Digby

Sometimes you can come across a blog that catches your attention
I caught this blog the other day

http://wilfanddigby.blogspot.com/
It is the diary of a family with two dogs that are living in France......and one of the dogs, Digby has been diagnosed with a serious liver and fatal blood disorder Over the past week he has deteriorated and the rollercoaster ride of the consequences on his "family" makes for upsetting but compelling reading

Old Friends

The good thing about old friends is that you can just pick up when you left off with them.

We met up with Mike, Bev and Maisie, last night. We popped down to Prestatyn Beach and sat on the cold Promenade eating fish and chips out of the paper whist Maisie and Chris demolished sand castles with bare feet and gaudy plastic spades.

It was a relaxed and easy evening which had a pace and comfort we are all well used to.

We dropped the family off at their pretty rental cottage and had a few beers and taught them how to light a fire ( they are city people!!!)

I am looking forward in catching up with them over the next few days

You just can't win

Since my last week's effort with post and chicken wire, the Graveyard has now been made a no go area for the field population. Not a chicken can be seen casually wandering amid the tombstones or sunning themselves on the wildflower borders, and I think that the country graveyard is more the poorer for their absence.
However, the few complaints about how the chickens could scratch at the floral tributes (I have never seen this happen) or how one got under the feat of a visitor ( anyone who knows chickens will realise that this comment is a complete fabrication)..have now been addressed and the country churchyard is now a chicken free zone.....

Today as I was rushing around getting jobs done before our visitors arrive, I noticed a woman amid the graves, I gave her a small wave as I usually do and the woman called me over!
Bloody hell I thought....here comes another gripe about something or other..... and as I flashed my best PR smile the woman said...
"I must complain to you"
I signed- here it comes...I thought.....
"I saw your new fencing..last week...and I must admit I really miss your chickens over here they always used to make the place seem so welcoming"
I found myself apologising for the chickens absence
sod's law

Bodysgallen

The weather was lovely when we went to Bodysgallen hall for Chris' birthday tea. (Bodysgallen is pronounced BOD-ES-GA-CLEN) Before we sat down , we had a chance to walk around the grounds which were small but perfectly formed
Below is the boxed herb garden

Chris was having a nice time (honest)

Now as we tucked into our sandwiches with the crusts cut off and our home made scones, my sister Ann (left) subtlety removed her wrap to show off her left arm.....it took an age for us to notice that she had been fitted with a false whole arm tattoo! complete with colour!

She had to do one better than the fake tattoo I had placed on Janet's backside! the one that Ann fell for as real, hook line and sinker! The saga of the family tattoos continue!!!!!!

Below Janet, Ann (with tattoo) and Chris outside Bodysgallen

41

Chris is 41 today
He has had the obligatory lie in with breakfast in bed.
Then enjoyed himself in the usual bout of card opening (and counting) and present opening. (I bought him a leather bag for his netbook)......he is never happy with the amount of cards he gets (although every member of his family and my family send him one) and every year we get the half humorous "no body loves me" comment!
Anyhow today I have arranged for us to go to Bodysgallen Hall for afternoon tea, which should be lovely as the weather looks nicer than it did the last time we went and this eveing I will buy him a takeaway treat (no starter though....I'm skint!)

Ruth

When things can be a bit fraught at work, I often use a few choice nursing anecdotes to "lighten the mood" and to get people smiling just a little. Many of those stories centre around a somewhat larger than life character I used to work with, and that nurse is my friend Ruth.
Yesterday during break, the conversation got around to the subject of burnout. (I am not surprised given the busy week that the staff had undergone) and I told the story of when Ruth had a burnout meltdown right in the middle of a busy shift way back during our spinal injury days.
Now to understand the humour of the event you have to know Ruth. She was ( and is) a big hearted, warm Northern lass, with a somewhat acerbic wit , a consistent tongue firmly planted into her cheek and and a somewhat lugubrious set of facial expressions. Ruth was (and again still is) well loved by staff and patients alike, so her uncharacteristic reaction to a particularly busy and stressful time was such a shock to everyone involved!
The patient call bells had been ringing constantly all day as we had an unusually high number of bed rest patients which meant lots of stressed relatives and a higher than normal dependency level..........from my office I could hear the constant beep, beep of the nurse call buzzers all afternoon and after the briefest of breaks they started up their constant callings yet again.
Ruth reacted in a way that we have all wanted to,but thankful never have...she stood up at the nurses station and yelled LOUDLY throughout the ward

"WHO THE FUCK IS BUZZING NOW?????!!!!!!!"

The shock and surprise exhibited by the ward population (staff and patients alike) in retrospect was hilarious (suddenly everyone went a deathly silent).......it was one of the those surreal moments that still makes my sides ache with giggles....of course at the time, our concern for Ruth and the limits she had been pushed beyond was all that worried us., but because her tirade was so atypical....the hysteria that it caused amongst the staff, was almost palpable!

I managed to remove Ruth to my office, (after a whole series of "FUCKING BUZZERS!!!! WHO IS FUCKING BUZZING!...and "BASTARD BUZZERS"etc and the whole situation calmed down somewhat. Ruth had a break from work , and after coming back to work for a while on another less stressful ward she decided to leave to become ,of all things, a prison nurse!!!!

I remember meeting up with Ruth soon after she started work at the prison.
As humorous and as self depreciating as she had always been she told me that on her first week she had been instructed by the old lag staff to search a prisoner for drugs and contraband. Fearful that she would let herself down by being a little shy and retiring, Ruth jumped into the role with some gusto and gave the prisoner a good "checking over" as it were.
Suddenly she found something hidden in this chap's pocket and grabbing the object in a vice like grip.....she shouted to the officer that was supervising her that she had found something hidden!
The more she pulled at this hidden bounty, the more agitated the prisoner became
"what's in your pocket!!" she shouted " what's in there!!!!!!!!...let me have it!!!!!!!!"
"what is it!!!!????" she yelled
"My erection" the prisoner replied with a smile........

it only could happen to Ruth......
Thanks girl.....those stories helped diffuse many a stressful time at work
xx


Above Ruth and her family, on their visit here three years ago

Intense.,.....intensive care

Today I was caring for a woman that had lost her very young son in a road traffic accident, a crash that had hospitalised not only her but her toddler daughter.
....Makes you want to come home and hug the people close to you doesn't it?.......Chris is out dancing with my sister so I have had to content myself with lying on the couch with four dogs and an affectionate skinny cat

Buff Broodiness

Back to hen normality now.......Three of my four golden buffs have gone broody on the same day. Kate Winslett, Sorrel and Violet have parked their fat arses into any spare nook and cranny in an effort to incubate .....only tame Lily remains bright eyed and bushy tailed!....I am working all day tomorrow.....and Chris hates fanny-arsing around encouraging the sitting hens to eat and drink!