Defiance

We went to see the film Defiance (2008) this evening which was an ok way of passing the time. I guess I have had my fill of holocaust themed movies over the years so to be honest I was slightly bored by the amazing true story of how three Jewish brothers escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest.There they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger!
Daniel Craig and the odd looking Liev Schreiber were excellent as the two elder brothers, but I think I would have preferred seeing The Reader

.........another trip to the vets

I watched a late re run of the mini series "North and South" last night (see previous blog) partly because it was a welcomed trip down memory lane but also because Albert had not come home after an afternoons play and I was sort of waiting up for him. He still had not turned up by 1am, so I went out for a quick scout around but he was no where to be seen, so I went to bed.

As Chris went to work early this morning, he told me that Albert had come home and lifted him onto the bed for his usual lie in with the dogs. I thought he was tired after a night's gallivanting, but in actual fact the poor little chap was nursing a broken femur!

It was lunchtime when I realised he had not come down for his dinner, and soon after checking on him, we were racing to Caerwys and the trusty vets! It took them an absolute age to xray him, but at least they finally ruled out any pelvic injuries. The vet thought he had been hit by a car.

So we have another poorly animal to worry about! (as well as the obligatory huge bill) the vet has pumped him full of painkillers tonight, and he will have a leg cast put on tomorrow and then hopefully be home.......I am resolved to lock the cat flap at night now ...well at least until he is a little more road savvy.

As sod's law would have it, I ran out of petrol on the way home, which delayed my return a good while. This gave William an ideal opportunity to clamber up onto the kitchen table, where he dropped a dozen eggs onto the floor! Most of the mess had been eaten by the time I walked in!

North and South

I caught a re run of this "lavish" American mini series last night on Sky. Originally made in the early 1980s this "epic family story" set against the American civil war was a prime example of how artificial looking and plastic these mini series actually were.They always reminded me of history romps which Barbara Cartland would have written!
Having said this, I really enjoyed my trip down memory lane last night, what with Lesley Anne-Down getting her arse whipped by Southern baddie David Carradine...and the strapping James Reed being all homoerotic with best friend Patrick Swayze!(who sported a very disguesting mullet as I remembered!)
Bill Conti's lovely music deserved a feature film!!! and what a cast????

Boris and the funeral

Another day, another funeral! This morning the village Church was filled to overflowing with people paying their respects to old Mrs Lewis who died last week. Twenty or so of the congregation even had to stand outside the church , and I was slightly taken aback as I collected the eggs, when around a couple of hundred people walked to the burial spot in the graveyard when the service was over.
I suspect it was the huge collection of black overcoats that set Boris off. Perhaps they resembled a male turkey's plumage, but as the vicar led the congregation slowly through the new graveyard (to the right of the above photo) off Boris galloped, in full feathered display! As the somber crowd gathered, he "gobbled" "whistled" and "snorted" at the top of his voice so much that mourners started to turn and point to where the strange noises were coming from!
I thought I was standing at a respectful distance behind the buff hen houses, but I knew I couldn't leave him excitedly showing off literally feet from the Church fencing! Crouching low and looking somewhat like a middle aged scarecrow( dirty combats,wellies,dirty woolly hat!), I crossed the duck enclosure like a commando (with Albert bouncing along behind me) and roughly grabbed Boris who let out a massive squawk!
Nearly giving myself a hernia I carried him to the duck house and bundled him in, where he continued to "gobble" and kick the door loudly with his massive feet! At this time severel people we smiling and pointing The whole thing must have looked rather ridiculous.
I hid behind the duckhouse until most of the congregation had disappeared!

The 10 chicks have grown up nicely, but are far too delicate to be let out in this cold weather.The wyandotte bantam chicks (the grey and black and gray babies above) look rather like the black and white minstrels from 1960's tv and are incredibly cute. I would love to keep most of them, but I know I have to draw a line in the number of mouths we have to feed. Chris' colleague Jo is having three of the little ones.
The rest of the day I have been planning the spring planting for the allotment. Beryl from Rhodfa Arthur (Rhodfa is Welsh for avenue) called this afternoon to let me know that one of the ducks had escaped and was outside her house...as it turned up it was a old white female duck and wasn't one of my girls........if it still around tomorrow I told her I would try and catch her......yep another beak to feed.......

Una

You could feel waves of raw emotion and respect at Una's funeral, which was held in a very cold catholic church in Waterloo,Liverpool this afternoon. Literally hundreds of people were crammed into every corner and down both side aisles of the church, so I was glad I managed to find my way there promptly.
Chris was interviewing for staff today, so was unable to go with me, so I was lucky I caught sight of Rachel and Paula (two old friends of Nuala's) and teamed up with them.
Nuala's elder sister Una was head teacher of an inner city primary school and was obviously adored and respected by all she came into contact with both in her professional and personal life. Five priests took the long service (another sign of how important Una was to her community),and incredibly moving tributes were made by Una's husband John and the elderly family priest Father Sean.
I cannot remember the last time I actually shed a tear at a funeral, even at my own Parents and grandparents' funerals I remember being somewhat stoic emotionally, which I guess is a reflection of being safely in control. Today, the sadness of an all too premature death coupled with a beautifully measured set of tributes and an incredible choir proved too much and the tears flowed.
The family had planned a private ceremony at the crematorium following the mass, and with the animals uncared for at home I couldn't really wait until the funeral "tea" to touch base with Nu.
It took half an hour just to get out of the church, the crowd was so dense, but as fate would have it, as I walked through the doors Nuala was standing right outside,looking rather tired and drawn. Before she left with the family, I was able to give her a long,long hug of support.. It was the only thing I could do to help her.
It was such a sad, sad day

another Australia trailer

Now I am a fan of Russell Crowe, but I cannot believe he was first choice for the lead in Australia!.
I enjoyed this trailer slightly more than my previous post on the matter!

More mouths to feed

One side effect of the cold snap has proved to be an increase in numbers of the local bird population. At every feeding time, I am used to the unruly mob of around 30 house sparrows, all chattering and fighting like a large group of schoolboys descending onto the field from the hedgerows, but now we have up to six pheasants, a small flock of pied wagtails,a ubiquitous trio of robins and the usual suspects which are the crows,rooks and seagulls.

My poultry only seem to accept the game birds, and hardly batter an eye as the pheasants sail in over the graveyard like enemy bombers to grab hurried mouthfuls of corn. They actively hate the smaller thieving bastards, especially the comical sparrows, which they chase off incessantly.When the adolescent sparrows were learning to fly,I remember with a little shame that the hens often stalked and killed the baby birds before they could take off for the hedges!

I have cleaned out the coops in the freezing sunshine this afternoon, with George,Maddie and Albert keeping me company. At one stage I was on my hands and knees in the duckhouse with the two dogs,cat and the inquisitive Boris, all stood in a row watching me silently....I wish I had remembered my camera.

Tomorrow is Una's funeral over in Liverpool. I think I can just about get over to attend the service but will have to leave fairly sharpish to get back for the dogs. No funeral is a happy event, but this one will be an incredibly sad affair.I just hope I can catch up with Nuala, it is important she knows that she has someone (out of many I suspect) that is standing in her corner!

Chris went back to work today, and Sorrel is now safely back in Broadstairs, so I am back to animal caring and eggs deliveries. The new hens are laying nicely now (including the ever optimistic Bunny who bangs out a tiny brown egg a day!) These tiny eggs are not that useful to sell as they are far too small, so I popped them up to old Mrs Jones to see if she wanted them. The freezing weather can often isolate the elderly within any community, but In Trelawnyd, the pensioner bungalows have all had their icy paths cleared and gritted by supportive neighbours
Chris has started knitting again.......he is halfway through a foot wide scarf at present!

Ice cold in.....

It rained yesterday and because the temperature dropped so low last night, the lane and field resembles an ice rink. The gravediggers cannot actually get through the upper layers of soil in the Churchyard which is a little worrying as they have a funeral to prepare for Thursday.
I have been warned today that a local "character" may be interesting in nicking my buffs after he learnt that they can fetch 30 quid each! Tis a bit worrying, but I have heard rumours like this before.
Sorrel goes home tomorrow and Chris gets back to work then too (I am at work tonight), so the cottage will be quiet again during the day! Not that I am complaining, Sorrel is a delight to "look after"