The butterfly is saved

Hello. My friend was throwing this out. It's quite big. It had solar powered lights on it but they had packed up. She said it is due for the tip. I said I would have it and tart it up a bit. I gave it a good scrub and removed the wiring for the lights, and the plastic gossamer wings. 

I took the gems off, some of them were missing and they were faded. I did think I would paint them with nail varnish but that was going to be a tedious job and I didn't have enough of them, or the right coloured nail varnish. 

I cut 34 small pieces of vinyl from my stash, to stick on in their place.  

I had some cans of spray paint from a house clearance. So now it is silver. 

Then I cut some bigger pieces of red vinyl for the wings, using the old pieces as a pattern. 

So there it is newly refurbished. Now I have to decide where to put it. 

Three parcels are in the post for Debi, Patty, and Sandra, winners of the guess how many dogs competition. Look out for them ladies. Open carefully, don't stab the contents. 

Don't need to go for a walk tonight, I did a litter pick this afternoon. The sun is still shining, I will go outside and water up. 

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

Cat wants to come in.

I happened to have the camera handy, a short video. Oscar cat pops up at the window about twenty times a day, I have to stop what I am doing to let him in. He spends a lot of time outdoors but always comes back for food. He is an independent cat, knows what he wants, and it's a waste of time trying to teach him any kind of routine. He wants food, he comes and tells me, and I jump to it. 

I took Heidi cat to see David the vet this morning as she has been vomiting quite a bit. Humans are still not allowed into the building, there is a window open to the right of the front door, check in there, a receptionist sits just inside at her computer desk. Then wait and the vet comes out. Tell vet what the problem is, and he takes the cat inside for a check up. 

Then he brings cat out and tells you what to do next. I have some more liquid medication to put on her food to stop the vomiting, it works up to a point. He also gave me four tablets, with instructions to give her half a tablet if it gets any worse. She has to stay on her chemo tablets for her blood disorder. It is something we have to live with, all we can do is monitor it. Watch her poo, check the pinkness of her gums, and be aware that she could throw up at any time. As long as there is a long enough time for most of her food to go through her and the waste matter to come out the other end, she should be ok for a while longer. 

This was my uncle Stan's chair, Aunty Pat said I could have it when we emptied the house. It was destined for the skip. It's a strong and sturdy chair, I will have a go at tarting it up. The canvases can be removed, I will paint it, and make it look good again. Needs some coloured fabric. 

Thanks to the Walking Group members for checking in yesterday. I think the numbers might be tailing off a bit, but those still taking part are doing extremely well. Anyone who wants to check in, you can go to the page at any time. 

After a wet night I can see a bit of brightness coming over, so I will go for a walk after a bite to eat. Thanks for popping in, Toodle pip.  ilona

Not ready for throwing yet.

It had to be done, my sun-visor has been broken for a while now. Normally I would remove the fabric and re cover. I've done this refurb four or five times now, saving on the cost of buying a new one. This time there was an internal problem, but the outer covering was still ok and would last a while longer. 

I unpicked the stitches across the front of the peak and removed the insides. Maybe I could stick this together, but maybe it wouldn't hold for very long. It needs a new one. 

I made a template from a cereal box, and used this to cut a new shape out of the lid of a plastic box of chocolates. 

Slot in the new one in between the layers of fabric, and stitch up the opening in matching thread with tiny stitches. There you go. This feels comfortable, a shame to throw it away. It lives just inside the front door, and it's the last thing I reach for before I go out. I don't like the sun in my eyes, it makes me squint. I don't have prescription sunglasses, don't want to pay extra for reactolight lenses, and hate those that clip over your normal specs, so this suits me fine. 

I've got a few blog posts in the pipeline now. The big black arty thing has a name, Hidden Treasure. It went off in another direction and it's growing on me, soon to be revealed. I had a good idea to turn my car into a camper, and some nice photo's from the walk yesterday. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, like the walking challenge miles. I think this increase in busyness is because I am bypassing the news. It's giving me more time to be creative. Try it, refuse to be drawn in, and find something else to do. 

I think we have some sunny days on the horizon. Tatty byes, ilona

Charity shop reject.

This lovely little chest of drawers came from Aunties house. It had marks on the top where hot cups had been placed on it. It's solid wood, no chips or scratches. 

I put it in my car along with some other items, including another small chest of drawers but not as good quality. I pulled up at the front of the Sue Ryder charity shop and the man came out to help me unload. The first thing he said was, 'I don't want those drawers, they are damaged', referring to the heat rings on the top. I said, it only wants a coat of paint, but no, he wouldn't take it. He took the cheaper ones, and some other things.

I took this to my friend, she said she would have a go at restoring it. I went back the next day and bingo, it looks lovely now. She said it only took ten minutes of sanding and polishing. She is dead chuffed with it.

So there you are, a charity shop reject. They missed out on a lovely set of drawers.
ilona

They'll be something in the bit box.

Hello. Post number two. Several people said they were looking forward to seeing what I did with the mirror. Well the after photo doesn't look any different to the before photo, from the front view. It's a bit different round the back. I stripped it down and cleaned all the parts with polish. The mirror didn't fit tightly in the frame, it was a bit loose, so the dust was getting inside. 

It needed an extra layer to make a tight fit, I have a roll of black sticky back underlay the sort you put underneath a vinyl floor to add a bit of insulation. I cut a piece to fit and stuck it on the back of the mirror, the put in a few veneer pins around the edge to hold it in place. 

Next I needed a new piece of board because the original had mould on it due to it being stored in the garage. I remembered the single bed bases I salvaged from my friends when they moved, just the job. It's a very thick cardboard, I cut it out with a Stanley knife.

 Next to screw it on the back. It needed washers to stop the screw heads biting into the cardboard and disappearing.. I don't have any washers so what to use instead?

Can you guess what they are? Answers on a postcard, no prizes, ha ha. If you haven't got the exact parts that you need, improvise. Job's a good one.

I decided not to paint it, the wood is in good condition, no marks or scratches, it looks fine as it is. 

Hooooray, the sun is out, I'm off out for an hour. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.

Toodle pip

Too good to waste

Hello. I've just got to share this, made me laugh this morning.



I like his closing statement here.
LET'S NOT THROW AWAY ANYTHING THAT'S TOO GOOD TO WASTE.



Go Hugh. Let's declare War on Waste, any waste in fact, not just food. Don't throw anything away. If you have something you don't need or want, re use it for something else. Look at what it's made of, can it be dismantled and reassembled to make something new? Can it be altered by changing the colour, or adding something to it?

If you have something you don't need or want, someone else might be glad of it. Put it out at the front of your house with a label on it, 'Free To Take Help Yourself'. Pass it on to a charity shop. Ask your library if they accept donated books. Ask your friends and family if they would like it. Turn it into cash by selling it at a car boot sale. Advertise on a card in your local shop window. Put it on one of the free recycling web sites, Freegle, or whatever. I don't personally use them but some do.

If you have something that you don't want, think of who might want it. Bedding and towels can go to an animal rescue. If you have a glut of home grown fruit or veg, swap with your neighbours. Furniture can be donated to a Home Start scheme. People setting up home for the first time would be glad of it.

Can your 'grown out of', childrens clothes be passed on to a younger family member? Can you get together with other mums and have a clothes swap?

Yesterday I dismantled one of those fabric pet tunnels which I got out of a skip six months ago. The wire inside is like a giant spring. The fabric was worn and scruffy in parts so it couldn't be sold. Carol at the Crafty Club is making our Christmas tree for the festival and needed wire coils to put inside to support the structure. I knew that tunnel would come in useful for something. I can use the best bits of the fabric for something else.

Pieces of carpet can be cut to size and used for car mats. Towels can be cut down and made into dish cloths. Tooth brushes can be used to clean awkward to get to places. Old box files can be painted and used as sewing boxes. Curtains can be made into shopping bags.

It is a crying shame to throw away anything that could be useful. I only go to the council dump once or twice a year, and whatever I take cannot be used for anything else. It's usually stuff from the garden, mainly rotting wood which is so wet it's crumbling.

Can you add anything else to the re purposing good ideas list? Let's join Hugh and not throw anything away that's too good to waste. Share your tips, and put a stop to binning useful stuff.

Thanks for popping in. Catch you soon. Toodle pip

Double dose today. Making things last.

Happy Easter everyone, and what are you doing on this cool and breezy Sunday? The post today is a double  dose of this and that, to make up for a lack of words yesterday. But not to worry, if I go awol you can be sure I will come back. I am spending time working out the details of my forthcoming walk, so my brain is a bit preoccupied at the moment.

Yesterday morning I got my arse into gear and did the 5k Parkrun. Another personal best which now stands at 34 minutes 43 seconds. Yippeeeee. Got a bit of a stitch half way round but not as much as before. Won't be long before I crack the 30 minutes I am aiming for. 

This morning I have been engaging in a bit of DIY, that is, making things last a bit longer by mending something that's broken. My plastic gate which I found in a skip several years ago has taken a bit of a battering in the wind, and is starting to crack on two opposite corners. It's not like it's a security gate, not lockable, it just fills a gap. The cats can get round the side of it.  

The two posts are hollow so I bashed a piece of broken gazebo frame into the ground with a big hammer, and slid the gate onto it. The other side was just loose propped up against the wheelie bin.

How to mend the broken bit. Drill two holes in the cross bar and secure to the post with cable ties.

The bit that was the foot at the bottom is now moved to the top to make the post on the other side a bit stronger, and cable ties attached to hold it together.

Now a new pole is bashed into the ground, it's a metal tube from a long gone small plastic greenhouse. Always keep bits that might come in useful. This is about two feet high. It doesn't need to be the same height as the other pole, because the idea is to lift the gate up to open it. 

And there you have it, no more flapping in the wind. The gate will last a bit longer. Mayze wants to come in, she can get round the side of it.

Bugsy is in his favourite place, in the back window. Not much sun today, overcast and windy.

Oh my, look at naughty Heidi. She loves to get up onto the greenhouse roof. She ruins the plastic sides with her claws as she climbs up the corner post. Good job the roof is heavy duty plastic and can stand her weight. She is looking over the hedge into the garden at the back of mine. She spends a lot of time over there, good job they are cat lovers.

My raised beds have got some wooden posts and cross bars on them because I used to drape plastic over  to make a mini polytunnel. I don't bother now but have left the posts because they are handy to hold onto when I am working on the beds. Heidi walks up and down on them like a balancing act at the circus. 

Look at me mum, I can wash my belly and not fall off.

And I can balance on three legs while I wash my foot. She is so funny.

Hey look at this. I've scanned and copied my final two bills from British Gas. They are telling me I am in credit, which they returned. All well and good, my new supplier is Ebico, I moved across in January, so I don't expect to hear anything more from BG. 

Now what's going on here? I have three more final bills, dated February, March, and April, all exactly the same and all stating I have nothing to pay. Now why would they waste time and money to send these? It doesn't make sense. Let's see if another one turns up in May.

In the meantime things have been sorted about the mix up with the meter readings with Ebico, and it should all run smoothly from now on. I have got rid of the standing charge that Brit Gas wanted to charge me, now I am only paying for the gas and electricity which I use, after I have used it. I don't get penalized for choosing to pay quarterly on receipt of a bill. So all's good.

Enjoy the rest of the day, and don't forget, it's a Bank Holiday tomorrow so you don't have to go to work :o) unless you are retired in which case every day is a Bank Holiday. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

Repairing the sun lounge

The sun came out today, so I took the opportunity to do a little job. Another one crossed off the list. These wooden shelves came free of charge from the B & Q warehouse where I used to work. Luckily they fitted into my estate car for transportation home. I must have had them for six years, no sign of rot yet, and they make a handy storage area for garden paraphernalia.

I tacked some thick plastic sheeting on the back, and the sides and top are covered with shrink wrap, that's like a giant roll of cling film. I last did it about a year ago, and now it needs replacing, so the old was stripped off, and the new wrapped around it.

 I tilted it forward and laid it front down on the ground, then went round and round it with the wrap, lots of times so it is quite thick. This stuff is tough, and lasts ages. I have three rolls of it, acquired from various places. If you see any at a car boot sale, buy it, it has lots of uses.

The blue basket trays make comfy beds for the cats, lined with an old curtain. This part of the garden gets most sun, and this makes a cosy little hideaway. I put the beds on different shelves because they are not best friends. They tolerate each other, but often eye each other up with suspicion.

 Heidi is watching all this activity from a distance.

Then she decides she likes the look of the upper level.

That's two happy cats now that their sun lounge has been repaired.
Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip

These will come in handy for something

You know I like a bit of skip diving, well I found these tiles yesterday. Someone is refurbishing a house and have stripped out the bathroom, I was walking by and saw them dumped inside the bath inside the skip. The people said I could take them, you always have to ask permission. There was lots more, but I could only carry a few, and today the skip has gone. Ah well, never mind, they might come in handy for a small job, I have sixteen of them. They said if I soaked them I would be able to get the cement stuff off the backs.

So now they are under water in the baby's bath, in the garden. The bath? I got it at a car boot sale for 50p, thought it might come in handy for something, and it does, it catches rain water. Don't know how long I have to soak them for, I'll see if any of it has loosened tomorrow. Maybe I can chip it off with a screwdriver, or a paint scraper. They are quite pretty, aren't they.

Today my attachment fell apart, it broke in two pieces. I suppose it's possible to buy a new one, but I'm not giving in without a fight. Several layers of heavy duty sticky tape, and it's as good as new, well almost, it won't swivel any more. I can't put it back in the holder on the machine to store it, as it needs a bit of a tug to get it out, so it's new home is in the kitchen drawer, to be collected whenever I need it. Looks like a neat job, if I am not too rough with it, it might last a while, until I can find a replacement at a car boot sale. Things have to last a bit longer round here, there's no rushing out to buy a new one.

Today was a jobs around the house day, and a trip to town to pay the Severn Trent Water bill. I needed a few things as well. I also took the latest arty piece to the Arts Centre, the woman in there was dead impressed. She said I should do a whole car, apply for funding to pay for it. Sounds a bit ambitious to me.

I had a look at some saucepans but the prices vary so much. Some of them are dead expensive, I think £30 - £40 for a pan is a bit much, but then it's no good buying cheap, because they won't last. I want a sort of middle of the range set of pans. Don't know whether to buy them individually, or as a set. Most sets have three saucepans, and I want four. I'll keep looking on the internet. I was hoping my pans would last a bit longer, but they are in a terrible state, all the non stick coating is chipped, I need new ones, before I poison myself.

Toodle pip.