Snail-paced broadband and...

...a spell of Jury Service.


Just a brief catch-up to prove I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.


Road works, gas main replacement and general weather conditions seem to have been impacting on the broadband services in my area for a while. I don't think having half the street dug-up during the snow helped very much as a lot of the cable piping was exposed to the elements for a few weeks.


Trying to read my emails each day has become a struggle because the limited time I have available doesn't fit well with the lengthy periods it takes to load Outlook.


On top of this, Windows 10 keeps freezing me out telling me that urgent updates are required yet when I try to install them I'm told that everything is up to date ??? ***grrrrrrrr*** more hassle. As a result, I haven't loaded any new photos for a while so I do apologise for the lack of pics.


Things were ticking along generally and I was looking forward to another weekend away with crafting friends like the one I went on last year. Panic set in when I received a summons to do Jury Service.


Although the two weeks specified should not have caused any problems, I had visions of ending up on a long case that would drag on & on &...


Luckily it didn't - I was only selected for one case which was over & done with in 3 days.


I can't say I enjoyed my time, so much sitting around waiting to hear whether you are needed. However, I was very productive - I have done a lot of crochet and managed to make a good selection for flowers and small projects ready for our "Learning at Work Week" event. I have also nearly completed a crochet blanket (700grams worth of DK yarn) which actually came in handy and helped to keep me warm as the court building is very cold - unfortunately I couldn't take the blanket into the court room even though it was like an ice-box...just had to make do with coats, scarves and lots of layered clothing. Apparently they don't like the court to be too warm as the legal folk have to wear gowns & wigs.


So I'm back at work, catching up on hundreds of emails and trying to sort out a few issues that arose whilst I was off. At least I now know that there won't be any problems concerning the crafting weekend - time can't pass quickly enough for me.......................................................................

Today is our weekly...

..."Craft & Chatter" at work.

We will be doing a count up of the mini hats made so far.

At last weeks gathering we had a display table of the different types of craft that folk have been doing. This was in sup[port of a "Health & Wellbeing" event that was being held in the building and there were various talks & stalls set up in different parts of the office.

There were examples of cardmaking as well as the knitting & crochet...

...with a selection of seasonal and general cards...

 ...the mini hats were very popular...

 ...and the basic knitted squares seemed to prompt a few folk to consider getting their needles out...

 ...but surprisingly, these Christmas cards with images of the Bugaboo character "JJ"...

...seemed to catch more attention and we may have a few folk join us to make a few cards.

It will be interesting to see how many 'new' folk turn up for the group today.

In the meantime, the knitting needles are still clicking away and we will have to see what our total number of mini hats has reached as we will be packaging them up next week to send off.....................

Sorry...

...for the lack of visits & comments.

Over the weekend a problem developed in the heating system at work and on Tuesday when the building was reopened, our security staff were greeted by water pouring through the doors.

I have spent the last couple of days phoning staff & keeping them up to date with the situation (I'm dreading the next mobile bill - it is going to be an OUCH!!! moment). The building has had to remain closed to staff for H&S reasons.

Managers were allowed access to the unaffected wing of the building for an emergency meeting and the building will reopen today with limited access whilst repair works continue in the wing that was flooded.

Normally I would catch up on my blog reading during my lunch break but as there has been no IT use this has thrown a spanner in the works. The PC at home also seems to be on a 'go slow' at the moment so blogland access is very hit & miss at the moment (praise-be to scheduled posts that work on time - almost).

I was able to check the damage to my team's area and I am happy to say that we have escaped pretty unscathed (although we don't have access to our work area whilst repairs are on-going in that wing) - this includes all the RNLI sale stuff (BIG sigh of relief - phew).

So today we decamp to wherever we can find an empty desk and see what we can get done.

So once again, a "Sorry" from me for not visiting or commenting much over the last few days - I hope to catch-up when things calm down a bit...........................................

"Spring is sprung...

...the grass is riz.

I wonders where the birdies is.
The birdies they is on the wing.
Now ain't that absurd?
I thought the wings was on the bird."

I learnt this rhyme when I was young and never knew where it came from. A quick search of the 'interweb' shows that there is some debate as to whether this is one rhyme or two that have become linked over time. The author(s) is another question that seems to cause debate.

All I know is that I learnt it as a child and thought it was fun.

 

The "Thurrock Blooming Marvels" have been hard at work getting the town planting ready for Spring...

...and this bed is already starting to catch the eye...

 ...the mini 'tete-a-tete' daffs are bobbing about in the breeze...

...and providing a lovely splash of colour.

Spring is one of those times when I wish I had a dash-cam in my car because the 'Blooming Marvels' have done a wonderful job around the area with masses of daffs of all sizes & shades on roundabouts and along the duel-carridgeways - if there was somewhere safe to stop I would take some photos but as this is the route in & out of the Gateway Port it is a 'Clearway' so no stopping.

So I can't share all the wonderful planting in the area with you but I can assure you, the 'Marvels' have done a fabulous job and it certainly makes me smile as I drive by these 'fields' of daffs.................................................................

Why is it...

...always the way?

When my boss visited last Tuesday, he decided to pop into the "Knit & Natter" group - to show his support.

25 minutes later, the only person who had dropped by was a member of my staff to ask what size crochet hook she should get so that she could learn how to crochet.

Our group is very informal and the idea is that folk can drop by as & when they wish during the 2 hour lunch break on the specified day...and it is normal for there to be periods when no-one is there but then a group arrive - a bit like London Buses LOL

So we chatted and then he had to leave for another meeting.

A few moments later, a couple of folk arrived with their lunch to sit and do some colouring. That got the ball rolling and in total we had nine attendees that day. I took this photo...

...just to prove to the boss that I don't sit there like "Billy no mates" for 2 hours every week.

We even had a new attendee. She has just changed job within the office and felt that she needed some time to just 'chill'. She is quite proficient at crochet so it was lovely seeing what she was making.

I wonder how many we will have this week.......................................................

I promised...

...so here they are.

Elaine (Chidkid) sent me some lovely goodies when I was lucky enough to win her giveaway...

 ...the box contained a pretty gift bag with the cute penguin card. Look what was inside...

...some adorable stamps, elastic string (now that was a lifesaver as I broke a bracelet and this came to my rescue), a tape dispenser elephant, pine cones, pearl brads, a lovely tag (perfect for a bottle) and a little zip bag.

Thank you so much Elaine. Hope you enjoy many more blog posts.................................

More...

...Happy Mail.

I really wanted to have this post done last night with photos & all but due to the building site across the road, connectivity has been very 'hit & miss' for a few days.

Elaine King had a 'giveaway' to celebrate the number of posts on her blog and I was the lucky winner ***happy dance***

The postman very kindly hid it behind the plant pots by my front door late on Tuesday. I took some photos yesterday of all the lovely goodies with every intention of creating a post yesterday evening to share with you what the lovely Elaine had sent - my service provider had other ideas on the matter.

Having spent ages doing & re-doing the post because every so often the whole thing would freeze or just disappear...I finally gave up.

So this is just a quick post to say a BIG thank you to Elaine and when connectivity starts to play a bit nicer, I might even be able to load some photos.

Thank you Elaine........................................................

Knit & Natter...

...continues to grow.

We even have some colouring going on.

Poundland had some card packs that you can colour yourself...

...this one was coloured with pencils and had some glitter glue added...

 ...we have had a few folk drop by just for a bit of 'colouring & chat'.
The knitting side is going very well...

...we have a number of completed blanket squares and quite a few 'on the go'.
Crochet has proved to be very popular and one lady has been quite productive. She has made a small cot blanket using crochet flower granny squares, a pullover for her grandson and is now onto another set of flower granny squares. Meanwhile...

 ...I'm still plodding on with my car blanket.
The knitting looms have proved to be very popular and we now have four of the group members merrily 'playing' with them...

 ...here is a completed child's set (hat & scarf) which is now for sale on our RNLI table.
Francis is probably our most proficient knitter. About 3 weeks ago she bought some lovely blue yarn...

 ...the hat is what she made with the 'leftovers' because the rest was used for this...

...a beautiful Aran-style cardigan which she has found to be lovely and cosy now the temperatures have dropped so much recently.

The group is proving to be popular and folk are most disappointed if something crops up so they can't attend. It is very informal and folk can pop in at any time during the 2hrs that we have the room booked for. I'm glad that people have found it to be something they wanted to take part in..........................................................

This time last week...

...I was on my way to Excel by the Thames.

No, I wasn't lucky enough to be heading off to some craft show or a concert - I was heading to a management conference for work. It wasn't even in the Excel Centre. It was tucked round the back by the Royal Victoria Docks at a placed called "Centered at Excel".

The day started very foggy and even by the time I was walking to the venue, London was just a hazy vision in the distance...

 ...and things looked just as dull & gloomy...

 ...looking out into the old dock area...

...the Spiller's building is currently being gutted to remove asbestos but the shell is listed and has a protection order on it. Planning permission has been granted to create a business enterprise site...

 ...it is hoped that re-development of the area will breath new life into it...

...there are certainly some strange buildings dotted around.

Later in the day, the sun did break through and there seemed to be a bit more life on the water...

 ...and the skyline was a bit clearer...

 ...but although there were small boats to be seen...

...the busiest thing in the area is the London City Airport - we were right under the flightpath and boy was it noisy. Lots of building work going on...

 ...and as I said earlier - some strange shaped buildings...

...a very different sight to that which my maternal grandfather would have been used to. His father worked in the London dock area and my grandfather would often play at the waters edge or even go swimming with his friends in the warm water from the outflows of the factories in the area (it is anyone's guess what was in that water as there were no H&S regulations back then).

The day never fully brightened up and the area is very run down compared to Canary Wharf where I visited earlier in the year but it was interesting seeing a different part of London as it is being re-developed..........................................................

Coming along...

...nicely; Thank you.

With the help of a banana skin, brown paper and a box the tomatoes are finally turning red.

Here they are on Friday...

 ...still a couple of stubborn ones but by Monday...

...a rosy hue can be seen on them all.

Thank you to everyone who provided suggestions as to how I could get these toms to change colour - it worked..............................................................

What has disappeared from...

...your High Street?

The beginning of October saw the last of our banks withdraw from the High Street in our town and last night saw a lot of frustrated folk getting off the train and finding that only one of the remaining ATMs in the town was actually working. Something that is becoming all too familiar...

...as more & more banks jump on the "let's push digital" band-wagon.

I may be a 'stick in the mud' but I don't want to do everything on-line and I don't want to deal with row upon row of machines - I want to deal with a person.

When we moved to this area, many moons ago, our high street was a wonderful mix. We had a good selection of banking facilities...Barclays, Midland, Lloyds, Nationwide, TSB and of course the Post Office. Now all we have is the Post Office which is little more than a raised desk in the local newsagent's where there is normally only one member of staff flitting between serving papers and dealing with post & banking.

There were a couple of supermarkets, chemists, pet-shops, grocers, butchers, general stores, hardware stores, utilities, hairdressers, shoe-shops........all the things you would expect in a small country town centre. Now all we seem to have is Estate Agents and Take-aways - not fabulous for an area with a high pensioner population.

A mile down the road we have another town centre and things are just as bad there as many of the banking facilities have disappeared over the years (or combined). It was great when Barclays combined with The Woolwich as in Corringham they adopted the Woolwich opening hours - Saturday morning opening - great for those of us that don't always have time during the week.......last weekend that came to an end and staff were telling folk not to worry "they could use the post office"????

The Media keep telling us that society is becoming very isolated and kids can't communicate well - what do they expect when there is becoming less opportunity for human, face-to-face interaction.

We live in a world of constant change and we have wonderful technology available to us but we really shouldn't be losing out on human contact.

I work in an area where there is a very high level of shoplifting in the shopping mall - virtually every store has a security guard and there are more wandering around the mall. Yet the likes of Lidl, Poundland, Sainsburys and Wilko have replaced loads of the checkouts with self service tills - are they mad? If they were freeing up staff to wander around being 'visible' there might be some sense to it but they haven't - you can never find an assistant when you need one so they have actually used this move to reduce staff.

I work with PCs every day and I am currently typing this on my home PC - fabulous - but I like to meet & talk to people; real people. So I will continue to support my local stores (the ones that remain) and hope that the High Street doesn't disappear completely.............................................

Bananas, boxes...

...and brown paper.

These were a common response to my plea for help getting my tomatoes to ripen.

You know what...they work!!!

I now have a second tomato well on the way to being 'red' and the others are not looking so 'wickedly' green.

I'll grab some photos at the weekend to show how they are coming along.

Thank you all for the suggestions..............................................

They just wont...

...ripen.

Earlier in the year I bought Mum two tomato plants. To begin with they didn't seem to do much and then they just went mad. The plants grew huge and they have been smothered in tomatoes.

Here are 6 I picked about 5 weeks ago...

...and they just don't seem to want to ripen...

...apart from the one on the end.

Anyone got any tips?.......................................................................

Sunday I said...

..."Bye-bye" to the Focus.

Mum decided that after 18 years, she no longer wanted a Mobility car so I arranged to return it.

It was strange taking everything out of the vehicle knowing that this was the last time I would drive it...

 ...18 years driving the same style of vehicle (Focus Estate) has almost become second nature...

 ...but I have to say, one thing I have noticed over the years is that the 'finish' on the vehicles has become quite poor...

 ...these two panels over the front wheel (driver's side) were misaligned when we received the car two years ago and things like welding around the tailgate was very rough...

...but on the whole, the car was a pleasure to drive and met its purpose.

This was the first time that Mum had chosen anything other than a blue car and it reminded me a bit of a gingerbread house. So bye-bye "Gingerbread House" and thank you for all the safe miles that you provided us with................................................................

Autumn has...

...officially been with us for a week now.

There doesn't seem to be much evidence of the lovely 'Fall' colours just yet but the leaves are starting to fall...

...these leaves are not from my garden but the Elder is starting to shed. This will be the last year of Autumn colour in my garden as the trees come down at the end of November - if they don't the garage wall will cave in as the trunks are pressing against it.

At primary school, we all entered a competition to write a poem.

We were provided with a start line - "Autumn leaves are falling down" - and we had to continue from there. I was lucky enough to win a prize and have my poem read out on the radio but unfortunately our poems were never returned and the only part that I have ever remembered was:-

Autumn leaves are falling down,
Orange, yellow, green and brown.
They lay in heaps along the street,
And make a carpet for my feet.

I know there were more verses but after all these years (and there are a lot LOL) I'm surprised that I even remember that much.

So Autumn is with us and after a hot & humid Summer it is noticeable that the temperatures have taken a nose-dive. But it is dry and the days have still been warm - it's just the very chilly starts and the now chilly evenings because it is getting dark so much earlier.

Most definitely knitting & crochet weather.....................................................................

Say 'Hello'...

...to Duckie.

That is what my Sister has named my car because it is a sort of cross between Powder Blue and a pale Duck-egg Blue.

The name I can live with as it is quite cute but I'm not so sure about the Bow-tie that she says the car should have - just like 'Duckie' (Dr Mallard) in the TV series NCIS - I do wonder about her sometimes LOL.

Anyhoo, here is Duckie...

 ...all shiny and new. For a small car...

 ...it isn't so small. This is the 'Play' model rather than the basic 'Expression'...

...and there might not be loads of Bells & Whistles (buttons & gadgets), it has everything that I need to get me from A to B.
I'm not a lover of the big chunky keyrings that the dealerships provide so I got myself this...

 ...I think it says it all.
The interior is quite basic but not sparse...

 ...I mean, it even comes with a 'Smartphone' holder...

 ...(shame I don't have a smartphone) and there is plenty of legroom in the front...

...without stealing it from anyone sitting in the back.

So 'Duckie' now lives with me and has been introduced to some of my friends. I have been out and about a few times - mainly to get the 'feel' of the car because it is a while since I drove anything other than an Estate style vehicle. I'm getting to know where everything is but yet again, I have a car where it needs Einstein to work out how to change the time on the clock. At the moment, it shows 20:00 in the 'am' and 08:00 in the 'pm' - other than that the time is right LOL. Still, I have a month to work things out ready for the clocks going back at the end of October. I have followed the manual, step-by-step, but pressing the buttons stated changes the mileage display - NOT the clock.

There you have it; that's 'Duckie'....................................................................

Knit & Natter...

...the second gathering.

Another good turnout for our Knit & Natter group with two new members putting in an appearance.

Here are some photos of what folk were getting up to...

 ...Debbie & Kristian were hitting the Granny squares again. Pam decided to join us...

 ...as she feels this will be the only way she gets her son's jumper finished. She has been knitting this for quite some time as can be seen from the state of the pattern LOL. Heather finished off her last snowflake...

 ...she now has 21 of these so the next step is to join them all together. I've been playing with knitting looms (the colourful pegged circles)...

...they are a bit like a huge version of the "French Knitting" that I used to do as a child - remember the wooden cotton-reels with four nails in the top that you could use to make knitted cords?
I was finishing off this little hat that I was making for a colleague's grandson... 

...the good bit about these looms is that you can knit stuff fairly quick & easy and there are no seams to sew up.

Sheenaz & Francis also popped in. Sheenaz forgot her crochet but she was up for a natter and was intrigued by the baby jacket that Francis was knitting (I had put my camera away, so no photo) as it was made-up of a pretty 'wave' pattern.

So there are some photos of what everyone is currently up to. You never know, next time I might convince them to have their photos taken too.................................................