Hips Don’t Lie

I forgot it was bank holiday today, not that this mattered at all

Bank holidays seem to mean nothing nowadays, they are just like any other day

I spent the morning booking things to do in Sheffield later in the week. Restaurants and pubs need booking as did a breakfast meeting with a friend and the hotel ( a very plush one for next to nothing)

The only down side is that my friend Jane and I can’t go to the city salsa bar to dance

I’ve been practicing 

One day, just once, I would like to be as natural as these two 

Happy

I have just noticed this post on Facebook
It was about my gift of Little Women ( see previous post) .
I was extremely moved

 Hey ho

Little Women and The Bookcase

The Amazon delivery man thought the bookcase looked more a baby blue rather than a duck egg green and was suitably impressed with my morning’s handiwork.
I flirted with him, but he didn’t seem to mind
Winnie in a fit of sudden excitement rallied from her slumbers in the sunny flower bed underneath the  buddleia and blew him some moo moo kisses
The delivery man blew some back,
He didn’t seem in a rush
He had delivered a copy of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which I have subsequently wrapped up and delivered onto the Junior Miss Randa .
Affable Despot Jason, had let slip that she had always wanted to read it
and no girl of nearly eleven should be without the stories of Jo March.

The weather is lovely today but with the promise of Autumn in the air.
I got up early ( despite having a few gins at my sister’s home last night when we caught up over dinner) and I have cracked on with the bookcase .
Animal helper Pat, Pippa et al , and a chap from Rhodfa Arthur all commented upon the bookcase with words like “Bright “ ,” sensational “ and a more guarded “ Interesting”

I’m not sure of the colour but the finished result doesn’t suck the lifeblood from the light of the living room.

Weekend Challenge

Having a gentle yellow living room means that one piece of the decor is sucking the light and lifeblood from the rest of the room
The utilitarian 1940s bookcase, I’ve decided just has to go or get a revamp
And I’m going to try to give it a revamp
So today I’m going to wash out the polish with vinegar and sand the whole thing down.
Then I’m going to paint the outside a gentle green to match the cupboards in the living room
The inside I am going to paint the same summer yellow as the walls
Wish me luck

Hygge

Hygge.......definition

“ Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. ”

I needed some hygge tonight
And in the guise of Jason the affable despot’s “Botha” I found it in spadefulls

It was lovely .

I haven’t seen much of Jason and his wife Claire during lockdown but tonight I met them in “The Bothy”
Which is their adapted washouse which has been converted into a mini pub, complete with tv, karaoke, fairly lights , bar, seating and roasting open fire
Think Little Hoise On The Prarie with gin and good company and you will get my gist

A roaring fire and bar stools

I only managed three very large gins before turning for home but it was lovely to meet up again with two dear friends and experience Hygge when it was needed the most 

Hey ho

Down The Bog

Oh Bollocks
I dropped my phone down the toilet yesterday
It had been used
The phone and the toilet that is..
It’s working in a fashion,
That is the phone and not the toilet
The toilet is working perfectly.

Oh I was sooo fucking annoyed
I placed the phone in the bowl of rice as per instructions and stormed off to bed
I didn’t hear the delivery guy knocking at the door so the box was a lovely surprise when I finally surfaced at 2pm in order to walk the dogs.

On the doorstep was this

When I opened it there was this

And when I finally opened this , there were.......
And be still my beating heart 
THESE!!!

As Miriam Margolyes once eloquently said “ I almost creamed in my knickers!” 

What a lovely surprise 

It didn’t come with a signed card, so I have no idea who sent it, so please if you did can you let me know! 

Scotch Eggs From Fortum and Mason

WHAT AN EFFING TREAT!!

Francis

Gawd it wild yesterday.
Storm Francis blew in with such driving horizontal rain that it took an age to get into work
I’m back on nights which is tiring and finish Saturday morning to have 9 glorious days off
As ai came into work I stopped briefly to photograph the back of the Great Orme which was shielding the hospice from the worst of the storm
If you look closely you can see the mountain goats hiding away in the Eastern facing crags

Dots of white against the brown/ green  of the peninsula 

Casualties

Winnie and Mary in the kitchen as I type this 

In the fallout that are divorces, children are often seen as casualties of war.
Hopefully, if everyone plays nicely, the trauma is kept to a minimum but I have friends who have joint custody of their children and I am always amazed of the complicated juggling act that has to be performed to keep heads above water.

When I was separated I was resolved to keep all of my pets.
I had four dogs then, two of them elderly and practically I was in the shit , what with no car, a vet seventeen miles away and expensive medications to pay for.
So I had a choice .
Rehome the animals
Or shut up moaning and get on with things

I continued to moan just a little , but I got on with things .
William died in his sleep one wet Winter’s morning which admittedly made things a little easier though painfully sad and valiant old George died after a thankfully short acute illness.
Dorothy’s arrival was a serendipitous hiccup of madness which complicated home life even more

Full time work provided the biggest challenge to me where the animals were concerned.

The Sexy bearded dog walker has been an expensive but necessary ally in maintaining the status quo but his input has been supported way above the the level expected by Trendy Carol and her hubby who have been total heroes when dog sitting is concerned.
Without them I doubt I could have coped with those long days at work complicated by a commute longer than I was ever used to.

My sister and Hattie from Choir have also pulled their weight, and so those trips to see friends, those nights out in London and In Liverpool and Sheffield have become a thankful reality.

It’s a juggling act but is a necessary as breathing juggling act.

Last night Mary’s irritated ear kept up both awake with its itchiness and yesterday Winnie dropped a small, beautifully rounded constipated stool quite perfectly between the book case and the wall.
Dorothy’s PTSD remains  a daily challenge and only this morning moments after I had triumphantly placed my avocado and eggs on toast on the kitchen table, Albert stuck his head towards the centre of the plate and then sneezed loudly in disgust all over it.

Tying, needy, expensive, emotionally demanding and totally indispensable
I may be a lone parent

But my animals ain’t going anywhere