Friends


Some bloggers turn out to be exactly what you expect in real life
Tonight I met David from Travel Penguin (https://travelpenguin.blogspot.com/) and his husband Jay
In a whistle stop visit from Washington, via Ireland and London we all met up for a wonderful meal at The Castle in Conwy
A lovely chatty evening.

I'm off today and tomorrow before another run of nights and was only thinking of what to do tomorrow when Chic Eleanor drove past in her sporty red sports number
" Darling John " she crooned out of the window " Gin and tonics Friday teatime , over a bowl of chips ..how about it?" And with a fling of a pashmina corner she was gone!
What fun


" Cutchiface"

Dorothy is becoming a powerful and rather energetic little dog
The more confident she has become the more I have to lead her in public, so rambunctious and bouncy and excited she is when out of the house!
Her main problem is her amazing ability to jump and jumping she loves to do directly at you in a wide mouthed google eyed way.
With no thought of the ramifications of dirty paws and muscular legs.
I am training her slowly
She is always put on the lead and under control if another dog or walker approaches and when she does get too bouncy, an outstretched hand and a sharp turn sidewards often stops her in her tracks
It's a work in progress.
Today she had been left to run on a totally deserted walkway in the weak spring morning sun when out of the blue a middle aged woman suddenly appeared in view climbing through brambles out of a field.
Dorothy was perhaps forty feet from the woman and a good sixty feet in front of me and she stopped dead still looking worried.
Then I heard the woman say to Dorothy " Hello cutchiface!"  in an overly friendly way.

Now I must stop here for a moment to add a bit of colour to the proceedings
" Cutchi face" is a a sort of hybrid Liverpudlian/ Welsh greeting of long ago.
Cutchi is an English version of the word Cwtch which means hug or cuddle in Welsh
Hence Cutchi face  literally means huggable face

Hearing such a friendly greeting coupled with an open arm welcome, Dorothy literally jumped at the chance for some affection and so ran forward and effectively dropped kicked the woman mid chest at ten feet away.
Both disappeared through the brambles with a cry before I could even open my mouth.

The first thing I saw when I ran up was a single half Wellington boot lying poignantly amid the brambles
Dotty had literally knocked the woman out of her shoes!
Luckily there was no injuries apart from a very muddy coat and a very dirty sock and after a bit of struggling I had the woman back on her feet in a matter of minutes
" She moves quite quickly for a bulldog" the woman observed wryly as Dorothy smiled desperately at everyone involved

" I'm so sorry" I gushed , hoping not to be sued " These dogs will be the death of me !" 
" Almost the death of me " the woman corrected

Old Brown Eyes

I got home late
On the back door step,
A red rugby hoodie and two boxes of cat food.
On the front door step another letter from my solicitor and a rice pudding under foil
Enjoy Miss Gayle
This is a lovely version of the a Tom Waits classic 

Tits Up!!!


Some days are just shite

My mobile phone magically decided to shut down at breakfast time just as I was what's apping a friend about meeting up for lunch.
The little cunt ( and Im talking about the phone and not the friend) demanded a security password totally unknown to me and so for at least four hours, I searched the Internet for ways of bypassing the problem .
Finally I now have a functioning phone, no internet banking and have lost numerous contacts and so much information it actually hurts.
I hate the I've actually become one of those new age people who literally can't function without a friggin phone!!!!

My friend cancelled lunch

Mary nipped the fingers of the new postman who forgot that he was supposed to use the box by the front door to deposit letters into and I had to apologise profusely to be given aletter from my fucking solicitors who demanded another ( and arbitrary) £216.00!!!!!! Payable RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

I went to the bank for help with my app
( no luck) then dropped and smashed a jar of mayonnaise in Aldi
Before coming home and flopping on to the bed for a moment of peace.

I woke up groggy and disorientated and in the dark.
I have now fucking missed choir practice


Late Post


I told a story today.
I told a story like my mother told her stories
I told a story which amused me
I think I remembered it right

Back in the late 1980s my eldest sister and her husband went to see a movie
They weren't big film goers.
Middle class and well spoken they sat through Bruce Willis Die Hard
An interesting choice given its language and violence.
In those days the ice cream lady still came around with her tubs

And my sister turned to my brother in law and in her well spoken brogue said loudly
" Do you want a fucking ice cream motherfucker or don't you?" 

Mighty Fine Coffee


Jorge blew himself out overnight and Sunday blossomed into spring this morning.
I had fixed the broken cat flap yesterday in a fit of testosterone and so the kitchen was warmed nicely by the weak sun by the time I got up at 8.30 am.


Mary,Dotty and I walked through the scores of dog walkers and kids on scooters that lined the Dyserth Walkway and went for breakfast at Y Shed ( English translation The Shed duh!) 
The cafe does lovely illy Coffee and the best bacon sandwich this side of Offa's Dyke

.

I saw an old friend with his daughter at one of the tables
Our friendship had kind of come to an end a few years ago after he had left his wife for another woman. I regret not being able to have been impartial at the time.
But sometimes you just have to act the way you do.
We shook hands and chatted briefly and politely.

The Coffee was indeed a delight as was my sandwich, which I shared with the dogs.
The walkway was sunny and somewhat crowded with walkers and I was reminded Gently of walks past around Central Park. So Jaunty and animated the atmosphere was.

Sunday jobs are on the agenda today
Car cleaning
Soup making,
Friend calling
More proper coffee and perhaps a doze in the chair by the window

Jason And The Zombies


Some friends, you can just pick up where you last left off
affable despot Jason is one of those characters.
Now in winter, he tends to go to ground and is not really seen until Spring, so in some ways I must of felt grateful he ventured out of Tŷ Wynne as Storm Jorge steam rollered in
" Jorge" Jason said " Sounded rather more like a Brazilian toyboy than an Atlantic Storm
I agreed.
Jason is naturally funny and knows it
Admittedly his humour can be somewhat schoolboy in nature but he has a good brain in his head which is a bonus when he is your theatre companion .
Night of the living Dead-Remix is an interesting theatrical experiment.
It takes the original film which it more or less runs in its original form on one screen and with seven actors with handheld cameras on an innovative set reinacting the whole film scene for scene.
It's a clever concept which is implemented almost flawlessly by the cast who must have been rehursed until they dropped but with the use of miniature models standing in for the exterior shots, I wasn't quite sure if we should have been amused or just impressed with the results.

Jason and I can talk for Wales
We can also laugh all night too.
He's a good person to know and I like him

The cottage was warm when I returned home......in a fit of testosterone I had refitted a new cat flap this afternoon

Zombies to look forward to.....


I hate Saturday mornings
They shriek of couple time and wherever you go , you seem to be surrounded by couples catching up on the mundane and the routine things in life.
I tried to divert myself from coupledom by reading the latest twitter feeds
But it would seem all the gay twitter feeds I follow have hirsute men selfies on them proclaiming goddam awful hangovers and showing a beautiful range of bed linen.
I bought some nice bed linen this morning on the back of it ( special offer in Sainsburys )
It was either that or a cat flap, and I couldn't face the pet store this morning
Not with all those doggy couples about!
The bed linen looks crisp and inviting so bedtime should be a smallish treat tonight
Having said that the wind whistling through the catflap is a pisser .
I've had to fashion a curtain of kitchen tissue in the meantime, which has thrown Albert into a dicky fit.
Later I'm catching up with Jason the affable despot.
We are going to theatre Clwyd to see Night of the Living Dead remix, which is a " remaking" of a famous original zombie movie on stage!
Frothy and rubbish , I suspect, but frothy and rubbish is ideal if you are in the company of some who laughs easily.


A sudden sleet/ snow shower has whistled through the catflap like a rat up a drainpipe, sending the dogs scuttling back into the warmth of the living room.
I now friggin regret not buying one....
Hey ho