Antique Fair - Cheshire Show Ground

Short drive over to Pikemere to the Antique fair in a big field. We got there too early so had to wander around pikemere for 30 minutes unti 10am when the price of admission was more reasonable. Looked for the lake but couldn't find it. The sun came out and it became quite warm. 200 stalls to look round. We found a few bargains incluing a nice tin monet box from the Festival of Britain 1951. A bit worn but has a certain charm - the image of the Shot Tower on one side and the Skylon and Dome of Discovery on the other - a dial to show how much was inside - a little door at the botoom that is supposed to pop open when 30 pennies are accumulated. Hazel found a tiny pen knife gadget, some joke eye balls, some goofy teeth and some jars and bottles. We had chips for lunch from a van - very nice chips too - rustling like Autumn leaves.

Chester

Planning for an exhibition with Hazel Jones and Charlie Holt at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester in November. A bit short notice but we have tons of stuff to show and lots will be left out. before we met up with Charlie we went round the shops. Hazel went off on her own to look at clothes etc. I mainly did the charity shop circuit. I didn't find much just a DVD set of Wes Craven horror films for £2. We had a quick vegan sausage roll outside the church by the old cross. Thankfully the god botherers weren't there today. Lots of kids marching around with Roman soldiers leading shouting "Sinister -Dexter! Sinister - Dexter!" all carrying sheilds and spears.

Griffiths Park

This mornings walk over Griffiths Park to see the buttercups and many dogs and their owners. Had to squeeze past the digger along the conk conk path - they were mending the fence that had fallen over at 45%. Popped in Docs for blood test form that the pharmicist said I needed. They had no knowledge of any such message. All rather confusing really. 23rd May 2022.

Picnic By The River Dane

Sadly our old chums Tone and Pene couldn't navigate their way for some reason and went back home again. So our picnic - already packed - was taken down to the Community Orchard by the River Dane and the fishing ponds. Nice to see all the little coots and ducklings thriving. The sun came out too so felt very hot in my jumper and raincoat! 19th May 2022.

Rubber Stamp Bonanza!

Thanks to Adam Roussopoulos and Joel Cohen for the excellent Peace and Mail Art Wave stamps that arrived this morning. My designs mostly with one exception . I have cut some wood blocks to put some of them on for personal use. The rest all going out to my regular correspondents.

Blakemere

Drizzly morning. Had to drop off my prescription at the docs and then on to the post office so Hazel could post a packet. Then a short walk between all the rain drops to the park via the conk conk path ( now re-named Dog Shit Alley for obvious reasons!) . Hazel saved a snail on the path from being squished. Home for some collaging and lunch. In the afternoon we ventured to the antique emporiums of Blakemere. Not many bargains. I was on the look out for some old mags to cut up. Found some 60's "Practical Mechanics" that had been reduced. Now only the size of a postage stamp. No, they were reduced in price £5 down from £10 - so snapped them up. 11 copies in all so only 45p each ( my maths was never that good!) . Interestingly the top mage was the least attractive visually. Had the owner used one of the other they may have sold better the first time round!

Whitegate Boot and Verdin Boot

A selection of our bargains this morning at the two boot sales mentioned above. A bit drizzly but it brightened up later in the afternoon. I bought the tow rusty tins for a quid each. Not sure what I'm going to do with them. An impulse buy! Hazel was happy with all her plants inc. geraniums, those droopy red ones, the tiny blue ones, never very good at flower and plant names! Mostly £1.50 each. Twice that at the garden centre. The Verdin Park boot was very quiet - most people put off by the inclement weather I've no doubt. Such a shame. Hopefully the weather will improve for next week.

Old Warrington Road - Bluebell Woods

After some shopping this morning it was a short drive to the Old Warringtom Road and the rivver walk to the bluebell woods. Hazel picked some daisies for her "Daisy Clamps" or whatever they turn out to be. She's scared they might be too whimsical. No more whimsical than belly button fluff tweezers or currant drying sheds! Hada nice sit on a bench looking at the clouds and listening to a nearby cuckoo. Some cheeky dogs came by for a sniff. Then over to Lostock to deliver some groceries and have a chat in the front garden.

Altrincham Trip

Had to lug Archie's "Wishbone" sculpture over to the Air Gallery in Altrincham yesterday. Hazel's work fitted neatly into her pocket so wasa bit more managable! He'd made a very nice but heavy wooden slimline crate to protect it so that made it awkward for getting on and off the train. Thankfully the train wasn't too crowded although a women near us sounded like she was coughing up buckets of phlegm! Nice. Hopefully it was Covid germs she was spreading around. Needless to say we were the only ones wearing masks. Aftr we'd delivered the art we went shopping around the town. Didnt find much in the way of bargains. Most of the foodie shops seemed rather meat orientated . In the end we shared an egg mayo sandwich from Boots to tide us over. Hazel bought some advertising thimbles from one charity shop.No photos so you'll have to imagine a thimble with Fish Paste enamelled onto it. Or whatever it was it was advertising. I forget what exactly. On the way home we spotted the new pylons by the TATA factory- all complete now and waiting for cables to be attached. Whoopee!

Gif made from old photos.

Summer House

Nice sunny afternoon. Walked down to the fishing ponds and the community garden to see the baby coots or moorhens ( the one's with big feet? ) and a chat to old geezer who seems to know what's going on around here. He said he's been attacked by dogs by the canal so came this way for a change for a quite walk along the river and around the ponds. He said the fishermen don't use it anymore because of the invasive weed that grows. Last year or the years before they dragged it all out with a digger of some kind and it rotted on the bank for ages ( all gone now ) but still a problem he reckoned. Maybe a dye in the water might stop the sunlight from getting to the bottom and stop it growing? Anyway, we went home and Archie found an old art deco glass lampshade in the garden we though was a habitat for a mouse. He cleaned it up and hopes to take it home at some point. Sat in the summer house looking at all the other junk Hazel has aquired at boot sales over the years. A nice sunny afternoon.

Fishing Ponds and Baby Moorhens

Gardening at Granma's

Archie was home from the weekend and he got cajoled into doing some gardening whilst he was here. Granma andf Audrey needed a trellis putting up to save their floppy climbing plant which had tied itself in knots and was lying helpless on the ground for ages now. The flimsy plastic trellis was useless really - not even support for two weedy sweet peas! So Archie put some wooden battens up and cursing the poor tools he had to contend with he did the best he could. It took four of us to man handle the triffid like plant up against the wall - tendrils kept trying to strangle us - or so it seemed. Would have made an amusing photo but our hands were occupied! Later we had some tea and biscuits and sat in the garden enjoying what brief sunshine there was.

Museum Of The Moon

Got back from llandudno in time to see the Museum Of The Moonat the Plaza theatre in Northwich. An impressive sight but the audio experience was rather spoiled by the noisy kids and silly adults running about like it was a creche or something. We sat on some bean bags to try and enjoy it but it was impossible.

Llandudno Victiorian Extravaganza - May Day Weekend