My Afternoons With Marguerite

Sentimental films seem to be a thing of the past, which is a dreadful shame in our busy, sometimes depressing modern world; Having said this it was with  much sniffing and heavy lump swallowing,that  I enjoyed a real humdinger of a sentimental romp at Theatre Clwyd tonight as Hazel and I sat through the whimsy that was My Afternoons with Margueritte ( French Title La tête en friche)
Germain Chazes (Gérard Depardieu ) is a hulking, middle aged  odd job man, under achiever who lives in a quiet little French town with his unloving mother , By chance he meets 95 year old Margueritte (Gisèle Casadesus)  a genteel ex civil servant with a love of books, who encourages him to develop an interest in words .As their mother/son  relationship grows, so does Chazes fragile self esteem , much to the interest of his eclectic group of friends down in the pub.
Yes it all sounds rather sweet, and thanks to the two leads ( the incredibly sensitive Depardieu and the elegantly frail Casadesus) the gentle relationship between two nice souls does bring a tear to the eye ( I had to hide my upset as Hazel NEVER cries at movies!)
The movie was a little too pacy given the subject matter, but if you want to see a nice movie about nice people being .......well......very nice........go and see it.....its quite charming. 8/10

It was lovely to catch up with Hazel, she's on countdown for moving to Manchester and on countdown with her pregnancy, I shall miss her when she goes.

Dogs

This morning I received an email from a lady with the cracking name of Beatrice Fickle.
She asked me to post a few photos of the dogs ( she noted wryly that the blog was slightly Bulldog biased)
So find "enclosed" a quick video of the dogs this morning. As usual Constance commanded centre stage

Caligula in Hot Pants

A ballet that evokes the "complex and troubling "personality of the Roman Emperor Caligula does not sound like a bag of laughs does it? (even though he seemed to be dressed in maroon Velvet hot pants)
And you'd be right
This short ballet, structured in five acts to the slightly incongruous music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, did have some innovative male led pieces but the slightly pretentious and confusing "pantomimes" in between acts bored me rigid and at one moment Chris had to wake me up to stop me snoring.
hey ho
At least he enjoyed this live performance of Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris........

Old Lady power

Does anyone here remember THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN?
I particularly refer to the sequence when the poor Mexicans are galvanised into protecting their village by the bravery of seven men!
This much seen video shows just how the bravery of one old lady galvanised a group of passers into action.....funny how it was only her that took on the 6 robbers initially

I love you, Mr coffee

I am such a hypocrite.
Yesterday, there was a me waxing lyrically about good matters and unacceptable bad temper,
and this morning I could quite easily strangle a moose with my bare hands.
The problem,, as always, is my post waking "fugue" state
Chris needing to get to the railway station before dawn,woke me up with his usual loud "Bonne amie" and even before my spinal cord and central nervous system had registered that it was indeed Tuesday let alone that it was freezing, I had driven him the two miles down a 1 in 4 hill to Prestatyn.
After a decade of uncommunicative early mornings, Chris STILL insists in trying to engage me in inane pre coffee conversations. Actually he still INSISTS on asking me a question that in his mind needs a verbal reply and cannot quite cope with a nod or at the best a  low grunt!
So the usual in car interaction is left with him demanding " AN ANSWER!!!!" and me plotting violent death and destruction.
I just don't do waking good humour!
And so this morning, after my vomit inducing "Rebecca of SunnyBrook Farm" post of last night, All I can think of killing "KILL" KILL KILL THEM ALL"!!!!"
Mind you.........my saving grace is my New York coffee cup full of lovely silent coffee
Sitting here, in a quiet peaceful and dark kitchen....we are having our moment together...
In twenty minutes I will be human again
x

Eric Hoffer was right

The internet is often used as a forum for hate and anger, I have noticed this fact recently when I have read some "professional" political blogs as well as some opinionated rants and moans elsewhere on the net.

Anonymous people often find rudeness easy on line, of course there is no comeback when you hide behind a pseudonym or a character, and harsh words can be fired easily when no one knows or can see the "shooter!"

My mother had a saying

"If you can't say anything good about someone, say nothing"
This amused me somewhat seeing that my mother was an expert moaner about EVERYONE!
But I kind of agree with her general sentiments- badmouthing someone can make you look somewhat mean and ever so, well, bitter.

Or As Eric Hoffer once said "Rudeness is a weak man's weapon"


Perhaps there should be several pre agreed rules before anyone should blog

1. Never blog when you have just had a row
2. Never blog when you are pissed ( sorry US readers I mean drunk)
3. and never blog when you are pissed AND angry!

Stormy Weather

Much of North Wales is flooded. The above photo was taken at Bangor-on-Dee where sheep had been trapped by rising flood water and not too far away from us, a elderly man drowned when he was trapped in his car by rising river levels. When I drove up towards the moors where my brother lives, the wind was so strong that the old Berlingo rocked dangerously from side to side as I negotiated the more exposed country roads.
I know it is lazy blogging of sorts but I took the following video this morning at dawn when I went to sort the animals out, and believe me the wind had dropped from the gales we had on Friday!

A little act of cruelty

Chris has not been well today, and has spent most of the day on the sofa with a stomach bug and the duvet.
I made him breakfast and left him in peace and quiet to take the dogs up to my brother's house way up in the hills. There I let them run themselves silly in their garden and pond, and spent a hour or two with my sister in law. My brother remains very fatigued at the moment and was asleep when I was there. I will catch him later in the week.

When I got home, I was making Chris some lunch when there was a knock at the kitchen window which faces the lane. Thinking it was an egg customer I ambled outside to find a neighbour from down the road. She hurriedly explained that she had witnessed a guy walking past one the tame st Trinian hens who had escaped into the lane. She told me that he had actively allowed his two dogs a free run on their extended leads to corner and attack the single hen, and that they had ripped out a large number of feathers before the hen had somehow escaped

One of the tame St Trinians walking in the lane

I ran out to find the guy long gone and the somewhat fraught and battered hen safely back in the field. She didnt "look" injured or shocked to I decided to leave  her well alone, but I was incredibly angry if this guy had indeed purposely allowed the attack to happen.
The darker side of human nature never ceases to surprise me. The moral code which keeps you and I in check for most of the time does not apply to some, who allow themselves to inflict little acts of cruelty on the weak without a second thought or guilt.....I wonder just how this happens so very easily?...........This nastier part of human motivation saddens me greatly