Old Dogs

A year or so ago Meg had a period where she experienced odd little " absences". She would stand, have no awareness of what was going on around her and just stare and shake. To me, it looked as though she was experiencing partial seizures.
These seizures disappeared after a couple of months and the vet seemed unconcerned when I took Meg in for a check up and so we breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Yesterday she had another " do" . And we were a mile down the beach promenade during a heavy rain  storm.
It couldn't have been in a worse place.
I didn't know if it was a return of the " fits" she had experienced before , or whether it was something more serious,It certainly seemed to be worse than ones I had seen her have before..... so I had no choice but to pick her up and head back to the car.
Now, carrying a sick dog whilst holding the leads of  three others during a burst of heavy rain is not the simplest of jobs and I was struggling a bit until a young woman who had been sheltering in her car in the car park next to the promenade jogged over and jumped over the wall.
I think I must have looked a little upset.
" do you need a hand?" She asked kindly and within seconds she had taken the other dogs' leads from me , allowing me to carry Meg more easily and she helped me back to the car, getting a bad soaking in the process..
She jogged back to her car after she asked if I would be ok.
Within a couple of minutes Meg had come around from her fit, and quite suddenly her eyes started to focus again and she started to push her way into the front passenger seat which is her usual position when we are out driving.
I turned to see where the young woman had gone, but she had left already.
I never got the chance to thank her.
Ten minutes later Meg was as bright and as clingy as ever.
Partial fits could be a sign of something serious. We all know that. But we will wait and see if things deteriorate further.
I am loath to suddenly start to look at what could be the cause..
Old dogs eh?
They break your heart

Meg asleep on my head after night shift last year

Warming Your Muffin

Chris left Wales for Ireland very early this morning. He probably left the house as I was putting up the sixth unit of blood up for my patient  in the wee small hours.
All I know , was that when I got home the dogs had infiltrated the living room ( thanks to Albert who has the ability to open the kitchen door) and had merrily dotted the carpet with several little puddles.
Of piss.....it's not their fault.....its Winnie's leaking fanny that causes the problem.......

So I've shampooed the carpet, walked the dogs in the pouring rain and have just lit the fire. The cottage now looks homely and warm and everything in front of the fire is steaming gently.
My twin sister has just emailed me, wanting to know what I want for Christmas. and looking at the fire this morning, I know exactly what I shall ask for..
I want an old fashioned toasting fork!
As children we would often toast bread, muffins and crumpets in front of the fire. The ritual was always fraught with a tiny bit of danger. Of slightly scorched kiddie fingers, smokey tasting toast and proper butter stains.over your front.
If you were toasting bread. It would always be thickly sliced bread, an inch thick.
It was like toasting very small cushions .

The older we get, sometimes the more we enjoy recreating the happy memories of the past.
It's a miserable wet day today.....so...I think I'll treat myself to a crumpet this evening.......I'll fashion a short term toasting fork out of one of Chris' knitting needles.......and will give the toasting a bit of a go........

Lilting

Chung and Whishaw

Earlier this year I read a glowing review of the Cambodian born film maker Hong Khaou's debut film
Lifting.and so I was pleased to see that Theatre Clwyd chose to show the film last night.
It was only showing the once and there was around eight people in the audience.
Speaks volumes for cultural North Wales eh?

The film's story centres around grief.
Richard (Ben Whishaw) is mourning the death of his partner Kai (Andrew Leung), and in his grief he reaches out to contact Kai's mother Junn (Pei-Pei Chung) a non English speaking Chinese woman who has reluctantly been admitted to a nursing home. Junn has always disliked Richard, resenting his friendship with her son who she had no idea was gay. and the story lifts off when Richard employs a Chinese interpreter Vann (Naomi Christie) to help open the dialogue between Junn and her racy old suitor and fellow home resident Alan (Peter Bowles) an initiative that in turn allows for Richard and Junn to deal with their own grieving together.

Whishaw and Leung as Richard and Kai

Lifting is an impressive film which is improved by the performances from the two leads. Whishaw (not an actor I have rated before) is the emotionally more brittle character of the two and his portrayal of a man who has lost the love of his life is heartbreaking to watch and made even more poignant as his obvious distress balances out Chung's more stoic and rather flat emotions of loneliness and loss.
Their scenes together (buffered by an excellent Christie as the emotionally torn Vann) are at times electric and incredibly moving. The emotion being heightened as both characters share flashbacks
with conversations they had with lover and son.
I could have done without the laboured and unnecessary comic story line of the twilight courtship between Alan and Junn, the film didnt need it at all. The film, more importantly, is a study of grief, grief from the perspective of two very different people
Lilting is a little gem of a movie.
8/10

There's Nowt As Queer As Folk

Yesterday I went out with odd socks on and a T shirt that was back to front.
I am oblivious to such faux pas
When we go out anywhere slightly smart Chris will insist that he check's my outfit. Not because I am colourblind and I have a tendency to clash colours ( which I am and I do)  but because I invarably will cock up some piece of clothing., not loop the belt in my trousers properly or not fold back the collar of my shirt.
This behaviour may seem a liitle odd to others but to me, it's a normality
Today I will be wearing my crocs with socks on.
And One crock doesn't have a strap by the way!

If the truth be known,all of us do " odd things"
We just don't crow about them to others.
I have been thinking of my other " odd habits" and in way of a confessional, here are a few.....

• I tend to sleep with a pillow over my face
• I enjoy cold rice pudding with a blob of lemon curd in the centre
• I hum the tune to " Camptown races" every night when I am brushing my teeth
• I have to drink out of the same coffee cup EVERYTIME I have a cup of coffee at home
• I am constantly writing a screenplay for a film in my head when out for a walk
• I feel physically sick when I look at a donut
• I like wearing a scarf in the house in winter
• I have a rather nasty habit of pushing used crisp packets down the side of the armchair cushion
• I break wind rather loudly if I raise one leg more than 45 degrees
• I use every lane when going around a roundabout
• I have an unhealthy obsession with Russell Crowe, scotch eggs and Zombie films
• I can't peg washing out properly.
• I love bleaching the whole toilet,  but have burnt my arse at least five times after doing so
• I fall over a lot
• I have a pathological urge to pull the church bell EVERYTIME I am in Church
• When I get my eyes tested I always giggle when the guy looms over me with the light scope
• I learnt the Welsh National Anthem from the text printed on a tea towel
• I say "hey ho "too much

Hey ho

X

I will leave you with a photo of Winnie attacking an empty bottle of diet coke this morning

The Scone Fairy

The meter reader man came this afternoon, as usual he came to the front door of the cottage, so I told him through the window to " come round the back"

We don't use the front door.

After he knocked on the back door he pointed to a white paper bag

balanced on the back garden wall

" a very old lady has just dropped that off" he informed me

A bag of warm scones awaited me

The " auntie Glad scone fairy" had struck again

Around the village in 80 seconds ( well 33 actually)

I walk the dogs four times a day. Once daily around the village. Now it takes practice to walk four dogs with one hand, both for me and the dogs themselves, but we have it down to a T .
Today as I walked them , I tucked my iPad into the front of my jacket and down the front of my pants! To give anyone who is interested a stomach eye view of our walk....its a time lapse app on the iPad so it will only take a minute of your time!

Stabtown ( The Walking Dead eps 4)

Beth...at least this time she didn't sing...well not for long that is

I've been out of sorts today......so the highlight of this Monday would be ( of course) the latest
Walking Dead Chapter
To be honest I wasn't looking forward to Beth's stand alone episode, but the story of her adventures in the creepy Atlanta hospital was a cracking hour. Beth, in series three and four did very little but sing, hold baby Judith and get drunk with Daryl, so it was a welcome change seeing her chew a bit of the zombie scenery....kick some ass and hold her own with an OCD policewoman and a rather tense set piece in a zombie filled elevator shaft.
I also think that new character Noah ( Tyler James Edwards) will be a warm and welcome character
to team Rick
Apart from the season opener, Stabtown has been the best episode to date!
Don't worry regular readers
TOMORROW WILL BE A WHIMSEY ANIMAL BASED  BLOG,

Poem

When it comes to " art" I have a couple of blind spots
I have never really " got " Shakespeare and in general poetry tends to leave me all a bit cold.
When I was 16 I dropped out of o level English literature because I couldn't be arsed with studying The Tempest. CSE English Literature studied The Catcher In the Rye, which was much more my style . I was the only person in the class to get a grade 1 in the exam......
I don't think we studied poetry in CSE English, I don't recall we did.....perhaps that is the reason I have never read poetry as a rule.
Having said this , I do love listening to the odd clever and humorous piece of poetry
Like this David Sidaris dog poem
Enjoy

A former purebred Boston terrier,
Her family's wond'ring where to bury her.

Each Saturday at half past one,
Miss shih tzu has her toenails done.
In the chair she pouts and squirms,
Not knowing that she's full of worms.

Most ev'ry evening Goldilocks
Snacks from Kitty's litter box.
Then, on command, she gives her missus
Lots of little doggie kisses.

Hercules, a Pekinese,
Was taken in and dipped for fleas.
Insecticide got in his eyes,
Now he'll be blind until he dies.

The Deavers' errant pit bull, Cass,
Bit the postman on the ass.
Her lower teeth destroyed his sphincter,
Now his walk's a bit distincter.

The bitches loved the pug Orestes
Until the vet snipped off his testes.
Left with only anal glands,
He's been reduced to shaking hands.

Each night, old Bowser licks his balls,
Then falls asleep till nature calls.
He poops a stool, then, though it's heinous,
Bends back down and licks his anus.

Dachshund Skip from Winnipeg
Loves to hump his master's leg.
Every time he gets it up, he
Stains Bill's calf with unborn puppy.

A naughty Saint Bernard named Don,
Finds Polly's Kotex in the john.
He holds the blood steak in his jaws
And mourns her coming menopause.