For the Terry fans.

Terry has just posted this, have to pass it on. An old film of 18 year old Terry, bashing out a tune with his band. Same mop of hair, same bouncing about, same smile, you can tell he is enjoying himself.



I'll be back later.  ilona

New food to try.

Good morning. Did you notice how I had a day off yesterday, no blog post.  Start of a new week and I'm raring to go. Just time to blast this out before I go off to Crafty Club. I'm making Christmas tree decorations now, more about that later. 

I was in Aldi a week or so ago, and came across packs of Good Grains, they seem to be introducing new healthy foods which are easy to cook. I thought I would give it a go. Anything which cuts down my time in the kitchen is good for me. 

I chucked a few frozen mushrooms, a chopped up onion, a few frozen broad beans, and a Quorn fillet cut into pieces, into a pan. A splash of oil, some Danish Blue cheese, and some of this lentils, spelt, and quinoa mix, and cooked it up. served on a bed of iceberg lettuce. It was lovely. 

I also bought a packet of green lentils, they only take one minute to cook. Worth a try, have you seen them? Have you tried them?

Oooh, look at the time, got to go. Toodle pip

Needing to buy food.

I left it as long as I could. the freezer was almost empty, so was the fridge, only a few packets and tins left, and zilch fresh fruit and veg. What's a girl to do? Go shopping of course.

Bank first to pay my water bill and withdraw cash. Pick up a couple of boxes of cat food and a carton of Coffee Mate from B & M discount store, get petrol from the filling station near town, then off to M & S at the retail park. I want to spend the last £10 on the Birthday Gift Card I received from my bestie friend, in May. Not much in the way of yellow stickers here, maybe 4.45pm is too early, but I did find a bottle of toasted sesame seed oil. Was pleased about that, as it is hard to come by in other shops, and when I do see it, it's very expensive. In M & S it is £1.80 for a bigger bottle than I normally get. A few treats to use up the £10. Cauliflower, seeded farmhouse bread, grapes, pasta pot with spinach and pine kernels, and baby sprouts.

Then on to Tesco across the road. Spent a bit more here. There were quite a lot of yellow stickers, not the full 90% off because I was too early, but 50% off is still good.

So, what did I get. Teacakes, bread, diced onion, potato salad, broccoli, spinach, leafy salad, beetroot, pea & bean shoots, mini carrots, grapes, cucumber. All stocked up again. I don't need to be quite so keen on searching for yellow stickers, but if they are there I will have them. At one time, when I was skint, most of my food was reduced, now I can afford to relax a bit.

Now back to the sewing table. Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.  ilona

Entertaining.

Hiya my little Bloggerettes. Saturday morning and another little chuckle from the troll. They are stepping up their silly little campaign to try and wear me down, well it ain't working. Their stupid comments are coming thick and fast, and my delete button is getting a bashing, a bit like Terry Miles and his piano bashing. Have a butchers at this, I'll be back in a bit.



Toodle pip

Sew Saturday at Jaylaurs - the pics

We have some pics from Saturday. Jaylaurs Sewing Studios in Brigg held their annual event, a day packed with sewing activities, workshops, prizes to be won, and guest speakers. 

New skills to learn, eyes down, this is how you do it.

The lovely ladies must have worked their little socks off to get it all ready. They certainly didn't stop on the day. A marquee at the front of the shop provided an extra sales area, it was all hands on deck. 

Thanks to Jaylaurs for the borrow of the pics. I was so caught up in it all that I forgot to get my camera out. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

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

Stop work to go to the park.

Today I fancied making bunting. I have some strips of green and red fabric which I got from the Scrapstore. The flags are 3 inches by 2.5 inches, so quite small. Need to sew them onto tape. 

This fabric was the last piece from the hem of a dress I got from a Charity Shop. All the rest has been used up on various projects.

It has been mostly sunny with a few black clouds passing over, but luckily no rain. I changed my library books this afternoon, the van comes between 1pm and 3pm, then Stan goes to the school.

I went a walk to the park. I was a bit late getting there, should have gone earlier really. The Park Ranger was about to close the gates to the car park. I asked him how long I had got before he closed the little side gate. He said he had some emails to attend to, and he would be locking it in half an hour. Only time for a short walk and take a few photo's.

Some lovely Autumn colours.

So that's the day gone. I'll carry on with the bunting tomorrow. 

Toodle pip.  ilona

Useful stuff.

The other day when I was in Barton with my friend, we had a look in the new Lidl store there which has recently opened. It's very conveniently placed at a junction where two major roads meet, just south of the Humber Bridge. Easy access off a roundabout, I think they will get a lot of people calling in as they are passing. 

I don't normally go to Lidl here in the town, because Aldi is nearer for me, and they are much the same, with similar prices. 

I wasn't in the mood for food shopping, but as we had been to two other places we decided to make it three and take a look. 

I found this little bargain. twelve bobbins full of cotton for £1. Those plastic bobbins are about £2 or so for a small packet of empty ones, so this is a good buy. 

I picked up this as well, also £1. I normally use felt tip pens or pencils to mark out shapes on my fabric, this will be better.

Sometimes it pays to look in the centre non food aisles of Lidl and Aldi, occasionally there is some useful stuff there.
Toodle pip.  ilona

Back to school.

I've had a lovely day, sitting in the classroom, trying new stitching techniques. Mostly based on running stitch, with variations. Sue Stone is the teacher, she has her samples laid out on the table. We all gathered round and listened to her instructions on Raw Edge Applique, Wrapping and Looping, and Folds and Undulations. 

Then we started. We were given a piece of backing fabric, and there was a variety of other fabrics to use for anyone who hadn't taken their own. Threads were also provided.

Here are some close ups of Sue's samplers. There are lots of different ways a running stitch can be used. Other stitches can be added to give the piece texture. 

Different thicknesses of thread will create different effects.

Some of the results. Each one is different. Everyone has their own style.

I bet you recognised mine. Bright colours and two Suffolk Puffs gave it away. Now I need to incorporate some of this into my art.

Sue is a very talented lady, you can check out her web site here. 

Toodle pip.  ilona 

Learning something new.

Yesterday at the sewing shop was a huge success. The room was packed, and I forgot to get any pictures. But, there should be some coming on the Jaylaurs Facebook page, so I will nick some of those. I'll write about that next week. 

It's raining, looks like it has been all night judging by the puddles in the road outside. I don't care because I'm off to a sewing workshop at The Ropewalk arts centre. I have been told to take fabric scraps, an assortment of threads, needles and pins, and scissors. Also a camera because we will be photographing as we go. There are about eight or so in the class. 

Now to make a pack up for lunch. There is a café on site (food not provided), but I will only want a snack. Sandwich, a banana, and drink. Toodle pip. ilona

Ready

All packed and ready. 

I took the big pictures to the shop yesterday, had to utilise the shopping trolley because they are too heavy to carry from the car park. Take the bag off and tie the carefully wrapped pictures to the frame. In the bags I have the smaller pieces to show, and some freebies to give away. There's shopping bags of course, buttons, lots that I can't use, Suffolk puff brooches, ready made and kits for them to take home and make their own. Hope they like it all.
Toodle pip.  ilona

Fun and games at Tightwad Towers.

Did you notice the troll comment on the previous post? I decided to publish it because it's my blog, and I can. I have the upper hand, I can delete anything that I want to get rid off. I don't need crappy comments from a crappy troll to litter my blog.

Oh yes, Chris, or whatever name they are calling themselves at the moment, came back to check whether they did get published or not. Their little eyes must have lit up like beacons on a lighthouse when they saw that their words have appeared on a screen. They couldn't contain their great joy and had to come back with a gloating comment once they had read my answer to the first one. I chose not to publish their gloat, because as I said, I have the upper hand.

My life is pretty good at the moment. I am excited about the talk I am going to give tomorrow at the Sewing shop, and I have booked myself on a workshop for Sunday at the Ropewalk, where Sue Stone, the textile artist that I mentioned is teaching her techniques. So, a brilliant weekend ahead.

No sad person with the brain of a gnat is going to put a damper on my enthusiasm for life. No matter how many mean and nasty comments I get, I will rise above it. Social media is awash with nasty people. If anyone else is getting troll comments, and they are, just stick two fingers up and say 'Fuck you', as you press the delete button. Then smile to yourself knowing that they have the problem, not you.

Luckily there are also a lot of nice people out there. I am grateful to all the nice readers who keep coming back. Be happy, look after yourselves.
Toodle pip.  ilona  xxx

Preparing for Christmas.

This is a warning. If you are looking for something in particular when you go shopping, you probably won't find it. Why? Because shelves have been cleared to make space for this lot. The annual Tatfest. Make sure you are ready for December the 25th, buy now before it goes.

Spotted this bargain. A few sticks and some string. It's a hanging Christmas Tree, a snip at only £12. 

Think I'll go for a walk in the woods tomorrow.

Can't wait for the Easter Eggs.

Toodle pip,  and  Bah bludy humbug.

Inspiration from a fridge

A year ago I was on holiday in Orkney, and found a small countertop fridge on a rubbish tip. Inside were two wire shelves. I'm having those I thought, I can do something with them, weaving perhaps. The first one was smaller than this, I wrapped it in coloured wool and added some bling to it. 

This one is 12.5 inches by 9 inches. I cut some t shirts into strips and wove it through the wire bars. 

Adding different shades of green wool, and orange French knots. It was difficult to push the needle through several thicknesses of fabric. I had to use a pair of small pliers.

There were a few loose ends of fabric, rather than stitch them to the back to hide them I decided to add more and make a fringe across the bottom.

The tree is made by cutting ten strands of wool, then starting in the middle, wrapping wool around it to make the trunk. Then splitting the ends into branches and splitting again and wrapping them right to the ends. I wanted to do big floppy French knots for the leaves but it was impossible to get the needle through so I cut them out of felt and stitched them on with cotton.

One job left to do is put a back on it. It's only taken me about ten days to make it. A small fun picture, and it looks quirky. Churning them out now. Next........
Toodle pip.  ilona

Walking Group check in. How are you doing?

Good morning, it's the first of the month and that means check in day for the International Walking Group members. It's raining again. Thought it had finished yesterday as most of the day was dry, but it started last night and has continued overnight. Never mind, it can't last forever, can it?

Here is a throwback picture from happy times walking in Bamford, Derbyshire. Just to remind us that the sun will come back eventually.

So how are we all doing with the walking challenge? I have finished the nine months at 760 miles. Not as much as I would have liked, but there you go, rain stopped play. Still ahead of the game but only just.

Let's see how everyone else is doing. Please report in here on this blog post with your miles. Cheer each other on, support each other in our endeavours to keep moving and to keep fit. You can come back to this post any time if you miss it today. Good luck everybody.
Toodle pip.  ilona