Happy Birthday Fabulous!!!

This voluptuous piece of woman is my best friend Nuala (who is also commonly known here as just plain" Nu" )
She is "fabulous at fifty"
Fifty, I am reliably informed , is the new 35!
When my mother was fifty, she looked 65
But that was back in 1975.
When everyone looked fucked!
Happy Birthday dear old friend, I never told you yesterday!

Ohhhh errrrrrrr

I shall give a prize to anyone who could tell me where I am

Ma'am as in Spam

No, it's not a joke.....what has .the Bishop, the Flower Show Secretary and the admiral! Got in common?
Well they all went to a garden party at Buckingham Palace yesterday that's what they have in common. How amazing is that?,
My sister was one of the chosen few who donned their best tucker and alongside The Queen Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne  sipped tea and ate afternoon snacks on the manicured lawns of Buckingham Palace.
Not bad for a Prestatyn gal eh?

Not had much access to internet at the moment so comment/replies may be thin on the ground ( Stephenson please note)

Epitaph

With yesterdays chatter about tombstones, I thought I would share with you mine.......I'm not planning to pop off this mortal coil too soon, but it's always best to be prepared.....

What's your graveyard epitaph ? I'd be interested to know

Here lies

John Gray

Formally of Bwthyn Y Llan , Trelawnyd

Friend, Brother, Husband

Blogger, Nurse
and fabulous Dog Owner

" I 'll admit I may have seen better days
But I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail
Like a salted peanut" 

Drifting Off To Sleep?

There is a mouse hiding under the sofa and its 23.37pm
House dogs and cat are all working very hard at locating it
I am in bed........
Wide eyed and very awake
This is animal hell

Yanks In Town

William , Winnie, George , Mary and I were returning through the old Churchyard Yesterday afternoon after a brief catch up with the Alcapas in Mrs Frazer's glebe field, when a bright American voice sang out from behind the gravestones.
" I guess you're a real local" the woman called out.
I should have known that the Yanks had arrived as parked next to the Lych Gate was a large white minibus. The Graveyard suddenly seemed full of them .
They descended on me, greedy for information.
In the mid 1840s, Trelawnyd elder John Parry Sr led over 100 Mormon converts from North Wales to Liverpool in order to catch a steamer to the United States. Parry and his followers went on to settle in Salt Lake City where he became the first conductor of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir .
Now, on a regular basis, his descendants arrive in the village for an hour or so, intent on locating Parry's meeting house ( thought to be a set of cottages up High Street) or in the vain hope of finding an old gravestone of the Parry family amongst the few intact gravestones in the old graveyard.

I gave them as much information as I was able which proved to be a rather odd experience as it was only after five minutes that I realised one woman was filming me on her mobile phone!
I showed them the 13 th Century Prayer Cross, and explained that it was (and is) common for Welsh headstones to document the names of the houses in which the deceased lived , a fact which often makes research easier with so many Jones', Parry's and Evans' living in one place.

As I was showing them around , I suddenly recognised  a few words on a tombstone I had never seen before. The words " Tan y Fynwent " sticking out like a sore thumb.
Now, Tan-y-Fynwent was the ancient Welsh name for our cottage and when translated it literally means " Under The Graveyard" a rather apt description as the cottage is located on the lane that borders the lower Western part of the Church boundary.
I had , by accident, found the previous occupants of our cottage.
People who had lived and died in the 1800s an early 1900s

Lick My Fat

I rubbed a bit of chicken fat ( which was impregnated with garlic) on my sore swollen knee this evening. We had had the chicken for supper.....it was very nice. Anyhow, It's not an old Welsh recipe against such ailments, but it did make Winnie lick the hell out of the afflicted part which was as soothing if not more  as a bag of frozen peas.

This ailment thing is boring me now

I'm getting quite down with it

Being Too Nice.

The other week I mentioned the interviewing skills of journalist and presenter Kirsty Young with some considerable admiration.
Today I watched probably one of the worst " celebrity" interviews I have ever had the misfortune to witness as a simpering and sycophantic Lorraine Kelly made a fool of herself with Helen Mirren who tried, with some patience, to unsuccessfully balance the constant barrage of " you're lovely" comments.
I don't trust overly nice people. Perhaps that says something dark about my childhood or my trust issues , but I don't.
Now don't get me wrong, I am attracted to warm hearted folk, you know the sort!, those that have an aura of kindness and genuineness about them but these people, in my book,  must alsohave an edge about them of sorts,  whether it humour,a touch of sarcasm or a big dollop of irony; and edge to me, always means interesting.
And interesting is always good.
Lorraine Kelly take note.