Mrs Trellis and her famous bobble hat at the Christmas Fayre
There is something quite moving and incredibly charming about someone's unexpected pride in something they have achieved.
Tonight was a case in point.
The jungle telegraph from The Velvet Voiced Linda and her Trelawnyd Street Wardens was that Mrs Trellis had raised 500£ from her sponsored walk, money which would be earmarked for the staff of my own former Intensive Care Unit
I caught Mrs Trellis out near Byron Street and I told her just how proud we all were of her
Looking beyond the laughter, and the chatter and the matter-of-factness of our conversation
I suddenly recognised a slight waiver of the chin and a watery glint in her eyes and as I repeated the words " Well Done"
The old lady raised her head proudly and firmly nodded her acknowledgement to something rather special
And her sudden tearful pride made my heart soar like the swallows over Well Street
I couldn't sleep that well last night and was up around 5 am bathing before thinking about going to work.
A flapping at the window signalled the arrival of the now single bantam cockerel on his way to the gardens towards Trendy Carol's for the morning.
He sat on the window sill looking at me for a moment
Then sat some more
Quietly and without panic as I splashed quietly away
In the first time in his life that has spanned over two years now, he is alone
And I am sure he sat watching me , because he recognised me as someone who occasionally feeds him.
He's in his own lockdown now.
Alone and suddenly lonely
And sat a few feet away from someone he was familiar with
A moment that may have made him feel just a tiny bit better.
Knock on the lane window around 1.30 pm
It was old "Mr Hughes" brandishing an Aldi Carrier bag
He's a brusque fellow, not really known for his warmth,
I came out to the kitchen wall and said hello
Apparantly his street Warden had given him a couple of ready meals that were not quite to his taste " I thought your dogs may like them!" he said with uncharacteristic generosity
I looked at the container
" I hate offal" he said seriously and I laughed " Oh I haven't had a nice faggot for an absolute age !" I replied ....giddy as a kipper!!!
Mr Hughes sort of half smiled and there was a faint twinkle in his eye
" Aye..... that's the lockdown for you we've all had to make sacrifices "
I've read more of the wonderful book " On The Red Hill " by Mike Parker surrounded by bulldogs and only moved to go to the loo where I continued to read, still surrounded by bulldogs before returning to my original resting place
The lane was busy with walkers, so when I eventually ventured outside to buy pet food conversations were had with German Bernard and Marjorie, Animal Helper Pat ( who was adding her garden waste to my field bonfire) and Meirion ( a meeting I cut short with the excuse of feeding the animals as he likes a rather long chat)
I returned to the sofa soon after and was interrupted by a neighbour who was worried about the disappearance of one bantam cockerels who live the gardens around here.
Mary, Dorothy and I went for a scout round and found lumps of sad feathers in a nearby field
I remember well, my livestock keeping days, they taught me well the ways and habits of the fox and badger
I will break the news to the locals later . They all have grown to love the bachelor cockerels.
The single surviving bantam quietly made his way across my garden to his roosting tree in the graveyard at dusk tonight.
It's sad to see him alone.
My sister has just asked what I want for my birthday and after long think I've asked her to upgrade by tiny front garden with her green fingers and some colourful planting.
We are 58 in a week's time
58! The last time I really noticed I was 40
My sisters are a constant in my life...I've known them both 58 years!
Over two days of twelve hour shifts I have run the gauntlet of PPE
I'm not complaining , it's just a statement of fact
IMAGINE a large pink hairy pig being squeezed into a flaccid sky blue condom
Add to the mix a tight plastic mask , the size of a large breathless yogurt pot, clinging blue latex gloves and a steamed up visor which looked as though it may have been born in Chenobyl and you may get the gist of what I have looked like since early yesterday morning.
One of my colleagues , whilst finally helping to peel the sweaty plastic mess from my slug like body summed it up thus " Jesus!!!!!You smell like fucking Gandi 's Flip Flop!"
Do you remember the covid lockdown daddy? The nights we had Zoom night quizzes with the family? Where The Mummy, A cowboy, Indiana Jones, Johnny Depp, Charlie Chaplin and Princess Leia amongst others battled for a single Cadbury's cream egg! Do you remember those days daddy? Do you remember?
Yesterday I planted out deep red geraniums in pots, Spanish style,on the kitchen wall
The winds increased to gales this morning and I found all of the pots hidden safely in the shelter of the front garden stone wall, saved by a kind passerby.
I was going to use the word nice here rather than kind to describe the Good Samaritan but in my considered opinion many nice people are not kind.
Kindness is an action
Painfully nice people just use words
I made avacado on sour bread toast with eggs for brunch
Sorted out cupboards and drawers
I took Dorothy and Mary for a walk out of the village to the East, past Chic Eleanor's. LargeWhite washed home
By chance she saw me passing and invited me onto the patio with a swirl of her scarf in the wind " Darling John, do have a socially distant double shot coffee and we 'll brave the storm together!!"
I sat on her windswept patio as she made coffee from scratch "Forgive me, I look a right sight!" Eleanor gasped " I have my lockdown tat on"
This made me laugh as Eleanor would look good wearing a bin bag
We chatted for a while before the dogs got bored and needed to move on
I made chicken salad for lunch and prepared chicken noodles for my lunch tomorrow at work.
For the first couple of months of lockdown the Hospice kindly made all of their staff a free lunch, which was incredibly kind. Now, realistically that kindness cannot be sustained so it's back to preparing my own.....
Not a bad thing
This afternoon I'm making a hat with a sign on it
The sign reads Happy Birthday Chris written backwards
I'm attending a Zoom family quiz and it's my nephew's birthday !
I ve just popped into Church to leave my donation for bell ringing , I re positioned a painted stone I found on my wall yesterday...it's a pass it forward good wishes stone left by a local child and videod the laburnam , which shines golden in the sun.
Affable despot Jason has added to his huge collection of morale boosting videos on the Street warden's social group...I'm watching them now as I juggle writing this and making soup
