Oiling The Cogs

Islwyn the village elder is a bit of an odd job man of some note, and so it's not unusual for people to ring him up regularly in order to get something done about their house. Sailor John was an electrician before he retired and is, I am sure, well used to people asking for advice about wiring problems and the like and Animal helper Pat, an excellent seamstress, has been asked many a time to run up the hem on old Trevor's curtains
It's not as though people want things for nothing.
But brains and skills  are there to be picked sometimes.

Over the past few weeks , my nursing qualification has proved to be useful.
I have been asked to give my opinion on a patch of healing  skin. I have been requested to check if I thought someone had suffered a stroke ( they hadn't but I was correct in my diagnosis of an urinary tract infection) and only yesterday I was asked to call up to see the visitor of one of the Flower Show exhibitors who had cut her leg on the Gop, to see if she needed a stitch or two.
She did.

All simple stuff to be  sure but small favours do  " oil the cogs" in a community I always think.
The wife of the chap with the skin problems thanked me the other day for my advice...I laughed and told her she would be providing the blooms for the tea tables at the Flower show from her garden.
Seeing the girl with the grazed knee cemented good relations with her hosts and doing a few observations on the chap with a bad bladder led to a small bunch of summer flowers being left by the back door.

Oiling the cogs.........makes life a whole lot easier.

Update

Two international novelty " strawberries" from Claire

Meme

I've only just learned what a meme is .
On facebook you are often bombarded with these little snippets of nothing .
They seem to be always sent by people who don't generally write down their own thoughts.
I'm always writing down my own thoughts.
Too much too often some people say.
I saw this meme last night and over morning coffee I mused over who I would pick.

My beloved grandparents? My father , my mother ?
Someone famous from cinema or the arts ? Someone fantastic person from history?
A life saving scientist perhaps
Every person I mused about, I found a reason not to choose.

Then I had it. Who would I want to sit on a bench with. For one hour?
An hour of companionship .
An hour of peace.....
An hour of no explainations, no catch up sharing, no complications caused by the passing of time
I knew exactly who I would pick

I would pick my first dog Finlay

Hannah

The youngest member of the The Trelawnyd Flower Show Committee is now living in Spain with her family .
How wonderful she and son Milo have sent this entry in the International Novelty Veg class.
Our 2nd Spanish entry!
Thank you Hannah x

When WereYou last Badly Behaved ?

Have I got that right? I never know if it is When were you badly behaved last or when were you last badly behaved'? 
Anyhow I think you get the gist of my question.
Today's blog was sparked in part by the terrible Absolutely Fabulous  and in part by my best friend Nuala who blacked her eye recetly  falling off a pair of high heels after a somewhat lively night out with her family.
Badly behaved Edina and Patsy from Adfab are said to be inbetween 60 and 70.
My friend Nu is galm 50.
So the  question remains when were you badly behaved last?

It's around a decade since I was truly naughty.
I had quoffed too many white wines in All Bar One with my chic friend Bel Ami. He ended up flirting with the psychopath barman and swishing around the tables in a floaty zara outfit.
I fell down two flights of stairs like a sack of custard, and was only stopped from breaking my neck by the intervention of  a sturdy fire door.
Happy days.

I don't drink much now, but I was always a happy/ sleepy drunk when out on the lash. This was all a bit out of odds with my parents' behaviour for my mother always started a cambative arguement after too many gins whereas my father became somewhat amorous with any passing matron after a whisky or three
I'm happy I am always sleepily benign when pissed

I love watching silly and good humoured bad behaviour , and am reminded of a time when the Prof and I with some friends went to a classical concert in the grounds of Chatsworth House.
Everyone had bought picnics and wine and champagne, and in front of us were a rather refined group of 50 year old ladies all a little worse for wear.
Suddenly the orchestra started to play Mozart's A Musical Joke (  the fourth movement )  which to those,  not from the UK will not know, is the music used to front Showjumping programmes on tv!
Suddenly several of these very well dressed matrons got up and started to pretend to be " riding" horses , just like little girls do when they are six or seven. For the duration of entire piece they cantered around the circles of concert goers, their massive bosoms bouncing around beneath strings of pearls , and their faces puce with the exertion.
It was a lovely moment of pure idiocy

So dear readers, I know reactions will be many and varied
But when was your last alcohol fuelled naughty moment?
I can't wait to read them.....

What Fresh Hell Is This?

Well that was an hour and a half that I won't get back!
On a whim of nostalgic loyalty the Prof and I went to see Absolutely Fabulous -The Movie this evening. I didn't expect that much; film versions of half hour sit coms never come out very well.
But this effort, which is more reminiscent of the 1970's Holiday on the Buses, is truly, truly awful.
Whether it is the limp script or tired actors but the famous Sanders and Lumley chemistry is just not present and I spent 90minutes feeling rather sad for the desperation of it all.
2/10

Flirty..Flirty!

I saw the affable despot Jason this morning. He is off to the South of France soon and takes a pragmatic view on recent events. " Don't read the papers and don't watch 24 news on tv" he told me
" They whip up paranoia"
I agreed with him, for anecdotally,  I have noticed at Samaritans, an increase in calls from the mentally ill recently.
Personally I put this down to unrest and change as reported by the media. Terrorism , political upheaval, civil unrest.....it all takes it's toll on the fragile of mind.
Around the corner from Jason and his floppy hair, I met the postman who was discussing the Nice and Turkey events with Mrs J, Mrs P and Vera ( I don't know her surname initial)
Stout hearted characters all, but all worn down just a little by the news blasting it's fear into their homes every lunchtime.
" We need some good news" one of them chirped up and I agreed when I remembered last night's flirty and vivacious Ann Atkinson who is the new Musical director of The Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir. Her bon viveur certainly has brought a spring in the step of the testosterone filled ranks of the choir, as she oozes her sexy cougar charm in every direction.
This may be a salient lesson for us all.
Doom and gloom feeds on itself, what we all need now is some flirty good humour.

So who is your Ann Atkinson? Who would you like to harmlessly flirt with over a grand piano?
Who ( apart from spouses of course) could lift your spirits in this glum world
Answers on a postcard please!

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/woman-makes-history-trelawnyd-male-8608915