I covered night shift sickness last night
It’s too hot too sleep today 34 degrees
This fun tonight
John Gray- The Next Chapter
Things have an energy all of their own don’t they?
I saw my last counselling client as a student yesterday and found out that the mental health charity I’m working with has taken me on as a sessional professional counsellor.
My next client will be paying for my services
Bloody hell.
I had a rush of “imposter syndrome” yesterday, but my new supervisor grounded me with some pragmatic words and useful advice.
Part time now I will be self employed for the first time in the 45 years of my employment history
I can do it
My twin sister did the same during Covid
Today I’ve been planning things around the Flower Show. I’m now working tonight to cover sickness so will be off the entire weekend which will nice given I’m going to the village hall’s wine tasting evening tomorrow night !
Above is the community Associations’ wild flower meadow and orchard. There are apples on the trees which may be harvested free by the villagers when they ripen. It’s a great initiative
The novelty veg photos have been coming in too, we just need a few more please
Thanks to villager Sandra and her hubby Robert for donating a new cup for the show
The new Barbara Parry and Rowenna Price Memorial Cup
And finally a big thank you to villagers Nick and The Velvet Voiced Linda for my graduation gift
Bwthyn y llan
Ma Manley has added my cottage to her history book of Trelawnyd.
This has pleased me greatly. I feel honoured to have my own page so to speak.
In Welsh Bwthyn translates as “Cottage” where as y llan means “an enclosure, a religious place of settlement or even a Church” So my home can be known as Church Cottage in English .
In its past it was known as Llan Cottage no 1 and the two cottages together as a generic Tan y Fynwent ( under the Graveyard)
The Flower Show
If any of you have any international novelty veg/fruit entries please forward them along to me at jgsheffield@icloud.com
I was writing this and realised Roger was missing. The people who had returned the cups had left the gate open and in a flash he was gone.
I couldn’t find him anywhere, and drove along the main road after searching the nearby gardens
His dim nature means he is terrible in traffic and has no sense of direction for home
I was frantic
Trendy Carol and hubby, other neighbours , and even the postman joined in.
But he wasnt in the sheep fields, down the lane or on the main road.
I drove around the village
But no one had seen him
It was awful
After a time I started up the lane in Bluebell
And there he was with Polish Monika’s hubby and their bulldog
Trotting down the lane as if nothing had happened.
He had nearly got himself knocked over, and was caught in the estate a quarter mile into the village
Thank God most people know and love him
Tracy Manchester has just messaged me saying that he’s come into her house for a drink of water then bolted up the road before she could catch him!
I’m going for a lie down
“ A Moment of silence, emotion and Wild Beauty*”
I’m a sucker for a magic moment.
In counselling it can happen when you and your client suddenly reach an emotional depth around an issue and you both suddenly feel that connection with a look that brings you up short.
Sometimes it’s an experience that awes you.
My first steps into La Sagrada Famila literally made my heart soar
Mary trying to run fast to say hello after my holiday break
The lisping choir and Metropolitan Orchestra playing Nocturn was one such moment.
The auditorium lights went off suddenly and the music and voices filled the space
And you where left with the experience without self consciousness
Why do I like Dinosaurs so much?
Jurassic world Rebirth is much better than the last two movies in the franchise. Its a taught, romp with effectively two teams of protagonists in peril. One scientific and mercenary ( led by an impressively buff Scarlett Johansson) and one family and cute ( led by an equally impressive Manuel Garcia-Rulfo )
British director Gareth Edwards, likes his dinosaur set pieces, and with Spielberg touches everywhere provides a new twist on the genre with wonderfully tense flourishes.
Jonathon Bailey is cute as a button as the obligatory dino expert, who cries when he sees his first sauropod, wide eyed Audrina Miranda is the cute spunky kid who had the most sexiest dad this side of the Atlantic..
Indeed for me , Manuel Garcia Rulfo in his sexy shorts made the film for me…I’m still drooling
You Couldn’t Make It Up
The mass of staff and trucks trying to sort out our new plane
Our Iberian jet never left Madrid
We sat on it for a bloody age until an engineer was called and after much scrambling up and off the aircraft we all saw him stand on the runway and give the pilot a cheerful thumbs down
The passengers gave a collective groan and our already sad psychi was effectively described by a German woman in business class who stood up and shouted “ ve arr fooked!!!”
We sat on the plane for another two hours until a replacement aircraft arrived right next to us
Then the pilot ( an impressively calm Spaniard with the look of Charlton Heston ) told us we had to get on three airport buses in order to embark the new airplane even though it was only 50 feet away
We duly got on the buses , which did a sharp circle only to arrive at the empty and functioning aircraft some 60 seconds later.
We stood on the buses another half hour until the new staff arrived on a minibus
Then galloped back to our new seats with the dignity of 150 teenagers at a school disco
Ruth and I got the giggles
Then we had to wait for the baggage to be transferred and a slot on the runway
We laughed some more,
Our return journey had equalled our first, but we had the best of times!
we got home well after midnight.
I was due to complete a twelve hour shift today and thank the lord for my friend and colleague Katrina , who has stepped in and kindly done my shift for me .
I cleaned up Bun and Weaver’s stomach heaving little tray and went to bed exhausted around 12.30 am
Leaving my luggage in the car,
And some happy times in my memory
Say goodbye and Graduation
Both of us are sad leaving. Coffee and plain churros for me, chocolate and fat churros for Ruth.The city is preparing itself for Pride and the parade will bisect Atocha where we were staying and where we now feel we know.
We said goodbye to the house Martin chicks on our balcony
And had a short wander
Before sadly turning for home
What’s app has been busy
My graduation was yesterday and my name was read out
My Uni Group sent me this photo as a way of including me
Food and Choir
At dawn Ruth went foraging in the relative cool ( 32 degrees), she found The San Miguel Market, where we ventured out for breakfast at 10 am. The food was glorious
The auditorium gave the orchestra and choir a standing ovation which held three encores
One of which I videoed ( you can video an encore btw)
After the concert we had garlic prawns at the market followed by beers in the square as the rain pelted down as it has down every evening at ten pm
Lovely
Culture and Heat
The Reina Sofia Museum was a cool haven , as was our 2 hour breakfast at a little cafe just beyond Plaza Major. Ruth and I are lucky as we love people watching, cafe sitting and not overdoing things in bloody hot weather. Guernica by Picasso was bigger than I thought, and was suitably drab compared with his contempories’ works.
Dali’s Girl at the Window ( an early work and rather haunting)
The Adorable Joseph de Togores’ Paraja en la playa
Guernica
Tonight we ate seafood paella, croquetas de jamón Serrano and drank beer on the square and watched diners in the next outdoor restaurant get soaked as a wonderful thunderstorm overwhelmed their rickety umbrellas
I’ve had a lovely time so far…I’ve really needed to be away ….ive needed to feel more than a mere student or an old nurse or a 63 year old singleton …travel lightens you, it nurtures you….and tomorrow we go for a mooch around the food market nearby then the highlight lisping choir concert in the evening
How lucky am I ?
A Fat Spider-Man in The Sun
It’s been a nice day so far.
The apartment is very dynasty chic circa 1989 with Queen sized beds and door knocker Charles Dickens would be proud of.
The plaza Major is a 16th Century Plaza, filled to the gunnels with the cries of nesting house martins
We sat outside last night and the umbrellas of the cafes misted their patrons with a cooling water mist which was as blissful as you could ever think possible and this morning we watched the birds for an age before going out for a long breakfast
I’ve seen it all when we ambled back in the heat
A tubby Spider-Man braving the soaring temps just outside the apartment
Hey ho
A Glorious Fuck Up
We are here
But only after a traumatic saga with non forthcoming boarding passes, wrong information , a stressful time with security which allowed me to leave my passport with a staff member who later denied having it, we missed our flight but the passport was eventually found by a German hero called Kathryn who got Iberia to get us on a later flight for nothing
Our driver didn’t turn up at Madrid airport too, but we were beyond caring at that junction
But here we are laughing hysterically as we chugged beers at midnight
The apartment is luxurious with three balconies overlooking a lovely square
Madrid Tomorrow
Delhy Tejero self portrait at the Regina Sofia
I adore this painting
It’s Monday and I’ve washed my best smalls for Madrid tomorrow( the ones without holes)
Two pairs of linen trousers two nice shirts and my best walking Dead T Shirt all packed.
It’s bloody 39 degrees
Don’t worry I’ve just paid my travel insurance
My brother in law is convalescing after his illness in Portugal and is doing well, so I’m well covered if disaster happens.
I’ve bought tickets to the Regina Sofia Museum of Art and have the tickets to the lisping Choir concert on Thursday all printed out.
The museum is opened till 9 pm so we can go when it’s cooler.
Yesterday I started my exercises the physio prescribed for my weakened arm, he states it should recover
I needed a small dumbbell but didn’t want to buy one (I am somewhat skint due to my recent sick time) so I put a post on the village what’s app group asking to loan one
Not four hours later this appeared on the kitchen wall…..
I love my village
My Madrid fantasy is when I sit down for Talia Grupo’s concert I find myself next to the King Filipe VI
Who is out for a night on his own
If only!
Ps this block print of the village Church was designed by Ma Manley and has circulated yesterday
It’s beautiful
Témen Oblåk (“Dark Clouds”) - And Manuel Garcia Rulfo
A stunning bit of music
Now why can’t we have a Manuel Rulfo lookalike in Trelawnyd
The Ukrainian Village Revisited -The Ghost Hens
Today’s post is a revisit, I’m working tomorrow so haven’t the energy or inclination to say something new
Only the gentle Ghost hens remained still. Sitting sweetly and serenely in the fading evening sun with their eyes interested but unmoving and their beaks slightly open……they sat until their white plumage tinged pink..........in the warm evening light, only then did they heave up their heavy bottoms and painfully waddled to bed like old ladies do after a busy day pottering.
I miss the animals on the field sometimes and remembered this post of nearly fifteen years ago as Bun and Weaver galloped in and out of the living room window at dusk, in order to try and catch one of the chattering sparrows late nesting in the honeysuckle
The Ghost Hens 2010
This afternoon I caught a young woman dropping a container of cooked pasta over the field gate.I didn't recognise her, as she is new to the village.she's divorced, lonely and perhaps somewhat depressed I thought
The hens love spaghetti she told me rather guiltily....I warned her that Irene the sheep loves pasta too!
I love that people " adopt " the animals on the field from time to time...they all do rather secretively , as if what they are doing is wrong which is rather sweet......i think
The bachelors seems to have endeared themselves to many of the locals, which is a common thing for tiny birds to do. They bring the underdog support nature of people.
It's a British Thing, I always think
I was reminded of my old broiler birds The Ghost Hens because of it all
Now, for those that don't know, the Ghost Hens were five genetically fucked up broiler hens that arrived at the Ukrainian Village as brainwashed , psychologically damaged little pullets. Designed to eat themselves fat in a matter of weeks, these sad little hens had been brought up in a massive barn of a building under artificial lights with thousands of other little fuck ups .
They had never seen the sun, never ate a blade of grass and had never had the room to scratch their own arse without getting battered by another goggle eyed clone.
Faced with their very own warm hen house and a miniature run, these sad little characters continued to eat themselves fat in silent desperation, but they did eventually react to their brave new world, and calmly and very slowly they started to turn their faces into the sun to live a little.
Surrounded by animal drama and chaos, The Ghost Hens always looked unflappable but their inactivity was just a useful way of coping. They were too big and too comical to run around in silly chicken circles.
They just couldn't do it.
Anyhow,
I remember taking the below photo very well.
It was approaching dusk on a June evening and the rest of the field was in constant motion.
The other hens were mooching slowly homewards to roost, the geese were bickering over a patch of grass like they do and the hysterical runner ducks were being , well, just bloody hysterical.
This afternoon I caught a young woman dropping a container of cooked pasta over the field gate.I didn't recognise her, as she is new to the village.she's divorced, lonely and perhaps somewhat depressed I thought
The hens love spaghetti she told me rather guiltily....I warned her that Irene the sheep loves pasta too!
I love that people " adopt " the animals on the field from time to time...they all do rather secretively , as if what they are doing is wrong which is rather sweet......i think
The bachelors seems to have endeared themselves to many of the locals, which is a common thing for tiny birds to do. They bring the underdog support nature of people.
It's a British Thing, I always think
I was reminded of my old broiler birds The Ghost Hens because of it all
Now, for those that don't know, the Ghost Hens were five genetically fucked up broiler hens that arrived at the Ukrainian Village as brainwashed , psychologically damaged little pullets. Designed to eat themselves fat in a matter of weeks, these sad little hens had been brought up in a massive barn of a building under artificial lights with thousands of other little fuck ups .
They had never seen the sun, never ate a blade of grass and had never had the room to scratch their own arse without getting battered by another goggle eyed clone.
Faced with their very own warm hen house and a miniature run, these sad little characters continued to eat themselves fat in silent desperation, but they did eventually react to their brave new world, and calmly and very slowly they started to turn their faces into the sun to live a little.
Surrounded by animal drama and chaos, The Ghost Hens always looked unflappable but their inactivity was just a useful way of coping. They were too big and too comical to run around in silly chicken circles.
They just couldn't do it.
Anyhow,
I remember taking the below photo very well.
It was approaching dusk on a June evening and the rest of the field was in constant motion.
The other hens were mooching slowly homewards to roost, the geese were bickering over a patch of grass like they do and the hysterical runner ducks were being , well, just bloody hysterical.
In groups of two the guinea fowl chatted noisily on the field wall, before flying up into their Ash tree and even from the gate I could hear one of the pigs snoring in their hay beds, as the ewes pulled their heads up as one to listen..
Only the gentle Ghost hens remained still. Sitting sweetly and serenely in the fading evening sun with their eyes interested but unmoving and their beaks slightly open……they sat until their white plumage tinged pink..........in the warm evening light, only then did they heave up their heavy bottoms and painfully waddled to bed like old ladies do after a busy day pottering.
Devipravaha -
Just on the beach with this song playing
The Welsh are a bit windswept and are sitting either side of me
Both leaning in like the Welsh do
Thank You
This video is a thank you to you my followers
It’s sweet natured and emotional and good
Just like most of your comments of support over the past three years
My qualification is so much more than just a potential change of career
It signifies a challenge and a personal growth which has challenged my low self esteem and grief after divorce.
I have grown as a professional and as a person through my study and supervision and personal therapy and
I have seen and accepted holes in my own psychi and have finally learned to be kinder to myself.
I have worth and I like myself so much more than I did when I felt alone, and unloved and a failure.
Thank you , readers for your loyalty
It means a great deal and has gone a long way
The choir above is a force for good
It’s kindness mirrors yours here
Thank u again
The Windmills of your mind.
I’m working at the hospice all day today
Later I will get my overall grade for my Counselling Cert
And already I’ve had messages of support from my supervisor, my personal counsellor and my peers…
Today the University Board pass our portfolios
And After Three long years
I am suddenly, at 63, a trained counsellor!🩷
👨🏼🎓and I can own the feeling that I’m incredibly proud of my achievement
Hey fucking ho!
Cap n gown
Go figure
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