It was an easy night, uncluttered with too much conversation and seriousness , the ideal panacea to the seriousness of health issues and the isolation of the heatwave
Old Friends
Treat night
My lovely Spanish lisping choir is lovely in this Asian movie anthem ….how much fun…..it’s Friday and I’m meeting Chic Eleanor for breakfast then I’m off to Llandudno for an evening with my old York psychiatric nurse friends Tracey and Ally complete with night out at the Esplanade Hotel !
New York Summers
It’s 9 pm and there is a breeze from the South West , which is a welcome friend through the cottage windows. I’ve doused the Welsh with cold shower water a couple of times which has helped and am drinking a iced gin and tonic, which was a gift from Mrs Trellis who qualified the reason that she’d bought it for herself as it was the drink of choice in the tropics by British Tea Plantation owners to combat malaria . She passed it on too that she didn’t like the taste.
I did remind her that malaria was rare in Flintshire
Bun/ Weaver has gone again , leaving Bun/ weaver asleep in the back bedroom
I’ve spent the day in the kitchen ( the coolest room in the cottage) reading and doom scrolling
The village garage shop still had ice for sale and I’ve put it in a basin in front of the open window
I understand now just why people sleep on fire escapes in New York summers like they did in Rear Window
The Dark Long Night
The best thing to help a hospice patient rest is in fact, the simplest of nursing interventions to carry out.
It is also the most time consuming but ultimately satisfying act a nurse can do on night shift,
And that is to sit beside your patient’s bedside in the dark.
“ would you like me to sit with you?”
Is a question often replied by a tiny simple nod
But you can often see the patient relax immediately as they are transported back to their childhoods when mom or dad or gran sat vigil over them during the long dark night.
I have learned to sit quietly, but not silently at these times. I take with me a cup of tea and my iPad, and mini movements of scrolling and the occasional sip, can often be just heard or felt by the patient, reminding them I am still there, and still with them.
Last night my patient kept opening their eyes to check if I was still there
So I told them that I wasn’t going anywhere.
and minutes later they were sleeping softly.
Hot
The heat is rising
It’s not as awful as in France and Germany , as the German reported 36 degrees and high humidity today, but it’s uncomfortable .
My cottage is southfacing, so at times like these it’s important to keep downstairs where the stone walls are thickest. The Welsh with their thick coats are quiet in their chairs and black cats absorb the heat, so they have hidden away , probably in the garden under hydrangea or the holly
Was it only a year ago that I was sat in Madrid sipping gin on Plaza Major ? Celebrating my qualification
How time flys.
Dave Wilson has done a marvellous job with the Garden Party posters. Can any clever reader work out what is “ wrong” with the Rectory at a first glance ?
The two windows on the right side of the house are just painted on
Keep cool people
Keep cool
Going Gently: The Novel
Like most humbly paid people in the world I need more income.
I’m not good with money and did inherit a large debt after divorce but like a proverbial ostrich ,I so need to get my arse into gear, and my head out of the sand and sort it out.
One day a week from May , I have started to write the book of Going Gently. It’s an incredibly hard task, much of it is like herding cats as there is literally 20 years of blogs to sift through and highlight yes, no or maybe.
Ive also had to print these pieces out and re arrange them into some order , placing the book into chapters that make some sort of sense.
As a money spinner it’s a work in progress!
PS: I’m basing my style loosely on James Herriot…frothy and friendly!
Counselling time can be increased and I’m now taking zoom clients which is helpful but I still need my two hospice night shifts a week to pay the main bills so increasing my counselling days will mean I’m working four long days a week ….not an ideal thing with a bloody catheter, ( please chip in with more ideas)
So do I advertise for a sugar son with a cardiac condition ?
Do I start dancing in my kitchen on TikTok!.?
My troll will soon accuse me of touting for handouts
But I do seriously need to review my old age income
As many need to do in their pre pension twilight days , lol
It’s a serious blog hidden behind the humour
A Quiet Sunny Sunday
A quiet, sunny Sunday, with cut garden roses in my favourite vase.
I’ve talked to friends on teams, doom scrolled and drank hazelnut coffee.
I’ve shampooed Mary’s old lady accidents from the living room carpet and hand washed the cushions which dried almost immediately in this heat.
My friend Polly gave me this beautiful Lino print she designed and made herself and I’ve moved paintings around to make room for it.
I ate cold chicken and broccoli for supper and the Welsh shared the white meat with eyes shut.
It’s muggy and whatever black cat is at the moment living me is asleep in the spare room
And so am I
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