A long day in college today, dovetailed nicely by Wicked Little Letters the lightweight black comedy with a suitably shocking potty mouth . I liked it, as the cast of this true story was to die for, and all of them looked as though they were having a glorious time filming it, There was some major scene stealing by Joanna Scanlon ( in a heavyweight bra) and a feisty Eileen Atkins which I loved
However it was Timothy Spall who turned out to be one of the most repulsive cinematic baddies since Scar in the Lion King, that surprised the most. His performance was truly and genuinely frightening .
This is my sister’s review on Facebook , it made me laugh
My reflective report was only 750 words but it took all day to complete
I was tired after an emotionally fraught day at work on Sunday, that’s why….I wanted to lie in this morning
Having a frightened patient is difficult sometimes as they need a great deal of time and watch you like a child watches it’s mother during a thunder storm .
The trick to gain a patient’s confidence is to work with purpose, be honest and to look them directly in the eye as you explain your plan of care to them and their family .
You use touch with everyone, ( if appropriate) and you give them something they can control.
No one should be frightened at the end of life.
Medication administration at these times must be supportive, regular and brave at these times.
Yesterday we had a word game about shots of alcohol instead of injections and hours after I met them
My patent told me I was fucking mad and we grinned and held hands with each other just before I left to go to the theatre
It took a while before I allowed myself to laugh at the jokes on stage. But laugh I did
And a dear colleague who took over me on night shift messaged me this morning to tell me my patient had died peacefully when asleep not long after my shift ended.
It’s my day in college today. A day which has its own different stressors, so I checked with my sister if we were still going to see Wicked Little Letters tonight.
Some good old swearing should be fun
I adore Jessie Buckley after seeing her tour de force Sally Bowles performance in Cabaret and Olivia Coleman is always worth a viewing
Please no thanks yous for being a nurse…not wanted or necessary , it’s nice to ventilate about it sometimes
Dorothy had been quite sick today. I bought her some chicken which she enjoyed with rice and last night she slept under the duvet again with her honey head in my armpit
My friend Ruth and I went to see the stage uk tour of the Famous radio show last night. And a neat brogue wearing fifty something turned and laughed and agreed with us when Ruth commented that the whole north wales was devoid of all radio4 listeners as they were now all gathered in one place.
The production was great silly fun, with the audience given kazoos to join in with the music rounds
I will leave you with the clean Mrs Trellis anthology ( just dip in to get a flavour)
But the best double entendres were the ones featuring GIVE US A CLUE’s Lionel Blair in the 1990s ( when I was introduced to the programme)
They are not quite allowed now , but are fantastically funny listening
Here’s the link to 25 minutes of some truly hysterical dirty minded radio
A family holiday with my sisters, brother in law and nephews
Circa June 1983
Techno pop filled on the Spanish radio and the bars, and one song seemed to be played time and time again.
It was my brain worm.
Bizarrely I remember walking into a small record shop in some town and in that terribly English way, I bought the first record whose sleeve I liked the look of , fuck me it turned out to be the song that I had become slightly obsessed with all that holiday
I have always loved that big of serendipity .
Now that record has long been lost, but last night, with my essay deadline looming , I set myself the task of finding that Spanish song from so long ago.
I love the internet,
It took me 20 minutes to find.
Mentally I wasn’t in the right frame of reference to write my essay yesterday.
I researched the internet, spoke to my friend Nigel at length about nothing, walked the dogs and walked down the lane to see Village Leader Ian, who was busy with friends in his garden so I gave it a miss.
Socially I can be so inept sometimes.
Underneath I’m quite shy.
I lit the fire early and watched a cracking Swedish disaster movie called The Abyss on Netflix, then texted Nu who didn’t ring back, made Nasi Goreng which I ate with chopsticks as the dogs growled for the best position to watch and then went to bed.
I’m meeting friend Ruth for lunch today but have rescheduled the film with my sister until Tuesday .
I will complete the fucking essay later.
Dorothy has lost even more weight this week. She’s on a low fat several times a day
She’s incredibly clingy and slept under the duvet with me last night, which is a rarity
A patient’s relative told me that I looked like the front man of the band Elbow
Now I don’t know my Elbow from my arse so I had a look on YouTube
He’s thinner.
But I’ll take that .
I loved this version of the James Bond hit
This is my social life diary.
This is where all of my holidays, work rota and social life is arranged. Because of demand, we are only allowed to request a certain amount of shifts off at work so it’s important and prudent that social life is arranged properly.
Instead of writing my essay, the diary has been open and time away has been arranged.
My sister and I will be revisiting London in the summer where we will go to the Saddler Wells revival of A Chorus Line. The tickets are not expensive if you get in there quick at booking time and will serve as my sister’s birthday gift.
We will visit Buckingham Palace the next day which will tickle my Royalist muscles
A must see is my favourite musical of all time and that is the tour of Come From Away which is showcasing in Llandudno in July.
Gorgeous Dave and I also have tickets to the stand up Troy Hawke who is playing a night in Rhyl ( of all places) he’s a delightfully funny man.
After seeing how cheap some flights are to Poland I’m kind of thinking a long weekend to see my friend Alex in Łódź
The inspiration came to me in a bookshop after a long mooch
The Guinness Book Of World Records
A good choice for a man who likes facts.
I wrapped the book in tissue paper and placed it with a card and a diary with pen in a gift bag and was just about to set off when Islwyn stopped me for a chat. I told him I was going to Nick’s birthday drinks do and he asked me to wish Nick his best
“A nice man “ Islwyn observed thoughtfully.
Nick and the Velvet Voiced Linda live in a comfortable cottage in the centre of the village. I got there around 6 pm and it was packed with people coming in and out, drinking and laughing.
Most from the village.
Now Nick hasn’t been that well of late, something that’s not at all a secret , so his friends have witnessed his challenges over the past year.
I thought about this after my second glass of Grenade Juice, and caught TCA chair Bridget’s eye as she downed hers.
Linda serves up a lethal gin cocktail that works quicker to relax you than any anaesthetist’s syringe could possibly do.
Suddenly it felt like Christmas.
Nick looked like Mr Bountiful.Surrounded by cards and gifts and as the evening party came towards a close, friend after friend said their goodbyes with a handshake, a hug and a kiss.
There was a great deal of love and affection in that little cottage last night, I thought