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

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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