Merry Christmas

 

There is nothing bigger and more serious than a bulldog's lurve

Merry Christmas 

Eve

George in his new position of power

I've pulled up the drawbridge for Christmas.

It's the first one in two decades that I'll be going to bed alone 

And the first I have no one to present with a gift to first thing in the morning

I have a selection of DVDs to watch

To Kill A Mocking Bird, Mr Smith Goes To Washington, Women on the verge of a Nervous Breaksown and Admodova's classic A Fantastic Woman.

The wood burner is lit and will remain lit for the duration 

Thank you Ian, Barbara Ann, John for your gifts which arrived today

Special thank you to Terry(i) 

Thank you all for reading, supporting and caring

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins Returns and seen objectively it does so rather well. 

The Children of Michael Banks ( Ben Whishaw) who is grieving for his recently deceased wife find themselves growing up in 1930 London rather all too quickly, so Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) and cockney Lamp lighter Jack  ( Lin Manual Miranda) enter the family's life in order to inject fun and laughter in their depression filled world.

Whereas in the original it is Julie Andrew's Mary that gives the film its joyful heart it is Whishaw's doe eyed, and suitably sensitive father that steals the show and gives the remake its warmth. Indeed his mostly spoken song " A Conversation " which is in memory of his deceased wife is an incredibly moving piece of movie making and one that  had me weeping into my knitted scarf

Having said this Blunt is rather impressive as a rather more serious Poppins as is Miranda who is rather dishy in the Dick Van Dyke kinda role and the three child actors are wonderfully cute in a refreshingly  non Disney ish way-all give it rocks against the traditional 2 D animation from the original.

The set piece songs arnt as memorable as the ones in the original and the Jack's slightly rapping moment in a cartoon musical hall was a wrong move , but I did enjoy Meryl Streep' s musical cameo and the rehash of the chimney Sweeps dance moment around a London Park fountain and the finale with the cast being spirited away into the Skies over London was just enough for the audience to walk away smiling.

Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer as the grown up Banks Children

Gifts

I slept twelve hours last night and woke up to a marks and Spencer carrier bag of goodies left anonymously by the front door. Another package of a lovely winter scarf left by the postman was sent by blog reader Helen and yet another of dog treats left by the back door.
We are not going hungry this Christmas that's for sure..
Off to see Mary Poppins this afternoon......it's a wet gray day

How Mad Is That?

Arrived in London a way past midday
Met Nu for a long lunch at the very nice Granary Square Brasserie
Lovely food, 
Two bloody Mary's
Lots of laughs ,
Lots of tears
I'm back on the train home now and it's 4.30
How mad is that........?
And how therapeutic ..........

Best Laid Plans

Ten minutes past eight
I finish a twelve hour shift at eight
And the agency nurse that was due to take over from me had not turned up.
A couple of minutes before this one of the patients had pulled out her catheter, and followed this miniature disaster with the biggest " Code Brown " this side of the Welsh Border
It was only the second shift for my support worker colleague and he had forgotten to take two patient's blood sugar results as he was trying to sort out some breakfasts
I managed to take them in between answering a call bell and ringing the care home manager at home, demanding to know what agency I needed to chase up.
Before catching my train to London I was mindful that I had to walk and feed the dogs, get changed and drive to the station.
Best laid plans
The lady with the code brown wailed a repetitive call of " ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!!!" 
Which I answered with a calming " Of course not!"   But I did mutter under my breath "But I 'll fucking kill that agency nurse if she doesn't turn up!" 
Another buzzer went off , I heard another patient shout " I want a hot cup of tea!" which was followed by a plaintive " in a minute!"  and then the cook put her head around the door and said cheerfully " Someone has just put the tv remote and the Radio Times down a USED toilet" 
I lost the will to live by that point...........

It's 12.04 and the Virgin Train to London has just approached Milton Keynes
I got to my seat in B coach with just 2 minutes to spare  

Great Call

My new Christmas decs remind me of a Ukrainian village 

My last phonecall at Samaraitans was from a guy in prison
Many prisoners get free access to call us if they need to.
The prisioner called himself The Samaritan Angel and he was cheerful and clearly enjoying himself
" I've rang 35 Samaritans already tonight" he quipped
" And I just wanted to tell you all that I love the work you do, am grateful for it and want you to have a lovely Christmas " 
"Thank you mate!" I told him genuiningly amused and moved by his good nature
" Respect to you !" The Angel laughed and he was gone to ring another Samaritan sitting in some phone booth somewhere in the Uk.

A Chatty Post

I'll start with another video sent to me by a choir relative who loves carpets
This time it's us singing Tebe Poem which is  Russian Slavonic hymn which I think we in the bass section actually performed exceptionally well given our small numbers..
After hearing it again, I was rather moved
Enjoy

I had an appointment with the bank today but that got rained Off because of work flu so instead we delivered the outlying village Christmas Cards and gifts  then the dogs and I went for a walk down the old railway line.
With William gone George has been elevated in the pecking order and now has teamed up with Winnie, with whom he now sleeps with on the blue arm chair in the living room every night.
Both potter along nicely together when out which is odd as for the past 5 years they have allbut ignored each other.....pack dynamics eh? Who would have thought it .

Old Scottie and Old Bulldog side by side

I've treated myself to a return ticket to London for Saturday . I know it will be busy and I know I shall be tired after working a night shift tomorrow night but I'm going down to spend the day with Nu. She and her hubby Jimbo had very kindly invited me for Christmas with the dogs but I think it best if I go down for the day on Saturday which will be absolutely lovely.....tiring but lovely ......thank goodness I'm not in work until the 29th after that.

Pat the animal helper called round with my usual Christmas Barabrith which was wrapped in silver foil crowned by a red bow and yesterday I had lunch with an old ITU friend Naomi who bought me some chalet Christmas lights which are incredibly sweet...I've had several gifts of decorations this year.......

I'll leave you with a final carpet based video of the Choir's version of soul Wind from Tuesday night..followed by a fallorn looking Father Christmas on a bench

A dapper middle aged guy watched me photograph him with mild interest
" he looks like I feel" he said with feeling
 " I hate Fucking Christmas"