Such Fun

Catch Me If You Can is an ok potboiler of a whodunnit, that is mildly amusing, smart mouthed and clever enough to keep the audience clapping.

Starring Patrick Duffy ( Dallas) and the pert Linda Purl ( a darling of 1970s TV movies )

It felt like the middle aged, middle class choice tonight 

No real shakes, but ok. 

For my sister Janet, it was her first foray back into a packed theatre for two years and I hope she enjoyed it enough to go again soon. 

I suggested that we book a London show next time and make a special time of it with a posh hotel, meal, champers, excursions  and such fun

all for our joint 60th….

It’s hard to think that on this planet I have known just two people, my sisters, the longest in my life …. for nearly 60 years.

How special is that ?

 

Conwy

 I parked outside Conwy and Mary and I walked into the town across the suspension bridge which sits in the shadow of the ancient castle.

It's getting brighter but We are not aiming to sit out.im off to the pub to meet with work friends.

At the art deco Albion Pub which welcomes dogs.

My sister Janet and I are going to Theatre Clwyd later, so itsa day of two halves

Silence

 

Bliss

Silence

Barcarolle

Yesterday I found myself changing two syringe drivers at a patient’s beside.

For those that don’t know a syringe driver is a device that gives a specifically measured amount of drug to a patient via an abacath placed subcutaneously under a patient’s skin. 

Large amounts of analgesia, anti sickness meds and medication  that combats terminal agitation can be given safely and incrementally and the drivers are the staple in a palliative care nurse’s weapons to maximise symptom control

Checking the drugs for these drivers has to be done with with another trained nurse and this is time consuming, but I always take my time when changing the drug syringes as it gives you a change to assess your patient, often in the quietness of a side room without distraction or fuss.

My patient was unconscious and alone when I started work changing his meds yesterday morning.

Classic fm was tuned on the tv by his relatives .

And the Barcarolle from Tales Of Hoffman was playing 

It was a beautiful moment of peace on a busy day 

Sublime

It’s cold again this morning……

And Away

 

The dawn chorus was loud this morning

I was awake well before five and it was cold enough for the dogs to caterpillar their way under the duvet in order to keep warm.

Before getting up for work, I read a little more of Bob Mortimer’s And Away…. Autobiography , which is a cracking read.

The snow that fell last night had gone from the lane but it remains cold  

I’ve chugged my bucket of coffee this morning which I lace with agave nectar, whilst listening to Steve Allen on LBC radio. He’s an old waspish Queen and his complaining wakes me up nicely.

On Line

It was snowing here this evening 

Not a great deal, but enough to be noticed 

I spent most of the day on line , a fact that gave me some admiration for people who spend their working day glued to a screen 

I found the day generally productive 

Lots of boxes ticked

Lots of positives felt.

I sorted out a nice hotel for gorgeous Dave and I on our mini trip to Rome in June and before that , just after my 60th birthday, I’ve arranged to travel to the Catalonian coast south of Barcelona for a few days on holiday alone and booked a private tour of la Sangrada Famalia as well as a three hour tapas & Wine walking tour .

I found a dog carer who will pamper Dorothy in their own home then organised to meet my friend Alex from Poland in London in three weeks time.

We have got tickets for the Emlyn Williams play The Corn Is Green, with Nicola Walker at the National which will be a real treat. 

I’ve booked the nice hotel z in Covent Garden again.

I picked my bathroom suite , tiles , and accessories and let my little bathroom man know messenger then sorted bills and banking out before booking myself on an online Course exploring Pre war German History 

I can thank seeing Cabaret for that one.

I’ve been in a very bad place until yesterday 

Normal Programming Has Been Resumed

 

Back to normal today. The weather has turned colder and wetter and on our walk this morning, I regretted my decision to wear shorts only a minute into the amble.

I finished my film studies course yesterday and in the late afternoon met a friend to see The Phantom Of The Open. A comic version of the later life of the Walter Mitty character Maurice Flitcroft a working class crane driver who fraudulently entered the British Open Golf Tournament in the search of fame and fortune. With the delightful Mark Rylance in the lead role, Phantom is a frothy, light film about nice people being nice to each other. Wrapped up as almost a fantasy film, with splashes of Amelie and Forest Gump it gives Flitcroft a wry, gentle and somewhat warm persona, a man who adores his slightly dim wife and family, but who wants and needs some sort of fame ( this motivation is not explained in the movie at all by the way)

I enjoyed the humour of the piece but was left feeling somewhat uneasy at the end of the film when clips of the real Maurice Flitcroft were shown. This character seemed much darker and more serious than the one portrayed by Rylance and his presence hinted at darker motivations and even mental illness behind the eyes.

It’s interesting, but my friend thought the same 

After a couple of days in work from tomorrow, I have quite a few jaunts booked from Saturday 

An afternoon concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, a real ale pub visit with a couple of work mates, two plays at Theatre Clwyd and a cabaret cult night out celebrating Kate Bush.

Hopefully Choir will return on Tuesday too after being cancelled for three weeks due to increasing covid numbers .

Like I said

Normal Programming Has Been Resumed  

It’s 20.50 pm and it’s snowing

 

Onwards

 Up early today to beautiful sunshine again, even though the forecasts were gloomy. 

In Dyserth on the walkway there was a cool sea mist which was invigorating in short sleeves.

I met Chic Eleanor not long after nine, well before the sun burnt off the haze.

There are few people that you can have an authentic conversation with, I always think.

A honest and sincere interaction that is both supportive but challenging at the same time

I had one of those conversations this morning

Chic Eleanor knows me well. 

We have similar coping mechanisms, similar places we go when we are hurting.

Similar behaviours we revert to.

She knows how I tick and today we talked about forgiveness  and letting go of things.

It was a necessary and serious conversation 

And when we parted, we hugged long and hard like friends sometimes do

Her warmth reminded me of being worthy

And I can still smell her gentle perfume and feel the softness of her hair on my cheek.