Hello. Bit late tonight, I decided to mow the lawns after dinner, been putting it off, it needed doing. Covered in paint again. Good job I have old clothes on.
I tried the mixing of yellow and red to make orange, it's not quite the shade I would have liked, but I can live with it. Trouble is I didn't mix enough and ran out before I got to the bottom. It wasn't worth mixing a bit more, I wouldn't have got the exact shade, so I dipped my brush into the red tin and finished off with that. The door next to it I painted in a pale lilac colour. I mixed a couple of small tester pots of purple with some white.
Looks quite good I thought.
The next colours I mixed were some of the green with white, it's turned out really nice.
I made too much of this one, so I painted the top and side of the darker green door.
And I painted two plant pots.
And finished it off by painting this bit, but ran out before I got to the bottom. By this time I'd had enough.
There are two more doors to paint inside, they are patio doors and are mainly glass which I am going to leave clear. Can't decide whether to paint them or not.
Ooo errr, I don't think Heidi is supposed to be up there.
My lunch today was a big plate of salad, with the addition of brazil nuts and almonds in the broccoli/carrots/radishes mix in the mini chopper.
Dinner was steamed veg, with a Tesco Value macaroni cheese, yellow stickered to 24p.
I couldn't think of anything special to do for my birthday, I was happy to work in the garden. I did have a treat, a Magnum ice cream. I'm easily pleased, ha ha. I have got two short breaks arranged for the end of the month, and the beginning of June, so that will be nice.
Good morning. In all the papers this morning is a very sad story of a wonderful old lady of 92 who was found dead last week at the bottom of the Avon Gorge at Bristol. It is believed that she threw herself off because she was overwhelmed by the demands for money from charities, and recently a large sum of money had gone missing in the post which she had sent to her son. She was very upset by this and lost faith in people.
Olive Cooke was Britain's oldest poppy seller, she had given 72 years of service to The British Legion, she was a grandmother and great grandmother. She gave away much of her pension to charities who pestered her relentlessly. It was all getting too much for her. How very sad, that this vulnerable old lady was driven to suicide. Sad, but also very shocking.
I get letters in the post asking for money, usually from charities that I have donated to before. Once they get hold of your details they cling like limpets. Lists of names are sold on and before you know it more demands arrive. I say demands rather than requests, because of the aggressive nature of their literature. Images of animal cruelty and sick children are used to make the reader feel obliged to respond and donate. I'm sorry to say, but all mine go in the bin.
Do not feel guilty about ignoring demands like this. Do not feel guilty about walking away from charity chuggers in the street. Do not feel guilty about not answering the door to charity collectors, or saying no on the phone if you get a call from a charity. This might seem an uncaring and hard nosed way to behave, but I know how much I can afford and who I want to give it to. I have charities named in my will, a large chunk of my estate will go to them eventually.
I do donate to charity, but I give willingly to the charities of my choice, as and when I can afford a few quid. I will not sign up to any direct debits. I'm sorry but I don't do the In Need, the Red Nose, or the Relief thing on the tele either.
Please keep a check on elderly relatives, make sure they are not being harassed. Keep an eye open for any mail that may arrive from a charity, be nosy, ask if they are donating. Olive Cooke was getting piles of the stuff almost daily, she was seen as a soft touch because she found it hard to say no.
Give to charity by all means, but make donations only if you can afford it. Money is tight, I don't have a great deal, but I save up and when I have a donation I send a cheque. Last week I delivered my cheque to Bransby Horses. When I do send a cheque in the post I put a note in for them not to contact me, not to send any begging letters, because I will ignore them if they do.
Above all, don't feel guilty if you can't afford to give on a regular basis, a £1 coin in a box is a lovely gesture.
Hello. No two days are the same here, weatherwise. Yesterday sunny, today cloudy, overcast, and cool with a breeze. That didn't stop me from working in the garden though. First off, a few photo's that I didn't post yesterday. I took Lady dog for a walk in the woods. I haven't been for ages, and it was nice to see it all fresh and green with the sunlight filtering through the trees. It's only a few minutes from where I live, I really must start walking here more often.
There is a lot more wild garlic around, more than previous years.
Lady has to stay on the lead because she would run off and not come back if I let her loose.
Tons more wild garlic. I am pleased to say there is not much litter about, previously I have had to clear out bags and bags of the stuff, mainly bottles and cans after a party. The kids seemed to have moved on to other hobbies, lets hope it stays like that.
The results of my labour today, we now have one yellow door and one dark pink door. Both these colours are the result of mixing paint. The yellow was too dark so I added white, the pink started as dark red which was too dark, so I put a little bit of it into a tin of white paint. I might try and make orange tomorrow, is that red and yellow, I think so.
While I had yellow on my brush, I thought it was a good idea to jazz up the pots a bit. Dull brown pots are so boring. I think these look nice.
Dinner tonight was a microwaved home made soup, couldn't be bothered to to cook. I was a bit late finishing, due to gossiping over the garden fence with my neighbour at the back. They can't see the summer house due to my tall hedge, so I invited them round to have a look.
Thanks for popping in, I'll catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip
Hello. Oh dear, late again tonight, I'll crack on. These are the long pieces of wood I scrounged yesterday. Looks like they might have once been on the front of a house just below the guttering. They are dirty, full of nails, and some of the ends are rotten. I need five or six pieces at eight feet long.
First I pulled all the nails out, then I sawed them to the right length, then I painted them. The easy way was to put two plastic bowls on the edge of a raised bed and lay the timbers on that.
Look at Heidi, ha ha. I put these old net curtains around a bed of broad bean plants, to stop the cats getting onto it. Looks like she has found a corner to lay on, luckily there are no plants around the edges.
It was a lovely sunny day with no wind. Mayze finding a bit of shade under a hedge.
Bugsy is a sun worshiper, he loves it. The old boy is soldiering on. There's been many a time when I thought he wouldn't last much longer, then he picks up again. Must be all that chicken I am feeding him.
It gets a bit too warm for Rocky, he goes to find a shady spot after a while.
After slaving away with a saw and a paint brush, I ended up with six x 8 feet pieces. I spaced them out across the top and nailed them down at both ends, with a few inches overhang. Looking good so far.
The structure is very solid and sturdy. I climbed up the sides of the pallets on my neighbours side, to nail the boards on.
I haven't found anything for the roof yet, so for the time being I have put a couple of sheets over the top, which I already had. This is a temporary arrangement to keep the rain out so I can get on with painting the doors and finishing the floor. I've tied the corners down.
I have some market stall heavy duty clips which are very handy.
I can still do a truckers granny knot, it's a bit like roping and sheeting a load on a trailer, ha ha.
Ideally I could do with a very large piece of clear plastic 8 feet square, for the roof, but I'm not sure if they make them that big. I'll probably have to have two smaller pieces and join them. I don't want to buy them, maybe I can find something second hand. I'll keep looking.
That's it for tonight. Toodle pip
Howdy Possums Thought I would share some fabulous flower pictures tonight. I went off in search of some long lengths of wood today, and made a visit to the 20 21 Visual Arts Centre while I was in town. I found some wood by the way, I'll update you on that tomorrow, but lets have an arty day today.
Here is the blurb from the North Lincs Web site about this exhibit, The Chandelier of Lost earrings. It's amazing.
18 April to 16 May Sagar and Campbell The Chandelier of Lost Earrings
The Chandelier of Lost Earrings is the result of a mass-participatory project by artistsLauren Sagar and Sharon Campbell. In 2011 the pair put a call out for people to donate individual earrings that had become separated from their partner. A successful press and social media campaign followed, resulting in them collecting over 3000 earrings over 12 months.
From these donations they created a chandelier standing 2.5m high that drips with glittering jewels and delicate threads of fine chain. The Chandelier of Lost Earrings has now toured to several venues and connected with thousands of people. It tells hundreds of stories gifted in the form of a single, cherished earring - its pair having been lost. The artists asked many of the donators to tell them these tales and explain why the earrings were so meaningful to them. Some of these stories have been included in this exhibition.
The Chandelier of Lost Earrings was overall winner in the Arts category in the 2014 National Lottery Awards for the best Lottery funded art project in the UK.
If you want to know more about the chandelier and the artist here is a little video.
There are several flower displays dotted around the galleries, provided by members of flower arranging groups throughout Lincolnshire. Last year they were all in one place together, but Antony Gormley's exhibition is taking up a lot of space so the flowers have had to be fitted in around it. This one sits outside the office door.
There aren't many flowers in this one, but it's an absolute stunner. I've put some close ups in here so you can see the materials which have been used.
Everything has been placed with perfect precision.
These are small rolls of fabric.
and slices of twigs.
The colours coordinate beautifully here.
This one is like a cake on a plate, looks almost good enough to eat.
My dinner tonight was also very colourful, and has been eaten. I called in at Aldi today as I was in town, my fridge was almost empty, all the yellow sticker food has gone apart from half a swede. I made a big pan of stew with the last of the veg, I ate two portions and two have gone in the freezer.
This is a no cooking meal, salad. Iceberg lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, beetroot, spinach, a quarter of a quiche, and I put some carrot, radishes, and broccoli in the mini chopper. I don't bother with salad dressings, sometimes I buy dips if they are reduced, sometimes mayo, these are a treat. I have a jar of tartar sauce in the fridge so today I had a little bit of that.
Do you know, even with longer days, I still don't have time to do all I want to do. I always seem to run out of time at the end of the day. So here I am still tapping away at almost 10.30pm. Time I got off here and went to bed. Goodnight and Toodle pip.
Hiya
If you are a blogger and want to up your page views, turn on the facility to allow anonymous comments. I have a post written in November 2011, it's only two short paragraphs which basically says I'm just popping in. Nothing in there which is remotely interesting to anyone, it says nothing apart from the fact that I have been busy and will be back soon.
This post is now second in the All Time highest page views with 4,417 hits. Last week it achieved 1277 page views. It is being bombarded by automatic spam bots, not people sat at a computer reading my blog, but machines which are set up to blitz any blog they can find which allows anonymous comments.
It's interesting to watch the shenanigans of these spammers. People desperate to promote their own blog or web site will write any old twaddle, press a few buttons and off it goes zipping through cyberspace, splattering everything like a bad dose of diarrhoea pebble dashing the pan. I think that's a good analogy considering the crap they write. The simple answer to this inconvenience is to flush them away as soon as they enter the Spam box.
I could stop them dead in their tracks by activating the 'members only' button, but I won't because I know many people don't want to sign up to an account, even though it is free. I respect their choice. All I ask is that if you wish to comment as Anonymous it would be helpful to me if you include a name, real or made up, in your text.
To stop the spammers I could turn on the 'Word Verification' facility, they won't get through that, but genuine readers don't like having to faff around with it, so mine is disabled at the moment. By allowing Anonymous to comment it is important to turn on the 'Comments will be subject to Moderation', facility, if you don't you will get all sorts of rubbish littering the blog.
So, if you don't have the blockers in place, don't take your stat figures as gospel, because the little buggers will be all over you like a bad flea infestation. If numbers are important to you, you won't be itching to get rid of them because they make your stats look good.
Toodle pip.
TV Licensing usually send out letters every two years to those who inform them that they don't need a licence. I've just had one, blimey the last two years have flown by. They ask if my circumstances have changed, am I watching live TV. They ask me to get in touch with them if I still don't watch live TV. I rang and confirmed that I still don't watch TV. They sent me another letter saying they will get in touch again in two years, and that someone may visit me to check. I look forward to that. Just make sure that he is about 6 feet tall, lean and fit, drop dead gorgeous, single, and has loads of dosh.
Talking of TV, which I don't watch, (I watch on the computer), I had an email from Channel 4. They asked me why I didn't watch the whole of the programme 'Hidden Villages'. What a flippin cheek! Surely it's up to me if I stop watching a programme before the end, I don't have to report to them why I switched it off. They sent a link to resume watching. Nothing went wrong, Channel 4, I just got bored with it, and I have other things to do besides gawping at a screen which no longer holds my interest.
They want me to check the FAQ's, to find out why I stopped watching. I had a look and couldn't find the 'I got bored with it', answer, so I thought stuff it, I don't have to explain anything.
Still on the subject of TV, I caught a bit of it while I was at Janet's looking after her cats. In the mornings I took my breakfast with me and sat with a cat on my knee, then in the evening I made a hot chocolate and had a flick through the channels, with another cat on my knee. It was hard to find something interesting. One programme I thought was utterly bonkers, why would anyone want to watch someone else watching TV. People sitting in their own homes on the sofa, watching their own TV, and millions of other silly buggers watching them. Bonkers.
No rain today YAY. The top is finished, all sides almost the same height, give or take an inch or two. There is one corner where the two sides don't match up, but I'll sort that when I come to put a roof on it. I spent the afternoon painting, looking quite good now. I got some info about where I might find some long timbers for the roof supports. I need some eight feet long. I'll go and check it out.
Three doors which definitely need painting, these two,
and this one. When they are done I'll see how much paint I have left, the white ones are not too bad, so I might leave them.
Crafty Club in the morning. I'm off to cut a few squares for the patchwork sewing machine cover I am making, so I'll say Goodnight and Toodle pip.
PS. Just found two lovely comments from Jayne, on older posts, and I'm chuffed to little mintballs. She has been ploughing through the 2009 posts, good on yer Jayne. Thanks for reading.
Hiya. I've saved myself a bit of money today. Not sure how much a cut and blow dry costs these days in a salon, but that's how much I've saved by doing it myself. As I have mentioned before I have two doors facing each other, I hang a mirror on each so I can see the back of my head. I snip away at it with a large pair of scissors, trimming until I reach the desired length. My goldilocks are on the mat.
Here are the before and after pics. When it gets to this length the style does not suit my face, I look like an afghan hound. I don't like it too short either because that makes me look like a fella ;o(
This is just right. I gave up trying to explain to hairdressers how I like it. I always came away looking like I had been scalped, or they took so little off it was hard to tell I had even sat in the chair. At last I have found a good hairdresser, me, ha ha.
Lunch today was the rest of the Quorn and sprout mixture, with couscous, beetroot, the last tomato, and grated carrot.
Tonight's dinner was a belly buster, I've made too much, oooops. Couscous, I made extra earlier, sprouts, carrots, frozen sweetcorn and peas. Oh my, I couldn't manage it all so there's some left for tomorrow's lunch.
Hoooray, the sun has come out at last, and it's only 7.30pm. Been waiting for it all day. Nothing done in the garden, it's been a sewing day. I'd better get off here and take the dog out, then I'm off to sit with Janet's cats, and watch a bit of tele. Catch you tomorrow.
Toodle pip
Hello. I was able to get on with some work in the garden today. The corner piece I built on the left hand side wasn't quite right so I had to remove it and change the tall corner post for a shorter one. Then I built up some height on that side so the cross bar sits on the top of the door, which is a better angle than on the post. I have two bars joining the two sides, and it is very stable and firm.
A bit more work on the tops are needed, then the roof can be fitted, Still looking into what I can use for that. The floor needs sorting out, the slabs need fitting in properly. It started to rain about 5pm so I had to pack up and come in.
Dinner tonight was Quorn chunks cooked in a pan with some oil, with eight shredded sprouts. Garlic powder and turmeric, and a few other spices were chucked in. Then some water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, add porridge to thicken. Served with steamed veg and two fresh tomatoes. It was delicious and there's enough for another meal tomorrow.
It's one week since I did the yellow sticker shop. I still have a swede, potatoes, grapes, sprouts, carrots, and one tomato left. All went out of date a week ago, still perfectly edible. No need to go shopping just yet, I have enough. Thanks for popping in, off to feed the cats now. No sunset tonight, it's raining.
Toodle pip.
Publicity shots in France with Sir Alistair Morton on the Eurostar.
Time for a break in my truck
Guided tour of Barcelona Football Stadium
My 60th Birthday showing my first bus pass
Makeover for Chat Magazine
Trying out some roller blades I bought from a car boot sale
A walk over the Humber Bridge
Late evening charity walk for a Hospice.
Who am I ?
A retired lorry driver who is trying to keep my life normal, while those all around me are losing their minds. This is my diary. What I do and what I think about. You are welcome to read it. Toodle pip.
