but me being a 60's girl and a big fan of Cilla I had to watch it again. Sheridan Smith is the ideal person to play Cilla. Amazingly she sang all the songs herself. A very talented lady. If you like pop music from the 60's give it a watch. 

60,362 views 25 Jul 2025 #Cilla #ITV #ITVDrama

Sheridan Smith stars in a critically acclaimed turn as Cilla Black. From hanging out with the young Beatles on the grey streets of Liverpool to new-found stardom on the international stage, chart "our Cilla's" rapid rise to fame.

Now I must go to bed. 

Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

Moving On (Film)

Friday night entertainment, from Forgotten British Television on yoootooob. 

2009 drama from the BBC. 44 minutes long. 

112,246 views 22 Apr 2025

   • Moving On [Complete]   2009 DRAMA Anthology with contemporary themes. Liz, a lonely widow,returns home from her holiday in Torquay with Damar, a Nepalese ex-Gurkha, whom she intends to marry. Her grown-up,divorced daughter and son are hostile to him because they never imagined Liz would find another man to replace their father

For British film fans. Grab a cuppa. Enjoy.   Toodle pip.   ilona 

How do you move on. (Film)

Not another one! 😁😎😝 I watched this last night, it's about an hour long. Nice to see Hayley Mills in a grown up acting role. The story line has a twist to it which is not apparent until you reach the end. Madge is a compulsive liar. She knows she is lying. Watch the anxiety lines on her face deepen as she tries to work out her next move. I won't tell you any more, but there is a deep message here. Twisting the truth to protect others can only bring more anxiety. Watch to the end when she realises what she must do. 

55,056 views 23 May 2025

   • Moving On [Complete]   2014 DRAMA Anthology with contemporary themes. "Active pensioner Madge has a boyfriend, Eric, who commends her good deeds and her work as a prison visitor.

Thank you for popping in. Another post to come. I am really getting into the swing of this blogging lark.

Note the inclusive emoji's 👪👫👬👭

See ya later. ilona

Great entertainment

Another smashing British film. A very modern up to date story line. David Jason's character is a cross between Del Boy and Pa Larkin. Just when you think you have worked out what happens at the end, it changes. Tissues ready. 1 hour 29 minutes. 

371,968 views 19 Apr 2025

UPGRADED VERSION NOW AVAILABLE    • Come Rain Come Shine (720p)   2010 TV Movie. "Retired docker Don and his wife Dora live cautiously within their means. Their daughter Joanne, a single parent, struggles to make ends meet but their property developer son David has a very high life style, mixing in circles far removed from his working class upbringing. However it is a lifestyle financed by credit and soon his world has crashed and burned." IMDB Starring David Jason, Alison Steadman, Shaun Evans, Anna Wilson-Jones, Kellie Bright, Brian Croucher, Simon Dutton & Kate Miles.

Enjoy. Toodle pip. ilona

Forgotten British Television.

Well I never. Another great British film. I've sat up until nearly midnight watching this. It's got a star studded cast. Held me right to the end. Now time to hit the sack. Will have an extra hour in bed in the morning. 

Click link - Watch on Youtube. 

297,283 views 5 May 2025

   • Single Plays/TV Movies   2004 TV Movie "Middle-aged Jess Copplestone is left to look after the elderly relatives of her husband Jacob and to make a new life for herself, after he leaves her for a younger woman." IMDB Starring Brenda Blethyn, Kevin Whately, Rosemary Harris, Anna Massey, Peter Sallis, Jill Baker, Fiona O'Shaughnessy & Matthew Marsh.

Enjoy. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Another British Drama.

I'm not sure if I should be sitting here on a Saturday morning watching another film. I have plenty of other things to do. I was drawn into this within the first five minutes. Stopped it halfway, made another mug of coffee and cut a slice of cake. One of the joys of living alone, you can do what you like. 

I will put it here, but be warned, it is raw and emotional, and you will need a box of tissues. If you are not in the mood for this, skip it and move on. 

Once again, great acting from Timothy Spall, and Belinda Blethyn, and their co star Rebekah.

Drama based on real events. Bill and Wendy Ainscow (Timothy Spall and Brenda Blethyn) are a middle class, middle-aged Birmingham couple locked in a deeply dysfunctional relationship with their 32-year-old daughter Lisa (Rebekah Staton). In a culmination of years spent unsuccessfully trying to obtain a diagnosis and get state help to deal with with Lisa's condition - which eventually turns out to be Asperger's syndrome - Bill and Wendy are ultimately driven to desperate measures with tragic consequences.

Toodle pip.   ilona

Mrs Lowry and Son

Good morning. I went to the cinema last night. No I didn't, I lie. The cinema came to me. I started watching this film at 10.30pm, knowing that I wasn't going to stay awake long enough to watch it all. 1 hour 30 minutes is a long time for me to sit in one place at home, though if I was watching at an actual cinema I would be able to manage it. 

I watched till the halfway point when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. This morning I watched the rest of it while eating my breakfast. 

Timothy Spall is genius in everything he does. Wasn't he in Boys from the Blackstuff many years ago. I remember him as Barry. I think there was a follow up series after that. Paired up with Vanessa Redgrave makes for compelling viewing. The story of LS Lowry is perfect for both of them. 

So if you feel like a night out, make it a night in. Put it onto a big screen if you have one. My desktop computer is perfect for me. 

This morning we have sunshine, and wind. Today I will go to town. I may go out later on this afternoon, there is an event at the car park on the north Bank of the Humber Bridge. I may do that. Depends on the weather. I've recorded a video, I will post that later. 

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your weekend. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Just trolling along . . . .

I will hand this post over to my lovely trolls. 💋💋💋💋💋 

5.Aug. But all you have done is wind thread around hoops and sewn them on a bit of black felt with some bits of gold lace you didn’t even make yourself! Each to their own I guess

5 Aug. From what you have said, I doubt you have ever done cryptic crosswords. To think that they are just repeating the words over and over again is ludicrous! Jacqui

5.Aug. Don’t you miss texture in your food. It all looks so soft..where is the crunch.

4 Aug. You are right it wouldn’t sell. It is simple and the stitching could have been done by an eight year old!

3 Aug. I find it sad that you call people sheep. Jacqui.

31 July. Don’t be silly, they don’t all have boats and private planes and private health care…where do you get your facts?

28 July. David Icke again…seriously, you believe anything that loon says! You do realise that he thinks the royal family are shape sifting lizards. It would be great if you could do a post that reconciles this…why do you respect the opinions of someone who has that view? Seriously.

25 July. And you think this is funny? Two days ago you were publicising it as true. You are complicit in promoting lies which vulnerable people who follow your lovely old lady walks and crafts believe because you appear nice and trustworthy at times. Look at yourself and question your motives. I feel so sorry for you but even more sorry for the people you are influencing with this nonsense.

24 July. Sweeping statements like that are inflammatory and ill-considered. Think about what you are publishing

24 July. Do fact check stuff before you just parrot it back

24 July. Oh dear, oh dear you are so gullible

24 July. You are perpetuating lies. Iresponsible and shameful

23 July. Aka live in a bubble and only mix with people who share your views and won’t challenge you…how terribly boring. Patsy

18 July. STOP STOP STOP. You turn comments off so that you can try and influence people with your distorted views. You are a menace to society. Shame on you. 

Thanks for reading my blog. Thanks for watching my videos. 

See ya soon. Toodle pip.   ilona

Nothing much on the tele tonight.

 Good evening. I caught the last 20 minutes of Coronation Street tonight while I was putting Janet's pussies to bed. My goodness, what a depressing storyline. A guy in a hospital bed pretending to be unconscious. A guy with a patch on the back of his head, been in a fight. A woman with a new hairdo which looked a shambles. People bickering and moaning. What the heck has happened to good old fashioned entertainment. Why is nobody laughing, not even a smile. 

I flicked around looking for something better. Found Love Island. Stuck with it for fifteen minutes, but oh dear, the drama. Painted barbies bawling their eyes out, makeup running down their cheeks. I don't know what they are supposed to be doing on that show. Choose someone they fancy I think, like a dating show. Which one are you after, oh no, I had my eye on him. Some snogging and cuddling. Emotional women and bewildered men. Good grief. 

Ok one last try. I found Long Lost Families. That looks a bit better. People looking for family members. Davina and Nick helping to reunite them. I saw ten minutes of it. I could probably watch that if I had time. 

Pussies all happy. I came home to feed the hedgehogs.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona   

Farewell Tropicana.

Good evening. Here is your Friday night entertainment. 

If you like fireworks you will love this. 

If you like amazing drone footage, you will love this. 

Sit back and relax, and go onto FULL SCREEN. 

Warning, strobe lighting at 5 minutes. 

Blaster Bates, eat your heart out. 

Amazing what you find on yooootooob innit!

Enjoy your weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

A windy walk

Good evening. Coffee morning was a bit different this morning. We had to use the snooker room because our normal lounge room was being used for an after the funeral wake. There wasn't many of us because a lot of people were at the funeral service in the church. 

After lunch I thought I might go for a walk, but then the rain came. Oh well, maybe not. Then an hour later, lo and behold it brightened up. I checked the bus timetable and decided to get the 15.34 bus to town, and walk back. Thankfully the weather stayed dry and warm, and a bit breezy in places, especially crossing the open fields. These grasses were as tall as me and looked lovely wafting sideways in the wind. 

Even though we have had some rain it wasn't enough for the turf fields. This hose pipe contraption thing was gushing gallons of water out of the bottom, and the hose itself had a hole in it and was spraying the ground around it. Someone with spanners needs to come and give it some attention. 

I recorded a video this morning about robots. Here it is on yoootooob. 

This is my robot. Malfunction. 

See the dancing robots on AGT. 

What do you think. Do you like them? I think they are creepy.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

The Times They Are A Changing.

I went to see the film A Complete Unknown, this afternoon. Timothee Chalamet was perfect as Bob Dylan. Here is the real Bob from 1964. 

I have spent tonight watching almost every Bob video, and every Timothee video. 

I won't do a review of the film because it's late. I enjoyed it because the music brought back a lot of memories from the sixties. In my opinion the best decade for pop music. If it is raining and the film is on near you, go and see it. And get yourself a Magnum ice cream while you are there. 

Goodnight. Toodle pip.   ilona

Ballade Pour Adeline

Have to put this out there. My most favourite piece of music ever. 

Years ago I had it on an LP. I recorded this one track onto a 60 minute tape, over and over again, filled the whole side with it. I have just found the tape, and it is playing now as I type. I bought the stereo when I moved here, but hardly use it. I have a few vinyl records left, a few cd's, and some tapes. Just out of curiosity I might start playing music again. 

I seem to remember I have posted about Richard Clayderman before. Just checked, and so I did. Blog post for 3rd September 2019. Five and a half years ago.

I am now going to let the tape play through to the end. Never tire of it. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

PS. Just checked. This video has had 93 million views, and 23,088 comments. Richard has 661k subscribers. It was posted 12 years ago. A nice little earner he has there. 

Lions Den

 In the interests of keeping my subject matter fairly balanced, I offer you a newish social media platform which will warm the cockles of your bitter heart. No need to come here and pick fault with me, just head over to BlueSky and you will find millions of people to bitch along in perfect harmony with. Warning ; it is the antidote to tweeeter. 

Good old algorithms recommended this to me, but I won't be throwing myself into the lions den. 

Be happy people and don't let the buggers get you down. 

Catch ya later. Toodle pip.   ilona

The Social Network

I went to see this film last night. It's about Mark Zuckerberg and how he started facebook. 

To read about it there is a Wiki page. 

I found it pretty hard going to be honest. The background dramatic music drowned out a lot of the speech. That's the problem with wearing a hearing aid. I wanted to click for subtitles like I often do when watching a video on the computer. Even though the subtitles don't always make sense, it's easy to work out what they saying. 

Another problem I have is that people speak so fast, especially so in this film. This can be rectified by altering the playback speed when watching a video. Not so on the big screen. 

The characters are very believable, I think.  I wondered are all Americans are like this, looking for the right word, zealous, excitable, hot-headed? I remember 20 years ago when I was in the US, how loud everyone spoke. Maybe it's more about me slowing down and becoming more intolerant of noise. 

There are plenty of film reviews on yoootooob, here is one of them.

I enjoyed sitting in the cinema, and eating my white chocolate Magnum. One person sitting alone on the back row, two more came in. I don't know where they sat, somewhere behind me. I chose the middle, plenty of leg room. 

I see that the whole film is free to watch, here. I might have to watch it again, using the adjustments I mentioned. 

Now I must get on. Post Office and a dog to walk. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Nothing much on tele.

 Just back from checking on Janet's cats. 

I put the tele on. 

Sat with ginger cat on my knee. 

A programme about the biggest cruise ship in the world. I have seen that on yoootooob. 

Antiques Roadshow. Boring.

The Masked Singer. Awful.

Ant and Dec. Quiz programme. Awful.

Pottery programme. Can't be bothered. 

It's raining. The snow will be washed away by the morning. 

Back to yoootooob. Mandy in her campervan has posted. Janine and Liam Those Happy Days, on their way back from the Arctic. Living the Skye Life Willie and Sarah, cottage flooded.  By the Curb James messed up. Frugal Queen in France. Wandering Where Adam in Thailand. Nico Brina Boogiewoogie in the snow. Plenty to watch on here. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

The Ropewalk at Barton.

I like to visit The Ropewalk at Barton once a month, to see if there are any new exhibitions in the galleries. At this time of the year there are a lot of Christmassy gifts for sale. Let's take a look at what's on offer. These hand made treasures are miles better than the mass produced stuff that comes in a box from the other side of the world. 

Quirky ceramic bowls with lids. 

The small box gallery is a haven for personal gifts to please everyone. 

Gorgeous hand crafted glassware. 

Beautiful bags, hats, purses, and hot water bottle covers. 

This is interesting. A fishy wall hanging made from driftwood. 

A wooden, stained board, with hand made sculptured butterflies. 

The Ropewalk is a quarter of a mile long. It has a coffee shop, five galleries, a shop, 15 artists studios, a sculpture garden, and a live theatre venue. 

 The museum is an ever growing archive of artifacts, literature and photographs that document Hall’s Barton Ropery from its origins set in the eighteenth century through to its final conclusion as a ropery business in the latter half of the twentieth century.

The Ropewalk Museum presents a wonderful insight into the life and conditions of the Ropery workers and their families and what it was really like to be a part of an industry that has served to become central to Barton upon Humber’s rich heritage.

Hall’s Barton Ropery exported its ropes throughout the world and played an integral part in both the First and Second World War efforts, specifically supplying the United Kingdom and United States of America naval fleets with important ropes and shipping warps.

The foundation of the Hall-Mark company itself dates back to 1767 when the Halls, a wealthy ship-owning family from Hull, first became involved in rope making in Barton.

I hope this has been interesting for you. If you are heading for the Humber Bridge you might want to take time out and visit Barton on Humber. You could easily spend a day there, lots more to see. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodlepip. ilona. 

Janine and Liam on the road.

Good morning. Not much happened yesterday. Sewing and dog walk. 

In an hour of so I am going to the Coffee Morning. I made some more bunting, I wanted to use up the Christmas themed fabric I have. I sold some last week, so I am hoping someone will buy these I have ready now. 

Someone asked me for links to videos I watch on yoootooob. They are fed up of the boring stuff on the old telebox, and want something new to watch. 

I think it's possible to put the internet through to a big screen on the wall. I don't have that facility, but my desktop computer has a big enough screen for me anyway. I choose the full screen setting and it's like watching the tele. 

I will put a few suggestions here over the coming months. If I have an hour to spare, or half an hour, some of them are about 30 minutes, I have a drink or a bite to eat, while I watch. 

Liam and Janine have been churning out some fascinating travel vlogs over the years. I think it's Janine who does the editing, Liam is the practical hands on brains of the duo, and he talks a lot. 

They are at the moment on their way to Lapland for Christmas. Driving overland through several countries and visiting some amazing cities and towns. They take us on mini tours when passing through places. On full screen it's like having an exclusive documentary beamed straight into your living room.    

If you look into their channel you will find trips all around the UK. They spent several months driving a Tuktuk around India. They walked the Camino trail from France to Spain, and they have documented their self build campervans. They have car camped in the smallest of cars, and lived in a converted furniture box van. Plenty of entertainment in their vast archives. 

Just a note about adverts on yoootooob. For a lot of content creators producing videos is their job. Some will sponsor products or services. When the video is interrupted by adverts I click through them. At the end I will let the adverts play out and mute the sound, and scroll down to read the comments until they have finished. I don't get any revenue from any adverts which appear on my channel. I don't ask for them, they put them there. I always click the like button on other people's videos, and usually leave a comment. 

Now I must go. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

See the Reds here.

 Anyone fancy seeing The Red Arrows this year. Here are some dates for you. 

Here is a list of  dates and events where they can be seen. 

Happy Monday. Toodle pip.   ilona

Light up the town.

We have some pretty lights in Church Square. The area has been redesigned with a new layout. A nice place to sit, and meet friends. 

One day, perhaps in the middle of summer, our fountains might explode and grow to great heights, when they ramp up the pressure. Just like Bradford. Can't wait. 😎😍😜

Have a great weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona