Badger Induced Insomnia

The cottage at night ..note the depressed pumpkin lantern 

There is a new large badger boar on the field at night.
He and his set mates seem to be new to the area, and have pushed their way through the riding stable's poor fencing to the south where they have left their signature black and white hair on the barb wire fencing.
The hen houses are all robust enough to withstand  badger attacks , but the very presence of a big, and rather aggressive boar has unnerved the ducks, who have become noisy and panicked when he is about. They woke me up with their quacking around 3 am on Sunday and Monday morning and I was up again around 5 am yesterday when I heard the badger scraping heavily at Mary's hutch wire.
I looked out of the bedroom window and saw the boar quite clearly.
He looked as big as a bear.

I took Winifred over to the field and snorting like a steam train, she saw the interlopers off but I am now toying with the idea of setting up a single electric wire strand which could circle the duck house at least.....the poor hysterical ducks could then have a good nights sleep...and so could I

Having said all this, the badgers didn't turn up last night....
Either that or I slept through their activity....
I need my coffee this morning

Badger chaser Winifred and I dozing on the couch at 5 am yesterday morning

Scruffy Dogs On A Scruffy Chair

Chris is away working for the week

So I sent him this photo earlier to buck him up

His scruffy dog sons sharing a chair
I love William's left paw position

Always Make Sure You Have Clean underwear On

The Walking Dead returned for it's series 4 last night in the US . Unfortunately I will have to wait until Friday before I can see hear Carol playfully call Daryl " Pookie"....how sad am I?
Anyhow
The subject of today's post, Children is public nudity and not Zombie apocalypses
Well it's not about frontal nudity....... God forbid........... but it's about losing one's trousers when holding four dogs on leads and two large plastic bags of dog crap .down the beach kind of  nudity.
I should be happy
It's all about losing over 16 lbs
And not investing in a belt.
Elasticated waists were so much easier.
And more practical

An Apology

I don't know what's wrong with me.......over the past few weeks I have forgotton THREE close relatives' birthdays.....brother  in law Tim...sister in law Jayne ( above) and Great niece Evie.
I am such a tight arse when remembering  birthdays are concerned, I just cannot quite believe I have done it.
No excuses mind you....just a big apology to the rels concerned.........belated gifts and cards will be posted tomorrow
Xxxxxx

Tradition!

Ok, so I have lost 14 lbs in just over 4 weeks.......
But I still resemble Tevye just a little,  waving my hands over my head in the village of  Anatevka whilst shaking  my belly and belting out a good Yiddish ditty.....and like  him ...I am a sucker for tradition.

Families make their own traditions.....some are handed down from generation to generation...... Others develop of their own accord .
Traditions maintain continuity and promote stability.
and they can give you the feeling that you have just been visited by old friends
That is the positive aspect of tradition
.......comfort..........

Depressed pumpkin 

Now at this time of year two traditions are visited here in out small corner of North Wales. The first is a family dinner, which my sister  terms warmly as  a " harvest Supper". We are all meeting up tonight for that, each sibling responsible for a course at the dinner.

The other tradition is the making of the Halloween pumpkin which will sit on the kitchen window for a few weeks before the 31st, warding off evil spirits from the cottage boundary.

Now, I am not a lover of Halloween.....it's gone all too Jamie lee Curtis for my liking....but I do like preparing the pumpkin' s sad little face a good few days before the event.....

It sorts of bookends the finish of summer and welcomes the start of winter.

Now what traditions does everyone adhere and welcome?

Grass up my Bumper

I was stopped by he police late last night after I had left the Samaritans .
The policeman was brusque but polite and gave me a routine breathalyser test  which of course turned out fine.
He asked me where I was going.
I told him home
He asked me where I had been
I told him a shift at the Samaritans
He looked around the battered Berlingo briefly and before he gave me the breathalyser tube as a " keepsake" he laughed
" do you know you have grass growing out of your rear bumper? "

It sounded like a typical "carry on " double entendre 

But I thought better 

Of adding " oooo matron"

As I knew his observation was correct.

I am such a car slut

I am not alone

Stop For A Chat & Bake Off Blues

The death of the Red Faced Welsh Farmer earlier in the year has meant that great chunks of my weekly routine have been left somewhat intact and gossip free. Once you caught a glimpse of his familiar red landrover,bouncing towards you you braced yourself for at least a 45 minute chat, whether it be a gripe about community Council antics or a lively debate of the ins and outs of village life.
I often see others from the village, out on their daily walks , but our conversations are never as convoluted and detailed as the ones I used to enjoy with the RFWF and I can now catch up with the jobs of the day.
I now miss those 45 minute times.
Yesterday I noticed an old chap leaning on the gate of the field. I don't see him often, so I went over for a chat, giving him a couple of spare eggs for his pocket. He asked me about Mary's hutch and I told him of her story and he was intrigued by the sheep who kicked their feet sharply at Winifred who bounced around the field like a puppy with that awful lurid purple plastic bone in her mouth.
He was in no rush to move on.
Eventually I left him to fill the water and pellet feeders and when I returned a good while later he pointed at the Mary's hutch and asked " is that rabbit all right? It hasn't moved for over half an hour"
I had to laugh a little
The eyes can play tricks on you when you are 80.
He had been carefully watching a small cabbage.

Another of the nice characters was voted off  The Great British Bake Off  last night. Grandmother Christine ( the one with the calm voice and the winning smile) left the show amid a flurry of contestant tears. Ruby ( less pouting last night I thought) will I suspect win as the chirpy Welsh girl Becca and the mousy but talented Francis got a real mauling from the judges.
I am also becoming a little sorry for Kimberly, who is being manipulated by the producers into a kind of " baddie" role. Her confidence is not a virtue in British tv competitions.
The programme seems to have lost something since Howard and Glenn have left.......the men seemed to have given he whole thing some heart.