Going Gently

Week ReCap

In a week where another nutcase with a gun licence massacred innocents in their place of learning and the Pope looked like he was duped into a publicity disaster by a Kentucky homophobic bigot.

We all have been reminded of the fickle nature of the human spirit.

I was thinking just this thought when I watched a recording of WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? whilst preparing lunch.

It featured the story of broadcaster and journalist Anita Rani and followed the fate of her grandfather's Sikh family when India was partitioned in 1947. In the sectarian violence that followed the formation of Pakistan, millions of people were relocated and well over 200,000 people of all faiths murdered and the personal story of how a member of Rani's family committed suicide by flinging herself down a well rather than be raped by Muslim soldiers made for uncomfortable listening.
What affected me most, was Rani's emotional journey, for at the start of the programme she came over as rather an ambitious and dare I say false character and by the end, and especially after an elderly Sikh man recounted the stories of how his fellow villagers killed their own daughters in a bid to prevent them being abducted, she was transformed from frothy presenter to a profoundly moved and thoughtful individual....
If you get a chance to watch it, do so...it's a fascinating watch.
Anyway

It's Sunday afternoon and I want to be reminded of happier things.....at home.

The Prof is asleep in the armchair and has covered himself with a blanket..He's left strict instructions
for me to wake him up with a hot cup of tea and a slice of Gay Gordon's cake just before 4pm.

The dogs are all asleep in untidy heaps about the living room and Albert is watching the sparrows arguing in the honeysuckle by the front door.
I have the lunch washing up to do.....
But I shall leave you with this weeks best innuendo from Bake Off

"Mel: “Four bakers remain. Two boys, two girls, all ready to tackle the semi-final.”
Sue: “I’m semi-hysterical.”
Mel: “I’m semi-excited.”
Sue: “Let’s get the semis on.”

Open Wide

I've done a full day shift today , most of it supporting

strange nurses on a ward I have never worked on before

Staff shortages eh?

Anyhow I treated the Prof and I to salt and pepper squid from the takaway on the way home

It was ok

But well worth buying as I now know a certain bulldog can get 6 large prawn crackers into her mouth at one time......

Winnie has been with us for two years now
Her talents are neverending

Winnie flipping Chris' underpants 2 years ago!

Pre Going Gently

I think I have always enjoyed writing, even though I am not all that good at it.
I was reminded of the fact by a chance meeting on facebook the other day.
As a late teen, I was part of the citizen Band radio craze that swept the country. My austin 1300 had a whip aerial, furry seats and a superstar 120 which could pick up conversations as far as Holywell
In a matter of days I suddenly had a large group of friends, picked up from the 1980 CB geeks of North Wales.
Black Sheep, Sweetie Pie, Green Giant, Bogey Man, Silver Fox, Psycho and Cherry Blossom, everyone had their own name or " handle" and I had, what I thought was a cracker, for I called myself " Pockets" .
I loved the camaraderie of it all. Most nights we would all meet up. We went ice skating, enjoyed pub quizes, enjoyed " eyeballs" ( meet ups with fellow radio fans) and hung out at Black Sheep and Sweetie Pie' s house , using it as a hostel, youth club.
I lost contact with most of the CBers in the summer of 1983 when I left to go nursing

Where is this amble down memory lane taking us, I hear you yell.... Well I shall tell you.
Sweetie Pie and Blacksheep had a baby called Kellie and as a gift I wrote her a book about the friends that met up on those rather naive days of the early 1980s.
It was a lumpy precursor to Going Gently
A few days ago, on facebook, Kellie sent me a message completely out of the blue..... It was this photo

The last page of the book I had written for her, some 32 years previously . She had kept it all of that time........
I was very flattered.

In Praise Of William

When the despot's Girls were around the other day, and when all went suddenly silent, I walked into the living room, with a tea towel in hand , to be greeted by this scene.

It brought a lump to my throat.

An old dog sat between two children , all of them watching tv.

William is a dear soul. He has a gentleness about him which can be incredibly touching.

Whereas Winnie steals the limelight with her blustering extrovert ways, William will often just sit and watch. He will not allow a stranger to pet him but will be the first to greet a visitor.

He will never snatch a tasty morsel from an outstretched hand and he will allow himself to be back combed by two chattering schoolgirls, with patient alacrity.

When Mary, the disabled rabbit arrived , William would sit outside her hutch for hours with his nose resting on the door, so fascinated he was with her and I remember when Joan, our first old cat was dying, it was William who lay with her on our bed, his paw outstretched towards hers.

A gentle dog is a joy, and it breaks my heart just a little when I remember that he is now an old man with white in his beard and a mellowness in his eyes

Walking Dead Season 6

Who do you like?

Who do you hate?

By uttering just two words Pope Francis has proved himself to be a coward and has made a hero out of a stupid small minded woman
It has been reported that during his " secret" meeting with Kim Davis ( the Kentucky Official that refused to officiate at Gay weddings) he hugged and whispered to her to " Stay Strong" .and by doing so, he has undone much of his perceived good works since his inauguration in 2013.

I am not angry, just deflated

Bake Off ( 2nd Time Today)

The lovely Nadiya, Sweet Flora, sexy, Tamal (gay!) and Ian

I watched a recorded semi final of Bake Off late tonight............AGAIN...the bake off IS my favourite programme ( well second to my Zombie lurve fest) basically because its the story of rather sweet people who have real talent.......( I know I say this every year)
The final next week! OMG Nadiya, Ian and Tamal!
How can you pick from Nadiya and Tamal?

Tarts Trelawnyd Style

All ready for the baking...( I've only just noticed my pants on the radiator )

This afternoon I am picking the affable despots' girls up from school.
We have a couple of hours to fill before dad picks them up, so I have been mulling over what we can do to fill in the time.
What do you do with girls of 5 and 8?
When I was a child, fun was had in the kitchen.
We didn't cook or play with pastry or batter. Ingredients were there to be cooked properly.
But we ( remember I had -and still do- a twin sister) were always entertained by a grandmother who baked and cooked with all of the ease of a professional chef.
Victoria sponges, pies, plain old fashioned cooking, all were completed alongside stories and chatter, and , even though we didnt that often , get our hands dirty, by a process of osmosis , home cooking was always joyful and entertaining.
This afternoon , the girls and I shall be baking jam tarts. They will make the pastry, they will dollop in the jam.......my job? is to referee the mess and make sure the girls are kept busy
Last time, I left them to their own devices and they back combed William's fur so much that he looked like Tina Turner in 1980

( i'll post some baking photos later) hey ho