The Office

I'm working at the " hospice at home" initiative for one more week. The H@H nurses care and support patients who want to die at home

I'm waiting for calls to come in and have patient appointments later today.
The office is quiet save for the constant screaming of the herring gulls that populate this part of Llandudno beach

I am reminded of Broadstairs

The Ticking

My day off therapy has a a three or four hour cleaning element to it
I've filled glass jugs with garden buddleia and opened the windows wide so the butterflies can come and go like miniature angels.
I've even found the key to my grandfather clock, which after being silent so long is ticking away so loudly that Albert came downstairs all wide eyed to see what the commotion was all about.
There is something quite restful about the ticking of an old clock .

I've washed my uniforms and the cheerful blue of them provides a colourful backdrop to the garden as they dry in the sun, hung swinging from the beams above the patio.
As I worked I listened , with interest to the eloquent speech by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as she replied to insults dished out by her fellow congressman Ted Yoho who referred to her as a " fucking Bitch" 
If you haven't heard it, try to , it's a wonderfully powerfull and important speech.

More therapy now

Making sour dough bread and soup , and will video call some friends later
Oh and there's a meeting of the Memorial Hall Commitee at 2pm
To look at fundraising !!!

The clock is still ticking, I started it just after nine

pizza Crusts

I bought a pizza on the way home from work tonight
The nights seem to be drawing in
I collected the dogs from Trendy Carol's 
And fed them and Albert before carefully removing the pizza crust with a knife after it had cooked
The dogs adore pizza crusts and sat shivering with excitement in a line for their treat turn

I'm tired 

Pride Again

This is a formal reply to those readers who don't get the Gay Pride moteif of yesterday's blog

I get what you say and why you say it..but your comments, to me were ill judged and rather offensive

I will endeavour to explain just why

The excesses of some gay flag wavers , to many seem irrelative. I know that

I am not particularly a fan of the sight of a sequinned budgie smuggler snake hipped twink flouncing atop a float myself but as a gay middle aged man whose sexuality is probably the least interesting thing about me, I will always fight for the right for that twink to wave his tush and raise his rainbow flag in anyone's face 

Straight people will never understand how it feels to be gay

Christ it was only 50 years or so ago since homosexuality was made legal for men over 21in this country . 

Legal !!!! 

Illegal meant  wrong, against the law, dirty, bad, terrible ............deviant ......

All the building bricks for negativity and prejudice and being hated

All the building bricks for guilt and shame and self loathing too

I grew up in the 1980s 

Gays were hated then. AIDS was a monster avenger 

And still over the 60s, 70s , and 80s men and women fought for equality and a chance to be viewed to be as normal as you straights 

They fought long and hard 

Straights , as I recall were never spat at in the street for holding the hand of a person they loved ( or even just liked) 

Straights could marry the person they loved

And as many did so, the World  and his wife would applaud 

You straights will never know the trauma of comming out

The constant fear of rejection a gay child experiences when he knows he is different

The low level abuse , snide comments , put downs and stupidity of people fearful of something so alien they have to attack it

You will never know, like I don't, the true struggles of those brave souls that fought the system only a generation ago now

Souls that helped to eventually turn the tide on bigotry and hatred even though it's never really been totally eradicated 

So dearhearts , please take it from me that it's fine for that sequinned arsed twink to have his excessive gay pride dances!!! 

And it's fine for me to wear my occasional gay pride t shirt and post a blog about feeling all gay 

I am proud to be gay , I'm proud to now have those rights straights have have enjoyed for ever !!!

I don't do it often 

Like I said , being gay is not one of my most interesting facets 

But when I do, it is the RIGHT thing for me as a gay man to do

Please instead of pouting with a narrow minded "We straights never hold straight pride tight arsed pout!" 

Just try seeing things from another's perspective  

If you can't , well then I would prefer that you didn't follow Going Gently

with its rainbow warts and all  

Pride

I got home far too late tonight
Work busy at the very last minute
I got to virtual choir very late.....but just in time to sing the final song You Raise Me Up  
And to show off my new, very gay T shirt!

I will leave you with this Pride Walk which although incomplete
Has a certain power and true emotion about it

Complete

 More days at work
At least the garden has been finished
My sister and I are rather proud  of her work

Rey Of hope

" For safety reasons can you tell me what's in the packages?" 
So asked the miserable post office worker at our local Spar.
" An action figure of Rey from Star Wars and a Minion water squirter is in this one and there's a DVD Gerald Butler in the other!" 
She gave me a look which said Too much Informaton 
"Five Pounds sixty" she said

Buying Childrens' toys is an anathema to me .
I have no idea of what kids like and when they like them but Today I needed to buy a frivolous gift
for a four year old. He is the son of Hannah, a gentle and quiet young woman who for a time was conscripted onto the Flower Show Committee back when Auntie Gladys still baked her own scones and when Sylvia Evans ruled the day with a soaringly dangerous blood presssure and a tight perm.
Hannah never seemed able to say boo to a goose but soon after we met she and her hubby and new baby packed up their camper van and drove to Murcia in Spain where they all now live.
Facebook has allowed me to keep up sporadically with Hannah's new life and so when I heard that Milo, her son, was experiencing some health issues, I thought it my be nice to send him a few frivious toys to make his hospital visits a little more bearable.
But what to buy?

I haven't a scooby do
So thank god for the new mom I bumped into in Sainsbury's today who gave me a serious but interesting lession into the psychology of toy buying
When in doubt , I have always found it useful to look stupid and throw yourself at the mercy of someone who knows!!
" sexist and violent toys are no nos !" She started  "No guns, no action men , no soldiers no racing cars!"
" No pretty Disney princesses either!" 
" He's a five year old boy!" I told her putting down a plastic sword very quickly " What about a lego star ship ?" I suggested dizzy at the array of toys on offer
" Too many small parts and it for older children" the mom explained tapping the age range of the toy details on the side of the box
I felt stupid and so
We checked again.
Finally, and after much debate I picked a Star Wars action figure of some handsome space pilot called Po which I had to swap quickly for the female hero Rey instead
" Little boys need to see Women in a lead role " My mother explained " Well done!" 
( I didn't like to say that Rey had a lethal looking light sabre and a spear !!!)

I was growing to my theme
I balanced the action figure with a cheerful and what I suddenly thought
as a fun water squirter in the shape of an asexual yellow minion
" It's not a water pistol !" I explained hopefully " and Spain's hot!" 
The toys were finally agreed upon

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My sister is beavering around the garden on her last jaunt in revamping it
I will post a few photos tomorrow  as I am so pleased with the results

There is a meeting in the village hall on Friday about getting a permanent drinks licence for it
I think it's a grand idea especially as the future of our one single village pub The Crown looks rather dubious since lockdown .
I shall attend the meeting with Mary in tow to see any bunfights occur!

And finally
I wanted to highlight this particularly nasty comment from yesterday's blog
An unwanted, unsolicited and totally innacurate comment which says more about how innately nasty the commentator is

Anonymous10:35 am

A bit quick to dash off the following morning? A wife at home? Shame you didn't get to spend the leisurely Sunday with him. What other more interesting things or people were more important than spending the time with you?

ReplyDelete

I hope on reflection you realise just how sad it was that you wasted your time and energy on something so inaccurate

And to finally finish on a nice note for Yorkshire Liz with love xxx

Film and tv night