Salem

When I was a boy, I remember seeing this painting ( well the  print of it) hanging in an old farmhouse 

in Llanasa. The painting is called " Salem" by S. Curnow Vosper and  depicts a Sunday morning at a small Baptist chapel in Cefncymerau, Llanbedr, near Harlech in 1908. The old woman in the centre is  Sian Owen of Ty'n y Fawnog and it is said that she and all of the other characters depicted  were paid 6d to sit for the painter.
I love all of the " hidden" meanings tucked away in the detail.
The colourful shawl ( a nod to vanity perhaps?) the fact that Sian is a few minutes late for service , the little  gremlin like face at the widow , the face of the devil often seen in the folds of the shawl......I wonder just what the artist was trying to say?
The original painting has been loaned out to a Bangor museum from the Lady Lever art gallery at Port Sunlight and Sunlight soap made the image famous by giving away prints of the painting free with their products .
Perhaps it was one of these freebies that I remember seeing in the old farmhouse in Llanasa in the early 70s.

Thoughts on a Saturday ( Chris' title)

 Saturday is a time for pottering. It is generally Chris' only " down time" as he generally works one day at the weekend catching up on his written work. Today he has been gardening. Cottage gardens can become untidy and overfill very quickly, and in order to keep the cut flowers coming ( note my attempt at a Homes& Gardens still life above), he has a great deal of " thinning out" to do

As you can see.....he seems to be enjoying himself

The run up to both the flower show and our open day has started

I will be holding out my begging bowl to all of my blog readers to see if anyone would again like to contribute to both.....

The flower show schedule can be viewed at

http://trelawnydflowershow.blogspot.co.uk/

( I know all you arty types may love to try your hand against the best Wales can do)

And

I am taking in any crafty home made bits to sell on a stall on our open day

( all proceeds to St Michael's Church and  Marie Curie Cancer Care)

William and Meg watching E
gardening

Btw. The winner of the " caption competition can be viewed below

I am off to watch a video of a French bulldog worried at its own farts

And The Winner Is........

And the winner of the Scotch Egg

Photograph Caption Competition

Is

.............

Kath from http://railwaycottage.blogspot.co.uk/

With her 11.04 am entry of

Kath11:04 am

Despite the expensive stick-on eyebrows, Bert was still not sure that he could pass as a woman.

Well done that woman  and well done to all that entered........I will have to forgo my original prize of a pair of designer scotch eggs as I am sure Kath is in fact a veggie......but a small and tasteful alternative will be winging its way over to Glastonbury

( Kelley and Libby were close runners up)

What do you think?

Anyone who adds the best caption to this photo
Will win a prize

Ps..happy Birthday to big sis Ann
Xxx

You Couldn't Make It Up

I watched this video just once before and was reduced to a steaming pile of emotional jelly when I first saw it.
Reunion stories kind of stab at my heart, when I watch them. The overwhelming need dogs have for their pack leaders to be reunited with them can be incredibly strong.
If you have not seen this news feature before
Get the tissues ready

http://www.police.uk/

This morning I was out around five thirty, giving the dogs a wee walk. Local shepherd Graham stopped his pick up in the lane. He was out rounding up his sheep from the main road, thieves looking for agricultural equipment had broken into his fields during the night.

Thieves don't care about closing gates behind themselves.

Mercifully, crime has not really touched us in this corner of North Wales. But this does not mean that it's not about. I logged into http://www.police.uk/ to review what crime is prevalent in our

 local area and was surprised to see 

the following table of results for the past year.

Category	Total	Percentage
Anti-social behaviour	26	52.0%
Burglary	0	0.0%
Criminal damage and arson	3	6.0%
Drugs	1	2.0%
Other crime	5	10.0%
Other theft	3	6.0%
Public disorder and weapons	3	6.0%
Robbery	0	0.0%
Shoplifting	3	6.0%
Vehicle crime	2	4.0%
Violent crime	4	8.0%

Apart from a couple of dozen antisocial incidents probably fuelled by cheap cider, I was surprised to see 3 public disorder incidents involving weapons ( WEAPONS!) and 4 episodes of violent crime

It makes for a sobering read.

I wish I hadn't logged into the website now.

It has depressed me.
PS
I have just checked the stats for our previous address in Sheffield. In Trelawnyd there were 4 crimes reported ( including antisocial behaviour) in April. In Hillsborough ( within a mile radius of our old house) there was 141
Yikes

The Real Lena Horne

On the back of this morning's post

I have been reading a little about a performer I am sorry to say, that I knew nothing about

She was quite a lady

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.” 

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

“you have to be taught to be secondclass;you're not born that way”

In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I`m black and a woman, singing my own way

I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.

Could You Just?

How many times have I have heard this over the years?
It is a phrase that is usually accompanied by a slightly pained expression
A tilt of the head
A half smile
and occasionally a bit of desperate flirting
"Could you just?"
I always know what's coming next.
.................this morning there was a knock at the door
A woman with that slightly hopeful expression smiled somewhat theatrically at me
" Could you just...........?"

....and in a cardboard box in the back of her car, was sat a lone, elderly chocolate coloured duck.
" has she a name?"' I asked the woman
She blushed slightly
"Her name is Lena Horne"

No more " stormy Weather"