No Internet! hen's toilet parts and shopping

I am writing this blog entry on my netbook's notepad, as our Internet connection is down at the present time.......which is a bit of a worry.....can I cope without my daily blog "fix"?...perhaps not, which is more worrying, I think I am more addicted to my daily diary than I would ever admit
.....Yesterday was dominated by one of the buff Orphinton's gynaecological type of problems....by luck I noticed that she was a little quiet and on impulse as I walked past her I reached out and lifted her up. on inspection I saw that she had prolapsed her vent and was dragging a medium sized egg around with her. To explain this to any "non hen" owners. The immature hen had tried to lay her first egg and it had got suck in her"tuppence!", after straining, she had managed to expel the egg but had prolapsed her "bits" as it were with it!......are you still with me readers???? anyhow very gently I removed the egg and cleaned her bottom with antiseptic and tea tree oil. The prolapse was more than I could deal with at home ( I am baffled with any female nether regions) so I sat her carefully on the passenger seat of the Berlingo and took her up to the vets.Luckily hen expert Zoe was on duty and deftly she sewed the prolapse back in place (with me acting as scrub nurse) and then dusted the ripped membranes with antibiotic powder.She gave the poor girl an injection of antibiotic with instructions for me to give her a further 2 injections at home and then to remove the sutures in 24 hours. I placed her into the spare cage in the shed with the guinea fowl and left her to settle in the dark.Time will tell if she pulls through, but I suspect a peritonitis may claim her in the end.
Today everything is "stable", Chris was up at 6am, having a lively conversation with the BT internet technical team, as the broadband still was not working!, whilst I hid under the duvet with the dogs desperate for some more sleep. I took him to the station at 8am, returned home, checked all the phone plugs and hey presto! broadband working!!!!
I am so excited, I treated myself to a blog and an extra strong cup of coffee!
I think I may need the caffeine! Taking sutures out of a chicken's bum, is something I have never done before, and I think I may need some fortification. Please forgive me if I don't photograph the "operation" for the blog!
As for Christmas! I only have Chris' main gifts to get, which will be the job for tomorrow. Of course there are a couple of smaller gifts I have forgotten.....the "secret santa" gift at work; a small "thank you" pressie for the sister that has allowed me to come in work late on Christmas Night and a couple of others.
Today is cold and frosty.......it is starting to feel like Christmas

Jennifer Jones 1919-2009

It was with some sadness that I read today of the death of the actress Jennifer Jones at the age of 90.
A nervous and mentally fragile performer, she gave some memorable performances in films over four decades, but of course to me , she would always be best remembered as the widow that fell out of the scenic elevator in The Towering Inferno

Miss Pole steals the show

In film, I am driven with performance and the acting rather than the just the visual mise en scene. It is the dialogue and characterisation that interests me, so of course I knew I would enjoy the "one off" Cranford Christmas which aired this evening.

Who wouldn't enjoy the wonderful ensemble cast of British theatre Royalty...Judi Dench,Jonathan Pryce,Francesca Annis,Julia McKenzie,and Barbara Flynn, they all make this reworking of Elizabeth Gaskell's original novel highly entertaining, but I didn't quite enjoy this second visit to early Victorian Cheshire as much as I wanted to, as writer Heidi Thompson had literally over filled the whole thing with wall to wall characters, many of which we had never seen before...

Thank God for the brilliant Imelda Staunton who plays the vital and hilarious Miss Pole (above), with a face twitching with constant indignation under a succession of bonnets, her clever portrayal of a village gossip had me chuckling into my dressing gown!

Snow at Dawn

Dawn, was all cold and crisp and even this morning. Now we cannot compare our meagre precipitation with the downfalls experienced by North America overnight, but for me, it is quite enough to be coping with, thank you very much. Everyone in blogland are posting photos of snowy backyards...so not to be outdone, here goes

Halleh, slightly uneasy with snow which he has not really seen before. Tonight I will try and put him into the duckhouse with the other runners, with a bit of luck he will realise that trying to shag the hens is not a good idea.

Scotty, my most gentle of cockerels with his five hens (Sheila,Faye,Jennifer,Patty and Maureen), these five hens were the only surviving hens from a fox attack at my friend Helen's farm and seem to be very happy here in their new home.

Bill and one of my two buff hens from this year's brood....I have just realised that I have not named them yet

Yawn!

Not too much to report today.....a long busy shift looking after a seriously ill patient that actually looked like Father Christmas! made the whole day feel ever-so-slightly surreal!
Now I am curled up on my couch with Meg and Maddie.........Strictly Come Dancing final in on the tv, the Christmas lights are on and Chris is frantically dialling for Chris Hollings to win!
Christmas has been made just that little bit better, as work has allowed me to start work at 10pm rather than at 7.30pm.....it means I can now have an unrushed dinner with the family instead of darting off..... happy days !!!!!!!!!!!

Panto

We have started to realise that Christmas has its own traditions here in Wales, and one tradition that has kind of sneaked up on us is the annual trip to see the Theatre Clwyd Pantomime.
Unlike the more common versions in say Rhyl and Llandudno. The production at Mold, is more a "musical" in nature, and seems to have all the best bits of panto added on for good measure!
So in tonight's performance of Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, the small ensemble cast belted out musical numbers from the likes of Meatloaf, Springstein, Clapton and even Michael Jackson in between the usual camp-as-Christmas semi dirty double entendre and panto dame with comedy breasts running amok amid a packed audience.
Theatre Clwyd's productions are always talent filled. The cast not only act, sing and dance, but they play a whole orchestra of instruments and literally fill the auditorium with energy and noise.
I must in any other season of the year, I suspect I would not really enjoy this brash, well tried formula of musical theatre, but in December, it all seems great fun"
Thanks to my sister Ann for organising it all

Poorly hens and a scratching dog

I have so much to do today. I am working all day tomorrow, and today I need to clear out most of the mud soaked coops today as well as doing some last minute Christmas postal shopping for Chris, which needs to be posted today.
The ice is thick on the ground this morning ( at last!!!) so the pigs can actually walk across their enclosure ON TOP of the mud! which must feel wonderful after months of cold deep mud!
One of my oldest hens (The last member of the 4 Andrews sisters) looks droopy and ill today. I have tried feeding her up over the last week, but her appetite has tailed off drastically. So I will try and catch her today to give the old girl some TLC.....however, I think that it may be her time

William has another vets appointment next week. He has some sort of allergy which means that he is constantly itching and biting at his fur and although being on very expensive hypoallergenic dry food, he remains irritated, which is awful to see.
The poor chap has had three courses of steroids which have helped, but I want to find out exactly what the allergy is ( apparently dust can be a trigger! which is a bummer in this house with all the coal dust flying around)

anyhow, I have almost finished my breakfast coffee. My wellies are standing ready by the back door and a hundredweight of poultry poo awaits!!!

Sexy People

Sometimes you come across some gems on the net..... Sexy People is just one of those blogs that is fascinating in a car crash type of way.

Concentrating on "professionally" posed family portraits, this site is as funny as it is an important social and historical document

check it out at http://www.sexypeople-blog.com/

Above is Glen and his, not-to-be-crossed mafia Mom

As for home, not a great deal has happened today. The weather is icy cold tonight, the baby turkeys have been given extra straw for insulation and I have spent a challenging afternoon teasing out a mass of irritations and problems by an ex patient.