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..............................................................

Spooky treats...

...to cheer folk up.

The weather has turned rather dull & gloomy in the last few days and mornings have been very overcast and sometimes foggy. So I decided we needed a splash of colour to lift the 'spirits'.

The UK doesn't really "do" Halloween - although from the amount of stuff in the shops this year you would find that hard to believe.

My friend & colleague Cheryl brought me a present when she visited earlier in the week...

 ...some fun pumpkin lights and a lovely spider's web candle stick...

 ...she was surprised that I hadn't already decorated for All Hallows Eve as she knows that I don't need much of an excuse to start putting decorations out in the office LOL...

...so here we are, already for a bit of 'spooktacular' fun.

Hope you all have a great weekend whether you are "Trick or Treating"...or not.

Don't forget that the clocks go back Saturday night. Enjoy your extra hour in bed...................................................................

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..............................................

Lunch Lady Jan....

...has been busy again.

She sent me another parcel of goodies for the R.N.L.I. fundraising.

Some pretty parcels of patchwork coasters....

 ...in a lovely combination of festive fabrics. Hand stitched felt decorations...

 ...this is just one of each to give you an idea of the pretty pieces. Then there's the bunting...

 ...some in bright cheerful colours and the others to match the coasters...

...it looks fabulous.

Such wonderful makes from the lovely Jan - Thank you so much.

The fundraising is continuing and we are not far from the £800 mark (which considering I was only aiming at £150, is amazing).

With the exception of buying some scones, jam & cream back in the Summer so we could offer "Afternoon Tea", everything else has been donated. Folk are still bringing in books for the sale (and going home with a few new ones LOL) and Shaz Brooks' lovely cards have been selling well. Jan's last batch of goodies barely made it to the sale table before they were snatched up so I have no doubt these will go the same way.

I am so pleased with what has been achieved and can only thank folk for their support and generosity.

Wells-Next-the-Sea have enough money for their new lifeboat and some of the extra money will go to building a new boathouse to keep it in.

Folks here in the UK will be familiar with the fabulous work that the RNLI do keeping our coastal waters a safe place to be. This hot Summer has seen our beaches and waterways used a lot more than usual and when folk have gotten themselves into difficulties the RNLI have come to the rescue.

As someone who lives near to the water, I think they do an amazing job considering they are all volunteers and will continue to support them where I can.................................................

Just to...

...round off.

Here are the last of Joanne's pages...

 ...oops...

 ...poor cat is standing on its head...

...her work is lovely.

These Groovi plates from Clarity are the same images that Clarity had as stamps a few years ago and I made a mini book which I gave as a Christmas present to a colleague who was retiring. When I finally get this one finished it will be for Me. I don't often make stuff just for myself so it will be something special.

Someone kindly mentioned on their blog that there are only 9 weekends left until Christmas - just where has the year gone to?........................................................................

In no particular order...

...here are a few more of Joanne's (Pinnacle Crafts) completed pages.

Aren't they fabulous. I think it is going to take me quite some time to get mine done - perhaps I should be aiming at Christmas 2020 LOL.

Still...I have the 10 basic pages embossed, it's just the embellies  and 'fancy work' to do - no sweat ***rollseyes***

Anyhoo...Joanne has now put her book together so I hope I can get some photos when I pop into the shop at the weekend.............................................................