Rearranging The Furniture

The " new" armchair

I was shampooing the bulldog accident wee stains from the living room carpet when I thought I heard  the letter box snap. I saw the envelope and spied a carrier bag tied to the front door knob and knew someone had popped off a gift. It was blog reader Suz and her hubby and I invited them in for coffee.

I felt awful.....awful in the fact I was wearing my grubby track suit bottoms and a t shirt  with egg down the front. I looked like a homeless tramp in crocs.

The cottage however looked a bit cleaner as My new ( seconds actually) arm chair had been delivered this morning and like any gay middle aged man worth his salt , I had spent several " happy" hours re arranging my furniture 

The old armchair has been relagated to a reading chair in the kitchen

Note Suz's gifts of scotch eggs on the table! 

Thursday

I've worked 5 twelve and a half hour day shifts in the last 7 days
And I'm tired tonight.

I've had to sweep the flue of the wood burner as it was smoking when I lit the fire
The cottage is still full of smoke and I'm cold

I only had a four day old homemade shepherd's pie left in the fridge that and a murky pork chop
I ate the pie cold with tomato sauce still in my uniform
Winnie ate the chop
( whole)

Dotty is now licking my bare feet with a fat tongue
It's Bliss....

The cottage looks like the wreck of the Hesperus

I can't think of a blog to write today
Bed soon me thinks

I'm tired and rather angry

Three Words

I'm not after any " you're lovely" comments tonight
I just wanted to share something special that happened today.
I've been working with a very gentle soul.
A patient my own age.
We spent time going over medications. We talked about anxiety
I told her a story about a dim nurse and she laughed
And when I turned to go
She looked me squarely in the face
And quietly said
" Thank you ..John" 
I understood and my eyes watered
And I nodded gently.

Y Shed

 I met my elder sister yesterday for coffee at Y shed which is Welsh for .......... The Shed . A converted  ( go figure!) Railway shed on the walkway I walk the dogs.
My sister wanted to check I was alright since my decree nisi which she had presumed was my decree absolute.
No, I had to tell her, I am still legally married!
She chewed her lips in worry....
My elder sister is fiercely matriarchal...and would put  Mildred Pierce to shame in a head to head.

Y Shed welcomes dog walkers, and Dotty and Mary were impressively well behaved as we drank our coffee.

I got my hair cut at my local barber who unfortunately was suffering from sickness and diarrhoea ( what a lottery!!!!)
Then I went to a furniture centre who sells big store seconds and bought a lovely "new"  arm chair!

In the afternoon , my neighbour Trevor asked me to shake his fruit trees with a rake....in order to collect the apples.

I've done it every year since 2007

Put put put

Pup pup pup pup......pup pup pup pup!
So go the faraway sounds of shotguns.
Sounds that echo against the village valley walls
And bounce around the Church, now silent without its vicar.
It's a common background to most Sundays here.
Clay pigeons
A weekend playtime for " country folk "

Dorothy and I are sat in the graveyard.
Well I am sat
She is crouching
And we both are waiting for the
Pupupupups to stop.

She is watching me carefully and because I seem confident
She is becoming braver at the sound of gun fire
Albert joins us and butts his head against hers
It's the first official greeting I have seen between the two
His natural confidence boosting her fearfulness in spades
And in typical bulldog style she sniffs at his bottom with some gusto

I notice that the colours of the graveyard trees are beginning to warm.
And I photograph the most colourful of them as the faraway shotguns continue to blast away

Dorothy and I do another circuit around the church with Albert following us at an angle
He is obviously pretending that it was the way he originally intended to go.

Cats have a strange pride about them

Doctor Doctor

The Walking Dead has a new character
Dante....the doctor

Come to mama!!!!!!
Day off tomorrow
Coffee with elder sis, lunch with friends,
Choir too
Divorce paperwork ...buying a new armchair
Anal glands on Mary to squeeze
It's all go !

Thank You

There are ponies again on my lower field. They are clearing the nettles so that my spring allotments can be marked out in March.
" Bosoms" will return then like a ghost
The dogs love sniffing the ponies noses as they snort gently under the five bar gate

When I was at work someone has kindly cut down my overgrown hedges
I know not who!
I have no one to thank or to pay.....I will stop gentleman Farmer Ralph to see if he knows
Thank you whoever!
That's village life for you.
Trelawnyd is bracing itself for winter activities too
The " race night" in November is sold out ( well done Well Street Bridget !) and Heulwen from choir  and despot jason ( who is surpringly 50 very soon) wants a pub night out as soon as the cottage officially mine
" You are not to buy a drink " Heulwen instructed " Not one!" 
I agreed reluctantly ! ( secretly pleased)
Mr J left me some homemade jam today...in a bag on the garden wall
It was in response to the fact I'd loaned him my blood pressure machine for the summer
His tablets must have kicked in

Enjoy the music
It features in one pivotal scene in my imaginary movie

Its the finale xx

Kissed Softly By Buster Keaton

Dorothy 

Although not quite housetrained as yet,
Dorothy has brought a certain exuberance back into the cottage atmosphere.
When I pick the dogs up from Trendy Carol's space age square conservatory after a long day, it is now Dotty that gallops forward like a miniature sumo wrestler on amphetamines in order to greet me first.
Her whole tail wagging body shrieks of excitement and joy, but only her expression, which is often fixed in a kind of worried hopefulness, belies her real mood.
Like most bulldogs, she has more than a passing resemblance to the silent film star Buster Keaton.

Buster

This morning at 7 am she very slowly pushed her Buster face into mine.
We were lip to lip for a while before she effectively cut off my air supply and that signalled the time to get up for a morning walk.
I got up dutifully........as I said she is not yet fully housetrained as yet, so my one other lie in moment went for a burton and minutes later she was leading our way down the Dyserth walkway, followed closely by a quieter and more grown up Mary.
And as always ,Winifred gently brought up the rear. Her old head swinging from Side to side as she silently greeted passing walkers
She looked like Queen Sālote Of Tonga at the coronation

Winnie