Going Gently

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and ... blow."

This morning as I was returning from bosoms with onions and potatoes in order to make a cottage pie, I bumped into the neighbour who yesterday morning had told me that Robbie Williams had just died . She tittered away that " she was a bit of a "one"" and in a way of getting some news right, ended our encounter with the sad news that Lauren Bacall had sadly passed away.

" she did that thing with the cigarettes" my neighbour twittered....and I told her just how Bacall perfected her famous " look" by putting her chin on her chest whilst raising her eyes upward. This wasn't a drama Queen-esque action of a diva.......but an effort by Bacall to stop herself shaking on film.....
I always liked Lauren Bacall.
She was sardonic, measured, assertive and sassy. From her famous whistle blowing scene in To Have And Have Not , she only went forward to make a handful of quality films , but for seventy years, she remained a true Hollywood icon, a successful Broadway actress and a staunch liberal ......
"You are welcoming to everyone when you're a liberal." She had been quoted "You do not have a small mind."
Yes, I liked her image, and I suspect I would have liked her in person.
Hey ho..... Hollywood leading ladies........we only have Olivia deHavilland left

It's a bit of a film orientated blog today......later I am going to see the much praised Tom Hardy film "Locke" which finally has a showing here in Wales. I have been waiting an age for it, so will review it later....
Right.....off to finish my cottage pie

What the time Mr Wolf?

Although I am not a member of the community council anymore, I have been asked to help with their " official" website and will be one of two people in the village that can amend and update information and notice boards etc.
Many of the photographs and local history information I have already collated and given to the website designer, but today she will be giving a few people from each village ( we share our local council,remit with our sister village of Gwaenysgor) a tutorial in all things " web"
Subsequently I have been racing around to complete the necessary jobs before I need to go out.
Being creatures of habit , after their first walk of the day, the dogs, one by one , all sneak up to bed for a crafty snooze on the bed.
I have have just caught Winnie doing the same, and as usual she studiously ignored me when I called our sternly
" and where do you think you're going?"
Bulldogs , when challenged like this will always be stopped in their tracks, but also will never look at you. It's a bit of a Mexican standoff ....or else reminds me of that game when you are kids where someone spins around and you have to be stock still in a line behind them? What was the game?
Was it ...what's the time mr wolf?
Anyhow , I can't remember....suffice to say Winnie stood as still as a statue for a minute or so....and when sufficient time had elapsed, and she thought it safe to proceed, she slowly took a few heavy steps forward, still keeping her eyes firmly fixed in front of her. Again I called out
" where are you off to?" And again she stopped until it was safe enough to step forward........it's a game we both play in the mornings.
A game she always wins.

She was unconscious with her tongue sticking out within seconds, so I left them all on the duvet and went to deliver eggs. A neighbour waved and called out that she had just heard that Robbie Williams had just died

Funny, I thought...... I was only singing "" Angels" to myself when sat on the loo before breakfast

Money Well Spent

This will be the last Flower Show biased post

And it's a bit of a housekeeping one to end on

It will be nice to think and do other things.

The ultimate remit of the Flower Show Committee is to raise funds for

Village initiatives and village causes.

Earlier this year we gave the conservation group a donation towards their

Summer planting and we also bought two new benches

for the village green, which have now been fixed into place by members of the

community council.

So, I am putting a request out here to anyone who has any ideas what the committee could

Spend monies raised by this years show

The only stipulation we have is that the funding supports

The people and the environment of Trelawnyd.

If anyone has any nominations please contact any of the show's committee members

Right , enough already

I have a bulldog staring at me

She wants a walk

Enjoy

Thank you,

Yesterday's blog was a lazy collection of photographs .

Today's will be a relaxed collection of words. It's a post about people rather than flowers.

The people who run the Flower Show.

I'll start with the oldest member of the Show committee and as everyone knows that's Auntie Gladys.

She is responsible for the judges tea table ( the judges are all served " tea and scones" before they are expected to go around the exhibits), the bric-a-brac stall and her own raffle. Wisely she delegates the work to a collection of ladies brought in especially for the event and although the stall tables always resemble a car crash in a junk shop, she always raises a considerable amount for show funds.

This year , Gladys looked more frail than I care to remember, and despite her failing eyesight she still ambled around the laden display tables clapping her hands gently and whispering " beautiful and well..that's lovely" to herself. I noticed that Derek, another committee member had gallantly taken Gladys under his wing and had stationed himself alongside her as the Show became busier.

She had him move her raffle table to nearer the entrance as I knew she would

" to catch people when they had money in their hands" she said, with a smile

Our National vegetable judge , the Elvis loving teddy boy, Mr Butler was ticked pink with being asked to judge the blog entries of novelty vegetable. It is now a tradition that Carole , one of our younger committee members accompany him at judging time. He loves a bit of gentle flirting and wanted to show Carole his new Elvis tattoo.

Mr Butler & Carol

Mrs Roberts , the cookery Judge usually takes the longest time with her judging and was accompanied by her daughter and committee member Julie, who is a trained cook and pastry chef herself. In her eighties Mrs Roberts remains cuttingly sharp when faced with any cake not up to standard.

The other two men on the committee are affable characters Terry and John. Terry stewarded the new arts and crafts judge and John supervised the quiet and serious flower judge. Our youngest associate member Cameron, who is just fifteen acted as runner , collecting the winners' names and giving them Derek at the secretary's table so that he and I could write up the certificates which were placed on the tables in readiness for opening

Terry and I always have a good natured spar when it comes to our entries. And this year my quiche , aubergine penguins and boiled fruit cake beat his entries hands down.

" there'll be not living with him" wife Anne commented after I had bellowed out the results

Derek John, Irene, Cameron, Terry, Carol and Annd

The vicar ready to present the cups

It all generally runs like clockwork.

Our matriarch on the committee is Irene, another member of the old guard. She not only is lead when setting up the show he day before opening but like a good west end stage manager, she knows everything that needs doing and when it needs doing.

Nothing is ever missed.

On Show day itself, committee members Pat, Carole and Anne run the kitchen. ( Anne never stops laughing ) and they coped very well with the fact that the water board had been working on the village pipes causing the drinking water in the Hall to turn a rusty brown

" just offer the punters coffee" Anne quipped " they'll never notice.

Hannah, always goes around the tables, and takes the most wonderful of photos , only Heulwen, a lady of calm sweetness , was the only other committee member not able to attend the day.

She was missed too.

The vicar opened the show with a nice nostalgic speech and seemed pleased with a bottle of Bombay sapphire ( non of your rubbish) for doing so. It is tradition that the show opener always gets a small gift

So there you have the committee, they are an eclectic and good natured bunch Through their hard

work and the support of the few hundred competitors, volunteers and interested spectators who made
an effort to give up their time, the show proved to be a success .

In the great scheme of things, it's only a tiny show in a tiny village ....
But it's important to many

And.....it's important to me.

Trelawnyd Flower Show 2014

First , I will pass on the blog news!
Mr Butler, our Elvis loving , national flower judge agreed with some humour , to judge the blogger " novelty veg" competition
The winner was kitty from New Zealand
And second was Rachel's " tits"......
In my speech I told the story of how the whole spectacle came to pass.