No Way Out : Walking Dead ( Spoilers)

The Alexandrians

Ok, apologies for the zombie-fest today, but I couldn't wait until this evening to watch the return of my favourite tv show...tomorrow I am sure I shall return to cooking rhubarb, dog poo and Prof stories, but today, unashamedly, I am indulging myself with the undead and teen obsessions of Daryl Dixon.

All historical dramas of epic scale have a heroic moment, a moment that perhaps goes down in folklore , a story to be told around the fire to scare the children.
The Walking Dead has been waiting for such a story in a long time.
For ages we have seen a noticeable chasm between "Team Rick " and " Team Alexandria" . Rick's team,  for the most part, is a self sufficient, slightly elitist, fighting force whereas the Alexandrians were seen as soft and inexperienced.
Both groups slightly mistrusting of the other.
What was needed was something to draw both factions together, and in episode 9 No Way Out, we saw the most epic of battles when the entire population of Alexandria joined forces to repel the  invading walkers.
Ok forget the holes in the narrative ( sudden darkness, Glen surviving yet again a near death experience and the Wolf suddenly turning into Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm in order to save Denise)
It was all great television with useless underdogs such as moody teen Enid, Eugene the nerd and lumpy doctor Denise picking up their weapons , and -in the words of that awful vicar- turned baby rescuer Gabriel - " taking arms to save their town"
It was also great to see Daryl flex his considerable biceps with a newly acquired rocket launcher , to blast Negan's henchmen right out of the bottoms of their leather boots
It was a bravura, exciting and back on form episode.
Great fun

Arse over tit!

Trelawnyd seems a bit dead this morning

I'm running late today....everything is "arse over tit"
Firstly the Prof still wasn't 100% overnight , so kept us both awake.
Secondly I have just made gravy for a chicken and mushroom pie using fish stock
And thirdly I am working this evening, so will miss the first episode of The Walking Dead!
How can the world be so cruel? 

Anyhow , the chicken pie has been finally made. The Prof will be returning home from work early and the satellite box thing will record the zombie apocalypse for me to watch tomorrow night, so barring a powercut things will be fine.........I have read the synopsis of the second half premier anyway, so I know who gets chomped/sliced/ shot ( delete as appropriate) .......my nerves couldn't take the suspenders!

Right like all good country house blogs I shall leave you with a photo of the aforementioned chicken and mushroom pie.....it's magnificent!

Have a good monday all..........

Selfies

Can someone explain to me the facebook phenomenon of very attractive women who constantly think that it is interesting to take a photo of themselves more or less every day! 
Their hair is immaculate, the dress, invariably trendy, the eyes wide and made up and the lips.....well the lips are pushed out in a cupid's bow or suction plunger pout......every friggin day the same pose is posted to a group of adoring fans who simper and titter lines like " You're so pretty" or " adorable!" 
I guess if one is half arsed or indeed over awed by the beauty of the selfie at least you can click the "like " button to confirm that the pout is indeed something of note, but I just don't get it!
I was talking about all this with a girl from work the other week but instead of getting an explanation to this " selfie self promotion all she did was to say without any guile whatsoever
" Isn't that something you do everyday with your blog? Blogging is a selfie's for writers who love to be read"
The remark took me back just a little as in some way the girl was absolutely right. Isn't blogging just another way of saying " look at me I'm lovely" or perhaps more realistically " look at my writing, it's lovely- I'm too lumpy for a photo selfie"
Whatever the answer, I did smile at myself last night when I posted an uncharacteristic comment of " nice dress" beneath the hundreth photo of pouting red lips and cleavage as long as your arm.
I looked at what I had written.......and reminded myself that I do have a sense of  humour before adding " shame about the face"

Anyhow enough of all this. The Prof is presently lying on the couch in his best Blanche DuBois pose.
He is covered by a blanket and is indeed looking post viral and pale, but has managed to eat a small plate of sausage, mash and greens as well as a dainty portion of bread and butter pudding with custard. I'll light the fire shortly, bung him a cup of tea then I'll take the dogs out.
I'm typing this in the kitchen as he's watching some awful dating show where 30 screaming women are paraded in front of some overly trendy man in order to get a snog or a shag or fame or whatever, It has just come to me that most of these screaming harridans are just the type to post selfies everyday on facebook.....  But hey ho.....

What I wanted to watch is the celebrity Great British Bake Off  programme, you can't beat Mary Berry on a Sunday afternoon. I watched the first one the otherday and have to share with you all that I suddenly had a guilty man crush on the politician Ed Balls, who found himself struggling to cope with a mountain of sponge cake........Ed Balls! How strange is that!

Who is Your  guilty crush?
Answers on a postcard please...........

Mr Balls

Poorly Prof

The Prof returned from Norway minus one suitcase and with a tummy bug. Oh the joys of international travel. He wasn't himself last night, and sat quietly in his armchair with Mary licking his  bald spot.
The suitcase had a merry old time travelling on it's own to Sweden before it was returned to London then up to us this morning .Another feather in the cap of British airways.
I'm now on nurse duty.
Lunch on trays, regular drinks, brows mopped, temperatures taken.
I feel like Anna from Downton 
Hey ho

A Little Love

Feel a little love this weekend eh? Xxxxx

Politically Oh so not correct

This photo was shared with me on facebook the other day.

It was taken around 1983, when I was a student psychiatric nurse. The raven haired girl next to me is called Judith and she was a country girl from the Isle of Man.
At New Year, when all of the students were at home enjoying their families and friends, Judith was the only person left in the Nurse's home so at the last minute I invited for her to come home with me to Wales to join in with my friends' fancy dress pub crawl.
I rang my parents that a guest would be staying and told Judith to come up with a costume theme with literally a few minutes notice.
She found some boot polish and met me looking like this

Now my parents were probably beside themselves with the fact I was coming home with a WOMAN!  So probably bursting a gut, they sat on tenterhooks for us to arrive with a...." John's bringing a girl home"  being the only in town.
Imagine their faces when Hattie McDaniel walked through the door with a thick and playful African accent.
So good was Judith's make up that Both my father and mother initially thought that Judith was indeed black! And I remember delighting in my father's surprise and  nervousness when confronted by a buxom black mama in his very 1980s living room.
I was 21 before I met a person of colour
My father must have been 50 ( even though the person was was indeed a blacked up farmer's daughter from the Isle Of Man)......how different Prestatyn was in those small town days.

The Queen Of The Village

I know that I have a tendency to " big up" village characters like Aunty Glad on Going Gently, but there is a reason for that, and that is, She really is a special lady.
Very deaf and certainly registered blind, she sat quietly in her chair by the aga as the discussions over the finer points of " what is a tart and what is a pie" became louder and louder.
Heulwen, for the most part sat with her, informing her of the finer points of the committee decisions, and it was she that took a helping role when Gladys started to make tea. The large kettle of boiling water and a 96 year old blind lady don't always mix well, but between them the teas were handed out. Cups and saucers for the ladies and mugs for the men.
Gladys as always, handed out buttered scones for all.
The meeting lasted almost two hours, and for most of that Gladys again sat in her own chair. She laughed loud and strong when the group photographs were taken and when each committee member thanked her for her hospitality when they were leaving, she trilled out a merry " Don't thank me ..thank the lord!" 
Flower Show Matriarch Irene and animal helper Pat were the last to leave, as they were doing the washing up. I was collecting my papers and schedules and Gladys flittered around us rearranging the chairs around the kitchen table.
Nearly blind and very deaf , she clapped her hands like a schoolgirl
" oooohhh I have enjoyed this evening " she cooed
That is part of her immense charm

The Flower Show Marches On

The bun fight which is the Trelawnyd Flower Show committee meeting took place around Auntie Glad's kitchen table this evening. It's like supper time at the Walton's house with everyone talking at once.....and by the time of leaving, my head is ringing with the frenetic good natured banter of it all.

Most of the Trelawnyd Village Flower Committee tonight

The next show is on August 6th.

(Right to left), matriarch Irene, Terry, Mierion ,Daphne, Heulwen, Derek, Julie ( cookery judge) , sailor John and Pat my " animal helper"
Gladys is centre