Winnie And The Professor

Yesterday I was witness to a rare little Christmas scene.
No it wasn't local villager , Dave Smith driving around Trelawnyd dressed as santa as he did on Saturday for the Christmas Fayre.

It was a little moment between Professor and Elderly bulldog......
We were all sat in the living room watching David Attenborough, when I noticed Winnie lift herself heavily from the hearth rug. She ambled over to me and offered her head up to be kissed.
It's a regular demand in a demanding household.
She then made her way to the couch to say a hello to the Prof, and instead of his usual perfunctory one pat of acknowledgement, he moved his legs and surprisingly offered her a place on the couch next to him.
Her eyes widened in shock!
Even though that she had always wanted this moment  this offer had never ever happened in her three years at Bwthyn y Llan and she hesitated, unsure of exactly what to do. She looked at me, then back at the Prof who have her a Roger Moore eyebrow look, and waited to be asked again.
Surprisingly he didn't only ask her again, he stood up and gestured for her to jump up onto the couch, then, when she hesitated again, he half lifted her up onto the cushions.
I had to giggle at her expression when the Prof propped his legs up next to her and covered them both with his warm woollen throw
Within seconds, a contented look upon her face, she rested her big fat head onto the Prof's knees and  promptly fell asleep as we watched tv in front of the fire.
I sat quietly in the armchair as surprised as Winnie had been
I had never seen The Prof act so affectionately towards her !!

Cariad Bach

The nurse in charge of intensive care told me that we had had  a lady from the village admitted.
It was a villager I know fairly well.
Before we were allocated to our respective patients, I popped over to her bed space to check on how she was doing.
Intensive care disguises patients well.
It covers patients with tubes and lines and drains and cables.
It masks faces with endotracheal tubes and oxygen masks and through necessity removes personalised clothing for gowns and clean sheets.
From the centre of such a collection came a weak sing song voice
" Hello Cariad Bach " it trilled
" Cariad Bach " is a rather old fashioned term in Welsh.
It literally means " little sweetheart" or " little loved one" 

The nurse in charge, reads Going Gently , I think, for when I got back in line for the allocation , she asked me, in a somewhat theatrical stage whisper " is she one of your old ladies? " 



  

Christmas Fayre

The Cameron family, who worked incredibly hard preparing the Fayre made a real success of the afternoon. I with seven stalwarts from the Flower Show committee manned the refreshment table and kitchen, (which was a job in itself!) aided by Eirlys, and Mrs Trellis

Karen  who knitted a hat for me a few years ago with my own sheeps wool was one of many stall holders!

 Mrs Trellis ( in the bobble hat ) selling hotdogs!

Santa ( Dave Smith from Bryon Street) turned up on his moter bike! 

A slightly obscured view of the village school children singing on the stage

( I don't think I ever want to hear " little Donkey" ever again

Off to bed now, on night shift later

Fayre

I'm just about to go to the hall to help out with Sandra Cameron's Christmas Fayre.
I'll post some photos of it later before going to work.
The Prof has harrumphed a bit and has been sent shopping
Apparently the PA system has a pink microphone
Sandra asked if I minded! 

Help?

Every year our small collection of Christmas decorations seem to grow just a little more.
Some, items have been with us an absolute age.
These vintage  2 inch crackers have been knocking around for years and years.
I was told that they came from America in the 1940s
Does anyone out there know if that's true
I'd be interested to know

Shampoo and Shop

The Chester ' star' outside the cathedral 

Yesterday, I had the onerous job of shampooing the cottage carpets. The machine that " does the job" is the size of a small fridge. It sucks the soot from the shag pile with all of  the gusto of an elephant with an iced bun up it's trunk ...so satisfying to see litre upon litre of muddy water being tipped down the drain. 

Late afternoon I met the Prof in Chester where we did some Christmas shopping and had a welcomed meal out like grown ups. I am working this weekend and Monday he flys out to Norway. 

(Norway in December! You couldn't be more Christmassy.!) so we have had to grab some shopping time. It was nice to be able to wear my good shoes for a change! 

I will put the Christmas's decorations up  this afternoon...

It' s the village Christmas Fayre tomorrow and I am still a little short of bodies to man the kitchen with me. Pat, the animal helper is away so I shall called round to see Mrs Trellis and Eirlys the chicken farmer later. I'm sure both can be relied upon! 

I'll leave you with this standout samba from Strictly, You honestly couldn't tell that Danny Mac is an amateur ! Amazing......watch this, it will give you a smile and will set you up for nice weekend! 

A Few Thoughts.......

The public " outing"  of  the extent of the sexual abuse of boys by their football coaches in the 1970s and 80s feels like that the genie has been finally let out of the lamp. In these freer, more enlightened times the victims, now in their forties and fifties , are now being believed and listened to as sexual abuse now leaves the confines of the church and stereotypical figures like the creepy scoutmaster and has entered an area, everyone once thought wholesome.
The misguided and dated ideas tweeted by the darts player Eric Bristow, who confused child sexual abuse with homosexuality has been rightly ridiculed and I thank god we are now living in an age that personal sexuality is more or less celebrated and certainly accepted at the same time that reports of sexual abuse are now believed, listened to and not ignored or given a blind eye to, as it was so often in those unenlightened days when nothing was ever talked about. 

Thank goodness I never experienced any institutional abuse growing up. I do remember a teacher that  occasionally turned up during showers, and I remember that the boys talked about the fact amongst themselves. Nowadays I think children are more savvy and supported and such incidences would be shared more readily with parents, safe teachers and friends.
Enlightenment breeds honestly and trust.........it stops predators from hiding in the shadows

Wiki English Football Abuse scandal

What Have You Done Today?

• Got up crack of dawn, drove Prof to station in my pyjamas, 
• Fed stock,cat and dogs ( walked them four times too) 
• Took photo of icy field ( above)
• Cleaned cottage, made bed, cleaned toilet with toilet duck
• Wrote blog
• Took William to groomers
• Dropped cleaning into dry cleaners
• Banked stuff for the Prof
• Shopped
• Bought logs
• Ate pineapple for lunch
• Collected eggs, applied antibiotic spray to goose foot
• Collected William
• Took William to vets
• Collected carpet cleaner
• Fed birds, locked birds up
• Lit fire, made chicken dinner
• Burnt sprouts
• Swore a lot cos best saucepan ruined 
• Collected Prof 
• Listened to academic news of the day
• Served supper
• Washed dishes
• Fed dogs
• Helped Prof squeezing William's anal glands
• Watched celebrity get me out of here
• Cried at " letters from home" 
• Answered blog comments
• Wrote blog.....bed