The Pond

 It was rather fine at lunchtime so helping to weed the pond wasn’t arduous or unpleasant 

There was something rather nice working away alongside old friends and the space looked lovely when we had finished 

Village leader Ian even saw a frog and As Nick brought the coffee , Bridget sorted out her “own” bara brith

I was so sore after the exertion …..shows my age lol 

A Thong For Europe, Pond, News and Flis

 

I am lucky, living in Wales near the border as it’s only 29 minutes ! by car to Chester and only an hour or so from Liverpool. 

Last night I bought tickets for A Thong For Europe at The Royal Court , now I knew what I was getting into ( the title somewhat gives away a degree of dumbing down) and I was right.

Think of a Liverpudlian pantomime on steroids set against the backdrop of the City’s venture into Eurovision stardom and you may get the gist. 

Writer Jonathon Harvey loves his grotesque, matriarchal characters and Lulu ( Lindi Germain) is not a stones throw from Linda Ha Hughes ( His Kathy Burke Character in Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie) she opens the show with a bang, when she gives a hilarious and foul mouthed eulogy for his mother in church , a mother who loved Eurovision and whose ghost will haunt her is she cannot scatter her ashes on the Eurovision stage.

I think you are aware of the the level the musical is heading for from its opening moments and despite its silliness , the foul mouthed, Liverpudlian humour hits you between the eyes from the get go and it is what it is. An affectionate look at Eurovision from the eyes of a dysfunctional family of stereotypes.

Harvey throws everything at it , with a selection of iconic Eurovision entries to get the crowd clapping, a bizarre and rather amusing appearance  of a Sonia lookalike ( Sonia is a one trick UK Eurovision entry from Liverpool in 1993) and more scouse humour than could be seen at a Ken Dodd convention .

The mostly female audience , several of them almost collapsing drunk, were out for a good time , and boy did they have it, ( a fact that reminded me of my recent post of bad behaviour in theatres) 

But the whole musical was frothy, happy rubbish , so nobody cared too much .

I was home just before midnight, which wasn’t bad timing, even on the occasional school night. Liverpool has a good selection of theatres  too, which perhaps I’ve underused over the years. …time for a change me thinks.

Anyway I’ve had a nice, busy and enjoyable week off so far. 

I’m about to go and join a few more volunteers and will weed the pond borders shortly.

That will be about it for today.

And I will post some photos shortly.

I also note that blog commentator Flis has been absent for a while. I understand that one troll has taken a dislike of her comments and often says so, which is rude, nasty  and bullying behaviour. Flis has gone quiet and I want her to know that she is always welcomed here. 

End of.

Now I’ll end today on a light note. And a happy one.

Facebook has a memory app thing that shows you posts from years ago.

These photos were sent to me the other day .

They are from a sunny afternoon when I babysat the Randa girls one day and I decided to show them how to blow and decorate goose eggs

We had such a happy time messing about with those eggs on the lawn.

A precious memory now the girls are grown up now.

Little Women indeed.

Spring Cleaned

The front room has been spring cleaned and Chic Eleanor , the queen of style 

Gave me a massive compliment when we were out for coffee this afternoon

She told me I had a talent for the attention to detail 

Coming from her, that’s praise indeed

Local News Strong Women

 As I am one of the TCA trustees I was asked by the secretary of the village Friendship Group if I would write them a letter of support for their forthcoming applications for community grants. 

I jumped to attention and completed the letter as quickly as I could  as it was requested by respected  village elder. Now The Secretary has always frightened me just a little. She is an assertive soul, a lady who has been big in the village church for years and I suspect a lot has been achieved because of her professional and cool approach to problems and needs. 

In a war She  would have been a bloody godsend .

I love the Friendship Group,  to me they have always thought laterally and for a group for older people , they still have a membership of over 65 people which I think is fantastic. 

Only a few years ago , they had a belly dancer show on one of their meetings in the hall , which I remember well as I listened to the belly dancing music from outside as I took the dogs for a walk and wondered just what the fuck was going on inside…..the applause and cheering was deafening lol .

Just to add to some local colour Irene Murray who has helped run the Friendship Group for 40 years , helped me run the Flower Show for years ( and with Sylvia Evans before me ) and my headstrong and sorted soay ewe was named after her with good reason 

Irene 

And Irene. 

Yesterday I dropped in some flowers to another neighbour who I have just heard has been rather unwell. Flowers are not a panacea to all ills but they are pretty and they underline your best wishes well .I’m a firm believer in flowers as gifts, they say more than words often can . 

The sponsorship of the memorial Hall windows , continues to be a success , one lady rang me yesterday to see if I could change which window she was allocated in memory of her parents and of course I said yes. 

She asked me to allocate her a window which overlooked her mother’s former house because It meant so much to her. These things do so much don’t they ? 

Today I’m spring cleaning the living room and as a treat afterwards I’m meeting up with another of Trelawnyd’s women Chic Eleanor for coffee. 

The front room rug has already been washed and is drying in the sun on the front lawn

I’ve not heard the calves this morning as yet, which is strange as the living room windows are open wide and a cool breeze is flowing through the cottage like an avalanche 

Swimming the Channel

 Bluebell broke down again today which was more my fault than hers. The same easily mended issue with the gear stick which I promised myself I’d sort two months ago. The RAC man should have bollocked me but he didn’t and I was on my way within an hour.

I’d broken down next to the pond in the next village, So the hour turned to be incredibly relaxing.

I rearranged the inside of the car, moved lunch with my friend to Friday and arranged a visit to see old Trefor at his nursing home in Rhyl later today. 

I found some general purpose wipes and washed my face and in a fit of self care rooted into the glove box and found a container of face moisturiser accidentally left in the car by work colleague. 

Without really thinking I took a huge scoop and lathered my face as though I was about to swim the channel then looked up through the windscreen. 

What was I thinking?

Walking towards me, not ten yards away from Bluebell were three hikers.

I rubbed my face and the bloody stuff didn’t disappear as I expected it to, so when the hikers came to pass me they saw this face looking back at them 

I shouldn’t be let out I really !

This afternoon I fared better. I bought a selection of newspapers and visited Trefor at his residential home. He looked and sounded well and looked immaculate  at nearly 99 in a clean shirt and dressing gown 

My hoodie had great globs of moisturiser down the front of it 

Cries for mom

 

Opposite the cottage is the Church Field. 

It was gifted to the Church as an overspill of the graveyard, but as the Church is closed and the county no longer extends graveyards, I am sure at some stage the land will be sold.

Presently an old school friend has ponies grazing there. 

Beyond the field are the livery stable fields. 

The stables are grazing a gaggle of young cows at the moment, all of whom have recently left their mothers.

The noise of their calls for their mothers is almost chilling at times, especially in the middle of the night.

They started a few days ago, around 1 am in the morning. 

One caller bellowing in the dark followed by another and another.

Roger woke from downstairs and raced first to me and then to the window seat, scanning for where the noise was coming from. He was joined by Albert and before long we were all awake listening.

There is something incredibly sad when the young call for their mothers, especially at night when the cries are lost in the dark and the wind

They are still calling this morning.

Anyway today, I’ve decided will be a productive day. I’ve bought some printer ink and will be printing out the first of the TCA certificates to send out to the villagers who have sponsored windows in the hall. 

Each person will have a thank you letter, a certificate naming their sponsored love one and a map detailing which pane of glass is theirs. I have also purchased some large rigid enveloped so that the certificates aren't bent. 

The kitchen looks like a mini production line.

It’s college later tonight too, we are being filmed using our counselling skills ! 

Note to self , find a clean T shirt. And remember the camera puts on ten pounds.

It’s weigh day today and I’ve lost nothing more this week , which was to be expected as I’ve had dinner and tea out twice last week. I’m not disheartened at all, I will catch up next week.

The printer is clattering out certificates like a good un

And above the noise and activity in the kitchen,

I can still hear the bellows of the calves from beyond the pony field.

Explain

 Today’s mood stemmed from a text I received from my friend Faisal who left for South Africa this morning

It was polite as Faisal always is and the message thanked me for my “friendship” and “ guidance” and “patience”.

I’m not known for my patience, that comment surprised me. 

Faisal is gay, but apart from turning up at our gay book club a few months ago ,never  really admitted he was to my face, having said that  he spent much of our conversations talking about and asking questions of my gayness. Something I let him do because it was obvious  easier for him to do so. 

We only met four times

He has now left the uk for an asexual if not “straight” lifestyle in rural South Africa with his parents and siblings . 

He is expecting an “ organised “ marriage too at some stage, and. made a point of telling me that marriages were more organised than arranged in his family

I missed the difference. 

He’s in his forties, and his family have reeled him back home again 

And as I hugged him goodbye I kissed him on the cheek and felt incredibly , incredibly sad I didn’t have him here for longer

Still Life/ Busy Life?

A still life , if ever I saw one

I’m waiting in my second favourite cafe in colwyn bay waiting to meet a friend

They are running late, 

I’m drinking coffee listening to my phone songs, and have left the dogs exhausted on the reading chair after their morning walk

I’m on holiday this week, though I have a study session to go to at work this afternoon and it’s college tomorrow. ( I passed my second assignment btw which is nice)

In between I’m meeting an old school friend for lunch, there’s Gay book club too and a Liverpool trip to see the oddly named A Thong For Europe with Colin, a comedy play about Eurovision. 

I’m catching up with old Trevor too at his new nursing home, going to the TCA ‘s sub committee meeting, sending out the window certificates and going to see a Spanish horror film Pearl which has a very limited run over here.

I feel oddly melancholic today, which is irritating. 

But it is what it is 

If my mood was musical this is what it would be

I’ve ordered more coffee and I can just now see my friend ambling along towards the cafe without a care in the world.

Heyho