No news day

Not much has happened today- The Scotties have had their winter haircuts , and both are exhausted from the nervous energy spent with being forced into having a day with strangers.

Finally I have moved the remaining four turkey poults from the claustrophobic shed, into their own coop and run on the field. Two weeks shy of three months old, it is way overdue for them to be "outside", but I wanted to be careful as the little buggers are delicate and susceptible to illness and cold. I am still not sure what sexes I have yet, so I have not named them...with the disaster tha befell poor Wellington, I am loath to take the chance until they are a little more robust

Sandra, from the Flower Show committee has branched out from her single allotment in the centre of the village by buying some hens and two weaner piglets. Both pigs are quite delightful and have been placed on another allotment in order to clear the weeds. I couldn't get a good photo of them this afternoon as the light was fading, but you can make out William's head after he clambered up on the stone wall in order to watch them rooting through the brush

Christmas Song

I was sent this video via email this morning from mum in law Sorrel, I am not quite sure if I think it is cute or ever so slightly creepy

A fan

Now It may surprise some people but I have always been a fan of the tv music show Never Mind the Buzzcocks .. the latest team "leader" is the odd looking Noel Fielding, who over many weeks I have found to be one of the nicest (yes, you can tell!), sharpest and funny stand ups on tv.
I really enjoy his humour AND his humility!

A Case of Less is More

Now I am a little snobby when it comes to Christmas Decorations.....and with thoughts of Yuletide "trimming up", much to the fore, it is definitely a case of out with the tinsel and in with the real Christmas tree!

Trelawnyd is lucky when it comes to public shows of Christmas. Thankfully we are spared the gaudy, Blackpool illumination-esque shows that are dragged up every year in the nearby villages of Dyserth and Meliden, and mercifully we do not have to suffer the fake Christmas trees ( green tinsel wound around a few wire coat hangers) that have been propped up on the shops in Prestatyn.

In Trelawnyd, the village has gone for a rather minimalist approach, as today I spied the conservation group members erecting the single village Christmas tree outside the Memorial Hall.

I always think that when it is lit, the small tree looks rather valiant and brave against the austerity and darkness of winter. It stands alone, with no beaming Father Christmas's or flashing neon "NADOLIG LLAWEN" signs to overshadow it...(Nadolig Llawen is Happy Christmas in Welsh by the way) and I must say the tree always looks appropriate and welcoming in its central spot.

Tonight, with Chris still away, it is a case lighting the fire and finishing off the Christmas cards. I am crammed onto my sofa with all four dogs and Albert in tow..(not one wants to sit on Chris' sofa), Our friend Nigel is visiting Friday and Saturday and I am due to work on Sunday, so at least with Chris away I can concentrate on card writing tonight

Last Year's Christmas card

This was last year's Christmas card....I have not got around to design a new one this year!

Winter jobs

Overnight the wet Autumn has been turned into an icy winter. as temperatures have dropped dramatically. The frost was thick this morning before I let the birds out, and I did feel so sad for Hughie (centre of pic) who has spent another frozen night up in the Churchyard elms.

Tonight I have gotten my usual lists ready and have started my Christmas card writing, which I think is a tradition that has become somewhat out of vogue the more we gallop into the paperless Internet noughties.
I love writing, sending and receiving Christmas cards. The best cards, of course are the carefully written ones sent through the post and part of my own ritual is the anticipation of knowing who has written which card. after it "plopped" comfortably on the door mat.

With The Royal Mail practically defunct, and with people feeling that cards are no longer "green" or indeed necessary the thought of the dreaded E -card taking over, is, in my opinion a step too far in this energy saving, slim lined world!
Christmas cards take effort and some thought in their execution, by taking a little time to write the card, address the envelope and indeed to lick the stamp before posting, you are saying to the recipient "I am making this effort to remember you"...and to me, that is never a chore...

Ho Ho Ho

The cottage is still this evening as the animals crowd around the fire, Chris is still in Glasgow, it is quiet not having him around

Back to normal & A Serious Man

Again Chris is working away for the majority of the week, so with the weather cold but dry, I have gotten on with outside chores for over eight knackering hours. All 13 coops have been cleaned of the wet steaming bedding that has almost gone mouldy in the damp weather and fresh bedding has been laid down in them and in the pig hut. The baby Turkeys and guinea fowl are still holding their own in the shed and have been cleaned out too and I have arranged for local feed shop owner Helen to deliver an old unwanted shed to the field, which should house all of the turkeys including Boris and Gloria. The guinea fowl can then be housed in the old turkey house and the circle of animal movement can continue.I even had time to fit in a bout of dog bathing

Hopefully I can catch up with some more good cinema this week with Hazel. She wanted to see A Serious Man , but I think was glad she didn't after I gave her my slightly lacklustre review of it this morning.
I was disappointed with A Serious Man. Typical of the Cohens, this voyage down the vagaries of fate and life of a1960 middle class Jewish Professor, centred about the misfortunes that beset people, but unlike their previous movies, all of the bad luck that visits academic Larry Gopnick (the excellent Michael Stuhlbarg) is not of his own doing. In characteristically deadpan black humour, we see Gopnick's career,homelife, family and health crumble around him , and although I could appreciate the humour and pathos of it all, I found the whole film rather exasperating and just that little bit indulgent and irritating
I gave the whole thing 7/10...... and thought to myself as I left the cinema, that the whole excitement over the film was perhaps a case of The Emperor's New clothes?

London Photos

We had a lovely informal chatty dinner party last night. Annie Lennox (lookalike and indeed soundalike), Jen (left) kept the conversation animated and fun and it was great to catch up with Nu's hubby, Jimmy (right) too.

It has been ages since I have felt so sophisticated!

Kew gardens is probably one of my favourite places in London, and was quite deserted yesterday. Below is Nu in the vast Victorian glass house, which you can see more clearly from my "action" shot from the treetop walkway (second below photo)

The walkway was an amazing experience and as I have already mentioned was a truly terrifying experience for me, even though we were only 59 feet in the air.

Organic sculptures of seeds (fashioned in willow) by Tom Hare, were dotted all around the grounds and looked wonderful in the Autumn sun. We spent most of the relaxing day ambling around talking and laughing....

Mindful of the fact that Nu doesn't often have time to catch up with her work obsessed hubby, I reluctantly left them early today to have a mooch around London before my train this afternoon. Typically the weather was dreadful, so I treated myself to an expensive visit to the cinema to see A Serious Man. (Mini review tomorrow)