A Light Read

I'm going into the hospice to complete paperwork
But I thought coffee and some light reading was in order
Has anyone of you had this conversation?

Bluebell +

Yes that's Winnie trying to look invisible in the back

My soon to be ex husband has taken all the things from the cottage he wanted save for his bike which he has instructed me to get rid of.
It's a much better bike than mine and so in a fit of testosterone I went down to Halfords today to buy a new bike rack. I have the idea to have the bike fully serviced then use it with Mary in some sort of baby carrier
" is it easy to fit?" I asked the salesboy when he pointed to a box with two dozen separate parts in it
" Any moron could do it!" he chirped up helpfully
When I got home, neighbour sailor John smiled ruefully when I told him I was just about to assemble it
" Call me if you need a hand" he offered
He knows me and my lack of dexterity so well

But I did it myself I really did... And John's eyebrows bounced upwards in an impressive inverterted  v when he spied my handiwork 

Honesty

Perhaps a decade ago now I worked with a bit of a misery.
She was footloose and fancy free, had a career on the rise, and was ( and is ) an attractive woman with a sparkling smile.
But back then, she was clearly unhappy about something and like many the causation was hidden away unrecognised and nebulous.
A twelve hour shift became a bore when she was on
And her moans almost became a habit.
Now my relationship with her was( is) a good one , and I knew I could banter with her, and so with a smile and a lightness I told her I was only going to allow her ten moans per twelve hour shift.
A rationing of complaints
We laughed about it
But the message had struck home
She stopped moaning

Recently she referred to that bit of honesty
She's an Earth mother of three and couldn't be happier
But then, she admitted the moaning had become a norm

I am not sure what I'm trying to say here
I guess we all, at times need a mirror held up to us by a friend
But one that is held with affection and not with criticism

Promenading

At this time in Sitges I would be promenading alongside a thousand other Europeans in the still roast hot air of Northern Spain
Tonight, in Trelawnyd, it's still sunny with blue skies,
But it's pleasantly cooler, and few people are about.
Mary and I went out to Promenade .
With no choir in Gwaenysgor on the cards, we walked to the hall to listen to the Male Voice Choir  at their professional rehursal. They were singing Elvis' Can't help falling in love with you rather gently and beautifully. A district nurse on a late visit walked out from the pensioner bungalows as I leant on the Hall wall.
She looked tired

I smiled to myself. When my family came to listen to my choir's concert the other night, my sister in law got the venue wrong and went to sit in with the male voice choir rehursal instead of ours.
The chattering Welsh singers were, I think, quite taken with their small audience of one!

Eve Randa was sitting in her bedroom window as we passed. She looked every inch the slightly bored pre teen that she is but she told me that her dad was doing ok.
I saw him today as I drove  through the village. He was chatting to Animal Helper Pat.
She had had her hair done!

There is a folk concert  in the village hall this weekend http://www.therecordjournal.co.uk/
I hope to go on Friday.
Two nuns in light grey habits stopped their car to allow us to cross the road by the school( I couldn't make it up) and as the sun dropped low over the West of the village lighting up the graveyard in a burst of yellow ,my red geraniums, planted out only a month ago, seemed to bloom robustly on the kitchen wall
A bit of Sitges in Wales I thought

Skid Marks

The dirty holiday clothes , sweaty skid marked shorts and the like are in the washer and I'm lighting the fire in order to have hot water for a nice long bath.
It's nice to be home.
The answerphone had five messages waiting for me when I got in
All but one unimportant , the hospice wants me to go in to sort out some paperwork.
The dogs were pleased to see me too.
George's death has unbalanced them somewhat.
I didn't sleep until 4.30 am, the late night flight home wrong footed me and now I feel groggy and a bit listless .
It feels cold
No choir tonight which is a shame
Jamie and his 1940s RAF moustache are on holiday too

Thank you to Yorkshire Liz for this gift, it was waiting for me when I got home

Bench

From my third floor balcony I have a lovely view of Sitges Promenade and Church
In a corner near the beach steps is a single rainbow bench
It's a favourite meeting place of couples, straight and gay.
I've watched many during my time here
Meet, kiss, laugh, and argue there

This morning the bench is empty

I go home today.

The sky is blue

Sunday

My family arrived in dribs and drabs over the past days and so with a final group of eleven souls ( the youngest being seven and the oldest 71) , the dinner table was noisy and animated to say the least.

I love these big, galloping, emotionally warm meals, 

With their chatter and laughter that you can dip into and out of with non judgmental ease 

Having said this I love the simple quiet solitary breakfasts too and this morning knowing the family will rise in staggered groups, I got up early to watch the other characters and to think

In Sitges there is a somewhat scruffy little square each corner of which has a bar.

Now each bar faces it's seats two by two, and each paring faces the opposite bar like seats in a theatre. 

It's a square to watch the Promenaders

It's a square to watch the talent.

"a good natured meat market" as my sister-in-law described it

I went to the museum Del Cau Ferrat yesterday to look at the art exhibitions. It was cool and calm and quiet in the Baroque rooms with their blue walls and heavy woodwork and afterwards I sat in the shade of one of the many palms and ate a sweet crab and pineapple mix bought at a little supermarket with my fingers. 

I am aware that I choose to pick up on the more whimsy part of this Spanish town, very much like how I prefer to pick up on the whimsy of the little Welsh village that I live in.

I make no apologies for this. Like anywhere, including Sitges the darker side of life lies only a hair's breath away.... with its sex and open relationship fun on line, dark rooms and very very late nights.....

I'm off to read a book on the beach 

Hey ho

People Watching

I was out on a walk on the beach yesterday when a rather buxom black woman who was covered in what seemed like rather a lot of gold asked me if I could speak English.
She was sat on a low wall and looked in pain
" Do you know how to ring a taxi ? " she asked  "I think I've broken my leg"
She wagged a rather large left leg at me
I told her I was nurse
Her ankle was swollen just a little but she let me prod it a little and I told her that I thought it was sprained
It's amazing what people allow you to touch if you say that you're a nurse!
" what do I do for that?" She asked , her anxieties reducing to almost normal"
" Rest, gin and ice!" I told her
She fist bumped me, which made me feel rather hip.

A house sparrow homed in on my breakfast this morning and was eating my scrambled egg when I returned to my table with coffee.
An old Belgium queen in an oversized straw hat at the next table looked shocked when I continued to eat it and wafted himself  rather too energetically with a napkin in order to recover.

I love people watching