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.
Toodle pip

Saturday summary

Saturday summary

chitter chatter odds-n-sods

Hello. We've had a couple of downpours today, not as much as those down south though. I was outside painting the garage doors, and had to hurriedly retreat indoors as the heavens opened. The job might get finished in a few days, I have a short attention span so I am doing it a bit at a time. Pity I haven't got enough of the same colour paint to do the whole lot, never mind, no one else will have doors like mine. 

The car was loaded up this morning, cat litter is flippin heavy, my poor springs. The Focus Estate is a good workhorse. A local cat litter factory has a clear out every so often and offers the cat rescues round here the old stock which they can't sell for one reason or another. Some of it is contaminated, a mixture of two or more different varieties, this happens when the packing machines change over from one to the other. Some of it is old stock which the customer no longer requires. Before they dump it in landfill they tell us to come and collect what we want. The men this morning were very helpful, getting it out with the forklift truck and helping us load it into the cars. It's good of them to offer it to the rescues first before it gets chucked, saves us a lot of money. 

I went to town this afternoon, needed to stock up on nuts and seeds for my breakfast cereals. Aldi for the nuts, Holland and Barrett for the seeds. While I was there I had a look at the new exhibition in the Arts Centre. Some amazing Lego models, I'll post some pictures soon.

I have decided to get rid of my motorcycle gear, I'm never going to ride a bike again so not much point in hanging on to them. I have a leather jacket and trousers, boots, helmet, and full waterproof suit. There's a couple of bike shops and a training centre on the way to town that might be able to make use of them, but they were closed today so I'll have to go back another time.

I am beginning to feel a bit out of touch with the pop world, it's all moved on since I was a teenager screaming at the Beatles. There is a big outdoor Radio1 pop concert on over the border in Yorkshire this weekend, and I've never heard of any of the performers. I hadn't heard of Ariana until this week. I have no idea who these up and coming young stars are.

Soon the pop festivals start, and I have to admit I have never been to one. The only festival I have been to is a truck festival. I can't see the point in being trapped in a crowd peering at some dots leaping about on a stage. You can look at the big screen but you might as well watch it at home in the comfort of your arm chair. Nope, I don't fancy that at all. Years ago I did see The Rolling Stones at Stafford, I was lucky enough to be at the front, and The Kinks and The Honeycombs at our local  dance hall, quite a small venue. Years later I saw Meatloaf at the NEC and Cher at Sheffield. That's about it, never been to a pop festival.

The sky looks very angry, looks like another storm is brewing. The cats are in and I am going to watch something on yooootoooob, so I'll sign off. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

A bit of an allsorts day.

A bit of an allsorts day.

food odds-n-sods vegetarian

Hello. I'm a bit late tonight, that's because I was following my own advice and getting up off my bum to walk. I didn't go till 8.30pm. It was lovely, nice and quiet, no one about, and quite mild. 

I trimmed my hair, didn't take as much off as I normally do, couldn't be bothered to get the two mirrors out and hang them on opposite doors. I put a small mirror on the window ledge outside the back door, and hacked away. Looks fine to me. Red is fading and brown roots coming through. 

I had one of my ready meals yesterday, it's like a brick. Eight minutes in the microwave soon brings it back to life.

I like to do a little job before breakfast while I have my morning coffee. Today it was sorting the buttons out.

All bagged up, now it's easy to find what I want.

The new super bespoke garden table was very useful today. I was given a load of pottery, ornaments and mugs etc, to sell on our cat stall. Best wash it outside in the sunshine, then I don't need to dry it. 

Dinner tonight was wholemeal pasta with runner beans, broad beans, and peas. A sprinkle of grated cheese and a dollop of mayo. Simple but filling.

 And then there were three. A pack of tee lights in B & M was £2, I went to Poundland and bought them for ......£1. I bought a jar of coffee from B & M for £4.50, the same jar was in Poundland for £5, as a managers special. It's a chuffin nightmare to keep track of prices. I had a nosy in the small Asda, the prices in there are a lot more than in the big store.

I didn't get to the vets, will have to do that tomorrow. I'm waiting for the plumber to get back to me, he is supposed to be servicing my boiler and checking my gas fire, but he is ever so busy. I've been chasing him up but he is not replying.

I've just been reading on a forum that someone had their car broken into and their handbag stolen. They are a bit peeved about that as you can imagine. Some lowlife was caught on camera using the card to withdraw cash out of a machine. What I want to know is why does anyone leave any valuables in their car anyway. People, please do not leave handbag, phone, keys, camera, satnav, computer, or anything of any value in your car.

I think it's bed time. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

New arrangements for a doddery old cat

New arrangements for a doddery old cat

cats garden odds-n-sods

Hello. I didn't feel like going to Crafty Club this morning, didn't want to be quizzed about Rocky, so I decided to go late and slip in while they were nattering away to each other, and maybe they would carry on nattering. Didn't work. C said she was sorry to hear about Rocky, which set me off, then she said she had also lost her own dog a few days ago, so then I decided that we might as well get it all out in the open and talk about our losses. On top of that one lady came back after a long break, she has been nursing her sick husband who passed away a couple of months ago, so the mood was charged with emotion for a while, until normal conversations kicked in. Anyway, I am trying to move on, as everyone has to when faced with the loss of a beloved pet, or a beloved family member. 

This is the new arrangement in my living room now. Yes, the cat litter box has been installed on the table next to the food tray. I couldn't understand where the puddles were coming from on my desk and the table. The water level in the bowl was going down rather quickly, was Bugsy splashing as he drank or was he puking it back up again? He has decided that this window sill is his preferred place, for watching the world go by as well as sleeping there. I caught the little hooligan yesterday. He had a bite to eat, then immediately peed on the table, next to the tray. I grabbed him and put him in the litter box on the floor. the idle beggar couldn't be bothered to climb down and do it in the proper place. I think he may be losing his marbles. 

Aren't these flowers wonderful? The daughter of my elderly neighbour, who visits every day, bought them for me on hearing about Rocky. People are so kind.

Here's a little tip which will help your aching back, not that I have an aching back, mind you. I got rid of my plastic washing basket years ago. It was cumbersome, annoying to get out from under the stairs on wash day, and all that bending down to fill it out of the machine, then take it to the garden, more bending to hang the washing out.

I have a tall folding bar stool which fits in a space next to the kitchen worktop in the corner. When the washing is done I pull it out of the machine, shake the creases out and lay it flat on the chair. I don't like peg bags so I have my pegs in a basket, this I clip onto the back of the stool with a bulldog clip. Everything is at a comfortable working height so no bending down. I carry the whole lot outside and set it down on the grass to hang the washing. When it's dry, do the same procedure in reverse. Easy peasy, keeps my back straight.

Hey, look. New shoots are appearing on the lilac tree stumps. That's a good sign.

Look what has happened while I have been sitting here. Bugsy relieving himself. I suppose I had better scoop out the soiled litter now.

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

Owain the weather man.

Owain the weather man.

crafty stuff music observations odds-n-sods

Hello. It's raining at the moment, our weather man Owain, says it's going to clear away throughout the day and we are going to have a bright weekend. Owain comes on my Twitter every morning, giving me the forecast so I can plan my daily activities.

He has a lovely presenting style, with a melodic welsh accent which I love. He's so cheerful with his smiley face. His profile says he likes drumming, and cats, so I asked if I could see him play the drums. Lo and behold he sent me a link to one of his yooootoooob videos, and by jove, he is good. I am impressed, a man of many talents, he speaks in Welsh as well. So here I am sharing this bit of sunshine with you on this rainy morning.

First a short profile, some examples of his work, note the longer hairstyle.



Now watch him bash hell out of his drum kit. Looks like a good upper body workout to me.



Good isn't he.

So. What am I doing today?

Playing with fabric scraps, I am in the mood for making a bag.

How are the Walking Group members getting on with their 1000 mile challenge? I am on 575 miles, need another eight to get me to the 7 month marker of 583 miles. Need this rain to stop please Owain.

Don't forget that Shed of the Year starts tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm. My shed will not be on this programme, you will have to wait until the fourth and last programme which will be on the 19th of August. However you will catch glimpses of me in the audience as I was there throughout the filming of the finals.

Lunch time, so I'll sign off. Have a nice weekend. We'll catch up soon
Toodle pip