Pecking Orders,and vein trouble

Lordy,Lordy....we have had a break in the rainy weather, so I have returned to menagerie mode by working all day outside. With Duncan removed to pastures new, good old Stanley is now alpha male and a rather poorish show he is making of it all. The hens without the autocratic male have started to bicker more frequently over almost anything and where as any fight was stopped dead by Duncan, Stanley seems to be always late when separating any waring parties.
Janet and Ned have gone to Sitges for a week, and we have inherited their hyperactive patterdale, Jess. All this has been somewhat exhausting for Chris, who cannot quite cope with the constant play fighting and chaos. Like the confused hierarchical behaviour I have witnessed in the hen houses, the dogs have also reacted to the new girl on the block and have been over active and rather difficult at times.

Chris has also been troubled with varicose vein pain on and off all day,so what with him staggering around like a moaning extra from Les Miserables and the dogs galloping around with parts of Jess' anatomy constantly in their mouths, the house has been a complete madhouse.

I have enjoyed the quietness of the field.

Terminal 5

Now I am generally not a fan of modern architecture, (well apart from the typically art deco skyscrapers of New York) but I must admit that Heathrow's new terminal 5 is a stunning mass of glass,light and innovative design.
Cleverly the first glimpse of the concourse when you get off the train is from the 5th floor, where suddenly you are gazing down on the vast space which seems ten times the size of your average sports stadium. Now you expect to look up at this sort of cathedral sized structure when you enter it, but looking down on everything turns the whole airport thing literally onto its head.
I spent an interesting few hours experiencing all that terminal 5 had to offer, before a comfortable flight home.

Australia Trailer (2008)

I saw this trailer when in London yesterday, and must admit it looks smashing

Theatre,gallery,cinema, Rain

A day to myself in London,,,,,in the rain,,,,,,a rare treat even though I got absolutely soaked yesterday. I came into "town" early and went to the National Portrait Gallery for starters. Loved some of the new work by

Julian Opie see above, and had a good wander around the recent exhibits.Then I walked down to the South Bank for a blast around Tate Modern. The huge scale of the building literally takes your breath away, and I had coffee sitting in the near empty main display floors inside After wandering the length of Fleet Street and the Strand I Caught the tube back up to Oxford street and a bit of window shopping in John Lewis, before getting well and truly soaked in some of the most violent rain storms I have ever experienced. Needing to dry off, I treated myself (bloody 10 quid a ticket too!) to a movie in Leicester Square. There was not too much to choose from, so I had to be contented with Guy Ritchie's caper film RocknRolla (2008), which was ok rehash of all his previous films put together. Richie has produced nothing new in this latest film, but I did enjoy a gay comedy subtext between the very attractive Gerard Butler and his best friend (the equally attractive Tom Hardy--see below

Met Nuala at 5pm and we had another gossip over dinner before going to the theatre! We saw The female of the Species at the Vaudeville Theatre, which turned out to be a pithy comedy based loosely on the stalking of Germaine Greer by a crazy student some 8 years ago. Cranford star Eileen Atkins plays the Greer-ish character who so mercilessly nails the feminist writer's hilarious vanity,time and time again, she really looked as though she was having a good time. The theatre was half full which was a shame, the weather perhaps was keeping everyone but the die hards at home or in their hotels.

We are going to see Jim and Nuala's new house in Ealing this morning, then do a little shopping in the local farmer's market before I catch the Heathrow shuttle for terminal 5. It has been a full,wet and enjoyable couple of days

cosmo Jonney

Yesterday I thought bugger the carbon footprint, the only way to get to London is to fly! I enjoyed a rather cosmopolitan afternoon sipping a nice glass of wine at Manchester airport, before arriving at Heathrow's glorious terminal 5 calm, relaxed and somewhat pretentious.
Met Nuala at Ealing (three stops from the airport!!!!!!) It was catch up time, especially as we have not met up properly since Mary died, so amid tons of antipasto (and too much wine) we caught up like good 'uns.
Today Nu has had to go into work, so after a long long shower, I will go into town for a mooch before meeting her in the West End this evening for the theatre

Cracking put downs-apologies for the language

I watched "Pricilla" last night on Sky and forgot just how good Terence stamp's put down lines were.....
To a red neck homophobic drunk
Bernadette: Stop flexing your muscles, you big pile of budgie turd. I'm sure your mates will be much more impressed if you just go back to the pub and fuck a couple of pigs on the bar.
and to a drunk homophobic middle aged woman:
Bernadette: [to Shirley] Now listen here, you mullet. Why don't you just light your tampon, and blow your box apart? Because it's the only bang you're ever gonna get, sweetheart!

classic

Wet,wet,wet

Chris took this photo this morning at dawn, after he had walked the dogs. They all sneak up to bed with me for an hour before I get up and that is their big treat for the day. The weather has been so bad today, I should have stayed in bed, but as Chris was working in the office, I have been out all day, clearing the paths and the drive a particularly dirty and wet job.
I took a brief look at last year's blogs, which all mention problems with the weather. We have had two terribly wet years, which have not only ruined many of the growing crops, but has decimated the native butterfly population

Anyhow I have decided to keep the five of Broody Nolan's chicks. Four seem to be female (at the moment) and I suspect the little bruiser Grey (right) is a cockerel They will be joining the ducks in their run. and seeing that they are being oficially adopted, I have named them all.(after Poseidon Adventure characters)-

Rogo,Linda,Belle,Susan and Nonnie

Mistaken Identity,

Crammed a lot in today, This afternoon I drove to the farm and pet place, to stock up on various bits and bats, and got mistaken for a bona fide farmer by a chap desperate for help with of all things, mole traps. When I was waiting at the check out, this little guy ambled up and quietly asked in typical spy style "are you s farmer?" Beaming with pride, I replied with a small touch of exaggeration that I had a small holding and he then quickly asked me about the best way of using moletraps.
Now I wasn't fazed by my sudden elevation to livestock expert, as I remembered watching the 1940's House on UKTVGold, and surprising myself I gave him a detailed account of how to set a successful mole trap, complete with a few tricks of trade such as using a big leaf to gently cover the mechanism before you trickle fine soil over the top of it. He looked very impressed I must say, with my bullshit
I took the sick black hooker to the vets, knowing full well that she was about to enter that big brothel in the sky. The poor girl looked dreadful, and according to the vet, was suffering from dropsy!!!! (heart failure) luckily she had nothing contagious (as I had feared) and he put her down promptly by injecting her directly into the heart.
Typically of a country vet, he then unceremoniously dropped her into a swing bin located in the corner of the consultation room.
There is no room for sentimentality in Caerwys
When I got home I moved Elizabeth and Shelley, the buffs into the tame buff enclosure, walked the dogs on the beach and pottered around doing chores. The weather again has been dreadful