Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus

Happy St David's Day!
(Remembering Welshies across the ocean)
x

You can take the boy out of Rhyl........

.......but you'll never take Rhyl out of the boy!
(for those that don't know Rhyl is a grotty seaside town 5 miles away)
The "stunt double" for actor Benicio del Toro (aka The Wolfman) is no other than local boy Spence Wilding, and at the cinema tonight he was there at the Scala (supposedly answering questions about the film and signing autographs for a quid!).....mind you, when we entered the cinema he was sat down in a cinema seat chatting to someone on his mobile phone!...so we missed any interesting insights he might have shared about this uneven, cut-to-hell and rather miscast horror movie.
I can understand why del Toro was chosen for the lead. Craggy faced and mean and moody looking he has the "look" of wolf even before all the CGI kicks into gear, but unfortunatly he sorts of sleeps through the mayhem and gore which is set in and around a rather untidy and decaying Chatsworth House ( that doubles for Blackmoor house). It is a long time since I have seen such a lacklustre performance from a leading man.
Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins fare a little better as del Toro's chaste love interest and father respectively, while Hugo Weaving gives his chief inspector Aberline, a rather lugubrious and pleasing twist. And rather surprisingly an ancient looking Gereldine Chapman even pops up briefly as a gypsy wise woman ( with some dreadful looking dirty nails)
Having said all that, non of the impressive cast can save this rather unoriginal and at times rather boring movie which obviously suffers from a bit of over zealous editing, which is a shame.
Mind you, some of the action sequences are truly horrific and rather suspenseful to watch, especially when the wolfman runs amok against the obligatory Yorkshire villagers! ( and better still a Gypsy encampment), but in general I was disappointed by the whole Gothic romp thing.
Sorry Spencer! in the end I am glad I didn't fork out a pound for your autograph
6/10

Sunday

Sundays in winter are quiet and nondescript. Chris has gone to Church this afternoon (the vicar mentioned in the service that two of my chickens had welcomed him at the vestry door!), while I pottered around in the cold and wind. The dogs had extended sleeps in front of the fire as it is freezing cold today while Albert (above) relaxed on the kitchen table
My cousin, Carol and her hubby kindly called around with an old family bible this morning to show us some family photographs (including one photo of my great grand parents, who I had never seen before!) and later in the afternoon Chris made a huge banana cake and dollops of custard for tea...which was a nice treat.
Tonight we are off to the cinema to see The Wolfman (we really want to see Chatsworth House on film)

Sell a couple bottles of Doctor Good

In response to my brother's illness, my sisters and I have been asked to participate in a genetic research project. I say this only as a backdrop to a conservation we all had last weekend, when we brainstormed the well known tv programme phrase "Who do you think [you all] are!!

From basic family hand-me-down history, we do know that our family tree (on my Mother's side) has its origins in Wales, Liverpool, Northern Lancashire and Ireland whereas my father's father heralded from central Scotland. But it is my paternal grandmother's family that provoked the most discussion. Short, dark skinned and swarthy we are now convinced that the ancestors of my Granny Gray and the likes of her brother Dyson came from perhaps Eastern Europe, and that "slightly ethic /"Mediterranean colouring has found itself working down into the features of my nephew Chris, who could easily pass an an Italian "Uomo".
I know all of us are mongrels of sorts. especially given the mobility of populations due to economic need in the last century, so perhaps we should not be at all surprised that the "Grays" are not just pure red headed Celts from the hills..............

My sister Ann is convinced that we have "gypsy blood" somewhere around somewhere......I can't see that myself.....especially as I have a healthy aversion to caravans, gold earrings and old Cher songs!

No News

There is a lot going on in the world......according to the BBC, Britain's economic growth has grown 0.3% during the past three months, the NHS Trusts in Wales is millions overspent,and another UK soldier is killed in the war in Afghanistan.....

Closer to home Chris has secured a multi figure research bid for work and a practice nurse from Rhyl wins a national good practice award!

Here in Trelawnyd, the cold weather, sleet and snow is back, the dogs have all had diarrhoea overnight and I have spent much of the day shampooing the carpets.

Be still my beating heart....the excitement is almost palpable!

Mind you I have broken the greyness of the day by looking for rosettes for the Flower Show Committee members to wear at this year's show. The Internet has opened up a hitherto unknown world of double ruffs, knife and Box pleat, ribbon tails and personalized centre logos.

And I am in two minds whether I shall plump for gold foil or satin for the best in show rosettes......

I am working tonight, so with William still looking a little wan, I will leave the exciting world of rosettes for a brief hours sleep with my sick dog........

Not every blog can be a work of art

Happy Birthday Maisie

Happy Birthday Maisie
Uncle John & Uncle Chris
xx

Wild Flower Border,Funeral Turkeys,Strawberry Beds,Potato digging and the Island Girls settle

It's been a busy day here on the allotment.
And I have only stopped once (above) to drink my coffee and eat my bagel alongside the turkeys

I raked and levelled the plot of land by the stream that was churned up by the gravedigger who kindly scoured the stream banks a few weeks ago, and seeded it with four bargain boxes of wild flower seeds I bought from a discount shop in Prestatyn this morning. (below) I am hopeful that the eager beaks of the chickens will not eat the majority of the seeds and that I will have a beautiful backdrop of field flowers come the early summer.

The new turkey stag is growing at a rapid rate of knots. He is taller than Boris already but still retains the gentleness of a poult. I have become quite attached to him, but have agreed for him to be picked up next week. He is off to the other side of the village to be a mate for a lone single female at another small holding.

Mind you my turkey population will be growing by another two adolescents as soon as he goes, as my friend Eirlys has asked for me to take in her two slate turkeys as she no longer has room for them.
I saw my neighbour Pat this morning. She is the lady that lost her husband a few weeks ago, and during our conversation she commented that the turkeys provided a welcomed moment of lightness during her husband's funeral, as they "gobbled and called out" as the mourners walked through the Churchyard. So much so, that one of congregation could be heard "gobbling" back at them as the procession moved forward.

Pat commented that the horses in the riding stable fields (that adjoins my field), as well as the hens, ducks and turkeys all give her some solace when she visits her husband's grave.

"With all the animals around....it somehow makes the place even more peaceful" she said kindly

The strawberry plants which were a kind gift from Sandra's allotment have been planted up in their own bed (above) but have suffered somewhat from the snow and rain, so I don't hold out for their chances.

This afternoon I have started to dig over the main potato plot (below). and plan to finish all of the allotment preparations by next week. The bad weather has put my work schedule back at least a few weeks.

I let Thelma, Laura and Audrey out of their run today to join the rest of the field population. I have never had Rhode Island Red hens before and they are quite beautiful looking birds. I think I may get a few more.

Tosh

Sometimes you just need some mindless rubbish to settle down to on an evening. For Chris it is his box set of Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson) while he lies on the couch with a blanket; for me it is a routine thriller with a bit of action and pretty leading man.
I was going to see something arty with Hazel tonight, but there was absolutely nothing on in theatre Clwyd and our local Scala, so Chris treated me to a nice bottle of white and a dvd.
As it turned out, the dvd called Whiteout, was total tosh, but it was noisy, occasionally exciting and did have a pretty leading man (Gabriel Macht), so I will forgive the holes in the plot and the dreadful acting..........