Ghoolies

Apologies to the couple walking their dog down Cwm Road this lunchtime
They got more than they bargained for after looking through the lane window

Just making my disguise for the family competition for later

Pride

This is a story about one of my dearest friends
I met her when we worked together on intensive care at my local hospital

Seen in the press today

A 170-strong team of nursing staff have been trained to work in critical care units across North Wales and save as many lives as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The reinforcements have completed a fast-track course supported by Bangor University’s School of Health Sciences, more than doubling the numbers available to work in the region’s Intensive Care Units.

As a result, the upskilled staff are ready to start working on the coronavirus frontline at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan and the Maelor in Wrexham.

A key role in the three-day course was played by a team led by Health Sciences Lecturer and experienced critical care nurse Naomi Jenkins which brings the number of nursing staff available to work in intensive care in North Wales up to approximately 380.

I'm so very proud of her

Thank You

" Siri !!!! what FUCKING DAY IS IT TODAY??"
I asked at 6 am
She told me it was Friday the 30 th of April .
May tomorrow I thought.
Off to work all day today so I need to be brief
Thank you to the Going Gently readers who have supported my hospice by buying one of the new famous Goat tee shirts celebrating our town's new phenomenon of " Goats in the streets!!"

Some people have asked if they can get these tee shirts from overseas and so I rang the hospice PR lass today who said yes the tee shirts will be shipped worldwide!
Link

https://stdavidshospice.org.uk/shop/

Also a big thank you to Fi who nominated us to the Lake District Gingerbread  Company for some free Gingerbread which arrived today! It was lovely

Here is my dear colleague Diane showing off one of the donated packages !!

Soup

Good Morning Siri
Oh it's Thursday today is it? Thank you !
That's good...for I'm at work today!
6am bucket of coffee time

I didn't watch any movies yesterday a first for me
I painted and then started to sculpt my chess set figures out of clay

It was a good nite for tv btw
The Repair Shop ( why is this programme so emotional?) 
And The Great British Sewing Bee
Don't you love Esme?

Yesterday I made far too much soup . I left Hattie some last night when she returned Mary and this morning , before my commute, I will drop a pan off for Marion And John who live in the centre of the village . Marion had a fall a few days ago, something that was picked up and reported upon by the street wardens..the couple have supported the village well over the years

What goes around ......eh?

A Mixed Bag

Hello people!
Siri says it's Wednesday today.
The weather is colder and more unsettled of late, but the wild flowers in the Churchyard which have been allowed to flourish are still looking mighty fine
One of the ponies in the field caused some minor excitement yesterday by getting themselves entangled in the old pig pen fencing in an effort to say hello to a new colt across the lane . Graham the Sheep, knocked on the lane to inform me and in shorts I traipsed across the field to check.
Luckily the mare was ok save for a couple of small cuts which now have been treated
When I returned to the cottage I found a small hand written note in the post box

It was from a villager who wanted me to publish their thoughts on the blog today
A fair point for sure but also one  that perhaps underlines how inward we are all looking at this time .

I'm going to have an art day today. A year ago I bought some acrylic paints and brushes and canvases but didn't use them as I got sidetracked by my journey into pottery ! So I am digging out my inner Nancy Kosinski and will give things a go. A large lump of clay has also been delivered so I can start fashioning my new chess set pieces!!

Clay , paints and pastels 

Homemade soup today will be cauliflower and Stilton
My cottage mates remain well and excited at the prospect

Working long days Thursday and Friday.....been invited to a ' incognito' quiz via Zoom on Saturday night....
I must come in disguise !!!!

What larks pip!!!!

Your Tune

Jamie ,our Choirmaster ( Sans his1940 RAF moustache ) organised a few new sings tonight as well as some trusty old tunes at our choir Zoom
He picked one old favourite from before I joined the choir which caught me unawares, sat at the kitchen table like I was.
He chose Moon River
Now, Moon River , was the music that was played at my wedding . It was always  " our tune" 
And I haven't heard it publically since the wedding
Having it served as a curved ball at choir absolutely threw me.

After a minute or so , I slunk, hopefully unnoticed out of my  Zoom position in the left top corner of the computer screen
And I stood quietly weeping  in the rain, under the honeysuckle by the front door until everyone had finished singing

Over To You.......

What day is it?
Oh thanks Siri .....
It's Tuesday today
Choir meeting later
Only healthy eating for me today
Homemade bread, spicy homemade soup and fruit salad

I saw this lovely snapshot on Hattie's Facebook page yesterday

So my question to you, my readers today is simple

What thing/s makes your day better? 

Just Dance

I've just watched a somewhat awful film noir with Diana Dors in the lead!
So I think it's time for some frivolity

This is bloody great!!!!!
Enjoy xx

Suck my feet

Every Sunday or at least once a week Velvet Voiced Linda sends out a generic text to all of the village street wardens via our Warden App.
In drips and drabs come the 👍🏼😘 , and "all well down Cwm Road" messages until all chicks have chirped a reply to mother hen over in Well Street.
The safety net seems to be working well and there is much talk about a party in the memorial hall once things are over.
But it's not over
And our lives have shrunk so much that tiny snippets of contact or news has become significant and interesting.
Village Elder Islwyn is mowing the new graveyard and it looks as neat as a pin. Sue has removed one of my field  ponies leaving the remaining youngsters whinning into the wind and I moved back into the kitchen when Polish Monika's post toddler daughter dangled herself over the garden wall to try to kiss the bulldogs' heads
What day is it?
I have had to think
I ran out of milk yesterday but watched my films instead of going out.

Wonder

Ship of fools

I watched the Julia Roberts weep fest that was Wonder - the story of a disfigured boy's acceptance into a main stream school after The Guerney Literary and potatoe Peel  pie Society and dove tailed that by the late night classic Ship Of Fools 
A silly late night given my overwhelming tiredness yesterday.

This afternoon, I have fallen asleep on the couch listening to Islwyn's lawn mower
Dorothy has licked my feet spotless and has also gently nibbled my red bunion until I couldn't take it anymore .
Having your bunion nibbled by a bulldog with a tongue the size of a giraffe's is a rare treat!

I talked to my friend Nu yesterday , who reported life on one of London's busiest ITU's has quietened somewhat
And I have read more and slept more than I ever thought possible.
Is it really Monday today?

A Date With The Most Beautiful Man In The World

I went to bed around 11pm last night
I woke at 9 am this morning and took the dogs out.
Then had a lay down again on the bed for a brief moment
I slept heavily until 1pm
When I opened my eyes to see all three dogs watching me carefully with slow wagging tails

I needed to get up.
I have a date booked for this afternoon
Despite lockdown the date was organised at Sainsbury's last night
Our eyes met in the books, magazine and DVD aisle as I was heading for the checkout
His name is Michael and he is Dutch!
I have seen him before several times , but today's date seemed like fate as he looked at me with the floppy haired, brown eyed sweetness of a new puppy.

And so I'm writing this waiting for the date to kick off.
I'm dressed informally ( he likes that) in jogging bottoms and a hoodie.
I have brushed my teeth and but have left my hair muzzy
I think he likes the " muzzy " look!!

I bought the DVD for £5
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society 
It stars Michael Huisman
Who is the most beautiful man in the world

The date will last 2 hours or so
I shall enjoy every minute of it

Tired

I didn't realise just how tired I was tonight.
12 hour shifts , much of them with gloves and masks on can be tiring
Exhausting in fact, especially on a hot day.
I got off early tonight too , because I think I took all the new support workers under my wing and taught them how to take baseline observations.
I can teach quite well.
As Winnie started to kick a selection of her most hated scatter cushions around the living room ,in a fit of temper....instead of typing something interesting on Going Gently 
I fell asleep in my armchair
Still in my uncomfortable uniform .
I've not long woken up
With a dry mouth from snoring

I feel old today

Pride

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/

Notting Hill

Before my I met my husband, I had a relationship with a man that ultimately and simply didn't work
It didn't work intermittently, so lasted in total for several years
Yesterday, I was reminded of the exact moment I knew that relationship was almost over for me
It was a moment that involved Julia Roberts.

My boyfriend, Philip, was a closeted gay man and when I first knew him had been so for many years.
I was a gauche and relatively inexperienced gay  who had just come out to his family and friends so we made for an extremely odd fit from the get go.
I had a big need for acceptance and heteronormality in our relationship
He wanted a romantic relationship but had two lives as well as two properties, one in the city and the other in the Lake District
He shared his left between Sheffield and countryside, and straight and gay lifestyles were interwoven between houses
It was a relationship doomed from the start.

But I was mostly desperately hopeful it would work.

I remember meeting him on one Friday afternoon to go to the cinema
I had wanted to see Notting Hill for a while and had  a weekend off
He finished work early so we could go and see it near MeadowHall a famous shopping centre and cinema complex
I was looking forward to a weekend together but before we even sat down in the cinema he informed me that he wanted to drive to his second home after the film for some " time out"

A love story was perhaps a wrong choice for a film that day.
But when I look back, it proved to be somewhat cathartic, for me , more than Philip
The film, as we all know,  is a light comedy in which Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are sympathetically charming as gauche bookshop owner and needy Hollywoid star and the wonderfully
Schmaltzy ending had me weeping buckets even then,

Romantic films have a power all of their own, and this is especially true when the audience identifies with the story and invests in it , and by the last scene of the pregnant Anna Scott sharing a bench with her husband in a blissful study of coupledom, I was almost overwhelmed by the insatiable need to have my own  Notting Hill moment.

I remember walking out of the movie with our hands touching.
We were quiet and emotional and filled with the romance of the moment
" I feel as though I shouldn't go back to the Lake District !" Philip said quietly as we approached  his car
" Well don't ...stay here!" I remember saying , trying very hard to play down that moment so close I was to tears.
He dove back to the Lake District moments later
And I stood at a tram stop for home
And I knew then that the relationship would never work,
and at a moment in the near future ,would be over

Whitty, Christine and Bryn , Morning cockerels and the Church bell

I like The chief medical advisor Chris Whitty 
He is quiet, to the point and clear in his advice and his ideas
He has credibility and gives bad news without apology .
He's done well

What day is it today? I wasn't sure at first
Mind you one of the  cockerels had perched himself inside the open bathroom window at 5.02 am this morning and filling his lungs cock a fucking doodle doo-ed at full blast .
I thought I had just been electrocuted
Lucky for the little bastard , he managed to dodge several thrown bottles of bath gel and shampoo before he escaped into next door's garden but I did manage to give him a sharp smack on the arse with an almost empty bottle of listerine mouth wash

I never got back to sleep.
So I've been watching my phone from under my duvet
The Trelawnyd Street Warden's Social app has been rather frenetic today after Tim ( "Tim, Tim smart and not dim") , found out that our Church Bell mechanism has frozen and there has been much talk about how to get it freed up so that the bell could be rung at the  8 pm Thursday thank you to front line workers.
Even former Church Warden Christine Davis rang me up with some ideas to help which was kind.
Christine and hubby Bryn have just moved out of the village and will I am sure be missed by many of the villagers as both have been pivotal to village life and its activities for many years.
At the moment the group is trying to source a cherry picker!
How exciting

I'm back to work tomorrow and have booked the dog walker for the girls
after very early walks this morning we all went back to bed and watched the first episode of The Great British Sewing Bee recorded from last night.
It's what we all need at the moment
Nice people, doing nice things , with nice fabric
Nice........

Mark , one of the contestants !!! Cute as his buttons 

Zoom

Thank goodness for Zoom
The app is doing mighty fine in this time of isolation
Even in this tiny part of Wales
Tonight my family got together for a simple quiz
Nothing showy
Nothing flash
A child reading the questions out
A funny wisecracking nephew
A surprise of a decorated toilet roll as first prize!!
It was lovely
I love my family

 

Yesterday the Choir met and sang a much loved African song about a hypochondriac !
We clapped and sang and as always it was a bunfight of noise and chatter and giggles about silly things, brief personal news and of course of   Lindi's Charlie
( Charlie is in fact a dog!) 
I love my choir 

Speaking of dogs Hattie called around for some more  "Mary Time" today
I feel this could be the start of a new business venture

A Dog For All Seasons

I got up in a right grump this morning
I had florid dreams about a whole new cast of The Walking Dead and how they were fighting in a brave new world.
Covid related no doubt.
Last night I wasted too many hours of TikTok videos .
It's a new phenomenom to me.
Entertaining but vapid
I feel somewhat unsatisfied today

And so I've kept busy. The little yellow chair in my little yellow living room was marked and needed a shampoo. I had covered it but Mary's in season spotting had found its target and it was bloodstained
In a divorce you don't get maintainance for the pets!
And any spare money has had to be put towards solicitors' fees rather than spent on a bitch's hysterectomy which is something not covered by insurances, so it has taken me months to put aside a few hundred pounds towards the operation costs, an operation booked for the beginning of this month.

After washing the upholstery I spent a satisfying hour cutting Mary's hair on the garden wall.
Great lumps of Black and Tan fur wafted up the lane like miniature tumbleweeds only to be snapped up by the wood pidgeons and hedge sparrows who are busy nesting in the Churchyard .


Dogs hate having their hair cut.

I always think that they look guilty or shamed

Apparantly the Church bell's mechanism is stuck fast , so there will be no ringing of it tomorrow evening unless it can be freed up. A couple of the villagers are looking into the borrowing of a long ladder.

I've cleaned the car, made bread and after my sister dropped off some sweat pea seedlings, and bedding plants did some gardening with the cottage windows wide open in order to hear the dulcet tones of Paul Schofield in A Man For All Seasons running on Sony classics

Flowers in the kitchen window 

And facing the sun I. The living room 

Family Quiz on Zoom tonight

Lazy Arsed Video

I've been asked to show just how I get to talk to so many passing characters in Trelawnyn, so here is a lazy arsed video showing anyone interested just " where stuff is!!!" 

I only know it's Tuesday today because Hattie reminded me it was choir meeting at 6.30pm Tonight.

Questions in a postcard ...

A dog heals a tired soul

I had fallen asleep in the armchair of my yellow living room when a call came over the kitchen wall
It was well past 6 pm in the afternoon!!, I had been asleep hours
I answered it wearing just one croc and with dribble down my t shirt.
Luckily Hattie is made of Sterner  stuff than most .
She wanted  and more importantly needed Mary's company
The little terrier the ideal panacea to awful corona ward shifts at the hospital.

We we chatted I told her of the village street Warden app obsession with the Elon Musk's satellite watch from last night that had wardens around the village ( and indeed the night staff from my hospice) all watching the skies to see the 44 strong satellite train scooting across the Welsh sky at 10pm last night
She said she would have a look at the skies again tonight

But all she really wanted was a friendly supportive chat and a daft dog to spoil and to cuddle and to walk quietly with
And Mary is the ideal foil for stress.
It was lovely to see them both walking down the lane together

   

Night shift 1.31 am

Well it stops me from eating on night shift

Twittering

Blogging is much more labour intensive than instagram and twitter

I've just realised .......#dumbbastard
This I what I would have twittered today

• I must be getting used to lockdown because I now realise that The Archers are now not on a Friday night.# duh
• The aquilegia are flowering in the front garden and I've only just noticed....it's not like I have been away on holiday or anything.#pissboringcomment
• I've just bought myself an expensive new wallet on line.....what possessed me ? I think I have been watching too many reruns of Sex and The City ....#who do I think I am ?# Fucking Carrie Bradshaw...# Sarah Jessica Parker #silly money
• Someone I kind of know told me they found me attractive yesterday...I don't really believe them#postdivorceblues
• What am I missing most at this moment of the lockdown ? An empty cinema and a good afternoon film #irony#I lovethestoryhouse
• Our Hospice has just had a gift from a local school PPE visors # thankyou Ysgol Y Creuddyn #really???#REALLY????
• Trump allows some Florida beaches to open #arsehole
• I made myself a fruit salad for my supper tonight as the more than welcomed food parcels from  the village have played havoc with my underware waistlines #fatbastard
• Was going to record PhamtomofTheOpera on tv last night but realised I had already seen it on Broadway # gayboyshowoff
• Big up to Vikrim who sorted my life insurance out whilst he was working from home today# aviva good service #bad compnnection# hetoldmetostaysafe
• Caught Winnie showing walkers down the lane her " poorly" leg but was in fact showing them the wrong one! #fatbastarddramaqueen

What would your twitter comment and # follow up be today!!!!!!??????