
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Friday, 15 May 2009
The coffee grinder is first on the list , pigsters second , dishwasher loading and then cats .
Today , fatally , I forget one final stage in the process ( ie to lift the bowls of cat food off the bench onto the floor ) and having returned to my book in bed with coffee , D gloomily though with a look of resigned amusment , returns later to report the outcome .
Pearl , pictured above has scored a direct hit , overturning her bowl of wet food into his shoe and the clean laundry ( piled neatly in a basket near the shoe at the back door) and waited his arrival in the kitchen to gloat . Normally seated on the window sill looking out at the yard , today she is grinning and facing inwards , and she watches his every move as he grimly scrapes and shovels .
Yuk ....One Nil to Pearl .
Monday, 11 May 2009
Rachel Cook and Migraine
Still semi caught up in the throes today I will add the link for anyone who is interested . Migraine and me: Rachel Cooke on two decades of pain Life and style The Ob
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Bank Holiday Monday :Castle Howard, Yorkshire
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Me and Patrick ....

Saturday, 2 May 2009
BookFest, and the Hideous Coat Convention
Nat refuses to allow me to leave the house in my old beige linen -belt- up- and -go mac ( gifted to me second hand by my sister's employer some years ago ) and when I asked her to explain why on my return from the Coffin Car expedition when my friend Deb had complimented me on its stylishness .
Nat rather too willingly took me in hand in front of the mirror and showed me the reason .
Look Mother , she said . Its pointless reducing from a , what is this coat , here , a size fourteen , to whatever you are now , a ten maybe , and dressing yourself in the same shapeless old garments , so that you look like a Sack . Its time to Move On .
So , duly , she took me to town and insisted I buy a black mac , in a size ten , and very nice too ( ish ) , but on Thursday when I washed it ( in preparation for Literary Fest and Mother and Daughter Bonding Pizza of Friday Night ) Something Wierd happened and it shrunk out of its seams and when I placed it on the ironing board , not a thing I am terribly familiar with , the words shapeless , hopeless and dishrag sprang to mind . So back to the department store I headed , ( sans receipt of course ) but with arguments mustered , and explained my predicament . Yes , according to the instructions . No , no special instruction on the chart about ironing or drying ( she got her specs on to check , as I had done .....and we laughed companionably as people of a certain age are wont to do ) and my cash was handed back . And there I was , with free reign in town to choose my own mac , no Nat to guide me .
What can I say ?
I take the new beige mac from the wardrobe later with a flourish on its lovely hanger and Nat looks it up and down . I apply it to myself , pointing out it was ( is , indeed ) a size 8 . Hmm she says , giving it the benefit of the doubt .... but already starting to shake her head and wag her finger at me .
I await the verdict .
"Mother....... "she says in mock Indian accent ( as in Indian mother speaking without reticence to young teenage daughter ) ..... "This coat is ideal if you are attending the hideous coat convention . You will certainly win . "
She advises I wear my leather jacket for our bonding pizza night ( last night ) . And again today for the literary fastival . Perhaps she is right . But I am keeping my mac , even if it means I am now looking for that coat convention . Its time I won something after all .
This afternoon I am seeing Patrick Gale ( oh the excitement !! ) , Philip Hensher , newly discovered , for me , and Janet Street Porter .
If I had more time I would have included Irma Kurtz , Libby Purves and Benjamin Zephaniah.
But I must to my porch cleaning . And reading abit more of Philip H ....
Etc .
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Scratty Hens
Hens are such delightful creatures . I first heard of the latest addition to our extended family when my sister sent a text including a photo of a hen house being hoisted over her garden wall . At that I knew hens were imminent although she did say it may well be another two years before the required run would be built ( foxes and her own little terrier Grommit coming down on the wrong side of a risk assessment ) . Even at that point she did add that she may acquire her hens and hope that this would force the issue of the run .It seemed not a matter of hours before a text arrived to say to say she now had six scratty rescue hens and the little poppets had produced three eggs at breakfast time and a further three at tea time .
I could scarcely contain myself and invited myself along to visit on Sunday afternoon , a box of cream cheese frosted carrot cupcakes and a tray of rocky road as offerings and Alice sworn to good behaviour . Alas , the latter was so thrilled to see Auntie Laura she raced round the sitting room fourteen times in quick succession and then forced herself into a miniscule cat basket on the window ledge so that promise was broken within seconds . But no matter , Auntie Laura understands greyhounds and she and Alice have a special relationship forged on the last visit when Alice became over excited and quickly gave her a French kiss on her arrival much to the surprise of all . Alice is usually most reticent with her greetings and rarely even wags her tail .
The hens .... I digress . Hardly scratty at all in my humble opinion and though still waiting for their run to be built , the posts have been sunk and it will not be long before they can roam free-ish range . Their current arrangements are their hen house and on fine days taking turns in the guinea pig ark with Grommit keeping an eye . Grommit is definitely a fan of hens and would quite like to eat one for dinner . The hens seem unconcerned by his interest and merely scratch on and make fascinating noises as he over excites himself bringing stones over and burying them under piles of grass , perhaps demonstrating how he would deal with their remains . I love the noise of the hen as it goes about its business ;although the attached video clip is short and to the point as understandably when I switch on the camera they turn shy and silence reigns .
I will post again in a few weeks when they will be pretty hens and scrattiness will be a thing of the past . Their horrid days in the Intensive Farming Units will be forgotten as they content themselves tormenting Grommit and perhaps occasionally Alice ( who also adores birds ) and poing about in the garden for fat grubs and worms .
Migraine Days

Flower and Bee on a Sunday

art on a sunday
