The woman was around 80 I suppose

She had bright orange hair which had been dyed within an inch of its life 

And she had been a psychiatric patient for most of her adult life.

Me and my fellow student nurse Paula ( a cheerful scouser with a foul mouth) were student nurses back then and we were on placement with the occupational therapy department  at the West Cheshire hospital where the patient  with orange hair visited daily.

We were being taught how to shampoo and set hair that day! 

Now, even back then, I wasn’t known for my sartorial elegance, but I was game to learn a new skill and so with the equally clueless Paula we set about shampooing and setting the patient’s hair and rolled layer upon layer with curlers that looked like rigid hairy caterpillars. The OT in charge told us to pin the curlers and to treat the lady with a cup of very sweet tea and some Jaffa cakes.

I remember Paula telling me that the hair had to be “wrapped” very tightly around the curler so after a good three quarters of an hour wrapping the patent resembled a German mine and was placed for a long heat under an industrial sized hair dryer. 

We knew something had gone slightly awry when the OT angrily called us back after she had finally “unwrapped” the patient an hour later, finding  her covered in a bright orange mop of near steel strength red curls 

She looked dreadful but the patent grinned widely at everyone as the occupational therapist shrieked at us “look at her !!! …LOOK! What have you got to say about this?” 

I just blushed

But Paula with her Liverpudlian wit spread her arms out wide 

And sang 

“ THE SUN’l COME OUT TOMORROW ! BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR THAT TOMORROW !!!!”