Reaping what you sow

Now I know I can be a fairly "assertive" individual at times, ( actually the word bolshy comes to mind), but I know I do make an effort to be sociable with people from the village and that sociability can have its rewards! and today was a case in point.
When selling eggs to neighbour Mike, I mentioned that I wanted a new "free range eggs for sale" sign, and he stated that he and his wife Viv enjoyed painting and perhaps could knock up something for me.Well today he showed me the first draft of the sign completed by Viv ( before it was to be varnished), and it was absolutely wonderful! People generally can be so kind I think.

Time after time I have received small but welcomed kindnesses from people here.......some free bedding from the red faced Welsh farmer, bags of home made scones tied to the front door from Auntie Glad, help with wall building from Steve, pasta parcels for Susan the sick hen from Joanne and left over designer bread all neatly packaged up from Pippa, left as a special treat for the pigs.
Carole and Ewan have babysat the dogs on numerous occasions, the birds have been locked up by Geoff in his designer wellies and vegetable cuttings and seeds have been left for me by the Camerons, who have planted out the new allotments at Bonk terrace........
I don't want to sound too sugary about all this, but I am very grateful for these small but consistently kind deeds!
I feel like a group hug!

Susan Boyle - Wild Horses -

Now I heard this on the radio and loved it, without knowing it was in fact Susan Boyle.....good luck to her, the girl has obviously done very well for herself....

GP visit

The weather has changed again! and although the wind and rain continues with a vengeance, it has become icy, icy cold! Old Mrs Jones has subsequently donned her hated slacks when she walked down today for eggs (she prefers wearing her usual woollen skirt), and I have finally found my warm winter hat lurking inside the sock drawer, and gratefully used it during the afternoon jobs.
This morning I went to the doctors with my week long assessment of blood pressure readings. As I walked into the consulting room, I noticed a grinning teenager sitting stiffly in the corner. The doctor didn't explain why his associate was there nor did he introduce him, so after I sat down I got the proceedings off to a bad start by saying to the teen "I presume you are a shadowing medical student, my name is John Gray...nice to meet you!"
Both medics looked suitably embarrassed and did apologise.....which was something.

Anyhow, all of my blood results (thyroid, renal status,liver function,glucose and electrolytes), turned out to be normal, which was a relief.....and in actual fact readings such as my cholesterol was down to 4....according to the doc, I was uber healthy, albeit on paper!
After reviewing my blood pressure reading the doctor stated there was no case to answer for and told me not to drink my usual extra strong filter coffee when working nights! it is all a bit of a relief really but it has been a wake up call for me and Chris to start to watch the weight again and cut down on the usual excesses of life.....

The rest of the day has been filled with jobs, the Christmas gifts I wrapped up last night have been sent (accompanied with the usual cheerful conversation with Jenny the postmistress) and I repaired the broken roof of the duckhouse. (Above photo my two buff girls Shula and Ruth, the chicks from my first set of eggs in the spring, taking some respite from the cold wind)

Chris is still away today, so it's another night in with the fire and the new Star Trek dvd

All Cosy

The wind had been gusting all day, but at least the rain has kept away. Chris has just woken me up with a "nite, nite" phone call, and all the animals have joined me on the couch as the gales whistle around the gable end.
This is my favourite part of winter, being warm and quiet in the dark living room illuminated by the fire.....
I have finally wrapped Christmas decorations I have bought as gifts for my mum in law and friends in Australia, Derbyshire and Sheffield, and will post them tomorrow
I am tired but the draw of the fire is just too attractive to leave just yet (above Meg in the gloom)

Why be a nurse?

made me smile

"You're my touchstone Emma!"

Now every middle aged Gay man worth his salt will recognise the above quote!....

Uttered by a slightly fey Patsy (Lisa Hart Carroll) to her dying best friend Emma (Debra Winger) in the sob fest Terms of Endearment...........the term "touchstone" has become synonymous with slightly angst conversations between gay men and their ( largely female) best friends.....

I always wondered where the term "touchstone" actually comes from in this, "you were always there for me" kind of meaning, and I was interested to find that it may actually derive from a character called Touchstone from Shakespeare's As You Like It. Apparently this character acted as a guide and a point of comic reference throughout the play, very much like the character of Emma did with Patsy throughout the aforementioned film.......which I thought very interesting...

My main touchstone ( and I have several of both sexes) is Nuala, and I can't wait to catch up with her in London on Friday! It has been too long since we last caught up.....she is definately my Debra Winger.........

Off to bed early tonight...Chris is away in London and I am shattered after a day without sleep after night shift.....

A Public display of Emotion

I am getting bored of the torrential rain showers. The kitchen is awash with muddy dog paw prints,Albert has tastefully dotted his wet feet over the table,windowsills and work tops and everywhere feels damp and dirty. I am so frustrated with it all I could spit!
I have emptied the wet straw from the pig hut and have filled it completely with fresh warm bedding, then filled each coop in turn with warm dry sawdust ( a gift from the red faced welsh farmer!), so at least most of the animals remain warm and dry.
The beach was so windswept that I was the only person in sight, so the dogs had a huge, cold gallop for miles along the sodden sand.
By the car park I noticed these floral tributes attached to one of the slipway signs. Apparently last year an elderly fisherman had gone into the water in an effort to recapture his small dingy and had gotten into difficulties and had died in the cold water.
Public displays of grief, such as these flowers are still not thought to be the "done thing" in Britain, I always think. There seems to be an innate snobbery by some that regard tributes as a "little bit common"....Reactions to disasters such as 9/11, Hillsborough and even with Princess Diana's death, where carpets of flowers, poems and cards literally covered everything in sight seemed to have opened the floodgates for public shows of emotion, and everywhere I go, little shrines of sadness can be found at kerbside or half hidden away on fences and road signs.
I have no problem with tributes like these. I just find them all rather sad, and certainly on days like today, rather forlorn.
If the relatives and friends of the departed find solace in leaving a few flowers and card, what is the harm of it?....hummm? Mind you, I suspect the jobsworth brigade in the local council department will be enforcing bylaws outlawing them at some stage, quoting the dreaded health and safety legislation......
hummm, the bad weather has soured my mood me thinks..........on nights tonight too!!! hey ho!

We Walk the Same Line

I had a text today from an old friend who is having a pretty hard time....I thought this cover of an EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL song......may help just a little.......
we have all been there in those dark night time depressive moments
xxx
ps love the cat running down the stairs at the end