"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, "(Margo Channing)
Phone rage
The weather has been glorious, the final spurt of an Indian summer. Instead of a funeral (lots of those this year at the church) we had a wedding today which made it feel rather summery.. The last of my wild poppies have flowered and I managed to dig a few trenches for next years borders. Janet and Ned locked the chickens up for me yesterday and Ned thought the locks on the houses were not particularly fox proof, so I have re enforced the catches and doors this afternoon.
William found my mobile phone this afternoon and with the help of George totally trashed it. Stupidly I have not written all the numbers down after getting the last one stolen, so the generic e mails have already gone out to people asking for numbers . Sad that I do rely on this little bit of machinery so much,
Judy came round to tea and could have kicked myself as got the times of Strictly Come Dancing wrong , so we missed a lot of the dancers. I did enjoy Kelly Brook's tango. Letitia Dean still looks like a pig in a dress
Mexican standoff
Deborah Kerr R.I.P
The Austin of England
GDM 744K
My handle was Pockets ( named after Red Button' character in the film Hatari).... This made me think of the other members of the group and what happened to them! Green Giant (now living in Birmingham and a company director), Cherry Blossom ( a social worker living in a converted hotel in Ilfracombe); Rusty Nut ( married in Rhyl I think) Bogey Man (died in plane crash) Half Pint (Nia in OZ!!),Black Sheep and Sweety pie ( who knows, who cares?) yeap its all a long time ago!
meatloaf-you took the words right out of my mouth
Bloody hell, heard this on Coast Radio this afternoon when I went to the farm superstore! It reminded me of the very early 1980s when I (Pockets) drove the rest of the CB-ers ( CB radio owners) around to various country pubs and meets ( or eyeballs as they were called then) The car was a mustard austin 1300!----class!
10 canoes and little Lord Fauntleroy
Chris is in Liverpool tonight having his leaving do from Preston, we are off to Osborn house for a meal tomorrow night!
Heaton Chapel, Wrong Rooms and Bevs Birthday blog
Went over toHeaton Chapel to see Nigel's new house last night; it was important to him that I visit and important to me to do so. His house is lovely, 1930's, cosy ,comfortable (With a garden!) and as always it was good to catch up with a meal and a few bottles of wine. Heaton Chapel is very suburban which is a change for Nige as he has always lived in more Bohemian/student type areas but typically of him he has already researched the area thoroughly with bus,rail,supermarkets, local amenities and local history information all down to a tee.
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I am reading an extraordinary moving book at the moment called Wrong Rooms by Mark Sanderson. It is the memoir of the love affair between Sanderson and his partner Drew, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Yep not a bag of laughs at times but very honest,very insightful and incredibly moving. I actually found myself in tears several times during the read, which is a rarity for me! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2027067.stm
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Got home at 11am this morning a took the dogs up the gop for a long walk along the old farm road. It feels like autumn today, a little cold and bright, and the leaves are starting to fall, softening the road nicely. I missed Finlay today, as he always had a habit of kicking fallen leaves like a little boy when out walking. Non of the present quartet have acquired this habit.
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Happy Birthday to friend Bev! Hope you have a great day
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ps. Flintshire County council sent out a couple of blokes this afternoon to review the corner and damage to the cottage wall. I think both guys enjoyed their afternoon as both smelt of lager! but they were helpful and threw up a couple of ideas to stop the damage! both laughed at my homemade sign!
Grumpy old signs and Dear Frankie
Sometimes you can come across a little gem of a film in the most unexpected places. When I was on nights on Sunday night ( another bloody awful shift by the way) I caught a film on S4C when on my break. Dear Frankie (2004) is the gentle little story of single mum Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) who pretends to her deaf son Frankie (Jack McElhone) that his father is a seaman and works consistently away from home. Contact between the boy and his non-existant father is maintained by letters, with Lizzie secretly penning the replies. Frankie finds out that his "father's" ship is about to dock and the hunt is on for Lizzie to find a man to play her husband for a day so that the boy is not let down. The whole mess is complicated when Frankie's real father ( an abusive drunk who caused his son's deafness) tries to get back in touch. Set and filmed in and around Greenock, this film by Shona Auerbach has a nice underplayed touch and is genuinely warm and moving. I loved the performances from Mortimer,and McElhone, and also enjoyed Mary Riggans ( a scottish Brenda Vacarro!) as Frankie's Gran and Nuala - look-a-like Sharon Small as best friend Marie; mind you, the best performance was a subtle turn from hunk Gerard Butler as the stand in dad, who suddenly falls for the boy! A cracking little film.
Off to see Nigel this afternoon in Manchester!