......that you could not possibly think of something to blog about on this dark and dismal autumn day, you experience the surreal kind of of conversation that kind of lingers in the mind.
Beryl an elderly neighbour of ours, braved the blustery rain at teatime to pay me for some eggs that I had left for her yesterday. She is a little unsteady on her feet, so I offered her my arm and guided her back up the lane to her car and as we walked she said brightly
" I had an xray the other day and the doctor told me I had a foreign body lodged inside my pelvis!"
"Really!" I said.... ever slightly at a loss of what to say
"I know what it is",she continued laughing to herself " I rolled onto a needle during the war"
classic
A lesson Learned
After agreeing with Tom Stephenson on the irritating nature of the character of the simpering Kathy Perks in
The Archers....I got to thinking about things that really ( and I mean REALLY) irritate me.
Now despite my occasional grumpy demeanor, the list "of the hated" is not as extensive as I perhaps once realised.
This morning as I was filling the animal water feeders I started to make a mental list to myself of all the things I don't like, and was busy chatting to myself as I was doing so ( a girl walking up the lane to catch the school bus obviously thought I was a bit of a lala)........
This was the start my original post for today, but on reflection I think it would be a little inappropriate to be bitching about the small things in life that piss me off. Yesterday when he was at Church, Chris volunteered me to help take the donated foodstuff from the Harvest Festival service to the homeless shelter down in Rhyl.
Although I am not in fact a Church goer, I am always more than happy to help out if the Church requires a hand with this or that, so I turned up promptly at 9.45 to help clear the Church windows of the scores of tinned goods,packets and fresh fruit and vegetables.
It's funny that as soon as we entered the Church , several pairs of helping hands suddenly turned up out of nowhere to help load up the cars and I was amazed that the small congregation in Trelawnyd had donated so much produce for charity .
People, especially in Britain can be rather sniffy towards "do gooding Church work".....I think I can understand this, as we all seem to have a slightly "Dad's Army" view of old fashioned drafty village Hall Jumble sales and old lady arguments over who is doing the Church flowers, but the reality of something like today's car loads of food, to me, seemed rather valiant and rather nice.
The staff at the homeless shelter were genuinely touched and surprised with the amount of produce we delivered this morning.It was obvious that such gifts were not the norm, and it surprised me that I was indeed humbled by the the whole brief experience
The Archers....I got to thinking about things that really ( and I mean REALLY) irritate me.
Now despite my occasional grumpy demeanor, the list "of the hated" is not as extensive as I perhaps once realised.
This morning as I was filling the animal water feeders I started to make a mental list to myself of all the things I don't like, and was busy chatting to myself as I was doing so ( a girl walking up the lane to catch the school bus obviously thought I was a bit of a lala)........
This was the start my original post for today, but on reflection I think it would be a little inappropriate to be bitching about the small things in life that piss me off. Yesterday when he was at Church, Chris volunteered me to help take the donated foodstuff from the Harvest Festival service to the homeless shelter down in Rhyl.
Although I am not in fact a Church goer, I am always more than happy to help out if the Church requires a hand with this or that, so I turned up promptly at 9.45 to help clear the Church windows of the scores of tinned goods,packets and fresh fruit and vegetables.
It's funny that as soon as we entered the Church , several pairs of helping hands suddenly turned up out of nowhere to help load up the cars and I was amazed that the small congregation in Trelawnyd had donated so much produce for charity .
People, especially in Britain can be rather sniffy towards "do gooding Church work".....I think I can understand this, as we all seem to have a slightly "Dad's Army" view of old fashioned drafty village Hall Jumble sales and old lady arguments over who is doing the Church flowers, but the reality of something like today's car loads of food, to me, seemed rather valiant and rather nice.
The staff at the homeless shelter were genuinely touched and surprised with the amount of produce we delivered this morning.It was obvious that such gifts were not the norm, and it surprised me that I was indeed humbled by the the whole brief experience
This afternoon I took the dogs up the Gop were we sat and watched the rabbits gambolling through the dark woods. Tonight I am working an extra shift on ITU, so will grab an hours sleep covered in dogs before I go
harvest festival
It was harvest Festival service in St Michael's , so the village was a little busier than on a "normal" Sunday Morning. Before Desmond rang the Church Bell calling the faithful to Church I walked back home through the village after taking the dogs up the Gop.
Right in the centre of the village Peter Vincent had found a large dog fox dead in his garden, which I was pleased about..he suggested that it was something it ate out of his bin that had caused its death, which is not a good advertisement for his wife's cooking I would have thought!- but we both agreed that for my chickens' sake ( and for the small but rapidly growing village population of garden hens)- it was a good thing.
I walked past the Church as Gwyneth sped towards us in her electric wheelchair.Before she went in for the service she stopped to pet the dogs and didn't notice William sneakily peeing on her tyres. (Hope it didn't leave any urine stained tracks on the Church flagstones!)
Chris dashed out with his sainsbury's bag full of tinned goods, pasta and tea (the Church is collecting the food for the homeless shelter) and I went into the field to video the runners as the Church Bell rang out.
Sorry you can't see the ducks too clearly....they remain terribly nervous and have not acclimatized to the stresses of the outdoors as yet.. but you may get the gist
On to some more good news
This recognition of a "modern day" good, and God fearing woman will, I hope do the Church some good. It's about time it had a bit of good press for a change...I wonder if Mary will become the patron Saint of Abused Children........? That would be a good decision me thinks
Matt Cardle sings Just The Way You Are - The X Factor Live show 2 - itv....
I had to re post this video again! and he is still as cute as one of my geese!
Welsh Reality
OK, OK, it is a tried, tested and totally artificial scenario.....we have seen it all before, but this production, from what I can see, has the benefit of some detailed and meticulous research, a particularly tame white Sussex hen and some feisty actors who have been conscripted into playing the "local characters" such as the local Minister and butcher.
I'd love to give this sort of thing ago...the costumes pander to my slight enjoyment of the theatrical ( I can see myself in that very fetching hat the guy on the right has on!) and the "pulling together in adversity" is all very disaster movie-ish!
Alas, I don't think that welsh reality tv is ready for a middle aged camp old queen with a love of poultry, dogs and Bette Davis movies...just yet!...............hummmmm perhaps next year eh?
Beetroot and Bennett
I have been pickling beetroot all afternoon.
The cottage smells like an old chip shop and I am sick to the back teeth of the colour purple.
So it was nice to lock up the hens at 6.30, spray the vinegar out of my skin with a liberal squirt of Clinique "Happy" and drive to Llandudno to meet Chris at Venue Cymru to see the National Theatre touring production of the Alan Bennett play The Habit of Art .
North Wales has just two main theatres. Theatre Clwyd in Mold is the more "arthouse" and Nationally recognizable theatre of the two and produces its own, often very well received productions whereas the more populist Venue Cymru in Llandudno caters more for the "variety" holiday and senior market and mainstream travelling productions...Personally I prefer Theatre Clwyd but occasionally something more interesting turns up at the llandudno venue...so tonight's night out was a bit of a treat.
Desmond Barrit (below), with his over stretched cardigan and booming voice makes for a somewhat likable if not grubby Auden and a wickedly funny character actor playing him. His performance as well as the quietly waspish turn from Selina Cadell as the assistant stage director were real standouts.
The cottage smells like an old chip shop and I am sick to the back teeth of the colour purple.
So it was nice to lock up the hens at 6.30, spray the vinegar out of my skin with a liberal squirt of Clinique "Happy" and drive to Llandudno to meet Chris at Venue Cymru to see the National Theatre touring production of the Alan Bennett play The Habit of Art .
North Wales has just two main theatres. Theatre Clwyd in Mold is the more "arthouse" and Nationally recognizable theatre of the two and produces its own, often very well received productions whereas the more populist Venue Cymru in Llandudno caters more for the "variety" holiday and senior market and mainstream travelling productions...Personally I prefer Theatre Clwyd but occasionally something more interesting turns up at the llandudno venue...so tonight's night out was a bit of a treat.
Bennett's play was interesting....it's a play ( about the latter day relationship between the irascible,putrid old W.H Auden and a self doubting Benjamin Britten) within a play, and it has plenty to say about the public and private faces of the artistic. However it is the playful way the play(s) explore the sexual proclivities of poet and composer that allows the audience to enjoy Bennett's waspish and very funny one liners. unfortunately for me, some of the in between wordy speeches lacks a bit of pace and interest.
Desmond Barrit (below), with his over stretched cardigan and booming voice makes for a somewhat likable if not grubby Auden and a wickedly funny character actor playing him. His performance as well as the quietly waspish turn from Selina Cadell as the assistant stage director were real standouts.
Daily Drama
This morning a sparrowhawk came a hunting in the field and from my advantage point next to the turkey hut (I had been repainting it before winter), I watched the drama unfolding before me.
Firstly, I heard the usual low, guttural "growl" of warning from the field cockerels.
Each one;- Stanley, Jesus, little Pirrie and the new grey youngster let out their alarm calls and immediately every hen raised their heads to the sky to search for the predator.
The sparrowhawk sped over the hedgerows low and very fast. He zig zagged through the hen houses, sending the runner ducklings screaming into their house and burst towards the doves and sparrows in the far hedge as the guinea fowl bellowed out their machine gun warning calls.
The sparrows dived to safety in a cloud of fluttering wings. They reminded me of a shoal of fish darting away from a shark, but it was the doves that the sparrowhawk was after ,and with the cockerels chattering away in the background he clattered into the hawthorn and grabbed a dove in a small explosion of feathers.
The hawk landed in the pig run, literally 15 feet from me and started to rip the dove open as I watched, open mouthed, holding my paint brush up in mid air......
There is a little drama here every day!
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