Roger

Camp Van

I'm meeting blogger Wanda for lunch today
She doesn't comment much now, but stalwarts of Going Gently may recall her often pithy one liners
that were usually full of sass and tartness.
I've made an effort in my appearance today, forgoing my second and first best Walking Dead T shirts for my favourite one depicting a camper van
What do I want to say by wearing it?
Answers on a postcard please.

Enjoy

Not much to report today
Another case as last night's shift fucking up blog entries
I need another job or to be adopted by a gay aging millionaire with a heart condition and no living relatives

Cafe Culture

The delicate clematis that borders Meg's grave is in bloom and it and the few Hardy tulips that survived the rabbit raids of winter have given the front garden a little lift of colour.
I went to the Community Association's coffee morning yesterday.
If I hadn't gone I wouldn't have spoken to anyone until my Sams shift yesterday afternoon.
Mrs Trellis was upset at her table  as her greyhound Blue was at the vets under observation. He had gashed himself on some barbed wire. She's a big believer in homeopathic medication.
But Homeopathic meds don't help rusty wire injuries
I took some old DVDs in to the swaps table and chatted to Ian and Nick from the association.
They are resurrecting the Flower Show this year with my guidance

I went to my favourite cafe for lunch. The cafe is called The Glass Lounge and its single, round faced waitress/barista reminds me of Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets.
I sit at my usual table ( very much like Mr Udall) and so read because the service is usually very pedestrian to say the least.
Now I like this.
I like the fact the waitress is unhurried. There is absolutely no sense of urgency about her and although everything seems to get done, you can be waiting an age for anything to happen.
Like I said, I enjoy this. I enjoy watching others get impatient
I enjoy their unheeded glances when their flat whites are late
And I like the fact that when she eventually comes to my table she doesn't indulge in small talk
She won't be rushed, and I so like that .
I people watched for the two hours I was there.
A gay couple at the next table hated the service but said nothing. They didn't speak to each other either, preferring to play with their phones.
Beyond them was a lady with a disabled husband, both of them were reading the papers and beyond them a man with a dog. The barista brought over a bowl of water which I thought was nice.
when I had my first meeting with my divorce mediator, it was in this cafe.
The barista brought me over a bottle of water when things looked fraught which was kind.

I wanted to weed the garden this afternoon but I'm on nights again. This in and out isbuggering up my body clock
Hey ho

Hillsborough Park

Hatim was thirteen but was the size of a small ten year old girl.
His wheelchair was a child's size, expensive and lightweight.
Hillsborough Park Sheffield
Springtime many years ago now.
It was one of his first forays out in public
A broad smiling Iraqi boy paralysed by accident by a stray British infantry man's bullet.
Rehabbed  in a Northern English City
He wasn't nervous or self conscious
That's what growing up in a Spinal Injury Unit does for you
He was just a little boy taking a Welsh terrier out for a walk.
The terrier was my Finlay and his lead was tied to the wheelchair in a tight knot
It was their second time of meeting

I watched them both from a distance .
Cheerful little boy and bouncy friendly dog,
Daffodils and bright sunlight,


And I felt like a father for the very first time

Brunei

I will rehash my previous slightly ironic condemnation of the sultan of Brunei's decision to push forward the new stoning Law for any man who indulges in gay sex ( and for any straight couple taking part in an adulterous relationship!

Aparantly Brunei  is also known as an abode of Peace! 
In your face Brunei...in your face

Thursday

The weather has been wet today
I'm on nights.
I watched a couple of films this afternoon.
A so-so Australian zombie movie Plague and a worthy civil rights flick Hidden Figures
I'm listening to David Sedaris 
I found his rather moving comments about his husband rather painful to listen to.
There is a rainbow over the village and one base of it is perched over The Still House making it look even cuter than than it usually does
Old Trevor rang, he's been to outpatients today....I can stop giving him his daily injections
I've done them for the past seventy days or so.
He's the only person I have spoken to today
Albert is stiff but fine

Albert now has 7 lives

Albert was involved in a low speed RTA tonight.

It happened in the lane during the dogs final wee walk of the day.

He was struck a glancing blow by a black farm estate pickup as he tried to leap into Animal Helper Pat's  back garden after he had followed us up the lane.

Me and the dogs were standing by the Church lytch gate and saw him bounce back onto the road then leap again the four feet into Pat's herbaceous borders.

The man in the van stopped and kindly held the dog leads when I went after him ( It took me four goes to clamber up a PAT's back wall- oh the Shame)

surprisingly I found Albert quite quickly crouching by her greenhouse, his tail whipping from side to side in pure anger. He was less frightened and more angry
Winnie was quite disappointed when the farm Helper handed her back over....he had overalls on ! 

Apart from a bloodied  ear, old Albert looked remarkably ok given the sound of the impact and after a sizeable wrestle in order to check for injuries he finally settled on the couch after eating half the contents of small tin of red salmon

This photo has been taken of him two and a half hours after the event

Milking it

These animals will be the fucking death of me