Something is up!

 Roger knows something is afoot.

I caught him looking up the stairs yesterday with a quizzical look upon his face. 

I heard a bump, but it was faint and he did too, trying to locate the noise with a tilt of his head.

Undaunted he ran into the garden and woofed, unsure of exactly what he was wooing at 

The kittens have been vocally quiet so far. 

It feels like there is a game of hide and seek going on. 

Earlier, when I was sat on the loo, Roger followed me into the bathroom, searched it ( including my underpants) then put his nose under the spare bedroom door, where he inhaled loudly 

I think the kittens must have held their breath for satisfied he threw himself down the stairs again in a knot of tan uncordinated legs in order to search some more.

Mary is too middle aged to bother with such hysteria.

I never had all this when Albert arrived 

Or did I ?

Study

 

A day in the library then night Shift.

I will add to the post later

Eyes

 

Four little eyes shining from the dark interior of the cat carrier.

Weaver, like her namesake is curious, precise and careful. 

Her younger sibling is shy and smaller and slightly incontinent 

I have kept her original name of Beans as I think it suits her better

They have their own bedroom, which is locked 

I will give it a good 24-48 hours before introductions are made

A Thought

 

Stand and Be Counted

 It’s been a catch up sort of day. I need to start an essay but typically found myself collecting flower show schedules, sorting Show bits and bats out and talking to villagers. 

The exotic Melinka LeVey sadly recalled the death of her poorly dog, the one who had a small pram all to his own, Village Leaders Ian and Helen have just had a holiday and Mr Jones is still finding his wife’s admission to a local nursing home incredibly difficult. 

I spent a long time with him, as he looks so lost 

Jo ( with the three whippets with 11 legs) showed me her latest pencil drawing of an Otter which was a  truly beautiful piece of work and Mrs Trellis told me that she planned to defend a local Muslim centre if any silliness kicked off, on the back of the nationwide reaction to the stabbing of the children in Southport 

Nice one Mrs Trellis…..nice one 

Old Man

 I cannot abide people behaving badly in public

Men can be lumbersome and stupid when drunk but women, can be just as bad in their own way and can infuriate me more by hiding behind their sex.

Last night before getting home, the sanctuary and quiet of an intercity train was broken by joining aviva trails wales. 

It’s like the Wild West.

A large good natured hen party got on the train and the crowded carriage grew loud with squeals and laughter. 

That was mildly annoying but acceptable, it went with the flow but as the hen party separated into two groups, one younger faction joined a load of Irish scouts on the floor of the vestibule next to the loo and outside doors. Sending people wanting to get off in the opposite direction. 

Near our stop , one man in his forties was stopped in his tracks when he tried to get past the party sat on the floor, something I wasn’t having, so I moved past him with a not unfriendly but assertive “Come on  People EVERYONE UP! “

No one moved, and I was faced by twenty pouting lip faces

“ We are getting off EVERYONE UP ! Now !” I repeated 

Somewhat groggily the girls got to their feet but still filled the aisle so no one could get passed 

So like Hattie Jaques in a Carry On film I bellowed “ Everyone to the right” and I led the passengers towards the doors like Moses did with the Israelites out of Egypt

It was was then that the how dare he ‘s ? started

One woman yelled “That rude old man can’t speak to us like that!” 

And Janet suddenly pissed herself laughing as did I ! 

We mouthed “ Old man” together at each other and laughed loudly.

The Scouts and girls started muttering and geared themselves up for a fight, but was wrong footed by our chuckles

By the time we walked onto the platform, we were hysterical in laughter

Janet pointing to me cackling “ You RUDE OLD MAN!” 

London

 

I’m buggered

On the train home and it’s been too hot in London

Beautiful weather but too humid

A Chorus Line was a hoot. A tad overlong, but full of belters, tits and sass 

it was a quality piece.

All the gays cheer for Shiela and Paul

They always did 

We went to a nice, unpretentious Italian in Soho called Polpo too

And drank Apropol spritzers and ate meatballs to die for

Buckingham Palace was a treat too. Janet preferred the state rooms whereas I Loved the garden tour but all was interesting and very well organised.

The Royals do like their red and gold

Very 1990s common gay 

Many of the support staff were young Muslim women, beautifully made up in their hijabs, adorned with gold. 

One of the tour guides told us how Camilla organised a small garden tea party for a few people who had missed the years celebrations because of traffic problems and hospitalization

She sounds a good egg

We did have a laugh, and both of us was still laughing after I broke into an argument with a Welsh hen party on the train home

  

 

Novelty Veg

Jennifer’s Entry 

 

I hope I Get It !!!

 My favourite lisping choir is on bloody good form this morning

Silvia was loving it wasn’t she ?! 

It’s so joyful 

They are too.

It’s Friday morning and I’m off to London with Janet  to enjoy her birthday and Christmas gifts 

Tonight it’s A Chorus Line at Saddler’s Wells and a meal in soho.

Tomorrow it’s Buckingham Palace , and gardens, which is a first for me. 

A bit of everything 

I’m excited as it’s the first night for the Chorus line revamp. 

The atmosphere should therefore be electric .

I’m lucky I have Janet to go to these things with. I can’t always rely on Nu, and the older I get , the more difficult it is to find a buddy to buddy up with. I miss Gorgeous Dave who has sadly disappeared off the radar this year. 

I’m sad about that. 

Novelty Veg ( or fruit)

 I’m a bit short of novelty veg photos for the flower show. It’s August 1st today and the show is in three weeks ! So if anyone has an artistic bent please send me your entries. I will exhibit them here before judging.

Please send to jgsheffield@hotmail.com

Weaver Update & Come From Away

 Weaver is doing ok. She’s suffering from fatigue which, for a person in her situation , is normal but terribly debilitating to say the least. 

She waves a hand from North Yorkshire

 Come From Away is a musical everyone can identify with because it just about ordinary people caught up in something bigger than their lives have ever experienced before. For those few that don’t know, it centres upon the subsequent efforts by the 6 thousand strong local Canadians to process, feed, clothe and support several thousand people ( and animals) from all around the world who had been grounded in Gander , Newfoundland after the 9/11 bombings. 

Wisely, the ensemble cast centre itself on half a dozen people from the planes A gay couple from Los Angeles, a stiff Brit who falls for a gentle American Texan woman, the first female American Airlines pilot, an AfroAmerican woman waiting to hear about her son, a fireman in New York City all have their lives changed by the kindness of strangers and it these true life kindnesses that make the audience cry again and again because we all know that they are real and live within each one of us  

At the end, as in every performance nationwide, the audience stood as one and cheered.

They were cheering not only for the experience of an uplifting and likeable musical 

But for the fact, that all people, all of us,  have the capacity for unselfish, altruistic kindness 

And that’s a blessing.

I went to supervision this morning which was useful as we discussed transference and counter transference  relating to my client 

I bought itsu broth, noodles and vegetables for support and a punnet of grapes for lunch. 

For Yorkshire Pudding

Tonight I’m going to see Come From Away, and so I know it is a paperwork and Flower Show catch up  day. There was a bag on the kitchen wall, left over the weekend. A simple canvas bag decorated with a square of ordinance survey map of Trelawnyd and its surrounds. I have no idea who sent it, but a big thank you is there for the taking. 

I sorted out my on line banking (a nightmare) then set up pages of the village websites and Facebook publicising the show. I collected meds for a neighbour, delivered a score of  schedules  before  having cheese and crackers , with salmon and tomatoes drizzled in olive oil.  

As the Welsh watched 

Sharing the odd piece of salmon as a treat

The village looks glorious what with Milenka le Vay ‘s planters in full bloom around the telephone box and the pond , clean and ready for its next visitors 

I share my shame with Helen Sharman

 Bloody hell, Jill Archer ( Patricia Green) sounded frail on The Archer’s last night. 

It doesn’t sound like the actress will survive long enough to win the Victoria Sponge at the Flower And Produce show this year, which is sad 

All this Olympic chatter reminds me of the world student games which was held in Sheffield in 1991.

I was one of the 25 thousand capacity audience at the Don Valley Stadium who saw former Astronaut Helen Sharman DROP and EXTINGUISH the flame before reaching the bloody cauldron . 

Oh God she must have felt dreadful ! 

The crowds, as I recall were kind. 

See below Student Games Memory number two!!!

I love embarrassing stories. This one is an old one but I think it's worth repeatingBack in 1991 I was celebrating the multicultural social events organised in Sheffield when the World Student Games were held in the city.

I went with a friend to the Crucible Theatre which was hosting a free night of folk music and dance (in the foyer!)...as usual I was dressed down for the event (t shirt and ripped jeans! - remember the fact I had ripped jeans on)
but as the whole event was very relaxed I kind of blended in!
Anyhow I remember sitting on the steps of the bar looking down at the singers and crowds below..and one guy, who was sitting at a table with some friends caught my eye!
I looked at him.....he looked at me! and suddenly I thought "my lucks in!!!"
Anyhow this game of glances carried on for a while ( I remember the guy looked a little like a bearded Jake Gyllenhall) and I did that half smile and hair toss flirting thing! before I caught sight of him downing his pint then weave his way through the tables to walk to where I was sat up on the stairs!
He leaned over slowly so I could smell his after shave and whispered gently into my ear
"Hey mate...I wanted to tell you that you have a rip in your jeans and one of your b*lls is sticking out!"...he suddenly left and went to sit down again!!
What happened to me?..........well I died .....died in a pool of rancid shame

 I’m slightly pissed off

A sunny day reported and I’m on nights again .

The garden looks lovely,

Slightly damp but colourful  

I made scrambled eggs and put my face to the sun until I fell asleep 

And am off to bed after dribbling

Tempos Fugit

 Hit The Road Jack shows The Grupo Talia Choir at full lisp.

I adore it. It’s almost as if the choristers have too many syllables to deal with in one sentence

I can’t believe it’s Saturday late afternoon already. 

The Welsh have been at Trendy Carol’s all day when I’ve been asleep, both have had short haircuts which suit the summer’s humidity.

They are home now and watch me carefully from the kitchen reading chair. My movements soon will indicate to them whether I’m going to work or not tonight

Is it me or has 2024 flown ?

Bittersweet Paris

 Not as good as the London ceremony , The Paris Ceremony shone brightly in spurts.

The galloping horse up the Seine was inspired, and literally took your breath away

As did good old Céline who nailed Piaf’s Hymne á L’amour halfway up the Eiffel Tower

God that was an emotional watch.

I’ve only been to Paris once and that was back in 2001. It was a slightly upsetting jaunt as my then boyfriend ( and husband to be) ended our relationship just as I was enjoying the lighting up of the Eiffel Tower 

Happy days

The Gangs Of New York

 Chester Storyhouse, houses the professional Grovenesor Park Outdoor Theatre each year.

We went to see the impressive production of The Gangs Of New York by Kieran Lynn last night and we’re pleasantly surprised to me more entertained than I ever was with the awful film version.

The messages about how corruption, power and American politics go hand in hand were not lost on the audience or the ad-libbing  actors and although the drama was often played for laughs the violence on stage felt visceral, graphic and at times shocking. 

Great performances by Hanora Kamen, Yondola Ovide, and a rather sexy but menacing James Sheldon as Bill The Butcher.

A lovely evening

My girl

 

 

My laburnum, like us all, is another year older.

The council workmen and gardeners came for their first grass cut of the year at the Churchyard today and I found myself hurrying like a pioneer woman in an Indian Attack to the stockade which was the Church wall to check on the safety of my laburnum.

I should not have worried

Standing firm and with a mop of grand leaves, she stands strong and robust against the other trees d,And

I’m proud as any parent would be

No Twins

 Yesterday left me feeling , if not sad, certainly a tad melancholy.

Subsequently all those little jobs I had planned , didn’t get done, 

And the cat flap has yet to be fixed.

The kittens ( who will be henceforth now be referred to as the twins ) will not be arriving today as planned either,

Lily’s hernia is not quite right and because of that the Cat Manager agreed to keep her under observation at home until the 5th of August, the day I’m back after London, and of course Weaver will be staying with her. The twins will have their own room upstairs until they are more robust. 

It’s already decked out with cat litter, a few toys and old copies of the Guardian 

The next three videos are random, my favourite Italian cook, who hangs her tea towel on her bra strap ( love that) a video of the Gop Hill behind Trelawnyd at dusk and Conwy Castle ,the beautiful castle I see everyday going to work.

A Gay Funeral

 

No kittens today, I will collect them tomorrow.

Sunday, I heard that it was an old friend’s funeral today. 

Not a case of bad news travelled fast

It didn’t. 

I wanted to go and did so without reservation, this is the second such funeral I’ve attended

I’d dated David sporadically in the 1990s up to the Millennium  but he was in the closet and my temper wore thin with secrecy . So I finished my relationship with him to date a more volatile  and handsome Philip

Who was only slightly less closeted than David

It wasn’t a good time lol.

David and I romantically crossed paths only when I was single. When I was in a relationship my rules were always platonic and he respected that. 

He was the last friend I had that still wrote proper letters 

My last to him was only three months ago. 

Our last meet was in 2022 at the Ibis Hotel in Chesterfield

I met his partner this afternoon. An old Yorkshireman with a ready but sad smile 

“ I’m sorry , I don’t know who you are “ he said to me in the Crematorium line 

“ an old mate from the 90s “ I told him 

There were a few single guys my age dotted around  I noticed, a few smiled when Laura Brannigan was played as the curtains closed