Just across a field length from the Ukrainian village a man lives in a van.
He's hidden away behind a hedge from the main road through the village, and is surrounded by sheep, by all accounts he has fallen on hard times.
I've met him a couple of times as he has bought eggs from me and he seems nice enough, but I often think of his situation when I am out with the dogs on their last walk of the night and I stare out over the black fields to see a tiny single light in the damper van window.
Some say that he is totally responsible for his present situation, who knows......but whatever is the reason he has left the family home to live in a van, the plight of " hard times" makes you think.......
Well, it's made me think.
How quickly can circumstances change in what we all would consider to be a normal life eh?
A sudden loss of a job, a relationship breakdown, a death, ill health, whatever the reason it is all too common for some of us to be reminded that we are not invincible in this world and that home is not always that " God given" fact that we always think it is.
I just wanted to illustrate that sometimes humans win over aggressive cockerels ( see previous post)
And sometimes the cockerels win
Forgive the repeat blogs from 2013 but they kind of illustrate my point
Not having small female children around the house has meant that the delights of " Frozen" have largely passed me by However for some strange reason the hit song " Let It Go" has firmly rooted itself into my head, and so during various parts of the day, I can be caught warbling " here I stand......here I stay .........." And " I don't care...what they'll say" when filling the water butts and feeding the ewes.
This morning I was in full voice when I was attacked from behind by the new cockerel Ginger Harry.
It's not the first time he has been showing his metal, and his attacks have been increasing in their intensity over the past few weeks
Some males just have too much testosterone for their own good , so when this fighting behaviour starts it is important to pick the offending cockerel up, and in a feat of dominance , walk around with him for a long time , tucked up safely under your arm pit.
I didn't manage to catch the bugger this morning, he was too quick for me, but as I walked back across the fields carrying a blue plastic bucket , he made the mistake to come in with all Spurs blazing for one final attack.
Not quite the best scene from any Disney film, I have ever seen,
But I battered the little bastard three times with the bucket
Without breaking a line of the chorus " Let it go! LET IT GO...TURN AWAY AND SLAM THE DOOR,!!!"
This is the view I am looking at right at this moment.
Its one of those wet, misty mornings in low bright sunshine.
The sort of morning which makes driving on slick roads almost impossible .
The Ukrainian village looks damp, with many of the hens perched on their runs in a bid to keep feet dry and warm.
Hens hate having wet feet.
did you know that?
I am sat on the bedroom window seat darning a hole in my trouser gusset. The rip was a product of not being able to cock my leg high enough over the pig fencing.
Its now time to return to weightwatchers, me thinks.
I thought this yesterday morning, when I found that I had been locked into the cottage by accident. Chris is working in South Wales, so left the cottage early, locking the back door behind him.
After a frantic search for my house keys, I realised that I had left them on the garden wall!, so I had no other choice but to jump through the only ground floor window which I could squeeze my fat arse through.
Now in front of the living room window is a selection of pots, herbs and roses, so in order not to trample anything, I had to stand on the sill, and jump around four or five feet onto the lawn.
Sounds doable ?
Sure!
So off I jump, with all the grace and agility of a fourteen stone blancmange and promptly fell onto the wet lawn leaving a long muddy slide trail as I went.
A crashing 747 would have looked more in control.
and so, for that split second when my face was pushed into the grass, I knew , it was time to get a grip
Like many people in the "middle age" I have always had a tendency to put on weight. I dont comfort eat but I do love my food too much, and this coupled with the fact that I dont walk as much as I did ( ageing terriers and bulldog) has allowed my weight to creep slowly back on.
Now I am not bleating here. Losing weight is simple enough and isnt hard when you get into the right mind set.
Its not rocket science!
If you dont want to find yourself arse over tit on the front lawn?
get a little fitter!
So fitter I shall get,
End Of.
Ps/ seeing that its a nice day, I am now off to deliver eggs, collect some coal and will pop in to see if the Lesbian smallholder Bunty is alive and well.After five days, my cold has seemed to have finally passed!
Melissa Mc Bride as Carol and Norman Reedus as Daryl
I wish he'd get his hair cut!
It's been a long while coming, but finally The Walking Dead's two most favourite characters have had their time in the sun with a joint episode all of their own. The Daryl & Carol phenomenon must be somewhat irksome to The Walking Dead's original writer Robert Kirkman, for he is not at all responsible for their conception and subsequent popularity with tv audiences.
Ok he did think up the character of Carol Peletier , but his Carol was a very different and unsympathetic character from the one we see played by Melissa McBride in season five. Redneck Daryl Dixon ( Norman Reedus)was not one of his original characters either, yet the two peripheral roles, both losers and survivors of domestic abuse, have been catapulted into Strong and popular leads thanks primarily to the acting talents and chemistry between McBride and Reedus
Their time together on screen has been somewhat patchy and brief, yet both actors have managed to portray a fractured friendship between two very damaged souls that shows depth, feeling and a thankful absence of sentimentality.
Put quite simply, the pair WORK.
It is this real sense of connection that has had fans of pair vociferously declaring that if they are killed off, riots will ensue.
Consumed had Daryl and Carol returning to Atlanta in search of Beth, and the episode has a certain pace of its own as Daryl gets to understand some of Carol's motivations since she went all " kick ass" in season 4. It was also interesting to be back in the city after so much country based adventures
We are coming full circle so to speak !
( I adored the fact we see the pair enter Atlanta down the same road Rick rode in series 1and just as the pair pass the department store where Merle lost his hand..there stands the tank where Rick was trapped )
I like that the tables have been turned a little within their developing friendship and it is refreshing that the country boy is now Providing emotional support to the earth mother. As Carol reminds him in one of their quieter moments that....."you're a man now"
That's why the tv audience has taken both to their hearts,
We have watched two monosyllabic damaged people grow up like real people.
Quite a feat for an action based, zombie killing apocalypse tv show eh?
Consumed was the best episode to date!
Ps Winnie's still sulking..she's refused any physical contact and only reluctantly came for a walk at 10pm
It's now 11 hours since we heaved her sorry arse into the bath
Every second Monday in the month, a middle aged married couple call in for whatever duck eggs I have for sale. We exchange small talk, nothing more, so they could be forgiven their expressions of surprise when I asked if the husband could lend me a hand to lift Winnie into the bath after she had rolled into something unmentionable on the side of the road.
It's not a typical request when you are out for a heigh- ho ramble but the husband seemed up for the challenge, especially after I had given him an old sob story about pulling my back after an over strenuous cough and fart attack
It was a struggle but after a brief wrestling match and a couple of loud " fucking hells" from my helper
She was in
I'm in bed with my knees bent
I'm still snotty and coughing but at least the space hopper which had been inserted into my head has now been deflated somewhat. The pulled muscles cause by my mega cough/ fart episode of yesterday are still giving me gip, but after some experimentation I have found that if I stand up to cough the pain is more bearable .
I have had to call in sick for night shift tonight which I am loath to do. The sickness policy is mightily strict and it's easy to receive an official warning for just a couple of episodes of sickness.
Hey ho
Anyway I thought I would complete this questionnaire which was sent to me a few months ago by Andrea from Willow Tree Cottage .I know it's lazy blogging but seeing I can just about bend to sit on the bog without groaning, it's the best thing I can offer on this misty and miserable Sunday morning.
A) What does the last text you sent say? And to whom?
As I have lost my mobile phone for the 100th time , I have absolutely no idea....I suspect I used it when I went to Sheffield to see an old friend dressed up as a camp Nazi
( like you do)
B) What does the last text you received say? And from whom?
It was from Chris , and it simply said " X x"
C) What time do you wake up most mornings?
In winter 7.30 am
D) Are you afraid of walking alone at night?
What an odd question? If I went to bed and woke up alone, I would be afraid given the fact that one hairy arsed academic, at least two dogs and one wide eyed cat would have been asleep in bed when I got in!
E) What do you do to relax at the end of a stressful day?
Reading blogs. Trying to fathom what in the world is going on in Rachel's head. Watching re runs of Only Connect on YouTube .
I am lucky I seldom have overly stressful days
F) Where did your last kiss take place and with whom?
How VERY DARE YOU! - ask Chris that one.
G) Do/did you get into trouble a lot at school?
I never got into trouble. I was a swot in class who tagged alongside the more " robust lads"
H) Do you enjoy your job? If unemployed, are you content being so?
I still enjoy nursing but I am ready to leave the politics, policies, procedures and bullshit which accompanies the profession nowadays.
I) Do you often pick up on double entendres and innuendos?
Oooohhhhh Matron ! Of course....just look at my blog titles!
( one of my favourites must be from the film YOUNG Frankenstein - [Frankenstein, Igor and Inga in front of HUGE castle doors] Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: What knockers. Inga: Oh, thank you doctor.
J) Have you ever been offered drugs but declined?
No.....I have not been offered any drugs
K) Have you ever met someone who has completely altered your way of thinking?
Many people.....many indeed. Leslie Brint, my old tutor in psychiatry, who was a conscientious objector during the war, had a profound effect on me as a student nurse. His gentle and accepting way of seeing the world challenged many of my " small town" attitudes and beliefs
In a similar vein experienced practitioners such as sisters Lu Bastiman and Anne o' Neil made me
look at life from a patient's perspective rather than through my own.
When you start thinking about this subject the list, strangely becomes endless
L) Have you ever been offered drugs and accepted?
I have eaten flap jacks laced with pot, but wasn't offered them, I just ate a few and was told " after the event" so to speak......I was bonged out of my head only after going to bed hours later!
M) Tell us something weird that turns you on.
Scotch Eggs,
N) When did someone last admit romantic or sexual feelings for you? Was the feeling mutual?
I have absolutely no idea,before I ever met Chris..so I wouldn't be able to remember....bloody hell, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday!
O) What is something you have given a lot of thought to lately?
How to keep zombies out of the cottage come the inevitable zombie apocalypse
P) When did you last swallow your beliefs to avoid an argument or confrontation?
Not something I do well. The older I get, the less I am able to bite my tongue. A vague homophobic comment at work was gently flagged up as being appropriate by me fairly recently. I think it's inappropriate to always go in with all guns blazing.
Q) Do you usually initiate hugs?
I am not one of those sickly " group hug" people but I will be demonstrative when I want to be
R) Are you a very affectionate person?
It depends on the situation. I am a warm person, isn't that the same thing?
S) Can you roll your own cigarettes?
Yes.
T) What are you looking forward to?
Lunch
U) Do you have any tattoos. Do you want any/more?
No tattoos.... I would like one tiny one that one could see........how much of a rebel am I?
V) Are you mentally strong?
Yes, when the chips are down, I think I am......
W) Are you physically strong?
Today...absolutely not
X) Do you think you’re a good person?
Don't we all?
Y) Name one thing you wish you could change about your life right now.
My inability to cough and fart without pain
Z) What do you usually eat for breakfast
Coffee
right!... i want everyone to complete the questionaire!
