Let's get this carnival on the road.

I took the first lot of pictures inside the Art Centre, and went back the next day for the parade around the town centre. At 2pm the dancers started to gather outside the door.

Bringing up the rear were the children who had made their own costumes at the workshop in the morning. 

A large crowd had gathered in the precinct to greet them and join in the fun. People were bopping away to the music.

This gigantic costume is perched on a frame with wheels so it can be moved around quite easily.

A lot of fun in the town centre on a Saturday afternoon.  ilona

We need more art

Hello. It has been reported that we are going to get a massive new factory on the banks of the Humber not far from here, and it's going to build new wind turbines. People are excited and rightly so, because there will be a few thousand new jobs created which are desperately needed for the area. Training has already begun in anticipation of this. 

I am in favour of exploring all sustainable energy sources, because one day the oil will run out. I know there is a lot of controversy around wind farms, but this post is not about that. One criticism is that they are ugly, but I have a solution to that. Why do they all have to be the same boring white colour? Who has decided that, the designers or the manufacturers? Was it put to a vote, or did one person sit at their drawing board and say, that's it, this is how I want them to be made, and they will be white?  

Well I have a better idea. Why not paint them different colours? Why not make them works of art? Paint hippy style flowers on them. Make them into trees with three branches. Put lights on them so they glow in the dark. Make them tourist attractions, start a turbine spotters club with a book so people can travel the country ticking off and photographing all those they have visited. Sell turbine spotters all inclusive holidays, it would do wonders for coach companies looking for business.

We could be the first country in the world to start a collection of artistic turbines. We could have visitor centre's selling mini turbine models. Trips up to the top of them for fantastic views. Helicopter rides to view them from above. There are endless possibilities. What we need at this new factory is someone with vision, someone who can exploit the full potential of money making spin offs. Even more jobs could be created.

As I walk around our towns I see lots of opportunities for improving the environment we live in. The dull drab exteriors of derelict buildings, empty shops, and groan inducing general mess of the place. I don't mean just litter, the way signs are put up everywhere which do absolutely zilch to cheer things up. What we need is lots of paint. We need empty shop fronts to be turned into works of art, posters to brighten them up. Brightly coloured waste bins. We need to think outside the box, not just take the easy option and stick with what it's always been like. We need more art.

Where is the creativity in every day life? Why keep doing something when with a bit of forethought things could be made better? Creative thinking and ideas should be encouraged, not just in schools, but throughout everyday life. We should not be accepting of, 'that's how it's always been', we should be doing things differently. We are moving forward in medicine, technology, and engineering, so why do we have to look at white wind farms when they could be so much better.

Now let's see what ideas you can come up with. What could be made better using art where you  live? Or has your council already come up with some good ideas?
Toodle pip

Shocking !!!

Good morning. I'm bopping away to Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2 as I write this. Some great old hits to sing along with. Every Saturday, 8 till 10. 

Right, what's the topic for toady. A leaflet dropped through the letter box this week, that reads like a horror story, thought I would share it with you. I hate anything that aims to swindle people out of their precious cash. This is a leaflet from a shop called PerfectHome, it could be from Bright House, they are all the same. They may have a shop front in the High Street, but that is a ruse to get people through the door and get them to sign their life away to a finance company. In this case, Temple Finance Limited is trading as PerfectHome. 

Years ago when I was a child my mum saved up to buy some of our furniture, but most of it was second hand, handed down from family or passed on from friends. For our entertainment we had a small radio, then television sets started to appear in shops. Of course we pestered mum to get one, she went into a shop called Radio Rentals and rented our first TV. A few years later after we had moved house, she went to Boyds, a family electrical shop, and took out an agreement to rent a TV. I have the agreement in front of me, dated 20th June 1974. Mum paid £1.85 a week for a 19 inch mono TV. In those days it was rare for people to buy a television set, because it would have been expensive to repair. Renting seemed the better option because there would be a new one provided when the set was too old to repair. We didn't think about how much it would cost us over a long period of time. Money came into the house weekly and mum was pretty good at budgeting, she wouldn't have got it if we couldn't afford the weekly payments. 

How things have changed. Now everyone wants to own the biggest TV in the street, no matter what the cost is. The PerfectHome shop window in our High Street looks very appealing, imagine all that lovely furniture in your home. You too can have a showhouse like this, but, there's a catch, there always is. Have a look at these figures, they make shocking reading.  

This TV will cost £1,731.99 to buy from this shop. Of course they don't want you to buy it outright, that's not where they make their money, they are a finance company, they want to lend you money at shocking interest rates. They want you to sign up to an agreement to pay £14.59 a week, for 156 weeks, they don't say 3 years, and you will end up paying £2,276.04. So, you might as well throw £1,048.05 of your precious cash, down the toilet. Shocking!

Want a supadupa sound system? Throw away £1,048.05, the difference between the cash price and the weekly payments over three years, and you can have it.

Of course you've just got to have an American style fridge freezer, with a water and ice dispenser, hasn't everyone got one. Errr, nope. On credit it's £2853.24. Shocking!

A nice sofa to sit on? Jeeez, credit price over 3 years, £4,475.64. What a shocker!

We all need to lay our heads down every night, but at what cost? £20.99 per week for three years, or 40p per sleep. That's a very expensive sleep. I would be having nightmares if I slept in this bed.

Only two of you, a small sofa would be ideal, but not at this price. Take out credit on this item and it will cost you £1,613.04 to sit on your @rse.

Ha ha, look at this, a special offer. Buy today and your first weekly payment is JUST £1. WOW, gotta have that, I think not. What about all the other 155 payments, where you are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to buy decent food, can't afford to put the heating on, can't afford to put petrol in the clapped out old car to get you to work.

For God's sake people wise up, get your priorities sorted out. Stop feeding these sharks. You don't need all this fancy stuff, you don't need to get into debt just to keep up with whoever has got more than you. Life is not about showing off, hey look at me, I've got one of those, or I've got a bigger one than you. It's ok to buy second hand, to get the best for your money. It's ok to buy from car boot sales, from charity shops, to skip dive, to take hand me downs, to barter and swap, to go on Freecycle.

Phew, sorry about that, had a Nellie moment just then. She would be proud of me. Joking apart, I know a lot of people who read my blog already know about this stuff, but please pass on your wisdom to younger members of your family and warn them of the danger of taking out such extortionate rental contracts, because it will come back and bite them on the bum, with such force they won't be able to sit down for months. or even years.

Looking good outside, have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.  

Saturday chat

Hello, let's lighten things up for the weekend. Let's chill. I've just listened to Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2 and it's had me dancing around the living room. All the old favourites that I remember from my teenage years. Brian Mathews is ace at presenting this show, filling in the gaps between records with snippets of information that help to bring the flavour of the era flooding back to me. Now it's just after 10am and the radio is off. That John Bishop guy is on and I'm sorry but his accent grates on me, I just can't listen. Now put a Geordie accent on and I am all ears, but Liverpool  :o( sorry Liverpudlians.

Anyway, moving swiftly on. I went to town on Thursday afternoon to do the rounds, the discount stores, the cash and carry, and a few supplies from Aldi to keep me going. I can manage without yellow stickers till next week and will use the veg in the garden. Our Aldi has a new shop front, it's looking more like one of the big players now in the battle of the supermarkets. I still can't do a full shop in there though, I doubt I could do a full shop in any one supermarket and get full value for money, I need to cherry pick from all of them. For instance I got some cheese from the cash and carry, cheddar with caramelised onion and cranberries, only £1 for 250grms. A bargain. 

I noticed we have another shop closing in the town, a long established stationary and home office supplies. They sell everything for the self employed small business person working from home. I have on occasions been in there myself for the odd item, but on prices they can't compete with the likes of The Works, Home Bargains, and even the stationary department in Tesco. I had a browse to see what they were selling off cheap. There were some desks, tables, and chairs on offer at silly prices, I had a think where I could make use of a table, and concluded that I have enough in my house. I found something to buy. Blue markers and red pens. Markers 10p each, red pens 5p each. Seems I am going to be writing in red for the next twenty years, ha ha. 

I had a walk round the village the other night, trying to give away my excess courgettes, and I found another swap. My friend invited me in for a coffee and gratefully accepted the largest specimen I had. We did the catch up thing  because it's a while since we last met, and I said I was doing a bit of sewing, and told her about the Chat and Craft group that I go to every week. She then disappeared into the house, we were sat outside enjoying the warm evening, and returned with a bag of fabric and asked if I could make use of it. Oh wow, what a nice surprise. So here it is, folded and put away in the mini warehouse which is my spare room. A fantastic swap, I must deliver another courgette next week as I think I have the better deal.

I've been struggling with the design of the pond for the picture, trying different ideas, cut up pieces of fabric, ribbon, and fused plastic, they didn't look right. I wasn't sure if this idea would work, but it has. An assortment of bits and pieces scrunched up and run over with the machine lots of times to flatten it. In there is blue and white mesh fruit bags, ripped up bits of one of those papery hairnets that they use in food factories, silvery ribbon cut into narrow strips, and some scraps of pale blue lacy fabric. It's coming together slowly.

That's all for now, I have things to do. Have a nice weekend. Sunny here with some showers, so I'll be in and out. Toodle pip.

Gold rush

I did something yesterday that I have never done before. I was in town and I noticed a posh jewellers shop with a sign outside that said Gold Bought Here. I had thought about selling my mothers wedding ring, but couldn't get it off my finger. Several months ago I went into a jewellers to ask if they could cut it off, they said they couldn't because they are not insured to do that. So I didn't bother to try anywhere else.

The ring has been on my finger for 28 years, ever since my mother died. It had bent into a funny shape and I managed to straighten it with a pair of pliers, it still wouldn't come off though. There is no reason for me to keep the ring. My mother wore it long after her marriage broke up, though I'm not sure why, it was an unhappy marriage.

I have struggled to get the ring off my finger for ages, and given up, but yesterday I was stood in front of the shop twiddling with it and it came off. I don't know how, my hand must have shrunk. I went in and asked what the value would be, how much would they give me for it.

I felt a bit embarrassed asking actually, it's not like I needed the money, I just didn't want the ring. Anyway, the valuation was £8.30, it's a very thin band of gold. The nice young lady seemed almost apologetic when she told me, she probably thought I would expect more. I didn't know what to expect, having never done this before. She suggested that I might like to try other places to see if I could get a better price. I was on the verge of accepting the cash, but then thought, ok,  I'll look elsewhere.

The next place was another jeweller, they offered a miserable £5, no thanks. I almost went back to the first shop, then I remembered Cash Converters just round the corner. Worth a try. The young man took it into the back room and returned with an offer of £10. Well thank you very much, that will do nicely. Wooohooo, made £10 today :o)) 

Seems strange looking at my bare hand now, but I'm still wearing a silver ring that my mother wore, I won't sell that one, it means a lot to me.

I've just had a look in my box of bits, mainly broken jewellery, and found my own gold wedding ring. I wasn't actually married, just lived with him for a couple of years. I remember going into a jewellers shop with him to buy it, he didn't want to bother, but it was at a time when people didn't live together out of wedlock, and I wanted to look respectable. We moved to a new area and I got a job, I called myself Mrs. The relationship didn't last he turned nasty and was horrible to me, so I moved out.

I might go back to Cash Converters and see what they will give me for this ring. Might as well, I don't need it any more.  

I wonder if there's any gold to be found at car boot sales, might have a look when I next go. Could make me a bit of pocket money. Probably not, I think most folks are savvy now. Bye the way, this isn't an advert for Cash Converters, there are plenty of other places which buy gold.

Hey, what about this then, a doggy party on the hills this morning. I love it when they all turn up at the same time. The dogs chase about and the blokes chat. The topic this morning was the recent Rugby game in Hull. I didn't join in, ha ha.

Have a nice weekend.
Toodle pip.

A £1 charity shop, now that's cheap

Right, what's been going on today. My day hasn't been terribly exciting but I'll cobble something together as you've taken the time and trouble to click on my link. I know you do the rounds because I can see where you're coming from. I do the same, blog hopping, ooops, must go and have a look over there, and there, and there. Before I know it I've got a dozen pages open on my desktop. 

I've just stuffed my face full of vegetables, mainly from the garden, with some bought broccoli. I tried growing that once but it was very high maintenance because I had to pick off the caterpillars daily. Won't bother with that again. Tonight I had a few of the reduced mushrooms in a tasty garlic sauce. Easy to do, just add some soft cheese with garlic. I always save a few potatoes until the end, and mash them with my fork to soak up the excess sauce. Don't waste anything. Twas a very nice dinner. 

As I look out of the window I can see the sunflowers getting another battering from the wind. It's a wonder they haven't collapsed, but they are holding on. A few more flowers have appeared, still more to come. Talking of sunflowers and how much they drink, I've had my half yearly water bill this morning from Anglian Water. I thought it might be a little higher than usual, but it isn't. They have used an estimated reading and calculate that I have used three cubic metres, which cost the grand total of £9.31. Then I get charged for the disposal of the dirty water which is £4.91. This amount gets passed on to Severn Trent Water, who will be sending me a bill shortly for the removal of the rainwater into the drains. It won't be much, pity I don't have a soakaway to get it down even more. Anyway, I've checked the meter, and their estimation is over by one cubic metre, but I'm not bothered about that piddling little amount. I'm not going to ring them up asking them to take a couple of quid off.  

I did a quick dash to town today, wanted to get some maps from the library. I parked close to the shops it's free for one hour. Time to look in a couple of charity shops. I always use the hospice shop which is at the other end of the High Street, their prices are always competitive with a good turnover of stock. Today I couldn't be bothered to walk that far, so I went up a side street near the market to the Age UK shop. I was surprised to see it has turned into a Pound Shop, everything is £1. Quick look to see if there is any cotton fabric for my patchwork. I found this massive duvet cover, and I mean massive. It goes right down over the sides of my double bed. It's yellow on one side and pink on the other, with a floral pattern. I might use it as a backing for my quilt. There would be enough to cut some squares from around the edge and it would still be big enough. Keep a look out at your Age UK shop, has it turned into a Pound Shop yet? Loads of chuffin bargains in ours.    

Remember the sunglasses I found while out walking? Well, a young teenager came to mow the lawn for my neighbour the other day, he does it to earn a bit of pocket money. I thought, aha, I bet he would like them, and he did. He was chuffed to bits with them, and kept them on while he finished the lawn. He looked dead cool, ha ha.

The weather hasn't been too good today so I've got on with some sewing while being entertained with catch up programmes on the computer. I picked up a book while I was at the library, it caught my eye as it was on the New Book display. 'Ausperity, Live the Life You Want for Less', is written by Lucy Tobin. Apparently she is an acclaimed personal finance editor at the London Evening Standard, and writes a weekly column, 'How To Save It.' She shares her secrets to living a prosperous life on an austerity budget. The blurb on the back cover sings her praises, so I'll have a look at it and report back if I find some money saving tips to share with you.

Before I hop off, welcome to the new readers, I see my numbers have crept up a little bit. Nice of you to drop in, I shall go and have a nosey at your blogs.
Toodle pip

Nellie's solution for town centre's - guest post

Aye up. Nellie here again. Meanqueen has asked me to do another post, I think she is too darn idle to write one herself, ha ha. I'm sure you'd rather hear from me anyway. so here goes.

What do you think of this Mary woman mucking about with the High Streets then? She has worked in a few posh shops in her time, and now she is known as Mary Queen of shops, an authority on retail and brand communication, whatever that means. Shopping is all about brands these days isn't it, can't be seen out with the wrong brand emblazoned across your chest, oh no Siree, everything has got to be the right brand.

I've got my own brand you know, Nellie Chuffin Knowitall, from Stating the Bleedin Obvious. My web site will be branded when I have time to finish it, in the meantime I'm riding on the back of Meanqueen's blog, Life After Money. She's one of the few people that I know who are genuinely money savvy, she doesn't spend a dime unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm not saying she never spends any money, oh no Siree, but she is not swayed by any advertising whatsoever, and every penny that leaves her purse is spent on something that she needs. The 'wants' are what she can afford to pay for in cash, out of the money left over. That's called savvy budgetting. She aint no pushover where personal finances are concerned.

Anyway, back to this Mary woman, apparently she has been given lots of dosh to hand out to twelve pilot towns around the country, to be used to spruce up the High Streets, which are crumbling into rapid decline. Have you noticed how many empty shops there are, you must have been walking around with your eyes closed if you haven't, or perhaps you live in a posh area where everyone has money to throw away.

I have got my own theories on why town centre's look a mess, and what can be done to breath new life into them. I think the government should give me a load of dosh to sort the problem out, ha ha. For a start there are two different types of shoppers, those that are flush with money and those who have very little. The posh folks are moaning about all the cheap and tacky pound shops, and charity shops, that are taking over the High Streets, so they are going out of town to the big shopping centre's to flash their plastic. Well I say, let them, you just wait till they lose their jobs, unemployment benefit doesn't buy you much from Marks and Sparks, or Debenhams, and suchlike. They will soon come running back to the High Street and the discount stores, after they have swapped their BMW's and Range Rovers for a Vauxhall Corsa.

So, what can be done to the High Streets to make them look more appealing. Well for a start they should make a law stating that every shop keeper is responsible for the pavement at the front, they should go out and sweep up the rubbish once every hour. It should be law that they have to spruce up their shop front with a lick of paint when it looks shabby. Shabby is not a good look to entice people to the High Street, or inside their shop. Their window displays should be freshened every week with new stock on display.

What about out in the street. They should get rid of all 'A' boards scattered around making the place look untidy. Only advertising at the front of the shop allowed. There should be benches to sit for a while after a hard days shopping, and they should be washed every morning by the shop keepers nearest to them. A few tubs of flowers would be nice. If a town centre is blighted by messy pigeons like ours is, the shop keepers should be out there every morning with a bucket of hot soapy water to give the place a swill down. Folks don't want pigeon crap all over their shoes, they won't come back. They should also extend 'no smoking' zones to the whole of the High Street. Hanging around in shop doorways puffing on a fag is a disgusting sight, I always give them a wide berth, never mind going in the shop and getting a face full of fag breath. Yuk, no thanks.

Another idea I have is that an empty shop can be turned into a creche. How many times have you been in a shop where someone is dragging a couple of screaming kids around with them. Oh my, the squarking and the tantrums drive me nuts. Why not drop them off with a child minder employed by the council, for a couple of hours, and pick them up later when the shopping is done. A much better shopping experience all round, and the kids have more fun.

What sort of shops should be in the High Street? Well if all the posh folks have gone out of town, lets have more charity shops, more recycling, more food shops, more markets, more small specialist shops, but they have to be affordable, to folks like me with not much money. The rents should be made cheaper to get new shop keepers in.

Any large building vacated by a large department store should be turned into an indoor market by dividing it up into single units. They should be rented to those who wish to start a business, at a very low rent, to get them going. They would not be locked in to a long contract, so if they find their business is not working they can vacate their unit without too much bother.

Any empty shop fronts should be tarted up, given a lick of paint, and some displays put in the window to make it look tidy. There should be no empty shop windows. If any shopkeepers close their business and move on, it should be the law that they have to take every stick of rubbish with them, clean the place up, and provide attractive looking posters and pictures to decorate the windows. This would then give the impression that the closure is just temporary and there will be new tenants along shortly.

There should be a law saying no more rip off shops allowed, like money lending for extortionate interest rates, furniture and household appliances on the never never like Brighthouse, no more betting shops, and no more grubby boozers.

Oh, and another thing, all town centre cars parks should be free parking 24/7. Get rid of half the traffic wardens, cut the wage bill, and those left just to monitor illegal street parking. In fact there should be no illegal street parking at all, so sack all the wardens. When the posh folks get fed up of driving out of town and tramping up and down endless, mindless, shopping malls which all look the same, they will be hankering to get back to their friendly and pleasant town centres.

Simple innit, stating the bleedin obvious, that's what I do.
Lots of love from Nellie xxx