The wrong kind of bonfire ............

Two doors down the road is a rather neglected house. The owner died 2 months ago in a hospice, but no-one locally knew, which is really sad. She lived alone, and shunned everyone, even when we knocked on the door or left notes to see if she was alright or if we could help. However, her son has arranged for the house to be cleared and sold, and the really sad thing is that 90% has gone into a series of huge skips, and the other 10% is being tossed out of the upstairs window and burnt on a huge fire in the back garden. This is the 5th day of huge fires, and so help me, they have burnt furniture, plastic bins, the lot. Billowing smoke is blotting out the blue skies today, and I have found large pieces of black ash around the house. It is coming in through the hot air vents somehow. And I have also found clumps of molten plastic in the garden. The air is not clean right now out there.

One day of wood burning was ok, Two days, I could cope with. But today when I saw the huge mattress being tossed on to the fire, I was less than amused. It cannot be within the law, but we are all too nice and no-one is doing anything about it. The wind has started blowing a bit, and I swear I am about to unravel my hosepipe just in case. Wooden fences surround the gardens and if they caught fire, it would race around to my house in seconds.

Patrolling the perimeter is not something I would normally choose to do.

I hope Thanksgiving was perfect for everyone who celebrated yesterday, and that you have plenty of leftovers so don't need to cook for the next 3 days. I am presuming that there is a long weekend? Well, apart from the shopping. Amazon here has had a Black Friday Week which has been a little confusing, as Black "Friday" tends to give the impression that it should be on a Friday. I have resisted.

This afternoon, Glynis and I were on duty in the local Fair Trade shop which runs on a Friday and Saturday for the month before Christmas. We get to sit in the warmth and chat and crochet and drink coffee. There were 3 lots of customers in the 2 and a half hours, and one was the local vicar. Not exactly like it should be on Black Fridays, perhaps! But the chat and crocheting was good, and so was the warmth. I think the ladies who take turns sitting there for a couple of hours tend to spend more than any customers! Maybe there will be a sudden surge next month.

I took one look at the pile of possible presents I have unearthed from the stash, and I packed the lot back into boxes. I think I will wait until the tree goes up and then I will start wrapping. It always seems special if you sit and wrap in front of a tree. Well, to me it does....!

Have a great weekend!

Day 25: Finally finishing the cowl. Aka The Beast. I just have to darn in the ends and my neck will be warm when the cold weather arrives! On the strength of the fact that it is finished at last, I temporarily lost my mind and started another one. Watch this space. Thicker wool means more adjustments to the pattern in my future, but if the weather gets REALLY cold, I will be prepared. Hmmm.