Cwmderi Diary 2015: 10 March 2015

Meic looks at himself . . .

Meic has just got up, looks at himself in the bathroom mirror, then quietly goes downstairs and makes a phone call.

. . . and wants to see his consultant

“This is Meic Pierce of Cwmderi; I’d like to see the consultant some time this week. I know she’s busy, but this is rather important.”

DJ is dieting obsessively

DJ has been up during the night, dealing with the lambing, but refuses Cadno’s offer to cook him breakfast. “I’ll stick to water and crackers,” he says, “And I’ll go for a run after checking on the sheep.”

"Happy birthday, Dad!"

Ffion and Arwen surprise Jinx with, “Happy birthday, Dad!” Ffion tells him now it is the big 3-0, he must start behaving like an adult.

Jinx's rather underwhelming presents

He is rather disappointed with his three presents, but Ffion is determined to make it up to him; “Sit down there, while Arwen and I make you breakfast.”

Mark enters the café looking downhearted and asks Debbie for, “Coffee and a chocolate brownie.”

"Abracadabra!"

Debbie says, “What’s the magic word?” to which he replies, “Abracadabra! I thought you would have remembered, after all the fuss you made last year.” She realises it is his birthday, and he asks if she is going to organise a party.

Meic surveys the scenery

She sees Meic in the street and goes out, saying, “You look lost.” Meic tells her, “I’ve lived here too long to be lost!”

The obsessive weight loss programme . . .

DJ, on his run, meets Dai who makes fun of his determination to lose weight, but DJ points out that Dai is still the same size.

. . . takes its toll on DJ . . .

DJ looks exhausted and collapses to the ground.

. . . and he ends up on the pavement

Eifion comes out and helps Dai drag the semiconscious DJ into Angela’s house. “He went down like a sack of spuds,” says Dai.

"Can I serve behind the counter?"

Meic waits in the café for someone, and tells Debbie that he wants to serve behind the counter one last time. He takes up his position there, and Angela asks for a coffee;

Kelly appears not totally happy with this filming

then Kelly comes in with the video camera and records Meic working there.

"You could do a shift for me!"

Sioned, in the taxi office, tells him she could do with a break, so he agrees to do a shift there later, at three o’clock.

DJ is told off

DJ recovers while Eifion reprimands him; “Starving yourself, farming all day and lambing all night – you’re not superman!” Dai tells him it is time they stopped this weight loss nonsense, but DJ insists, “It’s not over!”

Dai starts going on about, “That’s what happens when you go up against old stagers like me. On the way back you want to call in the shop for a pasty or a pork pie to build up your strength.”

Ffion aims to do wonderful things with fillet steak

Ffion is determined to make Jinx a special meal of fillet steak; she cannot go out for a walk with Jinx and Arwen as she has told school that she is sick,

"Off you go to the Deri!"

but tells Jinx to go out to the Deri for a pint, on condition that he wears the (slightly too small) shirt she gave him.

Gethin, with his perfect pint

Meic is now behind the bar of the Deri; he serves Gethin. “There, the perfect pint – I’ve still got the old magic,” he says. He wishes Jinx a happy birthday; “Kelly told me it’s your birthday.

"Have a pint on the 'Ows'!"

Here, have a pint on the ‘Ows’! Get it?” Jinx tells them that Ffion is suffering with a bug.

That shirt is a little too tight

Then Mark comes in, and thinks that the tiny birthday cake, bearing three candles, is for him, and Jinx does not disillusion him.

"Right, are we going clubbing?"

After consuming the cake, Mark wants to know if they are going clubbing tonight, but Jinx does not think so. “You’re old before your time,” Mark tells him.

Kelly brings a present, but Jinx wants to get home

Kelly, who left the Deri a few minutes before, is back with a present for Jinx; “I bought it ages ago, but didn’t know when I would see you,” she explains. Jinx thanks her, but adds that he had better head back home, which does not please Kelly.

"You're late for the Deri Deithio office"

Sioned comes in looking for Meic, who said he would do a shift in the taxi office, so he dashes off there with her.

Dai is back to his usual diet . . .

Also in the Deri is Dai, who is enthusiastically tucking into a burger with a large pile of chips; Diane is dismayed to see that the weight loss programme is over. “I’m celebrating the older generation’s victory over the youngsters,” he says, between mouthfuls.

. . . but gets some stick from Diane

Diane condemns his immoral attitude – celebrating DJ’s illness; “The boy’s health is in danger, and you have a responsibility to look after him.”

"It's . . . nice . . . lovely"

Ffion’s home-cooked meal proves rather a failure; despite Jinx describing the food as “nice” and even “lovely”,

"It's rubbish, isn't it?"

she admits, “It’s rubbish, isn’t it?” Jinx has to agree, “That poor old cow has been murdered twice over!”

Ffion concludes that the day has been, “A bit of a nightmare!” but Jinx points out,

"I've got all I want here"

“I’ve got all I want here – except for a bit of meat I can chew!”

The sight that greets Sioned . . .

When Sioned returns to the café, she sees Meic motionless on the chair in the taxi office,

. . . leads her to fear the worst . . .

and fears the worst. However, when Debbie calls his name, he stirs; she rebukes him for overdoing it,

. . . but Meic is only exhausted

and escorts him home.

Dai tests the grapes

Dai, feeling guilty, goes to Penrhewl to check up on DJ; he eats a grape before handing the bag over. “Will you be fit enough to work on the farm?” enquires Dai, and DJ asks whether he is offering to help. “I would, but my knee is not what it was,” is Dai’s excuse.

"Angela says I ought to see a doctor"

DJ says that Angela advised him to see a doctor, and Dai thinks that would be a good idea. When Dai has gone, Cadno urges him to forget this dieting business;

"I hope you're still my friend"

“You don’t need to lose weight – you’re fine as you are. I hope you’re still my friend – I value our friendship,” and DJ confirms that of course he is.