Lunch out

La Brasserie at Chester's Grosvenor Hotel was a lovely place to meet up with Nu and Jim and have lunch. As in the nice eating places in Wales, a lot of the staff are Polish and very attentive and polite in their service. We had a good neb at their wedding photos , which looked great



The food was fab, as was the weather! had a good time setting up the new hen house when I got home. Tomorrow I am taking Meg to get her hair cut and sadly helping with my sister's elderly cat who is probably being put down tomorrow, oh and working too! yeap an exciting life
ps take a look at this link to youtube
what an enterance!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWEbL133hP8

Killer chickens

We moved the chickens into their new run this afternoon, and it was an education watching the girls racing around their new enclosure like little boys racing around a sweet shop! They bounced around eating every thing in sight, and in a matter of minutes had unearthed several small frogs which they dispatched with disgusting "popping" sounds. (yerch) William (Pic) nearly wet himself with the excitement of it all.
This morning we went to the second day of the flower show, and had our usual large salmon sarnies and weak tea at the tea tent while listening to the band which were very good! Tried to be a bit arty and took a pic of the band framed with bunting (below), but for the most part we just people watched.
Nephew Chris turned up unexpectedly with his new and very attractive girlfriend in tow ( a Rosamund Pike lookalike)







Mybasket was an obvious hit with the flower show committee, and they were all very amused and intrigued that a man had entered and WON a predominately female category! Collected my winning certificates wich now have been pinned on the kitchen wall

Chris still doing well ! no fags!!!!

"Someone to do nothing with"

Sometimes a phrase from a conversation or book sticks in your mind for a long time. I heard a poignant statement last night during a conversation I had with an elderly lady from the village. She lost her husband last year and is still having problems adjusting to widowhood. She said rather sadly
"The thing I miss the most is not having someone to do nothing with"
On the surface the statement sounds awkward and clumsy, but on reflection I think it quite moving and eloquent , as the strength of a relationship often lies in those quiet moments that do not seem as important as bigger noisier gestures.
Living with someone, makes you dovetail into someone Else's existence and although I had been single for many years before "living over the brush", and very happily so,I just can't imagine being on my own again.

I can understand completely what this lady shared with me.

Prestatyn Flower Show

My Vegetable trug was not placed which was very disappointing but I did win two first places (in the 3 Roses and Granny's basket categories) and one second ( for my beetroot!). So three prizes out of 6 entries isn't too bad. Hazel got a second for her granny basket! and two seconds for her baking, so she was pleased as punch

The rain kept off for most of the day, and George enjoyed himself being the centre of attention from the score of terrier loving old ladies that lurk around these things. Ann won best in show for her floral art,Janet got a second for her cut flowers and Tim a second for his herbaceous cut flowers, so the family did fairly well

My new hen house has arrived this afternoon in 18 separate pieces and I have been very hands on by erecting it from scratch, which is all a bit masculine for me! Even managed to wood stain it too. The structure isn't the most robust of hen houses, so I suspect I may have to reinforce it before the hens are installed. A fox could break into the base of it fairly easily, that's the problem with cheaper materials. Hummm message to self, do not buy hen houses from e bay!

Top dog?

William and George have been flexing their testosterone paws this morning, and true to form it was over something barely edible (this time suet in a bird feeder) Neither will back down over food as both are terribly food led, so the fight was fierce and very bloody! Usually I try and leave them to it but they had to be separated as although he was loosing the battle, George was the one that was inflicting the damage as Scotties have a terribly powerful bite. The kitchen looked like something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! with blood and suet spread everywhere. Meg got all excited by the melee and jumped in and out biting each protagonist whenever she got the chance. Maddie just ran and hid in the lounge!
I am booking George in to be castrated fairly soon, which may or may not help Poor sod!

It's all in the preparation

My Granny basket is camper than Graham Norton shopping at Cole Brothers, and received envious glances from Hazel at the setting up Of the Prestatyn Flower Show! this evening.
I do enjoy the whole pre-show ritual of bringing in the exhibits as there is a definite camaraderie between the exhibitors! which is rather reassuring and old fashioned, and it does give you the feeling of "community", which is lacking so much in our every day lives.

was particularly pleased with my vegetable trug, although it took bloody ages to tie up my shallots and polish my marrow ( with olive oil!) For those who are remotely interested the large white tuber in the front of the trug is NOT a parsnip but a whopper monster radish! haha my secret weapon!

The other entries include my climbing roses, 5 salad potatoes (looking remarkably like pork sausages), three impressive beetroots and some cut flowers from my back garden.

The beetroots do look like something John Mills threw at the Germans in Ice Cold In Alex.

(also buffed up with olive oil and tons of kitchen roll)

It has taken me all soddin day to organise this lot, here's hoping for a positive result tomorrow

After the wedding and Ray Milland

Efter brylluppet (2006) (Danish for After the wedding) is not the most interesting film I have seen in while, but I did give it a passable 7/10. It centres around family secrets and how people prepare for death, so you can appreciate it was not a bag of laughs!- mind you have the Danes got a sense of humour? (well apart from Sandy Toksvig that is...perhaps not) Theatre Clwyd's new projectionist couldn't quite get the hang of centring the film on the screen, which was a bit irritating, but it allowed the volunteer ushers to perform an impromptu chat session of the merits of matinees in the 1950's! humm all very spirit that won the war!

Chris is still withdrawing from ciggies and spent the morning on his computer in his pjs resembling Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend. I spent the day cooking in preparation for the Prestatyn Flower Show on Friday! Tomorrow I will polish my marrow! oh errr missus

The Bridge documentary trailer

a bit "movie-ized" but you get the idea