Pockets of Greenery

 

I was never that fussed with house plants.

I have had an aspidistra and a Christmas rose for over 20 years and neither can be killed off by lack of watering and care despite my best efforts.

During lockdown, I got into the habit of treating myself to a small houseplant every time I braved the supermarket.

And now Pockets of green fill every corner of the cottage, with leaves fighting for light in front of little windows and shady corners.

The Chinese Money plants are my favourites, with their delicate parasol leaves, jaunty and flag like 

I’ve even got a tiny money plant in my bathroom. 

But that’s plastic 

Don’t tell anyone 

Not

I love this poem 

It was shared to me by Hattie 

It’s a poem that suits her

All of us who write blogs, have something in common 

We leave a little of ourselves here, for always.

I leave a journal of a small life.

One looked on benignly.

One based on reality but one which is gently sanitised, idealised and seen through an optimistic hue

(With occasional warts for balance of course)

I’m melancholy tonight 

The dogs know it and have crowded around 

Albert , pragmatic as ever, is by himself in front of the fire.

My nephew has just texted with a grown up I will treat you to lunch when we meet in November 

He has Aspergers  and is 18 so his  comment was sweetly atypical 

I’ve cut the lawn, washed windows, gardened, visited the vets , got stuck in traffic, shopped and spring cleaned the bathroom 

Oh and I had a meeting about the pond with the avuncular Nick from the apt sounding Well Street

I disregarded by diet and treated myself to cheese and crackers for tea 

But I’m still melancholy 

I’m feeling lonely today 

Just today

 

The Lion King -

The raw emotion and power of this first rehearsal of The Lion King since lockdown is palpable 

A beautiful bit of good news

I’m tired of the bad

We, all of us, have stressors in our lives 

I love this illustration of other people’s stressors

An Art Deco Sunburst on a pale Blue Sky

 I spent most of my day off getting my nursing paperwork signed off at work

It sort of felt like a waste of a day, an hour and a half commute in bad traffic

The sun came out and I picked some flowers from the garden to cheer up my office.

And for a good half hour , I lay down on the lawn and cloud watched ,Mary under one arm and Dorothy under the other.

The sky is filled with the vapour trails of aircraft 

An Art Deco sunburst on a pale blue sky

And we all fell asleep

Vidui

I finished my revalidation paperwork around 6pm 

Just enough time after that to walk the dogs, eat something healthy ( spiced garlic roasted cauliflower with prawns) and chat with a friend, a wisecracking Frenchman called Oli.

By definition, my day’s intense reflections have thrown up a great deal of nursing memories.

One special one came to mind.

A dying patient once asked me to join her in prayer.

She was Jewish so I didn’t quite understand how she thought an agnostic Welshman living in Yorkshire   would fare with such a request.

I compromised by saying that I would sit with her as she prayed.

She needed to be heard

Quietly she recited the vidui prayer of the dying  in Hebrew with her head against the pillow, a hand over her eyes .

And I listened , head bowed

Terribly moved by words I didn’t understand 

Rudbeckia

 

Today is my deadline for completing my Nurse revalidation paperwork.

I will be at it for all of the day, which is a bind, but I have no one except myself to blame for the lateness of the job. 

Having said this I’m still wasting time answering messages and emails and giving the dogs an extra long walk in the rain. Oh and I’ve just photographed the sunny rudbeckia in the back garden, which are providing the only sunny view  from my office window on such a miserable day.

Big breaths 

I need to knuckle down

"GAGA MASHUP"

Just back from a lovely meal with family 

I’m tired, it was a hard shift last night

Watched this ……

This is so hard to sing. The kids make it look so simple 

Joyous

The Wedding Suit

In October my nephew Jon and his girlfriend Holly get married.

It’s the first family wedding since my own back in 2015.

Jon is my brother’s son. 

(For those that don’t know, my brother Andrew died of motor neurone disease almost ten years ago now)

The wedding will be a relaxed affair in a country hotel over the border and so, I think my family is going to book a large shared suite at the hotel in order to stay over.

It will be nice to have a few drinks. 

I do love a nice wedding.

The only knotty thing about the wedding is that I will need a suit.

I am sure, non of you will be surprised to hear that I don’t own one.

I did have a tuxedo however, a matching one I wore at my wedding. But since I have lost over two stone ( and counting) it no longer fits!  I dug it and my dress shirt out last week and took it to one of the hospice charity shops for recycling. 

The man behind the counter was broad, like me..and he immediately took a personal interest in the tux when I handed it in with the caviat that it had only been worn one by one not-so-careful owner. 

“ I think it’s my size” he preened and asked hopefully  “Have you got the tie to go with it too?.” 

I told him I had not, for I had kept the woollen maroon tie and had placed it in my almost empty tie drawer ( alongside my black funeral tie)

…It is the only thing I have kept from my wedding day….….I’m still not quite sure just why I have kept hold of it.

And so I am still left with the suit dilemma. Should I buy one for the wedding or just get a jacket and trousers ? I’m not sure of what is appropriate.

A bit lost I reviewed my options and have texted Chic Eleanor for advice

She’s left me with a reassuring and simple note of

“ Leave Things to me”

The wedding isn’t until October so I will wait to nearer the wedding day to pic my duds as I hope to lose at least another stone plus before the nuptials.

I don’t want to be the fat bastard in the wedding photos