Friend with Benefits

I’m going to London for a flying visit next week.

I’m meeting my friend Alex who lives in Poland.

We are going out to eat, we are going to the National Theatre and he’s sharing my hotel room 

in the nice trendy hotel in Covent Garden.

We are, after last years meet ups ..what is unfortunately termed friends with benefits 

Something my gay mate Dave rolled his eyes rather theatrically at.

“ Now John”, (Dave gave me lecture over the phone) “ one of the rules of friends with benefits is that you never have a sleepover,” 

I didn’t know that rule.

More eye rolling from Dave 

He helpfully listed the rules for me 

“make sure you are emotionally adult for this relationship…..don’t be lovely dovey, set boundaries, don’t expect too much, prioritise friendship over sex, don’t fall in love”

I listened with interest 

Now I’m not Mary Poppins people, and I’m not a fool either. I like Alex as a friend and I like him as a FwB but it’s clear we will never be anything more than that and I’m ok with that 

But Dave knew something else was bothering me

“ What’s up babe?” He asked 

I told him I’ve not shared a bed overnight with someone who fancies me and whom I fancy since my separation 

“ Arrhhuh the first non platonic OVERNIGHT bed share !” Dave laughed “How sweet! “ 

As a Single gay man of a certain age , it’s not that hard to have sex if you want it….hard sometimes but often not THAT hard.

Like I said I’m not Mary Poppins in this respect but nor am I Claudius’ Messalina or indeed Don Juan.

But Dave hit on a nerve..sharing a bed all night is a different thing than rolling about on a cotton duvet for an hour before saying your goodbyes.

Dave gave me the best advice anyhow 

“ Darling man ….enjoy your evening , try not to snore, share a hot shower  …don’t think too much……… oh and don’t dribble gravy on your top”

He knows me very well

Hey ho

Short post

 

Pond and Mincemeat.

 I wanted to do something restful today

I’ve just worked two twelve hour shifts and am about to do two more.

Today I wanted to mooch…quietly

I should have helped the community Association volunteers in their planting out of the newly reconstructed village pond but I went to the cinema instead. 

This may have rested my sore neck ( my work physio almost pulled my head off during a somewhat energetic therapy session) but resting in the cinema wasnt really therapy as the film wasn’t as good as I expected …hey ho.

I went up to the pond later on  to survey their work and I was impressed.

Not only has the pond been dredged of silt and mud. Aquatic plants and reeds have been planted on its borders with shrubs, annuals and woodland plants framing it nicely

The movie was Operation Mincemeat, a true wartime story of MI5s efforts to try to deceive the Germans by posing the body of Welsh tramp as a British Officer with forged top secret instructions outlining the allied invasion of Greece instead of the intended target of  Sicily. It’s a story that was filmed more successfully back in 1956 in The Man That Never Was.

This version has a cast to die for . Mathew Macfadyen, Colin Firth, Penelope Wilton, Jason Issacs, Mark Gatiss, and Kelly MacDonald, but Firth was miscast as the lead role and the whole thing I found somewhat dreary.

Hot Air

The hospice is located just right of those houses

 I have always loved that first blast of hot, dry air you get when exiting an aircraft in a Mediterranean airport. 

That faint blast of hot tarmac, sunshine and aircraft fumes 

Mixed together with waft of bougainvillaea, beaches and distant sewerage.

Conversely I also love leaving work and feeling the cool evening Welsh air on my face as I stand for a moment in the hospice car park

Air, cooled by the Irish Sea blowing over and down the Orme 

The grand peninsula overlooking Llandudno 

An island of limestone dotted with the goats made famous from lockdown.

Whereas the Spanish and Greek blast almost takes your breath away.

The Welsh breeze rejuvenates and cools.

Tonight, I needed a bit more Welsh breeze.

I needed to blow the day away.

I took the girls down the lane when I got home

And in the dark, with common pipistrelle bats flashing under the fairly lights at Trendy Carol’s, we stand at Graham the shepherd’s field gate with our heads to the sky feeling the faint cooling, sea smelling wind from the South hills.

It felt good

A Sausage Apology

 No doubt I’m in store of some sort of internet backlash but I admit I locked the dogs inside the cottage by mistake this morning.

I only knew my mistake when I ventured a quick glance at my phone messages on my break at 11.30 am .

It was a earlier message from Trendy Carol I noticed first

“ I can’t get in ! “ it said plaintively 

I had double locked the back door 

The dogs are never left home alone more than four hours when I’m at work. Today they were left nearly fourteen.

I felt like a right heel 

Now if my mistake had occurred when Winnifred was alive, I would have faced a sulk worthy of Mariah Carey who had not been presented with her usual dressing room full of puppies and kittens but after being released from the cottage , Mary & Dorothy bounced forward like a pair of Bonnie Langfords on acid.

Ive just taken them for a long walk, then cleaned the kitchen of bodily fluids before treating both girls with the  nectar of the terriers 

Cheap, plastic looking hot dog sausages 

They adore them with a passion .

Even Winnie would have been won over if I had waved one Gayly in her direction ….

It’s been a busy day at work …but a productive one

I will be cutting my hours from 150 a month to 96 on the First of July

Cockerel On Time

 

Where has the day gone? 

It’s 6.30 and the bantam rooster has just tapped on the window for his supper.

I’m not going to choir

It’s been cancelled again 

More covid.

Sigh.

Greg, my little bathroom man came this morning and has arranged to start work, the week after next .

His quote is well under what I expected 

His electrician will repair the faulty cooker extractor fan too.

We talked a lot about dogs.

He also suggested that I book a skip.

I went to see our work counsellor this afternoon. 

She will support my counselling course and will supervise me in practice 

Everything seems to be slipping into place

Pottery Results

The “ landscape” letter rack turned out a bit lurid 

 

But my fat camel looked pretty sweet

As did the octopus 

My salt spoon looked as though a five year old had made it lol

Gongs and Bhajis

 It’s 14 degrees, warmish, slightly overcast with a breeze from the south East. The cattle in the fields West of the village are all sat with their faces to the weak sun . Their backs to the wind.

The cottage smells of turmeric and mild curry powder.

I’m making low fat vegetable bhajis.

I’ve decided that the tulips I bought will last another week if I’m lucky, a Walker in the lane commented only last week that he always like the fact I have flowers in a vase in the lane window.

He mentioned that my wisteria had started to sprout on the garden arch.

I hadn’t noticed.

Last night I watched the Olivier Awards. 

The compare Jason Manford set the tone straight away by joking with the audience that “ This is an evening of back-slapping, not face-slapping!”

I think everyone seemed to appreciate the comment. 

Lovely to see Sheffield’s own Life Of Pi do so well and I was made up to see the four leading actors in Cabaret winning a gong too….especially Elliot Levy and Lisa Sadovy the old German couple who find love in the twilight of their lives.

The bhajis have turned out exceptionally well.

So much so that I will post the recipe 

One large onion, thinly sliced

One large sweet potato grated

One large carrot, grated

2 cm fresh ginger grated

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

50 g of chick pea flour

Zest and juice of a lime

1 red chilli chopped

Mix ingredients into patties

Cook in hot oven 200 for half an hour

Serve with soya yogurt flavoured with mango chutney

It’s the half season finale for The Walking Dead later