Phew

A hundred Mary Poppins' floating down to drive away the nightmares of scores of hospitalized children
Kenneth Brannah as Isambard Kingdom Brunel over seeing the rise of the Industrial revolution with his Bradly Wiggins' sideburns
and Pogo-ing punks with giant heads dance around a normal British detached house during a family party.


Danny Boyle has produced an original, visually stunning and sentimental free Olympic Ceremony.
Some parts I absolutely loved ( the rise of the great factory chimneys, the tribute to the nhs,the celebration of Childrens' literacy  and the lighting of the flower like petals of the Olympic cauldron by seven teenagers) and some parts such as Paul Mc Cartney, James Bond and Mr Bean, I was not too sure about.
But in retrospect, I think Boyle's quirky, intensely personal, and up to date alternative to the excesses of the Chinese production was a wise choice, as it gave the world a chance to see  British sensibilities that are a million miles away from Jane Austen, Shakespeare and Judy Dench.
To me it managed the impossible. It summed up today's Britain... which is patriotic, parochial, wry. self effacing and f*cking bonkers


I would be interested to hear how  others thought of it all?.

Airborne QUEEN

I have seen EVERYTHING now!

Ann's Flower Show 2012

Well , whereas today's first blog entry concentrated upon the more emotional, cry baby things of life, this "follow up" is just a brief sharing of a day spent at the Prestatyn Flower Show 
My Sister's Flower Show is as usual, a somewhat impressive and professionally staged affair
(especially when it is compared to our more amateur bun fight)

Here's hoping that the entries in our show are half as good as the ones I saw today


Anyhow, I spent several hours sitting in the Vicarage Gardens handing out our Flower Show schedules to anyone that may be interested in entering our show.
I shared too many ham rolls and chicken crisps with Meg and George and I met the rather sweet "Going Gently" blog reader Hannah and her boyfriend ( not to be confused with Hannah and Her Sisters) who live in Trelawnyd 's posh neighbour village of Llanasa
It was nice to meet you both!

 

The Flower Exhibits

 

My 2nd Placed single rose!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never won any floral award at the Prestatyn Show!

 

The Winning Veg Trug

 Some of the Floral Art

How Often Do You Cry?

I post that question to the lot of you out there and I will be interested in the answers!

Tonight I know I WILL shed a tear or two at the Olympic Opening 

The infectious excitement, a sense of self worth and pride in the competitors and volunteers and a theatrical show of some note, all will get me blubbing like a baby from the get go 

I know what I am like!

Sad films, Rolf Harris biting his lip over a seriously sick dog in Animal Hospital, even the sight of a choir at full pelt could start an unexpected "well up" 

and when I am in the mood and alone, a piece of much such as 

will often reduce me to the consistency of an average blancmange

And so at 9pm, we will be sitting down with a fat bastard pizza

a large cup of tea

and a massive box of tissues

Prestatyn Flower Show

Prestatyn Flower Show

Starts Tomorrow

As well as entering my sister's show with my lacklustre veg, I will be spending the day there flying the flag for the Trelawnyd Show

locals please call down and support the day

Its a lovely show!!!!

Kiss me!

Most people think that on intensive care the most stressful patient to be allocated is one that is acutely ill, sedated, ventilated and covered with drips, drains and gizmos aplenty!
You couldn't be more wrong.
The most stressful kind of patient on intensive care is the high dependency patient.
He or she, is awake,still acutely ill and often has a blood chemistry which is somewhat deranged to say the least.These patients are often elderly, and when the lights go down......somewhat paranoid , combative and always have the tendency to pull at vital lines and machines that are in essence keeping them "going"They are, in what today's non judgemental approach to health care would term, "a challenge!"


By 4am , I had  just about enough of "my challenge"
I had been slapped several times, had my reading glasses bent out of all recognition and had been verbally battered by a lady who no doubt is a real sweetie when she is well....but we , as a team, had kept her safe and had prevented her from removing every line and catheter until that time when she finally could settle down safely.
Before she fell asleep she looked at me carefully as I tried to reattach a dressing onto her neck.
"You really want to kiss me don't you?" she said in a matter of fact way, giving me a wide toothless grin
Oh the glamour of work on Intensive care I thought and I said with a smile
"I am so sorry but you could not be more wrong if you tried" 
hey ho
off to bed

Operation Short Break

George, Meg and William beach running

I can appreciate just how much a headache organising something like the Olympic Opening ceremony would be but Seb Coe and his cohorts have

 it bloody easy when compared to the logistical nightmare which is the organising of the home population during our 6 day rest break to Sitges in early September

I am presently surveying the blueprints of my plans;-

They are spread all over the kitchen table!

1) George will be having the best deal. He has been booked in with my sister for the duration, so will be pampered within an inch of his Scottish Terrier sensibilities TICK!

2) Meg and William will be boarded at a local kennels together as Meg is a sensitive little soul and needs the company of someone she knows..... The tariff is 15£ a night which isn't that bad compared with the boarding coast of a guinea pig which is 5£! (5 QUID FOR AN ANIMAL THE SIZE OF A POTATO!!!-P L E A S E !)but the cost is compounded somewhat by the fact that all kennels demand the kennel cough vaccination-- another trip to the vets!   TICK!
3) Neighbour Mike has been offered the single responsibility of the Blind Rooster Cogburn who has to be lifted in and out of his run everyday and hand fed with grain and water ( when I say hand fed, he needs a few fingers tapped into his feed bowls so he can locate his food !) TICK!
4) Neighbour Carol will be calling in to feed Albert TICK
5) The Hysterical Indian Runners, Carol and Polenta and all of the turkeys will be taken to my friend Eirlys' farm where they will be housed safely in a set of stables TICK
6) Neighbour John has agreed to fill the water troughs a couple of times a day TICK
7) So that just leaves the hens and the geese!... ,They need letting out in the morning,feeding and shutting up safely at night ....which is a big commitment of anyone's time.......I have asked village elder Islwyn to take over this task and have offered him the "going rate" (whatever that is) to take on this job and he has agreed!  TICK!!!!!
8) Individualized care plans have already been designed on the laptop and will need to be laminated ( I am serious) so they will be ready to be nailed onto each hen house and emergency animal "trouble shooters" need to be contacted so that they could be "on hand" in case of dire need
9) Do I ask the RFWF to patrol the field borders with his gun?...hum just a thought..


Off to work..let's hope it's a quiet night

Mrs Fickle (a personal update) & Do As I Do...Not As I Say!

I have added the following photo for Mrs Fickle who emailed me today
To answer your question Bea, yes Rooster Cogburn is alive, well and remains a robust member of the field population..... here is a photo of him this morning, enjoying the 24 degree heat we've experienced today!!!!!
(I had just had fed him some black currants that's why he is resting!!!!)
It feels like summer!

Blind but happy..Rooster Cogburn dozing in the heat

The other day I caught up with an "arty" quiz show on tv entitled Show Me The Monet!
The format will be instantly recognisable for fans of Superstar, The X Factor and other such "build em up and rip them down" reality tv shows.... three judges (one nasty, one sexy (Roy Bolton below!) and one supportive) take a look at some amateur art pieces.....said pieces are savaged appraised and the winners put into a high class exhibition, where the general public can be given the opportunity to buy the art for real money ( Monet?..... geddit?)

Sex on legs Roy Bolton

As entertaining as this sort of tv undoubtedly is, I must admit I am getting just a little tired of this modern day attitude of "I know better than you and I am going to tell you just why I'm right!"
we see it in everyday tv, everyday life, everyday emails and everyday blogs.

Programmes about "art" have never really been big draws on television.A few gimmicks have slipped under the wire so to speak....toothy nuns, ( Odyssey)  , The Children's art champion Tony Hart (Vision On) and the dire Melvin Bragg in (The South Bank Show) but we have never had a joyful and simply instructive arts programme since Nancy Kominsky picked up her paint knife in the 1970s afternoon hit 
Paint along with Nancy.

I mourn the likes of Mrs Kominsky, ( who by the way only died last year ) Positive, celebratory and talented, she was one of those tv presenters that showed you just how to do something and did so with great humour, wit and positivity. 
There was no "tut tutting" at this and no "you're doing it all wrong" at that.....
It was a simple, polite,rather kitsch,  and incredibly sweet way of looking at the world...

Felicity Shagwell and the Mini me's

Now forgive a follow up blog about hens...... bin men and hens in one day.... f*cking hell I AM an interesting blogger am I not?!......
Anyway (he said charging on regardless) I have just spent an evening galloping around a field after some "rescue" hens instead of doing my civic duty in the Community Council Meeting at the Memorial Hall!
A young woman needed a new home for 5 light sussex hens as she was about to embark on a summer's work experience in Africa of all places, I said I could take them
Job Done!
When I arrived I could tell that she was not a real expert in animal care, and although the birds were well fed and their coop spick-and-span, she hadn't really got a clue about any birds in her charge.
She saw me looking at the large Sussex hen and the four smaller birds that were feeding around her feet and said
"It's a bit odd but the chicks haven't grown much since last year!"
I had to smile to myself
I didn't tell her that four of her hens were indeed fully grown bantams!
What did I name them?
Felicity Shagwell and the mini me's of course

Your Call Is Important To Us!

I feel a little sorry for Flintshire Council's refuse collection department, so I do
For three weeks now, our black wheelie bins and recycling waste has been left on the side of the road and for three weeks the residents of the five houses in our little part of the village have been turning from Doris Day's into Joan Crawford's in our telephoned efforts to get a spotty teen in a white van to pick up a hundred weight of cans,plastic bottles and the other irritating flotsam of our  throwaway modern world.
Our usual morose bin man has not been seen for three weeks now....the local gossip has suggested that he has been fired so that cheaper, European workers could be brought in to do the work!....I suspect he is actually on holiday in the South of France....well I hope he is anyway....a bit of relaxation would do him the world of good,.....I have never seen him smile once in the  years he has been collecting.....


Collecting the crap from 152 thousand people from a predominantly rural country must be a logistical nightmare, especially given all those corporate promises of good service have been splashed over every part of the local government websites and literature "ad nauseam ".......
Cock ups will happen from time to time they are bound to...and in many ways I would prefer the email answer of
 "oh bloody hell.... a guy will collect all of your shite when he get's around to it...OK?????...get a life and chill out a little"
instead of the more usual corporate speak 
"Your request will be carried out within 48 hours..we endeavour to provide a quality service"
In the meantime....I will play the "game" and will continue to sound like a pissed off Joan Crawford on the other end of a phone!

The Happening - Construction workers

I will leave you with a scene from the so-so disaster/horror film THE HAPPENING, which I watched last night and which I have posted about earlier today without finding the specific scene I wanted to show as way of illustration.
Forgive the re posting but I must admit my film critic's eye (?!) found it fascinating!
The film by M. Night Shyamalan (A bollocks name btw!) tells the story of how the earth's plants suddenly emit a toxin that forces the general population commit mass suicide ( like you do!)........yes....a real load of crud if ever I saw it... but one particular scene where construction workers literally walk off their tall building, lingers long in the mind, and perhaps stands as an interesting example of just how talented Shyamalan could be given the right story...

I think it is a chilling little piece of cinema.

Olympic Bosoms

I have posted a rather pleasantly gratuitous photo of Welsh discus thrower Brett Morse in way of illustrating the fact that we have now had two days WITHOUT rain here in Trelawnyd
The jet stream has been pushed Northward by the collecting "tut tuttng" from a disgruntled British public who was finally sick to the back teeth of getting piss wet through every day since the end of spring, and the skies are now a hopeful blue in readiness for the Olympics,
The Olympics have touched and are touching the village in their own small way! Pippa, the doctor's wife seems to have purchased a lion's share of the allocation and was excitedly telling me about the venues she will be attending just the other day.....and a few years ago, Austin Savage, the brother of local Thespian Tecwyn Savage( here seen in the village production of Sleeping beauty) played hockey in the 1972 Olympics!

Ok, the link is a little tenuous , but I found it interesting!

Right, all this Olympic talk has galvanised the old juices and I need to get my hands on my bosoms today!
With a daytime fox around ( I do have 6 nervous adult ducks left!) It would be prudent to show a presence on the field.
(to all those worried about little CAROL and POLENTA - be reassured that the two duckings are quite safe in their own little wooden run!)

My 'Bosoms' need a good seeing to

hey ho!