Going Gently

Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia (2009) can be described in one word.............charming.
Writer and director Nora Ephron obviously liked the celebrity chef Julia Child with a passion and the warmth and mischievous goodness of this 1950s despot pervades this intertwining story of her and of her modern day student's attempt to emulate her cookery skills.
Of course the casting is central in this witty and celebratory tale, and Ephron must have been cackling all the way to the bank when she signed up Meryl Streep in the lead role of Childs. Streep throws herself into the role which would be so easy to caricature,and in her own special way gives the larger -than-life chef a depth and natural warmth which is totally irresistible.
Amy Adams, who is no slouch in the acting department herself more than holds her own in the more difficult and more unsympathetic role of the rudderless writer/blogger Julie and the pair of women are supported admirably by Stanley Tucci as Child's devoted husband and the very sexy Chris Messina (below) as Adams' food loving spouse.
The film is overlong, and is slightly repetitive at times but it is a gentle and very funny celebration of all the good things relationships can bring to couples that really have affection for each other. And...I must say that I didn't miss the subtle sideswipe Ephron gives to the very narcissistic nature of blogging.
I think I actually subscribe to Adams' explanation of why blogging is important to her....."It gives me the essential short term goal I need" she explains.......I understand this brief comment only too well.
8/10....

Guilt

I am only typing this because I feel guilty. The retired poultry farmer from Lloc called this afternoon and completely wrong footed me by asking if he could come and "do the deed" with the cockerels tomorrow instead of Saturday.

In my mind I had a few days "grace" to prepare myself for the killings, now I have less than 24 hours! Of course I said yes and with a heavy heart I have caught three of the young males and have placed them in the shed with water and in darkness. They need to be fasted before being culled, and I want them as stress free as possible before the morning.

I know I have to bite the bullet with this, the less palatable part of country life, and the extra cockerels are just a drain on my valuable feed stocks, ....I just wonder that after helping cull these pretty young males, will I be able to eat them?

Turkey talk

We are heading towards the final few days of incubation for the turkey eggs. I have tried to candle the eggs several times but their thickness has stopped me seeing which are fertile and which ones are duds.. This morning I have bobbed the six eggs in a large bowl of warm water and the hopeful jump of three of the eggs gives me some optimism of a partially successful hatch.
Turkey chicks are the most delightful (and unfortunately delicate ) of creatures, I am so looking forward to have some by Friday!
Off on egg deliveries now! later it is Julie & Julia at Llandudno....review later

Bench Marking

I recieved this e mail from my friend Jonney H this morning......

I have no idea who Tracey is but can you please assure her that there’s at least one man in the world – or Sheffield to be specific – who bathes and shaves every day, changes his clothes on average twice a day and never eats a dinner that the cat walked over. Nor would I ever be seen in Sainsbury’s in my wellies – even in a snowstorm and that’s assuming, of course, that I have wellies, which I don’t.
Perhaps she’s American – or perhaps she just doesn’t know the right men. And I thought you homosexuals were all supposed to be preening Dorian Grays. Oscar would be turning in his grave!

PS: You know already how my sensitive nasal passages feel about doggy odour…

Reading it, I did realise I am long overdue for a Sheffield visit.....and it did make me smile! So in a sort of reply I must say that I have had a bath today AND changed my t shirt! and I have totally spring cleaned the living room, shampooed the sofas, carpets and cushions. I even dragged in an egg customer to "sniff" around to see if she could detect any wiff of doggy pong....I passed with flying colours.

When I am an old Woman, I shall wear purple

....at 47 I think I have now approached that time of my life when I can really appreciate Jenny Joseph's famous poem Warning.

Old (er) age does bring with it a liberation of sorts, but I do understand that things can be left to "drift" just that little too far, for decency's sake, that is.

So on reflection......there ARE a few things I need to address.

I must change my T shirts daily (and not every 3 to (oh the shame of it!!!)-6 days!)

I must shave every day....not every week!

The doggy smell that pervades the living room, and which is generally unnoticed by the two of us, needs sorting

I must not let Albert sniff, lick or walk on any food I am preparing on the kitchen worktops

I must clean all of the duck poo off each egg when I collect them

I must not wear my wellies when I go to sainsburys

Anyhow I think I am getting ever so forgetful too! Today I was sure I was on night shift but as it turned out I was in fact on a full day shift!....picked up the phone message from ITU at 11.00 am and had to go into work quicksticks!

Poor Chris has been on animal watch all day.....he is mega pissed off!

Lazy Arse

Bad hair day John

I just can't get going today.

The weather is glorious again, the sun is that azure blue, the colour you only see on holiday, and it is hot with a faint breeze.

Sure the main jobs have been completed, animals watered, a coop cleaned and disinfected, the "pond" (which is really a square mud hole) cleared out just a little more and of course the dogs have been walked, but despite all this all I really want to do, is to veg out in a deck chair.

So.....I thought.....bugger the digging and clearing away, I had planned for today.....I will have a sit and a think in the garden.

So here I am. Computer on lap, sat in the deck chair in the front garden, with only the blue sky and Meg (who is hanging out of the sitting room window) for company.

It is hay making time, and the steady drone of the farm machinery is a constant backdrop to the cackles and crows from the field poultry.

Not that I can get that much rest.....Mrs Jones called past and had a chin wag, then a retired poultry farmer from Lloc popped down for some eggs. He can keep me talking for hours on the vagaries of hen care which is always great fun..

Next weekend he has agreed to came round to show me how to dispatch my four extra cockerels. I must admit I am not relishing the killings but it has to be done......gulp!.

Coffee and News

During proper coffee time this morning I became interested in two stories on the BBC website. The first was a piece discussing the nominations for the 2013 British "city of culture" award...and I was delighted when I saw that Sheffield (below Sheffield Town hall) was just one of the nominations. Other possibilities for the title are Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Chorley, Bath, Cornwall, County Durham, Derby, Derry City, Gloucester & Cheltenham, Ipswich & Haven Gateway, Leicester, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Pennine Lancashire, Reading, 'The Countryside' and Urban South Hampshire.
Now call me a thick oik, but when were "Pennine Lancashire" and the ever so generic "countryside" defined as UK cities?........hummm I don't think so! And sneaking on the list, just under the radar is...............................and wait for this one.,......... Barnsley!!!!!!!!!!
Now for readers from other shores, I will try to describe Barnsley......think about all the bad you hate in a city centre---double it... then add a few hundred Essex girls (and boys), a score of Wetherspoon pubs (without ANY chairs), a liberal sprinkling of "pound" shops and not forgetting a good dose of racism.....and there you have it Barnsley...........Culture......NEVER! Never in a million years.

The second story concerned a small piece, originally in the Telegraph where PM Gordon Brown said he is sorry for the "appalling" way World War II code-breaker Alan Turing (below) was treated for being gay.
In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. Two years later he killed himself after he was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment" and his security privileges were removed, meaning he could not continue to work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
Now I am not a fan of gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but I do support his reply to Mr Brown's comments when he said a similar apology was also due to the estimated 100,000 British men who suffered similar treatment.
"Singling out Turing just because he is famous is wrong," he said.
However I guess it IS a start albeit 50 years too late.

Anyhow, the rest of the day I have been digging out a small pond....suffice to say I looked like a dirty old Irish Navvy when I finished (and smelt like and old sewer!)

Top picture the field at sunset