The Dark Long Night

 The best thing to help a hospice patient rest is in fact, the simplest of nursing interventions to carry out.

It is also the most time consuming but ultimately satisfying act a nurse can do on night shift,

And that is to sit beside your patient’s bedside in the dark. 

“ would you like me to sit with you?”

Is a question often replied by a tiny simple nod 

But you can often see the patient relax immediately as they are transported back to their childhoods when mom or dad or gran sat vigil over them during the long dark night.

I have learned to sit quietly, but not silently at these times. I take with me a cup of tea and my iPad, and mini movements of scrolling and the occasional sip, can often be just heard or felt by the patient, reminding them I am still there, and still with them.

Last night my patient kept opening their eyes to check if I was still there 

So I told them that I wasn’t going anywhere.

and minutes later they were sleeping softly. 

Hot

 The heat is rising 

It’s not as awful as in France and Germany , as the German reported 36 degrees and high humidity today, but it’s uncomfortable .

My cottage is southfacing, so at times like these it’s important to keep downstairs where the stone walls are thickest. The Welsh with their thick coats are quiet in their chairs and black cats absorb the heat, so they have hidden away , probably in the garden under hydrangea or the holly

I thank you for the responses of yesterday. I will peruse the comments tonight at work . I’m doing an overtime shift to cover my annual subscription to the NCPS ( The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society) its my national body I am accountable to, and to which I have to pay a 150£ annual fee. 

Was it only a year ago that I was sat in Madrid sipping gin on Plaza Major ? Celebrating my qualification 

How time flys.

Dave Wilson has done a marvellous job with the Garden Party posters. Can any clever reader work out what is “ wrong” with the Rectory at a first glance ? 

The two windows on the right side of the house are just painted on  

Keep cool people 

Keep cool

Going Gently: The Novel

 Like most humbly paid people in the world I need more income.

I’m not good with money and did inherit a large debt after divorce but like a proverbial ostrich ,I so need to get my arse into gear, and my head out of the sand and sort it out.

One day a week from May , I have started to write the book of Going Gently. It’s an incredibly hard task, much of it is like herding cats as there is literally 20 years of blogs to sift through and highlight yes, no or maybe.

Ive also had to print these pieces out and re arrange them into some order , placing the book into chapters that make some sort of sense. 

As a money spinner it’s a work in progress! 

PS: I’m basing my style loosely on James Herriot…frothy and friendly! 

Counselling time can be increased and I’m now taking zoom clients which is helpful but I still need my two hospice night shifts a week to pay the main bills so increasing my counselling days will mean I’m working four long days a week ….not an ideal thing with a bloody catheter, ( please chip in with more ideas) 

So do I advertise for a sugar son with a cardiac condition ? 

Do I start dancing in my kitchen on TikTok!.?

My troll will soon accuse me of touting for handouts 

But I do seriously need to review my old age income 

As many need to do in their  pre pension twilight days , lol

It’s a serious blog hidden behind the humour

A Quiet Sunny Sunday

 A quiet, sunny Sunday, with cut garden roses in my favourite vase. 

I’ve talked to friends on teams, doom scrolled and drank hazelnut coffee.

I’ve shampooed Mary’s old lady accidents from the living room carpet and hand washed the cushions which dried almost immediately in this heat. 

My friend Polly gave me this beautiful Lino print she designed and made herself and I’ve moved paintings around to make room for it.

I ate cold chicken and broccoli for supper and the Welsh shared the white meat with eyes shut. 

It’s muggy and whatever black cat is at the moment living me is asleep in the spare room

Trelawnyd is sleepy in the heat 

And so am I 

Trelawnyd’s Garden Party

 

The closest Trelawnyd comes to a Lord and Lady of the Manor are Pippa & Tom who live in The Rectory , which the biggest house in the village. They are Trelawnyd Royalty. 

The Rectory is tucked away next to the Church , and is hidden away from the road by the bungalows of Rhodfa Arthur( Arthur Avenue) It used to possess a tree lined drive with fields on either side in which the Vicar Jenkins kept cows and Auntie Gladys kept sheep. 

The old photographs are courtesy of Daphne Jones, Rev Jenkins’ daughter who lived in the village for many years 

Anyhow I digress, Pippa and Tom will be hosting an afternoon Tea / Garden party in the Rectory gardens on the 18th. of July, the proceeds of which will go to the TCA and upkeep of the village hall. 

 

Ian ( Village Leader), The Velvet Voiced Linda , her hubby Nick and myself all met up today to risk assess the gardens at 1 pm. They are lovely, even though they could be a risk assessors nightmare and the event should be all rather tasteful I think given the genteel feel about the place. 

I will leave you with this delightful video to make you smile on this hot day

Me as the cottage

 

The cottage will never be pristine 

I do try, but like dogs often do with their owners, 

My cottage resembles me in a strange sort of way.

The cracks in the kitchen ceiling mark a time I left the water running in the bathroom so like me the cottage has its own plumbing scars. 

One of the kitchen windows has a spider vein hole echoing the vision in my shaky right eye

And the living room carpets are all in need of a good scrub. 

Ha! 

The Kitchen cabinets have been rubbed for years by two terrier bums as I have, and the decor and look of the place is just a little old fashioned and in places a tiny bit scruffy.

But like me it generally homely and warm and friendly, with some surprises still in store for visitors who want to explore its more mysterious corners lol 

Angels Come To Llandudno

 

I’m doing ok , not really great , but ok. The catheter thing is a bind and tiring and my energy levels have been depleted by some shocking busy and challenging shifts at the hospice.

The Bun / Weaver thing has saddened me and uncertainty related to what the urology plan has made me all rather stressed

My bestie Nu is overseas and I’m skint and this morning I’ve felt all rather fed up with it too.

That was until I got a message from old friends ally and Tracey

You may remember my reunion with them in York last year after a 38 year hiatus.

“we should be in Llandudno by 1600 on Friday 26. Staying at the Esplanade. We are paying for your room as a birthday treat. dinner at the GOAT 1930, Motown at Venue Cymru after. Good blow in the prom the next day. How’s that? All booked x” 

Angels are not strange creatures with wings and halos 

They are old friends that catch you out of the blue and who lift you when you are down and flat and running on empty 

Shakespeare Could Have Written it

 

I overdid some cleaning this afternoon and Fell asleep listening to Mandy mow her lawns next door. A small black body was curled up on the bed next to me and I without thinking I stroked her whilst listening to this music. 

Now I’ve thought it strange that Bun has changed certain habits since Weaver left. She’s slightly quieter, she no longer walks with us at night and she sleeps on the bed rather than on me every night, but she’s typically affectionate almost needy at other times. 

I thought about this when I stroked her flank 

And suddenly there it was. Faint but certainly there. A tiny bald patch and a scar from an old infected suture after a kitten hood hernia repair . 

And it all made sense of a sort . It would now seem that it’s dear Bun that has left home 

And Mistress Weaver has been left behind