Going Gently

Turandot

Actually we really enjoyed the opening performance of Franco Zeffirelli's production of Turandot. The satellite link held up, the New York Met looked lovely and the opera was not at all bad !
As usual everything on stage at the Met was BIG,BOLD AND IMPRESSIVE! and I must include the leading lady in this description, for Princess Turandot (Maria Guleghina) had the faint look of Pam Ferris crossed with a lumpy Jane McDonald.
The only down size of filming a huge stage event such as the Met Operas, is that you get a good view of the cast....and like everyone knows, leading ladies are not all size 10 twenty four year olds....but I think it is fairly churlish to labour this point, she really did sing like an angel!

The sets were absolutely fabulous, our tiny audience very appreciative and during both intervals, we were treated to a behind the scenes view of scenery and prop set ups, which was fascinating.
8.5 out of 10

Withdrawl symptoms

I am having withdrawl symptoms for New York! It is exactly two years since we last visited the big apple, at least a year longer than we are used to, and I am feeling quite depressed at the thought of it all. Of course way back in the spring we had a lovely break in San Fransisco and last year's holiday was a relaxing Spanish chill out break in Sitges, but almost a decade ago it became a sort of tradition for us to go to New York annually!
We always stay somewhere in Midtown....a stone's throw from the perfect eggs Benedict at Pershing Square and Clam chowder at Grand Central's Oyster Bar!
Days are filled with museums, shopping, central park and trips up the Rockefeller centre
Even in the rain the city always has the ability to impress.... and on our last visit we had a lovely time at the New York Met where we experienced Chris' favourite Opera The Magic Flute!
Tomorrow, we are going to have a New York (ish) kind of evening! which will go some of the way to quench my withdrawls.....we are going to the Prestatyn Scala to watch a live satellite performance of Turandot from the Met .
Ok, we will miss sitting underneath those fantastic starburst swarovski chandeliers after sipping cocktails at Harry's Bar and we know we can't buy a great coffee and bagel at the bottom of the high street......but hey, watching it all on the big screen is the next best thing!

ps..We took Albert's sutures out of his leg tonight! typically he lay there boxing our hands playfully when they were removed...

Shame

One of those soldiers killed by an Afghan police officer on Tuesday was Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith a twenty four year old Welshman. So far 230 young men have lost their lives fighting in a war that the Government has to justify away by quoting yet another reason.....personally, I have lost track of just why they are there...all I do know that like Millions of Brits I support the soldiers till the end, I just cannot find anything in me to support the war.

Deluge

The weather has been truly horrendous today. Heavy driving drain has lashed the village for hours and the field has become a quagmire. You cannot judge the heaviness of the rain in the above photo, but suffice to say that usually you can see most of the 83 animals inhabiting the field from this angle and in the photo not even the ducks can be seen!
Every animal had found a small dry corner in which to shelter.
I was hoping to start digging pig manure into the allotment beds today, but of course that was impossible so I have made a chorizo pasta sauce for tea, an apple pie and have properly cleaned the cottage from top to bottom.
However the dogs still needed to be walked twice today and eggs still needed to be delivered, so I have been soaked at least half a dozen times before 3pm...my chest is still wheezy and tight following my cold two weeks ago and I have noticed that this bronchitis has been getting worse over that last year or so.....I have an awful worry that I may be actually allergic to feathers- which is a bit of a bummer for someone with 76 birds!,,,,or is it just a case of getting older?
Speaking of birds (when DON'T I?---I am such a sad poultry geek! ) One of the turkey poults, the smallest bronze, is looking a little "droopy" today. Turkey chicks can succumb to illness out of the blue, so I have treated all of the chicks with some spare antibiotic and will ask the vet's advice tomorrow when I call up to collect a stitch cutter....(Albert's sutures need removing!)

This is my phone.....as you can see I am not BIG into flashy gadgets (I take as good care of my phone as I take pride in my appearance!) The back is kept in place by some brown tape and you can make out William's teeth marks all over the keyboard.....I was in the post office this morning and was texting a good luck message to Nu for a job interview, when I caught sight of a farmer eyeing up the wreck of the phone with a mild expression of surprise.....I look like such a dork sometimes!!
tee hee

Fish Tank

Coming of age movies are by definition angst journeys into the eternal themes of first love, life's disappointments and family dysfunction. Fish Tank (2009) covers all of these, but does so from the perspective of Mia, a 15 year old, hard as nails , R & B loving Essex girl, with an abusive child of a mother and a foul mouthed wisecracking younger sister. The three of them survive their loveless estate by bouts of heavy drinking, and for Mia, dreams of being a hip hop dancer.
With the sudden arrival of her Mother's charming Irish boyfriend Connor (the excellent Michael Fassbender) who shows kindness to the waring trio, Mia is transformed, that is, until Conner shows his real colours and disaster ensues.
A non professional 17 year old Dagenham girl, Katie Jarvis, literally explodes onto the screen as the sullen and angry, Mia, and she more than holds her own in every scene of this two hour film. It was incredibly brave for director Andrea Arnold to cast this unknown girl who she spotted arguing with her boyfriend on Tilbury station as the lead in this complex movie.
Not an easy film to watch, and not a joyful one, but I gave it 8/10
Nige,you would love it

Early Warning and Early Doors

Chris had just left for work early this morning in the "pre dawn" when Hughie started his "machine gun" warning call from his advantage post in the tall tree on the edge of the Churchyard. He was incredibly loud and insistent, so I donned my wellies and galloped heavily over to the field, where I was just in time to see the ghostly figure of a fox darting away from the turkey hut. All of the reinforced coops and houses were intact, but clear scratch marks could be seen on the nailed down turkey house door. (above)
Boris' sudden change from sweetie to defensive stag can be explained now, the fox has obviously been around for a while and his presence has sparked off the turkey's testosterone!
Thank God for Hughie......his ability to warn not only me but the whole of the field population (and dare I say most of the village) has carved him a lauded position in the poultry hierarchy. I think I will keep all six of the baby guinea fowl ....with seven "pairs of eyes" watching out for predators, the poultry will, I am sure be a great deal safer

Anyhow I caught the final re run episode of a slow burn of a comedy series last night, and I must say it has been one of the best things I have seen on television in a long long time.
"Early Doors" is a sitcom in the best English tradition of Northern Working Class humour. It is an ensemble piece, where 15 or so characters that frequent the early evening openings of a run down local pub in or around Manchester worry about (and I am quoting Wikipedia here) the daily issues of "love, loneliness, and blocked urinals"
Early doors works so well because it is so gently observational (but never cruel to) its target characters. As in the more popular but not superior The Royale Family, the working class is shown "warts and all" but also with a great deal of affection! For example we haveWinnie the pub cleaner (Joan Kempson) who

has a son in prison and husband out of work yet still retains a wily sense of humour.

Debbie -(Lisa Millett) , often leaves the kids in the car while she goes in for half a cider (but does get them some coke and Crisps) she cheats on her domineering husband (She says: "If it wasn't for here, work and putting the bin out, I'd never get out the house!")

John Henshaw underplays the sad but always battling landlord Ken wonderfully and holds the whole thing together with his gentle downbeat delivery.....

if you get a chance watch this little gem....its great

Off to see the film Fish Tank (2009) later