Bra Straps

I started to write Going Gently twelve years ago
It was as I told in its " introduction" , a chronicle of how a city boy adapted to village life and this diary morphed over the years into a film review, animal update and dogsbody diary of sorts.
Recently it has ambled back into diary mode, where it has provided me with a safe haven, where some dark and sad thoughts are laid to rest.
Those thoughts, of course , have been sanitised too
The written word is not always the best places for soul searching , especially if it is in the public domain.

After a quiet but indulgent night with a bar of galaxy and a zombie movie, it's time for a bit of bra strap pulling. I took my Sally Field autobiography to the book swap his morning and swapped it for Paul O Grady 's .
There were a few sore heads drinking coffee at the hall this morning after the wine tasting evening  last night. I've promised to go to the next one .
I like the way the book swap coffee mornings have evolved into something more sociable.
Small groups of villagers were chatting, some standing some sitting and in one corner a group of kids were playing with a game or sorts.
Newspapers are provided for those who just want a drink and a read and Bethan's collection of books and dvds available for swapping would rival anything seen in WHSmiths .
I said hello to a few faces and chatted to Terry, Ann, Ian and Matriach Irene, all wanted to know how Winnie was doing.
I'll take her along next time.

I think I've told you before, that weekends are the hardest days to cope with when you are suddenly single. They are synonymous with couple activity whether it be banal, routine or social and often now on a Saturday especially I feel as though I am revving a car down a one way street with no where to go.
It's a strange feeling.
So today I've done something about it . I've been to the book swap, am just about to pile the dogs into Bluebell for a walk and tonight I am going to the Chester Storyhouse on my own to see The Horne Section, a musical comedy group headed by Alex Horne who co hosts one of my favourite tv shows Taskmaster. 
I don't want to be single, I don't want to do things on my own.
But I recognise that sitting in PJs, even if it is in front of a lovely log burning stove on a cold night , is not always the best course of action.
I also recognise too that I am responsible for not always initiating similar, more stimulating nights out before my marriage split, but it's easy to be wise after the event, especially when reminded by the pangs of loneliness.......
So...it's tits up and tits out!
Tighten bra straps!
And
Chocks away!

Not everything goes right in life

Hey ho

Home

There is a singer on at The Crown tonight, Boffin Cameron has been promoting them.
And in the Hall there is a wine tasting evening .
A friend invited me to the theatre
And The Wife is showing locally
But I just can't be arsed going out
It's cold outside and the log burner is roaring
And I think there's a small bar of chocolate in the back of the fridge.

Terracotta Army....

It's nice to be city bound occasionally
Lunch at the Indian street food restaurant Mowgli followed by a mooch around a nice museum with a squint at seven very handsome and smiley Chinese mausoleum guards to boot!
Too bad they were made from terracotta...they were seven big hunks of spunk

The exhibition at Liverpool's World Museum has been sold out throughout its run, which is a testament to how such a vast memorial has captured the imagination.
I see that a few bloggers have seen the original Army in situ which , I think must have been an amazing experience....

City Visit

Tell more later

Rehab and Other Stories

When it comes to rehabilitation I am a sort of a knowledgable pratitioner when it comes to motivation. For years I used a sort of pragmatic, warm and humorous approach when mobilising young people in their wheelchairs for the first time, a time which is fraught with issues that can zap the psychological strength out of even the most robust of characters. 

Rehab in animals can run on similar lines, but employing bribery and treats can work much quicker and more effectively than they do in their human counterparts.

Winnie's rehab after her stroke has been Bluebell.  Every day I have rattled the car keys by the back door ( a signal all of the dogs understand as " car trip")  and a minute later she has joined the pack, waiting patiently for leads to be put on. 

Now initially she had to be lifted into and out of the car ( something that increased my flatulence quota considerably) but now with some thought, she can jump up into the back seat, always first, and always with a stupid grin on her big chops.

Winnie adores car trips.

She adores them with a passion only usually reserved for boiler suited workmen and it is this simple psychological feeding of a need not to be bored , which has given her an extra bounce in her step which has in turn overcome her previous odd gait and tilt of the head.

Last night I had a tv night in. I was tired after Monday's night shift and couldn't quite muster up the energy for Choir Practice. 

I needed comfort food , I needed a catch up with The Walking Dead and I needed The Bake Off semi finals.

And so with a homemade sausage casserole ( oh err missus) with mash

we all shared the couch and binge watched.

I am still obsessed with the Walking Dead but even I must admit that it has gone off the boil over the last couple of years . Season 9 still has a few problems , but the reboot by Showrunner Angela Kang ( when did producers become Showrunners btw?) has provided a much needed boost to the vitality and feel of the show.

My take on the downside of the new Walking Dead is the size of the cast. We now have five communities to deal with and a main cast of characters that number well over twenty. With new cast members arriving soon, it is clear that many of our old favourites with have less and less screen time and less and less scream time means less and less drama. 

It's a shame .....in the first three episodes Tara, Rosita , Jesus and Siddig hardly had one sentence to utter which seems such a shame given their popularity .......

Just a thought Angela ...please note

The Great British Bake Off however has gone from strength to strength, thanks as usual by the delightfully eclectic batch of contestants that were shortlisted. The quarter finalists are so sweet they are almost painful to watch. An effeminate and probably autistic scientist , a mental health worker who looks like a stereotypical mental health patient, a slightly disabled spunky mom, and a sassy wisecracking thirty something each character brings a great deal of joy to the bake off tent and I think is clear that they think of each other as a family rather than just friends.
This week the delightfully warm Birony left the competition which was fair but such a shame and I must admit when Sandy Toksvig tearfully announced her demise from the show there wasn't a dry eye in Chez Dog I can tell you .....

Susan J Hamilton

Of Canada...........thank you................

Who would you like to thank today?
And why?

Traditions

Those that " know" me on Going Gently will understand that I do like to maintain my traditions .
After all it one one of the best songs from Fiddler on the Roof!!!

Fresh Flowers in the cottage at all times
Proper trifle with cream and custard at Christmas
Pancakes on pancake day,
Sending Christmas decorations through the post.😢
Gawd we even flew a Union Jack from the windows on the Queen's Jubilee
Halloween is a fairly new tradition for me but for the past decade I have always carved a pumpkin which would sit happily on the kitchen wall of the lane.
I've been busy today, what with more vet visits,  and night shift tonight, but I've bought my pumpkin and will carve it tomorrow as I'm watching The Walking Dead  on catch up
You've just gotta keep the traditions going
Don't ya!

Charlie Cairoli

My new job is a short term solution to a few problems
It stops me from thinking too much.
It eases me back into the saddle of work ( without the considerable pressures of an Intensive Care Unit)
And hopefully fairly soon it will allow me to pay for the rapidly arriving  vets bills post ear infection, skin irritations, minor strokes and tumours!
Like I said, I'm not intending to stay very long,a better paid job is more the ticket..but who knows what is going to happen in the next few months.

I worked a twelve hour shift over Friday night and was in charge of 19 elderly residents. Now one lady I have gotten to know , knew my mother and father  many moons ago now. She is an old colonial sort who spent an idyllic childhood in India. Polite , positive, and a tiny bit gung ho, she is physically frail now , but retains a sort of robust lets-make-the-most of things attitude which is so common of her class and position.
I liked her immediately.
I'll call her Miriam
Now I respect the Care home as it is not one that insists that residents are woken up at some ungodly hour in the morning. Before we go off shift , it is only expected that perhaps a handful of early risers are helped to shower, so inbetween blood sugar checks and medications, I get to do some hands on care.
Now women's make up is an anathema to me. Me looking into a make up bag is like a man off the street twiddling the knobs of an itu ventilator , I haven't got a scooby do. And so when Miriam asked me to outline her eyebrows for her with what suspiciously looked like a child's crayon I balked slightly
" The carers usually help with with my eyebrows" Miriam instructed me " I do the rest"
I had parked Miriam's wheelchair in front of her vanity mirror with a huge selection of potions and brushes and powders in front of her and really needed to get on, so I took the pencil and asked what to do
" just outline my eyebrows" she instructed and taking a deep breath I did just that.
Moments later were were surveying my work in the mirror and thank goodness both of us burst out laughing like a pair of naughty schoolgirls
" I look like Charlie Cairoli " Miriam quipped
And agast I could see the resemblance
You have to be of a certain age to remember Charlie Cairoli