Today’s final treat is a macDonald’s on the way to Chester.
I’m dropping Leo off in Chester so he doesn’t have to brace himself against the vagaries of Aviva trains Wales. It makes going home easier for him.
He’s an easy guest.
Last night after dinner he curled up with his ipad, something horrific called Love Island , and covered in dogs enjoyed his last night here.
It’s been a lovely, slightly tiring weekend, with occasional memories that have stirred up more melancholy memories of days gone by.
The weekend however was Leo’s and not mine. I hope he will continue to laugh at the animal stories shared over long drives. And the two Welsh terriers that never left him alone for a minute.
The cottage seemed quiet on my return, I walked the dogs and collected Hawkbit from the hedgerows which I put in the little IKEA jug I bought years ago
For Leo’s last night we went to dinner to The Goat in Llandudno. Lovely place, and thanks to sister in law Jayne and sister Janet for coming too. Sister Ann and hubby Tim would have been there but are on holiday
Croissants and ham and cheese for breakfast, and although Roger has spent most of his waking time with Leo, it is old lady Mary that seems to have captured his heart the most this visit.
It’s rather moving to see.
Today is Leo’s last here and we are going to Chester today for lunch at the market stalls. Later he will be meeting Janet and sister in law Jayne for dinner at the Goat in Llandudno
It’s a rainy day……after bagels, salami and scrambled eggs we are off to the village Coffee morning ( something that didn’t faze Leo at all event though he was introduced to affable despot Jason and Claire, Mrs Trellis, Bridget, The Manley’s, velvet voiced Linda and Nick, and a score of others
Seeing it’s raining we’re off to the cinema again to see his choice of The Bikeriders
I had to laugh at the premise of A Quiet Place Day One where hospice resident Sam ( a luminous Lupita Nyong’o ) meets up with a man from Kent (Joseph Quinn) in a suddenly alien infested New York .
I work in a hospice and you’re from Kent I shared with Leo during the second reel
He wasn’t impressed, lol
But I was impressed with the movie.
Shot for the most part without dialogue ,
The action ( and there’s lots of it) scares the shit out of you but doesn’t dominate a wonderful lead turn by Nyong’o who plays the terminally ill Sam, with intelligence, dignity and with great presence.
Anyhow it’s been a nice day all told. Leo shared with his friends on Facebook that he’s staying with family in wales which I was moved by.
He’s in bed now, tired after a travelling day, this time with Mary in tow.
I picked leo up at 11 am in Chester and we went for lunch at Bryn Williams, walked the dogs ( who adore him) then chilled for a bit before thinking of going to see A Quiet Place Day One
My nephew won’t give a stuff if the cottage remains a tip for his arrival tomorrow but old habits
die hard and later I will be reverting to my tried a trusted dog snot removal activities.
This morning and early afternoon I’m busy.
I’ve met Chic Eleanor for breakfast and coffee at the impressively refurbed The Red then I will go to MIND to see my counselling client, before shopping and cleaning
Today’s piece from the lisping choir is a particularly difficult one to sing.
It’s a short and quite beautiful choral and one which suits my mood.
Yael, one of the original bloggers who passed in and out of Going Gently for yearshas reluctantly cancelled her blog recently. I thought she had originally changed the privacy settings so only invited readers could access her everyday story of life in Israel for a gentle and thoughtful grandmother, with a big heart.
Sadly I was wrong, she has left for good, because she felt judged and bullied and unheard, feelings non of us would want for her.
I’ve always made it a general ( but not exclusive) policy of mine not to talk politics or current affairs on my blog.
I have learned that the most innocuous of comments can inflame some fucker out there in blogland , so talking about serious subjects that polarise only causes bad feeling, conflict and upset.
Saying that, fairly recently a fellow blogger was surprised that I held a firm and serious view of the plight of the civilian population in Gaza and the role Israel has played in that plight.
I said little here out of respect for Yael , who as an ordinary, frightened Israeli had her very real views on the whole situation.
Now what I’m not saying is that debate should not take place in blogland. Of course it should.
But I think that with my strong beliefs and ideas that come from a place of peace and safety, I should be a little judicious in my sharing, especially if others feel threatened and upset by my words.
Ok why pull any punches? Why not give my views, why not shout and scream and call for sanity?
Well in someways I have . I’ve written and emailed my MP and more , I’ve sent money to an appropriate charity, if I lived nearer London I would have demonstrated more publicly I think.
I hope that I would have anyway…….but…..
There are times to agree to differ, to listen rather than shout the odds.
Now a sweet soul has left a forum she supported with a gentleness and with a genuine concern for others.
Another casualty of this awful war, we all never wanted to see
I’m sending Yael this recording by the lisping choir of Let The River Run with my love and best wishes, I know most of us here are thinking of her
I was up at 2 pm eating a pot noodle and although they taste wonderfully cheap
They are still a meal of the dammed
Soon I will make a decision to come off nights for good.
This may not be practical or indeed possible but like all management quandaries there’s always a pragmatic way around to an agreeable solution.
I walked the dogs and put Swedish IKEA meatballs in the air fryer to cook and returned to bed with the laptop. I love the way IKEA takes the piss out of itself by selling its own meatballs
They are so clever the way they do things .
I checked the village website out
No real news expect someone had dropped a full crate of expensive beer at the top of Bron Haul
Ever cheerful Gwawr informed everyone that it had been cleared up.
Ten days off after tonight. 🤗😎😍😀
I’m ready to hang my nurses uniform up now I think , and for good
No, I’m not talking about the election, though the recent betting Scandal gives you as much confidence as a fart in a spacesuit.
I’m talking about geeky men and their conversations .
I’ve just had an hours worth and as L’Oreal so eloquently put
It WAS worth it.
Now some faghags will understand this phenomenon, as will the spouses of men ( and women) who frequent comic cons, but some people ( mostly men) love to talk shit with other men.
It’s a serious pastime.
I have three male friends I can do this with. Nigel is the friend of choice today and apart from the usual work talk, we galloped around subjects Such as the film The Stars Look Down, serial Killers, minor female characters in Star Trek. How bad Marlon Brando was, in Apocalypse Now and paraplegics we have known .
We had a lovely video chat at my kitchen table
The sun is fierce today and the sky is very blue. It feels like a holiday abroad.
Janet is gardening, it’s nice to hear someone beavering away in the garden.
The cottage feels alive, especially with Roger watching every move she’s making from his vantage point in the window.
I’m on night shift tonight
And I wonder who I am on nights with?
Night shifts are another strange place for talking shite!
We went to Colwyn Bay beach first thing and shared a sausage bap at Parisellas
Roger got over excited which is his want, running at anyone in reach with a determined I love you look upon his face.
It wears thin after a while.
We walked down the Promenade to Porth Eirias which was nose-to-nipple with jet ski enthusiasts. It was all butch types stripped bare to the middle, wet suits a flapping.
Nice to look at but a little bland I thought.
The village has been titivated by the go green group. The exotic sounding Malinka Le Vey has filled tubs and planters with flowers by the bus stops and some other kind soul has titivated the bed near to the Church which still displays delicate yellow Welsh poppies who brave the elements so well.
The community orchard has been strimmed.
I have a long list of requests for Flower Show Flyers and hope to get the first delivered tonight
In the meantime I’m eating lunch before I’m sorry I haven’t a clue
Then I’ll make up my other kitchen chair
Which I did in record time.
I showered the dogs using baby shampoo, then spent almost 45 minutes deep cleaning the shower, before washing the towels used and hanging them on the garden wall.
Animal Helper Pat called around for a flower show booklet and it was nice to chat and gossip with her in the evening sun of the lane
Roger climbed onto the table soon after this photo and smashed the milk jug
Mildred Pierce has always had a gay following. It’s Joan Crawford beating flour stew thickener without even looking as she argued with her husband, it’s Joan Crawford learning to be be a waitress ( and a good one) in a frantic bed tempered restaurant, and it’s Joan Crawford listening to Eve Arden’s sassy manager before getting her eyelashes slapped off her head by the most odious of movie daughters.
It’s a life as improbable as Crawford ‘s shoulder pads that’s why the gays love it so much.
It was worth going to see a restored version at the Picturehouse this lunchtime.
Will from Byron Street came around this morning to repair the roof slates moved by storm isha. Older than me, I was impressed by just how quickly he got up that ladder.
Like a rat up a drainpipe.
It’s almost oppressively warm here, with hazy sunshine lifting the day.
I’m seeing clients this afternoon and have lots to do at home.
Summer may finally be here
Today’s video is of the surprise speech from Princess’s Leonor and Infanta to celebrate the first decade of their parents accession to the throne.
I’ve been booking stuff for us to do, which is easy has he is a total film geek like me so we are going to see A Quiet Place Day One with the glorious Lupita Nyong’o as well as the Theatre Clwyd production of Rope
I’ve also booked us and my family for a meal in The Goat which is a new eatery in Llandudno ( a homage to the Kashmiri Goats living on the Orme) and we have plenty of time to fill in with other movies he wants to see.
Mary is ten years old this month too so it will be nice for Leo to meet with her for the first time, she’s an old gal now. When he was a little boy he visited and bonded with old George so I suspect him and Roger as well as Mary will become firm mates too
The lisping choir completing one of my favourite pieces of music, this time during distancing restrictions , a hard job indeed if you have ever been part of a tight knit choir, and are used to having your fellow harmonisers at elbow distance.
I’m sorry for the quality of Going Gently recently. It feels somewhat disjointed and variable in content ( which it is anyhow to be fair), I think it’s reflecting a slightly misaligned, not too joined up thinking which is me at the moment.
I’m in a neither fish nor fowl frame of mind.
Still a student not yet a counsellor,
But with clients of my own
A part time hospice nurse, just outside the loop,
I’ve had a couple of dates over the past few months, both perfectly nice individuals, all told , but not for me and I’ve decided that being a spinster ( and I like using that epithet , before you open your cakehole troll) is the way forward.
I’ve thought this before
Now I’m embracing the concept.
The Hospice is due to close for a month for some refurbishment in August and a month away will do me some good to re group and redefine
The garden is lending itself nicely with flowers for the cottage. I’m working nights, so today is a catch up day, with washing set out on the bushes and walls and pad Thai noodles being prepared for supper.
I haven’t got much to talk about today, I have a bit of a longing for some excitement again but like most people who crave it, I am a bit of a loss of where that particular itch can be scratched.
The usual election tit-for-tat interviews are boring me
They sound like a divorcing couple scoring points at each other at a boring relate interview. And the more I hear the less I take in.
My father was a big political fish in a small conservative pond.
We were local politics orphans my sister Janet and I
The weather is cool but sunny and the rooks caw loudly from the tops of the churchyard elms
I’m off for a siesta….do the good people of Madrid sill siesta I wonder?
