Friends

I was moaning just a little that my two local friends are "off the radar" so to speak after reading my blog
I received a very funny email from my friend Nige ( who lives 50 miles or so away)
This is part of it
Very Funny

But you know, of course, that you always have someone to call/e-mail
if you need a chat/rant.
Here's my assessment of your options:

Nuala = stress-free long-distance telephonic love-in

Mike = vicariously heterosexual discourse

Bel = creative firestorm with a touch of gender outrage!

Me = post-apocalyptic glitter, with a fricassee of narcissism


Hey, I think you've got a nice mix there!

lol

Nige and the Supermarket

Nigel is an easy guest. He is  one person that does not require "traditional" entertainment organised for him; he hates swanky restaurants, ( a greasy spoon  or a diner is more his taste) and I couldn't quite see him propping up the bar at a city centre wine bar, but we did find plenty to do when he paid Chris and I a flying visit yesterday.

Mind you, the things Nigel "enjoys" could be seen as somewhat "different!" than the norm...whatever the Norm actually is that is?  

We walked a lot, we talked a lot and we had a mooch around a dying town's decaying indoor market ( Rhyl looking remarkably  like a scene from the Bronx's backstreets).The scenes of urban deterioration that we witnessed is like candy to a baby to Nige, who loves people watching on, shall we say, alternative situations!

We also took Nige  to Sainsburys to complete the weekly shop which I KNOW sounds somewhat bizarre but it is something that he enjoyed........which was a result!!!! necessary shopping AND entertainment all in one outing!

I did take a photo of us all in the car park larking around but  deleted it by accident!

Anyway Nige left for Manchester later this afternoon and I got back to the tried and tested . I moved the six quail babies into their large parrot cage in the shed. Red remains well and robust and can be seen here drinking water from a spare plastic pastry case above (before you ask I know it is him as he has a longer yellow mark on his cheeks compared to the others!)

Right...off now to watch Strictly Come Dancing.......and as I do...I must thank everyone who asked kept up with Red's progress....isn't it amazing that the fate of a one inch chick could and would generate so much discussion

Nigel's comment

This is just a part of the comment left by Nige on my previous post about therapeutic "touch"
It deserves a blog entry all of its own...and is , I think, a beautifully written piece of  "self"...hope he does not mind

When I lived in Sheffield, the barber who used to cut my hair (an Italian guy about the same age as me) used to press my shoulders down firmly with his hands as he wrapped the short black cape around my neck and fingered its edges beneath my collar. It approached sensuality (although, of course it was not) and, admittedly (and quiet sadly) I miss the precision of that three-weekly contact.

When you’re rarely touched, you remember each occasion in intimate detail: the most banal of contacts (the dry, scrubbed hand of the supermarket checkout operator; the glance of the young Pakistani guy who sells you a ticket on the train; the grasp of my Father’s hand as he leaves, recalling the physicality of a mythical childhood). Fleeting moments; brushes of falling autumn leaves.

Kisses,Wild,Wild West ,The Prestatyn Flower Show and duck trauma.

I caught up with Nige at 3.50 pm in Manchester and at 3.55pm we were sitting in the Cornerhouse Cinema, watching an Irish Indie film Kisses (2008).
Growing up next door to each other on a rough estate, 13-year-old Dylan (Shane Curry) and 11-year-old Kylie (Kelly O'Neill) have always been close, bonding over the harsh treatment dished out by their respective families. After narrowly escaping his father's fists one day, Dylan and Kylie hop on a canal barge and sail into the city centre, swearing that they'll never return home again.
I suspect that director and writer Lance Daly, wanted to produce a slightly whimsical fantasy that has something profound to say about the simplicity and needs within childhood, and in part he succeeds thanks primarily to the naturalistic performances, timing and chemistry of his young leads. The pouting. foul mouthed, and incredibly pretty O'Neill is especially good as the spunky, optimistic heroine, .
The problem with Kisses, is that we have seen it all before -and I am talking about the rubbish strewn landscape, the depressing black and white photography and drunken violent parent stereotypes- I didn't really find the whole thing original, which was a pity.
I know that tales of Working class physical and sexual abuse are not easy to watch, even though the tender love story does shine through all of the inner city angst; but having said all that, the direction of two key sequences (the attack on Shane by his father and an abduction attempt of Kylie by paedophiles, are wonderfully tense, and would indicate that Lance Daly would be better off directing a thriller or action film rather than this downbeat love story.
7/10
After the cinema we had a drink in a pub on the way back to Heaton Chapel, then chatted for the rest of the night over pizza and wine.
I returned to Wales this morning on the awful arriva train coastal service, which for some reason seems to attract the true dregs of trailer trash society.
The carriages always seem to be crammed to the gunnells with track suited, beer swilling, rude ,bickering louts and I always think that these train journeys resemble something from the wild West rather than a so called semi rural train service! And all this actually occurs before 10 am!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyhow,I just about survived the Jerry Springer train journey only to be pampered and cossetted by the genteel surroundings of the Prestatyn Flower show , which opened this morning.
I was excited to see that I won a first place for my Marrow!, and a third place for my cauliflower (which was a bit of a bummer) my jams and vegetable trug, unfortunately were not placed. (which was a shame) Janet won a first for her orchids and Ann won second place for her floral art! Chris and I will go down to the show tomorrow to give all the entries a detailed review. Hopefully the weather will be brighter then, the weather this morning has been truly atrocious

The heavens opened yet again, just as I got onto the field to feed the pigs (it has been raining off and on all morning), and I have never experienced so much heavy rain all at once.The pigs scattered to the warmth of their sty, and all the hens disappeared within seconds. Kate Winslett darted for the cover of her small broody coop with the chicks desperately in tow as it lashed down and the brook on the far side of the field burst its banks for a short period as the run off from the fields channelled through the mud filled ditch
I hurried over to the ditch to check on the ducks who have just recently gotten into the habit of bathing in the shallow water, only to find one lone female stranded in the swirling water! inches from the dump drain. She looked frightened and tired and was caught up in mud,and tree branches that had been washed down the stream by the floodwater.

I clambered down the narrow bank (with water tipping merrily over into my wellies) and somehow grabbed her by one wing just as the poor girl disappeared under the water! I couldn't quite believe that by a fluke of fate I was in the right place at the right time to save her.........

Manchester

Off to Manchester today......art house film (at the corner house near Oxford Road), a few wines and lots of chat is the order of the day with old friend Nige....a simple but very welcomed night out.....great stuff!

Catch up

This morning I took a break from rural scruffiness, I washed my face and donned some clean clothes and went to Chester to meet my friend Nige.
We didn't do a great deal. We had coffee by the river, ate ice cream, mooched around the shops, had lunch in a proper cafe and talked solid for 4 hours. It was a nice and welcomed break.
Meeting up with a friend that you know well is an easy pastime.You dovetail together with a paced and relaxed type of conversation. You feel comfortable with silences and laugh often and with feeling.
I always have the resolve that I leave it too long between meetings.