Good Neighbours

I am going back to bed in a few hours...as this is the weekend that I am working both nights. My neighbour, who is also called John , caught me this morning and offered his services with the setting up of the open day later next week. We are blessed with good neighbours in this little corner  of Trelawnyd. The Open Day is a case in point.  I now have on tap helpers with the setting up, home made ice cream made by another in our freezer and the promise from another couple to open up their lovely garden to the public next Sunday.

It was not always the case.

When we lived in Sheffield we really only knew one set of neighbours. They indeed became life long friends but they were the only people in the street that we knew really well. The other set of neighbours were a bit of a rough family that kept themselves to themselves. They argued a great deal, had a knackered old sofa in their back garden which the teenage lads sprawled on for much of the time and seemed to drink cheap beer by the barrel load.

I remember being in our beautifully tended walled garden one Sunday morning ( I probably was wandering around with a pair of secateurs and a trug)I could hear  but not see the " rough family" bickering with each other as they sat on their garden sofa . They all seemed to be suffering from a hangover.

The mother as I recall was yelling at her sons.

It was one of those " You treat this place like a hotel" type of lecture which went on and on and on

Her final , exasperated plea kind of gave me a back handed complement

" all I am asking for is a little bit of help with the housework!" She rasped

" why oh why can't you all be like that OLD POOF NEXT DOOR AND KEEP THE BLEEDING PLACE TIDY?"

Making A Tit Of One's self

One of the refugees has a chesty cough

I had run out of antibiotics

So I rang the vets

Booked with the receptionist to collect some

And drove up to the surgery late this morning.

The receptionist must have been on her break for only George Clooney

( the GOB smackingly good looking vet) was sat behind the desk eating a sandwich

I straightened my hair and gave him one of my best smiles

And before I could say anything, he stood up and sang out a lusty

" Mr Gray!" 

And suddenly  I went all silly realising that he had actually remembered my name

" you have a good memory for faces, I haven't been in for ages"

I wittered.

George shook his handsome head

" Not really" he answered in his deep chocolate voice

and  picking  up the bottle of antibiotic from the counter,

he added simply and somewhat wryly

" Your name is on the bottle"

Apparently Mugabe Hates Gays

Dare I say

We don't rate him much either

The Return Of Old Friends

A gaudy peacock butterfly soaking up food and sunshine

I have felt all a bit pampered over the past week .

Three days of dressing  up clean and tidy. Three days of city travel, good food and socialising.

Three days of West End Shows, family catch ups,and urban sightseeing

It has been fun.

Now I am back in my slightly ripped Walking Dead T shirt

The feet are grubby in my crocs

And the faint smell of chicken poo is coming from my knees after a few minutes kneeling over " Nettle"( the new chick who Sorrel adopted)

Funny how quickly normality returns

Anyway

The tortoiseshell and peacocks in the front garden

This summer has heralded the welcomed return of the butterfly
Over the past few years the buddleia bushes that I planted in the back garden have been quiet and lonely but this year's warmth and sunshine has resurrected the populations of the cabbage white, red admiral and peacock species around the field and garden.
Every time I see them, beavering away around the Bosom's' cabbages, I am transported to those long hot summers of my childhood ( we all have this memory do we not?) where butterflies filled the  air above your parents' herbaceous borders and squadrons of wasps drowned themselves in your tall glasses of orange squash  which were left unattended in the sun
I have delighted in their return.

Pea Froth? give over!

For lunch ( and wait for this one) I had Soya Curd, Beetroot and Nasturtium Leaves as a starter with Double Baked Ribblesdale Pudding and Smoked Croquette with pineapple pickle as a main. 

Yes we went to vanilla Black ,a favourite restaurant of Chris' for lunch, and yes, to my untrained eye the menu did look just a tad over the top.... But I must say, the intense flavours on some of the tiniest food piles I have ever seen in my life, were all rather impressive to say the least. chris chose a Brie ice cream which sounds absolutely bizarre, but which tasted divine and my pud ( Roasted White Chocolate and Cep Mushroom Custard and Tarragon Cream Cheese) did boggle my mind somewhat, for I didn't really understand the flavours that were on my plate.

But the experience was a wonderfully indulgent one and set me up perfectly for A CHORUS LINE over at the Palladium

Now I know I  am a bit of an oddity , but I am one of those rare creatures that actually enjoyed Richard Attenborough's film version of this all-American Musical. The stage version is much faster paced and more vibrant and I enjoyed it just as much as the movie production from 1985.

Leigh Zimmerman was especially impressive in her role as the aging and slightly shopworn dancer Sheila.....but after all, she does have all the best lines.i gave the whole glittery production an impressive 8/10

We were back on the train home by 6.30, after a lovely treat day out......

But after that " experimental" lunch... I was glad of the selection of Marks & Spencer sandwiches we bought at Euston before we left

Chick

Not a good pic but just to let you all know that the chick survived the night

On the train at the moment

They have no coffee service!

So a scotch egg will be totally out of the question

It's Back!

Silver Fox Hollywood and the delightful Mary Berry

No, not series 4 of The Walking Dead...but The Great British Bake Off!
Ok the contestants are all the same as last year......ageing queen, fat queen, yummy mommy, token black girl, Mary Berry look-a-like , irritating know all, sweet girl that cries a lot.....
But I don't care
It's mindless, light hearted, middle class entertainment that's a joy to watch
I love it....
BTW
Off to London tomorrow to see
A CHORUS LINE
Tits and ass.......tits and ass
And I'll say it again
TITS AND ASS

Ps...for those that don't know..the BAKE OFF is a BBC 2 programme that sets weekly challenges to a dozen or so amateur bakers.......as usual one is kicked off every week .......
Pps tits and ass is a song in the show
Ppps That is A Chorus Line and  NOT the Bake Off

A Little Miracle

Lying in bed early this morning, I had already formulated a somewhat lively blog discussion about " email etiquette" in my head, before I had even put a dirty foot into a grubby croc shoe.

But subsequent events have put paid to all of that interesting banter.

Another one of the refugees was killed and eaten by badgers overnight. A small and pretty Araucana " forgot" to make it back to her hen house before dusk and had roosted herself away in thick undergrowth .

 I have noticed that this occasionally happens with hens that are not used to free range greenery....no matter how much you try to " imprint " them on their home coop, they seem slightly overwhelmed with the total freedom of the great outdoors and wander off like Jenny Agutter did in Walkabout.

Two casualties out of 33 hens is not a bad loss rate given the way the refugees suddenly appeared 

Unfortunately the little araucana had a newly hatched single chick with her and of course there was no sign of it when I scoured the bushes and nettles by the pond, the exit point for the badger run.

But I was sure I heard  a faint " peep peep" of a distressed chick somewhere about., though I could not be totally sure.

I was not the only one who heard something

For out of a far coop, a fat broody and over motherly Buff Orpington called Sorrel lumbered over clucking loudly to herself .

She waddled past me and pushed her way into a patch of nettles only to reappear seconds later with the lost  araucana chick in tow. 

If I had not seen it with my own eyes , I would never of believed it.

Foster mum and chick are now set up in their own house safe and sound.

A heartwarming little tale