Olympic Organisation? Pah...piece of cake!....shame about the train

We are going to Broadstairs to attend Chris' nephew's christening very soon and I am in the process of organising babysitters.
Chris has no idea of the logistical nightmare involved in animal care, and just thinks that the animals will " sort themselves out" when their single " daddy bountiful" is away enjoying himself.
Thank goodness for good friends and family.
And so, my workload has been divided between six people, with my good friend Eirlys as back up should a poultry disaster happen
Cemetery expert Islwyn has responsibility for chickens and Bingley
Neighbour John F has taken over care of the Geese and ducks
A retired couple, The Barkers, have the special job of watching over the blind Rooster Cogburn
And Carole from down the lane will walk the two welsh terriers in conjunction with my sister , who will take George down to her house.
Bleeding Hell
And how long am I going away for, on this fantastic, relaxing and enjoyable break to Kent....?
Well I will tell you

34 hours!

Hey ho

Ps....
I am typing this bit from the luxury of the virgin train from Crewe to Euston....I have just about survived a somewhat horrendous journey along the North Wales Coast in a two carriage train filled to the gunnels with pissed race goers ( Chester Races today) and loud, foul mouthed holiday makers returning to Birmingham ......I felt positively civilised standing amid the rubbish strewn baggage,copies of take a break and the obligatory empty beer cans clutching my Marks & Spencer scotch egg!....
The low point of the journey so far was when a fat miserable child knocked over a small aquarium tank with a goldfish in it, just outside Chester !(and I am NOT kidding)
Hey ho

Poppy

I had another email today

She still needs a good home

I have agreed to a meet

A Hand Shake

I wanted to write a funny post today
But sometimes the Gods of blogging conspire against a person.....
It's not as though anything funny has happened over the last 24 hours ( I have a knack of wringing out a funny situation from the most bizarre of situations) it's just that certain things tend to stick in your mind more that others.
Yesterday, I was happy to help out at Sylvia's funeral " tea". I collected plates, served the older people at their tables, poured out tea and coffee and slipped  the more distraught  guests with extra large helpings of sherry that had been left over from the meet and greet table.
 I , like the other helpers were glad to be there. There is something totally therapeutic in mindless activity, especially if everyone is feeling just a little " out of sorts" so to speak.
After the bun fight was almost over, and as I was folding some of the tables away, Sylvia's grandson, a rather serious boy of around ten or eleven, interrupted me and held out his hand.
Quite formally he thanked me for helping with his " grandmother's funeral" and shook my hand with all of the seriousness of an old man.
His genuine and spontaneous act brought a lump to my throat
I am still thinking about it this morning

Arglwydd Dyma Fi

Funerals can sometimes be fondly remembered because of attention to detail

Sylvia's family personalised her service with some lovely details

A humorous eulogy

The moving welsh Hymn " Arglwydd dyma fi"

Which means " lord ! Here I am"

The Memorial hall tables decked out with crisp white tablecloths each one complete with a vase of 

Sweet summer flowers.

A proper Welsh tea table heavy with bara brith and lashings of tea

And the melancholic sense of an end of an era

Funeral Morning

Only one of the 33 refugees didn't make it through the night.

She had hidden herself away in the undergrowth 

And a pile of feathers laid testament to the fact that one of the field badgers had found her

The other hens, spread through the untidy collection of coops that make up theUkrainian village,

are awake and foraging with the field hens

Peace has returned.

The gravedigger arrived early this morning.As we speak, he is working away opening one of the graves in the new cemetery 

It is Sylvia's funeral today at 11

I am helping out with other Flower Show Committee members and helpers at the memorial Hall 

after the service

We are " doing the teas"

It seems right that we are helping out

The Flower Show Committee 2012 ( Sylvia 2nd from left)

Bleeding Hell

For f*cks sake
Someone follow me
I want to reach my 600 status
!

Count Arthur Strong

Twelve of the refugees just would not go into their allotted houses tonight

It was almost dark before I could corner some of them

( hens cannot see well in bad light)

And my frustrations were high as the rain started to fall

I had just about enough by 9 pm

And bellowed out a lusty

" for fucks sake you are all getting on my tits

GO IN!"

My neighbour who was putting out the bins

Chuckled to himself

" language Timothy!" He trilled out

Ps

I watched the new sit com Count Arthur Strong tonight and laughed like a drain

I love it

And have a strange crush on the classical actor Rory Kinnear

Who plays straight man Michael
The expression and the turban had me in fits

It's Official....I Am No Longer Popular

The Ukrainian Village this morning

The " refugees" came face to face with the field hens early this morning. Apart from the occasional chicken version of " come on girls slap the bitch!" type altercation....things have been pretty quiet so far....I think the refugees are all a bit gobsmacked..... Their former run was a bare patch of earth in the centre of a large wooded area......... Grass on tap is a new experience for them


Anyway.....changing the subject
It's official
I  am no longer popular
I listened to classic fm yesterday, and for some reason the presenter outlined that " John" as a name has now been kicked into touch outside the 100 of most popular of  boy's names.
( According to mumsnet.com that is)!
I am therefore now, officially a dinosaur
John like Susan, Angela, Nigel and Janet is a relic of the 1960s
This surprises me
as I always thought that John was a timeless title......after all John Cusack is a very sexy man and 
He's bleeding 47 for Christsake

When I am a pensioner, I suspect " John" will have gone the way of Albert, Fred and. Ethel ....names that the young bottom wiping health care givers think of as " cute" and on reflection , that really doesn't bother me....after all... It could be worse
A great deal worse.......
I could have been called Jayden