It was a good job that I didn’t understand the new lockdown rules in Flintshire last night when I had that run in with the two “ ladies” last night
If I had I would have said a little more than just cheap shoes!
The new lockdown in Flintshire has been a terrible disappointment
Organised cinema trips To Chester are now cancelled , meet ups with Liverpool friends postponed and even our 1940 s moustached choir master is now isolated along the coast, unable to meet us outside our choir venue.
These little luxuries of social contact have been a life saver
Now many are on hold.
Anyhow I’m luckier than most , so I’ll shut the fuck up...I thought this , at lunch with a friend today when I learned he was about to lose his job thanks to the virus
All I could do was to treat him to the meal and to listen
Not much in the great scheme of things
It’s wet and miserable tonight
Sod the diet...comfort food and a real fire is the ticket tonight
Certain trolls will bust their pantyhose at the chance to remind you all of this fact.
I won’t disagree
I can be a real bitch when I’m in the mood.
More about this later, firstly, I must big up Y Shed cafe again. I met my friend Ruth and after a nice walk with the dogs we chatted for hours over a very passable corned beef hash and coffee
Quite lovely in fact
That was this afternoon
Later on, I was indulging in a loud debate with a fellow customer at the checkout in Tesco
I wasn’t happy.
I wasn’t happy at all.
I noticed the woman and daughter were not wearing masks as they were yelling at each other about the cost of some luxury ice cream . The younger woman had a baby looped over her arm.
I gave them a wide birth, out of range of any droplet splatter
Later on, of course, they came up behind me at the checkout .
Loud and brazen
It’s called sod’s Law
I caught the older woman’s eye and asked her “why no face mask ?”
I had to repeat myself as she couldn’t hear me
“ what’s it to you ?” She snapped back
“ I’m a nurse and I wear one to protect you as well as myself “ I told her
“ Oh Fuck off “ the younger woman raised her voice “ mind your business “
The cashier looked at me pleading for the argument not to go any further
So I shook my head in a patronising way and looked down
Both women were wearing plastic sandals below Stretch leggings
and I resorted to the old tried and tested
“ Cheap Shoes !” I said and the younger woman countered with a “ yer what? “
“C h e a p s h o e s “ I said clearly and rather too loudly
And I could see the cashier half smile as I walked away
Ps..local lockdowns in Flintshire and Denbighshire start on Thursday
Pps thank fuck I was wearing my blue brogues rather than my Aldi crocs lol
Only 48 hours or so after I publicly announced that I am happy being single
I have been propositioned by two men. One, I haven’t heard from in a long time ,texted me hoping for a quick roll around in the sheets
The other had more obscure needs and wanted a Sort of date.
I’ve politely refused both.
Being asexual is en trend so they say.
So does this mean that I am finally grown up ? or is it as Rachel Philips perfectly explained that us singleton’s living main benefit is
“.....being answerable only to myself is doing what I like, when I like, how I like and at whatever time of the day I like.”
Yesterday around 4 pm I found that I couldn’t sleep and so I got up, donned my fourth favourite Walking Dead T shirt And pants ! and took Winnie and Albert for a short walk into the churchyard.( I had gotten up a few hours earlier and had dropped off the younger girls at Trendy Carol’s )
Winnie is incredibly slow now and Albert seemed to chivvy her along with morale boosting slides under her chin with his entire body but it still took a good seven minutes to walk up the lane and through the lytchgate .
It was warm and sunny and from our bench we lazily watched the lane as Mrs Trellis tottered down with Blue she left a carrier bag on the kitchen wall which later I found out contained a home made egg custard , three rustic napkins and somewhat strangely a set of pencils tied together with a piece of wool.
The day before my elder sister left bags containing jigsaws, a homemade cake, snowdrop bulbs and a book
That kitchen garden wall seems to possess great magical properties I thought.
A place for gifts!
It has been for years now.
As Mrs Trellis tottered down the lane I was listening to this piece of music.
It’s Exsultate Justi from Empire of the Sun
Somewhat oddly her steps fell in time with the beat of the music and it has sudden become her anthem. Music and Trellis as one as it were.
It seems to capture her nervous vitality quite wonderfully, especially as her Bobble hat “ bobbed “ Smartly as the sopranos trilled
Days off ! four full days off
What to do?....got tickets to see the indi coming of age movie Rocks. An “ in bubble” friend is coming for dinner and am meeting another friend for lunch
Oh Lord I’m only two nights in and I’ve gone a bit stir crazy
So I got up, washed my face , packed Bluebell with uniform, food and books and drove to Colwyn Bay where a walk on the Promenade before work was in order
No one at work knows where I live, so to make it easier for them I point across the bay and say my village is under the second hill from the left
It’s a sixty mile round trip, home -work-home
The second Hill a little clearer
I walked down the Promenade with the wind stinging my face , then drove to West Shore in Llandudno to watch the Sunset from the beach next to the hospice grounds.
Sometimes you just need the shock of the cold to remind yourself things are ok.
The wind turbine that powers Porth Eirias, which is a sea sports centre and restaurant in Colwyn Bay
which is a coastal town on the way to Llandudno
Looking West from Colwyn Bay to Llandudno
The sunset last night from outside the Hospice on West Shore Llandudno
I will leave you with some followers favourite cafe and bars.......
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
