Mourned

It seems that everyone in the Uk and Ireland are mourning the broadcaster Terry Wogan today.
His breakfast shows of the 1970s always brought a smile to my face when I was getting ready for school and I was reminded just how funny he was , when on radio 2 today, Ken Bruce was reminded  of Terry's witty banter by a memeber of the general public.
One morning Terry told his audience that Jimmy Young ( who was an aging broadcaster in the following show) had streaked his way through a local village flower show.
" Apparantly" Terry quipped " Jimmy had won the prize for best dried arrangement"
People of all ages loved Terry Wogan and today's outpouring of grief must be a great comfort to his family and friends, who have perhaps recieved the wonderful affamation that he was thought of so fondly by so many.

This reminded me of an incident years ago when, as a junior nurse, I helped lay out a patient who had suddenly died on his admission to hospital. The elderly man had one son down as next of kin, and the son and his sister , (  both well spoken, well dressed middle aged professional types) attended the department to see their father after being contacted by phone.
There was no tears and no upset from the couple when they arrived and it was my job to take them into see their father who had been placed neatly under clean sheets and blankets on a hospital bed. They followed my lead, hand in hand , and stood there quietly when I showed them into the cubical .

" Do you want to sit with him for a while?" I asked in my kindest voice and both shook their heads
" We just needed to come in" the man explained " we have not spoken to him for 20 years"
I nodded and said something along the lines that  " It must be difficult for you both"
When anger flashed in the sister's eyes.
" He was a monster" she whispered " a real monster" and she retreated into the protection of her brother's arm . I noticed a look of contempt on his face as he gazed at the body of his dead father

Moments later they left with no other explaination.

There must be nothing worse than not to be mourned by Anyone or anything when you finally shuffle off this mortal coil

Right in the mush

I heard the field gate late screech around 9.30 am
I was too tired to get up.
I was working last night, and the night was filled with the dramatic and violent .
Some intensive care patients can be terribly confused.

So I went back to sleep and missed Margaret and her daughter in law delivering her hens to one of the spare houses of Anatevka.

Around 1pm,  I pulled on wooley hat and wellies and went over to see how the newbees were doing. (New hens must be locked into their new hen house for  at least 24 hours. After a full day and night, their peanut brains attach themselves to their new home and they don' t wander.)

I placed food and water through the poop hole of the house then opened the small back door to check on the girls. It was dark, but as I knelt on the floor I could just make out nervous bodies moving in the far side of the house then I looked upwards into the coop itself to see a very serious looking rooster looking calmly down on me.

" hello!  " I said
( hello? What the hell am I saying hello to a robust looking cockerel for?)

And without further ado he kicked me very hard right in the mush!

Village Meet ups

Snowdrops in the Churchyard

Finally, after Gertrude desposited another flurry of bad weather on the already soaked and dejected citizens of the United  Kingdom, we have been left with a sunny day.
Like extras from a spaghetti Western , the population of Trelawnyd seems to have stirred itself from hiding away behind closed doors ( after the bandidios have struck ) and could been seen pottering around their houses, and enjoying the weak sun.
Some, like Gay Gordon and Big Mary , just waved weakly like the ageing Queen Mother , from a bedroom window whilst the more energetic , like Mrs Trellis ( yes I have returned her to her more formal title) marched around the country lane in a new bobble hat.
I promised Mrs Trellis that I would pick her up at the garage on Wednesday morning. Apparantly she had a bit of a bump the in car negiotiating a sticky parking space at Blue's dog obedience classes. I wasn't quite sure if the classes were working because Blue was bouncing around on his lead as if he had been slipped an LSD tablet, but I didn't say anything.
I saw and spoke to Jo who was out with her new Whippet Lilly. Lilly is the most technology advanced animal in Trelawnyd as she has a satellite tracking system attached to her collar. This was ever since she escaped for five long hours and covered most of Denbighshire and parts of Flintshire in her bid to find home.
I didn't see Auntie Gladys but I am sure I glimpsed her duster flicking away the non existent dust from her window ornaments but I did stop and talk to Terry and Anne who warned me off any more verbal battles with the guy with the staffies who lives in the bin bag windowed hourse.
" Your not as young as you think you are " Terry warned " at our age something can give during a fracas"
I wondered what he meant ? Knowing my luck it would be my bowels.......,
Anyhow moving on.
Farmer Basil was out as was Gentleman farmer Ralph and the Polish guy from Well Street, all received waves as did the lady with dementia off Hight Street, who was sat polishing and repolishing the glass at her kitchen window and only a minute later I spied Margaret from Erw Wen, who asked me if I can look after ten of her hens on the Ukrainian Village. They arrive tomorrow, it will be lovely to have more life breathed back into
Anatevka.
More waving this time to Sailor John, Maureen from the Friendship group, Dr Barnsley and old Muvvie who always over revs her engine at T junctions and I were almost home with Mary and William, then it was out with slow coaches George and Winnie......we didn't go far, just to the Churchyard, but we did catch up with old Stan ( who is 90 and looks 70) and Trendy Carol before returning home at 10 .30am.

The Prof had just retuned from a Breakfast meeting up with a colleague.
" see many people when you were out" he asked
" Just a few" I replied

Les Liaisons dangereuses

" bosoms" McTeer

Last night we took my Aunt Judy to see the live screening of the National Theatre's " Les Liaisons Dangereuses" 

It was bloody great. 

Now whilst Dominic West ( a favourite actor of mine) was excellent as the  Vicomte de Valmont the whole shebang was dominated by Janet McTeer's clever and scheming  performance as the Marquise.

Undeniably sexy and in her mid fifties McTeer underlined perfectly, the power and the attraction of a woman who "would never be ordered around by a man" in a man's world.....  She was magnificent 

Judy and The Prof loved it......

And even though I say it myself

The bosoms were magnificent !!!

Like Loreal " it's worth it"

Message to self
Don't put off dirty jobs just  because you are tired and want to go to bed
Dealing with the now hardened pile of cat puke behind the sofa ( and all down the bleeding radiator ) was the nastiest chore, I have had the misfortune to deal with since Meg rolled gleefully inside a dead badger.
It's just one of the never ending chain of jobs that pile up ( literally) in these dirty wet days of winter and the cottage became very VERY quiet after a lusty and frustrated bout of swearing,
WHEN I eventually  stormed back into the kitchen ( clutching a bin bag full of sick), I was greeted by a butter-wouldn't melt sight of the two bitches in my life sitting quietly together like well behaved school girls.

You've just gotta love em 

Cat Puke

Just after midnight , and I am off to bed soon.

George , like I said lost a tooth today, and feels sorry for himself,

 Winnie is just finishing her season and is still " spotting" on the carpets

Mary is still leaving the odd pee stain in the cottage

And William backed into the bookcase the other night , and left 

a stool on my copy of Halliwells film guide...

2 minutes ago

 Albert has walked right up to the tv

Coughed loudly

And threw up BIG STYLE over the back and down the side of the sofa

I noted a rodent tail and a back leg in the offering

Dogs from all over the house arrived to eat the spoils

And I was left thinking my usual thought

" these animals will be the death of me" 

Hey ho

Jupiter!

I wondered what the bright star was on the other side of the bright moon

when I was on the way home this evening

Thanks to village  night sky boffin Dave S 

Who shared this photo of the Moon AND JUPITER

How fantastic is that?

On a micro level, George lost his canine tooth today,

His attack on Mary seems to have had a disastrous effect on old teeth

Ps

 is what Blogger says :
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We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers !!!!!!!

Turn Your Face To The Moonlight....let your memory lead you

The weather has been atrocious today, and even Winnie , who loves her morning hike around the village took one look at the driving rain and gave me one of her " you've got to be fucking kidding" looks.
The only person I spoke to when out was a mom who had previously shared with me the fact that her young daughter had been rocking herself to sleep at night.
" It's a sign of damaged childhood " she had ventured with a worried look.
I didn't tell her that  I had rocked myself to sleep for years when we were small children.
I wonder what a modern psychologist would have made of all that then.
I just can't remember the fact all too well.

My memory, or more importantly my lack of it , does trouble me somewhat for great swathes of my early childhood memories never seem to ever surface even though on many a dog walk, I try so very hard to recall days gone by.
Is this normal?
I hardly remember anything of my first decade on this planet. A vague recollection of model airplanes hanging from the ceiling of my brother's bedroom, a sense of me and my sister walking a small terrier on the pavement outside our house , being frightened of a low flying jet after a summer bedtime.
It's not much for ten years of life is it not?

This morning after retiring back to bed after a 6.00 am puppy walk, I dreamt of my grandparents' living room circa 1972.
I remembered it all, the teak effect electric fire surround. The cheap plastic clock on the mantle. Plastic flowers in a wartime wall holder .The pristine white net curtains. The heavy swirling carpet and the shepherd and lamb cushions of the hardwood upright armchairs. The small oblong child's stool with it's blue plastic padded seat.
Oh and standing either side of the clock were two deer figures. Both must have had accidents as their antlers were  short and filled down.