Desmond

Desmond is wreaking havoc across Wales and Northern Britain.
Here in Trelawnyd the wind is very strong, so much so that one gust has elicited a single
" ding" from the Church bell, something I have never heard before.
The sheep took themselves down to the lowest portion of the field yesterday and have stayed there ever since with their bottoms facing into the wind.
The remaining hens disappeared into the hawthorn hedge leaving the geese unbowed by the gales, and after a windswept walk we, the cotage folk, are all hunkered  around the fire eating cheese and biscuits whilst watching ET
Its a day for hiding away at home.

The Slippers Of Sex ......RIP

I don't quite know what's been going on when I am at work

But The Prof's  " Slippers of Sex" seems to have been given a bit of a battering by Winnie recently.

I am not sure if Kit Hopkins can save them

She's a dirty old bitch

Winnie that is...not Kit Hopkins!

Blasts From The Past

I bought an original paperback copy of Watership Down yesterday from a seller on ebay.
The seller described the book as a " blast from the past" and remined prospective buyers of it's wonderful original 1970s cover illustration.
I remembered the cover very well, the paperback was one of my most treasured possessions as a child, and the whole thing triggered a sort of mental game of collecting visuals from a ten year old's memory.

Dickie Davies introducing wrestling at 4pm Saturday Afternoons

speaks for itself

Food and drink of the 70s

Adventure Novels 

Walls waifers

Prestatyn High Street 

Jennifer Jones

Crowded Prestatyn Beach ( deserted now) 

1970 caravan holidays ( gawd help us) 

Tv 's " Magpie 

Lead and plastic toy farm animals 

Well Done Prof!

I saw this shot on the Professor's twitter page.
The caption read  " Having a sneaky sleep with Albert"
It amused me.
The Professor, like all successful academics seldom has " down time" He is constantly working and when he's not working, he's thinking and planning work.
It can be an exhausting, never ending vocation.
And so it's lovely when you see that all of his hard work has paid off like it did yesterday, for yesterday the Prof was appointed as the new " Head " of the entire School of Healthcare sciences at the University

I'm very proud of him and his strength of character when it comes to work, but his world at the University remains a bit of a mystery to me in many ways, but I always say to him ( with my tongue firmly put into cheek)
That I am the " wind beneath your wings"

Luv it

I'm having a glass of wine as I make a Christmas pressie list

I would love this if anyone can find it!

Sitting With Nelly

In 1979 I worked as a bank clerk in The National Westminster Bank in Rhyl.
It was a time when the " computers" were vast piano sized monstrosities hidden away in back room " machine rooms" and whereas now the branch has a staff of six or so, then there was a team of perhaps      thirty people.
My first week there I was told to sit with Nelly.
It's seems an archaic, old fashioned system now, what with on line tutorials, mentorships and in service training, but it worked. You sat with a person " doing the job" and you watched.
Simples.
I have adapted this system with Mary, and apart from her habit of Winnie baiting , it seems to be working well.
The Nelly's are George and William. Two old dogs that refuse to be baited. Every night, when Mary is placed back into her crate in the kitchen, one of the dogs will be bedded next to her so every night we are not subjected to howling barks of a puppy feeling neglected.
Mary is walked alongside George, who is pedestrian and calm and when she is particularly overactive one sharp bark from him is all that is needed for her to back off and calm things down.
Old dogs teaching new tricks.
Mind you the " teachers"  need their own break from time to time and this morning was a case in point. The overnight baby sitter was William last night. At 6 am, after their first walk, George took over baby sitting duty in the kitchen and William was allowed to have a break
And this is where he went.........

Hero

It's 60 years since Rosa Parks refused to get up out of her bus seat for a white man

Her strength of spirit is still wonderfully inspirational 

Bleeding Fat Flaps

The  cottage smells strongly of TCP.
The casualty?
Winnie's fat flaps.
At least once daily since she arrived Mary has delighted in swinging herself around by Winnie's facial fat flaps.
Winnie, a veteran of a dozen puppies or so, has so far put up with this dreadful and obviously painful activity with amazing alacrity. So much so, that even the Professor ( who is not a big bulldog fan) will hastily intervene when a particularly large mouthful of face has been dragged  about the living room by needle sharp little teeth for what he deems to be an excessive amount of time

Today I felt some TCP and TLC was in order and Winnie was asked to lie on the sofa, in order for me to assess the damage.
Winnie secretly loves this attention and I haven't seen so much drama queen activity since The Professor found a headless rabbit corpse at the foot of the stairs.
With her left paw held aloft she will moan ever so gently as I tab away at her sore bits, occasionally opening her eyes to check if and when another dab was on the cards, so much so that when it finally arrived she would lick her lips noisily in contentment.
If, however, I was slow at administering the aforementioned swab, then she would  wiggle a pudgy outstretched paw in a frantic circle , a signal for me to hurry up and get on with things.

She was obviously enjoying herself.

That was half an hour ago, and she is still lying on the couch now, her head thrown back on the cushions like Scarlett O'Hara after a busy night.

Divas........two in one small cottage....its somewhat crowded.