The Exorcist

Radio 4 IS the best radio station in the world

It needs to be said.

Tonight( I am typing this just after midnight) I listened to the BBC production of

"The Exorcist " as I drove home from my shift at Samaritans 

And do you know what?

It was more gripping, atmospheric and thrilling than anything I have watched on the

Big screen 

Radio is often seen as the poor relation when it comes to media, but

believe me, when I drove through the dark Welsh countryside as the child Regan threatened 

the priest Father Karras
I was truly chilled to the bone
Hey ho

X

As Requested

Her tuppence was in dire need of a good soaking

( see previous entry for an explanation)

Fines & Scummy Baths

I received a parking fine yesterday. It was from the " 3 hours only" retail park who informed me that I had parked the Berlingo in their Prestatyn car park for over five hours back on the 11th of February.
I had to laugh ( eventually) as they demanded that they get £ 85 quid off me ( well only 50£ if I am sweet enough to pay immediately)  even though I only drove through the car park after dropping Chris off at the station at 6.55am and a couple of hours later I was driving the Berlingo five miles away dropping Meg off for her haircut.
I am not bothered by the letter, but I was irritated by it.
The company involved ( Parking Eye - car park management) states that I can only appeal in writing ( if there was an accompanying telephone number someone would have got a rather large flea  in their ear)....
I hate this petty and moneymaking " officialdom" and
It galls me that these bullying letters may frighten the less assertive into paying fines........
Bastards!
Anyhow, I will lighten the mood with this photo

It's George in the bath!

He always looks ashamed

All four dogs are getting the bath treatment today

Including Winnie

How the hell am I going to get her fat arse in the tub?
Wish me luck

Fill The Void

Transplant Lizzie Bennett or Marianne Dashwood and their families into the ultra traditional Haredi Jewish Community in Tel Aviv. Add to the mix, the death during childbirth of a much beloved elder sister and complicate with the collective need of the family for the younger sister to marry her former brother in law....and you get the gist of Fill The Void.( At Theatre Clwyd this evening)
The traditions and customs of this religious community may be as alien to a general audience as tropical fish but the Jane Austen flavour of the romance amid a claustrophobic set of relatives is as familiar to everyone as Kate Winslett in a busty frock.
Rama Burshstein has crafted a fascinating story which centres about the coming of age and wisdom of the teenage  Shira ( Hadas Yaron) who has to balance out her family's need for her to marry her grieving brother in law and her own need to self determination. Her journey, typically of Austin , runs an uneven path, a path which is ambiguously outlined by Burshstein , a director who underplays all the messages in the drama.
I loved the fact that Shira's favourite aunt Hanna ( Razia Israli ) is armless...a fact that is never explained or highlighted in the story......it  is a fact that is gently and subtly made known as the plot unfolds........
A surreal fact in a very understandable story.
One sequence lingers long in the mind.  As Shira eventually gets married and is congratulated by a succession of female relatives, she is seen to descend into an emotional and religious fugue state , it a a piece of cinema which is beautiful and incredibly moving to watch
8/10

Turkey in wool

Yes!
It is a selfie of my new " turkey" pullover, a delightful gift from Chris's big shopping spree over the border yesterday! Now I detest shopping trips and Chris loves them, so my sister accompanied him to all of the designer stores at Cheshire Oaks.
I don't know just how they do it. Hours of shopping, lunch, a glass of wine, more shopping and then even more shopping. It sounds like pure hell to me..... So I left them to it, and caught the train to Chester yesterday evening to meet them for dinner at a nice Italian.

Tuesday night! and out for dinner.....get him!

Chris  ( and his new Van Dyke beard and moustache ) and fellow shopper Janet

So it was a win win day all round. Chris and Janet had a wonderful shop, I got a new jumper and we all had a lovely meal and far too much wine .

I am in dire need of that first coffee this morning.......

Just a tad hungover!

Chester at night

" now, let's just have a look at you"

A slightly drier day today

There were a few people around when I went out on deliveries

Auntie Glad was stood at the bus stop,

She looked smart and had a hat on which wasn't like her

" you look dapper!"

I called out

" I'm off to the doctors" she explained

Suddenly I was reminded of those days when my father would have a bath on a weekday!

It was always before a doctor's appointment
Spick and span and clean underwear

You always made an effort for the doctor!

Walking Dead. Episode 10

Daryl & Beth....." Happy days...matching outfits"

 Well after the fall of the prison , The Walking Dead wisely returned to its disaster movie roots and concentrated a whole episode on the eclectic bunch of survivors in zombie infested Georgia.
Of course in true Star Trek fashion the prison red shirts are eaten ( including some of the minor child characters) but five separate groups weave their way along the railroad tracks towards a new destiny.

Carol is back, as is baby Judith...and fledgling psychopath Lizzy ( who almost smothered the baby to save herself and her sister) is suddenly making things a whole lot more interesting.
Maggie and Glen's separation is nicely observed, Daryl is interestingly retreating back into his asbergers  shell and Beth has finally stopped singing and has started to act.

Still great fun... Team prison is now up to 18 souls!

Carol's back and not a child in the house is washed

Bitch Peace

This is an exceedingly rare photograph

Meg, the old Welsh terrier has never taken to any other bitch 

She has spent the better part of nine years, posturing and snapping at any female.

She has initiated numerous fights

She has bitten through a succession of leads when transferring aggression 

And she has spent many a stress-filled evening making sure she remains top bitch in the eyes of alpha male me.

That is until today.

Today she sought out and curled up with the benign Winifred on the hearth rug

And stayed there, with her skinny little face resting on Winnie's fat biceps 

For an hour or two.

It's not huge news in the great scheme of things

But

It certainly made my day