The Rocket

I went to see my first Laos based film tonight
Ok it was made by an Australian documentary filmmaker ( Kim Mordaunt) but the film couldn't be more further away from Australian culture than I am to understanding a woman's erogenous zones?
The Rocket is a gentle, low key affair, set in a dirt poor and historically war ravaged rural Laos.
Ten year old Alho  (Sitthiphon Disamoe) -a child thought to be cursed from birth by being a surviving twin- is relocated from his village with his grieving father and bad tempered grandmother. They team up with a James Brown loving drunk and  his precociously mature 9 year old niece and after a few ragged adventures, enter a local rocket competition to raise funds for a new home.
Think of a far Eastern version of Local Hero and you'll know where I'm coming from. 
Sweet natured and a little meandering.....this movie is a  harmless way of passing two hours in a deserted welsh art house cinema
Incidentally the  lead child actor ( Disamoe) was a truly talented find.....and is the spit of Chris's
nephew Leo.
7/10

Making Your Own Traditions....Camilla.....and the Baby Jesus

Sorrel leaves today. It has become a little bit of a tradition that I take her to the train. It is also a little tradition of mine to prepare her some sandwiches and cake to eat on the journey back to Kent.
A Lunch wrapped in brown paper, tied up with string.
It's a silly little tradition, but there it is, fixed and unchanging over the years that we have known each other.
On the home front, thoughts are turning to babies

Camilla the Canada Goose has now taken up residence in the duck house and with a bit of help from me, now has a large collection of eggs laid by her and the other geese on which she will finally settle.
At the moment she spends much of her time patrolling her borders,hissing gently at passing hens, only disappearing into her chalet from time to time to rearrange her eggs.
She is the sweetest of creatures.

And that leaves me to tell you about The Baby Jesus. Remember him?
Well the single chick that hatched on Easter Sunday is doing fine and is the apple of his mother's eye

Mothers and sons eh?

Goggle- Eyes & GoggleBox

Chris and his mother have left Trelawnyd for a whole day's clothes shopping.
I cannot think of anything worse
So at the moment, as they are whipping themselves into a frenzy over the latest fashions I'm filling small plastic boxes with cauliflower soup to put into the freezer.
That will do for me.

Winnie.........

Sorrel will be glad of the respite. For Winifred has formed some sort of lesbian bulldog crush on my mother in law, spending much of her day making moo moo lip kisses at her whilst fluttering her eyelashes in a fair imitation of Beryl Reid from The Killing Of Sister George.
It's all a bit unsavory 
It's also got to a stage where bulldog has been caught lying outside the bathroom door whilst Sorrel is in the bath......I wouldn't be at all surprised to find Winnie sneaking into Sorrel's bedroom sniffing in her underwear drawers.....
Anyhow , on a lighter note, I must share with you a " must see" tv programme from the Channel 4 stable.
Gogglebox has a simple enough format. A selection of British " families" are filmed by a " secret" camera while watching a selection of programmes. Their reactions, observations and interactions make up the majority of the show, and the resulting footage provides an entertaining and fascinating snapshot of society in the UK today
The most endearing couple of tv watchers are posh bread and Breakfast owners Steph and Dominic. The couple sit hand in hand with each other and down what seems like a whole bottle of gin a night as they slurr away happily at whatever the producers have to show them.
It's surprisingly funny and affectionate tv making

Night Nurse Hysteria

I really should get up.

The little red clock on the bedside table says 13.15

I have been in bed four hours fifteen minutes

A record for me after night shift

I feel as though I have been hit by a train.

Last  night was hard work.

The girl working alongside me had an incredibly busy patient

The whole unit was snowed under

So me and another colleague not only had to look after our own patients 

But had to chip in to support this nurse

teamwork is what gets you through

when everything goes tits up at 3 am in the morning.

The three of us, and our patients made it through the night

But by 8 am the hysteria was beginning to show

" Night nurse hysteria"is a well known phenomenon 

on busy shifts

It occurs when something that is only gently amusing takes on a huge significance

The resulting hysteria is often infectious and to

onlookers insanely perplexing.

Years ago , when my mother was admitted to hospital she recounted a cracking example of 

" night nurse hysteria"

Lying in bed at night she watched as the three ward staff raced around like

blue arsed flies without a break.

Finally at around 6 am, a knackered looking support worker

Dragged herself to the nursing station to where the two trained staff were gulping down

a cold cup of tea, their first one of the shift!

There she hissed in an exhausted stage whisper

" staff!...I've found another one dead!"

And promptly the three women burst into fits of uncontrollable giggles.

Exhaustion can play very cruel tricks on a person in the wee small hours!

Anyhow, Like I said, I really should get up.

It's now 13.40.

and I have to move the new chicks from their broody box.

somehow the dogs have found their way into the bedroom

( thanks chris)

They will need a walk before we all have to go around to Mrs Trellis' house

She has invited us round for a cup of tea.

And I still feel like a bag of shite.

Winnie, giving me the dead eye......

Sorrel's Inner Child

I am sure my mother in law would not mind informing you all that she has reached an important milestone in her birthday calendar . This has not curtailed her ability, in any way,to unleash her inner child whenever the mood takes her in order to enjoy and appreciate activities and experiences usually reserved for the likes of Bobby from The Railway Children or Titty from Swallows & Amazons
Sorrel has an amazing ability to enjoy anything and everything

Sorrel, chocolate Mary and the infamous dressing gown

This morning I arranged an " Easter Bunny Hunt" for her. Four goose eggs and a chocolate bunny ( a fitting tribute to the valiant  Mary I thought) had been secreted in the front garden for Sorrel to find,
Donned in a fleece dressing gown and fluffy slippers she skipped around the garden,  squealing triumphantly  as she removed each egg from its hiding place amid the greenery
She was only  interrupted the once, when Ann  Malthoff from around  the corner walked by with a wry smile on her face. Sorrel tried hiding behind a ceanothus bush but the Purple Hearts on her dressing gown gave her away.
Ann is a happy soul too......I heard her chuckling away to herself as she disappeared down the lane.

Selfie Good Friday

I think this " selfie" speaks for itself.

Miracle Baby

A broody hen has been sitting on her eggs for around 10 days. Every day she needs throwing off them in order to have a drink and a mouthful of corn, so it took me by surprise when I turfed her off this afternoon and found a single chick hatched out underneath her.
( for those that don't know it takes 21 days for a chick to develop in the egg)
How apt for Easter Weekend
Even though I can't quite work out how she did it