A Whole Load Of Veg

Now you will have to read the previous post in order

to understand the gist of this one

But I am happy to announce that I have received my first competition entry

Yes there is much misery in this world

Yes, we are not quite out of economic Armageddon 

And yes global warming is about to flood us all off the planet

So what does Going Gently ask of its' readers?

Well

MAKE A NOVELTY ANIMAL OUT OF A VEGETABLE AND SEND IN A PHOTO OF IT!

Of course!

Hook nose from Jessie in Alaska

Baby clanger was sent in by Andi this morning

Deloras' owl and ladybird

See previous blog for the details of the competition

All entries will be exhibited at the 

Trelawnyd Flower Show

( locals will be expected to hand in their novelty veg in person btw as this is only

A fun competition for non locals)

Els " fish"

Garlic bulbs " Stan & Gill" by Gill Owens

Butterfly by Hazzy

Claudette Courgette by Simone

" Big Boy" by Cro

Ann Morrison's Henry Moore Tribute

Blog Competition

Els over in the Netherlands ( don't ask me it's Dutch) has suggested a Going Gently " Trelawnyd Flower Show" competition on the back of the fact that " The Great British Bake Off"  is back on tv next week.
She suggested that bloggers photograph a baking creation of their own , which they could send me
( jgsheffield@hotmail.com)..the best entry would be judged by myself ( of course)
Well this got me thinking
And so, I propose a slightly altered version of this idea

And so
Bloggers, readers and hangers on...please send me a photo of your own " NOVELTY VEGETABLE"
The veg creation has to be all your own work, and not just a nicked photo from google!
To give you an example of the standard I am looking for, please look at the winning entry from last year's show

I will print out all the entries and will ask the veg judge at the Flower Show to mark them for a bit of fun

Any entries will be displayed at the show itself for all the whole village to view

A prize will be given for first and second place!

So dig out your imagination and your cucumbers and get to work......

I will show all entries on Going Gently as and when they come in

Good luck............

All entries have to be submitted by Wednesday 6th Aug

Grief ' n things.....

Today, I had a conversation with someone in the village.
On the surface it was a chat about the aches and pains and hospital appointments that go hand in hand with old age
But essentially it was an honest declaration of grief.
Grief for a life which is now very different to what it once was.
I heard about a clinic visit.
A blood test.
About " one thing after another"
The strangulation of an active life by physical infirmity and deterioration of the senses
There was just a little of justifiable self pity in the conversation.
But the overwhelming sense I got, was a sense of sadness.

Grief often rears it's head before you lose something dear to you.  We have all experienced it in one way or another. A elderly grandmother  with cognitive problems, a brother with motor neurone disease, a dead relationship months before a divorce, a job redundancy.........whatever the reason, grief can strike at anytime and it's not at all about a death......

it's just more common in the old..
Auntie Glad is the lucky one ..... She always says " My health is my wealth"
She's oh so right...

Hey ho...I'll leave you on a lighter note
Old people as they should be

Bake Off

Queen Berry, King Hollywood and the newbees

Next week the hole left by no more The Walking dead

Will be filled.

It won't be filled by anything Zombie

Oh no

But everything, nice and middle class , and sweet and wholesome

Yes next week

The Great British Bake Off 

Returns to our tv screens

I wonder if they'll do scotch eggs?

Vital Art

Sculpture is a little thin on the ground in North Wales.
It's the way of the world.
I do miss visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park which is situated on the outskirts of Sheffield- a huge expanse of parkland dotted with an ever changing collection of art sculptures was a favourite Sunday trip out for us, even on the most inhospitable of days.

There is one holocaust memorial sculpture which I would very much like to visit and experience.
On the banks of the Danube in the city of Budapest Sculptors Gyula Pauer and Can Togay  have laid down a harrowing spectical of dozens upon dozens of old fashioned shoes.

The sculpture is a memorial to the hundreds of Jewish civilians murdered by the ruling arrow cross party during the last years of the Second World War. The victims were marched to the banks of the Danube river, forced to strip naked, and then were shot by firing squad....their bodies floating away in the water.
The shoes are a stark, simple and poignant testimony to the atrocity

Here are a few impressive public sculptures
Can anyone tell me where they are?
  

How many can you recognise?

Bookend

Seven hours after I went down to the beach with the dogs and a packet of meatballs, I took the bike to,do a " round robin" 8 mike ride along the promenade from Rhyl to Prestatyn and back.
The halfway point is a nondescript hotel called The Beaches, which overlooks the sea, and as I turned the bike around, I suddenly heard a commotion from the verandah bar area.
Five people were waving at me, all red faced and very  much the worse for wear.
A chorus of "  Dobrey- something" ( I couldn't hear the second word) rang out
and one guy, waved his full pint of beer energetically as he added a cheerful and slurring  "yaayyyyy.......meatballs!" In way of greeting
The other drinkers looked somewhat perplexed.
I cycled away after a brief wave and  a smile......I still have not mastered taking my hands from the handlebars

A Polish family on the Beach

Behind the cottage we have , what can very loosely be called,  a patio.
In actual fact, it is a square of concrete which is filled with sad looking , shade loving plants and the odd dog poo and mouse carcass, so today I thought I would go and buy some cheap and colourful plants and clean the whole place up.
I went to town, bought the plants , then took the dogs to the beach for a walk.
It was overcast and a little blowy when we got there, with small family knots camping out on the sand as the tide came in. So I sat on the promenade steps for a while, feeding the dogs their treat of Aldi Meatballs and people watched.
People Watching on a quite, dull Welsh beach proved to be an interesting study of just how small the world is.
There were four families on the one stretch of beach . A group of Polish adults without children. A Somali family having a Punic lunch. A Muslim family trying unsuccessfully to fly a selection of small kites and three older ladies from what sounded like the Midlands.
I was intrigued at the eclectic mix of it all as on one stretch of local beach.......... I realised that I was the only Welshman in sight!
One of the Muslim women, who was wearing an ankle length coat , headscarf and very trendy large oval sunglasses, swooped her kite close to us, and it's tail lashed me harmlessly around the head. She stopped still, and looked worried before I waved at her to let her know that it was ok .

Two of the Polish men came over to chat as I dolled out the meatballs , I offered one a German meatball after he pointed with a cackle at George chomping his way through his. He pulled a face and said it was not as good as Polish meatballs and he gestured over to his wife who in turn offered me a small square of spiced apple cake., which was lovely.

He told me that they lived in Irlam in Manchester .

It's a small world , is it not?

Hello

Winnie gets the morning head rub greeting....and loves it

In the comments of yesterday's blog, Deb asked how Albert is doing...
Well the long and the short of it, is that he's doing mighty fine.
Summer is a good time for Albert.
His damaged leg is not so painful
He enjoys a diet of at least 2 young rabbits a week
and he is out galavanting all night every night.
He arrived back to the cottage just as I drove up after night shift.
He head butted me as I passed him on the cottage wall, and he slipped through the cat flap before I had opened the door in order to greet the rest of his pack.
He greets each dog in turn every time they catch up
Only Wininie properly understands the significance of a feline head rub, to the terriers it is just the silly actions of a wide eyed cat.