Help Trundles in

The weather has closed in this afternoon, so my last minute strimming and weeding has been put on hold until tomorrow.
I have started to bake cakes and an apple pie for Sunday, and have been (nicely) interrupted by a steady stream of donations for the day!
Auntie Gladys must have been up at dawn baking as 60 neatly bagged scones were ready for collection at 10am, and this afternoon Pat braved the torrential rain to deliver two Bara Brith loaves.
Now for those that don't know, Bara Brith is a traditional Welsh fruit loaf where the fruit is usually soaked in cold tea. The Welsh name means literally "speckled Bread" and the loaf is served sliced with lashings of butter! It's delicious
Pippa galloped past with the dog last night stating she will bring her cakes on the day as will Heulwen and Pat's daughter Joanne, who has made a carrot cake. More sponges are winging their way from Sylvia from the Flower Show and old Mrs Jones ( the old farmer's wife I caught hanging on the back of a tractor a way back)
Chris, (the guy that owns Theresa the turkey on loan) is dropping off some old farming implements to display and another allotment holder Graham has just rung and agreed to set up a stall of his home grown produce for sale on the day!
Things are starting to come together

The Prestatyn Flower Show (and Boris update)

The Prestatyn Flower Show got off to a slightly wet but hugely successful start today. Entries were up a third on last year and must admit I was very impressed with the flower and vegetable classes
Janet ( twin sister above) wiped the board with firsts for her Orchid, Cut flowers and best garden in Prestatyn while Elder sister, Ann won for her floral art entries and nabbed the "best in show" award for one of her displays.......I was left somewhat in their shadows but was pleased I won a first for my beetroots!!!!

Below : a selection of show photographs:-

Janet's winning cut flowers

Cake and craft tent

The Flower and Vegetable Tent

My Beetroots were stunning!

Janet's winning garden

I had a nice mooch around the show with Meg tucked under my arm. We shared a ham roll and a cup of tea and listened to the Jazz Men musicians as the weather started to brighten just a little! I hope that our Trelawnyd Show is half as successful as Ann's show seems to be.

So this afternoon I am back in my dirty wellies and scruffy pants. Boris remains ill and droopy after his collapse yesterday. I have spoken to the new vet who is at a bit of a loss of what actually happened but suspects that because Boris has been so "preoccupied" with matters of the flesh,so to speak, he has become run down and has picked up an infection of some sort.

I gave him his antibiotic and sat with him for a half hour stroking his bald head. He looks very shaky bless him.

Crisis of confidence and a sex injury

I have a lot on today. I need to get my entries in for the PRESTATYN FLOWER SHOW, which opens tomorrow, and I still have tons of things to do before the Open day on Sunday.
I had a crisis of confidence about the day yesterday after I bumped into a few villagers who apologised for not being able to attend, Auntie Glad was one of those people, which upset me a little as at ninety she has always had the energy to ....having said this she rang with the offer of making a "few" scones for the day...... I had to laugh when she asked "will 60 be enough?"
I do so hope enough people will attend

So this morning, as I was planning which vegetable would be best to enter, I heard a strange dull thud and tuned just in time to see Boris fall to the ground after climbing onto Gloria to mate for the millionth time !
I ran over to find the old guy panting a little as he squatted on his knees and he did look pale and shaky. As he is normally fit and well, I have the awful feeling that he has suffered some cardiac type event after his mating exertions. How the hell do you take the pulse of a 15 kilo stag turkey? and what is a normal pulse for one anyway? I have no way of knowing
I know that hens run on incredibly high blood pressures and are prone to strokes and cardiac arrests, but turkeys?
Anyhow I picked him up and put him in the quiet of his hut with food and water and NO FEMALES to distract him. His head is down and he looked shocked which is not a good sign. I do so hope he will be ok

Last night I made black current jam into the wee small hours, and subsequently felt sick all night after tasting the jam too many times to see if the sugar had melted. The kitchen looks like a gypsy encampment at the moment, with everything piled up ready for Sunday. My sister Janet ( who is more than a list maker than I am) gave me her check list for the day and I think I have ticked every box so far.
Sometimes I wonder if it all worth the effort. after all , all of the money raised will be going to the
Church and not me! I could do with a few hundred pounds........I need a new hen house of the Ghost hens!
hey ho

A Little Victory

My babies have flown the coop, metaphorically speaking that is. Both Winnie and Jo, have been released in the duck enclosure and they have immediately taken charge over the three quieter magpie ducks. Out of , what looks suspiciously like devilment, they challenge the ducks with the typical neck stretch threats of adult birds, and tower over them even at the tender age of five weeks. I have tried to get them to come over and sit on my knee as they did only a couple of weeks ago, but theyare having none of it.

The Ghost hens have turned the corner too.(touches wood)

I sat and watched their antics yesterday, and all of them are now walking normally around their small makeshift run. They seem brighter and more alert in themselves now, and with some encouragement have even eaten cabbage hearts and sprout leaves, rather than their preferred pellets and corn.

They don't bicker or fight at all and will continue to lie out all together, even in the rain , but the frozen passivity that characterised their behaviour when they first came ,has all but disappeared.

The new hens have just about settled in to the buff coop. The delicate cochins with their big fat feathered feet that resemble scuba divers' flippers, are shy and nervous, but are comical looking birds..I have a feeling I will be buying a few more very soon......

Notre Dame De Paris 1 Temps de Catedrali High Quality

The French are not famous for their musical Theatre but I must admit this rousing "The time of the Cathedrals has come" seems to be the perfect start to the musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris)

Delayed Hysteria

I remembered a brief conversation I had in the village post office this morning,
and I have just realised just how funny it actually was.......

As I joined the two elderly ladies in the queue, I started to cough...
"Excuse me", I said " I have a frog in my throat"

The woman in front of me half turned,
" Better than a toad in the hole", she whispered

A one way street....and a kind gift

I have just received a lovely newsy e mail from one of my oldest friends Nia.(above) She was sort of apologising for not keeping me abreast with the news of her imminent birthing but quite rightly blamed her lack of correspondence on the blog! (and no I don't think you are are -in your words- a lazy fat tart!)
She reads Going Gently regularly (bless) from her home in Australia, so of course feels as though she knows everything of our news (not that much really happens) where as we know little of her news...perhaps EVERYONE should have a blog...then nobody would bloody pickup a phone or meet for coffee........no Nia it was MY fault for not asking about your news and I am sorry!

Anyhow the day has shot by in a frenzy of weeding. I have picked broccoli and black currents for jam too and was busy digging a live mouse from under the bed when the Postman dropped off a brown paper package.

In it was a jar of Elderflower and gooseberry Jelly (a wonderful gift from fellow blogger Kathy) at-http://the-cottage-gardener.blogspot.com/
And it tasted great!.....perhaps I should have said nothing here as Kathy now may be inundated with requests...
Thank you Kathy, it was very kind of you

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hellfire)

With all the plaudits being thrown at Toystory 3 , I wanted to flag up some of the more overlooked animated movies, which are in my opinion are classics of their own.

This is Tony Jay's towering performance as Frollo in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

Cracking