Non nobis domine

Now I just love a good "tracking" shot in a movie, and this one from Henry V is one of the best.
It looks terribly simple at first glance, but isn't....a great piece of cinema

Oh the pain

Well getting a pair of socks and pants on this morning was a Herculean affair! I could not bend or stretch at all and had to employ certain occupational therapy "tricks" from my spinal injury days to remain dressed and decent! (I won't go into details of how "difficult" it has been sitting on the loo!!)
The only answer to back pain is analgesia and mobilisation, so I have completed all the daytime jobs but have done so VERY.....VERY...SLOWLY. From time to time I have had to lie down in the grass to stretch my back muscles, and I must have looked a sight rolling around the dirt like an over-the-hill turtle on his back. I am getting just a little frustrated with the pain, I have tons of things to do this week..and all entail bending and lifting!

I had another enquiry about my poultry course this morning. As strange as it may seem, I now have 8 people who say they will attend my sessions that will start in July which is pretty exciting!

I designed some posters on the computer to advertise the allotment open day which is booked for the 5th of July and delivered them to the lady in charge of the village notice board as well as dropping one off to Jenny in the post office.

There was one other customer in the post office at the time, who encouraged Jenny to go! she had done so last year and had very much enjoyed our cakes!! "Very high quality" she remarked.

I can't believe that I blushed!

The sun came out this afternoon, and I caught up with some of the more "static" and less backbreaking jobs such as de-lousing the hens. I could only treat the more docile and tame hens, some of the older and more wary girls (like Whoopie Goldberg above) just hid away in the grass.

George tried his usual trick of egg stealing and came across an somewhat irate Lily sitting in her nesting box...after a brief stand off she chased him clean across the field. I doubt it will put him off.

Below is a photo of Pirrie. The little fella is too small to mate with the bigger hens in Stanley's enclosure, but he constantly gives it a go......even the most docile hen can batter him without worrying of any repercussion....bless he is just not up to the job!

Bariatric trauma

I pulled my back last night. I guess it was bound to happen to someone as we were short staffed and had three emergency patients admitted who all weighed between 250 and 350 pounds each!
By the time we had moved,sedated and re ventilated the last one, I think we all were on our last legs, and I am now paying for the cumulative wear and tear of bariatric nursing care .

I has a short sleep when I got home then somehow pained and resembling an old man, I watered the hens and ducks then set the buff cockerels up in their own run again. I have come to the conclusion that Clover and Popppy will have to go. They are beautiful roosters but are far too aggressive to the hens when mating. One of the buff hens (Kate Winslett) has a very nasty gash on her back, which I have had to treat with antibiotic spray, so in the interest of fair play the boys will have to go. I will of course keep the gentler and more friendly buff cockerel Scotty,who now allows me to pick him up every day.

The weather has been glorious today.(pic is the ancient 14th Century prayer cross in the Churchyard)

Is it me?

Now, when I am on two consecutive night shifts, I do not do any cooking, dog walking or housework. I will however sort the animals out on the field and have fed and watered them all this morning and again this afternoon.
So it is up to Chris to cook the main meal, and it is up to Chris to walk the dogs (albeit briefly down the lane).......and what an unholy palaver we all have to go through for the simplest of household chores to be completed.( he forgets that I usually complete 99% of the jobs)
We have the "tut,tut,tutting" syndrome when I use a glass and don't wash it up. We also have the Mrs Mop "take you wellingtons off before you come into the house...I have just cleaned the floor!!!!!" shriek, after I have been on the field!
Then I have to go through the hoops of stating how beautiful the Sunday meal is "I have slaved over a hot stove allllllllllllllllllllllllll afternoon!!" he says wiping a sweaty brow........and that is all before we have the long sighs at the amount of washing up he has to face afterwards.....
Sometimes I feel as though we live in the sixties!!!
bless........

Sometimes.................

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8064867.stm
Sometimes you just want (or need) to be badly behaved......mind you the Chinese guy that got frustrated with the traffic jam caused by a potential suicide jumper perched on a highway bridge took this just a little too far!
He walked up to the distressed man, shook him firmly by the hand and then promptly threw him off! (thankfully the guy landed in an emergency services inflatable !)
Years ago,I remember, a rather prissy patient's relative walked around my ward offering the staff pieces of fruit from a huge ornamental display in rather a patronising way.She had received this showy gift from her local MP and was enjoying the attention it had caused.....most of the staff took a few grapes or a satsuma but not I! It had been a very bad day, and I couldn't be arsed being polite. When she offered me a token I grabbed the huge melon from the centre of the basket and without a thank you walked off with it........

Apologies

apologies for the f word, but I just loved this poster......
sometimes in life we all have this sort of day don't we?

I have in fact has a busy, but enjoyable catch up day today.we got up early, I sorted the animals out and Chris walked the dogs and then we went back to bed for a lie in! which was a unexpected treat. Did the weekly shop, had a cooked breakfast treat in Sainsbury's and caught up with my sisters in Prestatyn. I think we are all going to Osborn House for lunch next Sunday to celebrate Janet's and my Birthday! Hopefully my brother Andrew and Jayne will come too,!
I am working nights tonight and tomorrow.

A night in

As a favour to a colleague I have swapped a few shifts and am now working nights over the weekend. Tonight we are having a quiet night in with Meryl Streep and Mamma Mia!....Frothy and totally relaxing.

It's been a funny old day, someone close to us is experiencing a bit of a health scare and dealing with the unknown is an awful and frightening time to say the least. Nurses are not really used to resorting to platitudes, we are trained to be sensitive and to give dollops of information and anxiety reducing knowledge, but at times when you are supporting a close one who is facing the unknown , sometimes all you do have are platitudes.
Oh and a small pretty sunflower in a pot!

Musical Coops

I woke up this morning dreaming that a tidal wave had enveloped the field! I guess that I heard the torrential rain bashing against the window, and so I was in two minds about staying in bed. But alas, pigs still need feeding and ducklings still need watering, so soaked I got, sludging around to and from the cottage and field.
Just two hours later, the sunshine burst through and I have been amazed that I have worked outside all day weeding the beds (above my cabbage and potato bed) and rearranging the field population!
First job was to set the five ducklings up in their own run. I nicked Bunny's ark, cleaned it out and put it into Rogo and the dog attack survivors' enclosure. Rogo's flock out of all of my hens seem to cope with newcomers best and do so with a degree of friendly alacrity.

Albert as usual spent the morning catching mice and stalking the ducks, who oblige him with a screaming hysterical girly "chase me, chase me" type reaction (below)

Susan (below centre) is almost back to her Normal self . I still feed her extra pasta and bread, and she has quickly learnt to take these build up morsels direct from my hand.

I cleaned out the small broody box and set Bunny (above), Mary and Roger up in it. I suspect it will be a bit of a jam between them all but I have now run out of hen houses. My friend Geoff has plenty of spare wood and has kindly offered to fashion up a bog standard box for me. It will be my 11th hen house!

I moved the two buff cockerels Poppy and Clover back into the buff hen run (a bit too early as the girls are still looking a bit bald on their backs after too much sexual activity!), but I needed to get their old hen house ready for two casualties of hen bullying!

One of the Andrews sisters and Mildred Pierce (above) have had their feathers pecked out by an unseen bully (probably done at night when the hens are roosting) and both are looking rather shop worn and untidy.

I thought it prudent to separate the two girls from their flock and I have set them up in their own run. Blanche will be joining them if she too loses any more feathers, and the rest away from the others, with high protein food and calmness will give the girls a chance to recover their condition
In between dog walking and egg delivery, I have also covered the bird damaged young cabbages and califlower seedlings with netting and chicken wire...it has been a productive day