Smile And The Whole World Smiles With You!

Yesterday I spent a rather chilly few hours at the Prestatyn Flower Show in a desperate proactive attempt to drum up some new blood for our Show which takes place on the 18th of Aug.

Like any sharp publicity guru, I took a secret weapon with me to "pull the punters in" so to speak, and yesterday I took secret weapon William.
Having a dog sat on your knee allows people to feel as though they can come and chat. They are an ice breaker, they are a bit of a draw...
without him, all I would have presented to the good people of Prestatyn is my podgy, slightly scruffy , and  grumpy self ( I was cold!)....hardly a picture of welcoming Welsh "good humour"

After 4 hours I gave away just 5 of my programmes.... A score of people stopped, but most just wanted to make a fuss of William, who enjoyed all of the "he's so adorable!" plaudits until, even his good nature got a little fed up with slobberly old ladies kissing him on the top of the head without asking, and eventually he tried to hide under the red checked tablecloth

Phew

A hundred Mary Poppins' floating down to drive away the nightmares of scores of hospitalized children
Kenneth Brannah as Isambard Kingdom Brunel over seeing the rise of the Industrial revolution with his Bradly Wiggins' sideburns
and Pogo-ing punks with giant heads dance around a normal British detached house during a family party.


Danny Boyle has produced an original, visually stunning and sentimental free Olympic Ceremony.
Some parts I absolutely loved ( the rise of the great factory chimneys, the tribute to the nhs,the celebration of Childrens' literacy  and the lighting of the flower like petals of the Olympic cauldron by seven teenagers) and some parts such as Paul Mc Cartney, James Bond and Mr Bean, I was not too sure about.
But in retrospect, I think Boyle's quirky, intensely personal, and up to date alternative to the excesses of the Chinese production was a wise choice, as it gave the world a chance to see  British sensibilities that are a million miles away from Jane Austen, Shakespeare and Judy Dench.
To me it managed the impossible. It summed up today's Britain... which is patriotic, parochial, wry. self effacing and f*cking bonkers


I would be interested to hear how  others thought of it all?.

Airborne QUEEN

I have seen EVERYTHING now!

Ann's Flower Show 2012

Well , whereas today's first blog entry concentrated upon the more emotional, cry baby things of life, this "follow up" is just a brief sharing of a day spent at the Prestatyn Flower Show 
My Sister's Flower Show is as usual, a somewhat impressive and professionally staged affair
(especially when it is compared to our more amateur bun fight)

Here's hoping that the entries in our show are half as good as the ones I saw today


Anyhow, I spent several hours sitting in the Vicarage Gardens handing out our Flower Show schedules to anyone that may be interested in entering our show.
I shared too many ham rolls and chicken crisps with Meg and George and I met the rather sweet "Going Gently" blog reader Hannah and her boyfriend ( not to be confused with Hannah and Her Sisters) who live in Trelawnyd 's posh neighbour village of Llanasa
It was nice to meet you both!

 

The Flower Exhibits

 

My 2nd Placed single rose!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never won any floral award at the Prestatyn Show!

 

The Winning Veg Trug

 Some of the Floral Art

How Often Do You Cry?

I post that question to the lot of you out there and I will be interested in the answers!

Tonight I know I WILL shed a tear or two at the Olympic Opening 

The infectious excitement, a sense of self worth and pride in the competitors and volunteers and a theatrical show of some note, all will get me blubbing like a baby from the get go 

I know what I am like!

Sad films, Rolf Harris biting his lip over a seriously sick dog in Animal Hospital, even the sight of a choir at full pelt could start an unexpected "well up" 

and when I am in the mood and alone, a piece of much such as 

will often reduce me to the consistency of an average blancmange

And so at 9pm, we will be sitting down with a fat bastard pizza

a large cup of tea

and a massive box of tissues

Prestatyn Flower Show

Prestatyn Flower Show

Starts Tomorrow

As well as entering my sister's show with my lacklustre veg, I will be spending the day there flying the flag for the Trelawnyd Show

locals please call down and support the day

Its a lovely show!!!!

Kiss me!

Most people think that on intensive care the most stressful patient to be allocated is one that is acutely ill, sedated, ventilated and covered with drips, drains and gizmos aplenty!
You couldn't be more wrong.
The most stressful kind of patient on intensive care is the high dependency patient.
He or she, is awake,still acutely ill and often has a blood chemistry which is somewhat deranged to say the least.These patients are often elderly, and when the lights go down......somewhat paranoid , combative and always have the tendency to pull at vital lines and machines that are in essence keeping them "going"They are, in what today's non judgemental approach to health care would term, "a challenge!"


By 4am , I had  just about enough of "my challenge"
I had been slapped several times, had my reading glasses bent out of all recognition and had been verbally battered by a lady who no doubt is a real sweetie when she is well....but we , as a team, had kept her safe and had prevented her from removing every line and catheter until that time when she finally could settle down safely.
Before she fell asleep she looked at me carefully as I tried to reattach a dressing onto her neck.
"You really want to kiss me don't you?" she said in a matter of fact way, giving me a wide toothless grin
Oh the glamour of work on Intensive care I thought and I said with a smile
"I am so sorry but you could not be more wrong if you tried" 
hey ho
off to bed

Operation Short Break

George, Meg and William beach running

I can appreciate just how much a headache organising something like the Olympic Opening ceremony would be but Seb Coe and his cohorts have

 it bloody easy when compared to the logistical nightmare which is the organising of the home population during our 6 day rest break to Sitges in early September

I am presently surveying the blueprints of my plans;-

They are spread all over the kitchen table!

1) George will be having the best deal. He has been booked in with my sister for the duration, so will be pampered within an inch of his Scottish Terrier sensibilities TICK!

2) Meg and William will be boarded at a local kennels together as Meg is a sensitive little soul and needs the company of someone she knows..... The tariff is 15£ a night which isn't that bad compared with the boarding coast of a guinea pig which is 5£! (5 QUID FOR AN ANIMAL THE SIZE OF A POTATO!!!-P L E A S E !)but the cost is compounded somewhat by the fact that all kennels demand the kennel cough vaccination-- another trip to the vets!   TICK!
3) Neighbour Mike has been offered the single responsibility of the Blind Rooster Cogburn who has to be lifted in and out of his run everyday and hand fed with grain and water ( when I say hand fed, he needs a few fingers tapped into his feed bowls so he can locate his food !) TICK!
4) Neighbour Carol will be calling in to feed Albert TICK
5) The Hysterical Indian Runners, Carol and Polenta and all of the turkeys will be taken to my friend Eirlys' farm where they will be housed safely in a set of stables TICK
6) Neighbour John has agreed to fill the water troughs a couple of times a day TICK
7) So that just leaves the hens and the geese!... ,They need letting out in the morning,feeding and shutting up safely at night ....which is a big commitment of anyone's time.......I have asked village elder Islwyn to take over this task and have offered him the "going rate" (whatever that is) to take on this job and he has agreed!  TICK!!!!!
8) Individualized care plans have already been designed on the laptop and will need to be laminated ( I am serious) so they will be ready to be nailed onto each hen house and emergency animal "trouble shooters" need to be contacted so that they could be "on hand" in case of dire need
9) Do I ask the RFWF to patrol the field borders with his gun?...hum just a thought..


Off to work..let's hope it's a quiet night