William grows up

William has turned the corner from puppy to dog, and is turning out to be a lovely natured and bright animal. I have said it before that I never really enjoy puppies. Sure they are pretty and attractive but I do find them rather bland and shallow. I have found with all five dogs we have owned, that only when that stupid, clumsy sledgehammer puppy mentality has been out grown have I grown close to the "real" personalities that each animal possesses. Maddie is loyal,routine led and moody, Meg,needy,nervous and edgy whereas George is always hopeful and comic. William is bright, gentle and just a little pompous.which is endearing in itself.

Neighbours.......cymdogion

Even though they had an early morning run on the beach the dogs were full of beans today, and were literally bouncing off the walls when I got in at midday after a couple of hours finishing off the last of the vegetable patches. The weather is bright but ever so cold, so I took them for a walk down the lane where I thought we would be protected from the blustery wind and freezing temperatures.
Working on the land so much gives me the opportunity to meet and come in contact with my neighbours on a daily basis.Passing faces become more friendly the more you see them, and smiles evolve into conversations, even though you often don't know the person's name you have been chatting to for months and months.
My favourite neighbour is widow Mrs Jones who lives in the old farmhouse Pen-y-cefn isa, just on the other side of the shallow valley.

Her old farmhouse has seen slightly better days but is a charming old place, and I always have the fantasy of wanting to live there every time I amble pass. Mrs Jones drives down the lane daily and I always get a beaming smile and wave off her as she crawls past the field bend. At night, I always think that the lights from Pen-y-cefn isa ( which translates literally as Head -of- the -back- lower ) are incredibly reassuring amid the black fields.
The view of Trelawnyd from the south (left) is rather quaint and I took the dogs down Gypsy lane (below) to flush out pheasants to chase.
We couldn't find any but did watch a group of Buzzards whirl and cry above a "kill" somewhere in the fields. Off to the cinema later to see Juno.

Juno

I am sure that the inspiration for the film Juno (2007) was the wisecracking older- than -her -years teenager Darleen from tv's Roseanne;but on reflection I think everyone in Jason Reitman's sweet natured comedy about the trials and tribulations surrounding a teenage pregnancy is smart mouthed and insightful.Of course this gives the film a slightly unreal quality in a similar vein and feel the 1980's sitcom possessed, but the whole production; the writing and the performances, are filled with so much clever charm,the audience forgives its slim connection with the real world.
Juno turns the angst teenage pregnancy story on its head with intelligent comments on relationships,the difficulties of being an adult and parenthood, but it does this with sharpness and clarity that isn't over shadowed by gloom and cynicism. Ellen Page brings a luminescence to the heroine Juno and the rest of the cast have their moments to shine in key,often very moving scenes. Most notable of these is Michael Cera as Juno's loyal, nerdy boyfriend and a wonderfully underplayed turn by Jennifer Garner, as an uptight adoptive mother.
I gave the film a good 9/10

Trelawnyd 2008

Front room of the cottage.Chris is on the left.........

7.15am Oscar Results

I am up at the crack of dawn to give Chris a lift to the station! The tide was out in Prestatyn so the dogs had a dawn run and now I am having the first coffee of the day! The eggs have been turned in the incubator, I have just made sprout soup! and the birds all fed and watered, so I can sit down with a cup of coffee and review the oscar results!

No real surprises! I was very happy to see Cotillard win,( a rarity for a non English speaking actress to romp it) and Tilda Swinton was an interesting choice for best supporting actress. Cotillard won over the audience and America with her wide eyed acceptance speech and I thought she was quite,quite charming! I also suspect as all the actor honours went to non American actors this year, then next year every one will be won by home grown American pie performers! (If Linney is nominated next year I bet she will win!)

Off to Sheffield on Friday for a long overdue meet with friend Jonney, which I am looking forward to! Will meet with Mike too (which is overdue also). Working Wednesday and Sunday and hope to fit in Juno at the cinema if the weather turns!

Oscars

I cut and pasted the main Academy awards nominees from the BBC website and have guessed the winners of the main prizes! The Academy is notoriously fickle and always biased towards home grown talent but for once many of the chosen few are well deserving!
I would love Laura Linney ( nominated a ton of times) to win something but I guess that will be too much to hope for. My guesses for winners are in italics!

Best picture

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men *I think will win but Juno may be a sleeper here!

There Will Be Blood

Best director

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly may just nip in and win!

Jason Reitman, Juno

Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men * best film should go with best director!

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best actor

George Clooney, Michael Clayton*I want Clooney to beat mr Hoop Earings! Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Julie Christie, Away from Her

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose* although I love Linney Cotillard should romp it

Laura Linney, The Savages

Ellen Page, Juno

Best supporting actress

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Ruby Dee, American Gangster *I bet she wins! a tiny role but boy was she memorable!

Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best supporting actor

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James...

Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men* I hope he wins but I have a feeling Holbrook will

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Best foreign language film *No idea here

Beaufort, Israel

The Counterfeiters, Austria

Katyn, Poland

Mongol, Kazakhstan

12, Russia
Best

Living in a 1950's world

It has been a busy couple of days! Last night we went to the Bistro with Aunt Judy and had a lovely meal. Nice Crayfish salad,tender beef and a great chardoney was leaps ahead of the bloody awful Chinese I had to suffer on Friday night. It was a real treat and a very relaxed and confortable evening was had by all.

Today I was up at 7am repositioning the chicken runs, then later in the morning we drove to Rhos-on-sea to have coffee and lunch at Forte's cafe on the sea front.

Re-vamped in the 1980's the cafe has an old fashioned feel to it and Chris especiallly enjoys its "Miss Marple" type ambiance.(the tomatos and radish in the salads are fashioned into miniture flowers...and the staff all have neat uniforms with pad and pencils to take your orders- if you get my drift?)

Chris actually believes that the world we saw in the likes of Brief Encounter (1945),Gosford Park (2001) and "Cranford" can exist in 2008. In fact he believes that this sort of chocolate box reality actually existed in 1930-1950's Britain!, and I guess it is a nice fantasy to have ! even though it can leave you wide open for disappointment when the harshness of real life encroaches on St Mary Mead!

Duffy - Mercy -

I love this record. Sounds a bit like a healthy and clean Amy Winehouse don't you think? Duffy is a local girl and her concert in Wrexham is sold out!(Hazel tried to get tickets)