I’m working night shift and the hospice is uncharacteristically quiet.
I’ve completed all of my on line training and updated my revalidation documents and I have researched papers to support my interest in starting some informal staff support meetings around case reviews.
and I have just eaten a healthy supper of gnocchi, asparagus and sugar snap peas tossed in garlic and basil
The title is a saying pinched from a friend of a friend
It means smile and glide and be kind to yourself
My healthy eating is a part of that...being kind to myself
It’s something many of us are poor at.
Ive just listened to a message from my niece in law she was discussing Bake Off.
My nephew Leo has just texted a message that he agrees with my thought that Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was a bit rude.
Gorgeous Dave wants to catch up soon, Kim isn’t looking for a date.
Ruth and I are planning to visit South Korea, Nu’s off to Ireland
I’m fortunate for the distractions and the company
I’ve come to another conclusion that I’m single and I’m ok with it.
The world of mature gay menseems to be fraught with complications, baggage and a little bit of drama
Open relationships are often the norm, apps and expectations are confusing, fickle and seem to have rules of their own
Rules that I’m not really privy to
Friends without frills are the order of the day for me.
Friends are uncomplicated and are always welcome
That simple tin of salmon will suffice nicely
I will leave you with a few of my followers favourite bespoke eateries
One has gone out of business and has shut for good.
The other re opened the other day and is holding on by the skin of its teeth.
The one that has closed had a rather stern barista and wonderful food. The barista , some may recall spent almost two hours listening to an interview I had with my divorce mediator and at one emotional moment came to the table with a jug of iced water and napkins !
I’m so sorry she’s gone.
Y shed in Meliden
The other cafe at “ y shed” is modern and adaptable. It is situated in a converted railway shed and welcomes walkers and their dogs. I went today for breakfast and noticed Dorothy in one of the snap shots the owner takes of the canine visitors .
I ordered a large coffee and breakfast
The waitress thought I ordered a large everything so I was faced with a belly buster meal.
I can’t now eat for the rest of the day
I overpaid the bill in a gesture of support
“ It’s just nice to have you back” I told the owner.....
We need to support these small businesses
So please take a photo of your local coffee shop, or tea room or restaurant Or takeaway and send me the photo
jgsheffield@hotmail.com
Let’s big them all up
And finally today I will leave you with Andy Grammer singing his own song
In between kitchen cupboard cleaning and organising
I went to the cinema to see The Roads Not Taken .
The beautiful Selma Hayek
A day in the life of Leo ( Javier Bardem) a Mexican author suffering from a dementia like mental illness , isn’t an easy watch.
As Leo is taken to routine visits to the dentist and optometrist by his daughter Molly ( Ellie Fanning) we glimpse two former periods of his life, which are either muddled and sporadic memories or present day hallucinations and the film is a relentless study of a mind fragmented and a psychi blunted
Don’t go and see it if you are at a low ebb.....
Bardem who is usually so animated and watchable in his movies captures that faraway vagueness of dementia quite brilliantly and Selma Hayek is worth watching too in a smallish but vital role as his grief stricken first wife
Hummmm yes depressing stuff
So on a brighter note,
When I was out walking the younger dogs Winnie broke into a full shopping bag without breaking a dozen eggs and managed quite deftly to break open a container of 70 cocktail sausages ( 2 weeks treats ) and ate the lot
She remains unrepentant and rather flatulent after my return home
I’ve been well overdue for a rom com, so one set in a beautifully photographed New York with a likeable cast and a witty script was just up my street today.
The Broken Hearts Gallery fits the bill nicely .
Although wordy ( blink and you will miss the machine gun delivery ) this is a story that will touch everyone who has been dumped in a relationship.
Geraldine Viswanathan
Lucy Gulliver( Geraldine Viswanathan ) is a twenty something gallery supervisor who hordes memorabilia from every failed relationship She has ever been in . After being fired from her job after been dumped by her boss boyfriend she bumps into Cute as a button Nick ( Dacre Montgomery) Who is trying to built a bespoke hotel and by chance opens up an art gallery in the Hotel’s balcony , an art gallery filled with the public ‘s saved Souvenirs from past relationships .
Of course the plot after this isn’t rocket science to work out , but if you add to the mix Lucy’s wisecracking flatmates, Nick’s best friend Marcos (Arturo Castro) - who looks and sounds like an young Bill Murray and a botoxed to death Bernadette Peters as a wacky art expert you can see that writer and director Natalie Krinsky has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this her first film .
The adorable Dacre Montgomery
Generally the movie works.
It’s amusing and sweet despite given a slightly hardened and foul mouthed New York tinge.
Viswanathan is sassy and bright in the lead. Montgomery is very easy on the eye and cries more than the heroine and the supporting cast is likeable and memorable and look like they enjoyed acting out the bright and sharply observed script.
In one interesting scene Lucy is finally able to dump an unsuitable boyfriend and her words to him resonate amid the laughs “ You are the hero of your own love life And the villain in mine,!”
If you need an amusing , light romantic movie to fill a dull afternoon...try it out
