Gustav Holst - The Planets Op.32 Jupiter

See previous blog!...wonderful

Parents

Another day, another wet and blustery fight with the elements. The weather is not as bad as in the South, where 100 mile an hour winds have been recorded around the Isle of Wight, but still it is a day to be outside as short a time as possible.
Chris has taken his Dad to Llandudno for the afternoon leaving me to prepare supper (a huge dish of corned beef hash and the obligatory apple pie (I scrumped the apples from Trevor up the lane) I walked the dogs up a very muddy Gop (above) to the strains of Gustav Holst's "Jupiter".....which always has the ability to make me cry! (especially around 3 mins in!)
Anyhow, I got to thinking about parents on today's walk, namely my own!....Chris has both his parents living, albeit way down in South Eastern Britain and he is lucky enough to have a good relationship with both of them. They will always phone each other almost daily for a chat, will organise visits at least twice yearly and will catch up for shopping and theatre visits in London....not perhaps quite like the relationship I had with my parents........who were much older and perhaps more staid in their habits and relationships....
As Holst blasted out his "bringer of Jollity"...I had a sudden bolt of realization!......that, at the age of 47, I am, in fact, an orphan!......
Hey ho!
When I got home the turkey poults had broken out of their cage and were mischievously winding up the guinea fowl chicks by clambering over their cage. I topped up their water and feed and left the whole bunch to it.....I needed to get on with making supper!
.

Bugger!

When I got home this morning after night shift, I was saddened to find out that the little dark grey poult had died overnight. I have been lucky I know, as out of the scores of chicks, ducklings and now the poults I have hatched in the incubator, I have only lost one hen chick! so I must remind myself not to be too downhearted
The remaining turkeys are bright and healthy, though and, after Chris and his dad popped to Bangor to see Chris' work place, I made sure I cleaned out the shed checking each turkey chick in turn for any signs of illness. All are robust and and bright eyed!
As I was sorting the shed out, the guinea fowl babies, started their usual hysterical banter ( they are much more highly strung than the 6 runners)....after two minutes I felt like a scruffy Tippi Hendren out of The Birds as I battered away airborne feathery bodies as all six chicks bounced off walls ceilings and floor ..... the noise was deafening! and in response to their distress calls, I was surprised to see a somewhat testosterone filled Hughie sitting on the shed roof calling somewhat tentatively to the babies.
The weather is grey and depressing today and as usual after nights I am on catch up.
As in most Welsh villages, Trelawnyd never looks at its best in wet weather. Below is one of the two existing Chapels still in use......The Friday afternoon showers doesn't quite do it justice..it is a day to sit infront of the fire...fat bloody chance

Thought for the day

"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Richard and Nu

My Father-in-law arrives later today for a visit. Unfortunately I am working nights tonight so won't catch up with him until tomorrow morning,.....after his sterling work looking after the animals when we were in San Fransisco, I will endeavour to make Richard's stay as animal free as possible....it will be nice to see him again.
I have also booked my train journey to London, so I can catch up with Nuala before Christmas...I was reminded of her the other day when I read this anonymous quote on another blog...

"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say."
I can't wait to see her

L'ennemi public n°1 (2008)

The French thriller that we went to see was in fact the second of the two "Mesrine" movies entitled L'ennemi public n°1 (2008). This biopic covered the latter day life (and death) of the charismatic French gangster Jacques Mesrine (played with va va voom by a sexy and dangerous Vincent Cassel)....and I enjoyed two thirds of it!
The first third of the film concentrated on Mesrine's rise to infamy when he stole (in true Robin Hood style) from the major banks, then with typical Gallic swagger, we see his verbal banter with the authorities after his capture and subsequent escape from prison.
All this is breathtakingly exciting and it was a shame that before the terribly tense final scenes the film lost its way with an overlong and meandering centre section
Worth seeing for Cassel's superb acting though
7/10

Power of the pen

This morning we received an official acknowledgement from Assembly Member Sandy Mewies and MP David Hanson of our signatures on a recent petition against the proposed planning for the erection of 10 affordable housing units outside of the village envelope.
The recent proposal for this housing project seems to have galvanised the village into action, especially as the Community Council has very publicly let the village down somewhat by not passing on the villagers concerns and objections voiced from a very lively public meeting.

Initially, the lefty in me, supported the idea of affordable housing for needy local people; God knows rural house prices especially in the more scenic villages, are so out of the range of first time buyers, it is not too hard to imagine that in 50 years time, many communities have been priced out of existence. However, the deeper I looked into this initiative, the more I have been left with a rather bad taste in my mouth.

The omission by the community council to pass on the local people's concerns was worrying enough, even though the actual power of the council is accepted to be low; but it is the mistakes made by other local villages such as Lixum, that underlines that this sort of affordable housing initiative is not perhaps as "altruistic" or as well thought through as it was initially presented.

Apparently there were local authority assurances that there was an overwhelming need for local people to take on affordable properties in Lixum; and sadly that just did not happen.
Families with their own problems and agendas were "bused" into the village community from "all over" and the resulting conflict seems to have caused innumerable and potentially long standing problems.

The council cannot ensure that local people may utilize these houses and the definitions of the word "local" on the county council website remains interestingly vague.....there seems to be much manoeuvring behind the scenes to get this project off the ground, and luckily, only recently has the village population found out what is afoot!

I hope the petition will stave off the planning. Personally I feel that the village does not have the facilities and amenities to sustain more homes, and the worry of a more antisocial element entering the village from outside is, in my experience perfectly justifiable, especially as there is a consensus that 10 houses would be only the tip of the iceberg!

I, as well as a score of others, will be watching all aspects of this proposal in the future and the whole affair has sparked interest in making sure that other local "projects" do not slip under the villagers' radar from now on

Off to the cinema later to see the French thriller L'instinct de mort (2008) "mini" review later

Pig Sex, Catching up with Scarpetta and Turkey baby updates

Nora escaped again this afternoon. The torrential rain has turned the pig enclosure into a mud filled swamp, and no doubt encouraged by the sight of a full poultry feed hopper in the chicken enclosure, she literally slid under her fencing as the liquid mud shifted!
Now Nora is still in season, which means when she is "pushed" or "prodded", especially from behind (ahem!!!) her brain tells her that she is having sex, so she enters a kind of stupor, a typical event in mature sows!
When the stupor occurs, Nora will stand stock still, with little piggy eyes all glazed over with some sort of piggy expectation!, and there is nothing anyone can do to shift her not for up to half an hour or so!...so, foolishly when I caught her with her snout deep in the chicken food I slapped her hard on the rump!
She immediately raised her head in mild surprise then reacted to the bottom whack by entering her sex state! and I was left with a very still, very heavy and very useless pig.
It was getting dark, and in her state I couldn't move her at all, not even a millimetre,so out of devilment I took both of our photos,as I waited for her to come "round!"----well I found it funny
I could have done without any chores today, let alone the drama of pig movement! I still have (hummm how shall I put this?)......erratic bowels, and a low grade temperature...so I suspect I may have the dreaded swine flu.....who knows.....all I really wanted to do was to curl up in front of the fire with the latest Patricia Cornwell

But of course I couldn't do that and spent over an hour instead lying in the cold shed encouraging one of the baby turkeys to eat! The little runt (you can just see him bowed and unhappy in the centre of the photo below) is lighter and thinner than the rest of the brood and despite antibiotics and tonics remains rather ill. He will peck at food however if I hold chick crumbs out in my hand (this is how I taught the chicks to eat soon after they were hatched) In this labour intensive kind of way, at least I got him to eat an adequate amount.

Home

It has been a horrid night shift.....thanks primarily to some destructive sniping from a certain member of staff to another......by 2am I was just about to soundly smack some bottoms, but by good fortune (?) I received a ventilated patient from theatre, so subsequently was hidden away in a busy corner for the remainder of the shift.
It was lovely to get home early this morning, where the first proper freezing fog and frost of the winter wiped away the constant alarming, bleeps and chimes of intensive care

This morning, as usual, Hughie stood sentry on Rogo's ark, waiting for the cockerel to be let out (below pic- you can just make him out beyond the red feeder!) His loyalty to another breed of bird constantly touches me, and strangely the "partnership" seems to be a mutual thing, as when Rogo bounced out followed by his small knot of hens, he galloped over to the guinea fowl, and immediately fell into step with him........

Lots of catch up jobs to do today, all the coops need clearing out and warm sawdust needs laying down.....I need to get some bales of straw for the pigs too.....they hate to be cold

Rememberence Sunday

The village War Memorial in the centre of the village,does sport a rather sad looking wreath of poppies today on this remembrance Sunday.
I have never really read the inscription on the Celtic cross, and what I did make out was a little indistinct, but it looked like 5 local men had lost their lives in the Great War.
The grey drab stone and design looks dreadfully depressing in today's damp dark day.

I am working nights tonight and have been suffering from what I deduce as a rogue prawn from Friday's stir fry!...what with my bronchitic cough, residual runny nose, painful knee joint and somersaulting bowels.....I remain a bit or a wreck!....Mind you at least I have read the whole of my Empire magazine when sat albeit intermittently, as it where on the throne!!!
Caught up with some phone calls as Chris cooked one of his famous "roasts", I had to titter to myself when I ambled an hour away with Nigel discussing of all things clothes sense!
"I couldn't be like you" (and I am paraphrasing Nige here) " you just get up and wear whatever you find on the floor!"
hey ho!

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

Leo

Chris ' nephew Leo is seven this month....This photo of him and Chris was taken recently in Broadstairs

Dressed To Kill (1980) trailer

I think this movie was one of Miss Dickenson's best movies..... a cracking "slasher" thriller!....it will going on my Christmas list.........

7 weeks to go

It has been a bit of a Christmas orientated kind of day.
At work the off duty has finally been released ( and I bet the sister responsible dropped it on the nurses station and fled the scene!)....of course I am working Christmas night shift! even though I requested to work New Year's eve night, but hey..that's the way the cookie has crumbled. Chris is livid..... but sees the situation rather to simplistically , ie by saying
"tell 'em you're not doing it"

As the manager who had to be responsible for the Christmas rotas, I know only too well the hoops you have to jump through to cover all of the shifts with the right skill mix.....and I used to dread the constant knocks on my office door as tearful staff queued up to ask for "necessary" changes because "Little Nellie needs me at home Christmas morning!!!".
Strangely enough, although I would have loved Christmas night off, I am resigned to completing the one off shift and won't complain about it. We will, I am sure, plan lots of nice things to do with my many other days off!
As if she knew my elder sister rang tonight inviting all the family to her house for Christmas dinner which will be lovely! This year above all others I think it is important , if not vital that we share some time over the Yuletide period
Christmas Eve I think I will accompany Chris to the service in Trelawnyd Church (full of Christmas sherry Egg Nog no doubt!) and Boxing day (after a small sleep) I do hope we will drive up to Denbigh to watch the Flint & Denbigh Hunt.

Christmas is always a happy time for us; the cottage with its fire and Homes and Country decorations (there is always a bit of a bun fight between me and my sisters, to see who will come up with the most classy decs!- ) lends itself so well to the season...
Mind you, I just wish that Chris' family were nearer to visit, so we can see EVERYONE at this time.

Chris is working late tonight, so I am sat feeling slightly Christmasy in front of a roaring fire. Albert is stretched out quite bizarrely on the hearth rug (above) but has now started to limp more of his poorly leg, obviously the steroid injection he had recieved into his arthritic knee is wearing off somewhat.

Monday Animal Update

With winter looming,the day is over almost as soon as it has begun.
Inside, the cottage is feeling somewhat like a very strange hospital ward; What with Albert and his deformed leg and William with his steroid induced frequency of micturition (forget a regular toileting and huge puddles suddenly appear on the kitchen floor!)
Last night Maddie had suffered from a fairly unfortunate stomach complaint,,, and had deposited a mound of waste the size of a human head on the landing carpet......suffice to say on my usual 3am journey to the loo (at 47 one needs to pee at least 6 hourly!!), I plonked a naked foot right into the centre of it!
Early mornings are not a good time for me, so I surprised myself with a tight lipped silence rather than a totally hysterical and more satisfying 10 minute swearing tirade of anti faecal abuse!
Oh the joys of animal care....
The summer chicks I have kept hold of are now all full grown and have just started to produce their first, tiny, delicate looking eggs. As I was feeding the flock this afternoon I realised that I had not named any of the new girls as yet.
Keeping with the usual cinematic theme the three hens above have been christened Halle (Berry),Michelle (Pfiffer), and Gina (Lollobrigida)...Bill (as in Kill Bill) is busy just behind them!

The last hen chick to survive this year's hatching is Blanche's single amber rock hybrid. She is a plucky little character and despite her size, she has so far survived unscathed with the usual bullying that can occur when adult hens meet youngsters for the first time.....I have called her Ripley
Meanwhile the hysterical guinea fowl chicks are magically looking less like normal chicks and are starting to resemble the bizarre looking adult birds........their heads seem to be shrinking , while beaks and bodies are growing .and at times they exhibit the shrill, machine gun type chatter of the fully grown birds.

The final update comes from the turkey pouts who are now just over 6 weeks old. Apologies for the poor photo but I think you get the sense of how these graceful little birds have developed from baby fluff balls to little versions of your Christmas dinner.

The five poults will be braking the elements hopefully by the end of next week...all I need now is another poultry house!