Broadband down!

Still no Internet....

we couldn't book lunch out cos we couldn't find the telephone number

We couldn't find out what was on at the cinema.....and I've had to "touch base" with the blog at my sister's house (albeit briefly)

speak soon!!!- a little man is coming out tomorrow ( between 1 and 6pm)

Then all should be right with the world

Going Gently- a lady blog?

I had to laugh the other day.

Someone described Going Gently as a "woman's" blog......

They also mentioned in no uncertain terms that it was homophobic, which is an interesting take on a middle aged homosexual with 50 chickens and a bulldog called Constance, but I will leave that argument well and truly alone.

I am not bothered that Going Gently could be seen as "feminine"...given the content I will take that description as a compliment.....as I have always enjoyed the company of women to that of men. Now I can do "men" as it were, friendshipwise, be sure on that! Out of perhaps nine close friends I have, four are male and out of those only one is gay, (another mate is sooooooooooooooo showbiz and a self confessed old queen he's as good a gay as you can hope for)..... but the rest , of course, are ladies!

Like Many gay men I was surrounded by women when I was growing up ( oh I know I am generalising here- so don't write in)....My mother was a bit of a drama queen in the style of Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce whereas my maternal grandmother played a cross between Jane Darwell in The Grapes Of Wrath and actress Elizabeth Spriggs ( google her). Of course my twin sister and Elder Sister were always around like the cast of Little Women ( I would have been the irritating Amy..though I always saw myself as the virtuous Beth) and in the wings there was also a selection of strong aunts, family friends an a diminuative paternal grandmother to back up the oestrogen levels

Here, on the blog I am surrounded by fellow like minded bloggers , the majority being women, and its lovely.

Of course, as in my real friendships ( and I mean that nicely) I have a few guy friends here that are well and truly connected to their sensitive sides, and I sure that the blokey Yorkshire Pud,Eric, Tom (s). Welsh John,etc won't mind me saying this, but the majority of buddies are non nonsense "garls!" with the odd wise cracking gay thrown in........just the way I like it!

I am writing this on my break at work. For a change it has been a quiet night. I need to close up now as I want to eat my cup-a-soup then rinse the soup stains out of the front of my uniform before getting back to job in hand

Speak to you all tomorrow...internet access in Trelawnyd is down, so may be quiet for a day or so

Leaving A Mark

I feel a lot better today thanks for asking! I am still coughing but every time I do, my eyes no longer feel as though they are popping out of my head.
I was out just after dawn this morning and as I pottered about, I noticed two figures standing by a plot in the "new" graveyard just beyond the fence.
Yesterday, an elderly man from the village had been buried. Although I only knew him to say "good morning " to  as I walked the dogs , I knew he was German and had been in the village since the 1940s, where he had been working as prisoner of war. Apparently he lost his German family in the conflict and stayed on in the village, marrying a Welsh girl after the war had finished
Having only very distant relatives in this country, the funeral was carried out in private, so the villagers that have known him for years, have made their own way to the graveside, in drips and drabs, to show their respects.
We have lived right next to the Graveyard for five years and although it is obviously a place for grief, I never ,ever think that the Cemetery is an unhappy place . On a sunny afternoon, with the horses in the riding stables snorting gently by the fences and with the chickens chattering quietly to themselves as they potter, the cemetery takes on a peaceful and reflective atmosphere all of its own.
The sterility that can be seen in more urban cemeteries is totally changed in the village by the presence of animals and the beautiful views of the distant hills. The gentle noise and motion, I have been told by visitors, is soothing and totally in keeping with being a country cemetery.

Pitching it right

We used to loved British Airways, but have been disappointed over the last few years with the standard of service we received on several long haul flights we took to New York and San Fransisco.
The best trip we ever took was a Virgin Atlantic flight to JFK, and whilst BA now are still banging on about "FLYING THE FLAG" Virgin very cleverly is pitching its advertising with this sort of camp chutzpah!
This latest advert is bold, brassy and crackingly attractive. It is also terribly British.......a lesson BA could learn from!

This amused me today.....I dont know about anyone else, but I am absolutely sick of dealing with bad news. The recession, the phone hacking crisis, a gay activist battered to death in Uganda, day after day we are burdened with the dire, the depressing and the futile........and I am bloody sick of it, I have found myself not reading or listening to the news anymore It is dragging me down!
Today I have celebrated the positive and the happy! like Virgin Airways have done! Good news too:-My friend Nigel has all but finished his PhD! My sister in law is coping ( with a little help) with my brothers' discharge from hospital and Constance has had an incontinent free day!

Dont bother me again with the soddin' recession! Lets have a little more froth, camp and positive news in the media eh?

Winnie and Jo

This is a re run of last years video of the goslings...I would like to think that Winnie remembered his "mom"
(love the shoes)
x

Not Enough Monsters

 
Monsters has been hailed as a thrilling post modern sci-fi monster movie by many of the broadsheets, and whilst I can appreciate this story of two Americans negotiating a Mexican no go area where aliens have been allowed to flourish.This drama never actually thrilled, engaged or even really interested me very much which is a shame!
Monsters didn't interest me, because the whole story lacked any real tension and not a great deal actually happened as wayward photojournalist Kaulder (Scoot McNairy ) leads heiress tourist Sam (Whitney Able ) to safety, through a third world backdrop of corrupt officials, poverty and jungle.
One set piece where the odd and strangely non frightening octopus-like monsters attack the small convoy of Americans and their guards is impressive...but thats it! There are some lovely shots of the jungle, a great deal of naturalistic acting and some interesting  shots depicting downbeat scenes of destruction and decay but the whole thing lacked the very monsters that were "advertised" in the title. Therefore the movie didn't engage me the way the likes of Cloverfield and District 9 did.
The love story between Sam and Kaulder is quite nicely observed....but after an hour of will they. won't they? I was wishing I would have been transported to a  battered New York under siege........
5/10

A Little Moment Of Sweetness

I could have done without the chatty ( and expensive) chimney sweep
Certainly I could have done without this heavy snotty head cold I have inherited
And certainly I could have done without the gear stick coming loose when I was motoring up a 1 in 4 hill in the pouring rain yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday  I could have quite easily shut myself into a dark room with a damp tea towel over my face.
But no matter how unwell you feel, cars need taking to the garage, gobby chimney sweeps need paying, suppers need cooking and dogs need walking.

Last night I did the final dog walk in a pair of fisherman's socks and Chris' pyjamas......and unfortunately "flashed" at some late night farm traffic for my sins ( its easy to forget that pyjama bottoms "gape" at the fly when you are feeling like death)...luckily no one reported me to the police , which is a good thing seeing that I am now conscripted onto the Trelawnyd Community Council)

So this morning, after a sleepless and cough laden night, I covered up the pyjamas with some more suitable pants and went out in the wet to water and feed the birds.
When you feel like crap everyone needs a bit of a lift..........I have had two today.........Chris brought me a welcomed cup of lemsip in bed first thing..............and the second little moment of sweetness was a simple gentle contact with a white goose!
As I opened the goose house door, the magpie ducks noisily shot through the door followed by the geese, and as I stepped back to let them pass, I stumbled back a little and sat down heavily in the muddy grass with a splat!

I could have cried with the moment's frustration, and for a second or two I didn't know whether to cough,swear,sniff , sneeze, or fart so just sat there pathetically in the muck! As I didn't move Winnie, the gander stopped, turned and looked at me with his big blue eyes , he lent forward and for the briefest moment nuzzled my neck like he used to do when he was gosling before honking off after Jo and the others.

It was a tiny moment.....but it has made my day

I would like the thank the Academy.......

I have to write a belated "Thank you" to Jacqueline for giving me a "stylish blogger award".....me and style ( especially style relating to clothing) don't exactly go together... but I am duly flattered nevertheless.

The Chimney sweep is working away clearing our flues out ( like you do) he is a garrulous Welshman who could sell sand to Arabs, so I am "pretending" to do some "work" on the laptop in the kitchen...if I engage him too much he will probably charge me twice for staying too long and will sell me a new chimney pot

Now according to Jac's award...I need to share with you good people seven hitherto unknown facts about myself......so here goes:-

1. Many of you will not be aware that I am one of twins! My mother had us later on in her life, a shock that she never quite got over from. According to family gossip we were named by my ten year old elder brother Andrew, and were duly given the rather amusing names of Janet and John (people of a certain age will remember the reading books)
Janet lives a couple of miles away.

2. I have a morbid fear of heights and cannot even climb a ladder without feeling uneasy ( yes just like Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo)....However, at the age of 22( in a fit of bravado) , I took part in a parachute jump for charity...and actually threw myself out of a small plane at 1,500 feet above Cumbria!
To this day I can NEVER understand just how I did it!
I remember too that I had to be helped from the outer Promenade Walkway of Seattle's Space Needle by a concerned Japanese tourist ( oh the shame)

3. I am colour blind

4. My first job was as a Bank Clerk at the Nat West Bank way back in 1980. I never ONCE balanced my till in the two years I was there and when I left the bank to start my nurse training my reference from the manager included the statement " As a bank clerk John Makes a very good psychiatric nurse"

5. I am a terrible driver, I am not an aggressive motorist or overly fast...I am just, well, basically crap! (just ask Chris if you don't believe me)
Having said this I have only ever had one small bump in the car (that is involving another motorist!)......and I was stopped once by the police in a traffic jam for letting our dog Finlay steer the car

6  I nearly drowned in a very common trailer trash pool in Loret Del Mar when I was 10 and never set foot into a pool until the age of 40 when my best friend Mike and I had private swimming lessons at a private pool ( oh I remember the shame of walking out of the pool with our 20 year old teacher in front of 40 chattering 4 year olds)

7. Although I bang on about "arthouse" movies all of the time...my favourite tv shows include Judge Judy, Road Wars,Harry Hill and Mock the Week

Sigh........Just paid the chatty sweep......70£ ....bloody hell 

For my choices I will nominate Rich over at uglydogsfarm ( he has the neatest barn I have ever seen)Diane at  Heart Shaped and Dia's perfectly formed The Odd and Unmentionable........well done