This Life......

This Life + 10 (2007), was on this evening on BBC2, and I must admit I did have a quick peek to see how Anna, Miles, Millie, Egg and Warren looked 10 years after we enjoyed their arbitrary 1990 lives in "This Life". They all looked pretty good, especially Jason Hughes as the sadly optimistic Warren , but I did turn the television over after a few minutes as I wanted to remember the characters as they were, when I enjoyed their chaotic relationships a decade ago. Seeing them all again, was like bumping into close friends, and it was a feeling that didn't sit quite right! Friends that stay in your life do so for a reason, others fall away and are grieved over or forgotten about, depending on the reasons for the parting. We all experience close friends that leave us , and I am in a mind now that generally we should "let sleeping dogs lie" rather then to try to capture past closeness. A couple of years a close friend of mine dropped our friendship; her sudden and what I saw as her selfish never explained behaviour shocked and hurt me badly, and times like New Year still makes me think of her. I thought it clever of the BBC to air This life at this emotional, and introspective time of year, and I almost fell for it....... but, just at the crucial moment, I realised that the famous five should be left in 1997 where we last enjoyed them . As twenty somethings ,they had hope,energy and excitement, we said our goodbyes then.

Winter has hit home here and the beach was painfully icey on our walk, thank god for Chris' Christmas pressie, the hairy hat! I love it!. Spoke to Nu who was full of the wedding plans ( AND the hen night). Chris went back to work today, and was secretly bursting to get into his office! This year is our seventh year together, which is lovely.

Happy New Year Mrs Rosen

Hollywood has seldom portrayed New Year as anything more than a metaphor for change within a narrative structure.The Poseidon Adventure (1972), also used it as adramatic backdrop to the disaster and as a child I always remembered Shelley Winters as good old Belle Rosen making sure the shy storekeeper Red Buttons was crossing his arms with her at the stroke of midnight..."Mr Martin. don't be on your own tonight...here,.... come stand next to me!!!" as a ten year old, I always thought being alone like that at New Years so incredibly sad, especially as Mr Martin was trying so hard not to be single! it was such a caring thing for Mrs Rosen to do...I just knew in my water thay she would have a sticky end! After she had dived into pools of oil water to save the bad tempered Gene Hackman and died so melodramatically with his slobber all over her cheek, I almost laughed as Ernie Borgnine sadly thanks her for her bravery,
"You hadda lotta guts lady..a lotta guts!"..........many a true word

New Year's Eve on ITU, has been (so far) ok. We are fullof acutely sick patients, but now at 3 am all the main work has been completed and the patients are all artificially asleep! I am looking forward to the week ahead. Dog toilet training, pottering jobs and home....
Happy New Year...............

New baby.

George has certainly made his presence known. In almost 24 hours he is treating the house and household with friendly dominance. By the look of the kitchen floor every 20 minutes, there must be a diuretic ingredient to his puppy food! He is also totally bonded to human legs rather than the hairy ones of the other dogs, so walking around the black kitchen floor is fraught with accidents as he blends in quite easily. Meg and Maddie seem to be accepting this little tyke but Finlay seems rather mistrusting and aloof and has given an uncaring George a few nips if he bounces around a little too energetically. The picture is George and Meg

Working nights tonight and tomorrow so after a long walk on the beach I am just about to settle down to watch Sherlock Holmes with the excellent Jeremy Brett in The Master Blackmailer (1992)

Making lists..Christmas is officially over

Chris usually photographs his Christmas gifts (it has become a bit of a tradition) I usually make a mental list of what I received! (quelle surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!) thought I would list my gifts!, not only because I am anal to the point of obsession!, but because this year I have been particularly lucky and have received some lovely things.

From Chris (George,a mobile phone,a pair of winceyette pyjamas!!!,a lovely ink pen, woolly hat (my favourite see pic), calendar,theatre tickets,and clinique "Happy" aftershave. Janet and Ned , an Edwardian glass, a book on allotments, an art deco silver spoon, a theatre voucher AND a lovely gaudy welsh jug. Ann & Tim, a mushroom growing kit (!), vitamin E cream from Body Shop,wild flower seeds a dog duvet, garden secateurs, & fingerless gloves for work on my field and a lovely 1930 style pie dish. Nephew Chris, a dog bowl. Andrew & Jayne, a cookery book. Nigel, a home designed calendar with lovely photographs and a bee keeping book. Mike & Bev, allotment and gardening books! Sorrel, a years' subscription to Empire Magazine for 2008. Nu & Jim, a years' subscription to Empire! for 2007. Katherine (a voucher to repair ancient tapestry for the National Trust). plus many bottles of wine,genden vouchers, a bottle of gin, tons of chocs!!!

There I feel better .....list have been made!......I know Christmas isn't all about gifts! just wanted to thanks everyone for their thoughfull and welcomed pressies....

Woodlands Benromach

Meet woodlands Benromach (aka George), and typically of the breed he bounced into the house as if he owned it. Finlay and Maddie gave given him a few sniffs before they ignored him and Meg has been rather bemused, as hasJoan, who would have raised her eyebrows if she had any to raise.

Got to Sheffield yesterday and we had a memorial drink in All bar one, after looking at the city Christmas lights. It was interesting to see that instead of the Islamic "Happy Eid" under the Merry Christmas banner near the City Hall, we have now "Happy Chanukah" Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights, and is from what I remember a "roving" celebration that occurs from November to December. I wonder why the change? hummmmm?

Met up with Mike and Bev and friends Tom ( an affable A&E doctor) and Jackie ( earth mother and GP), and caught up with the gossip whist eating tons of pizza. It was a lovely night. Maisie is a heaven sent child as she went to bed at 6.30 and didn't stir until 9 am this morning.

Came home from Alfreton via Chatsworth House which is one of our favourite places, but was glad to get home after nearly 5 hours of driving

Lovely to see Chatsworth house feature as Mr Darcey's country home in Pride & Prejudice (2005), as it has never looked lovelier as when photographed by
Roman Osin

Walk and back to a bit of normality

We met up with Ann & Tim last night at Janet's house and had an evening of "family fortunes". So left the car there and went to collect it from Prestatyn this morning on foot with Meg. The picture on the left is Gop hill photographed from the wooded northern slope. We walked past the foot of the mound and into Gwaenysgor. I am not a lover of this time of year in the country as everything looks a dirty shade of brown/green, but the day was not too cold and quite bright.




Gwaenysgor pond, (right) was all churned up at the edges , difficult to keep Meg away but finally we got to the top of the hill. The view of Prestatyn and Liverpool Bay was quite misty.



Meg was knackered when we came to the car, but rallied somewhat as we had to pick the others up and have a second walk on the beach. Barkby beach was crowded with dog walkers, having their post Christmas ambles, and before the rain started we got home just in time to take down the Christmas tree and to make a Turkey curry.

The final picture was taken in the garden as the colour of the berries on the trees is amazing. The mild winter has meant that all those hundreds of bulbs, daffodils,crocus and tulips that I planted in the autumn, are actually starting to sprout.


Watching the The Da Vinci Code (2006) on DVD, at the moment, not the best of films but Audrey Tautou is always lovely to watch.
Tomorrow we are off to Sheffield for our xmas meeting with Bev and Mike. Today we can relax.




By the way, Interesting story of the new James Bond film Casino Royale (2006) , it is the most popular Bond EVER....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6211929.stm

Drag Hunt?

It is tradition here to watch the hunt at Denbigh on Boxing day, and it took a while but we caught up with it just outside Henllan. The field was fragmented but at least forty horses stormed past us on the old Denbigh road, trying to keep up with the pack of good natured hounds.

Not the best of photographs but I didn't want to chance the flash going off if I took one of the hunt approaching.

After flasks of tea and mince pies we went up to Andrew and Jaynes for lunch. She originally described it as a buffet, so we were expecting sausage rolls and a bit of quiche. Not on your nelly! home made asparagus flans, venison hot pot, ham that melted in your mouth, and all sorts of other goodies. Jayne's mum is an ex horse/hunt woman, so Chris had big chats in between the lovely food. also her Grandson Gareth and his squiffey but affable girlfriend joined the dinner which was fun

Got home around six. I think Ann and Tim may be calling around later which will be nice, Chris is asleep on the couch, and the fire is lit,

all is peace..................

Nice Day

It's 23.14 and I have just got the house straight. Fair do s to Chris as he has
just cooked a lovely Christmas meal (see flaming xmas pud) and managed well as we ambled down to Peter and Tracey's house ( nephew and wife) to meet them, and Ann and Tim. The swapping of gifts went very well, and happy with our respective lots we settled down to a quiet day, of too much food and banter. Dragged ourselves into the 21st Century by web cam connections to Chris' family !

Good to see everyone! Nephew Chris (below) has been dating some girl from Wynyard Road in Sheffield.....very small world.!!! Tomorrow we are going to the Hunt meeting in Denbigh then off to Andrew and Jaynes for lunch, then Janet and Ned's at tea time. Weight watchers couldn't come too soon.

Nuala rang early morning from Liverpool and asked me if I would give her away at her wedding! She caught me unaware and we both burst into tears!!! I feel very honoured to be able to do it. It was a lovely Christmas present.