Going Gently

Delete

A friend has just text-ed me (hello Jane!)
I replied but saw my Brother's telephone number in the contacts of my phone
as I did so
It was so hard "deleting" his number

A Story Without Words

Who Needs Spielberg when 12 photos can tell a story......

A Bargain Bucket Chicken ( & Postscript)

Monday's are a bit of catch up days, as on weekends I don't do a great deal on the field

(Chris time!) After collecting animal feed from the farm shop and delivering eggs, I was walking back towards the cottage when I noticed a brand new orange bucket covered by a small square of old carpet sitting by the front door.

Immediately I thought that the doctor's wife Pippa had been leaving some garden greens for the birds ( a thing she does regularly) but then noticing again the piece of carpet, I thought to myself

here was another small waif or stray to be looked after

I was right.

For sitting quite calmly in the bucket was a mature looking but bright eyed white hen.

There was no note.... no message.... just a knackered old chicken in a bucket

I have named her Kentucky

POSTSCRIPT

Just found a short note pushed through the door (that's why I didn't find one with the orange bucket!)

Apparently said chicken was "found" far down the lane and was brought "back home " by a F Kenwood....It won't surprise anyone that it was not my hen!!

Weight watchers weigh in 14 stone 9 lbs

Weight Gain!!!!! 1lb

shit!

The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black as I recall was an atmospheric and rather creepy stage play

The film adaptation staring Daniel Radclife and his rather attractive acting sideburns is a complete pile of mildly scary tosh

My previous blog entry for today was far more interesting

Don't bother your arse with this one

6/10

Old Dog...... New Tricks

Last night we fell off the wagon

My sister cooked the family a fantastic "St David's Day" meal.

And so mentally we threw away the weightwatchers manual and just enjoyed the food for what it was!

tapas nibbles, prawns in white wine and garlic,pate and hummus, lamb shank that melted in your mouth, potatoes in a creamy sauce.......chocolate cheese cake and of course too many gin and tonics........

We ate as if it was our last supper and enjoyed every friggin' fatty, fat bastard bit of it......

Tomorrow's weigh in shall be interesting

Anyhow

At the moment I cam cooking a somewhat "pared down" Sunday lunch while Chris is in Church

The dogs have all been out for their long walk and are lined up waiting for their dinner, and I have just realised that Mabel now understands that she is indeed now called....Mabel!

It has taken her a while to learn this.

For the name she was originally christened with, was a somewhat saccharine sounding "Jasmine"

Now as some of my regular readers will know only too well, I absolutely love irony....but even I would draw the line at naming a bulldog, with a set of front teeth like a row of bombed houses such a flowery name.

Indeed when she first arrived at the cottage only a few months ago now, Chris' eyebrows did some of his characteristic Roger Moore arches, when I told him her name, especially given the fact that she was at the time farting with all of the delicacy of the Queen Mary's fog horn

"Jasmine" he repeated with a sigh, as another fart rang out " How appropriate!"

And so I felt a new name was in order.

People who own more than two dogs ( Kim?) will tell you that naming a dog is not as simple as it may appear. The trick with a name is to pick one that is individually "sounding" whether it be a different number of syllables to the other dogs' names or a very different delivered name.

Something like Muffy and Fluffy is not really a wise choice.........not unless you want the neighbours to realise that you are an Essex Girl and you are happy owning a pair of effeminate sounding dogs with an identity problem

I have always named our dogs with old fashioned "proper " names....

and in "Jasmine's" case the solid, farmer's wife name of Mabel seemed to fit perfectly

Mabel is the name of a woman with ham like arms, a big bosom and an even bigger heart!

Today I whispered her name as I cut the greens for lunch, and slowly she dragged herself off the kitchen sofa and came to see what I wanted......

success........

Coping

The sad suicide of policeman David Rathband two years after he was blinded by gunman Raoul Moat, once again has brought into the spotlight the subject of self determination, particularly when it is related to ending one's own life.

In my time dealing with people that have been paralysed by sudden trauma, I have only come across two people that have decided that suicide was an option open to them.

One suffered from a severe mental disorder prior to their accident and subsequent disability, and would have, I am sure, committed suicide "whatever the weather" while the other, a man who had been paralysed from the neck down for over 18 years took his own life as a result of the death of a relative and carer.

Having said this, many patients talked about suicide during their time on rehabilitation, whilst more , I am sure, contemplated the idea silently when they experienced their darker moments post injury, whether it be in hospital or at home when life was said to have "normalised".

I have a strong stance on this subject.

As long as a person is not clinically depressed and as long as they know the full facts about their abilities after the intensive rehabilitation process is completed then if they feel suicide is what they decide for themselves..then "so be it"

And this in precis form would be what I would say to patients who ventured suicidal ideas.

People who are deeply depressed cannot be objective.......

People who don't know the full facts cannot be objective either

( and before anyone shouts I know non of us can be truly objective, but we can, I think be more balanced and clear in our thinking)

Listening and accepting what people are experiencing is vital too, as just being able to say the words without experiencing a reaction of horror, shock or fear can be part of the healing process in itself.

Sometimes the acknowledgement of just how bad someone feels is just enough to allow that person to soldier on.

and "Soldier on," is what the majority of people do in fact .

Faced with huge challenges and massive changes to all parts of their daily lives, in my experience people just get on with things... they find a way of coping,

As it turns out for most of us, living is more important than the alternative.

But it's not always the case.........

Trapped in An Elevator

Yesterday I got trapped in an elevator.

Now before I get inundated with sympathetic blog comments from concerned bloggers, I must tell you that the elevator in question was in fact a disabled lady's wheelchair lift that is in her garden, and which allows her to "go up" the 6 feet or so from bungalow to road.
It wasn't the Scenic elevator out of The Towering Inferno

It all started when I walked past the pensioner bungalows with the dogs.

The lady who owns the aforementioned "elevator" is someone I have met only a couple of times before. She is a large, elderly, very breathless and seriously cheerful woman who seldom is well enough to be seen out of her home, so I was surprised to see her standing by the base of her lift with a key in her hand.

"Can you help?" she gasped "I can't get my lift to come down!"

I walked over to the glass doored contraption and asked what I could do.

"Get into the lift and push the button down- here use the key!" she called out reaching up and offering me the key

I opened the door and walked in with the dogs and shut the door behind me which locked.

Then I placed the key in the key slot and pushed the down button

Nothing happened

I tried again

Nothing happened

I tried to open the door

Nothing happened

The old lady didn't seem concerned

"It does this sometimes" she shouted up cheerfully " can you jump up and down a bit?"

I looked at her! Didn't she notice that I was standing there with three terriers and a worried 25 kilo bulldog?

"You want me to jump up and down?" I asked , I couldn't quite believe my ears

" Yes !" she chuckled " Pat the warden does it all the time!"

I swore under my breath......this was not going to do much for what was left of my credibility
I noticed that curtains had already started to twitch across the road!

So....trapped in a wheelchair lift , in a garden of an asthmatic old welsh lady in downtown Trelawnyd

I start Jumping up and down...

Thank goodness she was right........after a minute or so....I was back on terra firma!