Supper

 Last night I prepared supper for two. 

It was warm enough to sit out and the simple activity of cooking and chatting and drinking a nice rosé couldn’t be bettered. 

Trendy Carol ( dressed in something floaty orange and very summery ) called round to collect Mary as we were eating. Some evenings she just goes for a sociable cuddle.

I’m going to have a lazy day today.

A beach walk, some reading, an old movie ( Build My Gallows High) 

Nothing much

Think Of Me

 

I got a card today from a Charlotte, a charlotte who I don’t remember.

She had been a student nurse and I was her mentor on spinal injuries nearly thirty years ago, 

I feel bad that I don’t remember her name.

I have mentored a large number of nurses over the years.

The card was kind and reflective and timely.

It’s always nice to hear good things about yourself , especially when the praise is carefully thought out and you have been remembered after so long a time has passed.

Thank you Charlotte 

I’m sorry I didn’t  remember your name

I think , this underlines the importance of feedback. All too much, we give negative feedback in this service based world , but do we often give positive. ? I think we all think we do….but do we……? 

It’s lovely, and warm and affirming and I’m grateful for it today

Pass it forward …even if it’s 30 ago….let someone know they made a difference x

Knackered

 I knew England had won the football by the screams echoing around the village 

I understand the tribal attraction to the game but it’s always left me rather cold. 

It’s nice to hear people so happy at the result though.

Everyone needs a boost

I carried on with a late dog walk as the yelling continued

I’ve finished the painting today and despite some wobbly lines, I’m pretty happy with the result .

Not one of the cottage walls in the bedroom is straight, so says the spirit level, so I have something else to blame than my fading eyesight and wobbly hand.

I’m knackered but happy that I finished….well almost finished . I’m waiting for some burnt orange curtains and a matching rug to be delivered and there’s a bit of outstanding gloss work to complete but tomorrow I’m meeting my friend Polly for a walk and later another friend Colin is coming to dinner….so I’ve peaked with the paint brushes.

I’m fucking knackered

It’s Gay Pride Month

This scene from the lovely gay themed film Pride has a resonance with me

It’s not rainbows covered with sparkles 

It’s underplayed and emotionally real 

And speaks a lot for acceptance and friendship 

Happy gay pride month xx

Postscript

I’ve just read the last post and bored myself. 

I omitted my conversation with Animal Helper Pat which was a natural world ‘s masterclass.

She is a mine of information on plants and trees and wildlife and gave me an impromptu lecture of Elm Die Back and the recent visits by two great spotted woodpeckers to her garden bird table.

She looked animated and bright eyed. 

I enjoyed it.

I told her I hated painting .

She said she preferred wall papering 

The ceiling in the bedroom has now been painted a jasmine White and now looks fresh and clean and inviting. I’ll start on the walls tomorrow.

I’m sore, so walked the dogs at five to limber up and then potted up roses, geranium and petunias to excite the patio.I’d bought the geraniums to liven up the planters up near the village bus stop but the Papworths have beaten me to that one. They have also weeded and replanted the pretty small flower bed next to the church which was kind.

Tonight I’ve cut honeysuckle and the iceberg roses from the front garden which both smell wonderful in the kitchen. 

I’m going to chill out later with Dorothy licking my feet as I read Prince Philip’s biography , which is an eye opener.

 

Painting

I’m painting my bedroom……It hasn’t been touched for 15 years

I fucking hate painting…..but it has to be done.

Sailor John and Mandy from next door have had the right idea. They have gone off  with their canoe, 

It’s hot, humid and sunny despite the forecasts.

Every time I spy a local, I’m finding myself making an excuse to go and talk.

Animal Helper Pat has not long stopped.

It’s amazing just how much you can cram into a conversation when you are stopping yourself from doing something you hate.

A Birthday and a Tattoo !!!!!!

 

It’s my sister Ann’s birthday tomorrow .

The family met up today for a long lunch in her garden which was lovely

Both my sisters have a talent for gardening.

We shared our respective news over baby lamb chops

I didn’t tell them about the tattoo.

Oh, I haven’t told you lot either have I ? 

Well I’m having a tattoo….

You can blame Gorgeous Dave if you like, for after a night out with him, during which he shared with me his recent booking for his tattoo, I hatched my plan to have one myself.

And all in a good cause

I will be having a tattoo in a fund raiser for my hospice.

I will publish details of how to sponsor me ( if anyone is interested) at a later date 

But I will leave you with an illustration of what the tattoo will look like

Yes it’s classy and very small…it’s one of the Llandudno goats..an emblem that saved the hospice this year

Yes, it’s of one of the famous Llandudno goats

In The Heights

 

It grew in me, but I wasn’t blown away by it

This just about underlined what I thought about Lin Manual Miranda’s intensely personal production of 

In The Heights. 

Now you could tell from the get go that this sprawling depiction of Miranda’s home “town” of Washington Heights , the Latina quarter of New York, was going to be a nostalgic homage to a diverse community which is longing for home or indeed desperate to escape it but, for me despite the colour, the huge flamboyant set pieces and the rhythms, it was all a bit too much. 

Anthony Ramos

Having said this, the cast was impeccable. Anthony Ramos is an instantly lovable leading man and Melissa  Barrera and Leslie Grace stand out as two twenty something women who are both trying to forge themselves a place in a city who still view latina women as nothing more than waitresses and maids .

 Olga Merediz also shines, reprising her stage role as the quarter’s gentle natured matriarch Abuela , an old lady who has never forgotten the poverty of her homeland of Cuba.

Enjoyable. Energetic and Occasionally stunning, it’s well worth seeing……

But I wasn’t blown away .

Olga Merediz

Chester races were on yesterday, so the city was buzzing with drunken race goers when we came out of the cinema. It felt like a Latina carnival itself. 

It was nice to go for supper late in a restaurant overlooking Bridge Street and watch the world stagger by

Big thank you to the Storyhouse front of house who gave me one of her bespoke masks when I forgot mine