Domestic trials

Because of the fox threat, I usually don't let the birds out until 8am, but this morning as it was warm, sunny and I had been awake, off and on since 4.30am, I got up early and did all the morning jobs by 7.30.
Chris is to blame for my ungodly morning shenanigans. He was up early, making tea and and probably planning research adventures in his brain ( which is the size of a planet)....unfortunately he has the flat feet of a middle aged dancer (he used to be a dancer in a previous life)...so clomps around the bare floorboards of the cottage like a penguin with clogs on.

As I sit here with the first coffee of the day, warmed by the sun in the window of the living room, I am quietly joined by Maddie. The other dogs and Albert have all retired upstairs to bed, so in the peace and quiet we can enjoy each others company for a short time.

I was thinking about Maddie yesterday. The signs of old age are beginning to show on her just a little now. Her eye sight is failing ( she has a tendency to trip over curbs), there are small rings of white hair around each eye and her tolerance for silly behaviour from the other dogs has diminished considerably, to the extent that she will stop dead any tomfoolery with a bark and a robust chest barge. She has effectively turned into a sort of maiden aunt, who dresses in black and who reads the daily obituary

It seems only yesterday that we brought the tiny ball of hysteria back from Nottinghamshire to our home in Sheffield. She constantly barked, covered every inch of the house with copious amounts of urine and refused point blank to be walked on a lead. Yet from day one of her arrival, Maddie was and remains consistantly loyal. She comes when called, sits when told and never causes us any concerns save for the occasional bout of constipation, to which she is prone .

She will sit within a centimetre of you, yet hates to be cuddled. She loves her food more than any dog we have ever had and loves to relieve herself in a deep cold puddle.......in short she "asks" for very little and gives so very much and is no trouble at all, I just find it a little sad when I remember (as I was reminded by my previously posted Kipling poem), that you never really own a dog for very long..do you?....sigh.............

Anyhow...enough of all this, I am at risk of getting maudlin. Today I am getting stuck in with the clearing of the back garden, tonight we are having our usual Friday night fish and chips and then will be going to theatre Clwyd to see ME AND ORSON WELLES, a film I missed on its first run

Spring Incubation

The girls have started to bang out the eggs now that the days are longer and somewhat warmer. Yesterday I collected two dozen from 30 laying hens, so I have had a small surfeit to sort out.

So the incubator is back in use on the kitchen top. In three weeks a motley group of chicks will hopefully be hatched, and the circle of life will continue quite wonderfully.

Of the original 12 laying hens I bought four years ago, seven old girls remain under the watchful eye of the geriatric Stanley. they are still laying eggs, which I guess is a sign of them being happy contented hens, here's hoping the new chicks will be healthy,happy and ALL FEMALE.....yeah right!

Smack the Pony - Don't touch the hair

a few years old now, but one of the funniest things on tv

Men of Harlech (Zulu)

An ideal dvd for a Wednesday night!
......and who said that the Welsh have no balls!!!

For Kim

The Power Of The Dog
by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

The Object of a pig's affection

Gladys is the quietest of my pigs, she is usually shy, and nervous of me, even though both pigs have been with us for just over a year now, and will just about allow me to touch her ear occasionally.

Today,she had the devil in her for some strange reason, and time after time, I caught her biting at the wire fencing of her enclosure, squealing and grunting at me as I cleared the remaining herb beds.

Finally I ambled down to the pig pen and sat down to see what was all the fuss about, and as if she had a personality transplant, she galloped over and started to rub herself on my knee in a fit of flirtatious sluttery!

I tickled her behind the ears and her seduction behaviour intensified as she concentrated upon my wellies, which she started to bite and suck on!

I had never seen Gladys like this before, so I had to put this uncharacteristic show of affection and playfulness down to a sudden rush of hormones.

I had to smile......to myself......

Chris and a pig called Gladys are the only two individuals that actually find me attractive!

Oh be still my beating heart!

Bette Davis - All About Eve...or Margo?

it's an old saying....but they DON'T make them like this anymore..........

All About Eve

The turkey pack cornered a single runner duck in the netting of their enclosure this afternoon and very almost pecked her to death.
I was out, albeit briefly, delivering eggs, so it was by sheer luck I got back before they had basically decapitated her.
Turkeys when they attack another bird, seem to do so, by concentrating on the back of their victim's neck, and like poor Gloria, the duck had a huge bloody wound behind her head.
I released the duck ( a pretty brown girl) and treated her with the trusty antibacterial spray, bless her, she was lucky to escape.

Anyhow, enough of the killer turkeys!
As I was preparing supper this evening, I found that my fav film of all time was showing on TCM.
All About Eve (1950), is a cracker of a movie.
To me, it is not just a bitingly funny and wry look at the vagaries of Broadway (and indeed Hollywood) but the movie ,does in fact celebrate those life long friendships we all have experience of.
Despite some of the artificiality of the narrative, All about Eve, captures the real ;love em and loath em connection between two couples quite perfectly. Mainly through the experiences of the two women in the quartet we see Margo ( Bette Davis) being a queeny nightmare of contradictions, yelling and screaming one minute, self obsessed and doubtful the next, where as Karen (Celeste Holm ) remains warm hearted and mentally the stronger of the two.
Yet through adversity (the scheming of understudy ), their on screen friendship remains strong and totally believable in the relaxed and natural ease of the acting (mind it was reported that Davis and Holm actually did not like each other!)....
as a study of deep real friendship, All about Eve, can't, I think, be bettered

I guess I noticed the friendship sub text of All About Eve, as I am very aware that I have neglected some old friends in Sheffield. It has been far far too long since my last visit and I am counting the days off when I can get over, which may be at the end of the month (money permitting) but certainly will be be in April when Nuala and I have planned a joint visit!
Having nearly a hundred animals to care for is a difficult juggling act to be able to sort out a day and night "off", but it isn't (of course) impossible. I just need to get my arse into gear and do it.... so Mike,Bev, Jane and of course Jonney, I hope to see you all pretty soon
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