Going Gently

Disappointment

I'm doing ok
Not great Not brilliant but ok.
Over the last couple of months I have found out I have a lot of good friends and a good family
I have been of the receiving end of thoughtful thoughts and touching gifts
I have received cards and postcards, strange gifts of food and jam and even an anonymous bunch of flowers.
and people who I would have never have expected have stopped to say something when driving by would have been easier...... it is that small effort of saying "are you ok?" that has helped.... it really has
I have also been dreadfully disappointed by a handful of people I care for and that I expected better from.
I guess that's common when people think that they have to take sides or they know not what to say.😟

A dear friend of mine said something similar to me recently. He felt let down by a close friend of his who seemed crass and insensitive when dealing with my friend's serious illness.
My friend recognised the fact that serious illness can paralyse some people into inactivity, but the hurt was real and understandable.
unfortunately , for many reasons some friends cannot say what needs to be heard he said......and I agree with him many can't BUT THEY BLOODY SHOULD

I have some advice for those that feel, for whatever reason, that they cannot say something supportive to people like me or like my friend.....people going through a shitty time
make the effort and say something, email something, message something
You don't have to take sides , you don't have to provide a counselling service , you don't have to lend a supporting ear daily until your ears bleed.....no
you just have be nice and ask
"are you ok?"

Set Up

Albert is being bullied by a new cat on the block
It's a tortoiseshell mix with a whole lotta attitude.
I know it's got attitude because it squared up to Mary when we were out walking around the Churchyard ( yes I walk the dogs there daily as a protest to the uniform ban ) and a cat that will hold its ground against a dog of any size has balls.
Although Albert is a hunter, he is no fighter. His deformed back leg makes him slower and slightly ungainly at times and so when faced with a more determined assailant he usually decides that retreat is the order of the day and makes a bolt for the cat flap home.
This morning the fight with the tortoiseshell took a tern in Albert's favour.
After the dogs morning wee stop, Winnie, William and Mary went back up to bed as per usual. George disappeared into his bed underneath the kitchen table and leaving the back door open , I went to read the news on the toilet.
I'd only got to a juicy tidbit about Anthony Hopkins stating he should have been a Welsh drunk, when I heard Albert frantically bouncing up the stairs followed by a deafening howl from George which was followed by some very angry barking, a few bangs in the kitchen and the scrabbling of clawed feet on the coalbunker's wooden cover.
With my pants round my ankles I looked out of the window just in time to see the tortoishell streaking over next door's lawn as the rest of the dogs thundered down the stairs to join in with the chaos.
The tortoishell had seen his opportunity in finally cornering Albert and had chased him through the open door into the kitchen.
He hadn't banked on George lying quietly in his bed.
Now George is a typical Scottish Terrier. He has a big mouth and a stout heart and a strange cat, no matter how tough and streetwise is no match for him. And so , like old lions have to do sometime, George at twelve roared and roared his head off.
The tortoiseshell shat itself and after bouncing around the kitchen for a bit, legged it through the kitchen door and up over the coal bunker with George in close pursuit .

Albert rubbed my scabby knees with his head as the barking increased to fever pitch downstairs
Like nothing had happened

The Acorn Didnt Fall Far From The Tree*

I helped out at my sister's flower Show today. It was nice to see several of Trelawnyd Flower Show's regulars win prizes in the art, cookery and vegetable classes....another case of the ebb and flow of such events.
I was tired when I got home and had to clean the cottage for it's first viewing.
I need not have bothered as the woman who had booked the appointment never actually got out of her car.
"I don't want to live on a main road" she said through her drivers window
"It's actually a quiet lane" I corrected her as Winnie blew bulldog kisses from the front garden gate
but she didn't slow her car down before she drove off.
I can't say I was bothered
It stopped me writing another, more waspish post
* my original blog title

Late Night Sandwich

I worked at Samaritans on the late night 22.00 shift last night.
I wont have access to a car for the next three days so popped in to Sainsbury's before hand for weekend provisions,
I was hungry so as well as a watermelon, bread, milk, eggs, chicken pieces,noodles and stir fry veg I bought some almost out of date ham and pitta bread, and made an impromptu sandwich as I drove.

In Rhyl ( a place that unfortunately resembles a war zone at the best of times) I spied a homeless guy in a shop doorway. It was late and he was settling down on a pile of something alongside a cheerful looking black Labrador type dog and as I was enjoying my sandwich of ham and pitta so much I stopped on impulse and offered the rest to him with a slightly awkward " Can you two use these, Ive just made a sandwich"
The man smiled showing teeth like a row of bombed houses and took the bits gratefully
" The dog's been well fed today....but we thank you for your kindness" the man said
I was totally surprised....
His accent and speech was pure boarding school England's home counties
and he held out a dirty hand in thanks.
I shook it firmly.
and felt as humble as anyone could have possibly felt in a moment in a car in a back street of grotty Rhyl

Grass Cutters

There is little nutrient in the grazing in most of the fields around us now and horse owners are resulting to bring in summer hay supplements which is usually unheard of this time of year.
As a favour to a old school chum I have agreed for her ponies to come onto the field for a short time.
It is a win win win situation for all of us
The Ponies have excellent virgin grazing
The field gets cleared of nettles and weeds
and Irene has two grazing friends once more