Thawing chris

I worked at Samaritans until  midnight and got home to find the cottage in total silence.
The kitchen was strangely devoid of bulldog snores, so I checked on Winifred's crate only to find it strangely empty! ( I have trained the big girl to sleep in her own crate since she arrived)
The living room was also dogless so I tiptoed upstairs and looked in our bedroom.
There was Chris all  fast asleep and peaceful and next to him was George, Meg, William AND Albert all comatose in little furry bundles......and who did I spy with her head on MY pillow? . Legs waving uselessly in the air? Yes it was a bleary eyed and grinning Winifred......
Her expression said it all
I was invited.....it " said"

Me thinks that Chris' bulldog antipathy has finally come to an end

Welsh: arse over tit

Welsh is an odd language.
Everything seems just a little topsy- turvy as well as occasionally unpronounceable
But once you get the hang of it all
It's no more difficult to speak than Spanish or French
It's just not as sexy.
I have been asked what our cottage's Welsh name actually means...
Well.....
"Y Bwthyn" is the Welsh name for cottage
"Llan" is an old word which means " an enclosure" or " settlement" . It is also an alternative name for a " Church" which seems more likely in our case as our cottage and the one next door overlook the Church fields and graveyard.
So Bwthyn-y-llan literally means " Cottage the Church" or  "Church cottage"
Simples

I'm worried

Mary's put on a bit of weight

Culture Vulture

When it's cold and wintery fashion goes out of the window
Mind you
I must be honest
I have never really been known for a David Niven-esque debonair " look"
Last night it was freezing, so I went to bed with more clothes on than I had worn during the day.
This morning I just threw on wellies and  slogged through dawn jobs then swapped wellies for crocs so I could pop down to the vets to collect some pre ordered antibiotics
Now next to the vets is a small supermarket, and as I wandered around clutching my scotch egg two pack and bag of bagels  ( before you say anything...I have been saving all of my weightwatcher pro points over a week for this  little treat) I heard someone sing out a  chirpy " hello John"
The greeting came from one of the consultant anaesthetists from work ( who was standing in line with a pile of French sticks and a few bottles of expensive red),  and I couldn't help noticing that he was giving my grubby track suit bottoms, lurid socks with crocks and grotty anorak the once over
"You in work today?" He asked politely
Luckily he spotted the irony, when I wagged my crocs at him and said
" no I'm off to church"

Well , as it turned out..I am not in fact off to church.....I am off to clean the carpets with an all singing, all dancing " finally get rid of those doggy smells" vax machine, kindly lent to me by another local affable despot Greta ( below)
Btw
Love the hat!

Get On Your Bike

Today, I bumped into one of those sullen teens that village elder Islwyn had conscripted to help dig out the now leaf filled and silt covered duck pond.
We have very little in common, except for knowing the ever busy Islwyn, but he made a point of telling me that after a fair while looking, he had finally found a full time job!
The job is based at a recycling plant 600 feet down and 8 miles away on the coastal plain and would mean a bone crunching 5 am start.... A daunting prospect just as we edge our way into the snow season.
I asked the teen how he was going to get to work at that ungodly hour and without any hesitation he said brightly
" I'll bike it!"....
My response of " good for you" didn't quite cover the admiration I felt
And I couldn't help thinking that Norman Tebbit of " get on your bike and look for work" fame, would now be waving his knickers around his head with joy at the prospect of a young  man slogging back from work up a 1 in 6 hill in the pitch black.
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Hypnotised by a chicken leg

Chris is working away again, so tonight I roasted a chicken and me and the dogs shared it in front of a roaring fire as a bit  of a treat.
I have toyed with the idea of a trip to the cinema but I just can't be arsed.......how " teenage" am I?

A Paso

I have not really been following Strictly

But I must admit Susanna Reid ( a newscaster and non dancer)

Should win the contest

Just watch this paso

Cracking 

It's all part of the job

In my professional capacity,I have been insulted by the best and by the worst members of society.

The most effective " insulters", in my experience are always manic depressives who are entering their " manic " phases, as they can often latch on a weakness or defect in your psychi or personality and exploit it mercilessly.
It's a product of having a thousand thoughts flashing through your mind every second

My very favourite insult came from an incredibly well-to-do elderly lady of some means and standing. She looked me up and down as I was showing her around the psychiatric ward she had just been admitted to and with a click of her fingers referred to me as a
" pious double chinned little turd"
She also introduced me to a fellow patient as " an unfortunate fat wombat of a staff nurse" which tickled me too.....I have always loved a quick witted bitch slap of a put down.
Last night a confused patient called me a " pig ugly twat"
To which I said a calm and measured " please don't say things like that, I am one of the nurses looking after you"
The patient looked at me incredulously and called out a triumphant and somewhat lusty
" you are a pig ugly nurse then"
You can't disagree with logic

Nocturnal Activities

I have spent the day in bed
Back to work tonight.
I used to enjoy doing a run of nights in wintertime when I was a younger nurse
Bloody hell, I used to do seven consecutive shifts in a row, and slept all day every day between every one of them.
Natural sunlight was never seen.
Home was sleep and junk food.
Now I seldom do more than one night shift at a time, so a day in bed today felt indulgent and all a bit naughty.
It has also taken it's toll on my 51 year old face
Which now looks like a bag of spanners