Christmas

Yes a remarkably stunning Christmas display

This morning Boris was waiting to be lifted out of the safety of the locked garden shed so that he could run his clumsy run alongside the ducks in the outdoor field. Both he and the slutty Gloria throw me a rather resigned look when they see me coming, as if to say "come on then..take me", and both sit calming in my arms as they are carried to and fro the shed and field.
The weather has been dreadfully wet and wild so after all the outdoor jobs, I have started to set up the Christmas lights by the cottage front door.
I truly love Christmas! My affection is inherited from my mother,who, for all her faults, delighted in the preparation and execution of the tradition festive fare.
For weeks before "the day", she made layers of peppermint cream sweets, slickly chocolate truffles covered in vermicelli and coconut dusted dainties, all produced in early 1970's party dishes (covered in cling film)
Full cream and Sherry trifles were thickly layered on Christmas eve and fancy prawn cocktails were sculptured on the specially made up lunch table; every received greetings card was collated in her diary (with a tick reinforcing the fact that it had been read!) and tons of gifts , were wrapped in supermarket wrapping paper and placed on individual chairs in the living room for us to shred open.
Christmas made my mother happy!, of course there would be the petty stresses, but Christmas meant a full and busy house to her and my father, and for years the entire extended family would pop in and out for a whiskey, a martini and the usual present bunfight.
My elder sister refined my mother's desire for the ideal celebration's preparation and took over with some spectacular lunches and happy days over the years. With my mother's initial efforts and Ann's subsequent successes, we as a family have always had some lovely Dec25th's.

This year Ann and Tim, Janet and Ned and nephew Chris and Becca are all coming to us for Lunch, and I am now really looking forward to the day. Of course we will have little room, the chairs will have to be borrowed and not all the cutlery will match.......oh and I am sure that there will be a stray dog hair or two floating around the Yuletide dinner plates......but in the spirit of our happy childhood Christmas days, it is nice that Chris and I have the opportunity to add to the tradition.

Bell

I got to thinking today of things I would miss if we ever left Trelawnyd. Apart from the physical "things" such as bricks and mortar and the scenery and views there would be one major thing that I would definitely miss, and strangely that is an audible thing.
The rather melancholy tolling of the Church bell on Sunday mornings can be heard from anywhere in the vicinity of the village. This morning we were all up the Gop when the bell started to ring its ever-so slightly Hollywood How Green Was My Valley peal. It is a constant that is ever so reassuring.
This afternoon we completed the Christmas shop, had tea in Forties in Llandudno, then came home to lock the hens all away at 4pm. Both turkeys now have to be carried to the house shed where they are safely put under lock and key to keep them away from thieving eyes.........Boris is now quite obese and lifting him is a feat in itself. A group of walkers found the spectacle of me walking up the lane with a fat turkey under my arm hilarious.
Off to bed for an hour now as I am on night shift tonight

talent

I found this beautifully edited video on u tube....it is a delight to find such talent tucked away on the net

Buffs and Bantams

11 chicks so far under the heat lamp in the kitchen
Albert is in a state of nervous exhaustion

Wet,wet,wet

The weather was so bloody awful this morning that Nigel scarpered for warmth of Stockport slightly early and who could blame him.( I stole this photo he took yesterday in Llandudno from his blog) The deluge was so heavy that embankments near to Chris' gym started to give way under the constant seepage from the saturated fields and a huge lorry crashed and shed its load on the slick roundabout at St Asaph.The field is totally waterlogged and now resembles Flander's field.
The mayhem in the kitchen has settled down a little, as we now have 10 bantam and buff chicks all asleep under the functioning heat lamp. Two of my sub adult hybrids are going tomorrow.....the first of my babies to be sold!

Chaos

Poor Nige.....not only has he had to put up with a cottage full of animals, he has had to fit in a social visit around William's haircut (above) a sudden disaster with the Belingo's exhaust and a kitchen full of hatching bantam chicks.

We dropped William off at 9am, then drove to Llandudno to do some Chrimbo shopping.......the belingo sounded very much like a small, VERY noisy tank by the time we got there, so shopping had to wait for Mr Kwick fit to bung on a new exhaust for 300 soddin quid!!!!!!!

By the time we got back to pick William up, it was time to walk the dogs then have a small panic as the the new tiny hatching bantams needed transferring into their heat lamp cage in the shed........the temperature was far too low for them so the whole operation had to be moved into the kitchen. where Albert is now flexing his claws in the hopeful wish that the tiny chicks can be reached through the bars................

So far three tiny golden bantams have hatched .........just 14 to go.......Nige will be suffering from migraine by the time he is going home...his nerves will be shot to ribbons

Ho Ho Ho

Janet has been experimenting with designs for her Christmas Cards.
Jess is not looking too happy with the idea

Chris away

Chris has gone to a conference in Harrogate for three days, so before friend Nige calls down tomorrow night, I have a good 24 hours to catch up with a pre Christmas "spring" clean.
Albert was let out this morning for his second jaunt out of the cottage....and did come back to the safety of the kitchen after an hour or so.....(I did catch myself standing at the garden gate waiting for his return like a parent at primary school!)
William (right) goes for his haircut on Thursday...boy does he need it