"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, "(Margo Channing)
Red Update & The Village Rectory
No I am not bored!
Baby Quail, unlike most baby birds I have looked after seem calmer and more placid when handled and moved. Red and his compatriots seem to be doing just fine in their converted parrot cage in the shed and now resemble slightly long legged sparrows.They are cute as buttons.
This afternoon I finally finished cleaning the last (number 18) bird house. and was busy cutting sunflowers for the house when neighbour Pippa walked past. She said that she had seen my blog entry An Autumn Trip Around Trelawnyd and was surprised that I had not photographed her house , the imposing old rectory which nestles behind the church.
This tickled me pink,( another local reader!!!) yet I explained that the reason for me omitting her house was the fact that it is so tucked away and not easily seen from the public main road. Pippa gave me permission to take a few snaps for the blog and take them I did this afternoon.
I love the rectory and would love to live there. Built in 1840 it is perhaps the grandest house in the village.and has the quirky distinction of having "painted windows" on certain aspects of its facade.
If you look closely both windows on the right of the front door are and have always been painted in, presumably to maintain the symmetry of the house!.
6.50
It is just before dawn ( the time when Everything but the Girl says "you are most forlorn"), and I am wide awake after Chris' size 12s have "tap danced" their away over the cottage's ancient floorboards.( he was due a lie in this morning but woke up early and decided to go to work!)
He has now just taken the car leaving the dogs all snoring beside me and the guinea fowl shrieking at something unseen in the long grass.
From where I am now lying, I can just make out the black silhouette of the hills behind Rhuallt and the lights from Gentleman farmer Ralph's farm are the only ones I can see. beyond the hawthorn hedges and rolling fields behind the village boundary.
The view across the valley from the Gop |
Our view right across the valley probably put an extra 20 thou on the price of the cottage but I dont care. It is a view I never tire of, even in the semi darkness and gloom of pre dawn. Very slowly the sky lightens up the field borders and the badger or the fox that is upsetting the guineas will disappear allowing the birds to quieten, and giving the cockerels time to crow in their own hen houses.
There is a stillness in the air that is quite lovely, a stillness that is only broken by Albert, who is, as I type this, clambering onto the bed to greet each sleeping dog in turn with a gentle face rub.
If I could bottle this brief moment in time and sell it to city slickers, I would be a millionaire
Postscript: Anyhow the romance of the above scene soon dissapeared somewhat after I donned wellingtons and coat and braved the first frost of the autumn.......my fingers are now stiff and cold after cleaning 4 chicken coops out before breakfast!........
Heartbreaker ( L'arnacoeur) and Guinea Fowl Bullies
Alf (the blue) and Hughie |
The Dog Whisperer
Meg looking worried |
Cucurrucucu Paloma
Now I know absolutely nothing about Spanish music. I have a smattering of knowledge about Spanish Cinema but that is about it when it comes to the arts of a country I have perhaps visited two dozen times.
Last night whilst Chris was indulging himself with the period drama Downton Abbey ( I am sure he was hoping to see the sexy footman snog the even sexier Duke again!), I contented myself with a gallop through youtube!
This is a wonderfully delicate song by Caetano Veloso from the movie Talk To Her....I had forgotten just how intricate and beautiful it is..............
I love YOUTUBE. I really cannot be bothered with the happyslappy or overtly silly! but I do absolutely love those rare little clips from the more obscure movies that nearly everyone else (with the exception of those like minded geeks) have forgotten
Cottage History
Arfon's Uncle and Aunt lived in our cottage for many, many years, and originally the main back door of the cottage opened directly onto the street. Our Kitchen window is where the old door was situated (you can see the outline clearly) and behind the cottage (where our kitchen extension now lies) used to be a small byre for a few cattle!
I told you I wanted to find out a little more about our home..... Arfon and his baggy shorts is certainly a start