This scene from the lovely gay themed film Pride has a resonance with me
It’s not rainbows covered with sparkles
It’s underplayed and emotionally real
And speaks a lot for acceptance and friendship
Happy gay pride month xx
Postscript
I’ve just read the last post and bored myself.
I omitted my conversation with Animal Helper Pat which was a natural world ‘s masterclass.
She is a mine of information on plants and trees and wildlife and gave me an impromptu lecture of Elm Die Back and the recent visits by two great spotted woodpeckers to her garden bird table.
She looked animated and bright eyed.
I enjoyed it.
I told her I hated painting .
She said she preferred wall papering
The ceiling in the bedroom has now been painted a jasmine White and now looks fresh and clean and inviting. I’ll start on the walls tomorrow.
I’m sore, so walked the dogs at five to limber up and then potted up roses, geranium and petunias to excite the patio.I’d bought the geraniums to liven up the planters up near the village bus stop but the Papworths have beaten me to that one. They have also weeded and replanted the pretty small flower bed next to the church which was kind.
Tonight I’ve cut honeysuckle and the iceberg roses from the front garden which both smell wonderful in the kitchen.
I’m going to chill out later with Dorothy licking my feet as I read Prince Philip’s biography , which is an eye opener.
Painting
I’m painting my bedroom……It hasn’t been touched for 15 years
I fucking hate painting…..but it has to be done.
Sailor John and Mandy from next door have had the right idea. They have gone off with their canoe,
It’s hot, humid and sunny despite the forecasts.
Every time I spy a local, I’m finding myself making an excuse to go and talk.
Animal Helper Pat has not long stopped.
It’s amazing just how much you can cram into a conversation when you are stopping yourself from doing something you hate.
A Birthday and a Tattoo !!!!!!
It’s my sister Ann’s birthday tomorrow .
The family met up today for a long lunch in her garden which was lovely
Both my sisters have a talent for gardening.
We shared our respective news over baby lamb chops
I didn’t tell them about the tattoo.
Oh, I haven’t told you lot either have I ?
Well I’m having a tattoo….
You can blame Gorgeous Dave if you like, for after a night out with him, during which he shared with me his recent booking for his tattoo, I hatched my plan to have one myself.
And all in a good cause
I will be having a tattoo in a fund raiser for my hospice.
I will publish details of how to sponsor me ( if anyone is interested) at a later date
But I will leave you with an illustration of what the tattoo will look like
Yes it’s classy and very small…it’s one of the Llandudno goats..an emblem that saved the hospice this year
In The Heights
It grew in me, but I wasn’t blown away by it
This just about underlined what I thought about Lin Manual Miranda’s intensely personal production of
In The Heights.
Now you could tell from the get go that this sprawling depiction of Miranda’s home “town” of Washington Heights , the Latina quarter of New York, was going to be a nostalgic homage to a diverse community which is longing for home or indeed desperate to escape it but, for me despite the colour, the huge flamboyant set pieces and the rhythms, it was all a bit too much.
Anthony Ramos
Having said this, the cast was impeccable. Anthony Ramos is an instantly lovable leading man and Melissa Barrera and Leslie Grace stand out as two twenty something women who are both trying to forge themselves a place in a city who still view latina women as nothing more than waitresses and maids .
Olga Merediz also shines, reprising her stage role as the quarter’s gentle natured matriarch Abuela , an old lady who has never forgotten the poverty of her homeland of Cuba.
Enjoyable. Energetic and Occasionally stunning, it’s well worth seeing……
But I wasn’t blown away .
Olga Merediz
It was nice to go for supper late in a restaurant overlooking Bridge Street and watch the world stagger by
Big thank you to the Storyhouse front of house who gave me one of her bespoke masks when I forgot mine
Wild Flower Meadow
I’m meeting a friend later for cinema (In The Heights) and supper in Chester.
Today I need to buy my sister a birthday gift, but before that I will just have to share of a blissful half hour I have just had lying in the graveyard.
Village Elder Islwyn’s manicured lawn, the prospective resting place of many of the village people , has burst into colour after the recent rain.
A whole plethora of wild flowers have burst forth through the green turf. Crowfoot and self heal, creeping cinquefoil, daisy, buttercup and red and white clover
It looks quite beautiful close up
I would heartily recommend any Trelawnyd-ite to come to St Michael’s right now
And lie in the grass of the Churchyard
Theatre In The Afternoon
Thank the lord I’d arranged to meet up with Chic Eleanor for an afternoon at the Theatre. This time we went to see the bleak comedy play For The Grace Of You Go I by Alan Harris.
It was a powerful and rather interesting piece which explored how Jim, a man with profound mental health issues, copes with his production line job and life by viewing things through the eyes of a film director, inspired by the weekly film club he attends.
I loved the fact that in an audience of say just 20 people Eleanor had the total lack of self consciousness to be able to give the actors a standing ovation .
“ Darling Please tell the actors they were absolutely wonderful “ she told an usher as we left
The usher promised he would , and beamed from under his mask
Apologies
I’m usually very responsible when taking the girls for a walk
Mary is always on a lead, and Dorothy who returns to me as soon as I click my fingers is leashed whenever a dog she doesn’t know looms into view or a cyclist appears on the walkway we venture down daily.
I didn’t see the man happily eating his bag of crisps this morning
It was raining softly and I had my head down
He was sat back, away from the path and was obscured by long wet grass
But Dorothy saw him.
Moments later all I heard was yelling
“ FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” the voice bellowed
Dorothy shot passed me with a cheese and onion Crisp bag in her mouth and moments later a middle aged man in grey jogging bottoms thundered out onto the path
Sans crisps, he stood there, red faced with two perfect and very muddy bulldog paw prints on each thigh of his joggers, then stormed off with my ineffectual and perfuse apologies ringing in his ears.
Pointy Breasts
Just seen an intelligent 2 handed play at Theatr Clwyd ....A Splinter Of Ice
With Oliver Ford Davies as Graham Green and Stephen Boxer as Kim Philby discussing their mutual past lives and connections ...lovely to be back in the main auditorium even though there was were only 100 people in the 569 capacity theatre
It was a quality piece
But I have to admit that when I got home , I tuned into the 1964 Uk Thriller
The Earth Dies Screaming with robots, and zombies and the apocalypse set in middle England on tv
And I Loved it
Lots of sexist screaming and massively pointy breasts
Tomorrow
Came across this video at breakfast
It’s living in my head rent free now
I’m pottering today. The weather has changed drastically, and so I’ve kept the outside jobs to a minimum.
I’ve bought paint. A warm navy for the walls of my bedroom and a soft ivory for the vaulted ceiling and walls.
And I’ve started Giles Brandreth’s biography of Prince Philip which is rare for me for I don’t do royal biographers.
I’m going to the theatre tonight alone to see the cold spy drama A Splinter Of Ice
Thank you Megan
“ I’m not mad at you I’m mad at the dirt”
“Are you having a sale? “ Mrs Trellis asked over the garden wall, her watery blue eyes were twinkling
She pointed to the small yellow arm chair and the living room rug which sat sunbathing on the lawn.
She was the third person to make such a joke this morning
Indeed, one Walker asked if I was selling the chair which she said was “ Ever so cute”
I’ve placed cushions and throws all about the garden on bushes and walls.
There is nothing better for a doggy household to deodorise things than to place them in full sun
I’m spring cleaning today. No theatre, no friends, no cinema , just carpet cleaning, proper hot water washes on the paintwork and five loads in the washing machine.
I find cleaning very therapeutic , which is all well and good when you share an 17th Century cottage with 2 dogs, a cat and a log burner. Of course having a new dyson hoover and carpet cleaner help, and I’m such a sad bastard that I always “ look” at the amount of vacuumed detritus whenever I’ve given the living room a good going over.
There is something very satisfying in inspecting the fluff amount!
Am I the only one that does this?
Again, I realise I am a sad bastard
Doors and windows are open wide letting bird song, and the scent of honeysuckle into the cottage as well as Mrs Trellis’ old lady's “ You hoo!!! “
It’s warm and sunny
And it’s a joy to be home
Visiting
All of my Welsh terriers have visited my patients at some time or another.
They possess a stillness about them when around people who are poorly or distressed that is interesting to compare to the rambunctiousness shown by the bulldogs who greet everyone as though they are the centre of everyone ‘s world.
Today I went into work for fire training and I took the girls with me.
Dorothy had to be left watching at the patient’s door , but Mary, as requested sat patiently in an arm chair next to the hospital bed and watched the patient carefully.
Moments later, and with permission she jumped lightly onto the bed and carefully lay down between the patient’s legs, her head resting on a tummy, and there she lay her big brown eyes watching the frail rise and fall of a chest underneath the patchwork quilt.
I couldn’t of been more proud of Mary as I was watching her lying quietly with that patient this morning.
Treat
Lovely night
Big gay quiz tonight , which was a big laugh
We came 2nd
Bought Peony bouquet for kitchen window
Lovely
Whipping Boy
I never really got on with my father.
I’ve written about this fact before
He died in 1989
Before I was fully cooked, so,to speak
Just a few years ago I learned that my paternal grandfather was a bit of a bully.
He was a dour Scot and used the belt as corporal punishment.
He used it a lot.
Today his actions would be seen as bordering on child abuse.
My father was the eldest of three boys.
And he would always be the one who got a whipping
By stepping up, it would seem that he protected his two brothers, the youngest six years his junior
I never got on with my father,
But, now, I’m approaching my sixties
He’s a bit of a hero of mine.
Role Model
My commute to work varies from 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic.
Usually I relax with the radio and last night I had the pleasure of listening to Radio4 ‘s Fromt Row interview with Ian Mckellen
A year or so ago, I saw McKellen in his one man show and the evening was pure magic as I remember with the old actor relaying old theatrical memories with warmth, humour and delight.
His radio interview was very much the same, with the actor showing his playful and naturally youthful side as he discussed playing Hamlet some 50 years after he first performed the role.
If I had a role model, it would be McKellen. I envy his playfulness and the way he engages people with effortless charm. He is an eternally optimistic and joyful man.
Who is your role model?
FUD
I’m not hungry
Overnight I’ve eaten a homemade chilli stir fry with chicken.
And that’s it
No snacks , no cake, no toast....no anything else except de caffeinated coffee and water.
It’s taken an age but I’m finally found my “ groove” so to speak with my diet .
I knew I would get there, but it has taken an absolute age
My relationship with food has, like it is with so many people , been rather complicated
I comfort eat, that much is a given, but I also really enjoy food, a passion transferred to me from my grandparents who had austere lives when it came to putting food on the table.
Food, to them , was basic , so anything out-of - the - norm was considered a luxury and something to be savoured and thankful for.
Eating with them was always a joy, as everything was finished , everything was enjoyed.
Today I will enjoy eggs on toast for breakfast , fruit at lunchtime ...if I wake up and another chicken stir fry for tea which I will half and finish sometime during the night.
I’m working alongside a woman who is dieting pre wedding, so we are fantasising about scotch eggs with some good humour.
I’ve always said that weight was my last hurdle to “normality” and peace of mind
And I guess ,it is
Sink Bath
Back on night shifts for three from tonight then almost three weeks holiday!
Just caught up with house jobs the best of which is bathing Mary in the sink
Blindness
Dave’s on the right
Gorgeous Dave and I went to the theatre tonight.
We went to see the “ immersive” piece straight from London’s Donmar Warehouse called Blindness.
Based on the novel by Josè Saramago, Simon Stephens has produced a truly unnerving and emotional piece of theatre, where the audience is sat in covid bubbles of two , scattered over the main Anthony Hopkins main stage in near darkness.
Each one of us were asked to wear headphones over which we heard Juliet Stevenson’s savage narration of a doctor’s wife experience of internment by the authorities after her husband and thousands of others are inexplicably turned blind by a mystery pandemic.
Stephens uses tricks of lighting , heavy darkness and the claustrophobia caused by wearing masks in the theatrical space to great advantage and at times when Juliet Stevenson is urgently whispering her fears and observations into your ear, it actually feels as though she is there!
Both David and I were quite unnerved by the whole experience, and rather moved by it.
The sign of a good theatre trip is how much the audience talks about the production afterwards.
And we talked about it all the way home .
Wisteria
My elder sister bought me a wisteria for my birthday with the strict instructions of keeping it well watered and fed with cold tea.
I planted it today and put in an arch over the front gate as Dorothy watched me carefully.
Mary lay on the lawn carefully watching her very own rubber chicken with an obsession previously attributed to Winnie
The arch needs securing to the wall but I rather like it’s height and position over the gate and while the wisteria grows, I added some sweet peas to its base which will fill in the gaps this summer.
Mary couldn’t sleep any closer to her rubber chicken
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