Unloved bins for sale.

 All over North Lincolnshire there are redundant bins waiting to be picked up. The Council have a new recycling system and issued us with larger red bins. They now need to come back and collect the old ones. It's been four weeks since we got the replacement new bins. Perhaps they are too busy collecting all the red litter bags that are appearing everywhere. 😁😎😆

The residents of this street in Scunthorpe are fed up of seeing them blown about by the wind, so they have laid them to rest in a communal green space. What a good idea. I don't know what the plan is for them once they have been collected, but most of them still have a lot of life in them. I hope they are selling them on to recover some of the cost of the new ones. 

I suggest put them in a container and ship them to a country that can make use of them. There must be hundreds of ways to recycle the whole bin. Convert them back to the raw materials, grind them up, and add it to tarmac when they fill pot holes. 👍👍👍

Have a nice day. Toodle pip.   ilona

Easy paper bag Journal

Good morning.

Following on from my previous video on journaling, I have just come across this tutorial on how to make one from a brown paper bag. I don't follow instructions I just do my own thing, but if you want to give it a try, you might find this helpful. 

If you have a used paper bag, paper and glue, you have everything you need to make a stunning new journal! Today I’m on a mission to reduce waste and transform "Trash" into a satisfying, creative Treasure. I made one of these last month while clearing out my craft room and I honestly couldn't stop—they are so addictive to create and even more fun to fill.

No snow overnight, freezing outside.

Now I must put food out for the garden birds, and break the ice on their water bowls. 

Have a good Sunday. Catch ya later.

Toodle pip.   ilona

Inside The Old Rectory

Good morning. It's Sunny Sunday. I will slot these Rectory posts in as and when I have time. Shorter days are a pain, I never have time to do what I want to do. Yesterday I did a seven mile walk, chatted to a man who was tidying his garden, he wife came home so I chatted to her as well. Then I passed a friend who was tinkering with his car on his front driveway. I chatted to him and his wife, I like them, a nice couple. Time spent walking, and chatting with friends, is important for my mental health and well being.

The computer problems are ongoing until I have time to sort them. Now I know why other people have reported that they can only comment as Anonymous. I am beginning to wonder if Big Tech want to weed out all the useless social media users. Is this the plan. They don't like it when we speak out against the official narrative. We'll get rid of that lot. I am suspicious of everything. 

Anyway, take a look at these pics. Beautiful wall tiles just inside the front door entrance. I hope this is saved and reinstated in the renovations. 

Small lavvy room just inside the front door. 

Most of my indoor photo's were shot in the dark. I couldn't actually see what was there. Had to be careful not to stumble on the rubbish strewn about. I have brought the colours out with lots of saturation. I didn't touch anything. This is just how I found it. 

There was a lot of personal items. Such a shame that someone's life has been discarded. I hope someone new comes along and sifts through them and catalogues them.  

I personally think that everything in this place which is salvageable should be preserved for history. It is doubtful that somebody will want the job of sorting through it and it will be thrown in a skip. This is heartbreaking for me, and prompts me to sort through my own possessions and scale them down before I die.

 

I went to our local council tip the other day to dispose of a rotten old door and some broken plastic bowls which I have used in the garden. A woman was there throwing a big bag of things which didn't look like rubbish to me. I said to her, looks like there might be some useful stuff there. Her reply, 'I am clearing out the kids toys to make room for the new ones I am buying for Christmas'. I looked down into the supposedly scrap wood skip. There was some useful small furniture pieces in there, which could have been painted and made new again. We in the Western World have had it too easy to go and buy new stuff. 

Anyway, I will quit the rambling. I have a plan for today. 

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

Make a seat cushion.

Good morning. The sun is shining on this Bank Holiday Saturday. 

Here is a little project I knocked up yesterday. You might like to make something similar. This fleece sweatshirt has seen better days, it is worn out. So why not turn it into something else. 

First wash it, then lay it out flat. Cut off the waistband and the sleeves. 

Then remove the cuffs and open the sleeves out. The neckline was bulky so I cut that off as well. The back and front become the base, then layer the smaller pieces on top. 

Pin it all down and run the machine over it a few times to hold it all together. 

Find a piece of fabric to make the cover. I have lots donated to me from a house clearance. You could use a pillow case, a piece of curtain, or a bed sheet. It needs to be washable. 

Make a pocket and insert the home made wadding. Close up the end. I sew a line with the machine about three inches from the edge. This keeps it in place when in the washing machine. You could do a fancy quilt if you like. 

I have three office chairs which I move about in the living room. Mayze cat has first choice, I utilize the others depending on what I am doing. 

Sometimes I get to relax on the easy chair. 

I have a few of these covers now. Most of them are made from cut up duvet's. They are useful to use on garden seats as well. No need to buy new. 

Anyway. My builders have turned up. Looks like I won't be going far today. No doubt endless cups of tea will be needed, and yes, I have bought some teabags. 

Toodle pip. ilona 

Fun at Crafty Club.

We didn't get much crafting done this morning in the Village Hall. Time was spent eating, drinking and laughing. Then we played Bingo. We had two birthdays to celebrate. 

The Bingo prizes. I won a bottle of wine. 

After lunch I took Billy dog out, then I set about making a small table for the hedgehog food shelter. This table top had metal fold up legs, but the mechanism wasn't working properly. I removed them and screwed four pieces of wood to it. 

I cut four pieces of wood for the legs, and only managed to attach one when I ran out of time. It was starting to get dark, so I'll finish it off tomorrow. All wood is reclaimed timber found in skips. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Recycling, and cats

Oh no, not another day of rain. A friend in the village is clearing out a house, the elderly relative has gone into a care home. She asked me if I could find a use for some of the stuff. I said I would take a look at it, maybe keep some items, and pass the rest on to a charity shop. This will keep me busy for a couple of hours. 

The cats have been out, but soon came back in again. Oscar has got prime position on my bed. 

Mickey seems to like it in the bath. He visits because his owners are out all day. Lovely boy. 

Mayze looks ready to pounce. She spends time on the kitchen worktop. I put a bed down for her. She knows that this is where the food gets served up. 

On a sunny day they are all outside. They might go out later if it stops raining.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Hello Olesya

 Good morning. It's Wednesday and the bin men have collected the red bin. No sun to be seen this morning, it's cloudy. Cats fed, coffee drunk. 

This is for the sewers out there, recycling old clothes to be precise. I am a member of the group Waste not Want not, and Olesya (what a lovely name) often posts about her creations. Her clothes and accessories are a work of art for sure. She lives in Northamptonshire in the UK. 

If you are looking for ideas of what to do with old clothes take a look at her creations. She makes not just clothes, she has a range of accessories as well. Bags, hats, leg warmers, gloves, and suchlike. Her range of colours and styles is amazing. Some of them perfect for winter. 

Here is her web site. Slowfashionbus. Read her bio, her passion for sewing started at an early age using her mothers sewing machine. 

Her Etsy shop is here. Some of the items are a bit pricey but they are what you would expect for something that is an exclusive one off item of clothing. 

Olesya is also on facebook. 

Now I am going to get my breakfast. Porridge again but I have run out of fruit, so I am going to open a tin of peach slices. No plans for today as such. The sun is coming out, so I might go for a walk. The car passed its MOT test but needs some work doing. I will need to do some food shopping soon. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. 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 

New skip dive.

What is this? Something from outer space, maybe dropped off a satellite? Nope, it's from a chandelier I recovered out of a skip last week. There were two of them, I gave Angela one to play with. 

I removed all the glass and cleaned it up. Hmmm, looking interesting.  

150 pieces of glass, with a hole at one end for hanging, and a hole straight through the middle vertically. 

These could be hung in trees for sparkly decorations. Several could be hung together as wind catchers, they would make a soothing tinkling sound. 

They will probably be in my spare room storage facility until I come up with a few ideas. If I haven't done anything with them for a year, I might give them away. Some of my arty crafty materials I have had for a long time. Maybe too long.

I've just had a cooked breakfast. I'm running a bit low on fresh ingredients so I will have to go shopping either tonight or tomorrow night. Today I spiralized half a courgette, added some ready cooked noodles, and an egg, sprinkled it with grated cheese, and had it on toast. Very nice it was too. 

Update on the cat with a sore neck. He is doing well. Comes twice a day for a scoff so he is getting the anti biotics down him. His scab is shrinking and will soon drop off as the new skin grows underneath. 

Update on the hedgehogs. They are still coming every night, and I am finding poo on the lawn. Hopefully they will be well fed in time for the winter hibernation. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

A skip dive.

I spotted a skip in the village. It's on the road outside someone's house. There was something in it which looked interesting, shame to throw it away. I knocked the door and asked the person if I could have it. The answer, yes, take anything you like.

We had a conversation about recycling, and I said I would take things even if I did not have a use for it myself. I could find someone who would like it. They then proceeded to bring more stuff out. They were having a garage and loft clear out. 

I will keep these things for now. They will be useful. The summer house needs a tidy so some of this will go in there. 

The skip will be there for the rest of this week. They said I could take anything from it, so I will have a look every day to see if anything new and useful appears. 

Porridge for breakfast this morning. Toodle pip.   ilona

Extending the life of flowers

I fill up the gaps in my flower beds and pots with artificial flowers, so there is some colour over the winter. These flowers come from the bins in the churchyard. After Christmas and New Year has passed, people tart up their graves with something fresh and new, and throw the old decorations away. 

So, I lift the lids and remove anything which has a bit more life left in it. Some flowers are plastic, some are silk. I bend the wires which are attached to the wreath and pull them out, and leave anything in the bin which is too far gone to do anything with. 

After a year or two in my garden they start to look a bit faded. Yesterday I had an idea, I could paint them. These were red. I think they look lovely in purple and blue. 

I will put them back in the garden. They will last a bit longer. I have some tester pots of household emulsion paint, which I got cheap. I don't know how long these will last, but it's better than binning them. 

I am uploading a video, it will appear at some point in the next few hours. Now waiting for yooohoootooob to do it's thing. 

In the meantime I have a dog walk to do, and some hedge trimming. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Big spender

There was a notice come up on our village page about a Boot Sale in a neighbouring village, so I went to have a look today. More out of curiosity than to buy something. It was like what you would call a garage sale. The sellers set tables up outside their own house and the browsers either walked around or drove their car to each location in turn. 

There was a map but I didn't need one. I know the village well, I used to deliver the Parish Newsletters there. It started at 10am but I didn't notice the advert until gone 12 o clock, so I was a little bit late arriving. 

Everyone was very friendly, nice to have a chat with a few people. It was due to finish at 4pm, but I noticed that some were packing up early. I bought a few small items for a grand total of £1.40. Some of them were charity stalls. The notices said everything is free, a donation would be welcome. 

This is a fairly new thing round here, a bigger village is doing one in a couple of weeks time. It's a good way to pass things on which are no longer wanted. A good opportunity  of getting some walking in as well. A quick look at the church while I was there. 

I wonder if they might start something like this in my village. Maybe it will catch on. 

Billy was waiting with his harness on when I got back. He really looks forward to his walks. I bought him a teddy to add to his collection, only 10p. 

Thanks to those who have checked in with their walking miles, it's good to see that people are still keen on this challenge. Anyone who hasn't done so can check in at any time, just go to the page and send a comment with your progress report. 

Thanks for popping in. Catch ya 2morrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

How to make plastic flowers

A new batch of flowers has been made. Colour to decorate the garden. Easy to make if you want to have a go. Follow the instructions on the video, ask me questions if you like. 

For decorating borders or pots. 

This video took seven hours to load onto yoootooob, even after I altered the settings on the camera. I need to look into this. In the past it has taken between two and three hours. 

It's a bit dull today, a dog walk is planned for this afternoon. It's the last day of April on Saturday so check in day for the International Walking Group will be on Sunday. A third of the year has gone already, the target is 333 miles. Have you reached that. I look forward to hearing from you. 

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

Recycling bedding.

 I've been busy today. Six pet beds made from a donated duvet and a sleeping bag. I used the cover from the duvet to cover three of them. The duvet wasn't very thick so I doubled it up. Cut the zip off the sleeping bag, and used some fabric I already had for the covers. These can be put in the washer as they are. I sell them locally very cheap, and send the money to an animal charity. 

Now the kitchen calls me. Time to make dinner. Toodle pip.   ilona

Proud of my box.

 Good morning. Today I put my tins and glass recycling box out for collection. The lorry comes for these every two weeks, but I put mine out every four or six weeks, depending how much there is. So this is four weeks worth, I could leave it for another two weeks, or even four weeks. It isn't in the way at all, I store it in the outhouse. The box stays clean as I don't leave it outside to deteriorate in the weather. 

Six pieces of glass, so what did I drink. One bottle of beer, a bottle of sherry, and a bottle of wine. On the cans side there are two cans of cider, with baked beans, spaghetti hoops, and rice pudding cans. All arranged very artistically I might add. 

The blue box for the paper recycling gets put out even less often, maybe twice a year. Hardly anything to put in there, and since we haven't been getting as much junk mail in the last few months, I might be able to stretch that to a once a year collection. 

Not looking good outside. I will go to the mobile library today, see if there are any more pick and mix books to collect. 

Invent and make, or buy........

Yesterday I was rooting around in my boxes of bits and bobs, tools, screws, and metal bits, things that might come in handy for something. I need a longer arm when I am walking around making a video, because holding the camera in my hand does not keep it steady. It's hard to concentrate on the camera when I need to look at my feet. So what's the solution, a longer arm.

 

I suppose I could buy something that is made for the job, but you know me, I try and make things with what I have already got. After about an hour or so, fiddling around with screws, trying to find one which fits the tripod hole at the bottom of the camera. I eventually found one, now what? What can I use for an arm, and how can I fix it to the screw which fits the camera. 

Throughout this process I thought what the heck am I doing, it is now two hours since I have been messing around with this. Should I give up and take the easy way out and just buy the extension that I need. I stuck with it, hands now filthy with all the searching through mucky junk. Frustrations building up, I know what I need but I can't find one. Let's try this, or, maybe that will fit. 

Eventually I cracked it. A wooden coat hanger, a hole drilled into the end of it, a piece of metal from a door bolt, a piece of rubber, and two screws. 

Not perfect because I can only point the camera forward. Carrying a coat hanger with me is not very convenient, the extensions made for the job are telescopic and collapsible. Well I'll give it a try and see if it makes any difference to my shaky videos.

Throughout this I wondered at what stage do I give up. Is it worth the effort. Why not look through a catalogue and buy one? But where is the fun in that. If we gave up on every problem we have and threw money at it to resolve it, then that creates a need to earn more money. By choosing what we spend our money on means we can create opportunities to be inventive, with the added bonus that it exercises our brains. By giving in and buying and not trying to solve our own problems, we become robots. 

I know this is in contradiction to my recent post about spending money at Go Outdoors, but I cannot make a decent waterproof jacket and trousers, and I definitely can't make a pair of boots which will last three years or more. So, the message is, invent and make when you can, buy second hand if you can, but buy new only when you can afford it. 

Time for breakfast on this sunny Sunday morning. Toodle pip.  ilona

The unveiling of Hidden Treasure.

Well here it is folks, finished at last, I think so, ha ha. I've been back and forth titivating it up, a bit more red, no too much get rid of it. Filling in the empty spaces, it needs to look full. As usual, the photo's don't do it justice, it is a lot darker than it looks here. Measurements are 28.5 inches by 20.5 inches, so it's pretty big. I have put two separate wires across the back two inches apart and joined in the middle, to make it safe to hang. inspiration for this came from Ina Solsbery Check out her yoootooob channel, she makes some amazing artworks. This is her latest project. 

The components are mainly plastic and metal, with a bit of wood. I like the tree bark dotted with tiny red gems. 

I was aiming for a stark contrast between black, red, and gold. but somewhere along the journey I changed direction as it often happens. 

I decided to make the black, not so black, and wafted different colours over it to give it a dusty and mucky finish. I now see this as an old piece of junk which has gathered dust for the last 50 years in an attic somewhere. 

The last pieces I stuck on were the coins I had collected from some foreign travel many years ago. This gave me it's title. The discovery of something old combined with actual money makes it Hidden Treasure. 

Pieces of kids plastic construction set.

Christmas tree lights stuck on a plastic lid.

I like the zips, taken apart and re modeled. 

I normally say I am chuffed with how my art turns out, but this is something different. Am I allowed to say this is stunning. If I saw it in a gallery it would immediately jump out at me, I would be drawn towards having a closer look. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but that doesn't matter, I made it for me, made it because I wanted to, and now I am well chuffed. 

I am sometimes a bit critical of other people's art, but that's usually because a few daubs of paint on a canvas says nothing to me. Very little effort has been put into that, and to put a high price on it seems ludicrous, but that's art I suppose. I will always be drawn to art where the artist has put a great deal of thought and effort into it. 

Making this has been a long journey, and now I am happy to come to the end of it. My head needs a rest, I need a break from large things and will make something smaller. Also there is work to do in the garden, cleaning the house, and tarting up the outside toilet because I may have a visitor on Thursday. Weather permitting, for a social distancing party in the garden.  

That's all for now. There are more blog posts in the pipeline, I'll catch you later. Toodle pip. ilona