Gladys covered in yolk after scoffing a spare turkey egg
Pirrie and the buff chick who may or not be a cockerel.Both are only 9 weeks old
Daffodils on the border of the graveyard
23 hen eggs and 8 duck eggs. No bad as we have only 9 female ducks.These type of television charity nights usually leave me rather cold, if not a tad nauseous...but I did enjoy Robert Webb's straight faced version of Flashdance!
From Left to right -Me (aged 22!) Sandra, Steven,Leslie Brint,Paula (Po),Noreen and Mike(The Class of 83)
As I was dog walking today, I got to thinking about the charismatic and driven Harvey Milk.(See last Wednesday's blog) As a gay rights role model, he was an inspiration to a generation, if not a whole country and people with his kind of vision and leadership often have a profound effect upon the people they meet.
As I walked , I thought about the inspirational people, (and there has been several) that have touched my life over the years. Ok , none of them has the fame of say a Harvey Milk, but all do retain his level of importance in as much that they changed lives!
Leslie Brint was one of those characters. Back in the early 1980's he was the allocated personal tutor to my September 83 Student Mental Health group, and acted as our mentor,teacher and role model for the whole of our three year training!
As many conscientious objectors during the war, Mr Brint was sent to work in his local Psychiatric hospital and I suspect his enlightened views of patient dignity,patient advocacy and his absolute hatred of poor nursing care, especially that given to the elderly mentally ill, would have shaken the asylum old guard to the core!
Our Nursing group was young , malleable and with a couple of exceptions very Liverpudlian. That fact alone meant that were were not always an easy group to challenge and to mould, but Mr Brint in his own quiet and dignified way did make us question our motivations and practice and did help us develop into top notch psychiatric nurses. He never raised his voice, (he never had to), nor did he hide(or apologise for) his religious roots and love for the theatrical (he taught us all to ballroom dance in one lesson so that we could all attend a elderly ward's social night).He was camp as a row of tents, he laughed long and often and he always celebrated the strengths of his students without any ridicule of our weaknesses. Our loyalty to him was justified and sincere.
I always thought Mr Brint to be a nurse well before his time, especially when It came to experiential learning. He spent hours in our teaching time, encouraging us to explore our feelings and self awareness,looking back on it all, he was our therapist for a full three years!
I remember discussing one red letter day with him and our group just after my first elderly placement on a long stay elderly ward (it was termed psycogerries back then).....I find it strange that the memory comes to my mind just now:-
As a student nurse working in the last days of asylum care, life was sometimes a little tough! My elderly placement was on a ward called Dunham Ward. The place was a bleak Victorian prison like building with a Nightingale dormitory for 24 senile men and had a staff of five per shift to care for them. Early shifts were a never ending slog of washing,toileting,changing, feeding and bed making. It was relentless and at times soul destroying, but generally the staff were upbeat and friendly and placements were usually only 12 weeks long!
One day I remember making the patients' drinks in the kitchen. I was tired and fed up, so was carelessly slopping tea into the variety of nhs cups and feeder beakers.Our kitchen was shared by our "sister" ward called Daresbury, which was the female version of Duham ward, as I brewed the tea I could look out from a serving hatch into the ward's day room, where 20 old ladies were all slumped in their chairs which were all set up against the walls!
As I stood there, I could see one male visitor sat presumably with his wife. He was drinking coffee from a flask and she looked as though she was asleep. I remember she had her grey hair in a small tight bun. Slowly he put down his drink and holding onto her hands, he eased the lady to her feet. I thought he must have been preparing her to go to the toilet, but he didn't call a nurse or do that thing that carers have to do from time to time,and that is to check for wet spots!, he just pulled his wife to her feet and held her close before he started to dance with her.
The woman staggered at first and then they both tottered around for a while, but slowly muscle memory kicked in and the couple started to waltz passably around the big room , infront of 20 pairs of unseeing eyes. It was an incredibly moving moment and one that remains with me over 24 years later! In seconds, I had learnt the incredible lesson of the importance of personalised and holistic care.
I remember Mr Brint's emotional smile when I recalled the story in class. By realising the importance of this little moment, I knew I had made him proud of me.
It was a nice feeling
Today I set up sweet pea, runner bean and pea supports, and organised in my mind this years allotment planting. By erecting a few bamboo poles, the whole character of the field has changed from muddy brown winter moorland into a miniature farm! Chris' old white plastic electric fence poles (the ones he had when he owned Pippa), have come in handy and will support several rows of doubled chicken wire. I will plant pea seedlings in the centre of these structures, hopefully the chicken wire will support and protect the seedling from eager beaks.
I have no broody hens at the moment but I bet it won't be too long! Last year several of these moody broodies caught me unawares, so this year I have set up a separate two enclosures in which to house them. Sue and old school friend has today donated her children's' old rabbit hutch, which will make an untidy but safe nursery for a hen and her chicks
The field now looks like an Ukrainian village circa 1850! The ten motley hen houses and the newly painted pig house cover the entire space now, and all that is missing is chimney smoke and a couple of tiny old ladies with shawls and no teeth!! 
This afternoon I was approached by a brother of an old friend, who has a son who wants to raise chickens. The little boy, who is around 10, wanted to look at an established flock, so I was happy to give him a guided tour alongside his parents.
Mind you Sean Penn gives a wonderfully bravura performance as Milk, and is quite captivating and charismatic in every scene of the film, he clearly deserved his oscar The San Fransisco setting looked lovely and I cannot believe we are off to the city in 4 weeks!!! .All in all I gave the film 8/10.
I spent too long on errands in Colwyn Bay this morning. I drove there to sort out some paperwork for the nurse bank, and the whole process dragged on a little too long for my liking. I took the Scotties with me so after the signitures were finished with, we all had a long walk along the promenade to Rhos-on-sea. (above) 
I got home around 1pm only to find Boris excitable and very vocal. Gloria was nowhere to be seen, and Boris has obviously panicked when he realised he was alone with the hysterical runners. After a quick scout around, I found her crammed into the small duck house, where she had fashioned for herself a large deep nest!. As she tiptoed out (looking a little guilty) she left behind a large white single egg! Bless!....I was so excited, I collected up the little gem and put it into the incubator in the kitchen with Connie's 7 eggs ( the only white runner duck). I do hope the egg is as fertile as Connie's.....I candled them all yesterday and all are showing tiny spider like embryos suspended in the thickening albumin
Yes, a large cast iron bath which has suddenly appeared on the allotment does seem like an unlikely addition to the field, but I am now in the habit of not refusing any gift when it is offered.
The above patch of land is the only bit of the field not grazed,cropped or inhabited. Today I have cleared some of the grass so that a selection of hardy meadow wild flowers can be seeded. I tried to sow them here last year without success, so fingers crossed for this summer. I have bought a load of American flower seeds from the net.