Time To Dress Up

As you all know I don't " do" religion . I clean the church...yes.......I help out with  church activities yes and I think that the Church has an important and valid part to play in community life....but I don't go to services, I don't worship and I don't pray....even when the far and distant memories of Prestatyn High School's morning service gets pricked at funerals and weddings with renditions of the Lord's  prayer.

It's something I feel strongly about.

Anyhow,

The Bishop visited Dyserth Church today and Trelawnyd's congregation swelled the ranks in support of our small Church here in Trelawnyd. 

Chris helped out in his role of  church warden and donned his best tunicle for the event and I must admit that the " official photo" of the lineup does look rather impressive and almost Christmasy!

Though a little bit of tinsel and a couple of baubles wouldn't go amiss

I heard that organist Gaynor gave the organ some welly and that Dyserth Church was full for the event ......I have a sense that people are quite drawn to the local Bishop, who seems a wonderfully  jolly character............in a rather old fashioned and pleasing way

No it's not the finale of the stage show Sister Act

The Bishop of St Asaph ( centre)

chris ( second  left)

Food Whore

A deserted Chester

I am bleeding knackered

Totally cream crackered

No, I have not been working at the hospital

No I have not been digging over bosoms either

What have I been doing?

Well I'll tell you

I have been Christmas Shopping all day with Chris in Chester

In the run up to Christmas the whole  population of  North Wales heads to this picturesque 

 English City to slog round it's shops and cafés 

Chris adores this retail day tradition

I hate shopping

But I did enjoy the lovely meal he treated me to in Carluccio's 

I am such a food whore

Judy..Judy...Judy

My friend, Pat ( the animal helper)  from just around the corner, has just been on a very glam cruise around the Med

It was on one of those gigantic passenger liners

With Poseidon Adventure dinner jackets and everything

I had an entertaining look at her holiday snaps this afternoon

And she told me that her sister had been somewhat perplexed by the 

Signs that advertised  daily afternoon meetings of the " friends of Dorothy" in the coconut lounge!

It tickled me that both ladies had no clue what it all meant
( apparently it is a bit of a tradition for gay passengers to get together some afternoons)

I think I may start a " friends of Dorothy " club at the village hall

Old Dorothy Jones from the bungalow along London Road will be chuffed!

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?