Polling day and a sunny one meant that Trelawnyd was extra busy yesterday what with the elderly, and non working of the village popping up to the village hall in drips and drabs in order to vote.
Old Trevor came striding down London Road on his new knee like Fatima Whitbread ....at 94 he can now out easily outpace me in a short burst of power walking and as I stopped to say hello he pushed a ten pound note into my hand and trilled. " Buy a scotch egg with it" , he cheerfully waved away my refusal....I had dug over his flowerbeds last week!
I bumped into a widow woman, I had not seen for at least a year and she asked me about the dogs and the chickens and the geese and the sheep before she mentioned The Prof
" How's your friend?" She asked, not quite sure just how to refer to my better half and I was reminded of the Red Faced Welsh Farmer who always awkwardly referred to Chris as " my friend" much to my amusement
" He's now my husband" I told her playfully, holding up my wedding finger
" ohhhhh fancy " the woman exclaimed ever so slightly flustered
" I'm all for it" she said in way of a reply!
I enjoy throwing a little grenade into the mix occasionally and as she walked away she told me that she had no idea who she had voted for ...." It's just important to vote" she confided breathlessly.
The head of the conservation society was single handedly weeding the community flower beds when I passed and I was reminded that the Flower Show needed to give him a donation towards the summer planting. We will , I am sure, have requests for support from the Village Friendship Group .( to pay for one of their coach trips) and by the Church to buy some new linens . I reminded myself to put up a notice on the village notice board asking for more nominations for financial support. The Flower Show's main remit is to support village initiatives.
I said hello to voters Stan and Kit ( Kit was the designer and maker of The Prof's famous " slippers of sex" ) and Trendy Carol floated past sporting a very flattering retro blouse with matching shoes....." I'm on my way to an outside tai chi session" she told me in way of explanation.
And all this before lunch.
Old Trevor was very generous. You could purchase a massive scotch egg for ten quid - as a big as a baseball with a double yoker inside.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about seventeen our first local openly gay couple lived in the next road. They were a lovely couple, had two dogs, a Doberman and an Elkhound and were really friendly blokes.
ReplyDeleteNo-one ever seemed to know how to ask one of them about the other, the favourite seemed to be 'how is your acquaintance'? It would have been much easier for people to use their names, 'A' and 'P'.
The odd thing was that both of them always referred to their partner as 'my wife', it was a very different world in the early seventies!
Ah yes, it has been known for my mum to announce she didn't know who she voted for because she'd forgotten her glasses.
ReplyDeleteCan you get an ostrich scotch egg? Perhaps the local butcher could oblige for a tenner.
ReplyDeletebusy day indeed! love the top photo of the little village; I am guessing that is gop hill rising behind?
ReplyDeleteMy mother always referred to Peter as "your friend"; this was after the 20 years when she never referred to him at all. It was a huge step forward.
ReplyDeleteSuch fun walks and always happy to see photos of the village and it's inhabitants!
ReplyDeleteMakes me want to move there! Referring to Jay and my husband has taken some getting use to.
ReplyDeleteLovely pic of the village.
ReplyDeleteSo who is the Miss Marple of this village?
ReplyDeleteMost of us try to forget who we voted for in any given election.
ReplyDeleteI love the widow not caring who she voted for!
ReplyDeleteShe had no idea who she had voted for ...."It's just important to vote". I've never heard that one before. I hope she didn't vote for the Abolish Trelawnyd candidate!
ReplyDeleteEchoing Mr D. Martin, above, I had no idea Scotch eggs were so expensive. Ten quid for ONE? Blimey!
ReplyDeleteI admire the British and Canadian way of doing things. A new Parlimentary majority is formed. A Prime Minister is nominated and the election is 30 days later give or take. Here in the good, old USA the posturing starts 2 years before the election. Then the primary season starts and we watch the separate party candidates snipe and criticize each other to death until one emerges on top. This time it's Trump for the Republicants. I'm for Bernie Sanders because I'm an FDR Democrat and I don't like dynasties. To my thinking, Hillary is part of the Clinton dynasty. As the winner emerges the tone and attacks change to focus on the top candidate of the other party and that goes on until bloody November when we finally get to vote. All that talking and money and time and posturing. What a waste. Wasn't it Churchill who said democracy is the most inefficient form of government ever devised yet it's the best form we have?
ReplyDeleteRAMEN, bro!
DeleteI suspect the lady who did not know who she had voted for knew which Party she had voted for. I remember saying exactly this myself.
ReplyDelete"It's just important to vote" -- I love that. I think that only applies IF you know who you're voting for!
ReplyDeleteOh, reading Rachel's comment above, that makes sense. She probably voted a party ticket and just didn't know the individuals. In that case, she's right -- it IS important!
DeleteNow tai chi might be something to take up. I had such a good laugh when you tried to 'enter a car' and lost a shoe in the process recently. Gotta love ya!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Only step 1 achieved, it is important to vote, and that is true. Step 2, choose the best looking and most charming candidate.
ReplyDeleteApologies for not answering all comments tonight...just sat down and its 22.36pm!
ReplyDeleteLovely snapshot John. My T'ai Chi group did a session in the grounds of a local castle looking out to sea. We drew a little attention. A little girl was heard asking, " What are they doing mummy? " Her mother answered " T'ai Chi darling " like you see it in England every day of the week ! It made me smile.
ReplyDeleteBeing an outsider I found myself in the dark concerning Super Thursday, what is it about? We had a correspondent in Sweden, living half his life abroad, the other half in his countryside house deep in the forests of Närke. His trademark was to deliver odd facts of his surroundings as well as important political issues. The real treat was his observations on people around him and the everydaycomedy that few notice. He spent several years in London f.i. His name was Torsten Ehrenmark. I find your way of observing and describing mostly elegant, amusing and sharp. I like it!
ReplyDeleteIn Salisbury we only had the election for a PCC with a turnout of about 13% apparently. No wonder as there were no election flyers or any info at all about the candidates except with difficulty online. Appalling and undemocratic as it excluded everyone without access to the Internet which must be quite a few in rural areas of Wiltshire. There were 3,500 spoiled voting papers in protest against the whole proposition of PCC's which are a massive waste of public money in my opinion. I used to take my elderly mother to vote and she ways smiled afterwards saying that she had voted for them all which I knew was big lie but I loved her teasing me.
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