Shame

One of those soldiers killed by an Afghan police officer on Tuesday was Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith a twenty four year old Welshman. So far 230 young men have lost their lives fighting in a war that the Government has to justify away by quoting yet another reason.....personally, I have lost track of just why they are there...all I do know that like Millions of Brits I support the soldiers till the end, I just cannot find anything in me to support the war.

Deluge

The weather has been truly horrendous today. Heavy driving drain has lashed the village for hours and the field has become a quagmire. You cannot judge the heaviness of the rain in the above photo, but suffice to say that usually you can see most of the 83 animals inhabiting the field from this angle and in the photo not even the ducks can be seen!
Every animal had found a small dry corner in which to shelter.
I was hoping to start digging pig manure into the allotment beds today, but of course that was impossible so I have made a chorizo pasta sauce for tea, an apple pie and have properly cleaned the cottage from top to bottom.
However the dogs still needed to be walked twice today and eggs still needed to be delivered, so I have been soaked at least half a dozen times before 3pm...my chest is still wheezy and tight following my cold two weeks ago and I have noticed that this bronchitis has been getting worse over that last year or so.....I have an awful worry that I may be actually allergic to feathers- which is a bit of a bummer for someone with 76 birds!,,,,or is it just a case of getting older?
Speaking of birds (when DON'T I?---I am such a sad poultry geek! ) One of the turkey poults, the smallest bronze, is looking a little "droopy" today. Turkey chicks can succumb to illness out of the blue, so I have treated all of the chicks with some spare antibiotic and will ask the vet's advice tomorrow when I call up to collect a stitch cutter....(Albert's sutures need removing!)

This is my phone.....as you can see I am not BIG into flashy gadgets (I take as good care of my phone as I take pride in my appearance!) The back is kept in place by some brown tape and you can make out William's teeth marks all over the keyboard.....I was in the post office this morning and was texting a good luck message to Nu for a job interview, when I caught sight of a farmer eyeing up the wreck of the phone with a mild expression of surprise.....I look like such a dork sometimes!!
tee hee

Fish Tank

Coming of age movies are by definition angst journeys into the eternal themes of first love, life's disappointments and family dysfunction. Fish Tank (2009) covers all of these, but does so from the perspective of Mia, a 15 year old, hard as nails , R & B loving Essex girl, with an abusive child of a mother and a foul mouthed wisecracking younger sister. The three of them survive their loveless estate by bouts of heavy drinking, and for Mia, dreams of being a hip hop dancer.
With the sudden arrival of her Mother's charming Irish boyfriend Connor (the excellent Michael Fassbender) who shows kindness to the waring trio, Mia is transformed, that is, until Conner shows his real colours and disaster ensues.
A non professional 17 year old Dagenham girl, Katie Jarvis, literally explodes onto the screen as the sullen and angry, Mia, and she more than holds her own in every scene of this two hour film. It was incredibly brave for director Andrea Arnold to cast this unknown girl who she spotted arguing with her boyfriend on Tilbury station as the lead in this complex movie.
Not an easy film to watch, and not a joyful one, but I gave it 8/10
Nige,you would love it

Early Warning and Early Doors

Chris had just left for work early this morning in the "pre dawn" when Hughie started his "machine gun" warning call from his advantage post in the tall tree on the edge of the Churchyard. He was incredibly loud and insistent, so I donned my wellies and galloped heavily over to the field, where I was just in time to see the ghostly figure of a fox darting away from the turkey hut. All of the reinforced coops and houses were intact, but clear scratch marks could be seen on the nailed down turkey house door. (above)
Boris' sudden change from sweetie to defensive stag can be explained now, the fox has obviously been around for a while and his presence has sparked off the turkey's testosterone!
Thank God for Hughie......his ability to warn not only me but the whole of the field population (and dare I say most of the village) has carved him a lauded position in the poultry hierarchy. I think I will keep all six of the baby guinea fowl ....with seven "pairs of eyes" watching out for predators, the poultry will, I am sure be a great deal safer

Anyhow I caught the final re run episode of a slow burn of a comedy series last night, and I must say it has been one of the best things I have seen on television in a long long time.
"Early Doors" is a sitcom in the best English tradition of Northern Working Class humour. It is an ensemble piece, where 15 or so characters that frequent the early evening openings of a run down local pub in or around Manchester worry about (and I am quoting Wikipedia here) the daily issues of "love, loneliness, and blocked urinals"
Early doors works so well because it is so gently observational (but never cruel to) its target characters. As in the more popular but not superior The Royale Family, the working class is shown "warts and all" but also with a great deal of affection! For example we haveWinnie the pub cleaner (Joan Kempson) who

has a son in prison and husband out of work yet still retains a wily sense of humour.

Debbie -(Lisa Millett) , often leaves the kids in the car while she goes in for half a cider (but does get them some coke and Crisps) she cheats on her domineering husband (She says: "If it wasn't for here, work and putting the bin out, I'd never get out the house!")

John Henshaw underplays the sad but always battling landlord Ken wonderfully and holds the whole thing together with his gentle downbeat delivery.....

if you get a chance watch this little gem....its great

Off to see the film Fish Tank (2009) later

Leo

Chris ' nephew Leo is seven this month....This photo of him and Chris was taken recently in Broadstairs

Dressed To Kill (1980) trailer

I think this movie was one of Miss Dickenson's best movies..... a cracking "slasher" thriller!....it will going on my Christmas list.........

7 weeks to go

It has been a bit of a Christmas orientated kind of day.
At work the off duty has finally been released ( and I bet the sister responsible dropped it on the nurses station and fled the scene!)....of course I am working Christmas night shift! even though I requested to work New Year's eve night, but hey..that's the way the cookie has crumbled. Chris is livid..... but sees the situation rather to simplistically , ie by saying
"tell 'em you're not doing it"

As the manager who had to be responsible for the Christmas rotas, I know only too well the hoops you have to jump through to cover all of the shifts with the right skill mix.....and I used to dread the constant knocks on my office door as tearful staff queued up to ask for "necessary" changes because "Little Nellie needs me at home Christmas morning!!!".
Strangely enough, although I would have loved Christmas night off, I am resigned to completing the one off shift and won't complain about it. We will, I am sure, plan lots of nice things to do with my many other days off!
As if she knew my elder sister rang tonight inviting all the family to her house for Christmas dinner which will be lovely! This year above all others I think it is important , if not vital that we share some time over the Yuletide period
Christmas Eve I think I will accompany Chris to the service in Trelawnyd Church (full of Christmas sherry Egg Nog no doubt!) and Boxing day (after a small sleep) I do hope we will drive up to Denbigh to watch the Flint & Denbigh Hunt.

Christmas is always a happy time for us; the cottage with its fire and Homes and Country decorations (there is always a bit of a bun fight between me and my sisters, to see who will come up with the most classy decs!- ) lends itself so well to the season...
Mind you, I just wish that Chris' family were nearer to visit, so we can see EVERYONE at this time.

Chris is working late tonight, so I am sat feeling slightly Christmasy in front of a roaring fire. Albert is stretched out quite bizarrely on the hearth rug (above) but has now started to limp more of his poorly leg, obviously the steroid injection he had recieved into his arthritic knee is wearing off somewhat.

Monday Animal Update

With winter looming,the day is over almost as soon as it has begun.
Inside, the cottage is feeling somewhat like a very strange hospital ward; What with Albert and his deformed leg and William with his steroid induced frequency of micturition (forget a regular toileting and huge puddles suddenly appear on the kitchen floor!)
Last night Maddie had suffered from a fairly unfortunate stomach complaint,,, and had deposited a mound of waste the size of a human head on the landing carpet......suffice to say on my usual 3am journey to the loo (at 47 one needs to pee at least 6 hourly!!), I plonked a naked foot right into the centre of it!
Early mornings are not a good time for me, so I surprised myself with a tight lipped silence rather than a totally hysterical and more satisfying 10 minute swearing tirade of anti faecal abuse!
Oh the joys of animal care....
The summer chicks I have kept hold of are now all full grown and have just started to produce their first, tiny, delicate looking eggs. As I was feeding the flock this afternoon I realised that I had not named any of the new girls as yet.
Keeping with the usual cinematic theme the three hens above have been christened Halle (Berry),Michelle (Pfiffer), and Gina (Lollobrigida)...Bill (as in Kill Bill) is busy just behind them!

The last hen chick to survive this year's hatching is Blanche's single amber rock hybrid. She is a plucky little character and despite her size, she has so far survived unscathed with the usual bullying that can occur when adult hens meet youngsters for the first time.....I have called her Ripley
Meanwhile the hysterical guinea fowl chicks are magically looking less like normal chicks and are starting to resemble the bizarre looking adult birds........their heads seem to be shrinking , while beaks and bodies are growing .and at times they exhibit the shrill, machine gun type chatter of the fully grown birds.

The final update comes from the turkey pouts who are now just over 6 weeks old. Apologies for the poor photo but I think you get the sense of how these graceful little birds have developed from baby fluff balls to little versions of your Christmas dinner.

The five poults will be braking the elements hopefully by the end of next week...all I need now is another poultry house!