et tu brute........

et tu brute


now, sometimes we are lucky in the nhs...we have breaks,
in a nice  coffee room
with access to a computer


so I have just read the following, scathing (ney cutting)
comments from my so called friend ....Thomas Stephenson ,
who said this in last night's somewhat fruity blog entitled "my Arse":-

"Now it's not often that I slag someone off behind their back, but I know John is at work tonight, so he won't be able to defend himself until everyone in the North Eastern Hemisphere has gone to bed, so I feel safe. Let's hope I don't find myself in intensive care in his part of Wales, but since I never choose to visit on a matter of principal, the chances of me having a head-on collision in his jurisdiction are virtually nil, and I am hoping to get up early enough to erase this post before he has a chance to read it.
What have I got against him? Well, he seems to be surrounded by sycophants for a start - have you seen how many people respond to one of his posts announcing the arrival of a sick chicken at his hoarding-centre up there in sheep-shagger country? I sit here day after day, making profound comments about Life, the Universe and Everything, and attract about 5 comments from mad old women in Canada and the USA - half of whom are retired/failed interior designers, and the other half that seem to spend their retirements knitting cup-cakes for fictitious Grand-Children and deliberately mowing down pedestrians in their 4 Litre Jeeps - and HE just has to mention one of his fucking dogs shitting on the carpet to get about 50 ecstatic comments telling him what a wonderful, caring person he is, and how only God understands how he must keep it all together in such an efficient and caring way!.............."

All I have got to say in reply  is....


"envy is a terrible emotion for an over-the-hill artistic-type to acknowledge....."

Now I may have an adoring following..but let's face it who wouldn't when you are blogging about fluffy bunnies, sweet fat old chickens and incontinent bulldogs....?

perhaps that is the lesson in point.....

an essay on the merits of slabs of stone,  old sets of candlesticks and some knackered old wine glasses.....perhaps just doesn't cut the mustard....let alone capture the imagination

much love and as grouch would put it

oxoxoxoxoxo

john

PS. to all those so called sycophants......please feel free to pop over the old fart's blog site and leave him a pithy comment.....he doesn't receive many!

My Favourite YOUTUBE video

Today will be a bit of a non entity day.
It is raining.
It is Grey.....
I am working tonight......
You know !...its the sort of of day that isn't very bright...

I know I have posted this a few times before...but it's always worth repeating.......
Watch it, shed a tear and smile a little

The Standard of Nursing & Russell watch

 As I planted out broad beans this afternoon, I listened with interest to London Talk Radio's Julia Hartley-Brewer. She was endeavouring to discuss the standards of the modern UK nurse, which I thought was interesting given the number of non UK nurses presently practicing in London..However I digress...
Much of the conversation was given over to the age old debate of bedside nursing versus degree nursing which I am sure makes interesting radio time (especially once the horror stories of "bright nurses" refusing to wipe an arse or a snottynose started to surface) but personally I feel that the presenter and the general public failed to touch upon why nurses are perhaps not viewed as they once was.
Ok alot of people's perceptions and expectations of nurses in this modern day and out dated nhs ,I feel are a little unrealistic at times. Three trained nurses and a couple of health care workers cannot hope to work miracles on a 32 bedded orthopaedic ward on theatre day without looking as though they have been ravaged constantly by an over zealous house officer......but there is an expectation by everyone that they indeed look as though they are a cross between Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story and Mary Poppins.

Having said this, I have been witness to some atrocious behaviour from nurses that will inevitably let the side down despite the emphasis of top heavy nursing qualifications nowadays.
Sloppy communication skills, lack of personal grooming, and moreover a kind of modern day informality are just three things that I feel fuck up nursing standards today......In the acute sector nurses are not everyone's mate....and they are not,(in my mind) autonomous professionals that don't have to think about "old fashioned but necessary professionalism.......and what I mean by professionalism is that they need to "look" disciplined

Today many nurses look sloppy...this goes hand in hand with a more liberal and relaxed attitude to everything from shop service to being given your tea and bun in a cafe.........yes we are churning out bright young things that hopefully will question their practice but are we instilling in our nurses a discipline and professionalism required and wanted by the patients?

I would say no to this.......and believe me, my nursing career comes from a rehabilitation perspective where a relaxed and non conforming approach to nursing care was not only encouraged but vital to get our young patients through hospital; yet I still think that we can learn a few lessons from the starch and terror days of pre project 2000 nursing.

Funnily enough I was reading Cro's Blog today. He had written an interesting and amusing piece about his mother who was a red cross nurse. It reminded me of a story I was told by a patient of mine in York who described an incident when he was a child in war torn Singapore.
He told me that when the Japanese pushed forward to surround the city, there was a general call to evacuate the European population. and the civilians and nursing sisters where lined up on the dock sides ready to be placed upon the few ships destined for Australia.
I remember how he described the scene when bombers attacked the city and how the Europeans dived to cover as the planes strafed the harbour. Only the army nurses in their clean white uniforms, starched hats and capes stood their ground in two stiff lines as the planes roared over...and the sight of them (all young girls in their 20s) rallied the panic of the civilians on the dockside.

Now I tell you this story, not that I am expecting nurses in a district general to provide to act with such unblinking (and to some foolhardy) old fashioned military stiffness...no ,of course I am not, but I do think there is a place for a more precise,less relaxed professionalism amongst nurses as a whole.....a little strach in everything wouldn't hurt..........
We need the informed and the bright degree nurses, oh yes of course we do....we need nurses that think outside of the box.....we also need those bedside nurses that can wipe a brow and hold a hand and wipe an arse......can we please have a nursing profession that perhaps will also look as though they could snap to attention (straighten their aprons-just a little please) when matron comes a clip clopping around the ward.................or am I an old fashioned prissy fart?

Russell (centre) with Winnie (left) and Jo (right)

Anyhow........enough already...
When I have been outside in the lovely sunshine, I have kept an eye out for newbie Russell the goose. He looks happy enough. slightly battered by his previous bullying gander ( various feathers pulled and broken) but generally he's a handsome chap indeed.........
The girls seemed to have somewhat shyly accepted him.....so far!

Russell The Gander

Last night a couple who were visiting a family grave called me over to the fence as I was locking the stock up for the night.
They told me a sad tale of gander bullying ( an older and more powerful male picking on a quieter juvenile )  and hesitantly asked me if they could re home the victim .
What could I say?
...and so the ebb and flow of comings and goings continue on the field....yesterday a tired old ghost hen died, today a shy young gander arrives........
His name is Russell

Tearful Sunday "sur le fil"

The saddest of Yann Tiersen's themes from Amelie

The Last Ghost Hen,Youtube,and A Chillout Sunday

Ruth,the last of the Ghost hens

One of the last ghost hens died this morning.Nearly a year since they first arrived.
Now only one of the fat, physically challenged old girls remain on the field. and despite probably having a heart not unlike an average obese beer swilling chav, she looks in remarkably good health.
I shall miss having these birds around the field when she finally succumbs to multi organ failure.
Their valiant battle with enforced in breeding has given them a semblance of a normal "green" life......indeed the final girl (who I have named Ruth) Laid a perfect small egg today...it is a nice reminder that she is in fact acting like a proper hen.
Her star shining brightly just before it fades.............

Last night we chilled out with a kind of "you tube" night.
Now this is a bit of an indulgence as it comprises of us all choosing our own favourite you tube clips in turn.....a bit of a nostalgic wander down memory lane....and an occasional boring one for the other "watchers" if you pick something a little off the wall!
Here is one of Nigel's favourite choices.....what ever happened to Kathy Kirby? answers on a postcard

Chris (his sun hat) and Nige

The rest of today has seen us lazily mooching around the cottage.

We braved the chickens and had a peasant and pleasant lunch  in the sun on the field......

Later , when it's cool I will plant my potatoes out, tidy up the cottage which resembles a bomb site and perhaps catch up with some blogs.........

ps a new arrival is being delivered to the field tomorrow , his name is Russell

Caer Sion

Walking up a mountain in unseasonal heat with a chest infection wasn't the best decision of the day, but when I finally got over the hypoxia...I kind of enjoyed myself.


Caer Sion is a Iron age Hilll overlooking the small walled town of Conwy which is located just down the coast. Nige, me and William negotiated the somewhat steep terrain with some gusto ( he in sensible trousers and walking shoes) me with the aforementioned chest infection and croc sandals

The Hill fort dates from 300 BC and as the descriptive plaque on the top of the mountain states:-
Caer Seion is a large and strong hill fort. Excavations were carried out in 1951 but did not produce any dating evidence. However, it is believed to have been occupied during the Middle to Late Iron Age, about 300 BC to 1st century AD and it seemed likely that the fort was abandoned when the Romans conquered North Wales in 78 AD. The fort had a commanding position overlooking Conwy Bay and estuary and over the ancient trackway that followed the coastal ridge, continuing westwards towards Anglesey.

me giving up the ghost (fat bastard)

Next time.........I will be prepared





Sounding like an old pervert

The View down the vale from the top of the Gop this morning

 Today I sound a little like Richard Attenborough's character from the movie 10 Rillington Place......I have an exspiratory wheeze that could out do my mother's "60 a day" tar chest, and this morning when I was half awake in bed after Chris had gone to work ,I was half convinced that someone else was in bed with me, as I was sure that all the breath sounds ecching around the cottage bedroom were definately NOT my own....I am getting old...or at least my lungs are, thanks to this inherited chest infection from mother-in-law Sorrel...I must admit I do sound somewhat f&cked respiratory wise!.......as I walked the dogs up the gop in the sun this morning I met a friend and neighbour who commented on my old lady chest as I puffed my way up hill....

."perhaps you've got Psittacosis" he volunteered cheerfully!

Also, I am getting a little frustrated today as I know I am so behind on my spring planting.,Our Friend Nige comes to visit later, so I am now off to the supermarket for some grub....so the potatoes will have to wait a day or so more

Forgive the banality of this blog entry.......real life and sputum has got in the way!

George and Constance, rabbit hunting