Dawn chorus

I was up at 6am to walk the dogs (as a favour to Chris so that he could have a lie in) Only George was ready to go out into the black cold and boy was it extremely chilly and very still down the lane near the Church.
The only thing that was stirring were the three cockerels each in their individual hen houses. As we ambled past each one answered and re answered each other with their individual styles of call.
Clover, the fat buff has a baritone bellow, whereas Rogo remains loud but a bit reedy ( a bit like a 13 year old boy's breaking voice), Stanley always sounds a little half hearted- almost as though he is still half asleep)
Despite the cold I stood and listened to them banter away in the dark...thankful that the neighbours all have gotten used to the noise...........
I sorted out the animals at 8am, gave Chris his breakfast in bed, then walked the dogs again on the beach....which was bitter! When I got home at 11am the Church bell was ringing.......Chris had been given the honour of pulling the bell rope!
I am working tonight, so will have a gentle potter about for the rest of the day. We are expecting snow later

I am too old for all this

I am too old to cope with a ward night out.! I know I am a bit of a snob....but you know what? I don't bloody care..........I am too long in the tooth to put up with bad service, crap food and a clientele dragged up from tv's shameless........

However I was glad I could have gone to Mel's and Shelley's leaving do. Me, Hazel and the good natured Marie, did distance ourselves from the general banal banter........but you couldn't get away from the fact that the plough was a village pub with a local redneck clientele......

sometimes I do miss Sheffield.....

Almost there

The scala Cinema is almost completed. In two weeks time it is due to open its doors to the general public and still the official website is not up and running properly and no one seems to know what type of films and scheduling it proposes to present.
We had a look into the almost completed foyer today, and very nice (if not overly orange) it is too!

I worry just a little that the films may be just a little too mainstream for my liking, as the new manager may be more of a businessman than an "artistic director".

No matter! Just having a comfortable and potentially intelligent venue 11 MINUTES from the village is enough to make me feel excited, today I have put my name down for some volunteer work........being an usher.....potentially means free viewing!!!!

I am throwing caution to the wind this evening and am going to a colleague's leaving do at a local restaurant!......Chris is picking me up later.......

Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir - The Rose

The most recent addition to the village choir's videos.....I am still very nervous at auditioning

Pastures new

The white cockerel (Rogo's brother) has been finally picked up by a very nice lady called Paula from Bodfari who wanted a young buck to protect her four young black hens. Interestingly, her other main reason for wanting a cockerel was to stimulate and interest her son , who has severe autism, into animal care. She explained that the crowing of cockerel delighted her son and "involved" him importantly with something other than his own internal world.
I have promised Paula (whose friend works with autistic clients) that the next spare cockerel I have will be donated to The local training school for people with learning difficulties who potentially will react in a similar positive way to the roosters' call.

Anyhow as I caught the cockerel, Rogo (above with Belle) reacted quite spectacularly to his distress calls and launched a prolonged and rather painful attack on me. He slashed at my hands and arms with his claws and pulled my woolly hat off with his beak. If it was happening to a fox or dog I would have been rather touched by his show of protection!

I was showing off a little in front of Paula and her three children, so had to pretend it didn't hurt!! serve me right.

Starting the garden again and 13 happier ducks

Our cottage garden was a real picture last year (above pic), and typical of most herbaceous borders looks absolutely terrible in winter. In actual fact it looks rather like a small square of brown nothing at the moment,so I have braved the icy wind and have started the long process of clearing the weeds, dead wood and leaves.

The hysteria amid the runner ducks seems to have settled down somewhat. Five of the males are now gone (and are living quite happily with a poultry enthusiast in nearby Kinmel Bay.So the last two remaining drakes now have 11 females to mate with,,,,which by anyone's estimate is pretty good odds for any male.
Subsequently the females are not harassed by continual sexual advances and are more relaxed and settled than they have been of late! Of course If I wear different clothing than usual or put a hat on they haven't seen before we have to steel ourselves with the screaming add-dabs.


The night is cold and windy, so I am glad I have not gone out with Hazel. With the fire on, the cottage is cosy and warm, just right for a night in with every animal asleep ( pic: Albert nesting nicely with William) I caught up with friend Nige on the phone (only we can have a half hours conversation on the merits of the disaster film Deep Impact), will have a long bath with Patricia Cornwell's latest then will settle down with a good dvd!

some dogs you can train...

Both George and Maddie can now be safely left along side the hens. Every day they have mingled around the hybrids with only the occasional interested sniff and chase. Maddie being the older, more-stuck-in-her-ways terrier, has found it harder than the more playful George, but after two smacked bottoms (Maddie cannot cope with the smallest criticism from either Chris or myself), she has accepted that the birds are now "out of bounds"
Above is a photo of George and one of the black hookers

William and Meg will never be left unattended anywhere near a hen. The chicks in the shed are now getting more vocal, the more bored they are becoming with enclosed life. William cannot contain his excitement as they bicker and fight together, and will stand like this for an age, listening to the banter. Today he stood at the door for a good hour or so.

Quiet Chaos

It's been a long while since I have seen an Italian movie, so I was happy to catch Caos calmo (2008) (Quiet Chaos) at Theatre Clwyd this evening.
It is a strange but interesting portrayal of a grief reaction. Pietro ( the bassett hound faced Nanni Moretti) is widowed after is wife dies in a freak fall. Unable to face his emotions, he camps in front of his daughter's primary school every day, waiting for her to finish her studies. As he sits, he comes into contact with locals, family and work colleagues, all of whom seem to have huge problems of their own.
Quiet Chaos, unlike its Hollywood counterparts doesn't have the climatic catharsis of say Ordinary People, it just plods along until a sort of closure is obtained for a man whose relationship was not quite what it at first seemed. Moretti has a certain charm as the quietly anguished husband and Alessandro Gassman is equally impressive as his fey younger brother, but the film itself bounces a little too much from whimsey (the sweet relationship between father and daughter) and shock( a very uncomfortable and gratuitious sex scene between Moretti and a women he saves from drowning!) for my liking!
An ok 7/10