A Pig In A Condom

 

I got up and walked the dogs at 8am.

It was grey and humourless outside so we went back to bed until 1 am

Then I walked the dogs for their long walk and fed them and we returned to bed again

I didn’t say it was going to be an interesting post. 

I was just dozing off when my work what’s app group pinged .

Apparently the Welsh Government has given a 500£ One off Thank You payment to care home workers for their battle against covid but workers in hospices were exempt from this gesture of goodwill  

The hospice management team thought this unfair and today matched that thank you for all front line staff

A nice and timely thought 

If anyone reading this think that this payment is not deserved they could have seen an overly sweaty me being pulled out of a plastic PPE overall by two support workers after a twelve hour shift

I looked like a melting pig in a condom 

Terrier

 London is in lockdown 

My planned visit to see Nu on Sunday looks like it may be off.

That’s broken my heart just a little.

I fell asleep before choir tonight and only managed the last few minutes 

But I did manage to frame by latest bit of art

A terrier’s face

Have Yourself.......

I finished night shift at 8am yesterday morning, today I have off and tomorrow I am back on nights for three.

No wonder I woke up this morning without a clue what day it was .

Last night I joined the Trelawnyd Women’s Institute  for their Christmas Concert.

Now it wasn’t a Sherry fuelled sing song with Bunty and Pippa leading a much spirited Can Can sort of do. Ma Manly with daughter Kelda had booked a bona fide Scottish Folksinger Iona Fyfe to perform which proved to be a cracking idea.

I really enjoyed it 

There was lots of chatter before the main event. Gwawr from Bron Haul sat with her new baby Jack , Cameron’s mum looked every inch like a Downton Abbey character , surrounded as she was with expensive looking oil paintings and Village leader Ian looked rather dapper in his cottage study.

I did notice that Margaret from Erw Wen didnt quite get her iPad straight so we could only see her nostrils for most of the evening.

The concert itself was sweet. Iona Fyfe has a lovely ballad hugging voice and her remit was to keep things light which was an ok decision but it was her atmospheric Christmas songs that made the most impression 

Her rendition of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” backed by villagers swaying gently in front of their fires and Christmas trees proved to be an incredibly moving experience.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas ,

Let your heart be light
From now on
Our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
From now on
Our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Traditions

 We all have silly traditions when it comes to Christmas.

It’s the time of year where memories float forward into psychi again, like an ebbing tide ,

and traditions visited again, gives you a sense of time and place and person and emotion.

I have only one full day off before being back on night duty on Wednesday, and so after a sleep I thought I’d hang the Christmas cards already delivered around the living room

My tradition is to fill every wall in the room.

It’s not a big tradition , but like all mini obsessions, it’s pleasing when it’s completed.

I’m three quarters completed so far.

The bad tempered postman dropped off a delivery of cards this afternoon, sending Dorothy into a mild state of low anxiety. 

Albert has not moved from his new position in the bedroom window seat. 

He was carefully watching Trendy Carol pass when I last saw him 

She has a new bright orange puffer jacket .

Mi Bon Siach

 If you have the chance watch the tv series Unorthodox 

It’s the story of Esty, a nineteen year old ultra Orthodox Jew living in Brooklyn and her struggle with coping with her secular life.

This moment stands out as one of the most powerful I have ever seen on film as Esty, ( Shira Haas) auditions for a place in a German Conservatory which is her final ticket to a more mainstream and happy life.

The power and desperation  in this performance , which incidentally is a traditional Jewish wedding song ( Mi Bon Siach which means The Love Of A Bride) is amazing 

I watched this final episode yesterday afternoon, as I lay in bed.

It was a piece of film making so powerful I had to get up and walk it’s effects away.

I’m not moaning here, life alone is what it is, but I so needed to talk about the scene and how it made me feel inside and I couldn’t ! 

So had to walk away my thoughts around the village , which was cold and wet , yet filled with cheerfulness and bright lights and after 20 minutes I felt less tense and more relaxed

Unorthodox is not an easy watch, but it is a powerfully emotive one with a magnificently performed lead role .

Julie

 You forget just how good Julie Andrews is

This is a somewhat cheesy Christmas version 

But listen it it with your eyes shut

Sublime 

Off to work in a bit 

A Rose , A Puffin, The Women’s Institute Concert and a 24 year old thank you!

 I’ve talked of serendipity a great deal on Going Gently over the past two years .

It’s a phenomenon that has swing into my life like the pendulum of a great clock

And like a good clock, it’s presence has been timely.

Last night’s shift was a busier one than normal. I was knackered afterwards , and when I had breakfast this morning, I ate left over coriander salad with chicken out of the side of my mouth as I leaned sleepily across the kitchen table still in my uniform

I looked down at Dorothy who was licking her lips from her position in Winifred’s arm chair and told her to bugger off 

“Its been an emotionally  tiring week!” I told her, but unlike Winnie she didn’t understand my words and just looked guilty.

Winnie would have nodded benignly and would have mew mewed me a kiss.

I was in bed only ten minutes before a rather gorgeous delivery driver knocked on the door

The box was large and contained a standard rose for the garden.

The roses depicted on the accompanying label were old fashioned yellow and scented and called “ Winnie” a gift from my friend Colin 

A wonderful gift , and one that couldn’t be more timely 

The girls and I went back to bed feeling happy and warm.

An hour or so later another delivery man knocked .

He left a small square package, a gift from another friend

The card accompanying it said simply a puffin for an old dear poof...add it to that bloody art wall of yours

I returned to bed and slept.

When I  did eventually woke I noticed a message on my phone from the Trelawnyd WI .

They have organised an on line Zoom concert for Monday and wondered if any of the villagers wanted to join in. The singer is Iona Fyfe https://ionafyfe.com/

So there is Monday evening sorted ....village elder Ian says he’s quaffing craft ales during the concert.

I think I may have some gin left over in the fridge.

Iona Fyfe

Tonight I feel much brighter because of the rose bush, and the puffin and the concert.

And of this short note which popped up tonight from Facebook messenger 

“Hi John, you probably can’t remember me but I was an inpatient at sheffield spinal injuries unit in 1996/7, at the same time that the then nikki Claxton of gladiators came was there. I was just chatting with another fellow inpatient of the time,  and he mentioned the sheffield SIU friends page and there you were! You were such a terrific charge nurse and helped me and my family through what was an incredibly difficult time so 24 years later, a big Thank you to you for really making a difference all those years ago.

I hope this finds you well.Best wishes, Amanda”

How lovely!!!! a thank you message 24 years “ late” but like the rose bush, and the puffin and the concert invitation...oh so timely.

Serendipity? Perhaps ?....it’s a funny old thing

 

By Bryce Cameron Liston