Yesterday proved to be somewhat of a hot and sweaty day.
I trolled around the nearby villages of Gwaenysgor, Cwm, Trelogan, Llanasa and Dyserth opening up the village notice boards with my trusty skeleton key and sneaking in this year's Flower Show Poster for all the world to see.
In Trelogan, one old boy asked me what I was advertising. When I told him, he snorted
" Fuck all happens in this village"
The rest of the day, I went house to house In Trelawnyd dropping off schedules but I was hampered by catching up with the local news
- German Bernard has cut his thumb rather badly during a circular saw incident. Both thumb and Bernard do not seem to be doing very well.
- Old Stan is recuperating after a " bad do" I knew a " bad do" was a " very bad do" because Stan said " bad do" around a dozen times.
- Meirion E was planting out an old wheelbarrow with bedding plants when I dropped off his schedule , he growled and laughed like an old pirate
- The new guy who has bought Plas yn dre Ucha ( the House next to Auntie Glad's) waved and asked me if I was the " history Boy" ( Boy! Yeah right) I told him that I was, and he kindly gave me a look into his house which is in the process of being totally renovated. He has a deep voice like Richard Burton and obviously has a love of history and strangely enough of the village itself. And he asked me if I could dig out any information about his home (which is one of the oldest houses in the village dating from the early1700s
- Mrs Trellis caught up with me to apologise that she had forgotten my birthday. She gave me a gift wrapped up in pink tissue paper which turned out to be a four inch garden gnome...." Bet you haven't got one of those" she said triumphantly. I told her that "she was right!"
- Affable despot Jason asked me if I could pick his girls up from school today as he would late home....he laughed that it would be a " first for me" and that I would enjoy standing with all the Other moms and Dads and talk about " fat club" and recipes . I'll take Winnie with me as the girls adore her
- The conservation group was out too clearing the flower beds for the summer planting. This reminded me that the Flower Show Committee agreed to make a donation towards the cost of the shrubs and plants. So I popped to the treasurer's house to pick up a cheque which I handed over....job done!
- Gay Gordon and Big Mary waved merrily from their bungalow window after I had dropped in their schedule....Gay Gordon may enter the boiled fruit cake class, though he said he may have trouble delivering it on his invalid trolley...I said I would collect it
The large building is plas yn dre
A former old school it is now two houses
Its all go
such a busy day! LOVE the garden gnome!
ReplyDeleteStrange things gnomes, Our town market used to have a stall selling "Naughty Gnomes". They had very out-of-scale dangly bits, painted in very bright colours. Very odd.
ReplyDeletePositively obscene
DeleteGnomes are popping up all over this spring. Sounds like a nice day out.
ReplyDeleteOne's village news is the only news that counts.
ReplyDelete"Bad do".
ReplyDeleteAnother one they use to say in Lancashire was:
"I've been under doctor."
Mucky bugger
DeleteI'm surprised you remember all the news to report back to us ... or do you take notes :-)
ReplyDeleteI bet Winnie loves going to the school, all that attention and fuss.
Luv who is 5 and Eve who is 9 are a delight
DeleteI must admit I was shattered after they went home, and i only looked after them for an hour or so
What a lot of goings on! Are you sure that you don't live in Ambridge!!
ReplyDeleteyou're going to miss the place that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteFriendly bunch; The small Welsh village I briefly lived in (before moving here) was the opposite..... nasty insular bitter people.
ReplyDeleteCro, a few of those are about too!
DeleteThere was a shocking gnome kidnapping episode where I live . Someone stole a garden gnome from a front yard . The thief then took the gnome overseas and posted holiday snaps of the gnome in various overseas locations. The gnome then was returned to the owner . Weird things happen here in my part of Oz.
ReplyDeleteLike Amelie?
DeleteWhat a difference to our nearest village, when I'm waiting for the library van there's not a soul to be seen anywhere. I think you could walk round a dozen times and still not see anyone. Most are second or holiday homes, that's the problem
ReplyDeleteI know where to look!
DeleteExactly!
DeleteTrelawnyd is no friendlier than anywhere else in theworld......its only friendly if you get to know people..and that canbe done anywhere
At first glance I thought that gnome was carrying a large and heavy turd.
ReplyDeleteSecond thought was that it was an Arthur Daley gnome complete with big cigar.
Sometimes I worry myself....
If you leave here I will so miss all the "people" reports. We've gotten to know them as our own. Love that you are going to do the pick up with Winnie.
ReplyDeleteThe gnome is a good deal cuter than the ugly plastic things one typically sees here.
ReplyDeleteWe lived 20 years outside a small town and although we made many many attempts just could not connect with locals. Here in our new village we've dropped by the local bar twice and suddenly we're the cool new hippie homesteaders in town everyone wants to talk to . What can I say? Beer has connected us well to our new neighbors.
ReplyDeleteOh, John Gray! What a magical place you live in!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ms. Moon. I was thinking as I was reading how lucky you were. Your village sounds like heaven on earth. I would give anything to live in a place like that. I know its not perfect, but the way you describe the town, the village activities and the people is just heaven. You are truly blessed. I'm likin' the little gnome too!!
ReplyDeleteThere are good bits anywhere theresa x
DeleteWhen I was a kid in a small prairie town, our annual summer fair and exhibition used to have a competitive flower and veg show, art, baking and crafts contests. I used to put in art and crafts entries in my age group and would win occasionally. I also won once in the penmanship category, LOL! Those were the days. Glad the tradition is still alive in your small village.
ReplyDeleteHe's quite a stylish looking gnome.
ReplyDeleteEven though he's holding a turd
DeleteAt the end of your post I heard a sustained piano chord. I believe you are living "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles.
ReplyDeleteI have to say John that your village sounds a positive hive of activity and I suspect you are at the hub of that.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface it looks quiet, i just root out the activity
DeleteWe're all caught up with the news! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteYour village news is so much more interesting and fun that my city news.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
Every day...amazing.
ReplyDeleteI have just spent a few hours 'helping out' in a busy village in the equine supplies shop for the new owners. They haven't a clue, everything is overpriced and the guy wants to turn it into a coffee shop with 'horsey bits' in the back room!!! This is a well loved shop that has been around for years. I thought I might be offered a tenner, but no. just a lot of desperate gratitude from the owner (very stressed looking after terribly ill sister (the other owner), the accounts and trying to deal with stuff that her nephew is larking around with. He is a mature 'flighty' man punching above his weight. The question is....will I go back??
ReplyDeletewhat larks, Pip!
x
Well? Will you go back?
DeleteDunno, mate. I spoke up at an earlier shopping trip (tues) and thought I was putting myself 'out there' for a job and turns out I have ended up working my tits off for free And being a counsellor (again!!!) as well. Poor woman is desperate I think. New area, new life at 60+ and being taken advantage by sister and her (ahem) beloved son. Why me, I asks myself.
Deletesigh
ps no, seriously, when IS it my turn?
heh heh ahem
I love the moniker you've given Jason. Does he know that's what you call him? I think it's so funny and smile every time I see his name mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThey they all know...... Perhaps with the exception of gay gordon, who is, of course not gay in my sense of the word, just the " happy"
DeleteI have to listen to this sort of drivel every day. P certainly knows how to keep a girl happy. x
ReplyDeleteDrivel?
DeleteI am going to suggest he starts a blog. I suppose you are going to ban me or delete me.
DeleteWhy on earth would I do that?
DeleteYou wouldn't. But some would.
DeleteThe gnome's hat looks rather rude!
ReplyDeleteHaving watched Mapp and Lucia on the weekend, I have this new image of village life in my mind.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the day, John!
ReplyDelete" trolled " reminded me of " Round the Horne" . Not sure why exactly! What a delightful village life you lead. X
ReplyDeleteGerman Bernard has cut his thumb rather badly during a circular saw incident. Both thumb and Bernard do not seem to be doing very well.
ReplyDeleteYes, but what about the circular saw?
And did you encourage the man who claims nothing happens in his village to join you in the flower show preparations??
No jenny... He was a resident of Trelogan a village a few miles away!
DeleteI think you should place your new garden gnome in the area of your yard where the dogs regularly deposit their equivalent of what he is holding in his left hand.....the other hand could hold a sign, "for deposit only".
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised the thumb is still attached!
ReplyDeleteSo was german Bernard
DeleteIt certainly is all go! But you neglected to mention the stabbing, the car crash by the pub, the fire in the church, the stalker, the doggers, the vandalism, Aunt Gladys running off to Llandudno for a dirty weekend with the postman and of course the spillage of highly toxic nuclear waste.
ReplyDeleteTheres no point in showing off x
DeleteWhat Dylan Thomas would make of Trelawnyd :)
ReplyDelete