Covid Week

 

I lost it with the neighbour’s Charlie this morning and shouted across the gardens like a loon

“ Will you shut that fucking dog up ?” 

A pure case of transference , but it has worked for a hour or so.

I’m still symptomatic of covid, and unfortunately it’s been a rather difficult week. I’m still breathless at times even though I’ve spent what feels like hours in a hot shower and under tea towelled menthol infusions .

Nights have proved to be especially difficult .

I can only liken the sensation to be breathing through a rigid and very long tube which is hardened with secretions like amber, where coughs have not the power of the ability to make things clearer.

By rights any ordinary virus would have broken by now into its snotty stage, but my secretions remain like toffee, and I am tired all of the time as well as headachy. 

Occupational health hold me to re LFT test today and tomorrow 

Today’s positive test flashed up in seconds 

And so I’m still isolating .

Ma Manley at the Still House left me some covid tests out this morning as I had run out. 

After I had collected them Mr Poznan cheerfully popped his head in through the passenger door window to say hello and got a shriek of “ Ive got covid!!!” in return .

He’s got a terribly weak heart and looked rather grey after I had bellowed at him.,

Bless him.

This is all a bit tiresome

But I know I’m one of the lucky ones

Sainsbury’s have delivered my food and the sun is shining 

It could have been a whole lot worse.

Bum Test and Roger The Dog

 

Yesterday the new postman left a small package through the open living room window.

“ It’s Your Bum Test !”he informed me cheerfully

He was right. It was my faecal screening test all 60 year olds receive in Wales to test for colon cancer

I’m looking at the test now, as I’m eating a banana that could in fact be a dry tampon for all the taste it’s given me. 

I’ve slept the majority of the day again today and have eaten just one packet of crisps and the said banana

I still have a headache and remain wheezy and breathless but my temperature is not as high as it was yesterday. I still feel unwell , which is irritating .

I heard from Susan, Mary’s breeder today. I have always been in touch since we bought Finlay from her back in 2002 and six welsh and Scottish terriers later we continue to correspond, albeit sporadically . 

A prickly and at times incredibly straight talking woman, I have always been touched that Susan rather likes me, but like me she does 

She trusts me with her beloved dogs, that I know.

Before lockdown I contacted Susan  regarding a new Welsh terrier, seeing that Mary is well over seven now and she was sad and apologetic. The soaring prices of puppies troubled her and at that time she had no plans to breed.

I understood her sadness, the silly prices of puppies probably sickened her 

Today , when I emailed her, I was surprised by her news.

She had the perfect puppy for me , well a choice out of two of different ages and both within my realistic budget .

And in a few weeks time , when things have settled down, a “good natured and benign”  Roger will be joining the ranks at Bwthyn y Llan 

Thank Fuck For The Vaccine

I’ve eaten my words today. 

Thank goodness I didn’t get to Rome suffering from covid 

I’ve spent most of the last 48 hours in bed. 

35 degrees with a bad chest could have been lethal. 

I’m mindful of my place in the covid demographic, 

It’s sobering

It wasn’t meant to be , I’m sorry Rachel .

I got up early this morning , put broad beans, a little chilli, garlic, ginger and stock into the slow cooker and after walking the dogs went back to bed. 

And apart from toilet stops there I have stayed until 9 pm.

The soup was like eating gruel, so I gave up

Late to the party I’ve  completely lost my sense of taste and smell too.

The girls and Albert followed me around the garden as it was getting dusk and watched me carefully as I cut long blooms from the leggy Nepeta by the gate. I collected a nice bunch which  I put into a glass of water  and placed it on the fire mantle. 

That about finished me off,

Even that small exertion made me feel breathless 

And tired

Which is sobering again 

Thank fuck for the vaccine 

I feel Shit

 

Sod’s law ….

Rent Free In Your Head

 I hate it when people say something “ wasn’t meant to be” if a plan doesn’t come off 

Of course it was meant to happen.

It just didn’t .

I’m full of the first proper cold I’ve experienced in three years.and so yesterday I licked my disappointed wounds mostly in bed, with vicks rubbed on the soles of my feet and slept most of the day and all of the night. 

My sister, Janet called up this morning and completed my birthday garden makeover. She observed that my chest cold couldn’t have done well in the 35 degree heat and fumes of central Rome and she was right of course. 

I’m wheezing like a fat walrus.

I made a spicy katsu curry with salmon and coconut cream and tidied the cottage as it simmered with lashings of coriander . The neighbours commented on the lovely smell.

I couldn’t eat it when it was cooked

More lemon water for me

My friend Ruth sent me a photo of her minuscule static caravan toilet in a successful effort to lighten the mood. The toilet was so small that I had to back into it slowly like an articulated lorry backing down an ally and when one of Ruth’s Findhorn friends asked how I was coping with the rather “rustic” arrangements I kind of shocked her by describing using the loo as 

“ lowering a family sized jelly onto an eggcup”

I will leave you with that visual

Fed Up

 I’m fed up today.

I don’t feel well either, which I know is probably a part of being fed up. 

Two mini holidays ruined in just two weeks.

I’ve messaged Trendy Carol and asked if the girls can stay a bit longer and then went back to bed.

I’ve only just got up again and ate, somewhat ironically, a thin Italian style from the freezer.

I’m returning to bed shortly 

Paradise By the Dashboard Light

I’m not travelling again by plane for a while. My next trip is not until Oct! The message that our flight was cancelled was given by an unfortunate red faced airport worker flanked by two policemen at our boarding gate. 

Look on the Ryan Air App was their only advice 

I’ve not long got home.

Gorgeous Dave is a calm soul but even he was a little disappointed ( note the sad eyes) 

We sang Paradise by the dashboard light on the way home which was fun

I emailed Fabio ,on night shift at Hotel Prati  even he was disappointed 

Fat Rascal

 I wrote today’s blog early this morning but felt dissatisfied with it

This is a quick, insipid blog filler.

Four fat Rascals were delivered  today

I’ve put them in the freezer to be enjoyed on an autumn evening with a nice cup of tea

It’s hot and humid and I haven’t packed yet.

Off to Rome later

No Chatter

It’s warm, almost hot again today but with a breeze.

I’m happy to be alone today. 

I don’t want to chat or talk.

I have spoken to Gorgeous Dave and have finalised arrangements for tomorrow. 

Out of all of my friends he’s probably the most easy going so things will be fine.

Apart from him, I don’t really want to talk to anyone else.

I walked the dogs early when it was cooler and picked up my antibiotic prescription . 

But I was happy to return home. Dorothy is sleeping on the back patio . Mary is dozing in the front window, with one eye out for flying insects, things she most obsessed with .

From time to time, I can here the snap of her jaws as she tries to pluck a bluebottle from its flight. 

I’ve got paperwork to do, the lawn needs a cut and I’m going to play with my sister’s birthday pressie , the   Concertinaed garden hose, as the flower beds are so dry. 

But apart from that I’m just going to potter

All is ok with the world 

As long as no one wants to chatter

In The Office

 My office window is full of houseplants. 

They shield me from the view of the nasty new cottage behind Bwthyn y Llan 

I’ve been meeting my fellow students on line this morning. 

I start my counselling course in September.

I particularly liked the look of two of them. 

Kind faces, nice way about them.

I had to sneak off for a few minutes as there was an urgent knock at the door, One villager I know was having a bit of a panic attack and suddenly needed to go to the next village for a prescription. 

We have just arrived back all calm. 

Calming panic attacks is something I do well…I have the boring voice for it.

An old friend is coming to lunch in half an hour and so I’m making her a chicken and mango salad to eat outside in the sun. 

I’m catching up with another friend later. 

But I said I won’t be eating or drinking alcohol if I go out. 

I want to lose some weight 

I have always been chunky but once in the groove that is healthy eating I can shed the pounds like a good un…..my downfall is shift work where discipline goes out of the window when tiredness and apathy take over. 

( and before the lectures start , I don’t begrudge my haggis and black pudding breakfast in Findhorn the other morning….it was bloody lovely) 

Before my guest arrives, I’ve managed to book tickets for a guided tour of the Colosseum for Saturday. Fabio the concierge from our hotel suggested it.  We have been corresponding by email for weeks now like clandestine lovers. He works the night shift and likes to add to his emails, little flourishes of interaction , such as “ John ! You are emailing late this evening” and “ I hope you are not flying easyJet, always a poor service given” 

I may be a sad sack and send him a Christmas card…..

I feel happy today. Happy that things seem to be clicking into place. 

My nephew has just informed me that the Dr Who experience ,I had  treated him to in between comic con visits was cancelled ….I’ve booked us to see My Fair Lady instead which will be nice as neither of us has never seen it. 

I’m so pleased, I thought I might have been all Sci fi-ed out! 

Getting Home

This story is not an exaggeration ….for sure…it’s all pretty true 

Honestly …..for sure 

The plane journey from Inverness to Manchester Airport  was a delight…..though our single steward was a moody bastard.

I was off the plane first and literally 7 minutes later was walking down to the train platforms where various  uninterested staff shouted over that all the trains into Manchester had been cancelled because of an “ incident” 

All passengers were directed onto a unknown quantity of a Manchester tram system.

It was chaos for only a handful of people knew what to do.

Hundreds of people crammed onto the handful of trams .

I knew I needed to be at Piccadilly so rang my friend Nigel in nearby Stockport for help .

He told me where to go which was completely different to what a very loud young mother with a baby in a pram was telling everyone . She wanted to go to Preston eventually and had a big following to keep on to Victoria because she was confident and loud….she went on to Said stop  , where as I, following  Nigel’s advice  jumped off at Market Street

It was like a disaster movie 

Me and a young, sturdy legged student physio from Helsby led the charge. An Asian chap from Chester who kept saying that he was taking Tuesday off sick followed with  , a retired professor from Bangor ( who had just been to Nice with her daughter ) they were then followed a couple of trendy tattooed girls who knew where they were going followed by an old rather bemused and a bit tipsy couple from Cheshire with too much baggage. 

And we galloped across central Manchester for Piccadilly

It was obvious that the old couple was slowing us up , so the trendy girls and Asian chap took control of their luggage and as a group we managed to get to Piccadilly with 12 minutes to spare.

Piccadilly was in chaos 

But eventually the unnamed physio,  Bangor Prof Caroline, The Asian chap ( who I found out was called Sidharth ) and Hilary and Howard from Frodsham who was still helped by one unknown trendy gal with tattoos all made it more or less home .

What fun lol

People come up trumps when needed

Don’t they ?

A Thought or Two

 

This morning Ruth went back to work in the greenhouses and I took myself down the coast towards the village of Findhorn. 

I go home this afternoon.

I wanted to see red squirrels in the pine trees skirting the sand dunes but only managed to see the pointed heads of a couple of seals well beyond the surf .

The Findhorn Foundation has been an interesting experience.

Like everything in the modern world  the community has had to evolve in covid times, with redundancies hitting the staff hard during lockdown and a change  from volunteer staff in key positions to salaried staff who have pensions, bills to pay and corporate ideals to juggle alongside the foundations’ community beliefs and shared objectives for personal growth and a healthy lifestyle. 

I can see the appeal.

There is a warmth and a camaraderie here, even though two of the main public meeting ( and community eating buildings )were set alight and destroyed last year by a disgruntled ex employee, there is still a sense of community very much evident. The new corporate, eco friendly and expensive private housing lies a stones throw from the huts and caravans where I slept last night and in one of a beautifully appointed rental house, I was invited into, I spied a 50 inch Tv alongside the homegrown plants and eco friendly decor .

Findhorn is like any community. You take from it what you want to but unlike every community there is a lot going on at the get go.

That is part of its strength and a little of its weakness, I think 

For its easy to forget the real world that lies beyond the Sandhills, and out of sight of the pine trees and the hobbit houses almost hidden away in the glades of wild flowers.

Beach Day

 It’s been a mostly beach day today.

After a fat bastard breakfast which included a slice of the most delicious haggis, we had a tootle around an art gallery at Logie Steading before settling down over looking the Moray Firth 

An Evening In The Community

 A strange , hypnotic shuffling Mexican dance troupe LostheUltramar took over the community this evening .

Drank beer and followed their odd Latino rhythms until it finally started to rain

Scandi Noir

As it turned out it was fortunate that we were delayed last night. 

Only twenty of us caught the shuttle up to Inverness so over a nice coffee and “ just one biscuit” we all found ourselves looking at the clouds in a strange , almost ethereal twilight where the clouds heaved up and down like a vast dark ocean above a sky of blue and pink and orange.

It was simply….stunning, 

I can’t describe just how beautiful it was, I really can’t. 

Anyhow, Ruth is part of the famous Findhorn Community (https://www.findhorn.org/) here

And is spending her time gardening in the allotments and poly tunnels as she heals after the death of her mother. She knows the foundation and many of the community well and lives a simple life in a 1970s Scandinavian-sequel caravan deep in the woods, not far from the sea.

I do feel that I’m on a TV set of the scandi thriller and am just waiting for “Helmi”to be walking past, donned in a beautifully knitted  top and platt to die for. 

The place is silent save for the roar of the wind.

We are going to some sort of dance festival this afternoon and soon I will help Ruth check the poly tunnels and greenhouses before we have breakfast in the cafe and a walk down to the sea.

 

Airport

 

A nice day to be off to the airport

I’ll add to the blog later

It's later...6pm to be exact

My flight has been delayed until just before 10pm. Terminal three is crowded but buzzing

and I'm finding it all more exciting than not

Ask me again in 4 hours time and I may of changed my mind

I'm people watching and listening and I'm spoilt for choice

Ps blogger help has been very useful re identity of recent troll activity 

Just saying

Date Night

I’ve just had a date.

It ended with a snog which was nice

A bloody good snog by my front door, underneath the blackbird nests.

When we parted he cupped my cheek with his hand for a moment 

The first time anyone had done that in a long long time 

A gentle but serious gesture 

And it moved me greatly.

Top Gun 2 Lumbago and flatulence

Miles Teller and his acting moustache 

Last night , I met up with my sisters, brother in law, nephew, great nephew and sister in law for a trip to the cinema.

Everyone is banging on about TopGun 2 so we all thought we’d go

I never wanted to see Top Gun way back in 1986, so I wasn’t bothered to sit through a 2 hour rehash of American Jingoism with veiled homoerotic moments and slow motioned long looks into middle distance.

But I went

Some of it was exciting enough, I must admit.

 I did like Goose’s son ( Miles Teller)’subplot with Maverick ( Ton Cruise at 60) he was nicknamed Rooster and their father and son bonding at the end was suitably moving.

Sad not to see Kelly McGillis not reprising her love interest role from the first movie…..unfortunately for Hollywood she looks every inch her 64 years ( how dare she?) and would never have been given screen time….

Anyhow it was Glossy rubbish and

It was nice to see the family . I joked with my sister in law, as we were leaving  that we all should have our own nicknames like the characters in the film….

“ What would they be “ she quipped “ Rheumatism, limper, Lumbago and flatulence “, 

Guess who was flatulence?

Bonnie ……

I’ve booked to fly to the Highlands of Scotland on Friday. 

I’ve got cheap ( and hopefully working ) tickets to Inverness 

I’m catching up with my hospice friend Ruth , who has gone to the Highlands in order to heal after the death of her mother. She has returned to a sort of commune community who share farming allotments and poly tunnel food and produce. 

I am welcome to join her in her lovely forest hidden caravan if I help out with work

A duck to water , I thought. 

Yesterday a rather lovely troll suggested that my itchy feet was infact a nail in my marriage’s coffin which seemed a bizarre suggestion for sure. 

I think my steadiness was a factor if the truth be known . 

Steadiness can be boring, I understand that 

Steady and strong for some…..boring for others

So when I get my itchy feet from now on

I intend to scratch them both .

And so it’s Scotland next week then Rome. In August it’s Ireland and London and in September it’s Barcelona and  London again  .I’ve also got Berlin to fit in with my friend Jane before winter too …..

Christmas I’m thinking of doing something different too……

Next week I have the interview for my counselling course and in three weeks I go part time….

I feel like a mole sat in front of an open fridge door…..At midnight 

I’m blinking hard 

Honeysuckle Around the Door.

 

Albert has sat in the front living room window with his head cocked to the right for most of the morning

From time to time his teeth chatter

It’s a cat’s way of expressing excitement 

Secreted inside the honeysuckle which has cascaded over the front door sit two female blackbirds. One on eggs the other on chicks. In another nest higher up is a sparrow mother and deeper in the cover lies another nest but I haven’t seen it’s occupants as yet although the path outside is covered in bird droppings.

Four avian families in one place .

I’m thrilled

Its like Rear Window with birds.

In the brief sun that caught the front of the cottage around nine, the air was filled with the sound of hundreds of honeybees visiting the scented flower heads, their buzzing, even louder than Albert’s purring as he splashed drool on the back of the Trendy blue sofa.

Today I’m going to decide if I’m going away for a few days .I’ll probably go on Thursday as my sister has invited me to see Top Gun tomorrow and it’s Choir today. I’m open to any experience as long as it’s away.

I need to be away , if that makes sense 

I need not to be here