LBC and Coast in the afternoons

I am a recent fan of two new (..... well new to me) radio stations! LBC is London's commercial news and speech station and I am finding presenter Anna Raeburn quite addictive! Her blurb from the station describes her as:- Tough and tender, takes no prisoners, no surrender, laughs a lot, talks fast and cares! but she sounds to me as an intelligent, pragmatic and intuitive problem solver and journalist.

I tend to have Coast Radio on in the car as it plays music from the 1980's and 1990's as well as the local news! Chris thinks I am listening to it as I am going through a mid life crisis compounded with weight loss (ie trying to be and act younger!) but I think I just enjoy the music when I am driving.

Another lovely day today! Chris has been to Sheffield with work, so I have suggested that we walk the dogs to the next village to have a few pints ( I've saved my points!!) at the Eagle and Child's beer garden in Gwaenysgor. His birthday is tomorrow!! 38!!!

Oh for American service !

It's been a busy day, its 10.30pm and I have only just sat down after a day outside ! I would have been in earlier except one of the red ambers now has a habit at roosting under the coop at night and has to be dragged out (with a walking stick) to be put safely back with the others. At least at dusk hens cannot see at all well, so catching the little bugger is pretty easy.

Went into Rhyl today to pick up The Finlay Memorial cup and I was delighted that the engraving was just right even though the service was shite. I don't know what it is with this country compared with say somewhere like New York, but care of customers in shops and cafes is truly awful! An illustration of this was all too evident in Rhyl today. I walked into the engraving shop and saw a tattooed gentleman behind the counter. I introduced myself and said I was there to collect the aforementioned cup. The man didn't answer and just looked vacantly towards the back room. We waited for a few seconds and another chap walked in . I realised that this was the owner and introduced myself again and what I wanted. The second chap said bluntly " You took your time, it's been waiting here for a good while"

I laughed, embarrassed at him and said pointedly" Well I am here now to collect it"

The owner shrugged his reply and ignored me as he shifted boxes and other items around the shop. I waited a while longer and said sharply "can you tell me how much I owe " and only then in a reaction to my aggression did he snap into some sort of action and became a little more proactive. The whole experience was awful and made me pine for that beautiful service we received by the tiny Japanese lady clerk in Takashimaya on 5th avenue! is it too much to ask?

Life on the allotment continues at a pace. French beans, more broad beans and lots of verbascum (like foxgloves) have been planted. The warm weather has meant that a good hour a day has to be put aside for lugging buckets of water around , but it helps with weight watchers! Joan came over to sit with me for while, then walked over to the coop to give the girls the once over. Now the hens spend much of their time hidden inside which I guess is a product from being reared in large sheds, but when they got a glimpse of Joan sitting happily in the sun, they burst out of the hen house like angry football fans. I found it fascinating as the crowd of hens "shadowed" Joan's movements with a bit of : "come over here if you think you're hard enough!" type of attitude.

all very funny! Joan sat there rather surprised by their noise and sudden activity but refused to be ruffled! by the way the pic is the male pheasant who spends much of his time lurking around giving the girls a bit of the eye!

Sunny Sunday Mornings

This morning is the perfect Sunday morning! It is bright, sunny and warm and I have been pottering around the allotment since 7.30am. Now I'm sat next to the open lounge window, with cup of coffee, computer and Broadcasting House on radio 4. Paddy O'Connell makes for an entertaining prelude to The Archers, and I found it interesting that the blog site http://gayfortoday.blogspot.com/ states that he was listed among the top 40 gay men on TV by Attitude magazine, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.!

For those few that are interested, the allotment is coming along nicely. I have put my main crop potatoes in this morning as well as broccoli and blackcurrant mint and oregano. My sweetcorn seeds are doing nicely ( I have visions of a field like the one Cary Grant ran through in North by Northwest (1959).

The "girls" are settling in nicely , although they seem to be going through a hokey kokey type of behaviour, as they are in and out and out and in, constantly in motion between run and hen house! The red ambers are the most bashful and hide for he majority of the time in the nest boxes, where as the beautiful whites strut around rather excited at their new found freedom. Robina, being the oldest is now enjoying her elevated status and marches around like some German storm trooper pecking the youngsters with random cruelty! It is all rather fascinating.

Working tonight then off for a week, which is great as Sorell is up on Friday and I can prepare the house, and garden and organise things for Chris' birthday on Thursday. Chris is off to ride Pippa this morning- smoking again and overdosing with chemical patches and gum! which is doing nothing for his anxiety levels. Hey ho

Surrounded by "girls" and the clock takes pride of place.

Didn't get back from Sheffield yesterday in time to beat closing time at Roger's Jones , to pick up the long case clock so had to fit a jaunt to Colwyn Bay, this afternoon with Ann acting as dogsbody and helper!
This morning, after a disgustingly early start, I finished the preparations for the new hens to arrive,stained the hen house roof, put in the sweet peas under their allotment canes, walked the dogs up the Gop then drove to the back and beyond in Frodsham in Cheshire to pick the new hens. The poultry farm was a tiny, neat affair run by a charming young couple just starting off in the business and after a good three quarters of an hour "oooing and arrhhing" over a whole host of birds I picked 4 red rockets, 4 snowy whites and 4 mixed rarer breeds including a lovely "blue comet" with a gentle grey colouration. The "girls" are all almost at point of lay (ie they will start laying eggs in 2-3 weeks), and are very young birds to be let out in an outdoor run straight away.The breeder told me that they need 24 hours shut in the darkness of their new hut so that they settle in and get used to each other and therefore are less likely to scrap when they are out! (The pic is of two of the more surprised snowy girls!)

The early 19th Century Long case clock looks fab! I am so pleased with it as it a simple country piece that has not been tampered with for nearly 200 years! I think Ann has got just as much pleasure out of the auction and its purchase as I have .

She and Tim came up again tonight to take a look at the clock in situ, and it does look quite grand when seen from outside ,

I was looking very glamorous at the time they arrived, as I was busily sponging Meg's bum free of clingons in the kitchen sink!

oh the charm of it all!

ps. Joan's senile dementia seems alot worse of late, just hope she doesn't start sharpening her claws on the new clock!

Missed Finlay today! strange how it hits you!

A good 24 hours

Got to Sheffield yesterday afternoon and had a couple of hours free before meeting Nigel, so spent a wonderful time at the new Weston Park Museum which has recently undergone a 19 million pounds refit. The museum had been pulled into the 21st Century by its brastaps and looked stunning! I was most impressed.

Met Nige in All bar one for a coffee and glass of wine and we couldn't be bothered going to the Showroom cinema as we had too much to chat about. Had a excellent Turkish meal down London road then back to Nige's for more chat- a good night!

This morning drove to Dronfield to finally catch up with Kathryn in her new and slightly Kitsch flat. I liked it immensely as it is totally a reflection of her personality and is very cosy. The kitchen is my favourite room, bright sunny and ever-so-slightly 1950's and it was good to catch up over cups of tea at the kitchen table. I miss Kathryn and her dry-as-a-nun's-chuff sense of humour and felt a little guilty I hadn't made the effort sooner.

Sweaty palms in the auction room, Sarah bites the dust and Theatre Clwyd

I didn't get any sleep after a particularly busy shift, (one death, an admission of a very sick toddler and a multi trauma RTA victim) but was boosted up sufficiency to attend Roger's Jones antique auction with Ann. Surrounded by rather dubious looking "dealers", we were very much first time virgins and sat there trying to look like we attend these auctions every week of our lives ! instead of two shy looking first timers! Mrs Roberts' clock was number lot 88 and soon enough I was was waving my registration number with the best of them. Seconds later (It felt like hours) the clock was ours and all the effort and stress was worth it! In fact I almost could have stayed on for the rest of the 900 lots but was well behaved!

Got home and sadly found that Sarah (one of the chickens) looked rather under the weather and halfway through the afternoon she was dead and stiff as a board! which is sad as poor Robina looks rather lost in the huge "chicken run" compound. Hopefully the rest of the new "girls" will be coming very soon to keep her company as chicken house number two is delivered tomorrow!

Requiem (2006) at Theatre Clwyd, Is a German feature filmed in an almost documentary style and is apparently based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a 23-year-old student, who died of starvation after an exorcism in Miltenberg, Germany in 1976. The film is a subtle and a cleaver portrayal of a girl that could have suffered from psychosis,epilepsy or indeed demonic possession and who gets caught between her own wishes to be saved and to develop into an individual as well as being buffeted by friends, family and the clergy who all have their own agendas. I thought it was an excellent and moving film, Hazel was less impressed, though we both agreed that Sandra Hüller as the doomed Michaela Klingler was stunning.

Mrs Roberts's clock and runner ducks

Blustery cold day and night shift tonight, so managed to get to Llandudno to get Chris' birthday gift and then on to the antique auction house to have a second look at Mrs Roberts' long case clock which is being auctioned tomorrow. Chris rang me and said he thinks we should try and buy it as it has sentimental value to me and is a lovely rustic country piece. I must admit I fell in love with it years ago so I am excited at going tomorrow to try to buy it. Ann is coming with me as I suspect that my driving may be slightly erratic after a night without sleep. Here's hoping we get it!

The girls are loving their new Chicken run and I am tempted to extend the allotment further by getting a few Indian Runner ducks (pics) which look rather bizarre but kind of cute

Country Man

I am fortunate that brother-in-law Ned was a gamekeeper in a former life so he was on hand to supervise the erecting of the new electric Hen run. The fencing looks fairly harmless but I know different after being playfully conned by Ned and grasping the netting to "test" whether it was live or not!

I am grateful for his help as not only has he shown me how to construct a safe run, but he has taught me to clip the girls' wings so they don't fly over the perimeter fence.

He also did a neat trick on Robina to show me how to subdue a hen. He deftly tucked her head under her wing, grabbed her firmly on either side and rotated her quickly four or five times. He then placed her on the ground where she lay completely motionless for minutes! It was the most bizarre thing to watch. Ned also showed me the tracks where Badgers cross the field and told me some particularly disgusting ways of getting rid of foxes ( you have to collect human wee and dribble it around the fencing!)

We were very impressed with the new solar panel (right), and in some small self congratulatory way feel a little more eco friendly.

I have arranged to pick up my new 12 hens next week which are going to be a mixture of different breeds and colours