Lick My Feet!

I've been on my feet most of the day at work, and now getting the dogs to lick them better before bed!
I will leave you with my next Novelty veg photo entry! 
How good is this? 
Please keep em comming! 



Small World

Just about to go to the dog friendly pub in Conwy and will be working all day tomorrow so I shall share a quick story of " small worlds" with you.
As I was walking through the village a few minutes ago, I spied a middle aged woman walking with a younger girl. Both looked as though they were looking for something.
I asked if I could help.
It transpired that the woman' s grandmother had recently died and her dying wish was for her ashes to be scattered in the village where she had met her husband many many years ago.
" we talked about places where she wanted her ashes to go"  The woman explained. " on top of Gop hill was one place but she really wanted them to be scattered near to her old family home, a cottage called   Tan-y-Fynwent"
" That's the old name of our cottage! " I told her in surprise " It means Beneath the Graveyard" 
The woman was somewhat astonished to find someone who now lives in her ancestral home and was even more surprised when I told her she was welcome to scatter her grandmother's ashes on the field
" You will be watched by two old ewes and a few funny little cockerels but you are more than welcome" I said
She was pleased as punch.

A Social Experiment

Give your caption
Best wins a prize

First Entry

The first entry Carrot Miranda

The International Novelty Fruit/Vegetable Competition


Yesterday the schedules for the Flower Show arrived from the printers, I cannot believe another year has gone by so quickly.
This year we have elected for a gentle duck egg blue.
Now Going Gently readers have always been welcome in joining in with the Trelawnyd Flower Show and they can and indeed have entered many of the classes outlined in the schedule
But from last year they, AND THEY ALONE have their very own class and competition in which to enter and that is the Novelty vegetable ( and fruit) photo class! 



Now, for those that don't know ...all you have to do is to design you very own novelty vegetable or fruit creation. It could be an animal, or a monster, an inanimate design or anything from your imagination !
They can be as simple or as complicated as you like ! You photograph it and then send me the photo via email to me ( email jgsheffield@hotmail.com)




I will print the photo up and it will be hung in the memorial Hall on the day of the flower Show to be judged alongside others received by our head vegetable judge Mr Norman Butler.
The winner and runner up will be sent their own special certificates and rosettes!
We received over 80 photographs last year, so it would be lovely if we could have 100 this year!

A Big Heart

Dogwalking allows you to meet people.
Names and detailed information are generally never swapped but often you get to know details of pet names, dog ailments and the like.
Yesterday was a case in point.
The woman with her fashionably cropped hair is garrulous and friendly, she has a distinct Lancashire accent.
I've met her once before and I remembered that she had an elderly bull mastiff with a serious bulldog like expression.
I liked the way she described him as " dim but sweet"
This time she was alone.
Her boy had died a few weeks ago.
The woman knelt down to pet Winnie and as if by magic Winnie hauled herself up , with her massive paws on the woman's knees and placed her big head over the woman's shoulder in what can only be termed as a bearhug.
It was almost as though she knew the woman was grieving.
" oh I so need that" the woman said through tears
And she buried her head into Winnie's neck
I walked on a little letting the old bulldog do her work.
and felt incredibly proud of her big heart



The Salesman ( and Auntie Glad)


I can't remember ever watching an Iranian movie, so I was awfully glad to catch a showing of The Salesman at Theatre Clwyd yesterday.
It proved to be an excellent watch.
Rana (Shahab Hosseini) and Emad (Taraneh Alidoosti) are an intellectual and arty married couple living in Tehran. He is a teacher of literature and both are actors in a fringe theatre company which is staging rehursals of Death of a Salesman. 
Having to leave their apartment ( under threat of collapse during a frightening opening sequence) the couple take over the rent of an apartment formally frequented by a prostitute and their life together come to a dramatic and unexpected turn after Rana is assaulted by an unknown former associate of the former tenant.
Almost seamlessly, the drama slides from the interesting story of the domestic life of the Iranian middleclasses to a much darker story of revenge and lost trust  as Emad searches for the assailant amid unspoken worries that Rana perhaps knew more than she is admitting to.
During his investigations, things get seriously embroiled and confused with parallels made between Emad's stage persona of Willy Lomax and his thwarted, impotent feelings as Rana's husband and all this done with the subtle yet interesting insights into the Government censorship of literature and theatre and the general  attitude towards women in this world where an Iranian actress playing a goodtime girl in an Arthur Miller play has to wear a red hijab and floor length coat to signify her character!

Alidoosti is impressive as the husband who cannot quite deal with the emasculating nature of his wife's attack and Hosseini matches his performance as  the wife who is initially shamed by events but who is ultimately disgusted by her husband's need for vengeance
8/10
                                  ***********************************

Now I can share some news of Auntie Glad, who has been moved much nearer to home after " going walkabout" from her previous care home. The village jungle telegraph ( which according to Gladys' daughter is more effective than anything the CIA could ever find out) told me yesterday that the move was imminent and now Gladys is living in a home in Prestatyn, a town only a few minutes away!
Visiting her will be rather melancholy for me as the care home is the one my mother died at fifteen years ago.

When Did You Last Cry?


Yesterday I went to Theatre Clwyd to see the Iranian drama The Salesman which was a cracking movie and one I shall review later. Beforehand, however, I sat through the preview of the Lasse Hallstrom film  A Dog's Purpose and found myself tearing up.....At THE PREVIEW!!!!
The film doesnt look very sparkling, but I know that the sentimental romp where a sucession of dogs die and get reincarnated would literally have me in the funny farm.
I won't be going to see the movie!

I cry easily. The older I get, the less control I seem to have over my tear ducts. Surprise reunions on tv shows, animal hospital stories and even sad music can now set me off, so I cannot be that surprised to start blubing at a 3 minute preview! My father cried easily and often, perhaps it's in the genes!

When did you cry last?
I'd be interested to know

Altruism

The Prof is working away and left home at an ungodly hour this morning, I couldn't face driving so told him I would catch the boneshaker minibus to town midmorning in order to pick the car up from the station.
The £2.90 bus fare is worth the lie in.
As I was waiting for the bus, I spied a guy collecting litter from the village pavements, I presumed he was a council worker.
The man said hello as he passed and then I realised he wasn't a council worker but just a regular bloke collecting rubbish from a country village!
I snapped a photo of him, as he continued his presumed voluntary work on the grass verges.


I am a firm believer of true altruistic behaviour. I think it is something that should be encouraged by parents of children and by teachers with their students at school. It should be the expected norm and not the pleasantly surprising exception to it.
We all need to give something back to our communities. And that gift should hold no strings.

Many people think that they are altruistic, but often their kindnesses such as a charity donation, a text to comic relief or a couple of pounds given to Big Issue salesman are only a second lasting quick fix.
Altruism takes effort, time and energy.
Collecting rubbish from the side of the road for no thanks is true altruism.

Pompous Arsehole!


Twenty five or so American Mormon visitors filled the Churchyard this afternoon as the dogs and I walked back from the new cemetery beyond my field.
They all got off a coach parked up on the main road by the school.
I stopped to ask them if I could help them with any questions on the history of the village as many were looking for the graves of their ancestors with the name of " Parry"
I love feeling important!
One lady listened to me spouting forth on the history of the village to a group of bored looking fellow yanks and then asked politely if she could take a photo!
" if you like" I said thinking of a pose I could strike which would inform them I was " professional and dignified and which wouldn't show my double chin"
She smiled her thanks, clapped her hands in excitement and took what seemed like a hundred photos of each of the dogs!
That will teach me! 

The Pleasures Of Cheap White Bread



oh Lord, no posts over the weekend! That's not like me. We had a busy day on Saturday then I was working all day Sunday which was followed by a twilight shift at Samaritans . I didn't get home until 1.30 am, tired and somewhat jaded only to be faced with the body of a rabbit lying headless under the catflap.
I've counted just three adult rabbits on the field this morning. The only survivors of the myxomatosis  plague of last month.
Anyhow, I  caught neighbour Betty standing at the field gate when I returned home from dropping the Prof off for his train journey to Cardiff. She was waving two pieces of cheap white bread above her head like an elderly semaphore enthusiast.
This happens a great deal from time to time, especially as several locals now understand just how much the sheep adore these delicate morsels. All it takes, with one or two wafts of a slice, and both Sylvia and Irene bust an absolute gut to overcome their natural shyness to  gallop up to the gate in order to coyly accept the offering and chomp away with eyes closed in happy rapture.
Animals like people, love a treat.
For  George it's miniature cocktail sausages whereas William will go weak at the knees over a cheap spar meatball.
Winnie having eclectic tastes, prefers roast beef and lamp shank. ( and there is a facebook video doing the rounds with my friend Greta and her husband feeding her such tidbits with a fork at the dinner table!)
I still go weak at the knees over the mere glimpse of a scotch egg whereas the Prof especially loves a cheesy ball!
( make of that what you will)
Anyhow back to cheap white bread!
I adore the smell of it, and the way that you can reduce it to dough just by pressing it hard between your fingers! It reminds me of those 1970s Fridays at my grandmothers' where jam sandwiches made with baking margarine and strawberry jam and a cup of sweet tea was the order of the afternoon!
Baked beans always tastes better of toast made from cheap white bread!
Try It and you'll see I am right.
Pippa, from the Rectory, often comes around with all sorts of designer rye bread and hard as rock expensive French baguettes for the sheep to eat and they nibble on her offerings with a politeness bordering on boredom. Betty's cheap crusts go down so much easier.
My sheep are like me, they are easily pleased.

I'm An Optimist

These are the things I am presently looking forward to

 
My nickname was Greymouse in school! 

  • Holidays in Spain, Broadstairs, Sheffield and New York later this year!
  • Days out planned in London with hubby,
  • My retirement at the end of July
  • Visiting the new Storyhouse Theatre and Cinema in Chester ( which used to be the old Odeon)
  • Losing more weight and buying nicer clothes( and see below)
  • Being able to bend over without farting
  • Getting fitter with badminton ( and still beating the Prof as I do so)
  • Watching The Mist tv show! ( a tv version of one of my favourite films!)
  • Learning Spanish ( I aim to start classes in September)
  • Catching up with my old friends more ( Nu, Nige, Mike, Bev, Jane, Kath, Bel-Ami, Hazel, ) 
  • Going to comic con  just once to meet Norman Reedus and Melissa Mc Bride ( Walking Dead) 
  • Seriously starting to write a book
  • Starting a pottery night class ( I have always wanted to )
  • Getting a new kitchen finally sorted! 
  • Finally Winning the Quiche class at The Trelawnyd Flower Show
  • Joining the community choir in Gwaenysgor ( I am not talented enough for the Village MVC)
  • Get a scotch egg tattoo! - a tiny grey mouse holding it! ( my nickname in school was greymouse!)
GWhat are you looking forward to?
I'd be interested to know xxxx
The new Walking Dead?

Chester nights out

My spiritual home

What's Happening?.


 Manet's painting A Bar at the Folies-Bergere was the highlight of my trip to The Courtauld Gallery. There is something rather sad and remote about the hostess'  expression that catches the eye and it draws the viewer into the painting and the girl's possible backstory.
I listened to two elderly thespian types who described the subject as a prostitute which perhaps makes sense of her withdrawn, slightly uninterested look. I enjoyed hearing and experiencing their passion for the paintings as they tottered around.
The Courtauld was quiet, a thing I love when I visit a gallery or museum The silence and space, free of bodies allows you to think about the paintings properly


Today couldn't be more different. The weather is colder and damp, and the dogs are uncharacteristically quiet as they always are after the excitement of being away. I must also thank blog reader Amy today who sent me a blanket to forward on to Auntie Glad.which I will do next week, a very kind thought, thank you!


The Welsh poppies, lively in their yellow, spring colour are flowering in the garden. They have lightened the day


Casanova


 From it's first few minutes, I just knew we were watching something very special. The Northern Ballet's production of Casanova ( playing for just a few days at Saddler's Wells ) started with a real bang! A Gothic cathedral, with nuns, hooded monks and inquisition cardinals dressed in vibrant red gliding back and forth alongside an overtly sexual young Casanova, the ballet was a totally theatrical experience and a feast for the eyes from the get-go
It was amazing! At times incredibly moving, sexy, adventurous and wonderfully exciting.
I couldn't praise it more highly even though some of the narrative in the second half was somewhat confusing.
If you get the chance to see it, please do so. Even the Prof wants to see it again!


 

I had a lovely 24 hours in the capital. Breakfast in the skygarden
A visit to The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House , a bit of shopping, lunch at Dishoom and a snooze in Green Park.....lovely xxx

Quote of the day

I arrived at the kennels early and caught the owner  harassed, lumbering and running late
" Can you hang on a minute!? " she called from the locked courtyard as she busied herself with collecting a collection of barking dogs.
" I've not stopped " she yelled "I haven't had time to even put my bra on!" 
I burst out laughing and despite myself I looked to check.

Now I am on the London train, having suffered the irritation of the many already drunk racegoers going to the Chester races. I have on my best disapproving Miss Jean Brodie face on as you can see
Hey ho

" A Herd Of Baby Elephants"


What is your best bit of the day?
I'll tell you mine in a moment, not that it shall be of any great surprise to most Going Gently readers, but then it will make a gentle anecdote to gently start of the day!
I was in Tesco's this morning buying a giant sized bottle of Prosecco- like you do!
Ok I must have looked like a slightly upmarket dipso preparing for a mornings tipple in front of Jeremy Kyle, especially as it was one minute past 7 (am ) but I did have a good reason. Winnie goes to her Babysitters for a day or so as I am off to London with to meet the Prof and another trip to the ballet ( my Christmas gift to him) and so the keep the babysitter onside Prosecco gifts will be offered.......anyhow as usual, I am digressing! ( I also forgot to add that I lost a further 7.5lbs at fat club last night!)

My Best Bit Of The Day ( now I do sound like a contestant on Just A Minute) is the few seconds " happy realisation " that I have returned to bed after 5.30 am morning walks.
With the Prof happily sitting over his boiled egg and iPad news at the kitchen table, the dogs, Albert and I amble  back in after a dozen wee stops all bleary eyed and still sleepy. Everything is serene to the point of coma until we all get to the stairs and the mad scramble for the best bed position starts.
" For Fuck's sake, it's a herd of baby elephants!" Is the Prof's usual comment as we thunder up the stairs and in a mixture of brute strength, the lifting of the oldies and juvenile jumping everyone ( four dogs, one cat and I) have managed to get onto the double bed within seconds.
It reminds me of one of those 1970 Guinness Book of Records pranks where 30 students cram themselves into a phone box! anyhow I digress again!

By 5.45am we are all asleep

This is my best bit of the day!
What's yours?

Black ( or was that brown?) Humour


I worked all yesterday on day shift, which was a change.
A nurse, who I hadn't worked with for an absolute age asked me what I would miss about work once I retire in nine or so shifts time....and without thinking too much, I told her honestly
" Nurse humour"

Nurses' humour is notoriously dark.
It is dark but never bleak, and can be rude to the point of making a docker wince.
It also can seem terribly irreverent to people " not on the same wavelength" , but it is not designed to be listened to by non nurses....nurse humour is for nurses only!

I've told this story before, but I remember my mother recalling an overheard whispered conversation between three nurses at the end of their terribly hard night duty shift.
One nurse hurried to the nurses' station and hissed at her colleagues" I've just found another one dead!" To which all three burst into nervous laughter!

I've seen alot of this kind of behaviour over the years.

Years ago a rather nasty neurologist who had come to the ward on which I worked to re assess a patient that was in a vegetative state, rounded on a sister who he thought didn't quite show him the respect he expected. After making a fool of her he then asked her if the patient had changed neurologically since he last visited
" He spoke briefly after you saw him" she said seriously
"And exactly what did he say?" the consultant snarled
" Don't let that rude twat visit me again" she replied.

It is well know that a "code Brown " means that help is required with a full bed of poo and rose cottage is the nickname for the mortuary, but these are the polite areas of nurse humour.
The hidden reality is much, much darker.......
.......and so much funnier!


Prof's Birthday Night Out

We went to a retro 1970s Italian last night for a meal to celebrate the Prof's Birthday
He enjoyed himself
Honest

Bringing The Outside In.

Yesterday's blistering blue skies have turned a cold grey and Wales has returned to it's native drabness.
The Prof has numerous deadlines to reach by Monday , so apart from a brief tussle with his twenty year old personal trainer this morning and a meal out with me this evening ( I'm taking him to a popular Italian place in Conwy), he will be hidden away in his office.
Like most academics his office is a functional place in which to work, and before he went out this morning he asked me if there was anything I could do to cheer the place up a bit before he started his writing.
Thinking of those lovely photos of yesterday, and after a surreptitious flit round with a duster, I decided to bring a bit of the field onto his desk to lift the gloom of the day.


When I was collecting the flowers I noticed that the baby rabbits , in their enclave, are all now showing signs of disease

A Photo blog

Sometimes I write too much. This afternoon I have been strimming the field. The dogs and Albert accompanied me. A lovely, lovely afternoon..here are the photos

The cottage with the Gop in the background covered in flowering gorse

Winnie spied Monika and her baby in the churchyard and went off to investigate
( they had sandwiches)

The Church

Albert

,
George and Winnie 

A rare shot of everyone together 





Irene and Sylvia standoff the dogs 

william chasing the batchelors 

Polish monika's little girl with Winnie And Wiliam 

The montanta growing over the gate