Arse into gear

list for the week.
1. Start clearing the back garden ready for some more cottage flower planting. Last year the garden looked lovely (above)
2. Finish clearing the final vegetable bed and plant the first of my potatoes, broad beans ,shallots and onions
3. Paint the pig house and pick up fence posts for the new pig run
4. Set up the first of this year's fertilized eggs into the incubator.
5. Start to chicken proof the vegetable beds

Happy Mother-in-laws day

Its mother's day today.
Happy Mother's (in law) day Sorrel
x

Lizzy cooks her goose

Lizzy(Left) and Jane (right) are my two female poults (I have had to rename the two stags Darcy and Bingley) and one of them, has somewhat of an evil streak. Gloria has been sought out yet again by one of them and her neck wound has been extended and deepened.
I moved Gloria and Boris into the furthest enclosure and caught the aggressive female turkey (it turned out to be Lizzy) venting her frustration on the diminutive Bingley.
Note to self: Lizzy will be fattened up and eaten very soon!!

Kes flies again

The former thriving holiday resort of Rhyl (6 miles away to the north) is now one of the most deprived areas in the whole of Wales. Unemployment,antisocial behaviour, crime, drugs,a change in the holiday habits of the nation and the credit crunch have stripped the town of of its previous "splendor" making it a truly depressing and unattractive dumping ground.

Mind you, I was interested to read that a local initiative has given hope and a purpose to three young boys from the town, by enrolling them as apprentice falconers.

It is hoped that by training these three lads in the ancient discipline, then the seagull nuisance on the Promenade areas will be drastically reduced.

I found the story a hopeful and positive and of course the influence of Ken Loache's 1969 film Kes, has not been lost by myself or the local media at this time, which is not always a bad thing.

Perhaps I am riding a little higher and more hopeful in the wake of seeing Precious drag her sorry arse out of the ghetto on Thursday night......perhaps I am just tired of hearing bad news story after bad news story from the trailer trash capital of North Wales......who knows?

All I do know, is that there is a therapeutic benefit to be had by constant animal responsibility a fact which has been seen ad nauseum in Hollywood, in literature and on tv.......(remember The Yearling? Lassie Come Home? Tarka the otter? The War Horse? The Snow Goose? Marley and Me ? etc etc)

It is a fact we all know, and I think subscribe to......perhaps more initiatives like this should be supported.

Time for an apprentice me thinks

Exhaustion hysteria.

Intensive care was extremely busy today. It was the usual story....too many critically ill patients and just enough staff to cope with them!
By mid afternoon the constant pressure got to us all... and we, the nurses indulged in a bout of stupid behaviour (joking around with a somewhat perplexed and overly serious radiographer) and a short burst of hysterical giggling at absolutely nothing!
In eleven and a half hours I have looked after one high dependency patient and two intensive care patients.
Give me humping a ton of stones around in my field anytime!

Wall Bore

I have got bored with the mess around the wall repairs, and in a fit of queeny control freak(ery) I have moved 42 wheelbarrows of boulders and stone from one side of the field to the other. Islwyn will be able to use this surplus to line the stream bank in the graveyard.
By 4pm, my legs and arms had turned to jelly but as you can see from the following before and after photographs, it was worth the effort to get things ship shape.

(Above) The original breach in the wall, where the hens happily climbed up into the old Churchyard

The new and improved Church wall, complete with a secluded dining area!!! (and wheelbarrow)

Anyhow, enough already with wall news....even I am getting slightly bored with it all now! Tonight is a treat night for us as we have Fish and Chips for tea! (American readers may have to google fish and chips!) We also throw caution to the wind and indulge ourselves with a large side order of mushy peas ( more googling required here !!!), after which I aim to climb into a very VERY hot bath with Homes and Antiques magazine, to soak away the soreness of today's work.

I am working all day tomorrow, so Chris is on animal watch (which should be fun) He and Boris have not seen each other for a while, and the turkey, I think, is ready to kick some Dr Chris Burton ass!!!

Precious

I was more than dubious about watching Precious as I was not at all sure that I wanted to face the story of an poor,illiterate black, pregnant teenager from Harlem and her efforts to escape a terrible abusive home life in the ghetto. After all, The Lovely Bones, depressed me far too much on Tuesday night!
I was surprised by Precious; for, as a film that chronicles the systematic abuse of a morbidly obese and emotionally stunted girl it is strangely uplifting and at times daringly hopeful. It also has flashes of laugh-out-loud humour amid the frightening set pieces of vile behaviour and violence which gives the audience some respite from the depressing subject matter.
Precious is played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe (top photo),, and her giant bulk hides her emotions wonderfully giving the character the flatness of effect which is perfect for the role. She looks like an inscrutable giant, so any sympathy the audience has for her ( and you can almost feel the sympathy roll from the audience in waves) is wonderfully deserved.
The acting honours however must go to Mo'nique (the actress and comic-above) who is simply stunning as Mary, Precious' contradicting, violent and mentally ill mother. Her performance is reigned in , just the right side of evil monster and is a revelation.

Mariah Carey (right) is also quite impressive as a social worker involved in the family's case. She gives an intelligent, wry and rather subtle performance which really,really surprised me.

Mind you, not everything in the movie works as well as the acting. Some of the school scenes do feel a little like something from " the Ghetto kids from fame" but director Lee Daniels , to be fair, keeps these to an absolute minimum, relying on the gritty, painfully ponderous and desperate need from Precious to find happiness to move the emotions.

With some great acting, Precious is one of the most upbeat "abuse" stories that I have ever seen.
9/10
Go and see it.

One foot in the Grave (yard)

The wall is all but finished! This morning I got into my stride with dry stone walling and with Islwyn taking the lead again we cracked on through till the afternoon quite nicely.
Ok I need to wrap up the work with small filling stones and flat "topping" stones to give the top of the wall a good appearance, but I am pleased as punch with the result.

The weather is lovely but will be cold later as the skies are so clear. so I have taken advantage of the warm afternoon by completing some gardening and mucking out the pig run.

Chris is working late tonight in Cardiff, so I am off to see Precious with Hazel....Oh joy, another film about Child abuse.......sometimes don't you just wish you could sit through a Walt Disney movie....?