Waiting For His Day

George (left) wanting to play

sometimes George has the capacity to break your heart.

He's a sweet little soul, that much is undeniable, but when the two Welsh terriers roughhouse together, he is always over looked by them, like the fat kid always was before the fit kids chose their own teams for games

For years Meg and William have chased and played and fought together like puppies and for years George has stood all eager and hopeful on the sidelines desperate to be able to join in and never quite obtaining the permission to do so.
Such are the odd rules of the home pack.
From the second George arrived he has never ever been promoted from the lowest rung of the pecking order ladder ...which must be a huge bummer as even the hens have a higher status and more confidence than he has.
He cannot be fed before the others, he seldom is allowed to sit on your knee without being turfed off by the alphas and even when he lines up to have his lead attached, he has to wait until the others go first.

If Bwthyn-y- llan. was Downton Abbey....unfortunately George would be lumpy old Daisy, the scullery maid.

Going With The Flow

Apologies but I have just deleted the text from this post by accident. Suffice to say that Islwyn, the chap that has taken over as foreman to the construction of the new allotment beds has flexed his organisational skill muscles this morning and with a small gaggle of volunteer helpers has constructed a rudimentary new vegetable bed, a temporary fence to keep the livestock away from the growing plants and a new gate..! I was not expecting anything so drastic to happen in the couple of hours I was out delivering eggs and walking the dogs
Who says the British workman is shy of a bit of hard graft?
The son of the RFWF, showing his father's characteristic good nature, called down to help, and even when the whole affair looked a little too much, it is still easy to realise just what a positive bonus a hen free allotment will be.
I must say a big thank you not only to Islwyn and his helpers today , but also to the farmer at Ty Newydd farm who kindly sorted out many of the materials used by the workers.
I still feel somewhat weak and washed out ,so I have tried to keep out of everyone's way which is hard for a control freak,I can tell you.
I have just tried to go with the flow.

Islwyn, Chris and Islwyn's brother ( the son of the RFWF is in his digger in e background)

Sod's Law

Now I have promised myself not to blog again about feeling poorly.
The whole of last week has been a total waste of time because of the soddin flu
However I am happy to report that
My temperature broke around 1 pm in the afternoon and for the first time since last Sunday my headache and eye ache disappeared.
At 6pm, although weak, I found myself hoping things were truly on the mend...
And by 6.20 pm....and you've guessed it.
I started with the shits.
Ho ho ho

This video is Georgia's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest
My friend Nige sent it me, in an effort to cheer me up...
It worked
I kind of like it.....I wonder what shite the Uk will be entering?

I am a bed slug

The uninspiring view from the sick bed

I am trying to concentrate on nicer things

"Nurse..the screens!"

I know I am not a very good patient.
I am like an animal when unwell, in so much as I just want to hide away from everyone.
The flu seems to be lingering ( in actual fact the symptoms only started on Sunday night) and I am finding the constant temperature and headache rather debilitating, especially as Chris is away
I know....I know.
I am just feeling sorry for myself.
Especially as I have just experienced a rather florid dream where I saw myself eaten by my dogs after collapsing on the toilet...!
People have been very sweet, even though I have remained noticeably reclusive. Next door neighbour Mandy asked if I wanted her to lock the birds up for me. A sweet request seeing that she is pathologically frightened of birds. Another neighbour took the dogs off my hands for an hour yesterday and Islwyn called last night with some cough sweets and linctus.... So my fear of being devoured by some unkempt Welsh terriers does seem a faraway fear at the moment.
The ever practical Auntie Gladys walked all the way down to the cottage from High Street and tied a bad of healing warm scones on the front door knob.I was not well enough to go to the Flower Show Meeting on Wednesday and she was worried......
I must be a real pussy
one of the youngest on the committee floored by a bloody virus.

Marie Curie

In between dog walking and animal jobs, I have spent most of my day wrapped up watching TV

it's driven me a little batty because the weather has been so lovely

But I still have a temperature and a headache that could flatten an elephant

The above advert for Marie Curie Nurse charity has been playing all week

And it's a powerful and moving little piece of cinema.

Marie Curie will be the charity that will benefit from our open day this year

Silver Linings Playbook

I wrote this 'review' on the train from London back to North Wales...
Thank The Lord for cut and paste!
It's 9am and I have just gone back to bed
I still feel like a donkey's dick.

As a former psychiatric nurse, I must admit that I find cinematic portrayals of mental illness all rather  hardwork. Some of this fact comes from differences in diagnosis seen in the American system compared with the British but most of my reticence is based in the simple fact that mental illness, especially one in its acute phase, is not really an easy watch.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is an odd film.
It's a '"ROMCOM' between two rather attractive people (BradleyCooper and Jennifer Lawrence) both of whom  have their own mental health issues.
Pat (Cooper) has a bipolar disorder and is living with his waring and obsessional father whereas Tiffany (Lawrence) is a neurotic grieving sex addict living in her parents garage, so it's not a surprise to anyone that the road to true love is not a smooth run.
Silver Linings playbook is not a typical romantic comedy. For me there is far too many comments upon mental illness in the movie for my liking. Everyone has their own problems, everyone shouts too much and there is not much subtlety in the psychology of it all, but having said that, the performances by the intensely likeable Bradley Cooper and the vulnerable and brittle Lawrence are quite outstanding and at times rather moving as the pair obtain structure and discipline in their chaotic lives by taking part in a local dance competition.
The film is worth seeing just for their sparing and bouncy set pieces alone
7/10

Flu

This was the image that Chris was faced with on Skype
This evening.
He's working away all week
I assure I have the bleeding flu
Hey ho