Open Wide

I've done a full day shift today , most of it supporting 

strange nurses on a ward I have never worked on before

Staff shortages eh?

Anyhow I treated the Prof and I to salt and pepper squid from the takaway on the way home

It was ok

But well worth buying as I now know a certain bulldog can get 6 large prawn crackers into her mouth at one time......

Winnie has been with us for two years now
Her talents are neverending

Winnie flipping Chris' underpants 2 years ago!

Pre Going Gently

I think I have always enjoyed writing, even though I am not all that good at it.
I was reminded of the fact by a chance meeting on facebook the other day.
As a late teen, I was part of the citizen Band radio craze that swept the country. My austin 1300 had a whip aerial, furry seats and a superstar 120 which could pick up conversations as far as Holywell
In a matter of days I suddenly had a large group of friends, picked up from the 1980 CB geeks of North Wales.
Black Sheep, Sweetie Pie, Green Giant, Bogey Man, Silver Fox, Psycho and Cherry Blossom, everyone had their own name or " handle" and I had, what I thought was a cracker, for I called myself " Pockets" .
I loved the camaraderie of it all. Most nights we would all meet up. We went ice skating, enjoyed pub quizes, enjoyed " eyeballs" ( meet ups with fellow radio fans) and hung out at Black Sheep and Sweetie Pie' s house , using it as a hostel, youth club.
I lost contact with most of the CBers in the summer of 1983 when I left to go nursing

Where is this amble down memory lane taking us, I hear you yell.... Well I shall tell you.
Sweetie Pie and Blacksheep had a baby called Kellie and as a gift I wrote her a book about the friends that met up on those rather naive days of the early 1980s.
It was a lumpy precursor to Going Gently
A few days ago, on facebook, Kellie sent me a message completely out of the blue..... It was this photo

The last page of the book I had written for her, some 32 years previously . She had kept it all of that time........
I was very flattered.

In Praise Of William

When the despot's Girls were around the other day, and when all went suddenly silent, I walked into the living room, with a tea towel in hand , to be greeted by this scene.

It brought a lump to my throat.

An old dog sat between two children , all of them watching tv.

William is a dear soul. He has a gentleness about him which can be incredibly touching. 

Whereas Winnie steals the limelight with her blustering extrovert ways, William will often just sit and watch. He will not allow a stranger to pet him but will be the first to greet a visitor. 

He will never snatch a tasty morsel from an outstretched hand and he will allow himself to be back combed by two chattering schoolgirls, with patient alacrity. 

When Mary, the disabled rabbit arrived , William would sit outside her hutch for hours with his nose resting on the door, so fascinated he was with her and I remember when Joan, our first old cat was dying, it was William who lay with her on our bed, his paw outstretched towards  hers.

A gentle dog is a joy, and it breaks my heart just a little when I remember that he is now an old man with white in his beard and a mellowness in his eyes

Walking Dead Season 6

Who do you like?

Who do you hate?

L 

Two Words

By uttering just two words Pope Francis has proved himself to be a coward and has made a hero out of a stupid small minded woman
It has been reported that during his " secret" meeting with Kim Davis ( the Kentucky Official that refused to officiate at Gay weddings) he hugged and whispered to her  to " Stay Strong" .and by doing so, he has undone much of his perceived good works since his inauguration in 2013.

I am not angry, just deflated

Bake Off ( 2nd Time Today)

The lovely Nadiya, Sweet Flora, sexy,  Tamal (gay!) and Ian 

I watched a recorded semi final of Bake Off late tonight............AGAIN...the bake off IS my favourite programme ( well second to my Zombie lurve fest) basically because its the story of rather sweet people who have real talent.......( I know I say this every year)
The final next week! OMG Nadiya, Ian and Tamal!
How can you pick from  Nadiya and Tamal?

Tarts Trelawnyd Style

All ready for the baking...( I've only just noticed my pants on the radiator )

This afternoon I am picking the affable despots' girls up from school.
We have a couple of hours to fill before dad picks them up, so I have been mulling over what we can do to fill in the time.
What do you do with girls of 5 and 8?
When I was a child, fun was had in the kitchen.
We didn't cook or play with pastry or batter. Ingredients were there to be cooked properly.
But we ( remember I had -and still do- a twin sister) were always entertained by a grandmother who baked and cooked with all of the ease of a professional chef.
Victoria sponges, pies, plain old fashioned cooking, all were completed alongside stories and chatter, and , even though we didnt that often , get our hands dirty, by a process of osmosis , home cooking was always joyful and entertaining.
This afternoon , the girls and I shall be baking jam tarts. They will make the pastry, they will dollop in the jam.......my job? is to referee the mess and make sure the girls are kept busy
Last time, I left them to their own devices and they back combed William's fur so much that he looked like Tina Turner in 1980

( i'll post some baking photos later) hey ho

William wasn't Happy

Postscript

Finally Eve, Liv and William watched tv

Oiling The Cogs

Well after yesterday's marathon, I think we will go back to some normality.
It's true to,say that I have been suffering from a severe bout of post Australia blues.
The weather, the good humour, the change of scene , old friends, snogging on the beach, the colourful wildlife and the Opera house bar....everything at home seemed rather dull when we returned .
Yesterday the sweet nature of fate, of kismet of whatever conspired to lift the mood and I am very grateful for it......
Here how things went.

• Being in Australia, I missed the local hedge trimmers at their work. Usually I catch one and bunging him a twenty quid note, the hedge on the field would be trimmed and neat and tidy. This year I was late and I have been worried that I have missed the boat so to speak. On the way back home yesterday I spied Ralph the gentleman farmer. He waved a cheerful hand and shouted from his car that another farmer Basil, had informed him that my field needed a haircut  and it was all in hand. 

• Out dog walking down Bron Haul, we were stopped by the familiar bellow of " HELLO FLOWER!" Gay Gordon came limping out of Big Mary's bungalow carrying what looked like a large brick wrapped up in tin foil. " Here you go !" He called out giving me the package..." IT's A CHRISTMAS CAKE ! I'VE JUST MADE 6!" It was so large, I could hardly carry it home

• A little later, I was busy bleaching the toilet when I heard  a tap-tap-tap on the kitchen window. It was Mike who lives down the lane. He was having a sort out and had brought us a collection of gardening books he thought we may like and use. 

• Next door neighbour "Sailor John " made sure that a hose connector was replaced on his outside tap. Now I am able to connect the field hose to his water in order to fill the lurid purple paddling pool for the geese. I use their water daily without any charge !

Filling the field water butts

• Oh and I need to thank village Elder, Islwyn  for locking up the birds on Saturday night....it freed the Prof and I so we could pop over to Osborn House in Llandudno for a a nice, post Australia meal and bottle of wine...

Little kindnesses like these oil the cogs of banality .....they lift the mood and make ordinary life just a little bit better.

As does the quiet friendship of an old bulldog bitch when watching crap tv