A hunt above the village,

For over a week now, the quietness of the days have been interrupted time and time again with the sounds of shotguns blasting pheasants out of the sky and at every turn on our walks, small flocks of nervous birds seem to be hiding away at field borders and on the bridleways.
After taking Albert to the vets for his xray and removal of the K wires in his femur, I loaded the car with the dogs and the five juvenile cockerels (the "sons" of Kate Winslett) and set off for the animal sanctuary in Greenfield. I had found the "boys" a good home in a large and leafy run, which seems the best bet for their future rather than for me to cram their skinny little bodies in the last remaining shelf in the freezer.
Rather surprisingly as we drove over the hill to Llanasa, we slipped into step with a whole array of horseboxes, hounds and hunt riders.
Watching a hunt in full "sail",is amazingly exciting and impressive and I look forward to the day when the conservatives finally reinstate the populist fox hunting laws.
Hunts in my experience are populated not by the stereotypical "toff" (whoever that is) but by no nonsense country people who run country businesses. The effort that has to applied by rider and animals in your average hunt is, I am sure, huge, and even though the outcome (ie the death of the fox) doesn't always sit right with me, the chance of escape is at least more balanced than say the odds taken by the fluttering pheasants before a large shoot.
Anyhow, in between transporting animals all day!
I have got nothing else done. But I did manage to pick Albert up before dusk. He had been sedated for his xray, which showed gross arthritic changes in his old fractured knee. The old wires had been removed but seemingly the prognosis for a proper recovery is questionable-(what ever that means!)
The orthopaedic vet wasn't available to to discuss her findings, so I had to be content with a less than detailed reading of the operation notes by the receptionist....I have arranged for the vet to call me at home to discuss her thoughts on the matter, but I suspect that in the future he may lose his leg
The plucky little chap, with his painful leg re shaved and stitched, woofed down several small portions of cat food when he got home and then fell asleep on the bed with his paws clasped tightly around my arm.

vets again

I could have done without the dead badger.
At 9am I loaded the car with dogs and Albert in his pet carrier and drove to Caerwys and the vets.
I was greeted with the usual and ever-so-slightly resigned "Good Morning Mr Gray" from the nurses and receptionists who have seen more of me than my own family has over the past few months. The vet was running a little late, so leaving Albert safely in the car, I grabbed the opportunity to take the dogs for a quick walk.
As it turned out, the walk was a fairly bad idea for down a country lane the Scotties came across the delightful, putrefying body of a large badger.
With great deliberation Maddie and George nose dived into the carcass, rubbing themselves excitedly with the rough hair and tissue which had the consistency of watery fat. The smell was truly indescribable! and by the time I had shoehorned them into the boot and returned Albert to the surgery, I was almost puking out of the car window.
Anyhow, before I could get the Scotties home for a bath (above pic is George) , Albert had to come first. The vet could not rule out a re fracture of his old broken femur, but thought the old wiring was the cause of the problem. She gave Albert an anti inflammatory injection and booked him in for an xray and possible surgery tomorrow morning and pointed out a grossly swollen and painful looking knee joint. During all of this poking and prodding Albert lay in a good natured repose on the examination table, and even had the good grace to clasp the veterinary nurse's fingers gently in his paws when she came over after recognising him. He is such a sweet little chap.
It was cold on the way home what with every window open, and it took a whole container of dog shampoo (and a whole load of dettol) to get the stink of dead badger out of the dogs' coats.

The turkey poults are growing quickly now, and still look depressed

The hysterical guinea fowl chicks, contemplating more screaming and pointless running in circles

The X Factor 2009 - Danyl Johnson -

Chris has been following x factor more than I have, but I must admit this performance by Danyl Johnson was a corker !

Neuro vascular observations

Neuro-vascular observations continue two hourly in the intensive care unit of the spare room.
Albert's leg remains warm (thank God) but he is still not weight bearing,so obviously he has damaged himself fairly badly. He is, however eating and drinking fine, so hopefully I won't have to rush him into the vets today, but I just won't count on that just yet.
He will be xrayed tomorrow afternoon, then a decision will be made .....I can't believe it is only 9 months since he broke his leg originally.

you have got.........

Left as a comment on my blog on the BNP
I thought it deserved an entry of its own

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

Poor Albert

Albert went missing this morning. Now, I know it is usual for a tom to disappear from time to time, but Albert has a clear and easily readable routine and "not being around" is not usual behaviour for him. Before shopping and the usual weekend jobs were completed I searched the gardens, field and graveyard but could find no sign of him.
So with that nagging worry that all is not well, I took the dogs for a walk down the now leaf strewn Gypsy lane (below), took some Autumn photos of the most photogenic William (above) and then remained busy for the rest of the day.

By 5pm the little fella still had not appeared, so I decided to re check the garden. After a half hour of poking under every hypericum bush I found him cowering in the dark!

The problem was of course the leg he broke last November, he was holding it up and would not put any weight through it. My heart sank.....to me, it looked as though he had re fractured his old break!

We placed him in the spare bedroom with some food and water ( which he ate) then checked is leg which seemed to be warm, but incredibly tender.

The emergency vet has booked him in for Monday for a full review unless he stops eating or his foot suddenly goes cold tomorrow.....then I will have to rush him in for some immediate action.I am doing an extra shift at the hospice on Monday too!

Bless, the poor little chap has been through so much already.......there is always something isn't there?.

ps I didn't post a photo of Albert given his condition!

Pig prison break II, Pumpkins and BNP thoughts

Morning brought me the now "usual" scene of the escapee pigs tucking into the bird food yet again! They have eaten over eight kilos in just over two days, and now look slightly constipated with the drastic change of diet!
Having said that, all it took was a fairly sharply shouted swear word from me, and both pigs turned on their trotters and ambled back to their enclosure with a smug, slightly swaggering air.
All morning I have reinforced their fencing yet again.......if they get out once more I swear I will land mine the surrounding grassed area.
Above is Gladys just after she discarded her favourite "toy", a disgusting and dirty tarpaulin! she has been dragging it around after herself for days now and even slept with it last night.

The rest of the day I have been completing necessary jobs in between chatting to neighbours. The red faced Welsh farmer called around for a chin wag and I spent a useful few moments helping Trevor with his Internet worries (I always like helping the 80 year old silver surfer as he always rewards me with a welcomed snickers bar!!)
This evening I have made the obligatory pumpkin lantern from my spares on the field, the fire is lit and the cottage is warm and welcoming......and speaking of pumpkins my thoughts have drifted to the BNP leader's fiasco of last night's Question Time.

Question Time made for electrifying television last night. I found it fascinating that Nick Griffin thought that the other panel members would have given him an uninterrupted free range to peddle his watered down fascist immigration ideas without touching upon his awful documented statements on gay relationships, the validity of the Holocaust and his support for the Klu Klux Klan.
As it turned out the more articulate and obviously well prepared panel and audience turned on him and foolishly, time and time again he let the veneer of professionalism slip to show his real bigoted colours (I had to laugh when he said the sight of two men kissing was slightly creepy!"---the sight of Mr Griffin kissing anyone, to me would be ever creapier) Anyhow, I am glad that despite his best efforts to reinforce his party's stance on immigration, it was left to a conservative Muslim woman (Baroness Warsi) to propose the only detailed policy on the subject.
I suspect that most of the followers of the BNP will see in the debate what they wanted to, and to be honest, as a moderate lefty, so did I....but I do so hope that those people that used their vote for the BNP as a tactical move to comment on justified worries of overpopulation and unchecked immigration, will now see the party for what it truly is.
I listened to LBC with interest this morning, and several BNP Supporters that called James O'Brien did admit to being shocked at the "previous" behaviour and statements by Nick Griffin....which were highlighted by audience, panel and indeed a smoking David Dimbleby!
Having said that, there were many others that rang in support of his ideas on immigration.....perhaps they did not hear the too few too late policy discussed by Baroness Warsi....
Anyhow, Griffin just didn't cut the mustard in the debates. and looked suitably uncomfortable when challenged by the likes of the gracious Bonnie Greer....his dreams of being taken seriously within a grown up political forum were for me, quite clearly dashed.......I hope so hope they were.........and for good..............

Smart pigs, pies and Nick Griffin

I have been re repairing the pig enclosure all morning, with a whole set of new stakes and sledgehammer it has been rather lumberjack-ish on the field!
Last night with smartness governed by the love of food, both girls broke through their fencing yet again, and set off on a raiding party to fill their faces with the chickens' layers pellets from the plastic feed hopper.
Unfortunately for the girls, I witnessed their break for freedom and cut them off at the pass, as it were, with a hastily grabbed yellow yard brush.
As Gladys (above) trotted up past the allotments, grunting excitedly to herself I jumped into view with the hated brush in hand.
Immediately she stopped dead, gave me the once over and realised that the game was up (If she could of muttered "oh shit" under her breath, I think she would have done!).
She also realised that she was in for the usual wrestling match and brush pushing in order for me to return her to the pig enclosure, so with tail stiffly erect, she let out a piercing scream and legged it!
Nora, who is larger and fatter than Gladys,was just squeezing herself through the hole in the fence and forewarned by Gladys' hysteria, immediately backed up and returned to her hut like a naughty little girl.
For me this was lucky as for the next 20 minutes I had to concentrate on cornering Gladys and with the yellow brush held in front of me like Alec Guinness with his light sabre from Star wars and rather expertly (I thought) ambushed her by the Jerusalem artichokes.Victoriously I then gave her a sharp smack on the rump which sent her screaming back to the pig pen in defeat!
Pigs just like dogs, know exactly when they have done something wrong
This afternoon, I made the most of local produce and picked a load of blackberries from the hedgerows. Now, I am not the best of cooks but even though I do say so myself I am a passable pastry cook, so I knocked up a blackberry and apple pie for tea with the ease of Mrs Bridges from Upstairs downstairs!
Is there no end to my talents?

This evening I will watch Question Time on tv with some interest. Nick Griffiin the odious BNP leader will I am sure manipulate his way to some sort of credibility during the televised discussion programme, and will I am certain hide that dark side of the party in favour of pandering to middle Britain's fear and irritation of immigration.
I hope that the other panel members highlight the BNP leader's "dark" disgust in gay rights issues and his denial that the holocaust never actually took place...perhaps then people will actually see him for what he actually represents!
Racist and homophobic scum!