Bad Neighbours

The weather has taken a bit of a turn.
The houses, cottages and bungalows of the village seem to cling the side of Gop Hill as driving rain and gales rush in from the North West and the dogs' midday walk was cut short as all they walked to do was to turn their backs to the wind.
I only saw one person when we were out and she waved briefly as she ran for her car. I wondered if things had settled down for her, for the last time we spoke she told me of a rather unfortunate altercation she had with her neighbour soon after the new year.
The fall out was " something and nothing" over a shared right of way, but the whole thing had been exacerbated by alcohol , as the neighbour had been drinking heavily during the day.
Apparently the police were eventually called to pour oil on the waters.

I understood the difficulty felt, as once, when I was selling raffle tickets on afternoon, I had to deal with a rather unpleasant moment with the neighbour who, obviously relaxed after a couple of wines, felt that she could refuse my polite request with a brusqueness which bordered on rudeness.
Some people a mean drunks, plain and simple.

We once lived for a short time in a cottage which backed onto some social housing. Our then neighbour lived a somewhat chaotic lifestyle, in which alcohol, drugs loud partying and even louder arguments were the norm and I remember very well, that awful pit in the stomach feeling when doors were banged and shouting in the night woke you up.

Our neighbours now couldn't be better. Mandy & Sailor John have often cared for the field when we are away. Trendy Carol's dogs play wonderfully with ours and Old Trevor demands nothing more than the occasional request for me to to some heavy lifting for him ( he is 94! ) so I can understand The Prof's worry of who will eventually reside on the plot of land which has been just put up for sale, right in the centre of our corner of the village.
" Let's hope they are not riff raff!" The Prof commentated the other day

Multi Tasking and Winnie Goes AWOL

Something always gives when you are multi tasking.
Feeding dogs, putting up a curtain pole, browning chicken skins to garnish dogs' dinners, preparing chicken casserole, picking logs up, flirting with Mandy next door ( she's just had a new " big hair"  change) Mary's ear drops, shit......no onions for casserole, so hurried trip to shop, remove old shelving from airing cupboard, tidy away excess laundry into space saving " suction bags" ( great fun) hoover mummified mouse from under the bed......
I was hoovering the office carpet when there was a loud knock on the front door.
When I came downstairs a young farmer type was standing in front of the window
" Have you lost something? " he mouthed and I gestured for the man to come round to the back door where I met him at the garden wall.
He pointed to his tall pick up parked by the side of the cottage.
Sitting happily in the passenger seat with her big paws up on the dashboard was Winnie.
" I saw her down by the water treatment" he told me " she got in straight away when I stopped"

I was baffled.
Apparently after I had given her her dinner, Winnie had taken herself off for an uncharacteristic wander. She had slipped through the open gate (!) and had marched off for a mile down the lane. The farmer had picked her up  when she had decided to rest , like an ugly and exhausted  hooker on a small grass verge and  had driven the length of the lane ( some three miles) in the search for her home. Finally he stopped a woman outside her house. who recognized Winnie and she told the farmer where she lived so kindly he brought her home as she happily enjoyed her impromptu country drive.
" She's a friendly big thing" the young man said opening the truck door
" Did she try to kiss you?" I asked him as Winnie reluctantly scrabbled down.
" No......but she HAS eaten half of me crisps!" He replied.

Slapped Hard With A Velvet Glove

Hollywood Royalty Meryl Streep flexed the most dignified part of her speech giving skills last night with the most effective of put downs against Donald Trump.
Stating that his mocking of a disabled journalist was something that " broke her heart" Streep, in the hushed motherly tones added

"It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege and power and the capacity to fight back. It, it kind of broke my heart when I saw it and I still can’t get it out my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.

Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose"

The only reply Trump could think to give was to call Streep " overrated"
That comment alone proves to the world that he is an arsehole! 

Reality Not Frivolity

The Prof has been put on the train to London. I am sure he will enjoy his pristine boutique hotel more than usual, for I have just been merrily cleaning up , deep dark blobs to bile from the carpets.....old George occasionally suffers from bilious attacks, especially if he is late for a meal, it doesn't happen often as I am fastidious about him getting his meals on time.
I was somewhat fed up this afternoon but cheered myself up by buying cushions and egg cups from a garden centre in Chester ( I'm easily pleased)
Tonight I am going to start to read my Christmas gift from my father-in-law

Crush II

Lazy post two!
It's fun
Who is your present day crush?
Mine?
Cy Owens " The Force Essex" ( tv reality cop show)

First Crush?

lazy blog today
Who was your first cinematic/tv crush?
Mine?
Clint Walker

Brain Storm

The broiler " ghost" hens sunbathing

We take so many things for granted.
Last night I watched a Sky documentary which was rather ho-hum
The presenter, however, did allow himself ,  a moment of gushing, after a group of India women, resplendent in their multi coloured saris, walked into view upon a barren and sunbaked landscape and his emotional reaction to such a visual experience proved to be a rather moving experience.

Here are a few of mine, brainstormed during a wet and cold walk this morning

• Being present at scores of patient deathbeds, watching a fellow human being taking their last breath on this planet.
• Looking at Sheffield's Skyline on a cold night from the roof of the city's Cancer Hospital
• Witnessed four hens corner, attack and subsequently kill a crow who had been stealing their layers pellets.
• watched twins being delivered by emergency Cesarean section. 
• Winked at by a handsome Yorkshire policeman when he was on duty
• Taking in the vast and graceful Sydney Harbour for the first time on a sunny Sunday afternoon
• Sitting through a maths class as a giggling twelve year old in front of busty Mrs Fielding who had two buttons of her blouse undone.
• Driving into New York City at night for the first time.
• Watching an emergency doctor perform internal cardiac massage
• Being the only human watching four dogs galloping happily on an empty beach
• Over an hour lying in warm grass, watching six abused factory broiler hens finally leaving their hen house ,to sun bathe for the very first time.
• Seeing my husband smiling so uncharacteristically during the entirety of our wedding.

My New Co Pilot

Eighteen months ago Meg died.
I spent more time with her than I did with my husband and her absence literally broke my heart as we all know that hearts can so easily be damaged by the all encompassing love only a dog can give a master.
The Prof saw the void that Meg left and like all concerned husbands who wanted to heal an awful situation, he was galvanised in the attempt to fill it with the impulse purchase of a new puppy.
Mary subsequently arrived with a bang.
A year later, I now have a new co pilot.
When I sit in a chair, she is by my side in a heartbeat. When I have a bath, she stands guard at the bathroom door and when she gets the chance, after the first dog walk at dawn, she curls up into the lie-in bed, her face tucked up under my chin like a baby rabbit with it's mother.
Of course all this says more about me, than it does about her.
For I am never alone, even when I am enjoying a satisfying number two with the paper.