What are my kitties doing.

Good morning. We awake to wet mist this morning.

The little table project is finished. This is the shelter for the hedgehog food. It sits outside the back door and keeps the dry food dry. It rained overnight and the food was gone this morning. Dollops of hedgie poo indicated who had eaten it. I have to poo pick the whole garden so I don't stand in it. I can see the table from inside the house so I can replenish if they decide to have a munching party. 

The old wonky metal legs are gone, replaced with wood. Make do and mend. 

Lunch yesterday was mushrooms, spinach, and rice noodles that you get from the chiller cabinet at Aldi. Chuck in a few spices, I like garlic, and a spoonful of caramelised onion chutney. Quick and easy. 

How are the kitties getting on? 

Must dash. Need to wash hair before I go to the Coffee Morning. 

Stay Happy. Toodle pip.   ilona

It's Showtime again

I went back to Lincoln Showground yesterday for the Food and Gift Fair. At one time I would never pay to go in these events, but now I can afford to splash out on a few treats. £7 to get in. 

In the entrance there was a big display with literature from The Christmas Decorators. I didn't know there is a company that will decorate private homes, inside and out. Most people I would say do their own decorating. I have no idea how much it costs to pay someone to do that. Probably lots, and only affordable for the wealthy. Have a look at their web site. There is a video with a full description of what they do. Cherie might be interested to watch this for ideas, when she does her own house. 

An area was set aside for cooking demonstrations. I sat and watched this man cook up a slab of steak, only because I wanted somewhere to sit down and eat my own snack of a cheese and onion roll and an egg custard. People were queuing to dip their fingers in for a taste after he had finished. 

Strike up the band. There was a massive marquee with open sides which joined up the two exhibition halls, so it was completely under cover. Mobile food caterers lined up on each side and picnic tables were set up down the middle. Some of the food looked really nice, but I took my own. 

You've got to have a Santa. There were several actually. A real man dressed up in costume, sat on a sleigh. 

A Lincoln Imp put in an appearance, at this speciality beer stand.

Tons of Christmas decs everywhere. 

Jams, chutneys, honey, marmalade, and all kinds of preserves. 

And if you are looking for something really different, why not buy some edible bugs and insects. Try before you buy. No thanks. 

This is what I bought. I splashed out on some nice cheese. Dates well into next year. Two different stalls. One of them has a farm in Burton upon Trent, they make their own cheese. I had to buy some, didn't I. Here is a link if you want to buy some. It can be posted out. 

A sweet treat for me. Lime Tree Pantry Foods are at Ollerton near Newark. They do a delivery service. 

Yum, honey. I don't buy honey very often. After tasting it, I couldn't resist buying a jar. 

I found a calendar for next year to my liking in the format I prefer. It has pictures of cows and trees in it. Perfect. I did feel sorry for a young man who tried his hardest to sign me up for a Woodland Trust membership. I explained that I don't do direct debits or give my bank details to charities. I will happily give cash, but of course they are not allowed to take it. Most charities are going that way now. 

I am happy with my purchases and was home by 4pm. 

Once again, thank you for reading my blog. Don't worry about not being able to comment. I can assure you that I will continue to post. It's a relief to me to have the barriers up and block out the nasty people. Thanks for popping in. Have a nice Sunday. Toodle pip.   ilona

News catch up

 I will chuck this one out there while having a break from posting holiday pics. Yes there are more to come. There are some Alston pics, Weardale pics, and some waterfall pics, bet you are excited. 😄😎😆 

North Lincs Council have given me a Council Tax discretionary energy rebate payment to help with the cost of living. I had to collect my £150 from the Post Office using the letter they sent me, because they don't have my bank details. That was a nice little windfall. I went to Go Outdoors and spent £145 on new winter clothing. It was nice to be able to choose clothes, rather than buy whatever they had in a charity shop. I am chuffed with what I bought. 

The message on the bottom of this chocolate box is reuse or recycle. I am reusing two of them for my garden art project. They are stuck together. This is going to be the head of a scarecrow. 

It seems I have another cat. Mau Mau has been roaming the village for most of his twelve years. He has a home and goes back there whenever he feels like it. His owner sometimes asks on facebook if anyone has seen him. Most people in the village, including me, report back their sightings. Mau Mau seems to like my garden. I contacted his owner the other day, he lives two streets away, and he came round to see him. He is happy for him to spend time here. I said I would feed him, so it looks like we are sharing him. 

Can you see my new twinkly lights. Don't they look pretty. I think I need to spread them out a bit more along the whole length of the hedge. 

I'll be back tomorrow with some more pics. Toodle pip.   ilona 

For book lovers

Good morning. This is the last post from the Winterton Show. Something caught my eye in the craft and shopping tent, these book tables. After a chat with Di, the lady who makes them, it turns out they are not books at all. She makes them all individually from blocks of wood. They look so realistic. What a super idea. 

Each book is hand made, painted and labels stuck on, stacked and fastened together, and given several coats of varnish.  

Apologies, the photo's are not very good. The real thing is a lot better than what you see here. 

Di can make tables with a particular theme, according to the interests and hobbies of the person ordering it. The price you see here is the show price on the day. I think that is very reasonable. The price would normally need to be negotiated with Di herself at the time of placing the order. 

Diana lives near Doncaster. This is where you can contact her if you have any questions. This is her hobby, something she enjoys doing.  

It is lovely to meet a wide range of people when you attend local events, any events. I had a nice day out. I'm glad I made the effort to go. 

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

Does it work?

Hello. Tuesday morning and all is well at Tightwad Towers. I'm not sure if I can use that title any more, because I am not as tight as I used to be. I still don't like spending money on something unnecessary though, if I can avoid it. I have been toying with the idea of buying a new camera, I might do one day. In the meantime I am trying to find a way to make videos outdoors without the wind noise spoiling them. 

The microphone on a camera is very exposed, so there needs to be some way of shielding it. I could buy an external plug in microphone I suppose, that would be the usual path to take to eliminate the problem. But I like playing with bits and bobs, so let's see if this solution works first before I part with some dosh. 

Cut hole in bottom of plastic box so the lens will open. Cut smaller hole in the side of the box to screw the metal handle to the bottom of the camera. Point and shoot. 

Does it work? It's a whole lot better than it was. Maybe not eliminated the problem 100% but it might be acceptable. 

I will give it a go for a while and see how I get on. This is a test in the garden, I will take it with me when I walk in open fields, which might happen this afternoon.  

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

PS. Did you take a look at Patrick's video. His are far more superior to mine. 

New pet.

Did anyone see the sunrise on Monday morning? This is the sight that greeted me when I opened the curtains. Fabulous. Oscar cat standing on the outside table looking in, waiting. 'Anyone there, can I come in please, I'm ready for breakfast.' 

I have a new pet, Sammy the Spider has taken up residence in the cat litter box. He's a bigun. Been there a couple of days now, doesn't budge when I scoop out the pee and poo. I'll have to relocate him, I don't think he can climb out by himself.

I bought a lottery ticket yesterday, first in many years, I'm not a gambler. Just wondered if it was my lucky day. Think I'd better check it, just in case.

Red and green bunting finished, and some more made. Email arrived inviting me to be a guest speaker at an Eco fashion show, next month. Luckily I'm free so I can do it. It's at a posh hotel in Hull, should be fun. Here's a bit about it.

The show will showcase key looks from established and emerging local designers in and around Hull, it will be an incredible platform for designers and models to help promote environmental sustainability, resource recycling and also educate others about reducing textile waste. Creative Minds Organisation in Hull known for recycling fabrics for art and promotes sustainable living. 

Right up my street, eh!.
Toodle pip.  ilona

I can make those.

A few months ago I found these embroidery silks in a charity shop. They were in a bag for £2.50. A good buy I thought. My embroidery threads are in a bit of a tangle loose in a box, so I thought these plastiky bits were a good way to keep them tidy. 

I think it must be a bit of a laborious task to transfer silks onto these , but at least it's easy to find the colours you need.

 I don't know how much it costs to buy the plastic bits, but why not make them for nothing. Some plastics are easy to cut with nail scissors.

There you are, two home made spools, now how many more do I need.

They don't cost very much to buy, on eeeeebay I found 100 for £3.29 with free postage. As I don't buy off the internet and I am not registered with eeeebay, and as I prefer to pay cash, I won't bother. I can make them.

The storage boxes to put them in are also for sale. I've found one for £6.49, free postage. I have made my own out of a cat food pouch box, cut down to size. This will do me fine.

Has anyone been over to John's blog yet, he is doing a feature entitled, 'My Corner'. Everyone sends in a photo of their favourite corner of their house or garden, and he posts them on his blog. Some lovely places to sit and relax and spend quality time doing hobbies or whatever. I sent him my corner. Craft table by the back window looking out over the garden. I picked up a smashing free lamp from my Aunties house clearance, now I can carry on working when it gets dark outside. Have a look, interesting to peek.You'll have to keep going back because more are arriving daily.
 

Looking like a day indoors today. Windy and showery. Plenty to do.  ilona

Shades of grey

It's been a few weeks since I last went to the Scrapstore, and as I like to take something with me to give them, I paid a visit to the vinyl man to see if he had any scraps in his bin. I struck lucky, there was quite a lot, large pieces as well, and several bright colours. I went to the wood man next door but he didn't have anything of interest. Never mind, it's pot luck when asking for scrap donations. The ladies at the Scrapstore were dead chuffed with the vinyl. 

Angela came with me and we found some really nice fabric. Like me she has several projects on the go. My fabric looks a bit dull on the photo, mostly shades of grey, but some of it has a beautiful sheen to it. There will be some posh looking shopping bags coming off the production line. 

This one is shiny, with blue and purple hues in it.

They had big bags of coloured cord on offer and were decanting it into smaller bags for £3 each. I chose these colours. It would make great boot laces, ha ha.

When we got back Angela quickly rustled up a late lunch for us. Egg,chips, and beans, just the job. We had a rummage, and a laugh, a fun afternoon.

Raining now so no walking tonight.  ilona

A three pot planter

Hello, me again. This is what I made this afternoon. I have three small plants which need re planting into bigger pots, and the only ones I have are black plastic which are a bit ugly. I know, make a wooden cover for them. I had what looked like the bottom of a childs cot, the slatted bit that the mattress lays on, and luckily the slats were exactly the right length, three for the back and three for the front. I couldn't be bothered to remove the staples so I bashed them flat. Ignore the writing on the inside, I used it as a makeshift sign once. 

The two ends are made with tongue and groove cladding, and the pieces are joined together with narrow pieces of wood.

The pots fit perfectly.

I put a bar across to hold them in place.

Those metal corner fixers should be on the inside, but it was easier to put the screws in on the outside.

I will paint it tomorrow and put the plants in. An easy project for a couple of hours. I'll post a picture when it's finished.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip