Summer Storm
It's a cracker
The estate agent is late to complete his paperwork and I have just battled with a load of Samaritans admin which is a necessary chore as we have seven new volunteers starting soon
The thunder woke up Winnie from her slumbers and you can see she's slightly worried.
Mary has been banished to the car.
I cant unleash her paws on the estate agent's powder blue suit
I can see her looking over the garden back at the cottage. George and Albert are in the car with her for company.
I hope the estate agent comes soon
I am going to see the new Godzilla film
he wouldn't understand
Rotterdam
Alice (Bethan Cullinane) and Fiona ( Lucy Jane Parkinson) are lesbian lovers living in Rotterdam
Alice wants to come out to her parents. Fiona is secretly feeling that she was born a male
As Alice's former boyfriend ( and Fiona's brother ) look on the couple's relationship begins to change under the strain
This sounds complicated and the play ROTTERDAM performed at Theatr Clwyd tonight is indeed intricate, witty and at times an incredibly moving exploration of a very complex issue.
The small audience were at their feet at the curtain call
I loved it
What Goes Around
Last year the old Flower Show Committee met for the last time in order to divide up monies to the village good causes. It was a bitter sweet meeting for sure but with me leaving the village, it was deemed time for the entire committee to resign with me, a change I was very moved by.
Now, with the New Community Association going from strength to strength, a new Flower Show Committee has resurrected our old format and the show will go on this August!
How wonderful is that
Looking through the schedule I was rather moved to see that I have had a trophy named after me!
Thank you , it was a lovely surprise!
another day
another early morning vet visit!
what goes around!
Memories
Sometimes ( and certainly not often) Facebook delivers an interestingly little game to be played
This one came to me from a colleague from ITU which I answered
Somewhat intrigued and full of Its all about ME!!!
I posted the same question
And the answers, well really surprised me!
Peoples' memory of friendships suddenly seem so wonderfully fickle and odd.
Something that you had forgotten ( I didn't remember putting my mother's false teeth in Roland Robert's tea cup) was something they first recall about you when asked
How weird and how wonderful.
I have no recollection of the budgie incident, nor the cream cracker eating contest or the eating of fat rascals in the snow...and so the messages received have a certain poignancy to them
I was once washing a lady's face who was dying.
This was when I was a student nurse working at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield
Her large extended family had left her exhausted but happy and I was preparing her for the next wave of visitors to arrive
Out of nowhere I asked how she would like to be remembered
And she smiled
" fondly" she whispered " fondly"
 |
| I Can only apologise for the under[pant thing |
 |
| I have to say that my poor shoes were the subject of much ridicule on ITU |
 |
| well the lesbian with the screwdriver conjures up some thoughts |
I may have to explain Dale Card's message
as he was a patient on spinal injuries and I helped him (chemically)
Once A Diva
The Estate Agent photographer turned up at 4pm
It will be the only sunny day this week he explained, sunshine necessary to show off the cottage views and garden to their best advantage
I had spent the previous 6 hours gardening!
When he was doing his thing inside the cottage, Me and Mary waited on the garden wall.
After ten minutes he sounded somewhat exasperated as he poked his head through the bathroom window
" Can you remove this bulldog!?" he called. "She's photo bombing every one of my photos!!!"
Make Over
No politics, no fighting, no Trump, no Brexit
Yesterday I prepared the cottage interior for its photoshoot
No diva could have received a better makeover
I cleaned for 7 hours solid
I started by cutting the roses from the garden
I shall miss my roses when I go
I planted the above pink ice cream old English rose in 2006 and its never let me down
Albert oversaw the sparebedroom
Exactly One Year Ago:- a blog entry
All the neighbour's lights have come on .
Walked bulldog in bare feet for last walk of the night. Stepped on frog
Frog screamed
I screamed even louder
Bulldog then swallowed frog
I then screamed again
Off to lie down in a darkened room
Le temps des cathédrales
http://www.pilgrims-way-north-wales.org/index.html and was chatting to Winnie who had been resting heavily by the front gate, with her head on the iron struts.
He was an old man with a Father Christmas beard and a floppy hat who laughed a tinkling laugh when George woofed at him from his hiding place amongst the Welsh poppies.
I went out and we talked a while . He wanted to know the cottage's history and complemented me on the state of the garden then asked why there was a bunch of flowers on the kitchen wall.
I told him I had no idea and popped back to see a bunch of stocks balanced there
" It's a late Birthday gift" I informed the pilgrim
" Oh that's good ," he mused "I thought for a minute someone had had an accident here"
Yesterday, when I was out, the kitchen wall took on another flavour
A cake box with a homemade Bakewell tart inside, was sat next to scotch egg wrapped in foil .
Nearby a neatly wrapped book and a slice of coffee cake sat next to a set of scented candles
I had thirty cards to open too.
It's a thing I do
Counting Birthday cards.
Thank you to everyone who wished me well yesterday. I may not have been the life and soul of any party but I was grateful for the best wishes
I offered the pilgrim a cup of tea which he chose to drink over the garden wall.
He refused a slice of cake.
And I guess he sensed that I wanted to get on as the cottage needs spring cleaning in order to be officially photographed next week, and so he collected his sticks and said goodbye
" God be with you!" He trilled and he tapped Winnie on the nose through the bars of the gate
"And to you sweetie"
She blew a kiss at him as he left
It was only then when I realised what music I had been playing on Spotify as I tidied up
les Temps des Cathedrales blasted out from the open cottage windows
The Age Of The Cathedrals from Notre-Dame De Paris
20 Quid Well Spent
As I was leaving work this morning a booming Hungarian voice sang out
Tank You Tank You Mr Gray, your sausage bloody lovely!"
It was Rita, one of the care workers, and she was slapping her big hands in excitement
My sausage had obviously made her day,
Just as I hoped it would
I must admit now that My sausage was in fact not MY sausage at all, but a mere imposter brought in to save my bacon and to bring a smile on the face of a homesick Hungarian who just loves pig meat
Its not a complicated story.
Now Rita misses her small village in the Hungarian countryside. she misses her family, her family farm and her rural home cured bacon, and so when one day she learned that I used to keep pigs she homed in like an Exocet missile
"You ave pigs?" she asked me excitedly one evening before going off duty "YOU kill your pigs?"
I told her that I used to keep pigs and I had them slaughtered for meat
"I love pig meat! Rita shared, her lips all of a quiver " At home I eat pig meat everyday EV-ER-LY DAY!"
"That's nice!"I replied feeling a bit queasy
But Rita wouldn't let it alone and the sudden prospect of getting her hands on a homemade sausage filled her with excitement that I found rather moving
"I NOW buy from you pig meat!" she announced with that Eastern European directness and because she looked so excited I just didn't have the heart to say that we had eaten all of my pigs' meat years ago now
I promised to bring her some sausage in as a gift
Rita clapped her hands like a big toddler
Yesterday I did just that.....ok I pretended that it was my home grown sausage where it was a local bespoke butcher's finest organic Welsh brand, and OK it cost me 20 quid on the nose
but the look on Rita's face when she said "Sausage Bloody lovely!" WAS WORTH IT!
looking Forward
The cottage will be on the market very soon
I'll put on a link as soon as the official brochures are out
Perhaps one of you will think of buying it!
Mary can't look backwards
Forward is the only way!
Educating Rita
Last night my twin sister and I went to the theatre
It had been a hard day for me and she knew it
So we didn't speak much. We didn't need to.
We sat in the interval eating salted caramel ice cream without chattering too much
and was there to see Educating Rita at Threatr Clwyd loving the towering performance by Stephen Tompkinson as Dr Frank a turn which eclipsed the Rita role quite spectacularly
My sisters have always been my touchstones
Janet and I
More Rain
More rain
In just one week the honeysuckle I planted twelve years ago has started to flower against the front door and the foxglove spikes now are suddenly standing proud and pink in the borders.
The air is filled the smell of grass.
The Churchyard has just experienced its infrequent mow
Through the bedroom window I noticed a woman pointing to the cottage wall. She and a companion shielded from the rain by yellow macs.
They weren't villagers.
I know most of the locals , even when camouflaged by over sized kagools.
I went out to check what they were pointing at
It was a delicate poppy hanging on against the limestone.
The waft of the farm tractors had not managed to dislodge it as yet even though the rain had flattened its petals somewhat.
I photographed it with my phone, just as the two women returned into view.
One of them asked me if I could send her the poppy photo and I did there and then.
"A memory of A Wet North Wales" she said happily
Revolting
and to be honest they have just cause
The cockerels are in full voice from at least 3.30 - 4.30 am and their doodle-doos fill the still airways just before dawn.
Animal Helper Pat amongst others is not best pleased and I have had to distance myself from taking responsibility for them, explaining that they left my one day blanket of care over a year ago now.
They are waking me just as many times as they are waking the villagers
indeed only this morning I yelled a lusty "Shut the fuck up!" out of the bathroom window as I was tinkling in the pan!
it only shut them up for a minute or so.
I am expecting a Day Of The Jackal -esque assassination to be orchestrated any day now
I feel a bit more human today.
Trendy Carol ( who seems to be wearing a New York sporting motif set of outfits recently) called around on Sunday with a full cooked chicken dinner for me which was kindness personified. She even added a small plastic container to the feast which was filled with gravy made all the sweeter from the carrot water! class!
I have also slept deeply (despite the cock noise), which is nature's healer I guess.
Having said this I am back on nights Thurs and Friday so I may need to go out myself to shut the little fuckers up
I am reminded of when one of my cockerels was involved in a hit and run in the lane
one villager ( was it the despot?) in true CSI style chalked the outline of the body for everyone to see
Sweet
.
Off to bed....
Just witnessed the tenderest of moments between an
Aging male Cat with a gammy leg and a juvenile Welsh terrier bitch
They never fail to surprise
Bank Holiday
It was Gridlock on the way home from work
Well it is a bank holiday!
Over midday, I dreamt that Hugh Jackman was making me tea and toast in the kitchen and was sorely dissapointed when I woke up to find some dry, Low Calorie bread in the bread bin and a lone banana in the fridge.
I' m presently watching Battle of Britain in my underpants
Well it is a bank holiday!
Over midday, I dreamt that Hugh Jackman was making me tea and toast in the kitchen and was sorely dissapointed when I woke up to find some dry, Low Calorie bread in the bread bin and a lone banana in the fridge.
I' m presently watching Battle of Britain in my underpants
Laburnam
I fell asleep in a tangle of dogs on the couch last night and only went to bed around 4 am when the fire died completely and the room became still and chilled.
I woke around 9am after a total of ten hours sleep.
I felt sort of refreshed but behind my eyes remained a vague post infection ache that reminds you its there when you turn your head quickly.
I went out in my pyjama clothes to the graveyard to see the laburnum which is almost in full flower, but what I really wanted was to feel the rain without a coat on
Cool rain chases away the aches.
and reminds you
that you are alive.
Sister Kelly's Fishtank
I have felt dreadful over the past two days.......absolutely dreadful!
Last night I was convinced I was dying of sepsis
And this morning I was sick of the sight of feeling dreadful.
Even though, I did, indeed feel dreadful.
What do you do eh?
You get up ,
You wash your swollen face and you go out.
I met a friend in a diner of a local airfield which could only be accessed through a manned gate and high security fencing.
It was atrocious place filled with screaming toddlers, whose parents were probably attracted to the place by the fact that the place was surrounded by fencing which was practically impregnable.
As we sat down, my friend caught me looking round at the main room which looked like a basic office works canteen and then at the outside area with its expanse of tarmacand we both laughed
The laugh is just what I needed
My friend reminded me of a story I told her recently that made her laugh on a bleak day.
A tale tucked away, a misery antibiotic.
It was the story of Sister Kelly's New Fishtank!
Now Sister Kelly ran a very tight ship.
Her long stay ward was always neat and tidy and very clean and her 32 patients were the pick of the most genteel elderly ladies that had been hospitalised in the psychiatric hospital, many since before the Second World War .
The utilitarian tables in Sister Kelly's dining room each had a doily on the top with a vase and flower and hand knitted blankets and throws were laid neatly on the arm chairs.
She took a great pride in how her ward looked and it was run as it looked.
I worked on the male long stay ward next door.
Now one day Sister Kelly was given a magnificent four foot aquarium by some kind soul, and after much filling in forms the aquarium was carried up into her ward and installed in the most prestigious place on her ward , a small alcove right next to her office.
The aquarium was to be her flag ship decoration to a ward that was famous in the entire hospital . And as she arranged a raffle to raise funds for the buying of expensive tropical fish, heaters, filters and other specialist equipment, the hospital newspaper and noticeboards were filled with posters requesting donations to her underwater dream
Hubris, the whole thing smacked of hubris!
Now I knew that Sister Kelley's ward round always took place on a Wednesday afternoon and this was where the consultant and senior therapy staff would partake in tea and cake after the patient discussions.
I rang Sister Kelly's ward right in the middle of that bunfight and left a message for her with an enrolled nurse . The message would, I know be given to the sister by note
The note read
" The Staff and Patients of Irby ward are sending you a donation for your magnificent new fish tank this afternoon, we hope it can be useful"Twenty minutes later we sent two of our most complient patients up to Sister Kelly's ward with the donations
As she opened the ward room door, as the consultant sipped his tea , my patients proudly gave her two buckets of water!
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