small talk

I think I have mentioned before, that I have learnt the art of small talk when taking part in every day village life. There are times when it works well, as in today's visit to a local antique shop. I stopped off there on the way back from the weekly shop, and struck up a general conversation with the owner. We talked about allotments and gardening for a while, and when I mentioned about having organic eggs for sale, she seemed to prick up her ears! I had already shown an interest in a small mantle mirror but couldn't by it as I was skint!, and she offered me the mirror for 17 weeks worth of eggs! sorted! My first, non food related barter!

The weather has been glorious, the view from Prestatyn hillside has never been so clear and although you cannot see it clearly from the photo, the mountains on Cumbria could be seen quite clearly across the bay

Smirnoff 'Sea' TV advert

we saw this advert at the cinema tonight, and I must admit I was so impressed with it! Loved the planes soaring gracefully out of the water..... better than anything Lord of the Rings had to offer........enjoy

The ever pragmatic Jason Bourne, Stardust and Cynicism

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) is one of those superior remakes/sequels we have got to know all too well in recent years as Hollywood sticks to the tried and tested. Despite this I did enjoy it as British director Paul Greengrass (he of the amazing and traumatic United 93 ) gave the whole thing a bit a zip! Essentially the film is three exciting set piece chases, but they are so exciting,you can forgive the rest of the convoluted story line! Incidentally the striking Joan Allen does look a bit like a head on a stick!

This morning a friend "said" quite eloquently..

I’m reminded here of Carl Sagan’s expression, “we are all made
of stardust”, something that I’ve been thinking an awful lot about recently,
that we are only a moment in space and time, and nothing else: the lines on a
map, the breath of our last words, the ink on the paper, the sound of the ship
at night..............I perhaps ought to remind myself, without complacency,
that I still have some very, very important friends who have stayed with me over
the years (and me, with them) and with whom I have never had any reason to feel
insecure. I guess they are my stardust, and me theirs.

I think I understood what they were trying to convey, and I was touched by what was said, as indeed I was when another friend Nia, (On holiday in the Uk from home in Australia) simply texted me asking if we could meet next week. No song and dance, no games,no agenda, just a simple positive invitation to catch up! Sorted out to catch up with Nu in October in a similar simple way yesterday,and that got me thinking of another friend who sometimes adopts a more cynical attitude to other people's life choices,statements and actions. Although I can be challenging (understatement) I do always try to take a positive view of my Friends' lives and I find the odd negative "jibe" from this one friend rather upsetting at times and difficult to ignore as I am not always sure of where it actually comes from. Perhaps it may just be realistic to accept that stardust is not always a fluffy bunny type of thing!

feeling rather stuffy and head cold-like! I feel a duvet on the couch day coming on

silliness, the nicest part of the day and a few thoughts

I was amused to read that a racism row has broken out after villagers posed as 'Muslim Page 3 girls' during a carnival parade in Newquay.
The 17 revellers dressed in burkhas held up placards with names such as Miss Sleptwithajudgistan and Miss Hairyassisbadistan.
The group calling themselves 'The Page 3 Beauties from the Ramalama Ding Dong Times' apparently held compasses in a bid to find Mecca and at one point the group rushed to a house shouting 'mosque, mosque', much to the amusement of the crowds. (I did find that rather funny),


Harmless fun or racist and dangerous given the present political climate? well it can be debated both ways; I would like to think that the carnival goers intentions were innocent ( after all as a child I remember all sorts of "gentle" micky takes in our own local parades), but sadly I somehow doubt it in this rather stupid case.

Chris left the cottage at some unearthly hour this morning, to catch a train to Scotland for a conference, so I had to get up at dawn to see to the dogs and to let the girls out of the hen houses. I don't usually get up until 8 am, so today's 6 am start was a bit of a jolt, but the weather is so glorious and the view from the window, so pretty, I am reminded that this part of the day is probably the best. I have listened to the radio whilst drinking my filter coffee ( my treat for the day) and have read e mails and the news , and apart from a brief moment of farce when William and Meg pulled half a dozen eggs off the kitchen table, all has been peaceful.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else

sunshine!!

Today has been a beautiful day and making the most of it in the allotment has been lovely. Sold 2 dozen eggs to a group of walkers passing by, and managed to get rid of my excess runner beans and a load of potatoes also! it was useful as I put a few quids worth of petrol in the car!!

Was reminded of Record Breakers ( the show with Roy Castle from the 1970's), as I found 5 hens crammed into 1 nesting box, each one desperate to drop an egg! Each year the programme would show a score of properly drunk students squeezing into British telephone boxes or the ubiquitous Mini!. The hens' efforts were I thought more impressive as they were laying eggs as well. I was also glad to see one of the black hookers jammed in with the others, so the initial bad feelings of yesterday's introductions, seem to be over!

Picked the rest of the broad and French beans, ready for freezing, and got a few peppers ready for pickling! I also picked my first onion, which I was very proud of! Yep not very exciting to the reader but satisfying to me!

Tonight catching up with Hazel and a good glass of wine, which is nice! Pay day tomorrow (thank god)

Chicken Village

The wet weather has caused the smaller of the two chicken runs to look rather grubby, so on the spur of the moment I have amalgamated the two runs and introduced the Black Hookers to the the rest of the girls. The two dozen birds now have several hundred feet in which to roam and feed and from a distance the coops resembles a small early North American village. We have had a few squabbles, indeed Raquel Welsh cornered one the Hookers behind the biggest chicken house and literally kicked the shit out of her, black fluffy feathers were flying I can tell you, but things seem to be a little more relaxed at the moment, with the occassional scuffle and spat

Never again

..........suffice to say, she won't be wearing it again!

Man flu

Chris is full of cold today and has lost most of his voice. Feeling crappy he has spent the day on the couch wrapped in my scarf and the 1940s eiderdown, and looked close to death when I got home from work. I walked the dogs on the beach ( they were a bit stir crazy) did the weekly shop,cleaned and fed the chickens and cleaned the house of the rubbish of the flower show then checked on the patient! Weak ,fed up and ill, I got him to drink a lem sip, and eat a large tin of macaroni cheese! In fact the old saying of "feed a cold,starve a fever", came to mind, as he forced himself to consume, two cups of tea,one large glass of orange juice, a fruit yogurt , a medium sized walnut and date fruit cake! (all of it) and a plate of fishfingers. I think he will live.....