Listen to them.......the children of the night........

After Chris' " do you know who I am ?" Strop, we now have a delightfully large and luxurious room overlooking the lake. Having said this, I have noted with some disappointment that we don't have blackout blinds......ok we are not quite in the " land of the midnight sun" but so far, it has never quite got dark...a weird phenomenon  for a Welshman who likes the night.

I've been awake since 4 am. It is now 5.30....

and I am contemplating fashioning a usable eye patch from a pair of Chris' underpants.

Hey ho

Breakfast starts in an hour

They do a lovely sausage !

God Morgon ( with photos)

I am the blue dot

Précis so Far,
The resort is tucked away in the middle of nowhere
So much so, that there was only one taxi in town to ferry a couple of dozen delegates to the hotel
So we felt obliged to walk through groves of wild lupins and past chocolate box houses set back in little meadows to find our way " home"
The view of lake Siljan at the front of the hotel is delightful
and dare I say quite magical last night as it didn't really go dark at all

Our room has a slightly  different vista, as we have a lovely view of the kitchen bins

Hey ho

The hotel is not quite up to Chris' standards I'm afraid

and already today there has been a bit of a bunfight over lack of early morning tea!

A gin and tonic is something like 10 quid a pop

So much so the Irish and Canadian contingent of the conference thundered

about last night with a "pooled" collection of duty free Bombay Sapphire's 

I am off  now to have a mooch and will post some photos later.

Every cottage seemed to have its own little meadow

I don't  think that Sweden has a slug problem
The fields are crammed full of lupins

god morgen 

Serendipity

Tomorrow I shall share with you my thoughts of being the spouse of an academic 

at a Scandinavian research conference

( I wonder if there is a Swedish version of a scotch egg? Btw)
Anyhow

But tonight I will paint a brief picture of one of those silly serendipity moments that 

Tend to linger long in the mind.
Last night , as I were watching the field animals amble gently to their own shelters for the night,

this song  played on ipad re run of Desert Island Discs

And in the warm still evening air

I danced around the coops with a  cheerful middle aged Scottish terrier and a fat old bulldog with a wild grin gleefully in tow

Dancing with dogs

Life couldn't get any better

Swedes and Turnips

As Chris gives his presentation to the assembled hoards of international boffins

I intend to wander around the grounds of the Swedish spa hotel

looking all mysterious and Ingmar Bergman ish

With a book and a faraway look.

........

Or did I mean Ingrid Bergman?

Who knows

Anyhow I won't be sitting in the hotel bar...that's for sure

I don't earn enough

I am worried about my hens

FAB

This is my Sunday post

I am working all day tomorrow and doing a SAM shift from 10 to 1am

Must be mad

Virgil....and his serious eyebrows

I hear that the  Thunderbirds tv show is being remade

With live actors

Hummmmm. I am looking forward to see who plays Virgil

I always fancied Virgil 

Scott was too cocky

Alan was too young

John  was boring as hell

And Gordon was pug ugly

No....it was the slightly bearish Virgil for me every day

Is it wrong to fancy a puppet?

After all 

I did find Phoebus from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

Vaguely attractive

Out To Lunch

We are off to a posh lunch with one of Chris' Professor colleagues today.

I will have to pass muster before we leave.

No crocs or Walking Dead T shirts will be tolerated or allowed today

That's for sure!

I told affable despot Jason all this when I bumped into him on chapel street when out with the dogs this morning

and he quipped

" I've heard they've bussed in Gok Wan for the makeover" 

I laughed

as he added under his breath

" he's got a big job on his hands"

Standing guard

You have to look close

But as we were on badger watch at dusk tonight

Winnie saw something strange in the distance

She ran forward, coughing out little woofs 

With George and Albert in support

Was it a badger sneaking forward past bosoms?

No, it wasn't 

It was two black plastic buckets 

Left out from watering time

Man On A Mission & A Little Kindness

Not many people can say that they have eaten a bacon sandwich in their own grave

Village Elder ,  grandson of the village gravedigger and general fix it man, Islwyn, is one person that can.

I won't go into the tale of why and when, for it is not for me to really do so

but the fact that he did, has always tickled me pink.

Islwyn is responsible for the beautiful state of the New Graveyard in Trelawnyd.

With minimal assistance he beavered away for hour after hour, year after year , 

in all kinds of dreadful weather, until proper paths were laid, walls rebuilt and borders set out.

It has been a true labour of love.

I saw him today as I was weeding bosoms. He had popped into the Churchyard to complete 

a small task, and stopped for a chat and to greet the dogs who all galloped over to

say hello.

He  is one of a small team of locals that is kindly looking after the animals when I am away in Stockholm .

Not a bad place to be buried 

Grass like a billiard table

-----------------------------

Finally , I need to thank Ivor & Carys Davies from nearby Abergele,

apparently they have followed Going Gently for a while now

They emailed me last night  offering me 6 ex battery hens

from their next batch

I emailed back asking them " how much?"

And was told 

They were a gift

Sweet!