Tag: American footballer

Gimme Five! Reusable shopping bags

'Gimme Five' blog post banner

Selection of 5 reusable shopping bags

From this week, in England, you will have to pay 5p for each new plastic bag you use when you do your shopping at any of  the larger shops and supermarkets.

I’m really happy that England has finally brought in this legislation, single-use plastic bags cause a lot of litter and are harmful – even deadly – to wildlife both on land and in the world’s oceans & waterways.

I got into the habit, many moons ago, of having a few reusable shopping bags folded up and stuffed into most of my everyday handbags. They’re not too bulky or heavy and are mostly cheap to buy… or even make if you’re of the crafty persuasion. After just a couple of months of using reusable shopping bags, they’ll have paid for themselves!

  1. Canvas shopper bag: £4, Next
  2. Carrot shopping bag: £13, Etsy
  3. Hearts foldaway shopping bag: £8, Cath Kidston
  4. ASOS shopper bag: £20, ASOS
  5. Fairtrade recycled cement shopper bag by recycle-recycle: £15, notonthehighstreet

New York, New York

New York, New York blog post banner

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing Brooklyn Bridge with cars passing beneath it

Our recent post I is for Ireland featured the This is… series of books by Miroslav Sasek.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing a view of water tanks in the New York skyline

In it, we promised some more photos from a recent acquisition – This is New York.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing people in the aisle of a grocery store

The book was published in 1960 and, as per usual, the illustrations are fabulous!

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing various types of vending machines

New York is one of those cities that works particularly well…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a New York traffic cop illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an American footballer

…with it’s distinctive buildings, day to day goings on and familiar characters.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a view of a city street lined with cars

The artist captures the 1950s/60s era – the sights and the vibrancy of the city.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing firemen in a New York fire engine

We had a 10-day holiday there a few years ago. It had changed a bit since Sasek wrote these books but lots of the unmistakable landmarks and energy of the city were still there.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a street vendor selling hot dogs and soft drinks

Flicking through these pages reminds us of the great time we had – hopefully we’ll get back there again one day…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an aerial view of Manhattan's skyscrapers and the Hudson River in a pixelated style

…and it would be a real dream to cruise up the Hudson river to arrive in real style!