The conservation group and old friends

Trelawnyd has come second in the best kept village in Flintshire this year which is a huge achievement, however as the village won last year the conservation group is understandably a little disappointed. When I was clearing the grass verges by the Church this morning, the slightly odd but friendly chap from the conservation group sought me out to recruit me back into the fold. The group had lacked members he told me, and that was translated in this years second and not first place! I am happy to help, so said yes, probably flushed with the success of the flower show!





Nia called this afternoon which was lovely. I was so pleased she managed to fit us in to a small window in her hectic visit to old Blightly from sunny Australia. Little George is a beautifully behaved and happy baby and I must admit I was quite taken with him.(Unlike Maddie who crawled onto the couch, growling very quietly when she saw him) We are going over to their borrowed cottage in the neighbouring village of Gwespr this evening to catch up properly.

I wonder when we will meet up again?

The Lives of Others

The Lives of Others (Leben der Anderen, Das (2006) was a fascinating film, well the half that I saw was anyway. Set in East Germany of the very early 1980s it looked like a study of enlightenment through exposure to new ideas and cultures, but I couldn't be sure as the projection machinery broke down an hour into the film! Pity really as it is only on for two nights and we are out with Nia tomorrow!

Scouse Irritation and sweetcorn

The tragic killing of Rhys Jones in Liverpool has united a nation in condemning the senseless increase in teenage gun crime, but am I alone at feeling rather uneasy with the very public show of unity and mourning exhibited by the Merseyside population and press? The Everton football team, were photographed at the boy's murder site flowers and gifts in hand, outrage echoes across the local radio airways and Liverpudlians are "pulling together" with great public gusto to support each other as they did after Hillsborough. But I am left with the feeling that they and we all should be turning our attention more to the underclass of Liverpool ( and those of all our towns and citys) rather than just taking a very public stance in monopolizing grief.

Like many places Liverpool is particularly rife with apathy,crime and a disregard for authority and the law. Generations of people have no respect for others and what others have, and exist in angry isolation from community and acceptable standards of behaviour. However Liverpool,I feel, can often exhibit an unhealthy ability to distance itself from blame and introspection, and I applauded Jimmy Tarbuck when he said that the Liverpudlian population need to take a long and hard look at how they bring up their children. He succinctly reinforced that parenting is to blame for this disintegration of respect but stopped short at suggesting what can be done to improve things. I don't know either, as I wonder just what can be done to and for families who literally have generations that just don't care?

Perhaps the public disgust at anti social behaviour will eventually be enough to sway the tide by peer pressure? but I doubt it. Zero tolerance done properly saved New York. Perhaps we need to hold fast and encourage its proper use here?

Anyhow I will drag myself off my soapbox. Been busy today. Booked William in for castration on Thursday after a long discussion with a vet from Caerwys. Saw the loud Polish vet in the background, and had to stifle a giggle as she bellowed "ELLOOOOOW" to the various support staff!
It is important that the right dog is castrated for harmony to prevail (the less dominant character!), and it was interesting to realise that if the wrong one is done, then the fighting will continue if not get worse. After a detailed chat, the vet suggested that little George is more dominant than William, and we agreed that William will have the op on Thursday. However I have some reservations that she is correct but hey, she knows more than I do, so I hope she is indeed correct.!


Arranged to see Nia and family tomorrow which will be lovely, pity my sweetcorn is not quite ready, as I wanted to give her some as dinner starters! (see pic) but I do think it looks impressive!

My allotment flowers, castration! and knitting!

My summer vegetables may be selling out , my onions, leeks and sweetcorn are not quite ready, but my allotment flowers are going from strength to strength. Next year I have decided that the wild flower border will be a huge affair, as will my cultivated cut flowers such as the gladioli (right) which have looked so well this year.





George has spent the afternoon in the allotment as I have been re shaping the beds. He adores watching the hens, and has done so for long,long periods without moving..wagging his tail very gently when they walk closer to the wire than he can stand. Unfortunately William picked on him in a fit of excitement when the pack went round to Carole's this afternoon to socialise with Celt and Samson, and a full, fight ensued (again!!) Apart from a bloody ear (George) and a bitten shoulder (Meg) there were few injuries, but I am seriously worried that one day soon a fight may get seriously out of control. This week William gets booked in for castration, which will hopefully help, but I have to think long and hard on a contingency plan if this does not do the trick. George's safety is paramount .I have emailed Susan the terrier" guru" for advice and await a reply soon

Chris has restarted his knitting fad of a couple of years ago and has started a scarf for me ( this Christmas or next?)...we will see.....

ITU plans

Sometimes a shift on Intensive care can be deathly boring. My patient was a diabetic coma victim, and therefore made a miraculous recovery after literally litres of fluids and electrolytes. By midday he had been discharged leaving me patient-less for the rest of the 12 shift. In between helping the other nurses with their patients I have spent much of the day internet surfing and making lists, which is one of my greatest passions. I have also sold 5 bags of runner beans, a large marrow,two jars of pickled shallots,2 bags of broad beans and two dozen eggs and must have looked a sight walking onto ITU with two trugs full of produce.

saw this on the BBC website:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6964541.stm

Police warning over escaped bird
A buzzard which has escaped from its Prestatyn holding could attack small children, officers have warned.
North Wales Police are asking members of the public to be on the look-out for the bird, which is of the red-tailed variety.
They described it as the size of a seagull, with brown plummage and a distinctive red tail and strap belt.
There are concerns that under certain circumstances it could attack children wearing baseball hats or small caps.

hey, if this story is true well every chav in this area is at risk..........I say good luck to the bugger!!

anyhow my list for this week includes:-
1. Painting the back of the cottage antique white (next door has painted theirs making ours look a bit grubby)
2. planting winter onions/turnips
3. finishing the second potato bed
4. seeing the film Sunshine (2007) at Theatre Clwyd
5. tick spraying the chickens which is a most disgusting job ( you have to spray around their bum holes which is upsetting for them as well as a stomach churning job for me!

off to bed........v v tired

Uncle Bert

There is one thing about living in the area in which you were brought up in, and that is you have the potential to have more contact with extended family members. Now, my siblings and I have never lived in the pockets of aunts and uncles, cousins and those pseudo-relatives we all seemed to have in the 1960s (Uncle Fred and Auntie Greta- friends of my parents); but I think as I get older, contact with them ( albeit brief and sporadic) seems a little more important. Some of the reason , I suspect, lies in the fact that my parents are no longer here, and their contemporaries are now in their late seventies, and are looking more frail, or at least a lot older and strangely "smaller" than they ever used to be.

A few days ago I saw my Uncle Bert in town. He is my father's Brother and the only one alive out of three boys. He is also suffering from the early stages of dementia, which seemed suddenly evident when I greeted him as for a brief moment I am sure he didn't really remember just who I was. As children we were always closer to my mother's family, and my father's side had contact with us only at the odd family party and on Christmas lunchtime. But the important thing was that they seemed to be always there ! Fairly distant, in the main but definitely constants in our lives. Coming to the conclusion that they may not always be around, even in the periphery of your life, is a little sad.

Now I am not going to change my contact with them in any drastic way, I do pop in with some eggs and the odd spare vegetable from the allotment, and their obvious joy and gratitude for a small kindness perhaps brushes away residual guilt for not always being therefore my parents before their deaths. My second cousin Carol has blustered back on the horizon with entries in the flower show, and Cousin Stuart is a stones throw away in Gwynedd, so in some ways it is a case of -what goes around, comes around.......

In a different vein my Aunt Judy is coming for tea tonight (I am actually baking an apple pie! can you believe it?) Being in Trelawnyd has rekindled a family connection there , which had always been present from when I was a youngster. Her husband Tom, (my Father's youngest and most affable brother) was always my favourite Uncle as he had a natural warmth and sociability ; visiting their house was always a pleasurable experience.Which is revisited when Judy comes to tea. (pic Judy, Chris and Maddie)

Funny but thoughts of the above were triggered by some off the cuff but nevertheless pithy memories recounted by Jenny Eclair on LBC this morning......I guess all of us have families that are less like the Minivers but more like the fractured and brittle one seen in something like Hannah and Her Sisters.....

Nice Pic

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