Oh for American service !

It's been a busy day, its 10.30pm and I have only just sat down after a day outside ! I would have been in earlier except one of the red ambers now has a habit at roosting under the coop at night and has to be dragged out (with a walking stick) to be put safely back with the others. At least at dusk hens cannot see at all well, so catching the little bugger is pretty easy.

Went into Rhyl today to pick up The Finlay Memorial cup and I was delighted that the engraving was just right even though the service was shite. I don't know what it is with this country compared with say somewhere like New York, but care of customers in shops and cafes is truly awful! An illustration of this was all too evident in Rhyl today. I walked into the engraving shop and saw a tattooed gentleman behind the counter. I introduced myself and said I was there to collect the aforementioned cup. The man didn't answer and just looked vacantly towards the back room. We waited for a few seconds and another chap walked in . I realised that this was the owner and introduced myself again and what I wanted. The second chap said bluntly " You took your time, it's been waiting here for a good while"

I laughed, embarrassed at him and said pointedly" Well I am here now to collect it"

The owner shrugged his reply and ignored me as he shifted boxes and other items around the shop. I waited a while longer and said sharply "can you tell me how much I owe " and only then in a reaction to my aggression did he snap into some sort of action and became a little more proactive. The whole experience was awful and made me pine for that beautiful service we received by the tiny Japanese lady clerk in Takashimaya on 5th avenue! is it too much to ask?

Life on the allotment continues at a pace. French beans, more broad beans and lots of verbascum (like foxgloves) have been planted. The warm weather has meant that a good hour a day has to be put aside for lugging buckets of water around , but it helps with weight watchers! Joan came over to sit with me for while, then walked over to the coop to give the girls the once over. Now the hens spend much of their time hidden inside which I guess is a product from being reared in large sheds, but when they got a glimpse of Joan sitting happily in the sun, they burst out of the hen house like angry football fans. I found it fascinating as the crowd of hens "shadowed" Joan's movements with a bit of : "come over here if you think you're hard enough!" type of attitude.

all very funny! Joan sat there rather surprised by their noise and sudden activity but refused to be ruffled! by the way the pic is the male pheasant who spends much of his time lurking around giving the girls a bit of the eye!