Little old lady.

I was waiting for the bus to Monmouth this morning, when a car pulled up and a little old lady offered me a lift. She said she doesnt like seeing people waiting for buses....!!! She lives in a small place called Mork......great name for a village. She said " is this your first lift?"....maybe this happens a lot round here?

Snow.

Snow.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Looking over Redbrook.

Looking over Redbrook.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

I think I ll keep my slightly bent and damaged finger, thankyou very much!!!!

I think I ll keep my slightly bent and damaged finger, thankyou very much!!!!
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Its been 5 weeks now, since the finger slicing incident....and yesterday I had my first physio apt. It started off quite well...lots of questions were asked and measurements were made.
I think she was lulling me into a false sense of security.
I had to put my hand on a table, palm facing upwards as she started to inspect the wound. Now this felt a bit wierd...someone else touching the damaged area. I have been rubbing cream into the scar every day....but she said I had a lot of scar tissue which needed to be massaged quite firmly.
She suddenly started pressing really hard onto the scar...and rubbing and pulling and pressing and rubbing.....and it was HORRIBLE.
My head went down onto the table....as she carried on!!!! Then I started to cry...it was quite a shock to have my finger moved around so much, after I have been protecting it from anything and everything for the last few weeks.
I ve got 2 more physio apts which I am dreading.
I know its only a finger and its not life threatening...but its been quite stressful dealing with all this.
Slightly bent finger....its not the end of the world is it? Still cant get my wedding ring on though.

Pheasant on the decking.

Pheasant on the decking.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Local newspaper headline.

Local newspaper headline.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Here are some of the puns included in this front page exclusive....
" aloo, aloo, aloo, whats going on here then?"
"police bhaji-ed into the small town centre takeaway..."
"the dramatic operation was undertaken by PC Benjamin who presumably took an emergency naan naan naan call."
Excellent. And the Free Press isnt free....it costs 35p. Well worth it though.

For those who love their moggies....

...have a look at www.infinitecat.com to see lots of cats looking at lots of other cats.

Equipment/plants.

Throwing ourselves into "country" life...we have realized we own very little gardening equipment. All we have is a trowel and a plastic heron!!!...and they wont be much use as we try to keep a front garden, a back garden and a field under control.
So, Terence is battling for a Flymo 2 stroke petrol L47 model with 19 inch steel blade on Ebay. If he fails, there is always the Allen 221 xl 2 stroke petrol hover.
At the moment the trees are bare and there is little colour around. The previous owners said that very soon there will be blossoms and bluebells...and its going to be great.To go with all the established plants,I have ordered some easy to grow young plants from Thompson and Morgan....36 young plants will soon be delivered to our front door. They include Red Hot Pokers, which I love. Apparently, the deer come down into peoples gardens and munch their way through rose bushes ...so we will have to see how long my young plants survive...and maybe protect them with some barbed wire.?? When I was little, we had a great big forsythia bush in our garden...it had bright yellow flowers and grew out of control every year. I would love to have one of those here....get the cheque book out-wheres the nearest garden centre?

Deer or No Deer.....

Deer in the field.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

A large group of deer came down into the field this afternoon...and I rushed out with my camera to capture the moment. It was really exciting.....they were so beautiful.

BAFTA beards.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman had one...
Ralph Fiennes had one too....
but the best one by far was Heath Ledger....very nice.

First week....

There's been sunshine and showers.
A rainbow.
A trip to Monmouth on the bus.
Mist.
A drink in the pub with our new neighbours.
Lots of cats. A big dog.
Squirrels
Pheasants.
Deer.
Carrot cake.
And a visit from Cathy, Graham and The Rhos.x

The Rhos on Wye.

The Rhos on Wye.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Misty morning.

Misty morning.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Wilson meets a squirrel.

Wilson meets a squirrel.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

New front door....

New front door....
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

...isn't it beautiful?
Can't believe we are here really....its almost 9 months since we first saw this front door....and getting to this point has involved a lot of stress, money and uncertainty. Last week was almost too much to cope with....we almost lost the plot.
Paul and Mark saved the day on Friday...and our neighbours were 5 star the night before...loading the heavy stuff { and my piano } into the 7.5 ton van. Thank goodness for tail lifts.
The house is great ...and the outside space is something else. Pheasants, rabbits and deer have been spotted so far.There are beautiful trees everywhere. We feel like we are on holiday.
There is a swing in the trees, at the top of the field...now thats cool.

Paul, Mark and Tel....Hunky removal men!!!

Paul, Mark and Tel....Hunky removal men!!!
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Moving mess.

Moving mess.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

The joy of the move.

Could this be any more stressful?
COULD OUR SOLICITOR BE MORE ANNOYING?
Will we ever get to Monmouth..or is this just a bad dream?

They say that moving house is up there with death and divorce....we definitely agree.
We have lost sight of the fact that this process only started 8 weeks ago...it feels like SO much longer!!!!
We have been "unlucky" with our solicitors...for various reasons our case has been passed on twice..so we are now with our 3rd solicitor..who seems to be the most highly strung person in the world. We went in to see her last week...and she started shouting at us because we had tried to sort out a problem by making a phone call to our vendor. GREAT.
Obviously only having the use of one hand...means I cant get stuck in to a lot of the sorting and packing.This is really frustrating.
The house is like a bombsite....every room is full of boxes and mess.
I tripped over a bag of clothes on the landing last night...luckily my brain remembered that my left hand is injured...and as I fell forward I only put out my right hand to stop me hitting the floor. Phew.
And throughout all this ...there is always the possibility that it could still fall through....and there is that nagging question "are we doing the right thing?"

Tomorrow night we are going to see Daniel Kitson at The Glee Club on the bay....a few drinks and a few laughs...sounds good to me.

Guess who?

Guess who?
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Praying for a Welsh win......

Praying for a Welsh win......
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

....oh dear ...a heavy defeat!!!
A player called Boyce scores for England against Wales at Twickenham....what would Max say?
I find the England team really annoying...theres just something about Lawrence Dalliglio that really irritates me? And all that "swing low" nonsense.....?
Hopefully Wales can improve on todays performance...and England will come a cropper against Italy next weekend.

"22 identical sealed boxes"

I love Deal or No Deal.....in Australia it is shown at prime time on Channel 7. Noel may be struggling with his image [wardrobe wise]..but he has a ratings monster on his hands. Its great.
Over on BBC 1,Neighbours is brilliant too. It celebrated 20 years of episodes back in October. Karl and Susan are the best ... Joe Mangel is a great character. They make me laugh and cry.

Feeling faint....

Feeling faint....
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

Cathy took me to Morriston yesterday...for my "finger" appointment.I was desperate to have the big plaster/bandage removed, as it was starting to get me down. The nurse took it off...and said "are you ready ..it might not look very nice". When she said the words.."dried blood" I felt really hot and faint!!!! I tried not to be sick,as she took the stitches out.!!!
It was really strange seeing my hand again...it looked really small. My wound is bigger than the original cut...and not very pretty. I have to rub E45 cream into it 3 times a day if possible...and start to do some hand exercises. At the moment it feels really strange...like I have a plastic finger that doesnt belong to me.
In a way, I wish that I could have my big cast back to protect my finger...now its out there in the fresh air...and I could easily knock it or bang it against something. I ll just have to be carefull.

Rainbow over St Pauls Cathedral.

Rainbow over St Pauls Cathedral.
Originally uploaded by terry Dixon.

This is one of the SLR photos we took in London in Nov. Just had the film developed this week. There was a fantastic light as we crossed the wobbly millennium bridge from St Pauls to Tate Modern. Nice composition Tel.

James Yorkston and The Athletes.

The album is called "Just Beyond The River".
Favourite tracks are...."Hermitage" and "We flew Blind".

"take your chances in the wide and open shores
pull together all your dreams and make them yours"