Chapel Humour

Wish I had taken my camera out today
went to collect the dogs from the groomers and I saw this sign on a small chapel in the middle of nowhere:-

PAMPER YOURSELF..........HAVE A FAITH LIFT

Respect and Blanche comes home

My god, I couldn't log into blogger last night and had a small panic attack. Shows just how much my diary routine is "fixed" doesn't it. Anyhow I am busily preparing for mother-in-law Sorrel's visit this evening. Yesterday I have washed windows, cleaned the inside of the car( BIG JOB), vacuumed, bleached and spring cleaned half the house. It is a ritual I do every time anyone comes to visit, but I do take particular care when Sorrel visits.

I thought about this when I was on my hands and knees, rubbing fluff from a skirting board. Is it purely an obsessional manifestation? ......perhaps.........Is it just a case of showing off that we are doing fine up here........probably just a little. But I think the the overwhelming reason for the effort is respect. You want a guest to feel comfortable. You want them to know that you think so highly of them that you actually go that extra mile to prepare for them

Anyhow it is 7.30 am on Tuesday, and I have walked the dogs and sorted the poultry out before two 14 ton lorries bulldoze through my field with tarmack for the Church paths.The work had to come, but I am glad that I have organised to take the scotties for their haircuts at 8 am so that I cannot watch the heavy work. Once the tarmack is down, the perimeter fence Will be erected and my field will again be private, but for today, I know all the lush green grass will be churned up and wrecked......

Ripley and her siblings are over 5 weeks old now and are at least a foot high now. Foster mum Blanche needed to be moved back to the main hen enclosure and so I moved her yesterday morning. She seemed unconcerned after the move and quickly stuffed her face with corn and went to bully the new girls Shelley and Elizabeth Spriggs for a bit.But I guess the baby like quacks from her ducklings were all a bit much for her and withing minutes she had scaled two electric fences and promptly sat on top of the duckling run, clucking noisily at her babies.

So this morning, she is still in with the six young ducks, and I have locked them in whilst the heavy traffic is passing their run.

Me, I am now off to sort the scotties out then back for more hoovering

Happy Birthday

The day started off pretty grimly as I had to slog through a shift at work. Mind you at 46 I am still not too old to appreciate a Caterpillar birthday cake kindly bought for me by my colleagues on duty.

Chris took me to the Bistro for a late lunch and then we went to swap gifts with Janet (being a twin always means that you get at least one card and pressie!)

Stalwarts Ann and Tim called round too ( so did nephew Peter which was very welcomed) with lovely gifts and cards, and we all had an enjoyable evening bantering away.about rubbish

Bloody hell

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.....yep.....never a true phrase was uttered as when bombing ( at 60 miles an hour) down the A55 towards Flint (On my way to Liverpool), I experienced my first blow out.
There was a loud BANG, the belingo slew across two lanes on the duel carriageway, and I almost sideswiped a large white van.which was just turning off the road.
By luck I groaned to a shuttering halt behind him and limped off the carriageway with cars swerving around me.
I have never had such a close shave before in a car miss hap,and I was surprised just how shaken I felt.
I rang Chris who obviously didn't grasp how lucky I was and he clearly had no faith in my ability to change a tyre, telling me to ring the AA.
This pissed me off and still shaking like the proverbial leaf, I hunted for the jack determined to prove him wrong. Yeap the bloody thing was located in the boot which I had just filled with bags and boxes of rubbish from the cleared outhouse for taking to the tip on Monday. So out everything had to come, and minutes later I must have resembled an old bag lady with boxes , a huge container of old paint tins,an old mop and various mucky bin bags inches from the busy duel carriageway.
By the time I had jacked the car up( I had to go to a nearby house to beg some WD40 to get the thing moving) and had dragged the oil covered spare from under the car, I looked like the wreck of the Hesperus, and yes you have guessed it the spare was almost flat.............
But by 8.45 pm, I finally sorted it all out,and limped to the nearest garage to fix out the tyre, massively pissed off with everything. It was too late to get to Liverpool,and feeling crap that I had let Nuala down, I trudged off home.

pic ( The Iris in the back garden have just flowered.....at least some good news today...)

Ducklings and Nancy

Quick blog today as I have loads to cram in. The ebay and caramel ducklings have been put into their garden run, to the numerous oooohs and arrrrhhhhs of passing walkers and I am clearing the back lean-to shed ready to put the little ones back into so that I can disinfect the kitchen pre Sorell's visit.

This evening heralds the Jospice fundraiser in memory of Nuala's mum Nancy. It takes place in Liverpool and I am going over later for an hour or two.

Chris will be on ducking,hen and dog watch for the night.

Working tomorrow on my Birthday but only for 6 hours (political unrest at work so no staff got their requested off duty!!) then off for lunch out which will be nice.

Don't feel 46

Turnips

The laburnum in the Churchyard is equal to anything we saw at Bodnant Gardens and I couldn't resist photographing it, especially as the weather has been ideal for catching up with the allotment.(I have been outside from 8 am until 6pm)
I have planted the remainder of the sweetcorn which I had sprouting on every windowsill, and have filled the final few spaces available with turnips and everlasting spinach. Duncan escaped yesterday and ate a lot of my salad crops, so I have filled the damage spots with more seedlings.

I have strimmed the remainder of the allotment,cleaned all the coops out and weeded as much as I could so that the place looks presentable for Sorrel's visit on Tuesday. Tomorrow I can start with a touch of house cleaning and I was ecstatic to hear that my shed will be delivered on Tuesday morning. With a bit of luck I can have the ducklings all installed into it before Sorrel arrives........I have not forgotten she has a pathological fear of birds...hey ho.... not a good thing with 14 ducklings flinging shit in every direction on the kitchen table,,,,,,,,,

Good news for the day is the fact that my busty hens Elizabeth Spriggs (right) and Shelley Winters seem to be settling in rather quickly. To be expected I have seen some bullying by the some of the black hookers, but Duncan quickly stops most of the fights with a few choice pecks and kicks.

The first brood of ducklings (Ripley and the others) are now nearly 5 Weeks old and are over 12 inches high and feathers are starting to show amid the down.Next week I am going to return a somewhat stir crazy Blanche to the main hen run, and in a couple more weeks the 14 ebay and caramel ducklings will be joining them in the outdoor run.

Absolutely knackered this evening. just made a cuppa and am just about to settle down with TCM and Strangers on a Train....... Think I will have an early night, lots of cleaning to do tomorrow

S.A.T.C.-The Movie

I kind of liked the big screen version of Sex and the City . Ok it was just like watching three episodes of the famous tv series (albeit with the famous punchy paced storyline strangely absent) and for a movie, nothing really happens. However, for die hard fans, it is always nice to see the four main characters return,they laugh and cry together ,have group hug after group hug, and for those who actually care, the Manolo Blahniks are always on show . The main difference SATC-The Movie has with the tv series, is that it loudly serenades the arrival of the newly fashionable "middle aged" successful woman. In the 1990's Carrie,Samantha,Charlotte and Miranda were thirty somethings with bad fashion advice and more money than sense. In this movie Samantha turns fifty, and the film's message clearly celebrates the fact that older women still can look fab and still "have it all" in the city that never sleeps.

As a romantic comedy, the movie is average. Sarah Jessica Parker carries the story with a great likability and all the best lines are grabbed by the hysterically loud and very funny Mario Cantone, (the gay wedding planner Anthony a man with a voice like sandpaper.)but the story of friendship conquering all does feel a tad dated now.

But, having said that, it is nice to feel that the iconic New York fairytale that so many people have enjoyed throughout the years has had a fitting and successful swansong.

Two fat birds... Mz Shelley Winters and Mz Elizabeth Spriggs

Janet and Ned have come up trumps and have just delivered two handsome Buff Orphingtons for my birthday on Sunday. I have always wanted a couple of these large friendly, over weight and very popular hens,so I was very touched that they had clearly gone out of their way to obtain them.
Naming these buxom pair was easy so Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Spriggs have now joined the 56 birds in the allotment menagerie.
I worked last night and the weather today has been truly awful so I have been soaked to the skin at least 6 times throughout the day.
Back to some normality tomorrow as the weather may be a little more stable