A Change Of Scene

Look very closely the second photo enlargement will tell all 

East of Trelawnyd you will find a low wide valley filled with a patchwork of fields, farms and occasional houses. I took Mary Eastwards on London Road then turned north behind Basil the farmer's fields towards the back of Gop Hill . Trelawnyd lies sheltered at the Southern aspect of the hill
In one of the fields I spied a tinyfigure and as I squinted to see who it was I thought I saw a faint billow of a pashmina in the breeze.
I waved and the figure waved back hurrying down the green meadow like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music 
and I was sure I heard " Darling John is that you?" above the chirping of the hedge sparrows .
Chic Eleanor and I  chatted for a while our faces meeting between a two metre gap in the hawthorn but then had to wave our goodbyes after Jo, Ian and "Eleven"walked towards us in a fit of frantic barks.
"Eleven" is my collective name for the couple's whippets, as I never remember their names. Eleven refers to the number of legs the three dogs own between them

chic Eleanor having a Jane Austin moment

This afternoon I have weeded the front garden, read a bit with my head on both bulldogs as they sunbathed , oh and arranged my latest cushion , a handmade yellow crotchet cushion from my sister. She made it to fit in with my new yellow living room.

Janet's cushion on the right

I'm going back to work on three nights on Friday

Body In A Bed

I wake early.
It's the warm light of April coupled with the fact that the cottage faces South with her head in the sun that does it.
I never think about closing the curtains.
I only do that when I am on night shifts

I started to wake around 6 am and rolled over against a large immovable warm body.
My queen sized bed , effectively cut down into half a single
For a split second I flashed to a memory of a couple of years ago when it was normal to have a warm body in my bed and for that split second I believed it to be so again.

Muscle and sensory memories flashed forward then back like a large wave on a beach.

Then Winnie , lying full length like a massive tan sausage roll smacked her gums like a canine Popeye and reality took back over as it quietly always does at times like this

Like the cat walking through the bead curtain scene in Amelie
It broke my heart for a split second

Can You See Lyndi's Charlie?

Lyndi sans charlie

It was Zoom choir tonight and Heulwen and Hattie and I shared some schoolboy humour when we all introduced ourselves tonight
One delightful chorister called Lyndi has a certain resemblance to the actress Margaret Rutherford in more ways than just looks and as we all have a want to do, she introduced us all to her very hairy dog lying at her feet.
His name is Charlie
As always the start of choir, is a bit of a bunfight and as we all waved I called out to Hattie if
She had seen Lyndi's Charlie yet?
The look on a few faces was well worth the Victoria Wood moment 

On Guard

I got the negative result of the local health board email this morning.
My bestie down in London laughed
" You will have to give all that donated food back now " she quipped
With the generally mild symptoms I have experienced I am somewhat disappointed I didn't have the mild version of the virus , so Im back to square one
Mary and I went out for a long walk in the cold sun
She's in season and is suddenly very feisty indeed
She has been guarding the cottage like a lioness

My Best Friend's Wedding

Late last night I received an email from two old friends
The email was titled
" We Will Meet Again " 
It was short and to the point

"So we keep being told........I bloody hope so.

Thinking of you .... keep safe xxxxxx

Ruth & Dale 

Sometimes you don't always say what you want to in a reply. especially with people you are not normally demonstrative with...
But last night I was suddenly  reminded of that scene in My Best Friends wedding when old friends  Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney talk about love

Michael O'Neill:
Kimmy says if you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just...

Julianne Potter:
Passes you by...

I wrote back something I wouldn't normally say after my first serious line of  " You two keep Safe", I added
" I love you guys !"

And moments later came the one word answer

" Ditto x" 

It's a time to be honest

Froth

Me and chic Eleanor out for a small jaunt at The Crown 

As played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman

I think we are all in need of a bit of froth
Time for a parlour game

Today's game people is simple
" In The movie of your life , who will play you ? 
As a young version of yourself 
As the older version of yourself" 

Be as inventive as possible !

  but I am feeling better this morning. I'm still tired and have a nagging headache but I do feel brighter.

Home

I have slept on and off for most of the day and feel ok except for a persistent headache.
The many kindnesses of today have been a tonic better than any doctor could prescribe and although
I don't want to labour the point into something that sounds something saccharine, I can't quite get over the thoughtfulness of others
Today Emma from The Old Crown dropped off her own hens eggs and homemade soup, and more eggs were dropped off by the gate by Heulwen and Derek only a short time before Greta bearing gin popped by.
Jason marched Mary around the Gop and Trendy Carol took the bulldogs all afternoon and Dr Polly and her daughters sent me a video from home wishing me well.
The phone has rung and clicked with scores of messages as I've slept and Sailor John and velvet voiced Linda, ( the head of the street warden initiative) have physically called around to see if I was still breathing.
And at 6pm, as it started to rain, Bridget from Well street left her family to walk across the village with a hot roast dinner just for me.
A home cooked meal a panacea against all known ills

I could have lost my cottage during my divorce
And I am so glad I fought to keep it and was able to remain

These last three weeks of shutdown have underlined that I am indeed home

The Queen's Message

Well I'm an old Queen Too so I too thought I'd say hello and thank you.
Thank you for the good wishes and the kind thoughts
I'm ok and being very well looked after even though my symptoms are not as serious as some have experienced
I was tested this morning for covid and will get the results in a few days.
I obviously have a virus and have the symptoms exactly like one nurse at work has after he caught something from his daughter.
We will wait to see if it is covid.
I have slept, off and on for most of today, and I have wanted for nothing.
A dearheart from the Trelawnyd Street Warden Group dropped off some home made soup and added to the garden wall gift by leaving a whole bag of food and toiletries which was totally overwhelming and my request for dogwalkers illicited seven offers in an hour as well as three new leads after Dorothy had chewed through hers in a fit of anxiety.

The food parcel 

Lots of messages thank you
Flis..thank you, Trendy Carol and jason  ..thank you
Lots of blog comments...thank you
I'm off to bed soon
But have just talked to my friend Nu who is helping out on the London Intensive care units without intensive care experience
I am so...so proud of her
Stay safe.xx