Life in north east England (yes, we've moved!) with an eccentric Welshman and a small white dog that thinks he's a Rottweiler.
Priceless! from TK
A first-grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, six-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!1.
Don't change horses
until they stop running.
2.
Strike while the bug is close. 3. It's always darkest before Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but how?
6. Don't bite the hand that looks dirty.
7. No news is impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new math.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust me.
12.The pen is mightier than the pigs.
13. An idle mind is the best way to relax.
14.Where there's smoke there's pollution.
15. Happy the bride who gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is not much.
17. Two's company, three's the Musketeers.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not spanked or grounded. 22. If at first you don't succeed get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you see in the picture on the box.
24.When the blind lead the blind get out of the way.
25.A bird in the hand is going to poop on you.And the WINNER and last one!
26.Better late
than pregnant
Wales in bloom
Or rather, chez Jennyta in bloom.
This honeysuckle was planted by mine own fair hand about eight years ago, soon after we had moved here and I was still enthusiastic and firm in the belief that things would actually grow in this garden.
How wrong I was! The soil is heavy and unproductive, so any plants I do introduce, now go in tubs.
So, the honeysuckle has been here for eight years and only this year has it decided to flower.
To she who waits....
A surfeit of mutations
Where have I been this last week and a half? Shame on me for neglecting the blog and actually, I have no excuses at all really. I could say that I have had a bad back and so everything has been taking longer than usual, I have been dealing with carpet fitters, mowing the lawn, practising my welsh, all of which would be true but none of which would be a good enough reason for not blogging so maybe the true reason is that I didn't feel inspired enough to write anything. It happens! Ask Jane Austen!
Welsh classes have become a little more challenging as we have been doing battle in a big way with mutations or 'treiglads' as the Welsh have it. As the language has evolved, someone evidently decided that it was a bit too easy in its original form and they should do something to make it more complicated and I have to acknowledge, they did a pretty good job.
So, depending on which verbs, nouns, adverbs etc you are using, you have to think about whether the noun is masculine or feminine, which bit of the sentence is going to determine which 'treiglad' you use, if any and then string the sentence together, remembering that the Welsh have obviously had an operation on their throats which enables them to pronounce the sound 'ch' so much better than you could ever do. You must do all this within a second or two because, if you take as long as I currently do, the person you are speaking to will be halfway to Chester before you've said anything beyond ' Er...'.
However, it's all great fun and keeps the grey cells in tip top condition - at least I hope it does.
In my group, three of us are not Welsh but it seems that the Welsh have a great line in excuses for non-production/questionable condition of homework. Forget 'The dog ate my homework, Miss.' Yesterday, one of my co-learners handed a slightly muddy sheet to the tutor with the unforgettable sentence,
"Sorry about the mud but I had it on the table and one of my hens stood on it."
Doggy hairdresser
Being a Border Terrier cross, I have never had to bother with grooming parlours and fancy hair clipping, but Jake here, being one of those fancy dogs with soppy curls and stuff, needed to be spruced up now that his coat has grown back, so Jenny took him off to the doggy hairdressers this morning for his short back and sides.
As Jenny has never had a 'cissy' dog before, she didn't know what to expect, so imagine her surprise - and mine - to see this finished result after three hours of crimping!
He didn't look too happy about his new look and I did hear Jenny say she thought he looked like Gromit, whoever he is.
What a girl!
The dentist
Today was the day I had to go to the dentist for a filling. Yes, just when you thought this week could get no better! I get nervous when I have to go to the dentist. It's a new thing. Years ago, it was something I took in my stride, just one thing among the myriads of others that made up my day but in those days, the dentist we went to was almost a family friend, Our children went to the same school, he used to put Younger Daughter on the chair at eighteen months old, just to get her used to dental visits in preparation for when she actually needed them, we exchanged tales of our respective children's doings. Oh, and although he had toothbrushes, toothpaste etc for sale in his practice, he always used to give them to us free of charge.
Now, my dentist is Latvian and, while she is a very pleasant, albeit quiet young woman, there is no communication between us and I miss the chit chat.
"The older I get, the more of a baby I am with injections," I joked today, after squirming under the enormous needle which had just been stuck in my gum.
She smiled and said nothing. I guess her english is not up to chit chat standard and certainly not up to my sense of humour, but thinking back to my friendly dentist, he probably wasn't any more competent than this one - I would say both are good - but a few moments conversation at the start of my visits to him must have taken my mind off the possible pain in store for me and so acted as a relaxant and a diversion.
I know that, with the dearth of NHS dentists these days, I am lucky to have one, whatever her conversational skills and silence during the treatment is certainly easier to deal with than someone who asks you where you are going for your holidays and then expects you to answer while he is excavating your mouth and my old dentist has probably retired by now anyway.
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