Sewing, cheap food and collecting stuff.

Hello. I did my three miles earlier today while it was still light. It was surprisingly warm, I needn't have put a jacket on. I'm up to 148 miles for Jan and Feb, but I know there are people who have done more than that. Keep going peeps, only another ten months and ten days left to do. 

I am getting a reputation in this village as someone who is collecting fabric for crafting purposes. A friend of a friend rang last week and offered me a bag of mixed pieces that she didn't think she would ever use. I went and picked them up. There are some nice colours. I promised her I would make her a shopping bag.

Today I delivered two shopping bags, but she wasn't in, so I folded them carefully and pushed them through the letter box. I hope she enjoyed the surprise.

I called in at the Cash and Carry on my way to town yesterday, I haven't been for ages, so I wondered if they had anything new in. I found these porridge in a mug sachet's, £1 for three boxes, 15 sachet's. Not quite as cheap as a 1kg bag of oats at 75p, but I thought they would make a nice change because they are apple and blueberry flavour.  They have a best before date of 27th Feb, which is fine.  

I already have some of these Vegetable Granules in my cupboard, they are handy to add to all sorts of meals. I picked up five more jars at 20p each. They were out of date in April 2015, I don't care.

These noodles were priced up at four bags for £1. There are four separate servings in one bag. I thought four bags would be too much for me, so I bought one bag for 30p. That's 7.5p per serving. The date is best before today, 20th Feb 2016.

And my fourth bargain is a 500grm slab of mature cheese, priced at £2.50. I usually buy a 350 grm pack of cheese for £1.59 from Aldi. The date on this is 25th March 2016, so well in date. I can't find this on the Tesco web site, but they have Cathedral which is similar at £3.50 for 350grm, so I think this was a good buy.

As well as people wanting to give me fabric, it seems I am also the drop off point for friends who are de cluttering. They know that I help with the fundraising for the cat rescue, and anything we can't sell I will take to the charity shop. A bin bag of stuff was delivered to me today, some of which we can sell. Set of new glasses in a box, white ceramic bowls, a money box, and other bits and bobs.  

Rocky wasn't too impressed with his Santa's hat which was in a bag of Christmas decorations, ha ha. 

I think it's time we went out for a last bimble before bed time, so I'll say cheerio for now. Thanks for popping in. Catch you soon. Toodle pip.

Festival of Christmas Trees about to start

Hello. First job this morning was to go to the docs to see about this chuffin wart on my face. It's not that noticeable actually, so everyone tells me, but I don't like it, it's like a currant stuck on my cheek. Doc dabbed it with a bit more stuff to freeze it. He said see how it goes. That's the third visit I've had and it's still there. Think I'll paint it multicolours and make a feature of it, ha ha. 

After the docs, I hot footed it straight to the Old Brumby United Church in Ashby Road Scunthorpe, to see how my crafty friends were getting on putting up our hand made tree made from recycled materials. They had almost finished by the time I arrived, and the church was buzzing with people erecting their own  displays. This is our tree, made from a snooker table green baize, decorated with hand made baubles. Carol made the tree, she's made a good job of it. 

Under the tree are wrapped parcels, each one has a letter on it, reading CHAT & CRAFT.

While I was there I took a few more photo's, The church should be full with 80 + trees on display by the end of today, with the opening of the exhibition tomorrow morning. This one was there last year, it's the Lindsey Lodge Hospice tree. All the money collected will be donated to this charity.  

I like this tapestry hanging on a stone wall.

Some trees are decorated by children, I love the smiley faces on this one.

A local quilting group have decorated their tree with felt hearts and stars.

I thought this was a novel idea, baubles made with music manuscripts, by a local a choir. 

Exquisite detail in this wooden tree.

What about a tree decorated with cup cakes? There is a mixture of knitted cakes and real mince pies. 

This one brought a smile to my face, an upside down tree. It looks like it is inspired by Australia, with the koala's around the bottom, or is that the top. After a quick look round I noticed that most people have used conventional artificial trees, but a few are home made like ours.

If anyone is near enough to visit this Annual Festival of Christmas Trees, it's organised by the Rotary Club and is open on these dates. 5th, 6th, 11th, 12th & 13th of December. There is live music as well. So two weekends. Entrance is free, donations welcome in support of the hospice. Are there any more of these decorated tree festivals near you?

While I am talking about places to visit. Now is the time to head to Donna Nook on the Lincolnshire coastline not far from Mablethorpe. The seals come ashore onto the sand dunes to give birth. There are usually plenty to see, and you can get quite close to them. The area is fenced off, but a great opportunity for photo's. I've been twice now, it is a fantastic sight.

I have to get my stuff ready for the Christmas Fair tomorrow, so I'll say tatty byes and toodle pip. Thanks for popping in. I'll be back tomorrow with pics from the fair.

The teddy bear invasion

Hello. I heard about these teddies from my friend who is a member of Loving Hands, they are ladies who knit, crochet, and sew for charity. St Mary's Church in Barton upon Humber have been collecting these teddy hand puppets which are destined for children in poorer parts of the world. Today they were on display so I went along to take photographs. Almost 4,000 teddies in total decorate the whole church. They will be packed up and shipped off to places where they will give pleasure to children who don't have very much. It was a lovely sight to see, so many volunteers have given their time to make these, which will brighten up someone's life when they reach their destination. 

If you fancy doing some knitting, sewing, or crochet for charity have a look at the Loving Hands web site for some ideas. Or if you want to pack a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child, check out this web site.  

While I was in Barton I went to Tesco to use a £3 off voucher against a £20 shop, valid last day today.  I timed it right because the assistant was marking down the final yellow sticker reductions, and I got some real bargains. Sadly though I didn't get to use the voucher. My yellow stickers only came to £4.44, plus two items at normal price, which brought the total spend to £6.39. It was 3.45pm (closing at 4pm) when I went through the checkout, there was no way I was going to rush around putting more items in the trolley just to make it up to the £20.  A quick list of what I got. Broccoli, avocado's, Muller rice, mangetout peas, pears, prepared fruit, chopped veg soup mix, sweet and crunchy salad, potato wedges, mushrooms, courgettes,  and houmous. The fridge is full again.  

Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon. Toodle pip

Found some roof panels.

Hello. Look what I found. Yipeeeee. Five polycarbonate sheets found at a conservatory company. They are 9 feet long and 3 feet wide, filthy and need a good scrub. The boss asked for a charitable donation which I was happy to do. Not quite free, but at least they are recycled second hand. I brought them home in my car, with a big overhang at the back end. Again the bleeper was warning me that the luggage compartment lid was not closed. I had the front seats pushed forward and I was driving with my knees wedged under the steering wheel and my head touching the roof. Phew, I made it back without any falling out, good job it's only three miles. 

I've had lunch, so now I'm off out in the garden to clean these up. I shall be busy with this over the weekend, lets hope the rain holds off.

Have a good weekend whatever you are doing. I'll be back with a progress report.
Toodle pip.

Horsing around at Bransby

Hello. We've had an afternoon out with the Gee Gee's today. It doesn't seem like one whole year since I last visited Bransby Home for Horses, how time flies. The charity does such good work rescuing horses and ponies, and luckily it's not far for me to travel for a visit. Today I took a friend who loves horses. It was a bit blustery but thankfully we didn't have any rain. 

Bransby is near Lincoln, it is one of the UK's largest equine welfare charities, founded in 1968. The centre is open every day and dogs are welcome. Admission and parking are free. During 2012 and 2013 they took in more than 180 horses, most of which were rescued from situations of cruelty and neglect. A second site has opened in Herefordshire but this is not open to the public. Between the two sites there are currently over 450 animals in care. Here are a few of them.

It's tea time in this paddock.

That's it, all full up, let's have a look over here. The horses came to check us out. 

Ooo err, they look very big,

Help, they're all coming over now.

Now look you chaps, just because I'm little, don't think you can pick on me. You stay that side of the fence.

We moved on to have a look inside a big shed. These horses were being led outside for a run about in a field. 

Nosh time here.

Give us a kiss. Go on, you know you want to.

A man came with his tools and was giving them a pedicure. 

 Steady now, we'll have you looking pretty in no time.

What a handsome chap this one is. He was a bit vocal, I imagined he was saying let me out of here, I want to go for a run.

Rocky decided to get out of his buggy and go for a walkabout.

Back outside again, we went across the road and found some little ponies. They were so cute.

These three were running up and down the field enjoying a game of chase.

A man came to collect the ponies, it was feeding time.

Think I'll stop here, I like it. Can we come again. 

It was a lovely afternoon out at Bransby, it is one of my favourite charities. If you are thinking of visiting check out their web site, but be aware that if you read the rescue stories some of them are upsetting. There are also details of how you can support them, should you wish to. Thank you for reading.
Toodle pip