Winnie has been watching me from her corner of the couch.
Her piggy eyes look curious and a tad concerned....I've been watching the sob fest My Best Friend's Wedding
After an age she dragged herself up with a sigh and after hitting the floor heavily she ambled over to my arm chair and lifted her giant fat paws on my footstool in order to present her face to mine. You can kiss me she indicated
And I hugged and kissed her giant gintrap mouth like a sad child would kiss his grandmother
I once saw a woman in the co op in Hillsborough pay for a stranger's shopping.
I was at the back of the queue at the checkout and a rather shabby middle aged guy in front was searching and re searching his pockets to pay for such basic tidbits as milk and bread and a tinned meat pie.
He looked pained and embarrassed
Quietly a youngish mother in front of me leaned forward and without fuss told the checkout girl to put the items on her bill.
I heard her say " it's ok .its ok" to the shabby man, who looked as though he was about to cry
It was all over a minute later.
As she was packing her own shopping I caught her eye briefly and smiled " That was very kind "
I told her " we all need a little kindness " the woman answered before she and her children walked off...
I remember thinking just what a lovely lesion in life that woman had shared with her children that day at the checkout in Hillsborough's tired old co op
Nose to nipple
The kitchen table is a mess of paper and folders.
I'm getting to grips with jobs long overdue.
Winnie's pet insurance changed......tick!
The warranty on the wood burner and thermal store found.........tick!
William's inoculation record.........tick!
Sheep registration.....tick!
Guarantee on double glazing .....tick!
Of course the work gets sidelined for an odd hour.
You always find more interesting reading than an old electricity bill.
I found a box of papers this afternoon.
More shite to wade through.
Nursing assessments of my student days, my mother's obituary, a photograph of a consultant I used to work with wearing a sombrero! A one dollar bill! Various newspaper cuttings...
My first assignment for my film studies degree exploring the narrative structure of The Poseidon Adventure, postcards and lists of things to do.
The box was a snapshot of some thirty years
Tucked away in a moleskin notebook that was filled with lists and receipts was a hand written poem.
It wasn't my own work....god no......I'm not quite that fey
But it was a poem I liked
It was written by Taylor Mali
The youngest daughter of affable despots Jason and Claire swept the board at the Trelawnyd Primary School sports day today.
I loved the sound
A score of several dozen children screaming their heads off.
She's a delightful child btw
Have you ever bought yourself something useless?
Something sweet, something likeable something non utilitarian?
I think all of us very occasionally like to scratch that frivolous itch occasionally and although you may need some new underpants, need to pay your William's skin allergy medication bill and need to put money towards your nursing reregistration payment, the pleasure of buying an oversized garden outdoor chess set seemed the best course of action for the day
What " useless " thing have you treated yourself to recently?
Albert brought home a youngish rat this morning.
It managed to escape, into the woodpile, squeaking very very loudly as it did so.
Squeaking rodents are like illegal drugs to canines
That was well over two hours ago
Subsequently I've not needed to walk the dogs today.
The hot spell continues, so I've washed windows, cut the lawn, cooked a ham, made ice cream, dug out the valerian from the wall and cut back the honeysuckle. I've weeded the front garden and cut roses, changed and washed bedding to dry in the afternoon warmth and oh and bleached the bog
And all four dogs were still at the woodpile digging for the rat when I had finished
Several of you out there have picked up on a certain melancholy creeping into Going Gently recently. Perhaps it's been around for a few months now, as my husband and I have found ourselves at a crisis point which is in need of a resolution.
I'm not saying any more. It's a private matter and just for today I don't want any comments on this blog entry about it.
Perhaps I just wanted you to know it's a bit tough at the moment
Hey ho.
