Getting in The Mood

I wasn't feeling rather festive yesterday.
Today I've pulled myself up by the bra straps and have got into the mood. I drove to the Welsh Food Shop at Bodnant and used some almost out of date vouchers to purchase some goodies for Christmas day. Bodnant Food Shop , like most bespoke country outlets can be reassuringly expensive and I was amused to see two middle aged ladies ( who probably always shopped at Asda) picking at the shelves with shocked looks on the faces....
When they were perusing the preserve section, even the check out lady stifled a laugh when around the hushed tones of the shop one of  the women sang out to her friend " BLOODY HELL ANGELA , LOOK AT THIS !!! FIVE POUNDS FOR A SODDIN' JAR OF RASPBERRY JAM !"

When I got home, I popped into the church and dropped off mad Gaynor's Christmas hat and Card ( inside her Organ) then went to the post office to get a load of stamps. I was even Christmasy enough not to get too angry at a spoilt child at the till, who was playing up behind her grandmother's back.....but I did allow myself a very theatrical " BEHAVE YOURSELF AND SHUT UP"  comment when I passed them........
That made me chuckle at myself all the way down high street!

The Prof is away in Kent .....this afternoon I will be digging out the Christmas decs after I have wrapped my offering to work's " secret Santa" offering.....
The nurse , I am buying for loves a nice proscecco and has a new puppy......

The bottle is hidden away behind these little fellas

Being Scared

.

We are all frightened by something.
Heights, spiders, things that go bump in the night.
My phobias are all pretty mundane.
But after listening to a sobering radio programme about the cost of social care, I think I want to add one more thing to the list, and that is the thought of becoming chronically ill enough to need nursing home care.
Of course, I'm a long way off such a sad time but the present day number crunching is terribly unfair...presently in the UK if you have something like 22 grand or below in the bank, your local authority will pay around 400 £ a week towards your nursing home care.
If you have assets more than 22 thousand then you will have to pay the fees yourself....and those fees are generally at least 400 £ a month more  than the original £1600 ....
The privately paying patients therefore supplement the council funded places.
Its a crazy system ..absolutely unfair and crazy......and with an ageing and physically more needy population....I can only see the system getting more battered and fragmented

I've said it before and I'll say it again .....come the time Shady Pines beckons, I'm off on the ice flows in a skimpy T shirt

To combat this depressing post , I shall leave you with this facebook photo posted by one of the ladies of the village......her puppy Podrick meeting Mary in the lane.
Note Mary has her Jamie Lee Curtis pink body stocking harness on

Ho, Fucking Ho!

I was designated driver tonight.

This was taken when I was waiting to pick the Prof and my sister up from the 

Train station, ( They had spent the afternoon and evening in a Manchester theatre and Harvey Nick's wine bar)

I thought I would cheer myself up with Gaynor ( the mad organist's) hat!

Taking The Power Away

In the sweet natured and generally wholesome world of internet blogging lies a rare and somewhat strange character of the blog troll.
Blog trolls, as far as I can make out, fall into two broad groups.
They are either
The severely mentally ill or trouble making loners who get fixated on a particular topic or blogger with varying degrees of anonymous and often abusive contact.
The first group should be pitied and helped as the internet can be a frighteningly vast breeding ground for delusion and unreality but it is the second group that net areas such as blogger needs to be more robust with, for, like mischievous sad children, they can wreck anything from mild irritation to severe distress , to the victims of their faceless rants and comments.
Of course like anyone who gets their kicks from trouble making, it is vital to be able to put your finger on their Achilles' heel. This is easier to do when the interaction is face to face, so to speak, but it's not impossible. You just have to be clever.
A while ago, I was one of many people who were on the receiving end of an abusive phone caller.
After several graphic and sometimes upsetting interactions, I asked the caller in a very calm way, just why they had called and amid the following abuse suddenly realised that it was the ending of the call that was the hub of the abuser's motivation. When I ended the phone call on my terms, I removed the abuser's power and broke the satisfaction of their fantasy.
Recently, I was fortunate to have a conversation with a retired psychologist.
I asked her about trolls ( it was at the time of the whole twitter troll thing.) and her thoughts were interestingly just common sense.
She said
Report them to the powers that be ( including the police if the contact is abusive and/or threatening.
Delete their input quietly and without fuss...failing that ignore em totally.
If you do feel that a reply is necessary , just tell them a simple " I am bored by what you write"

Bus Trip

Little dramas on quiet days always seem like big dramas.
Today is a case in point.
I had to take Mary to town to be microchipped
We had to go on the bus.
It's a bumpy ride.
Just after the bends before Dyserth, she started to heave, and so trying to be ever so discreet, I pointed her head down from the seat off my lap and without a tissue to collect any residue I  had the brain wave to open the pocket on the side of my cargo pants which formed an impromptu sick bag. Into which I channelled the chunder soon after Mary barfed into my hand like a good 'un
That's about it for today.

Mary in the bath after getting home

I threw the pants away btw

Quiet Christmas.- Nigella's A Slag

I've just watched Nigella flirting outrageously to the camera whilst squeezing the begeebers out of a lemon. She's such a slut.

I got all excited as her lemon pavlova is something , even I may be able to crack off and as we have invited ourselves to dinner with the affable despots before Christmas , I will actually give it a go. We are doing starters, wine and pudding....I like the thought of bringing food with us at Christmas visiting time...its all very American.

I saw Mrs Trellis today, she has written a poem " for the blog" she told me, " its about Autumn" 

I didnt tell her that I thought it was winter..but what do I know. Anyhow She reminded me that there is a carol service in the Church here next Sunday with A VIOLIN SOLOIST no less! and I told her that we will be going ....I hope Gaynor the Mad organist will be there, Ive bought her a santa hat to wear....I'll dare her to put it on during prayers.

Other Christmas jaunts include a family meal and visit to the panto in Llandudno and a cinema trip to see " It's a wonderful life"

As long as you stop thinking  and go with the flow, Panto's can be quite fun. it's a trick I finally mastered last year. 

Some has-been from "Strictly" is starring in it, so I suspect it will be as camp as a row of tents....but I am looking forward to it. 

Next week I'm off to London to see Nuala and London is always rather sweet just before Christmas ...we are off to Sadler's Wells for a Seasonal ballet ......which will be amazing but I am sorry not to be able to fit in a quick nip over to South Yorkshire too......but you cant fit everything in..........

It's starting to feel rather festive, I 'm delivering the village Christmas cards tomorrow and I've already noted that the new people in the police house have gone to town with their lights ! .......even the house with the bin bagged windows has put up a lurid flickering , flashing light reindeer underneath the plastic..

Hey ho

I have aseptic teeth

Up at 3.15 am this morning.

Needed to leave the house at 3.40 am

Dressed in the dark, washed face with cold water

Combed hair 

Brushed teeth

Dozy dozy pillock

Tried to brush teeth with a dollop of Winnie's drapolene
( antiseptic cream)

Smartening Up

Today I have been asked to review my clothes rail in the joint wardrobe .
I suspect this request for some order and rationalisation is a product of the Prof's need for expansion.
His rail of clothes resemble something worthy of Imelda Marcos.
So I took a look at my clothes with a critical eye.

A fair few dozen t shirts ( 6 walking dead themed ones amongst them)
Five decent shirts
Five pairs of trousers without stains
Four pairs of trousers with stains ( usually bleach, ingrained coal or field grass/muck)
A couple of pairs of trousers with a 34 inch waist ! ( I cant get them on over one thigh)
Various woolly jumpers, sports tops, and sweat shirts ( bought between 1990-2000)
One corduroy jacket
One dinner jacket and shirt ( pristine)
Various nurses uniforms
One grandad shirt from 1983
One single red velvet tie
and
One white T shirt with a scotch egg on the front.

I took a long look at the last item.....and sighed...
I can't wear that at the next University cheese and wine nibble-fest