Memories

We bought a scanner/printer this afternoon, it was in the sales and cost 30 quid, so it was a bit of a bargain. As I got on with feeding the birds (I gave them the carcass of the turkey which they devoured within seconds!), Chris got to practicing his downloads and I think it's great that two of Ian Parry's (http://www.ianparry.org/main.php) original photographs that we have on our kitchen wall, could be scanned and replicated!.
To those that do not know, Ian was an old friend who soon outgrew his quiet Prestatyn roots. Always a talented and dedicated photographer, he moved to London in the late 80's as a freelance, and worked for The Times in the Uk as well as in war torn Romania, where he lost his life nineteen years ago in a mysterious and tragic plane crash .
Nuala bought me a copy of the winners of the Ian Parry scholarship award for Christmas this year, so it seemed inevitable that my thoughts be concentrated on some of those early photographs Ian took here in Wales, so far back when we still enjoyed a geeky life on the CB radio.
The top photo is one Ian took of my maternal Grandmother during a family picnic on the Denbigh Moors shortly before her death, She had been widowed months before, and even though the death of my grandfather had literally shattered her, this photograph certainly captured her warmth and zest for life.
The bottom picture is one of my family's all time favourites. It was taken just as I was sharing a joke with my sister Janet at a friend's wedding (something about my patient leather shoes I seem to remember).You can almost hear the cackling laughter can't you? God I look around 15!!!

Christmas gifts

as usual I have been very lucky with my Christmas gifts......this year I have recieved:-

a pair of wellington boot socks (cracking!!)
a 9 kilo hen feeder,
a torch,
Patricia Cornwell's latest novel,
a selection of allotment seeds,
Mamma Mia dvd,
The Mist dvd,
Alan Carr's autobiography,
pair of wellies,
Christmas Jumper,
a small shaker-style bag full of AA batteries,
Christmas Coffee,
A book by the winners of the Ian Parry Scholarship "Eyes wide open",(From Nu)
an alarm clock,
some Kath Kidson tea towels,
a set of bath towels!,
a wooden duck caller (????!)
several Body shop pots of moisturiser,
a pet hamper,
socks,
Snow patrol cd,
a miniature garden set (secret santa from work),
Australian style Christmas decorations,
bottle of port,

Sunday relaxation

I finally finished pottering around dusk. Boris and Gloria have now been housed in the small duck house (I can lift them in and out through the hinged roof) and the four younger buff hens are now ensconced in the out grown turkey coop. I am still racking my brains organising a new hen house for the new chicks who are growing fast in the shed. All ten are doing fine, and although I have already arranged for three of the grey bantams to increase a colleague of Chris' hen numbers, the other seven at the moment do not have a home to call their own just yet.

The weather remains cold and bright, which has been lovely. I had a my usual 15 minute cloud watching moment in the turkey paddock (this time Boris pulled my woolly hat off quite playfully when I was lying on the ground). I had to cut short this intimate scene when a group of people entered the graveyard with flowers.......I am sure the sight of a middle aged man lying prostrate along side a love lorn turkey stag would be strange even for the village of Trelawnyd!

Chris' cold has improved somewhat. so I have loudly announced that I am now on strike from invalid duties.

As I write this he is cooking tea! this evening I am sitting next to a roaring cottage fire and later plan to continue reading Alan Carr's autobiography Look Who It Is!. Surprisingly it is not only hilarious but very well written.
I couldn't reach Nu today. Hope she's hanging on in there.

Cloud Watching

I didn't complete my blog yesterday as I was upset for Nuala who rang with the terrible news that one of her sisters had unexpectedly passed away. I just cannot imagine what she and the rest of her family are going through and I know there is very little I can say or do to help her, it is a terrible, helpless time for a family that has been already through too much this year.

In between jobs this afternoon I indulged in a spot of cloud watching in the duck enclosure as the weather remained bright but terribly cold. (the top photo I took up the gop this morning) true to form Boris ambled over to ever-so-slowly-circle me as if he was playing Cowboys and Indians. After ten minutes of this, he sat down at my feet, watching me with solemn eyes.

Chris is still full of cold and has spent the day on the couch watching Carry on re runs.

Christmas

Although Chris is now suffering from a heavy cold, he has cooked a very tasty and comprehensive Christmas dinner! I am still not quite over my flu episode, and foolishly went into work last night, which tipped my chest over the edge somewhat(......I had to nick a salbutamol inhaler from work, just to get through the shift).
This afternoon we embarked in the the usual eating excesses, swapped some lovely gifts and played a few party games before we had a relatively early night
(lovely too, to hear from friend Nia in Australia...X)

Happy Christmas

Well I thought this festive video would make the perfect Christmas message from North Wales!!!!
Happy Christmas to my blog followers.......xxxxx

Belle

For the first time since Friday I experienced a good nights sleep. Mind you I had taken two dihydrocodiene tablets, a lemsip, a couple of paracetamol and a huge swig of port!

I went to bed around 11.15 last night and awoke in exactly the same position this morning at 8am, so at least my body feels a little more refreshed after the nastiest bout of flu I have ever experienced.

This morning I felt miles better and have cleaned out all the coops as well as organising all the Christmas lunch stuff and shampooing the living room carpets. I collected our turkey (pale when I compare the weight with Boris) then collected the eggs for some last minute deliveries.

Belle (one of the dog attack survivors) has turned into a beautiful hen,but I have been concerned that she as well as several of the new young birds seems not to be laying any eggs. This mystery resolved itself this afternoon after one of the visitors to the graveyard called me over to tell me she had seen Belle several times disappearing mysteriously behind a pile of debris by the Church wall. When I checked there was three tiny bantam sized eggs lying in a make shift nest.

As several of the new birds enjoy a round robin in the Church Yard, I spent a few minutes checking under bushes and in between gravestones.....in 20 minutes I found 10 eggs tucked away in the grass

I am working tomorrow night, so before my shift Chris and I are going to the family service at the Church at 6pm. The whole event should be incredibly atmospheric Auntie Glad reminded me of the service when she came round at tea time. At 90 she still made the effort to walk down to the cottage in the dark to give us a card and a dozen or so homemade scones

Over my cold dead body

"sigh"......you let Chris out to do some Christmas shopping and what does he come back with?
YES! a doggie jumper embossed with a glittery scottie and the oh-so-cheesy motif "Official gift opener"....
All I can say, was that it was a good job I felt so ill yesterday.....as I was too weak to give this article the contempt it deserves.
I hate dog accessories of any shape and form, and even though I realise that its purchase was a bit of a joke, no dog of ours will ever be seen dead in a garment like this!!!
My flu remains, and I must admit that in the middle of the night I actually felt as though I was dying.(I did have a temperature of 39 degrees and was experiencing rigors!)
My temperature is still up today and all my joints (including strangely enough my eyeballs)are aching terribly, but I still had to walk the dogs on the beach and sort the poultry out.........mind you my legs almost buckled when I carried Boris back to his shed this evening