In the doghouse

Well I went to Heather's leaving do last night after work, which was an interesting night out. The Indian restaurant had to be seen to be believed, as it looked like one of those cheap garden make overs on a council estate. Trellis , ivy, and badly painted pine was the order of the day, and the food mirrored the decor but at least I only had a starter to chomp through. I don't really like ward nights out as I feel a bit too long in the tooth to socialise with people I generally have nothing in common with, but I was sat with Hazel and a couple of others I DO like, so the night was ok-ish.
The problem with the whole thing was the fact I got home rather late (1ish!) and slightly....well ......pissed. I wasn't falling over or anything, but I was,shall we say a little loud! ...I also "helped" Maddie and George on our bed a little too roughly so Chris woke up in a rather irate mood. The mood has deteriorated this morning, and not placated by a cup of tea and plate of hot cross buns but he did get his own back by bouncing Meg on the bed after her early morning walk.He hasn't spoken to me all morning
Hell hath no fury, as a old queen scorned!!!!!!!!!!...

Covatutto 12

My incubator has arrived!!!!. Looking like a retro 1950's lamp, the grandly sounding Covatutto 12 comes with detailed instructions of how to incubate any egg from a quail to a goose. The whole palava is incredably complicated.....the eggs have to placed just so. You are not to clean them with too much water and need to cool them and turn then on particular days and not on others Humidity has to be just so as does the cleanliness so simply bunging them in the airing cupboard ( as I did when I was 10) just won't wash.,Duck eggs in particular can be tricky so seeing that I am working all day tomorrow I am going to practice with a few hens eggs on sunday!

With Duncan and Stanley rogering the majority of the girls senseless, I know that some of the daily egg production will be fertile. I am also trying to remove the eggs from the nest boxes every few hours as one of the girls is getting terribly broody. Trinny (below) is a maternally challenged hen and will sit for hours if left, pecking any approaching hand to protect her "clutch" I have read that it is ok to dip a broody hen's bum in a bucket of cold water to prevent this maternal stage from continuing but it does seem a little drastic.to me.

I have spent most of the day extending the potato patch, and in the process I have been taming the ducks who still remain slightly skittish. Digging allowed me to collect a whole jam jar full of worms, and it didnt't take Maude and Nell long to realise that these titbits were picked just for them. So when I gave them a low whistle, I would wag a fat worm surreptitiously at them ( so that the hens wouldn't notice) then saunter over to the wire before bunging the worm quick sticks at them. If I mistimed the throw then a passing hen would muscle in to the feeding frenzy and would bully the gentle and slower ducks, but after a few practice throws, we got rather good at the game.

The more I watch the ducks,, with their small piggy eyes and happy expressions, the more I warm to them. especially the benign females.Their new enclosure should be up and running when Steve finishes the top of my field, and hopefully by then I will have a few hardy adolescent ducklings to join them.
Out again tomorrow after work! am going to a girl's leaving do in Prestatyn so no blog tomorrow! It has been a busy social week!

Robin Ince & Markus Birdman(pic below), etc etc

Hazel and I had arranged to go to Theatre Clwyd tonight, and it was a nice change for me to be taken to the Comedy store evening rather than our usual arthouse cinema trip! The two comics were excellent! Intelligent, quick,observational and not crowd pleasing swearing bigots! A couple of pints and a good laugh is exactly what I needed today, as the MOT on the Belingo cost a fortune we just haven't got !
The chickens had also pecked the rubber guards off my digital radio earphones this morning (both of them!.....what's that all about?) so the day had already been earmarked at being a bit of a disaster.
Funny thing happened on the beach though........when I came back to the car park with the pack, maddie ran ahead of us ( being all clever and big headed) and jumped into the back of a nissan micra parked next to the belingo......much to the surprise of an elderly yorkshire terrier asleep in the boot.....ok not a big laugh, but big enough for the day!

Gay, 45 and never seen Now Voyager

I must say that I am a disgrace to gay men all over the world as I have never seen the Bette Davis "clasic" Now, Voyager (1942). Now Mildred Pierce with a thin lipped/shoulderpadded martyr Joan Crawford, I have seen ad nauseum and All About Eve is a monthly treat in our house, but I have never actually sat down and watched Paul Henreid famously light two ciggies to the strains of Max Steiner's adapted score.

Well last night I did just that! Dogs walked early, Chris in bed, individual 250ml bottle of Chardonney and I really enjoyed 117 minutes of pure soap opera rubbish. I mean! the plot would have looked slightly out of place in the -no basis in reality- Neighbours.

Now, Voyager tells the story of a middle-aged spinster who, repressed by the domination of her mother, winds up in a sanatorium, where her self-confidence is boosted by an understanding psychiatrist. After a brief love affair during a cruise, she determines to help her lover's equally depressed daughter

Yeap, pure rubbish! Bette Davis is magnificent as the mouse-like spinster who is transformed into the mink wearing Boston Modern lady-about-town. She steals every scene she is in, and that must have been difficult as Gladys Cooper ( the bitch queen of all bitchy mothers) and Mary Wickes.(the wisecracking nurse) almost grab the acting honours.

In 2007 the United States Film Registry selected the film for preservation as it is "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".and just for the famous line "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." I am glad they have done so

Scala stories,Clearing the dry stone wall and William

The first photo was taken in the early 1980's and shows a night out centred around the Scala Cinema in Prestatyn. Outdated (even then) the Scala had an all enclosed "booth" in which a middle aged lady would dispense the tiny "admit" one ticket; an ice cream lady with an over the shoulder tub tray standing in the aisle at the interval; a small "exclusive" balcony and the obligatory brown and orange decor so fashionable in the seventies.

The reason for the motley collection of hired and home made outfits our family and friends are wearing can be laid directly at Aunt Judy;s door, as she was appearing in the local production of OAKLAHOMA ( as one of the chorus), and after a few barcardi and cokes we all decieded to turn up in fancy dress to support her. The still was taken by friend Ian ( who got it published in the Prestatyn Journal) and from left to right (let me try and remember) the group consists of

Stu and Caroline ( Cousin and first wife),two young women I don't know, Tim (Brother in law),Ann (sister),Andrew (brother),Debbie (friend),Jayne (sister in law),Janet (twin), Ronnie (fellow C.B enthusiast), Nia (who now lives in Australia), Me!, Nerys Griffith (ex girlfriend),Andrew and Helen ( She used to work for Ann) and the woman with the beard on is the affable despot that was Joan Walkden- Williams (Tim's mother who must have been in her seventies)

The evening was a great sucess (helped along by copius amounts of Jim Beam swigged straight from the bottle!) and the local am drams' quite charitably overlooked the fact that we were singing along with the songs with gusto and gave poor Judy a standing ovation so such a small supporting role..

Recently the scala recieved the funds for a 21st Century revamp (right pic) and it would be nice to think that the new "art houe cinema and community centre" would use older pictures like this for some sort of " trip down memory lane" exhibition.

The weather has been cold but sunny today, and I have cleared a lot of dirt and weeds from the side of the dry stone wall in the lane. It is a dirty heavy job, but worth it as hopefully it will placate one of the neighbours (the old girl who was non-plussed with the arrival of the roosters). It was approaching dusk when I took the dogs to the beach, and the bad light was a pity as I love the picture of William and I

Spoke to Nige this evening too!, we had a fun semi planning my stag night ( no date for civil ceremony just yet readers) watch this space.....

Cloverfield - 5 minute Exclusive

The action starts about 2.25 mins in!
I will go and see it again with Jan and Chris

Cloverfield! a shameless 9.5 out of 10

Director Matt Reeves and producer J. J. Abrams, obviously love their horror and monster films. They have shamelessly stolen ideas from a whole host of the better movies in the genres and have dovetailed them into a cracking film that pays direct homage to the likes of The Host,,The Blair Witch Project,War of the Worlds and even Escape from New York (see pic below), The Blair Witch Project I remember created the shakey,hand held point of view "amateur" footage that was so innovative in the 1990's and Cloverfield. uses this style well adding to the mix a post 9/11 sense of tv disaster to create a truely frightening and exciting visual experience.

I won't spoil the plot too much, but the jist of the story lies around 6 twenty somethings in downtown New York and their efforts to save one of their group when a huge monster literally destroys the city. We have panic in the streets, a sphincter clenching chase sequence through the subways,( the best part of the film) and even a crazily leaning skyscraper with a rooftop rescue scene reminiscent of The Towering Inferno. Coupled to all that, The Brooklyn Bridge crammed to the seams with refugees gets the disaster treatment,the monster (and thousands of parasitic mini-spider like monsters which it sheds) trashes every bit of Manhattan in a rather too realistic a style and the rather likable set of characters get picked off one by one in typically upsetting set pieces.

I loved the movie, but of course I knew I would ten minutes into the film.It is what it is..........a monster film rollercoaster ride which delivers exactly what it says on the tin.

Owner Training

Janet ( with all legs Ruby) and me (with the benign William) went to our first dog training class this evening, and the experience lends itself wonderfully for today's blog entry.

There were two "experts"on hand to give us direction and support. One, middle aged and rather morose, had a small psychotic toy dog, who surprisingly savaged the intimidating Ruby with several hysterical bites up the arse as soon as we had entered the hall- which was a little worrying in itself!. The other "senior" teacher looked and sounded in the latter stages of left ventricular heart failure to me, but was friendly enough in a wheezy,wet, critically ill sort of way, and he soon had the 18 dogs and owners marching up and down the village hall, weaving in and out of each other and showing the megre audience of hangers on that it is the pet owners that need all the training rather than the dogs.

Apart from the the 6 die hard regulars, most of us were newbies and I was pleased that Ruby and William didn't show themselves up and for that matter nor did me and Janet, and at least we could have a laugh at certain situations some of the over zelous members found themselves in. One rather large guy with clunky jewelry, a paroxide girlfriend and a dog called satan (or was the girlfriend called Satan?) spent most of the time yelling so loudly at his pet when he did anything "wrong", that William kept sitting down in surprise to watch and listen! with a shocked kindo of interest.

The whole experience was 2£- a bargin for an interesting night out.

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