Pilgrims, Comets & Love and paracetamol

The walkers on the pilgrim walk turned up at St Michael’s around five pm. At least a dozen villagers turned up with cakes and tea and water bottles and good wishes  to greet them which was a welcomed first. Our jovial vicar David Lewis ( far left) was on hand too.

I do like him, he’s a sweet good natured soul. 

After that My friend Ruth and I went to Theatre Clwyd for an outdoor production off Catching Comets 

Which had a lot to say about the fragile nature of the male psychi in relation to love and relationships ..it was a pity there were only 20 people in the audience.

An intelligent and stimulating one man show 

I loved the venue ….when light fell on the outdoor stage…the huge brick wall of the East Wing of Theatre Clwyd stood illuminated as a back drop to the  drama….it felt like our own local Tate Modern.

 

I got home around ten pm and was stopped surprisingly by neighbour Trevor as I walked the dogs in the lane .

He’s 95 and rather breathlessly was brandishing a quality bottle of white wine, his trousers flapping.

“This Is for you .” He said, offering me the bottle 

“Whatever for ?” I asked him

Apparently I had given. him some advice a week ago about what dosages of  paracetamol to take for a painful shoulder.

“ I have my own personal doctor “ he quipped

“ And I had the best night’s sleep ever!”

And I smiled

I’m so happy to live in a place which I’m known, liked and valued

And if that sounds rather saccharine 

So be it

Life Finds A Way

 So said Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park

This delicate Welsh Poppy , I found growing valiantly by the kitchen wall this morning

I loved it’s chutzpah 

Got the pilgrims to sort out shortly then an outdoor play Chasing Comets at Theatre Clwyd 

Night shift last night

Pilgrim’s Way

Dorothy taking Mary for a walk this morning

Yesterday’s Church meeting proved to be useful

I now have a list of around eight villagers who will join in form an action group to support the Pilgrim status of the Church if the Bishop  eventually grants it. 

In the meantime we have asked interested villagers to start a letter writing campaign to the Bishop 

Tomorrow around fifteen pilgrims will stop at Trelawnyd . They are taking part in an annual pilgrimage from Basingwerk Abbey to Bardsey Island on the North Wales Pilgrim’s way and last year the way had attracted 17,000 walkers along the route, which is encouraging given our wish for St Michael’s to become a Pilgrim Church. 

I’ve got cakes and tea all ready for tomorrow’s pilgrim’s to have when they arrive.

Tonight I’m working nights to cover sickness then it’s holiday! I’ve made a rye bread loaf this morning for a patient who is desperate for that home made bread taste .

Next week I’ve got two theatre trips organised one here and one in London and have a ticket to the unofficial Banksy exhibition near Covent Garden as an aside.

I will try and book something else interesting on Friday morning before I return 

I’m also going to Choir on Tuesday and there is also the philharmonic afternoon concert in Liverpool a week on Sunday

Hey ho

The village newsletter has just been delivered

  

Follies

 

Di Botcher

The National Theatre production of Follies is a musical which I needed to see.

My friend John, has banged on about it for years, so recently I watched the live production itself to judge for myself.

Generally I loved it. 

It was overlong for sure, and I could have happily done without the last 20 minutes of it, but the sheer scale and chutzpah of the production blew me away, but not quite as you may expect .

Of course the leads Philip Quast, Janie Dee and the powerhouse Imelda Staunton were fantastic but for me it was performances from three supporting follies that moved me the most 

The fabulous Tracie Bennett

Di Botcher as the bespectacled, big haired Hattie (reminding me so much of my mother) belted out the cracking Broadway Baby with fantastic gusto. Tracie Bennett as the spunky and slightly shop worn Carlotta lived I’m Still Here and the elderly Opera singer Dame Josephine Barstow broke everyone’s hearts as the eldest of the follies during her One More Kiss duet.

These three set pieces made the production for me   

Josephine Barstow 

Y Shed

 

The new build behind the cottage has been rather noisier than usual. They are digging out the garden with a mechanical digger at the same time as hammering the roof on a kennel block.

I took the dogs to meet Chic Eleanor 

We walked down to y shed ( The Shed) and drank good Italian coffee on the terrace .

It was nice to see her. 

She hugged my arm as we walked and called me her darling John

Gin & Hats

I got home after my 12.5 hour day shift late.

I collected the dogs , fed them and Albert and just had time to sit down at 9 pm before our zoom meeting was booked.

It was Ben’s last night in the UK so Ruth had sorted out an online meet, all together 

We both poured ourselves a large gin and we wore our matching Beanie hats in solidarity 

And Ben gave his apologies as he was super stressed and tired and …..so ….didn’t turn up

We were gutted

But the meeting continued …..with the both of us laughing hysterically over the fact we were spinsters of the parish, we had just been stood up and we were wearing matching hats.

I haven’t laughed like that for months 

Dance as if no one is watching

For me Michael Gove lost what little political credibility he possessed when supporting Dominic Cummings’ ludicrous test driving story.

Now he’s been filmed dancing away in a Scottish nightclub 

And we can see the human side  of him just a little. 

Ed Balls was interviewed on radio 4 on Saturday and talked about  how people perceived him when he was a politician compared with their reactions of him as a reality tv “ personality 

They like me now, he quipped 

I blame the bland “ politician speak” 

The likes of Dennis Skinner never suffered from it

The Walking Dead -The Final Season

 

I finally caught up with the first two episodes of The Walking Dead this afternoon.

I watched it on my iPad in my office with the curtains shut…the action was set underground for the most part, so was hard to follow

The genre is gone full circle …for its back at its horror roots again with the large cast of characters ( with too many red shirts in tow) battling the undead and the nasty living in the sewers and subway of Washington DC 

It’s reinvented itself yet again

Maggie ( Lauren Cohen) is back and her character is now rather unexpectedly harder and more anti Negan  than it was in previous seasons which has made her a new fan hate figure which is interesting. Cohen has some powerfully acted scenes in the first episodes which were a revelation and a sure lesson to the writers who so often have underwritten the main characters  to the detriment to the drama.

The Walking Dead is how heavily reliant on its female characters, which is fun

Yumiko ( Eleanor Marsuura) and Princess ( Juanita Sanchez above) are two relatively new faces that are starting to take centre stage alongside Carol (Melissa McBride) which is a nice change to the old male guard of its early days 

It’s nice I’m still following after a loyal ten years 

One of my first reviews

https://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/2010/12/walking-dead-frank-darabonts-tv-remake.html