A Gay Funeral

 

No kittens today, I will collect them tomorrow.

Sunday, I heard that it was an old friend’s funeral today. 

Not a case of bad news travelled fast

It didn’t. 

I wanted to go and did so without reservation, this is the second such funeral I’ve attended

I’d dated David sporadically in the 1990s up to the Millennium  but he was in the closet and my temper wore thin with secrecy . So I finished my relationship with him to date a more volatile  and handsome Philip

Who was only slightly less closeted than David

It wasn’t a good time lol.

David and I romantically crossed paths only when I was single. When I was in a relationship my rules were always platonic and he respected that. 

He was the last friend I had that still wrote proper letters 

My last to him was only three months ago. 

Our last meet was in 2022 at the Ibis Hotel in Chesterfield

I met his partner this afternoon. An old Yorkshireman with a ready but sad smile 

“ I’m sorry , I don’t know who you are “ he said to me in the Crematorium line 

“ an old mate from the 90s “ I told him 

There were a few single guys my age dotted around  I noticed, a few smiled when Laura Brannigan was played as the curtains closed

Good Practice

 I have always focused my nursing on best practice 

And I have always made it a priority to praise good practice when I see it.

Both here and within the clinical areas.

Best practice isn’t always evidence based , and research supported .

It is often the small, and vital and the very human 

And I see it every day 

I once decided that a support worker was going to be a good friend by the way she brushed a patient.’s hair

She sang feed the birds as she did so

Thankful - Grupo Talia

It was warm when I got home, and dusk allowed me to lie on the damp grass of the front garden for a little while. Roger under my right arm, Mary under my right

After a 12 hour shift, it’s the best way to clear your head, 

Listening to my lisping choir, gently pulling their punches

I’m two thirds through my counselling course and am actually on track with my academic work and my practical assessments and experience.

I’m working to finish my final nursing revalidation this month ( the last time I will need to prove to the NMC that I am a nurse worthy of practice) 

I am expecting new kittens on Tuesday and the 49th Trelawnyd Flower Show takes place next month 

In ten days I’m in London seeing A Chorus Line at Saddler’s Wells followed by the trip around the gardens and state rooms of Buckingham Palace. 

Trips to see Come From Away, The Gangs Of New York, and some old friends from Sheffield plug some of gaps 

I’m 62

There’s a lot to be thankful for

Asparagus and pea

 The bin men have just been.

As usual Roger has been bouncing up and down at the kitchen wall in order to greet them. 

They miss Dorothy and said so, as big gloved hands patted smiling bouncing Terrier on the head.

Mary can’t be bothered.

Last night I went to Chester with a friend and we say Ghost The Musical.

It was dreadful 

We walked out at the half time interval, but laughed a lot.

It was an amateur production, which of course, you make allowances for, but dire is dire is dire and We are too long in the tooth to waste too much time on crap.

The sun was still shining when we talked out so we sat in the still crowded market place and ate cake and people watched. 

It felt as though we were on holiday.

Today, I have nothing planned , no films, no lunches out, no company.

I’m working all day tomorrow, to today will be rest day

However

I am going to make an Asparagus and pea risotto now thickened with lots of Parmesan 

Bloody lovely

Weaver and………

 I wasn’t swayed by the cuteness overload, I’ve never found kittens or puppies totally adorable if the truth be known , but Weaver turned up unexpectedly followed by a sister, on which I found a tiny hernia, only minutes after handing her.

12 week old kittens are vaccinated, chipped and spayed nowadays and after getting assurances the little one had gotten the hernia repair sorted, I have agreed to adopt them both next week. 

Meet Weaver and Lily

String

 

And there it was tucked into the flap of my passport cover.

A small piece of black string perhaps 8 inches long.

I recognised it as soon as I pulled it out .

2019 Sitges 

Snogging a guy called Jon on the beach lounger

That was my one and only proper venture into a recent romance 

Four years ago now.

He was getting over a destructive gaslighting  relationship and was not only brittle and very sad, but had insight and an openness to new beginnings 

He was staying on another two weeks on his own. 

I was flying back the next day

And so pragmatic me saw it as a holiday snog, nothing more, a couple of days after we me

But he was tall and good looking and emotionally intelligent and 

It did me the world of good, even though I thought he was out of my league 

To be fair to him, he never gave that impression.

He tied the black string around my left wrist when we were curled up on the sun lounger

It should be red, he told me, in order to ward off the evil eye

Black isn’t as powerful, but it will do the job well enough.

I’m not a lover of bracelets, I can’t even wear a watch, but I liked it’s simplicity even though as a nurse I couldn’t wear it full time 

And yesterday there it was , curled up in my passport cover. 

Jon lives in Brighton with his new boyfriend now, they met the week after I left.

We all met up in London a few years ago, for a drink between jaunts. 

Jon looked happy, but his boyfriend didn’t trust me as far as he could throw me

And it was what it was

I’ve been wearing the string, as will do so until my next shift

Funny what you remember.

Hot & Sweaty

 I’m hot and sweaty

It’s humid and hotter than I’m used to recently.

Supervision this morning was useful, she’s making me think hard at other levels and I came out with a good headache. 

Walked Welsh on the beach then long chat with Sarah at the animal rescue about Weave. She wants me to review all of the kittens up for adoption, in order to select the best fit.

I didn’t have time today so Friday will have to suffice.

I went to Chester

Had pad Thai noodles at the market

Then treated myself to a one off showing of the 50th anniversary showing of Frances Ford Coppola’s The Conversation at The Storyhouse.

I’ve never seen this neo noir thriller and I enjoyed it even though it was a cold affair all told.

Got home late and talked to Nu in the car on the drive as the Welsh barked a welcome through the broken cat flap I need to repair before Weaver arrives

Old Friends and New

Time to share again, this time it’s the lisping Spanish Choir ( with their junior Choir),The Metropolitan Orchestra and the gentle Unidos Por Un Seuño by Alejandro Vivas.

I love the way the music and voices swell together.

A few days away from writing has been useful and allows for some perspective. 

I’m not hear to be insulted, or taught a lesion, or even to allow a benign old blog to become a school ground for silly bickering or personal attack.

Things will just stop if they’re need to and no messages will shared.

Like I said before, I have plenty else to do

Dear Pat from http://weaverofgrass.blogspot.com/ has said her blog goodbye in her usual diplomatic, and gentle way. She was blogging before me in the early 2000s and is a dear friend, I’ve never met. She has asked me to relay messages to blogland in order to update it on her condition and I am moved to be asked to do so. 

So today I’m back. The Spanish Choir’s piece today was first performed during lockdown and originally saw each performer in their own home, performing to camera . 

Was it 4 years now since we did that? With Mary and Albert in the background watching the proceedings with mild interest and some confusion.

Singing at full pelt, with earphones is a scary scene, even if you can sing well

Yesterday I went to the animal rescue to look at the cats. Only one potential caught my eye, and after some thought I filled in the show an interest on line paperwork last night.  

Most rescue places will physically check your home to see if it’s suitable, so I’m hoping for a phone call or email presently. 

The kitten reminded me of Albert when he arrived at Bwthyn y Llan. He settled in when I had three dogs on the go and the new girl has that same look. 

Scruffy and serious 

And wide eyed

I’ve been mulling over several names already but chose the right one as soon as I saw her.

If she arrives, as planned

She will be called Weaver