At five I looked like Prince Louis
Now I look a bit like Camilla
Queenie
Work is quieter today
It goes like that sometimes.
I got a rerun of the Queen's Flypast up.on YouTube for the nurses and housekeepers to watch.
Everyone mooned over the Queen and the great grandchildren lined up before her
She looked genuiningly happy
Andrew has covid …yeah right
The day I didn’t really need for it to be bloody busy
It was bloody busy!
Three admissions , not enough staff
You know the story , it’s boring …..
But the day was filled with lots of birthday gifts and good humour and scotch eggs were the order of the day.
I parked at Rhos On Sea’s promenade on the way home and just opened Bluebell’s windows wide
And there I sat for an age letting the breeze edge away an awful busy shift headache
Thank you everyone for your kind birthday wishes .
I’m not answering you all…..but I’ve read each one , even the nasty ones
I’m off to bed shortly
Nite xx
Northern Belle
I’ve opened my lovely cards and gifts over my usual bucket of coffee.
It’s 6.15 am
Lots of good wishes and some fab presents
A luxury day out with Nu on the 1930’s Northern Belle train, some cracking dvds and worlds best uncle socks from Leo. Some beautiful gin glasses, gin, a lovely toucan print which is already been hung in the new bathroom, a vintage butter knife and salt , a grand fermenting jar for making my own kimchi , a cactus , a garden hose and four Mars bars sellotaped intriguingly end to end and wrapped in a tea towel decorated with dog breeds of the British Isles from Mrs Trellis.
I’ve got a quick zoom meeting with friends Ruth in Scotland and Ben in Korea shortly and Nu has just rung
Then off to work….
I’m in my 61st year.
I promise no more birthday chatter
Eleanor
I’m tired tonight
We had a nice long walk with Eleanor earlier today
And we are all dozing early
I’m off to bed shortly and it’s well before nine
Chic Eleanor made my day,
She took my arm when we walked,
And didn’t let go
And she hugged me long and hard when we parted
It was lovely
Birthday Garden
The removal and subject of masks in Wales has ruffled a few feathers since yesterday and last night I received a few messages ( mainly from nurse friends who are totally opposed to the legislation) I’ve reflected on it and feel ok with the decision , especially from a hospice’s perspective.
If I was a nurse in the acute sector, I would keep my mask on
Throughout the pandemic our hospice was the only healthcare facility I know, that remained open to visitors. We had to maintain a strict policy, regarding numbers and track and trace and PPE but every patient who was at the end of their life, could have their loved ones with them to say their goodbyes.
I visited many family homes when working on the community , where a house was packed with grieving relatives and I had to balance my own safety with the fact that syringe drivers needed changing and patients needed turning.
The taking off of our masks yesterday was almost symbolic.
The nurses, the doctors, our physio, social worker, community nurses and support workers as well as the admin staff and housekeeper all looked at each other….properly ….and collectively we saw each other smile with our whole faces again…..
Anyhow today is dull…weather wise ….I’m meeting Chic Eleanor for lunch which will brighten the proceedings then I need to catch up with Gorgeous Dave in order to discuss Italy .
It’s choir tonight too.
While I was at work my sister has been beavering away planting the garden borders out, as a birthday gift.
It seems that hundreds of shrubs and flowers have suddenly appeared, including a lovely Japanese acer in a pot. My cousin Karen left me a beautiful yellow rose to incorporate into the design ,
Thank you to people who have sent me cards and unlabelled gifts . I will open them tomorrow before I go to work . My friend Ruth who is in Scotland and Ben in South Korea will be zooming together at 6.30 am over breakfast.
The woman was around 80 I suppose
She had bright orange hair which had been dyed within an inch of its life
And she had been a psychiatric patient for most of her adult life.
Me and my fellow student nurse Paula ( a cheerful scouser with a foul mouth) were student nurses back then and we were on placement with the occupational therapy department at the West Cheshire hospital where the patient with orange hair visited daily.
We were being taught how to shampoo and set hair that day!
Now, even back then, I wasn’t known for my sartorial elegance, but I was game to learn a new skill and so with the equally clueless Paula we set about shampooing and setting the patient’s hair and rolled layer upon layer with curlers that looked like rigid hairy caterpillars. The OT in charge told us to pin the curlers and to treat the lady with a cup of very sweet tea and some Jaffa cakes.
I remember Paula telling me that the hair had to be “wrapped” very tightly around the curler so after a good three quarters of an hour wrapping the patent resembled a German mine and was placed for a long heat under an industrial sized hair dryer.
We knew something had gone slightly awry when the OT angrily called us back after she had finally “unwrapped” the patient an hour later, finding her covered in a bright orange mop of near steel strength red curls
She looked dreadful but the patent grinned widely at everyone as the occupational therapist shrieked at us “look at her !!! …LOOK! What have you got to say about this?”
I just blushed
But Paula with her Liverpudlian wit spread her arms out wide
And sang
“ THE SUN’l COME OUT TOMORROW ! BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR THAT TOMORROW !!!!”
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