Roasting pig

There is a downside to leaving in a cottage that was originally built over three hundred years ago.

When it is cold outside, the cottage can be icy and take an age to warm up and when it is boiling hot outside the bedrooms especially can become extremely hot to say the least.

Bwthyn-y-llan (a name in Welsh that means cottage of the Church (or cottage of an enclosure) is south facing, so when I am on nights and the sun is shining I always wake up early in the afternoon which the oddest feeling that I have been transported inside a large oven, albeit on a fairly comfortable mattress.

This usually puts paid to any further rest I may have, as I feel a little like a slug which has been caught outside on a hot stone. (humm a nice mental image there)

I have just got up, staggered downstairs in a rather unflattering pair of y fronts, demolished a cheese bagel and have staggered back to bed with the laptop.

I will try to get back to sleep after typing this blog, then will get up to see to the broodies.

Meg is desperate for me to be "available" and is mooching around the house in a pathetic kind of "I am an orphan " way.

I am so tired, I could spit

Dyserth brings the worst out....

Dyserth (above) is the next, larger village downhill to Trelawnyd.
The main road cuts the top half of the village in two, and the high street , where the few shops are located effectively is made into a one lane road by the fact of cars parked on one side of the road.
Negotiating the high street is a nightmare, as each lane thinks that it is their right of way to drive the 1000 yards or so without stopping, so every day the road remains effectively gridlocked.

This modern day problem brings the worst out in most drivers that face it, I always think...and I hate driving back from the supermarket with Chris every Saturday as I always have to face the gauntlet of Chris yelling "GO ON! DON'T LET THEM THROUGH! DON'T STOP, DON'T STOP................................GO ONNNNNNNNNNNNNN! IT'S OUR RIGHT OF WAY!!!!"
I swear he'll have a stroke one of these days...but I can understand just why he gets so irate........road courtesy seems to be a thing of the past in our need -to-be-there- now modern day lifestyles. Ok, a cheerful wave and a smile still can work wonders when you are facing a line of hot and bothered drivers, but simple flirting behaviours like these, I feel are wearing thin with people that are too busy to effectively deal with those normal little pressures that life have to throw at them.
and I thought living in the country calmed people down!
off to work tonight and tomorrow night...we are in for the hottest days of the year so far this weekend!

Worst Wedding DJ EVER! (ORIGINAL)

I nearly wet myself towards the end..........................................deadpan and worrying but oh! so funny

Plans

What is my next project?.....Humm I have been thinking about this today as I was clearing the back garden of weeds. (above)

In three weeks time the goose eggs in the incubator are due to hatch, but just in case they don't I have a provisional promise of some day old goslings. The goose house hopefully will be delivered around my birthday on the 1st of June.

Now, with the changes made in the glebe lease I am now allowed to keep a pig, so I think we will buy 2 weaners to fatten up and eat. The problem remains that with the turkeys living in the old pig hut, I have no where for two piglets to be housed........

Sandra, my friend and fellow Flower Show committee member, may have the answer to this one, as she is after two turkeys for her own allotment in the centre of the village.

I have suggested that she takes two of my Bourbons..........the remaining two females can be housed with Boris and the new piglets will be housed in the newly painted (I did it this morning) turkey house!

simples!

Nuala

It is Nuala's birthday today!
I have arranged to go down to London to meet up with her in September and I feel pleased that I can treat her to a west end show as a bit of a birthday treat...albeit a late one!
Usually it is her that treats me to something rather decadent!
Being Nuala's friend is as necessary to me as breathing. She has been my best friend, confidant, counsellor and fellow giggler for over twenty years now; we ring each other on the same day...we say the same things at the same time and boy can we laugh....and laugh, long, hard and with some gusto.
Nuala, like most of the people I love dearly, has a big heart. She is loyal, opinionated and consistently THERE for me albeit in the “wings” of my life.....however, she is never suffocatingly involved with me and mine...but remains a steadying, pragmatic and loving influence in my life.
I love her dearly

Hello Miranda

Nuala rang, full of giggles tonight....she works with someone in London who loves my blog!
Nuala couldn't understand it, as she thinks it's all too country and incredibly dull!!!!
hey ho, that's a best friend for you!
so hello Miranda!

Village Day snapshot

The alliums are starting to bloom in the garden and Lords and Ladies (Arum Maculatum) are sprouting all up the field borders. It has been a fine, warm and rather humid day, and I have had to wear Chris' "old man's hat" in order to keep the hot sun from making my already weather beaten face a double for Mother Theresa!

I have been asked if I ever have a humdrum day?.......hum of course to some, my day in the village may be seen as "plodding", but I can honestly say that the only humdrum days I have experienced recently are those on intensive care when I am at work.

This morning I was up and out at 7.15.

All four of the broody hen boxes have had to be emptied of their occupants and the hens "woken" up by some judicious sprinkling of water onto their faces and backs. I have to go through this time consuming performance twice daily with them all; all four take an age to come to in order to drink, eat and drop their huge daily poo! Broody hens can be thick as mince when it comes to self care issues

After walking the dogs a couple of miles down gypsy lane (it was too hot! yes, HOT) to take them out in the full sun, I made a batch of fishcakes from scratch for supper then all the housework needed doing and THEN...I went to the post office to post Nuala's birthday card. The post office was deserted, as most of the pensioners from the village were attending the Christian Aid Faye at the Village Hall, so I had a brief chat to Jenny the postmistress and bought my usual diet coke before darting over to the Hall to see if there were any plants left in the sale.

Pat, one of our neighbours is famous for her gardening skills and always donates trays of seedlings for the sale. Obtaining the best plants is always a bit of a bunfight, so I "muscled" in to buy baby foxgloves for the front garden. The vicar, auntie Glad and numerous others were there having tea and biscuits At ninety, Gladys is the flower show's best raffle ticket seller and only yesterday I gave her 200 books of tickets to shift..a task she will do easily,quickly and with a great deal of good humour.....I have always found that the pensioners of the village always provide the biggest support for any village based event.

As I walked back home the chap from Anchor house yelled out his usual hello as did Ann from Rhoda Arthur, and Pippa, all breathless after her tennis lesson galloped past to the Hall after leaving me with an egg order and a load of spare bread for the birds. Bob, the retired hen keeper caught me when I was almost home and kept me talking for three quarters of an hour. I have heard his story of his mother's favourite sow and her abilities to steal grain several times now and it tickles me every time he tells it.

Before I knew it, it was afternoon, and I had an hour of weeding and sweetcorn planting to carry out, before the ritual of feeding the broody hens, dog walking and egg collection started all over again.

Humdrum?

Perhaps....... but........ quite, quite acceptable!

Questions

AJ @ A little farm with a big Heart sent me an award and a questionaire..which was nice of her. Her blog always makes for an interesting read!

1. What would your perfect day consist of?
Well I would choose to something more pampering rather than my usual animal and veg orientated day as a treat. So I would have breakfast at Pershing Square (a wonderful pancake house on 42nd street New York above), then we would mooch around the Rockefeller centre and central park before going to a movie........a slap up meal at Docks (on 2nd avenue and few cocktails up the Beekman tower...who said I cant do sophisticated!!!!?

2. How would you describe yourself if you were an item of clothing?
An Unkempt and comfortable woolly hat. Mutton dressed as lamb

3. What hobbies are you currently working on?
The Trelawnyd Flower Show preparations.

4. Walking in the woods in wellies or bare foot on the beach?
Walking on the beach in Sitges Spain ( the water is warmer!!).

5. Have you ever hugged or sang to a tree?
No but I once apologised to my reflection in a full length mirror after I had walked into it (I was pissed) (pissed means drunk in this context!!!)

6. Growing your own veggies or nipping to the supermarket?
Growing my own but they don't always turn out the way you want them.

7. Have you found anyone exciting in your family tree?
No but I once found an injured cat in my privet hedge once.

8. Slap up meal in a posh restaurant or fish ‘n’ chips from the wrapper?
I am shallow with the best of them.......posh meal anytime especially as I am not paying.

9. Which element do you most resonate with, Earth, Air, Fire or water?
Earth I suspect but Chris would say air.....especially with my flatulence

10. Do you believe in fairy’s?
As a middle aged gay man...what do you think?.

Police Beat in Unalaska

Now, the one thing that I love about blogs is the way you suddenly are able to grab a glimpse into someone's life and experiences.
Now I know that everything is subjective, and you only really get to know what people want or need to reveal, nevertheless that snapshot of others lives and experiences remains powerful and dare I say, rather addictive .
I must thank Ina who sent me an email from Alaska. She noted that I enjoyed "Chopper Coppers" on tv (I know, I know..I have not missed the sexual connotations here.....but I must admit I am now slightly addicted to the Australian reality cop show The Recruits!) anyhow Ina sent me a link to read. It is called POLICE BEAT which is located on a local advertiser website of the city of Unalaska and is a list of the police activity within the city's limits
Now Unalaska is (and I am quoting from the city's website here)Unalaska, the 11th largest city in Alaska, is a bustling community of about 4,000 residents located along the Aleutian Chain, approximately 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. Dutch Harbor, the official name of the city's port, is often applied to the portion of the City of Unalaska located on Amaknak Island, which is connected by bridge to the rest of the community on Unalaska Island. Unalaska's economy is based on commercial fishing, fish processing, fleet services, and transportation

The link is
http://www.arctic.net/~veda/index_files/Page374.html

I found it an amusing read and so typical of a rural and isolated community...my favourite entry was this wry comment:Suspicious Person/Activity – Officer was advised that several men looked ready to rumble outside the Harbor View bar. An officer contacted the men, all of whom were loud and intoxicated but not in any way belligerent.

Like I said , a fascinating snapshot into other peoples' lives

Protecting the troops

It has felt like summer today; house martins have been swooping around the field borders and I have caught the sun after finishing off the weeding and planting out French beans, marigolds and turnip seedlings swapped with another villager for some eggs.
Broody hens and now ducks seem to be everywhere. Lilly, the buff has now parked herself on any egg she can find and in one of the rabbit hutches two of the runner ducks have collectively started their broody sittings!
Kate Winslet has been fed with corn, cat food (good for a sitting hen) and pasta and has been set up on some more eggs within the safety of a new crow proof run and I have surrounded Blanche's broody box with chicken wire.
I have also set up another enclosure in which to house Jesus. His sexual advances has somewhat knackered many of the hens including the diminutive and lame Bunny. who now has large bald spots on her back and wings To give Bunny some more respite and TLC , she has been moved into the last one of my broody boxes and has been given a small, quiet run of her own. (above)
Bloody hell. sometimes I feel like a nanny rather than a (small) smallholder!!
I must say that Bunny is one of my favourite hens. She is not a looker, is definitely a runt and can only hop spastically with both skinny wings flapping hysterically. Her knackered hip (damaged two years ago when she and her adolescent flock mates were attacked by a dog see old post) prevents her mobilizing very well, and if she is not careful she bares the brunt of the cockerels who see her as "easy meat".

http://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/ewan-saves-day.html

Bloody Crows

Last year Kate Winslet hatched out a healthy bouncy brood. Her first brood this year was almost read for piping!
Yesterday evening I found her broody box empty and her eggs smashed, pecked and cold. I suspect a crow had driven her off the eggs or had sneaked in when she had briefly left them to feed.
By the look of the shells most of the eggs had been fertile and when I checked on the intact eggs, each one had a perfectly formed but dead chick inside. It was a bit of a blow as broody hens literally go out of condition when they are sitting (they hardly eat and drink), so the prospect of another 3 weeks sitting is a daunting one to an animal that is already thin and slightly out of sorts!

I gave the dead chicks to the hens to eat (no waste) and tomorrow after I feed kate up a little I will start her off on some more eggs in another more robust broody box.

Chris was up at 4.30 am to go to London for the day, so I am writing this wide awake in bed surrounded by dogs. It is too early to let the birds out...that fox is still around, I could smell his scent markers by the field bottom....
time to get a gun me thinks

huh?

stole this from Marks blog

very funny

Am I?

I am 48 in two weeks!

Am I a little too old for a celebrity crush?

Well Chris certainly thinks so.......having said that, he was highly amused when Russell Crowe flexed his pecks at the audience of Robin Hood, and I let out an involuntary sigh!

I guess that if you have a crush at 48, then the base line is that you HAVE A CRUSH....plain and simple....and there is no real harm in it

Is it a sign of immaturity? (......hummm perhaps)

Is it a sign of not being content with a partner? (nawwww)

Is it just a little daft (humm probably)

Am I bothered? ( defiantly not!)

But I do feel just a little guilty......

Not with sighing at Mr Crowe

But acknowledging that I have a secret guilty crush on Derren Brown too!

War of the Weeds

Not the most interesting Blog!
With the warm weather following a good drenching, the usual "WAR OF THE WEEDS" has now started. This morning I did a Russell Crowe and with trusty hoe in my hand I faced the growing mountain of weeds with a gruff "On my command, unleash HELL"
For 7 hours I have toiled away clearing the vegetable beds and ripping up the armies of spring meadow flowers and grasses. It is a backbreaking, sweaty but necessary job.
Right is one of the newly painted rabbit hutches I blagged from the animal rescue centre. I have had to remove Blanche from the ark and relocate her inside with her eggs, as the other hens were "adding" to her clutch on a daily basis by parking their bums neatly into her nest..thank god I had marked her original eggs as today she had 16 in her nest and was going slightly frantic in an effort to cover them all!
Broody hens do not take lightly to being moved, but she settled down after I had covered the front of her hutch with some wood.
I have not even had time to start the back garden weeding as yet. Scores of pink columbine are starting to flower but the garden has not quite come into it's own as yet. I weeded the front garden and cut the grass today too, but again the flowers have not yet started to bloom so the place looks need if not just a little dull

Chris asked if he could have a herb bed made on the allotment and I sorted that out too this afternoon. (below) I planted out sage, thyme and flat leaf parsley, and moved containers containing rosemary, chives and mint from the four corners of the allotment
All of the herbs are now safely behind chicken wire.....hungry beaks are everywhere

Marion

Now while Cate Blanchett makes for a spunky and not so maidly "I'm as good as any man" Marion...My mind got to thinking about probably the best and most famous of the cinematic Maid Marions.....namely Olivia deHavilland.
On reflection, de Havilland was a stunning and rather charismatic film star. She was beautiful,charming and had the most perfect modulated speaking voice that belied the fact that she had a steely strength beneath her English rose looks.

I guess that the closest film character to the real Olivia deHavilland's personality was in fact her most famous creation, and that was the southern belle Melanie from Gone with the Wind.

Polite, socially warm and dignified yet when the chips were down, a woman who would fight tooth and nail for herself and her family...
Some of this personality was evident in her earlier film The Adventures Of Robin Hood.

Ok her Marion was a real Maid, and not as practical as Blanchett's interpretation of the character ( I couldn't quite see deHavilland shoeing a cart horse as Cate did), but for me the quintessential Marion must always be Olivia deHavilland

Robin Hood

There is something quite attractive about the gruff, testosterone filled Russell Crowe. I think that his appeal ( well to me anyhow) is that, as a film actor, he knows how to use his masculinity to such good effect.......so in a similar vein to the likes of Robert Mitchum, he commands the screen and attention in a typical alpha male power house kind of way.
Having said that, Crowe (like Mitchum) is not just manly eye candy! both men have acted quite wonderfully; indeed Crowe's performances in productions such as LA Confidential, The Insider, 3.10 to Yuma, and State of Play are some of the best I have seen in recent years......
Ok, Ok...I am a fan...can't you tell?...perhaps I am acting just a little like my female turkeys? I am a sucker for a pretty masculine face!

Anyhow back to Robin Hood!

Hummmm.......well let's point out the good points!

Crowe gets his kit off (albeit briefly)...

Spunky old Cate Blanchett does a wonderful South Yorkshire accent

and Max Von Sydow is rather sweet as Robin's adoptive father

oh and some of the action sequences of this rather original retelling of a tried and tested story are exciting and worth the price of a cinema seat alone.

However.....there is plenty to test even a Crowe fan like myself....

That old chestnut of the time taken travelling from the coast to Nottingham (165 miles) is , as it was in all preceding Robin Hood movies, ignored totally; a small point , I know, but it is one that grates.

Russell's accent ( supposedly a South Yorkshire accent----one I know well) is truly awful. Most of the time he sounds Irish and his attempt at the flat Yorkshire vowels is very distracting. However Scott Grimes ( remember Archie Morris is ER?) is the worst culprit in the accent stakes....his Welsh accent has to be heard to be disbelieved!)

..............................and most importantly the love affair between Crowe and Blanchett, (they have some rather sweet little scenes) is only touched upon oh so briefly, which is a shame.

Robin Hood, is a nice Sunday afternoon epic. It is neither great or average......and unfortunately lies somewhere between the two!

I gave Russell a manly 9/10

Robin Hood I gave a slightly disappointing 7/10

Turkey sex

I moved Bingley, Lizzy,and Kitty the Bourbon red American turkeys (with Jane the single slate turkey) down into the pig house a while ago now. All four of them seem to dislike their quarters with a vengeance, and spend most of their day marching up and down the perimeter fence gazing up at the other poultry way up the field.
I have wondered about this yearning for escape, so today I planned some covert observation. Before I replanted some runner beans, I let the female turkeys out of their enclosure and watched what they would do.
As one the three girls marched the length of the field and immediately joined Boris, Theresa and Gloria. As soon as they reached the older stag, all three females immediately "relaxed" and literally sat down in the grass and waited to be.....well.......to put it bluntly..........well shagged!
It was as though all had responded to their biological urges and had "picked" the older, bigger and obviously "alpha" male in order to fulfill their needs!
Above is a photo of all three girls having a post coital relaxation (if they could have smoked a cigarette, I think they would have done)
Poor Bingley...I think they know he is firing blanks!

With all this sex in the air, I am glad we are off to see sex-on-legs Russell Crowe in the potentially awful Robin Hood later.......review later!

Danielle's Performance - Over The Rainbow - Episode 13 - BBC One

Reality shows are now leaving me just a little cold.....but I must say having caught this girl's performance tonight.....I think that sometimes these awfully contrived programmes can throw up a real "star"......Danielle is quite a find in Over the Rainbow!!!

She could be Dorothy!

What a difference a day makes

blanche and the allotment