Visit to the Festival of Christmas Trees

Hello. I've been to church today, the Old Brumby, United Church. It's not an old church like those I visit on my travels, it's a mere fifty years old, so quite a modern building in comparison. Every year the Rotary Club hold a Festival of Christmas Trees to raise money for Lindsey Lodge Hospice. Entry is free, a donation is appreciated, and refreshments are available.

I've seen it advertised before, but never been to it, so I thought this year I would. It was very busy and seems like a popular event. There are over eighty trees to view, all decorated by local businesses, schools, groups, clubs, charities, and the council. Some of them are stunningly fabulous, all of them are super. Here are a few of them. Enjoy.

This had to be my favourite, I love quirky. Driftwood picked up from the beach, cleaned and sanded smooth. Each branch has a hole drilled through the middle and is threaded onto an upright post, the longest piece at the bottom and the shortest on top. Amazing isn't it. 

And the band played Christmas Carols. There is other entertainment throughout the two weekends, choirs are booked to perform as well. 

A lot of the decorations are hand made. There are colourful Suffolk Puffs on this one.

Another quirky one, by the council recycling department. I'm not sure I like this one very much. The idea is good but I think they could have been a bit more imaginative with the construction.

 Small knitted socks covered this one. Cute.

Looks like all the children in the school made a fairy out of a clothes peg. Great idea to get them all involved.

I've got some more photo's but I'll save them for later. Hope you like them.
Toodle pip.

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A busy day at the Village Hall

Hello. I'm falling asleep in front of the keyboard here. I think it is the one hour of heating I treated myself to that's done it, turned it off now. Or could it be all the nattering I've been doing at the Christmas Fair. Here is me and Hilary, one of our crafty ladies.  

Lots of lovely colourful displays. Seated is Carol, another crafty lady. She is manning the Village Hall stall, with her assistant.

All manner of stuff for sale.

 Ali is selling her beautiful hand made wares. She is also one of our crafty ladies.

Blimey, they've piled that one high.

The busiest stall of the lot? The Womens Institute cake stall of course, and before you ask, no I didn't indulge. That's Judy handing over her dosh.

More cakes, such a lovely display.

And an overall view of the Village Hall. The Fair opened at 11am and closed at 3pm, and it was busy most of the time. 

There was entertainment from the school choir, a local dance school, and the Scouts did a presentation. Santa put in an appearance, and there was a fancy dress competition for the small children. A pretty fairy won that. Refreshments were served, tea and coffee, sandwiches and cakes, and home made soup. All in all a great afternoon was had by all. A great effort by everyone, it's good to see the village community coming together. We didn't sell very much but I wasn't expecting to. Charities benefited by doing their own fundraising, and the Village Hall, which has to be self funding, also did well.

Now I'm going to chill. No alcohol tonight, haven't any in, a juice drink and a read of a book will suffice.

Hope your Saturday went well. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.

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Apologies to my stomach

Hello and welcome, come on in. I'm trying to tick off jobs on my 'to do', list and not making much progress. Some jobs have been completed but more have been added to the bottom. It's never ending. Getting ready for the Christmas Fair has been priority, but there is one job connected to that which hasn't got done. Our Craft and Chat banner has disappeared. It was last used in June, in the church. I wasn't there when the display was taken down. I've asked everyone if they know what has happened to it, no one does. We have one member who is on holiday, surely she hasn't got it in her house, has she. Too bad if she has, she's in Spain. I did wonder if someone had passed it on to me and I put it somewhere safe. I've searched the house from top to bottom and I can't find it. So I'm going to have to make a temporary one, some cut out letters from coloured card. I can do without that job tonight, still got to sew up two bags. 

These fabric bowls are done, I've made eight small ones and one large one. They will be for sale if anyone wants them. 

Digging up taters has been ticked off the list, they are all up now. The last few. Not very pretty, some knobbly ones, but they will scrub up well. The veg garden is now closed.

My lunch today was egg noodles and spring onions, (yellow stickers), with two scrambled eggs, very filling. Dinner tonight is a plate of steamed veg with grated cheese. It's sprouts all the way now, plus the bargain veg I still have in the fridge.

I have a confession to make. I bought a cake on a yellow sticker on Monday, it was a sponge cake with a cream filling and icing on the top. Half price at �1. I only buy treats when they are reduced, and as I hadn't had anything sweet for a while I thought I might indulge in a little lip smacking delishusness. The cake would have made four or six portions. I should have spread it over four days, but can I save cake, can I hell! I scoffed it in two days. My eyes were bigger than my belly, and boy did I suffer. Not just feeling sick, but feeling really ill. I had a headache and felt tired, and had to sit down. My body felt like sh1t. I ate some for breakfast, because it was there. Half an hour later I thought I had a rock in my stomach. I sent some porridge down to absorb all the crap. Sorry stomach, I appear to have abused you.

They say sugar is poison and I believe it. I took my eyes off the ball for a moment and suffered. I can see how easy it is to do that. Forgive me stomach, I'll try not to do that again.

Must go, the weekend is here, I hope it is a good one for you. Toodle pip

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Free sprouts

Hiya and hello. I've got five cute little cubes now. Someone (I'm hopeless with names), suggested they could be made into dice. What a good idea, yes they could. Might make some more, but I'll move onto something else now, got other stuff to do. Things to finish for the stall on Saturday. 

I went to town today. Took three bags of unwanted stuff to two charity shops. Most of it is what I got out of  a skip, which didn't sell on our cat stall on Saturday. 

 I went to get some cash from the machine inside the bank, and it ate my card. My fault, it went out of date on the 30th. I have a new card but hadn't swapped them over. Must get it activated tomorrow. I paid a visit to the Arts Centre to see what was new. A very colourful exhibition by Nick Sharratt, he illustrates childrens books. It was all very interesting, he has amazing talent. Sorry didn't take any pics. Here is a link to his very colouful web site.

My next port of call was the library, I chose some crafting and sewing books. Who should I meet outside with her bicycle was Joanne from the 1939 house. You may remember I wrote about her a while back, she lives down the hill from me. I keep bumping into her just lately. She was struggling to fasten her shopping onto her bike before the ride home. I offered to take her bags back in the car, but she was adamant that she lives the 1939 way, and this is what she does. She's a gutsy lady, it's five miles each way to town and back,. with a couple of hills to struggle up. I do admire her commitment to her chosen lifestyle.

Last place to call at was the pet stall in the market. They often have offers on short dated pet food. Just opposite is a fruit and veg stall and they were packing up for the day. My eagle eye spotted a couple of sprout sticks sticking out of a bag left out for collection, destined for the bin. Nowt wrong with them I thought so I asked for them. What a waste to chuck them, a bonus for me though.

Remember the story I told you about the green phone box full of wires being smashed up outside my friends house? She doesn't live there bye the way. As I walked by this morning I saw workmen had come to replace it. Knowing that my friend was not best pleased where they had put the previous one, overhanging the entrance to her drive, I dashed back home and got in my car and went to tell her that they were about to put the new box in exactly the same place. I gave her a lift so she could maybe get them to stop the job before it was too late. I sat in the car watching her remonstrate with them, her arms waving everywhere. I had to chuckle, she doesn't stand no messing. Didn't do any good though, they were only following orders. She has already had a lot of argybargy with Open Reach the telephone people. Looks like the saga of the box in the wrong place will go on and on, she won't give up until they move it two feet to the right, ha ha.

Anyway, I'm off to bed now, with my library books. Toodle pip

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How to make a Suffolk Puff

Hello. Did anyone see the gorgeous sunset last night? I spotted it looking out over the rooftops, from my bedroom window. Boots on, coat on, off to the churchyard for some pics. I like to play around with the flash, sometimes it works really well at picking out objects close by, and sometimes not. It depends on how much natural light there is. Love how it picks out the red berries. 

Silhouettes of the bare trees against the moody sky.

Love how the flash picks out the railings. It was still quite light at this point.

Love how the lush green leaves add even more colour to the red sunset. 

I like to try and frame the picture to draw the eye deeper into it. Looking for overhanging branches or strategically placed bushes.

Talking of pictures, I mentioned that someone wanted to use one of mine in a publication. I am happy to allow that, and it's nice that I was asked, rather than it just be taken. One of my photo's was used as a cover for a community brochure in Lincolnshire. Another was used in advertising material by someone in the USA who was coming to London to give a presentation at the London Palladium. He wanted a photo of the venue without any advertising boards on the front. I happened to be passing when there wasn't a show on and got the picture. Here is a link to Bed Times, my picture of a bed spring gate is at the top. From what I can remember I was in Derbyshire when I took it. 

What was I doing last night at sewing class? Making Suffolk Puffs. I don't know why they are called that, I think the common name is yoyo's. These are for embellishing the cushion cover I am making from a mans shirt. Still need some more. 

There is a gadget you can buy to help you make them. A circle of plastic which sits inside another circle and sandwiches the fabric between the two. They clip together and have holes around the edge that you sew through. Last week I borrowed one from a class mate, but she didn't bring it this week so I carried on making them without it. It's quite simple. Probably most of you know how to do this.

Cut a circle twice the size of the puff. Fold a single hem around the outside. I didn't bother to iron it, just folded as I was sewing. Basically you sew a line of small tacking stitches around the outside, and when you get back to the beginning you pull the thread tight, gathering the fabric into a puff with the raw edge on the inside. Then you finish off with a button.

I've just watched a video which demonstrates this, but the lady didn't make a hem, she sewed round the raw edge and pulled it in. I think this way is a bit messy and if you were going to wash the piece afterwards the raw edge would fray.



Here is another video which shows the hem method, and how to make square puffs.



If you go onto yoootooob and search Suffolk Puffs there are lots of ideas on what to do with them. Happy stitching. The sun is out and I am off outside. Got to dig up the last of my spuds. Hope all is good where you are. Toodle pip.

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Be grateful

Good morning. A quickie before I get busy for the day. I've just been reading the news, Mrs Beckham won an award for her fashion brand, there are photo's of her and her husband David, all over the papers. No this isn't a post about them, it's about jealousy. Why oh why do people feel the need to spout such vitriol about someone they have never met and are never likely to meet. I'm talking about the comments here, which inevitably follow on from the main article. Trolls are everywhere, looking for any opportunity to pull people down, it's sickening, and I imagine most of the nasty comments are born out of pure jealousy. Anyone who is  doing quite well for themselves is seen as an easy target.

I don't know the Beckhams, but what I see is a hard working couple who look after their family, isn't that what everyone should be aspiring to do? So why the nasty personal remarks?

Jealousy is an evil which permeates throughout the whole of society. I want what you've got and if I can't afford to buy it, I will steal it. You have a new flat screen TV so I want one. Your child goes to a better school than mine, so I will send little Billy there. Sam down the road has a new car, so I will get a bigger one. Mary is going to the God knows where islands for her holiday, I want to go. You see what I mean. It's like a disease.

Did you see the recent TV programmes of Sue Perkins travelling up the Mekong River? She met lots of people who have virtually nothing, yet still are happy with their lives. Why can't it be like that everywhere? I do despair. Watch it on the iplayer if you can. Did you also see the pictures of people getting into punch ups on Black Friday in the stores as they scrabbled for the bargains? And now they are trying to sell their big screen TV's on ebay. serves them right for being so greedy if they don't make a profit.

I don't care if people have more than me. Well done to the Beckhams for getting out there and working hard, and giving jobs to lots of people. So what if she doesn't smile very often, would you, if you had cameras pointing at your face every time you stepped out of your front door.

Jealousy can turn people into killers, it can start wars. Sometime in the future it will bring about the demise of the whole planet. I will not allow jealousy into my life and I will not allow it to eat into my soul.

I'll leave you with one thought while I go about my daily business. Toodle pip

Live with an attitude of gratitude.

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Eat well, eat cheap.

Hello. Howz ya diddlin? I am fine thank you. The sandwich I started to eat last night didn't get finished, too full after eating the left over chips. I popped this bit back in the bag and got it out this morning and photographed it before I ate it. Just to show that however small a morsel might be, it is not thrown away. 

I went to crafty club this morning, then this afternoon I paid a visit to Helen. She has new tenants in the house which was vacated and had to be cleaned up big time. They were renting her other house but decided they wanted to move nearer town and work. So now she is preparing their house for rental, and new tenants will be moving in, in the new year. Confusing aint it.

I called in at the small Tesco on the way back and came up trumps on yellow stickers. Not the full Monty 90% off, but nevertheless, the bargains were not to be sniffed at. Here's the list.

Packs of 4 Activia yogurt, �1.15 to 25p. I had three packs.
Bags mixed prepared vegetables, �1.23 each to 41p each. I had three bags.
Egg noodles, �1.20 each to 14p. I had two bags.
Bags prepared veg, �1.65 each, to 16p. I had two bags.
Bunches spring onions, 49p each to 5p. I had four bunches.
Chicken pieces for the cats. �2.50 to �1.50.
I got a multibuy deal on the three packs of veg, the rules still apply, buy 2 get 1 free.
Total spend �3.87, and a load of food to last me the week.

My dinner tonight, all yellow stickers. Egg noodles, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, mangetout peas, fine beans. Very nice it was too. Strawberry yogurt to follow.

The chicken is grilled, a feast for the cats. I cut this up into small pieces with scissors. 

I had an email today from someone asking if they can use one of my photo's in a magazine. They had seen it on another blog called Dishfunctional Designs. Although the blog owner hadn't asked me, they did put a link back here.  I've had a look around the blog and it's quite interesting. All about re purposing, re using, up cycling, and creative ideas in crafts. Perhaps you might like to take a look. There are adverts on it, and the owner herself makes and sells jewelry from broken ceramics. If you can ignore them it's full of good ideas. My photograph is the garden gate made out of old bed springs.

Thanks for popping in. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip

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