Mindful

 I was never one for houseplants.

True, I have an aspidistra who is at least 40 years old and a flowering cactus almost that age , but these two are surviving more from luck than from design. 

Since lockdown I have collected houseplants and the best bit of advice I have had looking after them came from the postman, who one day complemented me on my collection.

When there’s a warmish rainstorm , put all of your plants outside for a long shower

It’s labour intensive , but it doesn’t half clean and nurture them

So that’s what I have done this morning. Set the plants in the rain and then returned them one by one when they were wet and really green again.

I know repetitive and somehow quite mindful.

This respective, mindless behaviour is a useful mechanism to employ when stress is in your life. I’ve always used it at work when things got too much to handle. I’ve gone to the drugs room to clean the drugs trays or move the laundry around or clean the dressing trolleys.

Washing dishes is a mindful chore too

It’s done with the above view of plants and flying gull and of pretty crockery and moving the plates and the knives from hot water to cold rinse let’s your mind unwind and slow down. 

My grandmother hated ironing clothes, she said that it “ slowed down the brain” 

Now it’s therapy

The Kindness Of Strangers

 

The film lecture and discussion was animated and informative. It was also fun and three hours flew by like a swift in summer. I was put into three break out groups , the last of which was dominated by a very chirpy lesbian from London who stopped us in our tracks by inviting us all to an on line meeting directly after the  class was over. Her reasoning was to celebrate the birthday of one of our “classmates” a chap called Paul whose 68th birthday it was today.

He’s on his own and if you you are free for a bit , grab what drink is in your fridge and pop along she yelled excitedly 

And that’s exactly what 35 of us did, much to Paul’s tearful surprise.

Various hastily opened bottles of wine, gins, a few coffees, and one very indulgent bottle of bubbly from a rather exuberant chap from Buxton were decanted and I found a tin of espresso martini in the fridge which I emptied into one of my antique champagne glasses before we logged in to meet again. 

Even the lecturer joined in and it was the silliest and sweetest thing I have done in a long time.

At one point Paul, ( who was a retired charity worker from Wimbledon ) made an impromptu speech sharing how depressed he had become over the winter and how cinema in particular had kept him going in the bleakest of moments and he asked us to raise our glasses when he quoted Jean luc Goddard and said“ Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world” 

And from all over the UK came the chink of glasses.

Film Nite

 This morning I took the first collection of money collected from the Memorial Windows to the clerk of the TCA at the Saturday coffee morning . 

As usual all the tables were full, and I could see as well as cake , there were homemade sausage rolls on the menu. 

Mrs Trellis put one in her handbag.

I said hello to a few people and collected another two sponsorships before coming home, I have an on line film course starting at 1pm.

The next event for the TCA Is a film night, which was the brainwave of Bridget who has secured a projector and a screen. Unfortunately I’m working night shift on the 29th but I will try and change it. 

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It’s still cool but there is a bright blue sky over the village.

One of the ponies neighed at me when I got home .

Cuddle Time

Most evenings the trendy blue sofa is full of dogs, cat and me. 

It’s the nice part of animal ownership , where the pack quietly comes together for a bonding sleep, usually at the very end of the day when bellies are full and everyone is in need of a physical and psychological cuddle. 

Dogs remember their litter feelings , as much as we miss being cuddled as children 

Last night , I spent the evening FaceTiming friends as the pack dozed. 

I thank covid for this “new” phenomenon

Chatting when you can see the person you are talking to 

Is a great bonus when you live alone 

They are in the room with you! 

Always! 

On Saturday I’m taking part in an interactive zoom discussion / lecture on gay cinema. We had to share what films we would like to discuss and my suggestion of The Object of my affection has been accepted.

I’ve always loved the novel as well as the movie and how they views love 

This quote from the novel, I’ve always remembered and been touched by

"Often, what's most attractive about a person is that part they're trying hardest to conceal, that part they think is least likable. You find out about it and it becomes a secret bond between you, something you never talk about but hold close to your heart and are continually touched by"

My trip to Barcelona Is booked and sorted. I’m going with an old girlfriend which I know will be easy and fun and I hope I can book a cooking lesson on a Spanish cooking day I found through another friend. 

Like the dog’s cuddles, the break will be total therapy and will be totally embraced. 

I FaceTimed my friend and we giggled like schoolgirls about the holiday today.

It’s doing me good ….already

 

 

Pride and Prejudice

 

Pride and Prejudice *sort Of  was a bit of a romp last night.

A comedy version of Austin’s novel played from the perspective of five maids who Reinact the the lives of the Bennett family and their romantic connections with Wickham, Bingley and Darcy.

It’s clever and incredibly well acted and has comic timing to die for as the five leads play four of the Bennett sisters, and all the other main characters sans Mr Bennett who we only “see” silently sitting behind his newspaper.

The maid thing, is a loose connection as the novel is deftly covered from start to finish without much input from them. Mrs Bennett (Dannie Harris) is now detected as a potty mouthed, drunk with an east end accent where as Lizzie( Emmy Stonelake) is a buxom Welsh Nessa with hefty calves and who bursts into Carly Simons’ You’re so Vain when she meets Darcy for the first time.

So you get the idea

It’s all very silly, and well done.

But as the audience clapped away at the cast belting out  Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero, I couldn’t help thinking it was the froth that many audiences want right at this moment and although I laughed , I’d seen enough by the end of the first half.

So what today?

A bit of shopping, booking flights to Barcelona too…..it’s cold so I’m making soup  too.

Hey ho

Family

I love this photo of my elder sister and her husband 

I took it today to send to their granddaughter after lunch was done 

It’s been a nice day 

Pounds and Ounces

 Weigh in at fat club yesterday

Another loss….I’ve now got rid of almost one stone ( 13.2 lbs)

And yes I am feeling the benefit of it already.

My work pants are loose and almost fell down as I was helping a lady onto a commode on nights 

So what am I doing today ? I’m going out for lunch with my family ! Go figure diet.

I will be good the rest of the day, I will fast a bit and I’m meeting Gorgeous  Dave  later for a theatre trip ( ooooohhh how pretentious !) 

It’s cold today and blustery. 

And Ive made the effort for my family and have trimmed my beard and found a jumper without a hole in it to wear. Lunch out is a new tradition we have started recently. It feels all rather civilised.

Probably it’s just the fact that we don’t like late nights much anymore, even Chic Eleanor after she booked the silent disco for us in St Asaph Cathedral left the caveat “ I ve booked us the early session 😂6.30 to 9.40 oldies…bed by 10pm !”

Nothing else to report. 

The flowering current in the garden is in blossom and has lifted the garden’s spirits into spring.

Sit Down Madam

 

As people know I’m a big Theatre fan. I’m also very clear in my mind how people should act and behave in the theatre. ie there should be a mutual respect for their fellow audience and for the performers on stage.

At the end of lockdown I remember posting about being in the audience of the musical Far From Away where I experienced , what I can only describe as a small touch of mass hysteria .where the house erupted with a spontaneous cheer and standing applause after the very first song.  

There was a hunger for that large scale experience 

A hunger and a need for it.

Recently we are hearing of episodes of bad behaviour in musical theatre productions where mainly drunken women in the audience have stopped the performances by singing along with the leads.

Now, whilst I deplore behaviour like this ( and believe me I’m not shy at saying so) I do have a degree of sympathy for the women involved who , like us all have returned to live theatre in order to have a good joint experience. 

Often the productions are led by popular songs, and at the finale they actively encourage the audience for a joined singalong of best bits so to speak .

Mamma Mia started this trick to leave people happy but the trick has rebounded somewhat, fuelled by alcohol, high ticket prices ( I’ve paid for this ticket and I’m going to have a fucking good time) and a post covid hysteria , the sort I mentioned at the start of the post.

Theatres are to blame a bit too…..to recoup their covid costs many bigger theatres are putting on crowd pleasers which will prey on those wanting a toe tapping , dancing in the aisles evening of fun .

In The Bodyguard a working bar appears on set and is used in the interval to serve the punters in the stalls.

The worst audiences I have experienced in the theatre and cinema have been in,  I’m afraid, the United States, but their British counterparts are catching up, which is a sad fact.

I’m happy to being a bit of a snob where join in pantomime productions are concerned. These are morphing into comedy gigs and concerts which are interactive to an extent and for many are becoming the norm……not in my house they’re not! 

I’m going to see two productions this week. Too Much World At Once at Theatre Clwyd and the Lawrence Olivier Award winning Pride and Prejudice* sort of  at the Storyhouse  and I shall sit there sans toffees and mobile phone and I will listen quietly and with respect.