Another Day.....Another challenge

Last night I was sat in front of the fairy lights minding my own business with a gin and tonic,

when Constance ambled over, straddled my outstretched leg with the grace of a somewhat rotund lap dancer and proceeded to rub her....(coughs loudly.....errrmmmm.........coughs again) well ..."toilet parts" all over my shins

This sexual molestation continued until Chris pointed out that large streaks of bloody mucus were being deposited up and down the entire length of my pant leg and within a millisecond I had managed to free myself from Constance who had a look of pure sleepy rapture on her face! ( if she could have smoked a cigarette at this point I think she would have done)

Our bulldog is in season! and me thinks that I am the "object of her affections!".....for days now I have caught her hiding coquettishly within a nest of cushions on the couch or secretly rubbing her bum on the frozen concrete of the patio...but I was hoping that she was just cold or suffering from an "odd" itch!
(time for an airing of the carpet cleaner I suspect...oh the joys of a rampant sex starved, genital wagging  bulldog! )

HEY(BLEEDING) HO!

I will leave you with an amusing Christmas list from the great web site

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/.......
Sandra has not been a good sister me thinks

What i want for christmas -


I was going to blog about a menstruating bulldog! but this sweet Christmas song kind of took over
I love it!......tomorrow I will blog about a sex starved bulldog!

Christmas Greetings from Trelawnyd


More snow last night.......more ice this morning........more Health & Safety restrictions to the post no doubt............and yet ANOTHER snow orientated post!.......I boring myself now!!!

With the build up to Christmas I know everyone is busy! but I just wanted to share my best wishes to all readers of this blog ...."Nadolig Llawen"..........

No water, Dirty Dog phone calls and Christmas treats

We are only a stones throw from living back in the middle ages.
All it would take is the removal of a few essential utilities
and wallop!
Back we go!
This morning our cold water pipes had frozen completely
and there was nothing more pathetic than the spectacle of two middle aged gay men in slightly muted hysteria worrying about having a hot bath before work ( Chris) or having their first cup of coffee of the day (me)
How the hell would we cope in a real disaster?
God knows?
Personally I always thought that if I was ever caught in a capsized passenger liner or a burning skyscraper on its inaugural opening..I would have the gumption and forethought to climb that 18 foot Christmas tree or to abseil down a shattered staircase with a child on my back!
hummm
The reality , me thinks would be a little different!

It all reminds me of a poem I read in school!

When in fear
and when in doubt.....
Run in circles............
Scream and shout!

hey ho

Anyhow, we jury rigged a hairdryer on an extension lead in the outhouse to thaw out the offending pipes and I dropped Chris off for his train just on time. He is working away overnight ( In Sheffield)...and is hoping to get back home tomorrow before the national transport infrastructure grinds to a total standstill because of the ice and snow.
The village has been without any post since Thursday due to the weather....Missing our village post office I rang another local post office to find out just why this is occurring....Apparently MR HEALTH AND SAFETY has reared its ugly head again and senior managers stated that it was too unsafe for posties to negotiate icy paths!...the clerk stated that I could drive the 10 mile round trip to collect my post in person and offered to give me the depot's telephone number to check on this.....
as I was searching for a pen, I put the phone down next to a snoring Constance and when I picked the receiver up again I hear the lady laughing
"what the hell was that?" she asked
"That is my bulldog....she has a breathing disorder" I explained!
"That's a shame " the lady quipped " I thought I was having my first dirty phone call!"
 The post got through today by the way, the postmen themselves forced the issue and brought our cards on their own initiatives!

Ivy, Hughie and Alf feeling the cold on top of Jesus' run
(for those that don't know, Jesus was the cockerel that was abandoned on the field last Christmas)
This afternoon, I cooked cheap spaghetti and hand fed the birds this warming treat....the ducks and geese needed this boost much more than the more robust hens, but all the birds including the guinea fowl benefited from the carbohydrate
One of the ghost hens facing the day. All three have not left their hen house since last week!

Minus 10



a laura Ashley stiffy
Apparently it was minus 10 last night!
This morning it took me at least five minutes of heavy chopping to break the icy on the water butts and Pat and Joanne, out for their morning dog walk, said it hadn't felt this cold since the last terrible winter of 1982!
The birds are doing ok. The extra feed I had "hidden " away in their hen houses last night has given most of them a head start with the cold and only the more delicate Ghost hens are feeling the pressure this morning. Joanne kindly left a small pressie of bread and scraps out for me, and I fed the ghosts with the treats inside their coop to get them going.
We left a throw out  on the patio last night and it was hard as concrete this morning.....I stood the whole thing up against the wall as if it was a sheet of glass.
 Yesterday afternoon Chris and Janet went to see the Live broadcast of the Bolshoi's Nutcracker down at The Scala. I managed to make it down to see the second act but I wasn't really impressed with what I thought was a rather "safe" production....sure the corps de ballet was stunningly precise..but the male lead had a bouffant 1980's mullet and the principle ballerina had buck teeth....so some of the magic of fantasy of Christmas was lost on me!


Now dont fret readers.....even with the social washout that was the weekend...I have pulled myself up by my thermal underpants and got into the Christmas spirit. I delivered Auntie Glads pressie ( to those that dont know "Auntie Glad is a bit of a village celebrity who has been on the flower show and Village welfare committees or over 58 years- a diminutive and white haired 90 year old she remains a powerhouse in village affairs and is loved and respected by all) Anyhow, she had baked me  a huge box of home made mince pies and scones for us, which I will add to the food parcles we are taking up to my brother's house on Christmas day.

I have dropped some more Christmas cards off , then called in with some spare scones and home made picked onions to Mrs Hopkins ( remember the lady who had knitted me my mittens?) she had been out feeding the birds in her garden and had fallen, breaking her ankle badly....
another casualty of this freezing weather!
Mind you, not everything has come to a standstill (unlike the post, which has not turned up for two days)...Gentleman farmer and Islwyn from the village, has taken a leaf from David Cameron's teachings on the "big society" and got off their arses to clear the lane of ice.........we will never see a council gritter on these minor roads

Right, I have now drank two hot cups of coffee and feel a little more human. I will curb the urge to stay in the warmth to watch the John Wayne epic The Magnificent Showman, which has a morning showing on BBC2....the dogs need a walk and the birds need more feed collecting!

I will leave you a cartoon for Tracey.....it's the kind of thing she likes!


The Enjoyment of Blogging

I noticed this morning that nearly 140 people had "popped" in to scan, read, peruse, check up on, or pass through my blog over the past 24 hours......this fascinates me!
I know I have visitors from other "animal" blogs.....from family, some friends and of course I know there is a scattering of village readers that drop in to check on my news and that of everyday life in the sleepy quiet of Trelawnyd....but who are the others and why do they take the time to put fingers to key board and type in "Going Gently"?
I would like to think that my inherited sense of humour (my mother could be wickedly curt and sharp at times) that draws in the punters... but I guess this year's animal storylines which included Maddie's death, the arrival of the emotionally needy goslings, Red the quail's traumatic entrance into this world and Constance's flatulence, which really captures the imagination

I love reading other peoples' blogs. Diary sites, like mine, do have the narrative draw which sucks you in and keeps you wanting more, especially if they are animal led...Polly's goat traumas ( Polly's Path), the retirement home for aging golden retrievers ( Life at Golden Pines), the shifting menagerie worries of AJ (A little Farm with a big heart and Ruth's isolated mountain existence over at  Life Through The Cracks ( as well as a score of others) give just a tiny flavour of the diversity of small holding life......which can be terribly addictive.


Tom Stephenson's drawings

There is another type of blog which I find fascinating, and that is the "eclectic talk show type of blog"....funnily enough most of these type of blogs are penned by blokes, are often bitingly funny (or/and informative) and can be incredibly interesting.....    Tom Stephenson's musings from Sunny Bath, the Sheffield based  Yorkshire Pudding with his wry view of the world, Pittsburgh chatter from Another Mile Marker and Australian mega Brain John over at Tok,Tok place all provide me with an alternative view of life....with its many twists and turns!

"Life style Blogs" with some emotional romping are vital reading for me too! 
Maria's wonderful essays into self awareness  make for a cracking read (Just Eat Your Cupcake)...as does the life of an ex cop now running an American Diner (in  Eric's Don't shoot Your Meatloaf).The Diary of expat Tom in Angola ( A Hippo On The Lawn) is sporadic yet amazingly well written  and I must not forget the best of the home making/ allotment and foodie blogs such as Razzberry CornerA Texan's BlogThe Cottage Gardener, The Dykes Edge Allotment and Maura's gentle Lilac Lane Cottage

Then we come to the mixed bag type of blogs.........film and Theatre reviewer Alex Ramon Boycotting Trends sits nicely alongside Dia's essays on death and the experience of dying  in acuriouscure......and I absolutely love flitting through  Dan's  slightly geeky All That Comes With It or Murphyfish's welsh country Blog if I have a spare moment!


Alex's blog

The list of my favourite blogs does not stop here....and I must apologies if you have not yet been mentioned!
To Sharon, old favourite Cassie, Craig, Greg,Amy,Chickadee,Mark's "Tales of the sissy",The Halperns,Angus,Ted and Bunny,The Idiot Gardener,Piggies heaven,Lori Skoog,Tennesse Brit, Randy ( Sheffield Diane!!!) Gill, Isobelle,the benign Canadian Jim,Joanna,Christine, Louise and Melody, the potty minded Tracey,big hearted homeschooler Mal.Terri, Ina,Gardener Rob,Sue, little mouse,Knat,Bad Penny, Party goer Brighton David, cat......I never miss having a look at what's going on in your lives!
Oh and to  newbees Judith, Razzmataz,Beverly,Jacqueline,Kate,Rich,Andrea,Jennifer,Iris, Nancy, Ferris Jay,Linda, Inger, Tiger,Gail, Hopeful,Shetlands,Sheila,Jo,.......it's lovely to have you on board!!!!!

Christmas Socializing

We used to have a rather robust Christmas social life a few years back!
It was drinks here and nibbles there.......All Bar One with too many bottles one night and a mediocre festive Ward Night out with a horde of drunken nurses the next!
Perhaps we would go to the carol service in Sheffield Cathedral then it would be a meal at Mike and Bevs to swap gifts!
That was a while ago!
This weekend we had tons planned  .
Friday was a meal out with Nuala
Tonight we had booked to have friends Hazel and Alan round for supper
and tomorrow Chris has got us tickets for the cinematic live performance of the Bolshoi Ballet's Nutcracker!

Hey Ho
Nu couldn't make it up to Wales because of the awful weather
Hazel has the flu
and the ballet starts at the bloody early time of 16.00....a half hour before the chickens need locking up!
So its a night in front of the fire again
"I'm not socializing either!"

Scarecrow?

Snow's back
So are the starlings
I am beginning to get obsessed with them and am contemplating making a scarecrow this morning...I have one problem with this....
I have no crappy clothes to dress it in...
I am wearing them all!!!!


Its going to be a stay-at-home day -sorry about the crappy video, dunno what is up with my 2 year old 20 quid digital Argos camera