The choice is yours

The choice is yours

learning ponderings

Hello. I have a feeling that there is something I have to do today. Ah yes, it's on my calendar, as if I needed reminding. I have to go to the Village Hall, get a slip of paper, take it to a booth and make my mark thus X in the box of my choice. Simple.

I have come to my decision, I have listened, I have watched, I have read, it hasn't been easy. Going round in circles comes to mind, in one ear and out the other also comes to mind. I have used my brain to the best of my ability and processed all the information offered. The conclusions I draw are that yes, every vote counts, everyone should exercise their democratic right, but when the circus leaves town, what then? We all have to get on with our lives the best we can.

I used to be a worrier, it's normal to worry about the future when you are young. But as I get older I find I worry less. There's no point in worrying about things I cannot change. Will my cross make a difference, probably not, but at least I've made my choice. What happens after is out of my hands, I shall carry on as always.

I found a reference in a book I am reading at the moment, which prompted me to google a name. Dorothy Rowe is a psychologist who has changed how we understand ourselves. That's what it says on her website. This page seems particularly appropriate in today's political turmoil. How to Deal with a Crisis. The article sheds some light on how we can deal with things which are beyond our control. She says we have three choices. We can pretend it isn't happening, we can become very frightened, or we can become very angry. If you are experiencing mixed emotions about the outcome of the general election, you might want to have a look at this. 

Are you going to stop reading or listening to the news and ignore everything that is happening around you? Are you going to become so scared that you retreat into your own little bubble? Or are you going to scream and shout and stamp about because your team didn't win? The choice is yours.

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

Needle felting update

Needle felting update

arty stuff crafty stuff

Hello. The weather is a bit better today, still windy but at least it's dry. I need to mow my lawns in the next day or two so I hope that's the end of the rain for a while. Here's me trying to get on with a bit of stitching, but Heidi is having none of it. No, you will fuss me because I demand it, she says. 

Here is a little update on the felting, seven minutes long. My videos are in the raw state, I don't know how to edit them. I make cock ups, and I stumble over my words, one day I might get it right, ha ha.



I've just had a BIG sandwich lunch and now I need a coffee, so I'll leave you to it. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Getting excited

Getting excited

arty stuff crafty stuff

Hello. If I get a good feeling about a new project from the start, it usually turns out well. As we have had a lot of rain in the past couple of days, and it's raining now, I am getting on with this. I have to go with the flow while the brain is engaged. Early mornings are best for me, yesterday up at 4 am, today at 4.45 am. 

As I said yesterday I found the design in Stitch magazine, and got the needle felting kit out which had been languishing in the spare room for months. Time to get a grip. 

I have used a piece of net curtain for the backing, the wool sticks to it nicely. When all the felt is in place I shall be putting a thicker backing onto it before I begin stitching into it. 

The colours aren't exactly right on the photo, but you get the idea. I don't follow the instructions in the magazine article, I put my interpretation on the design and do it my way. I end up with something similar but not the same. This is more an exercise on technique, getting to know how to manipulate the wool by altering the angle at which the single needle enters the work. If you want a sharp edge to the shape push the edges towards the centre. If you want a more  softer edge so that it merges gently with the background, push the edges away from the centre towards the outside. All good fun.

Some of my newer readers might ask what's this got to do with money saving. Well, while my brain is engaged with something interesting to do, I don't feel the need to go shopping. People shop out of boredom, the buzz they get from treating themselves helps relieve boredom, for a while. I suggest anyone in this position who sees shopping as a feel good factor might find a hobby which keeps their brain occupied. Shopping is not my hobby.

Nearly 9 am and I have got to go out in the rain and walk Bailey the poodle for Joyce, she is busy this morning. Later I shall be visiting the mobile library to change my books and have a natter with Stan. The rest of the time I shall be working on this, it's a no spend day today.

Gawd, it's a raincoat and brolly day, I shall have to go. Enjoy your day, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Bargains from the car boot sale.

Bargains from the car boot sale.

car boot sale cheap crafty stuff

Hello, back again. It's been wet and miserable outside, so when I got back from Crafty Club I decided to stay in and get on with another project. I bought some wool and felting needles from the Scrapstore ages ago, and apart from having a play with it, I haven't touched it since. Time to get serious and make an effort to produce something. 

I've seen a project in the latest Stitch magazine, June/July, it was wet felted, with an abstract design, and has a lot of machine and hand stitching on it. It was made into a cover for a kindle. I thought I could make something similar but bigger, dry felted with the needles, and make a wall hanging. So I've spent all afternoon on that while watching Heatbeat videos on yooootoooob. Early days but it's coming together nicely. 

I went to the local car boot sale yesterday morning, at the football ground. I don't go very often, about three times a year, this is the first one I've been to since last summer. I found a few bits and bobs which might be useful. I already have a lot of tiny beads, but often when I am making something I can always guarantee I don't have the colour I need. I found this box of beads for £1. 

All this lot was in a box on a table with a label saying £2 the lot. I asked the woman if she was trying to get rid of them, she said yes. I gave her the £2 because it was worth it.

Here they are sorted, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Some of it is too big and a bit ugly so those pieces will go on the cat table to sell. The small beads and small shiny items will be used in crafty projects. 

I was looking for a straight up and down plain glass vase, and I found one. It's 10 inches tall, cost £1, and I have an idea for it.

I'm going to get on with a bit more needle felting, so I'll say tatty byes. Thank you for all your comments on yesterdays post, you really are too kind. All I do is live my life the way I want to. I am just being me.

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

A lesson in money management from the 1950's

A lesson in money management from the 1950's

budgeting shopping

Hello, chomping through my salad lunch and browsing yooootoooob, like you do, I found this video. Food Shopping, a handy guide for the housewife. Go back to the 1950's to find out how to save money on your food. Sorry if I am teaching your granny to suck eggs, but this should be shown in all schools as part of the home economics course.



Amazing that these rules still apply today, it proves that our mums and grannies knew exactly how to get the best value for their money.

Raining outside, staying in, more crafting. I'll be back later.
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Cushions and cat beds.

Cushions and cat beds.

crafty stuff sewing

Hello. That's another job done, the duvet which was passed to me, is now ten cushions and six cat beds, like mini quilts. I used every bit of the quilt, and I had some stuffing from another donation of lumpy cushions which I used to add a bit more bounce to these cushions. 

The covers can be removed from the cushions and washed, the brown fabric was donated, from a blog reader I think. People give me stuff and I can't remember where it came from, but it all gets used or passed on to the ladies in the Crafty Club. The patterned cushion covers were a curtain which I no longer required.

The cat beds are covered in donated fabric.They can be put in the washing machine as they are.

I've made a little video showing a few other things I have made from recycled materials.



I'm glad that jobs done, I'll drop the cushions off at the church in the morning. Now I can move on to another crafty project.

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

Be kind to your body

Be kind to your body

food

Hello and good morning. As I was sitting here eating my breakfast while browsing the internet, I suddenly remembered, it is not recommended to eat at the office desk. I'm not sure why that is, possibly because it encourages you to rush food and get back to work, or, that you should concentrate on every mouthful and let your taste buds savour the moment without interruption. 

I must say, I don't go along with this, for me eating and looking at a screen go hand in hand. I eat more slowly while reading or watching a video. My breakfast has just taken me 25 minutes to eat.

I know a certain person, won't name names but someone I know well, who shoves his food down his throat at breakneck speed. When I am in his company eating a meal he always berates me for eating so slowly. He says I should eat it while it is hot because it will be cold before I am finished. I could never understand why this should be a problem, hot food cold food what does it matter. I think the fact that he is overweight says a lot about his eating habits. 

 Food digestion starts in the mouth, by chewing food and mixing it with saliva not only adds to the enjoyment of eating by titillating your taste buds, it also starts the breaking down process in preparation for it moving on  through the gullet and into the stomach. If you are going to force feed yourself your body will not be able to extract all the nutrients it needs, and you will probably end up with one awful belly ache as it struggles to break everything down.

I like the saying, 'your eyes are bigger than your belly', yes, it happens to me sometimes, but not very often. I nearly always eat everything on my plate. Occasionally I stop eating before it's all gone, and put it in the fridge for the next day, but not very often.

When I am at home all day my breakfast takes me 25 minutes to consume, my lunch 40 minutes, and my dinner 45 minutes. Admittedly when I was working full time I wasn't able to give so much time to eating, but now I am retired I am more mindful about how I should treat my body.

I prefer to eat alone, because I can concentrate on every mouthful, even in front of a screen. When I am in company I find it difficult to have a conversation and eat at the same time. My mum told me never to speak with my mouth full, and yes it is rude if your friends can see what's going on in your mouth.

I never stick to set times for my meals, I have approximate times, depending on whether my previous meal has gone through me quickly or slowly. I wait until my stomach tells me it is ready for more. Breakfast is about 8am, lunch between 11.30 and 1.30pm, dinner between 5 and 7pm.

Eating tons of food at a fast pace is basically self abuse. I sometimes read about eating challenges where people sit round a table scoffing vast quantities of one type of food, eggs comes to mind. Some of these people must be totally oblivious to the damage they are causing themselves. Indeed some of them do die. I would like to see this type of challenge totally banned. Aside from the health point of view, there is a moral issue that to publicly fill yourself to bursting point is an insult to those who don't have enough to eat.

To wind up, are you a slow eater or a fast eater? Do you watch a screen while you are eating, like me, or not? Do you eat alone or with others? Do you put too much on your plate, or is the quantity just right? Do you have a cooked meal at lunchtime or something lighter? Do you have a cooked meal in the evening or is that high tea time? Questions questions questions, come on, tell us your scoffing habits, or tell me to mind my own business, ha ha.

Thanks for popping in, have a nice weekend, we'll catch up soon.
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A visit to Brick City, a Lego Exhibition.

A visit to Brick City, a Lego Exhibition.

arty stuff exhibition sewing

Hello. Here are a few pictures of the Lego Exhibition on display at the moment at the 20 21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe, until the 20th of June. I was dead impressed with this. Warren Elsmore is an artist who gets to play with Lego all day long, a job I think many would like to do. He has had this passion since he was a young boy, now he is living his dream. I will leave you to look around. 

There is more information on his web site. 

So, what else have I been doing. The quilt is divided and and cushion pads/beds made. Now I need to make the covers.

I am giving the Summer House a makeover, some of the paint has faded so it's getting a lick of paint using the small sample pots. No buying new, I will use what I have.

It's good to see so many of you are still enthusiastic about walking, thanks for checking in with your miles. If you haven't already done so you can go to the 1st of the month post any time to update your progress.

That's lunch eaten, now I'm going to get on the sewing machine. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Calling all walkers, report here please.

Calling all walkers, report here please.

arty stuff observations odds-n-sods walking

Hello. My visit to Hull yesterday. First I drove to Barton to have a look at the exhibitions in the Ropewalk Galleries. One was closed due to installing new exhibits, the other was a series of paintings which illustrated Spurn Point, didn't like them much at all, and of course the prices were ridiculous. .

Then I caught the bus to Hull. The fountains in the city centre were advertised as something special, I was expecting them to be arty, colourful, and maybe a bit showy with background music. Like dancing fountains. Don't know where I got that idea from. Nope, It was a splash pad, with jets of water coming up out of the ground and lots of little children having fun playing guess which one is going to spurt next, and let's see what happens if I put my foot on this one. It was a gloriously hot day, ideal for a splash about, kids and mums alike were enjoying it. I remember seeing the fountains in Bradford five years ago and they were shooting up as high as the buildings. Maybe that's why I thought these would be the same. Sorry, no pictures, it is frowned upon to take photo's of small children in their underwear in a public place.

Next stop the Ferens Art Gallery to see the pictures from the Sea of Hull, you may remember that everyone was painted blue and photo's were taken at various locations in the city centre. I was hoping to see more pictures than what had already been shown on the internet. There were two that I hadn't seen before, a lot of naked people were photographed on the Humber Bank with the bridge in the background. They weren't blue, just their own naked skin in the buff. The blue ones I had already seen, albeit in a smaller screen size. Have a look at this report in the Hull Daily Mail on the opening day.

Also part of the Skin exhibition are several nude sculptures by Ron Mueck, some of them larger than life, some in miniature, all of them perfect in every detail. They are so lifelike you have to get up close to see where every hair has been inserted into the model. I was not allowed to take any photo's in the gallery, but if you check out this BBC webpage, there is a picture of the Wild Man. The man is a giant perched on a giant stool, the top of my head came up to his nipples. The rest of the exhibition was fascinating, nude lifelike bodies of different sizes.

I wasn't long in Hull, the bus journey took ages because of the heavy traffic. I picked up a few yellow stickers at Tesco in Barton. A nice cauliflower for 48p marked down from £2, TWO CHUFFIN POUNDS, good grief. Bags of salad leaves for 16p.

The duvet has been deconstructed, and is now three separate pieces, now to start sewing.

Hands up anyone who uses resealable packs as they are supposed to? I find that they are such a faff to get the two sides to stick together that I don't bother. I cut them off completely, fold over, and seal with a clothes peg. Simple. To the manufacturers, get rid of them and knock a couple of pence off the price.

Here's a thought, are young people losing their observational skills? I presented this at the checkout at Wilko, girl scanned it and held out her hand asking for 50p. Hey girl, open your eyes, what does it stay there? I do despair, no wonder the tills are being replaced by self serve, brains are no longer required to be a checkout assistant.

Now to the most important part of today's post, THE WALKING GROUP CHECK IN REMINDER. Come on, are you a bragger, or a fessing up participant, ha ha. Have you broken all records with your walking, or have you failed to get up off your bum? I am a bit of both. I will get on with it when I feel like it, or I can say stuff it, I'll not bother today. I am able to ease up a bit on the three mile daily walks because I have clocked up a few extra miles on longer walks. It's like a deposit account, today I have 570 miles in the bank. On the other hand, if I take my eye off the ball for too long there is a possibility that I might fall behind. I can't let that happen.

So how are you doing? Let us know so we can admire your stamina or give you a kick up the bum to get on with it. Only joking, don't get too hung up about the numbers, just do as much as you can. It needs to be enjoyable, not a slog.

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