aaaarrrrrhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LBC reported today that pregnant women in England will be entitled to a £200 lump sum to spend on healthy food, in government plans to be announced on Wednesday.
From April 2009, expectant mums could have the benefit paid in the 29th week of their pregnancy.
The grant is intended to reduce infant mortality and close the health inequality gap between richer and poorer families.
Women must have a health and welfare session with a professional( who????) to claim the money - but they don't have to prove the money is actually spent on nutritious food.

I am so angry!!Yet again we ( childless singles and childless couples) have to pay for other people's beer and cig money! in the name of supporting baby makers! Perhaps the millions needed to support this vote spinning scheme would be better used educating people about when to have (or more importantly NOT have) children.

We bought dogs as pets because we COULD AFFORD TO DO SO! If we could not afford to do so, we wouldn't have done it.

Children are obviously a bigger, more important and all consuming life long commitment, but I am serious about thinking the same rule should apply! If you cannot afford to raise a child well simply... DON'T HAVE ONE!!

I know, I know circumstances can and do change with people and genuine hardships should always be supported, but to be honest how many people have a child without the depth of thought needed to prepare and deal with one? Bloody loads!!!!!!!!! I think my preparation for the runner ducks was more in depth than many prospective parents!....................


I know I am a grumpy old git

Harold & Maude and Pumpkins

Been reading tons of duck information on the Internet last night and most of the literature state that ducks are better off and happier in a larger group than just one pair! So this morning I rang Mrs Baxter and bagged her last two ducks! I was amused that their names are Harold and Maude and the reference to the cult 1971 film Harold and Maude (1971) was not lost on me at all. Walter and Nell immediately settled down when their numbers doubled this morning.

I watched the ducks settle down this morning as I was clearing the vegetable patch. My pumpkins are doing very well and I may have a good specimen ready for Halloween.

sky watching

I think I am strange in the way that puppies have little effect on me. I much prefer the personalities of older dogs rather than the bouncy,juvenile idiocy that a young dog can exhibit. All our dogs took a long time to grow on me, and William will be no different. However, on the beach today, he did something that endeared me to him quite noticeably. A small plane went passed, following the coast from East to West. It was noisy but high in the sky, and for the longest time William stopped his play and watched the plane as it went past. This "watching" nature is typical of terriers, and never fails to move me, when I witness it

Walter and Nell

There is something very benign about ducks. I think they are very similar to dolphins and beavers in that respect as they always seem to be cheerful and smiley.
I drove up to a charming house in the back and beyond behind Abergele and met a nice couple from the South East who had "retired" in the middle of nowhere. Mrs Baxter had no previous experience at poultry keeping before they came and had, like myself, learnt on the "hoof" as it were. As soon as I saw her runner ducks for sale I knew I wanted to keep them all!as they seem to be natural comics and show offs.
She was full of enthusiasm for the breeding of her own ducks and hens I got quite caught up in the excitement of it all, so bought a breeding pair of ducks instead of two females.
So Walter and Nell are now the latest additions to the menagerie. They tottered around their new compound as if on tip toe, much to the shock of the chickens who having never seen a duck before, legged it to the farthest corner of the enclosure and stayed there in a tight ball of nervous feathers. Drakes do not quack (something new I have learnt today), but they do "murmur" to themselves constantly. Nell on the other hand has never stopped quacking, albeit very quietly!! They are very cute,! I can see myself buying and breeding quite a few more.

Duck house

Got a good deal on a small duckhouse from the agricultural warehouse in Abergele, now I have just got to find some sort of bath for the girls to bathe in.

Chris has just has just completed his last day in Preston and feels a bit nervous about starting in Bangor on Monday. We are celebrating tonight by going to some sort of talk at Bodrhddan Hall, just down the road with Janet (I think it's something to do with puddings!?) The Hall is quite sweet and I know they do civil partnerships there, so a look round will be useful!

The Falling Man

Last night a documentary repeat was shown on channel 4. 9/11 The Falling Man, was the story behind one of the most shocking and provocative news photographs of recent years; a shot of one of the "jumpers" from the World Trade Centre disaster. The photograph caught the man (later incorrectly identified as Norberto Hernandez a chef at the Windows of the World), falling passively head first to his death and when the image was published in many American newspapers on September 12th, there was a sudden angry backlash about it. Thousands of people complained it was voyeuristic and exploitative, and it was effective blacklisted and omitted from publications about 9/11 thereafter in a strange action of self censorship by the media who preferred to print photos of acts of heroism and sacrifice.
The filmmaker Henry Singer, postulated that America could not cope with the notion of suicide connected with 9/11, and argued that although over 200 jumped to their deaths from the upper floors of the buildings, most members of the public were not aware that this actually occurred. Singer told of the coroner's department statements that stated non of the dead actually jumped from the building preferring to say that they fell (
Personally I think that was an effort to be kind to the relatives rather than being symptomatic of a nation's inability to cope with the truth) Singer's arguments were interesting and persuasive and I did find myself thinking , why didn't the media see the jumpers as heroic in their own way. Particularly moving, was the comment by a bereaved husband who stated that his wife's leap from one of the upper windows as the best choice she had made saying that leaping into the cool air must have felt like flying. It gave him obvious comfort.
The documentary left more questions than answers, and one phrase did chill me to the bone as Singer described the jumpers' last moments,
he said that "they embarked on that last, lonely ten second journey" .
Very sad.

Ducks,sprouts and weightwatchers

It has been a beautiful day, sunny,warm and clear. I have rearranged the hen houses, so that they are all in a rough quadrangle, and I must admit I did find it fascinating that the older hens all "stormed" the black hookers hen house (centre of the photo), and trashed the place, dragging the straw to the door and kicking it all over the compound. The hooker's hen house had been on the other side of the enclosure and had been previously left untouched. Funny how they act isn't it.Egg production is reducing drastically, which is directly related to the shortening of the days and the molting of the hens! After I had delivered the eggs, I went to Abergele to collect more chicken feed and saw a duck house, which was reduced in price, I almost bought it there and then. especially as I also noticed an advertisement from a local farm (Llanfairtalhaiarn which is in the back and beyond), selling ducks! Anyhow the upshot of the story is that I am picking up our latest animals ( two Indian runner ducks) on Saturday morning! What fun.!!

The first crop of sprouts have been picked today also, and pretty nice they tasted too! No saturated fats there either which was good as I was happy to realise that I lost another couple of pounds in the weightwatcher weigh in!

The blog finger gets it

Ned came round today to check out the black hookers (he hadn't seen them) but I know he has a soft spot for the dogs, especially George, who has won the hearts of most who have met him. As he was petting the dogs I warned him that the fighting between the teenagers is all about food and jealously, and without thinking he pulled George onto his knee for a cuddle as William was desperately trying to get his attention. This time George started the fight and as usual would not let go as we tried to prize them apart! In the melee my index finger got bitten by one or both of the little buggers. ............ I am typing this VERY,VERY S-L-O-W-L-E-Y