Home I’m Darling

 

Jonny ( Neil McDermott) and Judy (Jessica Ransom) are 1950s enthusiasts. They love the style and the decor and thought of Judy being a 24/7 housewife and so when the chance arises , Judy gives up her job to look after the home full time in a sort of freewheeling social experiment. 

When money becomes tight , and when questioned by Judy’s  somewhat bemused commune living mother ( Diane Keen) cracks in this idealised lifestyle begin to show.

Home I’m Darling is an interesting , crackingly paced play which has a great deal to say about almost everything. Unfortunately , despite a great and rather moving performance by Ransom , we don’t quite understand Judy’s desperate need to live a life her mother finally describes as being  “ A Cartoon!”  as from the get go, once the housework is done , she sits down at the kitchen table in her Princess Grace pleated skirt and gets out her laptop.

Of course Home I’m Darling’s humour comes modern day gender politics. It looks at the fantasy lives my parents could of and turns that on it’s head when Judy’s mother finally looses her temper with her daughter and lists all that was wrong with the 1950s. 

This is a clever, witty and at times rather sad play. Fantastically staged and boldly acted.

An enjoyable night out.

Ps

Photos taken 2 minutes ago (11am)

Albert scoffing his dinner

Dating @ 60

 

I’ve dated the same guy four times now since the beginning of February 

I won’t tell you any more about him because he’s not worth the effort 

Suffice to say he has just admitted he has a partner that he’s living with and not one that was estranged from him but still sharing the house.

He was good company and laughed at my jokes

Sheesh

why do gay men lie so much? 

Carrie Bradshaw, answer me that one?

Mind you I’m not bereft or even upset

I feel more resigned than anything else 

What a surprise ? Not!

I had planned to meet him tonight as college was off….and he still wanted to meet even though I saw them both in Sainsbury’s on Sunday afternoon, discussing the possible toppings of what looked like Sainsbury’s home made pizzas.

I’ve arranged to see the acclaimed Home I’m Darling at Theatre Clwyd with Chic Eleanor tonight and have decided to concentrate on my ability to be the best spinster in the parish.

If I had a pashmina I would fling it.

Tár

 

From the get go Tár wrong foots you by having the majority of the credits in a long opening reel. The rest of film follows suit , by setting the scene by having the leading “Maestro” conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Lydia Tár ( Cate Blanchett) in a verbose, over long winded and verbose  tvtype interview  about the ins and outs of being a conductor. 

Tár is passionate, obsessive, compulsive and full of her own self belief. She is an autocrat and a smiling bully who lives her life between  wife and daughter in a concrete minimalist house and her old less ordered apartment where it is hinted she shares a double life.

She is also an insomniac, neurotic pill taker and potential predator lesbian , with multiple skeletons in her closet where junior conductors and orchestra members are concerned. 

This is where the film becomes suddenly interesting 

For as her past comes in to haunt her, she is plagued by paranoia, creepy encounters and visits to her child home.

It’s all becomes rather surreal and cleverly Blanchett keeps you watching, even though her character is intense, fascinating and totally unlikable .

An interesting, rather bleak movie 

Ps I will leave you with lovely reply by Jamie Lee Curtis to a well intentioned Oscar question 

Pps.

I must say a big thank you for your comments about Albert.

I’ve been incredibly moved by so many comments about a bad tempered , old Tom , who won’t even sit on my knee for a cuddle.

He has moved so many by being himself for fifteen years here on Going Gently

But let’s not be under any illusions here…he’s an old boy 

So Glad They Won

 I got up early to check the Oscar winners with a coffee. 

My predictions were correct in all the acting categories and even though I’ve not seen Everything Everywhere all at once and The Whale , it was fitting that the actors won their plaudits .

I was shedding a tear over Jamie Lee Curtis’ speech when Albert walked through the kitchen without a hint of a limp followed by Roger who was skipping.

Albert gave me a look then popped through the cat flap into the garden for a wee and a poo. He watched as I marshalled the dogs into the car and when we returned he had returned to the back bedroom before eating the chicken I had left for him.

Animals , they always prove you out to be liars. 

Cinema afternoon

22.07 Bedtime

 I’ve just checked on Albert and he’s hidden himself away under the spare bed again.

Roger crawled underneath the flotsam when I climbed the stairs and has decided to stay with him which is odd 

Or perhaps it’s not .

I’ve left them both there lying close to each other.

Funny animal humanity on show 

Mary and Dorothy just can’t be arsed .

Hey ho

Catch Up

 

As a student nurse , I knew this view very well. 

It’s the view of the west side of Sheffield from the multi story Royal Hallamshire Hospital and I love this photo in particular as in the recent snow storms a few schoolboys had written this greeting to all of the patients whose wards look out over the city.

How sweet is that?

Thank you for all your best wishes for Albert, who is brighter today , although certainly not out of the woods health wise .

In the middle of the night, tired of the cramped conditions , I retired to my own bed followed by Mary and Dorothy. Roger remained on guard and was fast asleep on the floor when I got up at 8 am for their walk. 

Albert stirred from under the bed when I moved it aside and looked at me angrily

He hissed when I tried to examine him 

He doesn’t look well and has lost weight but, still there he was, so I left him be and took the dogs out.

He was sat on my bed when I returned. 

I crushed some cat food in my fingers and put it in front of him.

And he ate it. 

But not all. 

I’ve left him with towels on the floorboards and the fan heater on.

I have a plan.

I will take him to the vets tomorrow if he gets worse or remains off his food. But I’m not wanting heroics. 

He’s a cat who hates being touched, abhors strangers and loathes vets and the thoughts of investigations and blood tests and let’s see what we can do ? is not kind for the type of cat he is. 

I’m in two minds  to take him up to the surgery but its 17 miles away and well out of the vets visiting district.

But we wait and see.

Albert

Thank you all for your comments and concern

It was Roger who found Albert under the bed, in the a spare room as soon as I brought him and the girls back from Trendy Carol’s.  Albert had curled himself  up inside a firm Sainsbury’s carrier bag and looked poorly. 

I can’t believe I missed him

Roger ran up and down the stairs five or six times before I realised he’d found him. 

By the look of him, I think Albert has had a cerebral event , probably a stroke.

But he looks comfortable and is not distressed 

I’ve given him some painkillers and water via a syringe and all of the dogs and I are lying on the bed with Albert quiet underneath us.

I’ll see what the night brings

Animals….they break your friggin heart don’t they?

Albert’s Gone

 He was it of sorts yesterday afternoon and took himself upstairs to lie on my bed with a swishing of his tail. He ate only one small meal first thing and his gait was hesitant when he went to sit in the window seat as I made the bed.

His head was hunched and his tail remained thrashing.

He then pawed the soft cushion underneath him like a kitten pawing for milk.

This was not like him.

When I came up to bed last night, he wasn’t there , nor was he in the spare room .

I searched the cottage and I couldn’t find him.

The churned up snow on the patio had already frozen so there were no paw prints to see and there is no sign of him this morning. 

He’s not at the neighbours, the garden or the sheds and I’m somewhat worried given his hatred of the cold and snow.

He’s an old boy with only a broken leg in his long life that ever needed treatment and he hates the vets so much.

I’m working the late shift today