Twice a day, when I'm on the way back and to from work, I see the beautifully stoic and grand Conwy Castle. Built in 1283 it has stood facing the sea, guarding the beautiful little town of Conwy from the might of the English.
Yesterday it was lit up in rainbow colours as a thank you to the key workers of our country and the single welsh word "Diolch" which means " Thank you" flashed across the estuary towards Llandudno where I work .
I was moved to tears, as I seem to have been done so many times this lockdown
This week Auntie Glad was 101!
So very frail and now living in a care home 16 miles away, Gladys celebrated her birthday with her carers separated from family and friends and the village Male voice choir who adopted her as their mascot many years ago now.
Her daughter sent me this photo today to remind everyone that she was still with us and one look of that valiant, snowed haired old face took me flying back to the Flower Show Committee meetings held around her kitchen table , laden heavily with buttered scones and China cups with weak tea .
She would be so proud of her village if she knew just how well it's inhabitants had coped with this lockdown .
Today Hattie collected Mary from Trendy Carol's for her fix of doggie sweetness. and although the dog walker is back once during my 12 hour shift I still have to rely on Carol and her Hubby's good nature at taking the dogs in to her house for the afternoons for the girls to be looked after properly .
I could not have coped with things without them.
Especially now as a single dad to three robust girls
Thank you guys so very much!
I also have to thank the kind blog reader who sent me some homemade uniform bags!
I have used mine today and a dear colleague Quickly snapped up the other with a squeak of excitement .
Beautifully wrapped but without a name ,
I want to thank you personally for the kind gift ....so useful now that we have to keep our uniforms separate
Affable despot Jason has bombarded the village social app site with funny , morale boosting videos and photos for weeks now.
He is a one man sick humour feast!
This is his latest Donald Trump advice photo to share
And finally
I have to thank all my blog readers who have bought my hospice's tee shirts !
We have done so well in selling them given the sudden lurve people have for our towns goat population !
Apparantly. Orders from abroad will be accepted
Please google St Davids Hospice Llandudno for website
https://stdavidshospice.org.uk/
Glad you are doing well, Auntie Glad brought a tear to my, age. But I laughed out loud at Affable despot Jason photo.Us yanks have to find some humor in this shit show somewhere tell him thank you for me.
ReplyDeleteHe's a wag x
DeleteYes, Auntie Glad would be so proud of the village! I loved the flower show blog posts 😍. I'm so very happy that you were able to stay in your beloved village! Please stay safe, John.
ReplyDeleteIf she was just a few years younger she would be baking scones daily
DeleteHappy Birthday, Auntie Glad! 101 -- she's a trooper!
ReplyDeleteOMB, I have wondered if auntie glad was still amongst us; and she is at 101! bless her. and bless jason - many of us wish for that to happen for real.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to be able to share the news with u
Deleteit is so wonderful to see a pick of beloved auntie glad. i wish i could give her a hug!
ReplyDeleteMe too.......she is and was always a trouper !
DeleteI wonder how the scones are in Auntie Glad's care home? I'm glad to know that she is well looked after. Perhaps the men's choir could record a Zoom performance for some birthday entertainment! Also, I'm glad you recognize yourself as a key worker. You've been key to many patients throughout your career, I'm sure, but especially now your warm attention is needed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alison . Love to u x
DeleteI got word a couple of days ago that my t.shirt is now on route - woohoo! Happy birthday Aunty Glad, what a wonderful age to achieve. xx
ReplyDeleteAunty Gladys's carers look very fond of her x
ReplyDeleteAuntie Glad 101! Amazing. I hear that Captain Tom has not only notched up almost 30 million quid for carers, but also knocked Tom Jones off the record book by having a number one hit in the singles charts. An OBE is in order I think.
ReplyDeleteAmazing Auntie Glad and those wonderful caregivers! Your village has so beautifully pulled together including Despot Jason's photo which made me laugh out loud. X
ReplyDeleteNice to see Aunt Gladys is still with us - albeit a pale imitation of the woman she once was. As for Trump and injecting disinfectant into ourselves or getting sunlight inside us - you wonder how can anybody with a morsel of intelligence ever vote for that narcissistic numbskull.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Yorkshire P., amen!
Deletemany of my fellow citizens are just plain fucking stupid. we the intelligents have to scream to be heard above the dim bulbs.
DeleteAnother criminal charge for he who shall not be named: practicing medicine without a license.
Deletei didnt know people were this thick, as He didn't suggest injecting disinfectant,
Deleteif you listen to what he actually said.
It's frustrating when the media misreport, but then they do it with every news story to suit their agenda
I heard exactly what Trump said Jane - every single stupid word.
Delete"I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute! And is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it'd be interesting to check that. So, that you're going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me."
DeleteJust a note to say not all 'Janes' are the same :)
DeleteNo, some Janes swing about the trees with Tarzan - Lord of the Jungle.
DeleteI don't know the disinfectant needs to be iced...
ReplyDeletebwahahahahaha!
DeleteHappy Birthday Gladys.
ReplyDelete101 years old. chwarae teg :)
Thanks for the chuckle, Jason!
ReplyDeleteSo much of interest in today's post, including Conwy Castle looking its best, but mostly how lovely to see that Auntie Glad has made it to 101!
I used to see the World Trade Center towers every day on my way to and from work. Little did I know what would happen to them. You have a beautiful view on your commute.
ReplyDeleteYour post is a good read at the end of another long week for me.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if that really, really stupid book I sent over a month ago ever made it to your time-zone? I've no idea what made me send it.
How wonderful to see Auntie Glad! A very special Happy Birthday to her!
ReplyDeleteGood to see Aunty Glad; do send her Best Wishes from cyber world.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the picture of Aunty Glad - it's a bit heartbreaking to see how much she has failed but her carers look like kind and loving people, and that's important.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see Auntie Glad again and please convey my Happy Birthday wishes to her. 101!
ReplyDeleteLove the colorful and historic castle and envy your view of it as you go to and from work. Diolch to you and all who keep us safe, keep us healthy, and keep us fed.
Good night from the Mid-Atlantic coast, USA
Hugs!
Mine's a Mr Muscle on the Rocks [but that's another story].
ReplyDeleteDo tell. Or maybe better not. :-)
DeleteSorry, no can do. Just as well as I've gone teetotal since those days.
DeleteWhat a grand post - made me smile right through and LOL at the Trump snifter . . .
ReplyDeleteAunty Glad 101 - she's making a very good innings.
Someone very clever did the logo for that t-shirt too.
Many years since we were in Conwy (for an Eistedfodd it was). My darling eldest daughter dragged me up every single tower and my legs were like blardy JELLY. I think it was revenge for all the castles we'd dragged them round over the years!
Surely Donald Trump must be a laughing stock around the world after his suggestion we should all be drinking disinfectant to ward off the virus. Personally I prefer weedkiller :-)
ReplyDeleteSo Glad is 101. I can't imagine what it's like to be so ancient! My mum lived to 96.
Yes, Nick ... Agent Orange is the laughing stock around the world! Evidently the laughter was so loud, he could only handle 21 minutes in front of the cameras yesterday for his faux virus updates!
DeleteHe is an on-going BAD joke!
My 8 year old granddaughter recieved her tee shirt on Thursday in hot pink , she was delighted and it was a pleasure for me to buy her a gift and support a wonderful cause .
ReplyDeleteYour photo of Auntie Glad made me think, first, of the fact that the name "Gladys" is never borne by this generation--in nearly forty years of teaching at a university and dealing with thousands of students I never came across a Gladys; second, I had two Auntie Gladyses, both of whom would have been around 109 now. Flora Thomson's Lark Rise to Candleford says it was a name that came in in the 1880s.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't some of the choir have gone and sung outside Glady's bedroom window, in the garden? They could have arrived separately and observed the distancing rules in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI have often thought of Aunt Gladys and as I write this her photograph sits opposite on your side bar. People are being so very kind during lockdown I find - evryone is doing their very best. I had forgotten the T shirts - I meant to ask my son what size to get and then send for one - will do it today
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to Auntie Gladys!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to see Auntie Glad. I hope she had a great birthday. It looks like she is surrounded by some lovely carers.
ReplyDelete101 - when things are safe it will be time for a party. The Castle is so fun.
ReplyDeleteWishing Aunti Glad well on her 101st. So kind of her caregivers! That castle would be beautiful to see any day. The rainbow lights fill my heart with joy. Still so many good and decent people in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely picture of Auntie Glad and her caregivers! It filled up my heart, John. I think there's a separate God for all of you caregivers - that you have a direct line to Her/Him, to be able to do what you do. As MWM said, there are still many good and decent people in this world.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, and so nice to see Auntie Glad celebrated.
ReplyDeleteAnd may I say, I am STILL laughing about the rooster alarm on your bathroom window sill.
Cheers,
Bonnie in Minneapolis
I did get a grin out of the Affordable Despot Jason picture. But to be clear our "stable genius" leader didn't say drink it - he suggested injecting it. So you will have to spirit some hypo's home to help out you village with the new treatment.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course they would need to be new ones...used would be okay because they will have disinfectant used in them. That would be okay medically wouldn't it?
DeletePerhaps Mr Trump Bottom could inject disinfectant into His body first just to see how safe it is prior a experimental trial in a laboratory x
ReplyDeleteThe Drudge Report is featuring a mockup of a bottle of Clorox Chewables.
ReplyDeleteThe Dettol photo made me laugh out loud. You never know what Trump's going to come up with next. I love the goat shirt! Happy birthday to Auntie Glad!
ReplyDeleteOh bless Auntie Glad, made me cry looking at the photo of her and those lovely fresh faced carers on her birthday, and l don't do much crying of late, more anger in the abuse of the animal race, and now this mess! Enough!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, could the choir arrange something so Antie G could hear them possibly?
Keep well my friend never met
Tess xx
Loved this post. Bless Auntie Glad and all the people and carers in Care Homes. Keep them safe. xxx
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about Aunt Gladys and here is a post.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for keeping us updated.
parsnip
Auntie Glad- oh. There she is and your picture and words brought such a hot prickling of the eyes. Oh, bless her! Her carers look very dear and as if they care about her truly. I wonder if she has any idea why her beloveds can't visit. That thought breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteDoilch, indeed, to all of you, John! And how lovely that someone made you cloth garment sacks for your work garb.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to Aunt Gladys!
x Be well