Plans for the summer.

 Every morning as I drink my first coffee, I read about what is going on in the world. Every morning some new disaster has been reported. Life is not plain sailing any longer, there are many instances of where things are going terribly wrong. I can understand those who wish to distance themselves from such information and choose to bury their heads in the sand. 

Too much information can screw you up. One needs to discover just how much you can tolerate, without being tipped over the edge. I am never close to the edge because I seek balance in my life. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. 

Soaking up every bit of news leads to saturation. Backing off before it gets to that point works for me. I need to know what is coming, but I don't need to know everything. 

Things are becoming pretty dire in a lot of countries. We are being forced into a completely different world. One which knows no boundaries. It is already happening. Law and order will break down completely. There are no guarantees that we in the western world will be able to maintain the life we have been used to. Grab your freedom while we still have it. 

I am looking forward to some more outings during the summer months. I am gathering information about events that I might visit. I need to get some new tyres on my car and make sure it is road worthy to take me to lots of places. I need to check bus timetables and plan an adventure or two, when the weather is half decent. 

Making plans will give me something to look forward to. On the list is Truckfest at Lincoln Showground. A Vanlife Festival near Malton. A Balloon Festival at Doncaster. A Floating Market on the canal at Burton on Trent. And various Craft Events coming up over the next few months. 

The one I am most excited about is this. 

I have booked a session to drive a Combine Harvester. Not this one, this is my photo from a walk I did in August 2023. 

Here is the link if you fancy having a go. They do all kinds of outdoor activities. They are near Blyth in Nottinghamshire. I have been there, met the man, and we're ready to go. 

Anyway, make some plans and make a good life for yourself. Thanks for popping in. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Fantastic quilts

There are rather a lot of photo's here of the Quilt Show at Wetherby. I went a bit click crazy. Words are not needed, all you have to do is scroll through them. I have included some close ups, so you can see the perfect stitching. I think you will agree, they are pretty fantastic. These works of art should be in an Art Gallery. 

You've seen the photo's, now you can see the movie. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Waking up in Wetherby.

What does one do when waking up in the car? The same as any other morning, have a pee and make a coffee. I can now make a coffee while horizontal still in bed. 

Lean over and pull the supplies out from the boxes underneath the bed. 

Ahhhh, that's better. I might get up in a minute. 

The wrecker truck pulled into the car park at some point during the night. The headlights woke me up.

I lay for a while and thought about my plans for the day. Rather than go to the Quilt Show first, I decided to have a walk. It was such a nice morning. I sat outside the Town Hall watching the traders carrying their stock in to set up for the Arts and Craft Show. I will have a look at it when they are open. 

I like Wetherby. Here is the web site for the Town council. 

I came across this strange looking object. What's it for? I asked a woman who was watering the hanging baskets. It's a repair station for cyclists if they have a problem with their bikes. There are various tools which one can use to get the bike mobile after a breakdown. She didn't seem to think it was a good idea. This is the second one they have installed. The first one was vandalised, people stole the tools.

Here is a link to the company that makes them. 

Plenty of seating in a lovely garden on a sunny day. 

A church close to the shops in the centre. 

It had a banner on the wall. I saw several of these hung in other places. which prompted me to check out the web site. Have a look if you are interested. 

Off I went on a walkabout out of town. I wanted to check out the location of the Racecourse on foot, before I drove there. I found a tarmac path which was very popular with dog walkers. I was in a cheerful mood so anyone who I came across was a target for me to start a conversation. I dropped lucky and found a really nice man to talk to. I was intrigued by his accent. He has spent time in the USA and Germany, and was shortly to move back to Germany because his work has dried up here. We had a lot to talk about. 

It was getting on for lunchtime so I thought I had better get myself to the Racecourse. Two to three hours at the Quilt Exhibition was enough time to see everything. When I got there I walked around the building first. I always like to explore the area around a venue first before I go inside. 

It was a glorious day outside, I was reluctant to go inside. Some visitors but not too busy. It was probably a good idea to go later rather than early. 

Tomorrows blog post will be all about the amazing quilts I saw. A video and some photographs. Come back if you are interested.

Catch ya soon. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Van Gogh Experience, and York walkabout

After sitting in a deck chair and gazing at the walls around me for 30 minutes, (see previous post) it was time to move on. I could have sat there for longer, but I wanted to see a bit of York before I moved on to Wetherby. There is more to see of the Van Gogh exhibition, so I walked around the other galleries with the Cannon vlogging camera. Yoootooob tell me there are copyright issues with this video but it's ok to use it as permission has been granted. 

I didn't wander too far from the centre of York. I have seen a lot of it before, and I didn't want to be getting back to the car late. Here are a few piccies I took. Cliffords Tower is a popular place to visit. You can climb to the top for £8.50. I decided not to. 

I can't find out what this building is. It's very close to the Tower. 

And then I moved on to The Minster. A magnificent building. It is £18.50 to go in the Minster. I decided not to. 

Half of it is covered in scaffolding. 

This is The Treasurers House, close to the Minster. 

This is St Williams College. It was originally built to provide accommodation for priests. You can find out more about it here. 

I walked around part of the city walls. Some great views. A bit too cold to sit out in the garden today.

I wanted to go in the art gallery, but I was too late. It had just closed at 4pm. So I got the bus back to the car park. While I was there I had enough time to look around the massive shopping centre. They call it a Designer Outlet Village. It is full of posh shops. Not my thing at all. It must be popular though because I only saw one empty shop. 

Time to move on to Wetherby. I had an idea of where I might park up for the night, I have walked in that area before. I went to the Racecourse, hoping to park there so I would be ready for the Quilt Show the next day. It was locked up so I had a look at a car park I knew about. There is a free park at the Old Railway Station so that's where I went, and stayed there the night. 

I'll post some pics from a walkabout in Wetherby, tomorrow. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona