Until This Evening

 

Winnie eating breakfast  this morning

Night shifts effect everything and provides a backbone to a new and rather odd routine and mental state. I finish handover at work around 7.45 am and get home around 8.30. 
I never really remember the drive home
Which is worrying. 
I am greeted by all manner of faces and expressions.

Sleepy and hopeful from Winnie.
Anxious and grateful from Dorothy.
Smiling and waggy from Mary
Hungry and bad tempered from Albert.

Dorothy and Mary are placed in Bluebell, 
Winnie has a mammoth pee in the garden and Albert is fed

The accidents of the night are mopped up
And I take the girls for their walk before returning to feed them separately 
There are squabbles if they are not separated

I’m too tired for squabbles.
Today I’m wrote this at the kitchen table listening to novelist David Mitchell talking to Lauren Laverne
I’m about to put a baking potato in the slow cooker for my tea. 
I only drink water before bed.

I check the home answerphone ...no messages as per normal
My phone has 5 what’s app messages, all unanswered as yet
A friend at work has given me some luxury pillows and I stuff them into clean crisp pillow cases whilst listening to Mitchell’s last choice of  Domenico Scarlatti’s sonata in F minor
Sublime 

It’s 9.53 am
Time for bed.
The girls are waiting for me to climb the stairs.
Winnie is already asleep in the kitchen reading chair and is snoring softly.
Albert is out watching rabbits

I lock the doors and shut out the real world

Until this evening

47 comments:

  1. Yes, sublime - thank you

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  2. You paint exceptional pictures.

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  3. Sounds like its all in hand! Sleep tight. x

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  4. 9.53 am sounds more like you should be getting up, not going to bed. Sleep well.

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    1. I do and did ...often the dog walker arrives or trendy carol or Hattie too , all to walk the dogs....I set the alarm for 2 pm too and the dogs are walked again, then we all go back to bed ....it’s all very regimented

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  5. I remember night shift. I worked night shift with a houseful of teenagers. They worked that to their benefits. They were always insisting that I had given them permission to do something. I had to make the rule: "Any permission given before coffee is not to be considered valid." We got through, but on the whole, I think squabbling dogs would have been easier to deal with.

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    1. Oh yes..... and dogs adore to cuddle

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  6. sleep well; the world will turn whilst you are snoring.

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  7. Anyone asking re Weaver see Rachel’s comment on yesterday’s post

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  8. A real haven of contentment in your cottage John-All is well x

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  9. What a lovely tranquil evening. And your choice of night music... bravo! Have a lovely weekend, dear heart.

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  10. Scarlatti's 555 [mini-]sonatas encapsulate every conceivable mood one could search for - and this one, with which I'm not familiar, is a typically exquisite example of the reflective.

    Btw - what extraordinarily long fingers this chap's got. [I didn't know his name either].

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    1. I will look out for the 555...thank you raymondo

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    2. They're all captivating miniatures, JayGee. None of them too long to get bored with.

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  11. Barbara Anne3:10 pm

    Oh, I remember not remembering the drive home after a night shift. One morning as I approached a Stop sign while driving home, what should cross my path but someone riding a bicycle that had round reflector discs on each tire. Seeing those bright discs going round and round was a mind blowing experience to my befuddled, sleepy brain!

    Lovely music. Ta!

    Sweet dreams!

    Hugs!

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    1. Barbara Anne3:14 pm

      Oh, and everyone, look at yesterday's post. Nearly the last post, Rachel posted an update about Weave!!!

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    2. Anonymous3:38 pm

      Thanks for letting us know she had shared the wonderful news about Weave. - Mary

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    3. She should hear from her very soon!

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  12. There’s a touch of Grey’s Elergy there.

    David Mitchell certainly took DD seriously, I thought.

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    1. He was rather intense but I agree... I think it was a great honour for him

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  13. I knew nothing of the topsy-turvy world of shift patterns until my son started on his rolling shift pattern many years ago. It plays havoc with the reality of your days. It sounds like you have your routine off to a T.

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    1. I have had to...in the next 9 days I have 7 nights

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  14. Poetic in a dismal sort of way. Working nights must be so exhausting. The baked potatoes in the slow cooker is a great idea!

    lizzy x

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    1. A tiktok suggestion that works wonders

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  15. Sublime indeed... Desert Island Discs is a great way to discover fabulous music and learn amazing things about 'ordinary' people.

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    1. Yes. I agree... I have no knowledge of Scarlatti

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  16. Yes, a bit worrying that you never remember the journey home. I guess you're doing it on autopilot. I hope the autopilot can sense imminent danger and take avoiding action! Perhaps a strong coffee before you drive home would help?

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    1. And no sleep after coffee......Most nurses would say the journey home after shift is automatically done

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  17. You have a busy routine and household. Keeping busy is good but sometimes just more than wanted. Striking a balance is key for everyone. Nice piano solo.

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    1. Yes...I was rostered fir 174 hours this month instead of my 150!

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  18. I'm reading this at 9:47. Hugs.

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  19. All you need is a kiss "goodnight".

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    1. Too bloody right ,,, and it would be a kiss good morning

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    2. Both would be better 🤪

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  20. When I first got married, my husband worked shift work on a three week schedule. One week 8 to 4, next week, 4 to 12, and the next, the graveyard shift. It is amazing that we made it through that first year. Being young probably helped.

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  21. I couldn't cope with what you cope with. It puts me to shame. I used to be resilient but recently about as resilient as overcooked pasta. You have just given me an unintended metaphorical kick up the arse.

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  22. Sleep well and wake refreshed.
    xx

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  23. A decade of nightshifts and THE drive home. Luckily, my route home wasn't well travelled, everyone was going in the opposite direction.

    I swear my car knew the way home. Driver's window down (even when it was -40C) and the hard rock station blaring.

    My boy would sleep on the bed with me or lie across the doorway refusing entry to my teenagers.

    Never made more than five hours sleep on the nights pattern.

    In an add way, I miss the night shifts.

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  24. I hope you slept well and get re-adjusted to nights soon.

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  25. Lovely !
    I have driven many late night trips to Palm Springs and really don't remember them. All done after rush hour and by rote.

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  26. It's nice to have those animal faces to return to, isn't it? I never get tired of Olga's enthusiasm when we come through the door.

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