Lullaby

Cro posted this Welsh lullaby on his blog today. You might of heard it before, especially if you are a fan of Steven Spielberg who used it to wonderful effect in his movie Empire Of The Sun. 
It's called Suo Gân 
Which literally means " lullaby" in Welsh.

I've always loved it's final verse , which can be translated several ways.
This version is my favourite.

" Leaves are knocking,
Gently knocking at our door.
Have no fear now, waves are beating,
Gently beating on the shore.
Sleep my darling, non shall harm you,
Nor alarm you, never
And beguiling those on high"

We are having a quiet afternoon by the fire. William and Mary have returned from the kennels ( Mary with three unexpected large bald spots on her rump) and as most dogs do after barking their tits off for five days they are now sleeping the deep relaxed sleep of being securely home.
Winnie is passing almost silent farts on the hearthrug, George and Albert are curled up in respective arm chairs and the Prof is cooking a ham in the kitchen.

I may just play Suo Gan again......it's the perfect choice for a cold Welsh Evening.......

" I've Found Another One Dead"

When my mother was hospilized. ( The admission before her death) she rather gleefully told me the story when she overheard one of the ward nurses share with her colleagues in the middle of the night the stage whisper of " I've just found another one dead" 
My mother was amused more by the fact that the nurses burst into conspiratorial giggles after the event rather than the fact that one of her fellow patients had died.
My mother and I shared the same sense of humour.

I see that another celebrity has bitten the dust over the Christmas period. Poor Carrie Fisher's force wasn't with her,even though she was lucky enough to have a cardiac arrest in first class where the stewards were all well versed in CPR.
The lists of the dead are all of comparable age to me which is a bit worrying....but I guess the baby boomers are all being thinned out as Darwin Nature intended. Drugs, alcohol and dirty living finally takes it's toll......ask George Michael's housekeeper if you don't believe me, I bet she's seen things that would make your eyeballs pop from your sockets!

And so we leave Broadstairs for the journey home in a few minutes. The home-cared for Dogs need collecting tonight.
The kennel based dogs tomorrow.

The Family Prof and other eyebrows

The Family " Prof" 

I've had enough now.
Home tomorrow...
It's all been very nice indeed and the sight of watching Sorrel with a dentist's speculum in her mouth playing " speak up" ( I'm banned from showing you the photograps but if you email me, I'll give you a sneak peak) was well worth the coast of the rail journey alone.
I shall leave you with some photographs of The Prof's auntie's Christmas village....and finally Sorrel and I at the dinner table
It will be the last time I mention the fucking season until December 2017.

,

Ps my nephew Leo now has his own film review blog

At

http://montyfilmreviews.blogspot.co.uk

The Day After

Our Christmas Lunch was somewhat French in nature.
Seafood starters, a " digestive" champagne sorbet between courses and a turkey lunch with gravy to die for.
I ended the day watching a shit monster movie with my nephew.
It's interesting joining in with another family's Christmas traditions for everyone has their own particular way of doing things. 
I didn't get up until ten this morning, which is unheard of. I'm enjoying the blow up mattress and I am sure I look a little like the Queen Mary negotiating a rather turpid mid Atlantic swell when rolling over to get comfortable.
I'm curbing the impulse of throwing myself Scarlett O'Hara-esque onto myside when the Prof is reclining on the other!
Later today, after a walk, we shall be eating bubble and squeak with cold meat and tomorrow after a trip to the Turner Museum in Margate we shall be having tea" at the Prof's Uncle and Aunt's home. They have an impressive winter wonderland village set out in their front room.
It's the size of Trelawnyd apparently! 

Happy Christmas

A Photo sent to me early this am

There is always one child that breaks her toy as soon as opening it! 

Have a nice day 

" Gawd Bless Us ...one and all" 

Christmas Eve

Bloody Hell it's Christmas Eve!
I'm sitting in my mother in law's conservatory sipping strong coffee.
I'm also wearing my Walking Dead Christmas Jumper bought for me by my sister!
A thoughtful gift I thought!
We start the slog of family visits later today, which I prepared for nicely by sleeping 10 hours on a blow up matress on the floor of the dining room. I tell you this to add a little colour into the proceedings for getting up seems to be somewhat of an interesting spectacle for me as I have to roll onto the floor like a hippo sliding off a mud bank!
Have a relaxed, peaceful and good natured day, you' all!
Hey ho! Ho! Ho! 

Christmas Greetings

Bootham Park Hospital york

I received a Christmas email today.
It's EXACTLY what I wanted to hear in a Christmas greeting.
It was from an old friend from my York days
She told me ,
That 30 years ago we shared a Christmas day
Which featured 2 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of cheap champagne, 1 large chicken, shop bought roast potatoes, a mentally unstable friend who showed up and flashed us both her rather untidy fanny after drinking most of a bottle of brandy and a Christmas pudding which was dropped onto the floor, scraped up and eaten with forks as we had run out of spoons!

I bought her a hardback version of To Kill A Mockingbird  and she bought me a leather bound diary and an ink pen to die for.......and last night after an email flurry, we have organised to meet up in Chester 26 years after we last met!
Happy Christmas .......that's what The Yuletide is all about..........touching base!

Shame

Winnie has gone to her babysitters for five days,
She's been there before so sauntered into the house like Mae West at a cocktail party!
I got this facebook comment about her on facebook later

• 

  19:34

  Greta Hartley-johnston

  She's been bathed (well showered) is settling in nicely. Steve has been feeding her biscuits !!!! Spolit x
• 

  21:26

  John Gray

  Omg was she smelly?

  
  

  
  

  
  

  There was then silence! Oh the shame

Busy

Gift to animal helper ..........tick

Hamper to Greta for babysitting Winnie .........tick

Hanper to sister for babysitting George.........tick

Gift to auntie Judy and Auntie Glad.......tick

Last minute gfts for great nephew .....tick

Deliver Late Christmas Cards .......tick

Off out to get the Prof's sticking fillers

Hey ho

A Review of Rogue One by Our Nephew Leo Burton aged 14

Our nephew has just sent me a review to share......enjoy!

" Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars story by Leo Burton

I decided to watch this movie because I love Star Wars films, and it stars Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin who I love as characters and, last but not least, because of the amazing trailers . I did a review of  Rogue One  because a lot of people would want to see the film. 

Rogue One is an individual film although it is  the long awaited story in between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and  Episode IV: A New Hope. 

The main actors and actresses in Rogue One are Felicity Jones ( Jyn Erso ), Diego Luna (Captain Cassian Andor), Ben Mendelsohn ( Director Orson Krenic ) and Alan Tudyk (K2-SO ). 

The storyline of Rogue One is that the rebels are stealing the secret plans for the empire's secret weapon called the death star, that Jyn Erso’s father ,called Galen Erso ,helped build. 

One of the best things in the film was the plot because they kept to the storyline very well, and the acting because all of the characters were acted very well, and I don't think they could have changed anything about the acting. 

On the other hand  this film had too much killing and violence and  I would have also liked to have seen more Vader in the film like we saw Grand Moff Tarkin. 

I would recommend this film to teenagers, adults, people who like action films and people who like Star Wars films because, without doubt, this film was my favorite film in the series. 

I would give this film 9.5/10 because I don’t think there was enough of the Vader touch, and there was too much killing and violence in the film for it to get a 10.  "

What Fresh Hell Is This?

Yesterday afternoon the foreman plumber called in by chance to see how his heating system has bedded down. He checked this and that and tweaked the other and also kissed Winnie on the forehead  as she stood straining with lips pursed,  on the armchair as he passed.
He was chatting about us having solar panels installed when Mrs Frazer knocked on the kitchen window waving a handful of Christmas cards, so asked if he could use the loo as I went to answer the door.
I forgot to warn him of Mary's obsession with the toilet bowl.

Now I am the one that has fostered this latest Welsh terrier bad habit , for because of her need to follow me everywhere, I have allowed her to accompany me into the loo when I go so she can indulge herself in a very happy 20 seconds post ablution, moment of watching the water ( and detritus) swirling down the bowl!

Mrs Frazer was hanging around in order to work out who my other visitor was when the plumber returned with Mary in tow.
I think she had literally caught him by surprise, for before he said his goodbyes , he whispered conspiratorially
" I've just peed on your dog's head" 

The Bishop's Wife

If you want an hour and a half of pure old fashioned Christmas Bliss

go to the BBC iPlayer, like I did when I was cooking supper.

There I found a classic 1940s propaganda movie

titled The Bishop's Wife, which I watched as I was mixing a tuna bake.

It's a lovely movie which has affable angel Cary Grant gate crashing the slightly sad home of overworked Bishop 

(David Niven) and his tired wife ( Loretta Young) in order to teach them what the important things in life are.

Of course all this is done over a Hollywood kind of Christmas, with 1940s studio snow,

Cute old duffers, singing choirboys, and miracles that warm the cockles of 

of the Scrooge-iest of viewers! 

Loved it

Growing Up

Did you experience one single moment in your life when you suddenly knew you had grown up?

It sounds an odd but, I think, interesting question, sparked by a recent moment at work when I tried to prepare a family for the potential loss of a loved one.
The family filled the interview room. Wife, two sets of children of various ages, sisters and brothers and a set of close friends.
I explained what procedures were about to happen. I answered questions that they had and made sure I was guarded and clear about expectations, the consultant had made a short time before.
One daughter, who was around fourteen suddenly understood the messages she was being given and after carefully paraphrasing what I had said calmly and with care, she gently reflected the seriousness of the situation to her mother who could not quite grasp the truth.
At that one moment the girl matured in the eyes of all in that room.

My moment was during my grandfather's funeral.
My grandmother was distraught and almost off her legs at the cemetery, so was supported by my mother and uncle at the graveside. and as the large gaggle of grandchildren crowed together behind I noticed my uncle's second wife, who was only a young woman herself, standing alone to one side. She was sobbing quietly.
I was a somewhat gauche eighteen year old, but I walked over and hugged her at the graveside and by doing so grew a little older .
Growing Up, is about empathy me thinks .

What was your growing Up moment? 

Darrrrling

My mother in 1980

Did you know that my mother had something in common with Zsa Zsa Gabor?
Well she did.
She was not,  however, a bleach blonde, trophy wife who married nine times .
Nor was she the sweetheart of the tv chat show, even though I am sure she would have provided Parkinson a run for his money.
My mother never flashed cleavage, drank champagne or claimed alimony like a greedy old tart but in later life she did indeed drink gin and  call everyone " darrrling" 

Crying " Darrrrrling" was easier than remembering names.
'

A Warning

It's my last shift at the hospital tonight until New Year's Eve!
I'm taking my secret santa gift in, and there is a story about it.
Historically I always tend to get shit gifts! Not always but generally it's true, and a couple of years ago I got a bit of a  naff gift in the shape of some plastic antlers.
Now even the patient who I opened the gift up in front of said it was a shite gift, so I was not adverse in blogging of my disappointment!
That was a big mistake!
The nurse that bought me the aforementioned antlers must of read my somewhat caustic blog entry and although nothing was said, she obviously was not happy with my ingratitude and I was subjected to a rather frosty reception for several  months!
This year, it being my last Christmas on ITU I thought I would set things straight and managed to obtain the " antler" nurse from the secret santa stocking.
I'm not saying what I bought, but it is tasteful and expensive and classy.
An apology for bad mouthing some plastic antlers which I subsequently tied to the front of a farmer's landrover!
Hey ho

A Rare Shot

Earlier, while I was watching Danny Mac fail to win strictly Come Dancing
I snapped this photo of the Prof and Winnie TOGETHER for the  second time in a month
I blame the strong gin/vermouth martini

.

She'll have to stop drinking

Deer oh dear

Affable Despot Jason has been making deconstructed reindeer all morning. It's his daughter Liv's birthday today and the children at her party will be making one each as part of the party game.
He delivered one to us yesterday which had pride of place in the living room, at least when we get sick of it we can burn it!
I've just dropped Liv's birthday card round, they've had to leave their house front door open because of the glue fumes!
I saw policewoman Jo out walking her dog soon after. She was on the way to ours with a christmas card and wanted to know if I was still wearing my pyjamas under my trousers like I was when she saw me this morning.
I assured her that I was wearing proper underwear like a normal man!!
( but I had to think twice)

Fantastic Beasts

I'm not a fan of Harry Potter, indeed I have never read any of J k Rowling's work, so I was, I'm afraid at a bit of a disadvantage when we went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them .
Having said this I more or lest got the gist

Redmayne and Fogler

In 1920 New York EnglishWizard Newt ( Eddie Redmayne)  accidently frees some mythical creatures he has been entrusted to care for. The American wizards arn't happy, nor are the anti witch loving humans so Newt , his friends- a wannabe baker ( Dan Fogler) and American wizard investigator Tina ( Katherine Waterston) are left to save the day.

Waterston

It's not my cup of tea, but I must admit Fogler and Waterston are incredibly cute in their roles (with Waterston looking incredibly like Audrey Tautou aka Amelie), the mythical Beasts suitably mythical and an art deco New York wonderfully art deco.
7.5/10

Chrimbo Greetings

Here is my Christmas Card to you all in blogland. I think it lies just on the right side of good taste.
This morning, in this virtual world, it comes plopping onto your computer mat with my best wishes and thanks and I hope we can forget the bad things in life, just for a week or so, to enjoy a bit of frivolity with baubles.
So on behalf of an over worked Prof, a sexually demanding bulldog, a couple of old terriers,Mary the puppy and Albert the wide eyed cat, I send you commentators, followers and lurkers...all the best of wishes.
I'll also take the opportunity to send a virtual card to the cast of characters who lurk here in Trelawnyd. So to Mrs Trellis, Auntie Glad, Gay Gordon and Big Mary, Pat the animal helper, Jason the affable despot, Gaynor the mad organist ,Mrs Frazer et al , I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

Supportive Post

A friend of mine is having big problems in work, so I am sending them all my positive vibes this evening.....

I told them that they should be a bulldog
For after the switch on of the fairy lights in the cottage window
Winnie has spent most of the evening watching them twinkle through sleepy half lidded eyes

The Prof came home early tonight, I was expecting him back after nine. He was tired as it was Graduation day at the University. He ate the leftover turkey lasagne, 5 homemade mince pies and fell asleep. Thanks to animal helper Pat, who gave me the mincemeat....we've missed her in the village..she's been cruising around Barbados for the past few weeks

Who said Trelawnyd is parochial

Shit I've just lost 5 followers!