Attacking the ivy

Hello. A busy day today. I've decided to take down the lilac tree in the back garden. It's too big, and it's snarled up with ivy creepers. They have strangled it and the tree hasn't got much life left in it. It's going to be a hard job without power tools, I am hacking away at it bit by bit. 

Oooh look what I've found. I remember putting Cyril the Squirrel there years ago. Poor chap got swallowed up. 

That's better, he is reunited with his pal.

I took a load of hedge cuttings to the tip this morning, then onto town to pick up a few things. I dropped in at the Arts Centre to see a new exhibition, and found a chuffin great tank in the courtyard. Sculptor Peter Mountain has created a life size US army tank working from data downloaded from a website that supplies virtual objects for the computer games industry. It took him three years to make this entirely from wood, and it took two people a week  to construct it here. It came in flat packs on the back of a lorry. A bit more complex than Ikea, I think, ha ha. It's really amazing. I couldn't get close to it as it is not quite finished and Peter Mountain doesn't want close up photo's taken until he has added the missing parts.

It's been a lovely day today, more work in the garden tomorrow. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Felt fashion at the 20 21 Arts Centre

Hello. As promised, a few pics of the new exhibition at the 20 21 Arts Centre, it's all about felt. Black sheep showcases work from seven artists from across Europe and North America. Here we have three dresses from Thomas Horst, a felt designer from Ohio. They are amazing to see in the flesh.   

While looking for more information I found a blogger had written about this same exhibition in December 2014 when she went to see it at Bilston Craft Gallery. You can read her account of it here.

There is more information about Mt Horst on the Felting web site.

There are some videos of Horst Couture fashion shows, but the quality is quite poor so I won't put one here.

This exhibition is on until September 10th, so I will be going back for another viewing. More photo's to follow.  

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

Church of many colours

Hello. I went to the opening of a new exhibition last night at the 20 21 Arts Centre. The instillation is called Our Colour Reflection. The floor of the church is covered with coloured mirrors to reflect the lights installed in the ceiling. In fact there were two exhibitions in one. Gill Hobson is an artist who works with projected light, and the walls were bathed in glorious colours to complement the floor mirrors. Her web site has some wonderful works from her past exhibitions. Well worth a look. 

The mirrors, as I mentioned on Thursday, are by Liz west. You can read the blurb about Our Colour Reflection, on her web site. Should you wish to see this it is on until the 25th of June.

The combination of the two artists worked well, but Gill Hobson's projections were only on for the opening night. I have been told that on a fine day, the church is lit up from the sun shining through the windows, so I will have to go back in the day time to see that.

Plenty to do today, so I'll say Toodle pip, have a good weekend, and we'll catch up soon.

New exhibitions at The Ropewalk

Aye up me ducks, how ya diddlin. I was a bit fed up of being indoors today, so I went out. I noticed in our free paper, in the guide to local events, that there are two new artists exhibiting their works at the Ropewalk Gallery in Barton. Just the ticket to get me off my bum and go and have an eyeball. 

Amanda Cobbett is a paper and textile artist. I liked the look of the work on her web site, but was a bit disappointed that her exhibition was a bit small and did not contain many pieces. I was particularly interested in her embroidered pictures, but there were none on show. It focused on her birds, flowers, and mushrooms. 

The detail in these small pieces is amazing, the birds are papier mache covered in machine embroidery. There are more pictures on her web site. I didn't photograph the mushrooms because they were inside a perspex case which would have caught the reflections in the room. 

The other exhibition was a bit strange, I am not sure how these images were made, but if you are interested here is a link to Lou Hazelwoods blurb on the Ropewalk site. There is a short video explaining the methods she used. 

Luckily the Ropewalk is right next to Tesco, so with a bit of careful timing I was able to scoop quite a good haul of yellow stickers. I made a stop halfway home because the sunlight was making interesting pictures. These two photo's were taken in exactly the same spot, first looking away from the sun, then into it. 

Here I have £15.09's worth of food, for which I paid £2.19p. There's salad leaves, rocket, cauliflower, bananas, apples, prepared fruit, wraps, carrots and peas, and I had a treat of four blueberry muffins for 18p. I did try to resist them, but the price swayed me. I have plenty in the fridge now, don't need anything else this week.

Well it's time for me to go walkabout, I really must try and get it done earlier. I see a lot of our walking group members are making a big effort to top up their miles. Every little helps, every mile counts towards the big 1000. Don't worry if you are going at a more leisurely pace, it isn't a race, the taking part is more important. There are no prizes for those who go through to the finishing line, except the uplifting feeling that you have achieved your goal, and you are a lot more fitter and healthier than when you started. Well done everyone. Keep walking.

Thanks for popping in. Catch up 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.

Not a load of old tat.

Hello. I went to my first Vintage Fair today. The venue was The Baths Hall in Scunthorpe. It was billed as Lou Lou's Vintage Fair, seems like it is a very big organisation as they hold fairs in 42 towns and cities across the country. I didn't see Vintage Vixen there though, she must have been somewhere else. 

There were stalls of every kind, predominantly clothing and accessories, with home wares, jewelry, bric a brac, and household linens. Even vintage jam. 

Rails packed full of clothes, lots of colourful dresses.

Braces and neck ties on offer, £5.

This was a very large stall, plenty to choose from, for gents as well as ladies.

I had a chat with some of the stall holders, some were dressed in the period, but some were not. I think if you are going to sell this kind of thing you have to look the part. There were hairdressers available to turn long tresses into pinned up curls and flowing ringlets. There seems to be a strong following for this kind of fashion in Scunthorpe, lots of visitors had made the effort to come dressed up. Apart from me of course. Oh dear, I seem to have got out of the habit of dressing up. I need a personal dresser because I haven't a clue.

I had a few other places to go while I was in town so I was dressed for the weather, which was a bit chilly. My quarterly utilities bills came yesterday so I dropped payment into the bank. Gas was £87.52, I had the heating on when it was really cold. Electricity was £36.75, which is about normal. Both should go down next time as we get longer days, and the heating won't be used again until the autumn.

I stocked up on pet food for the cat sitter, and Rocky will have his overnight bag stuffed full of goodies to take to his holiday home from home. I didn't get my printer organised, need some ink, so I've bought two more OS maps. I have the full set now for my walk across England. If anyone thinks I may be passing through their area and wants to walk a bit with me, you are welcome, but I have to warn you that I walk fast. Meeting in the evening might not be possible, as I like to find a room, collapse, and write my blog. I could spare perhaps an hour or so for a drink and chat. I will need your mobile phone number and town or village, so I can text you if I am coming your way. Sorry, I can't pre arrange to meet anyone, except the reader in Southport, because I don't know in advance where I will be at any given time. My email address is on the side if you want to contact me.

Chill time now. Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip.