Taking Shape

I was on a bit of a learning curve yesterday. Thanks to all of your Thanksgiving comments....apparently Thanksgiving dinner in the US is more of an event than Christmas dinner ! Who knew! Hey ho!
Anyhow...
I'm beginning to feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Yesterday three fitters squeezed into the cottage as the dogs and I squeezed out. I bought them all takeaway coffees and cakes and went out for the day.
When I got home in the afternoon, things had moved forward rather nicely.

Today I am going to drink coffee in Marks and Spencer's cafe. They have wifi and I can complete lots of web " paperwork" out of the way of the mess, banging and stress of hearing hairy arsed strangers sitting in the loo whistling.

Calling All Americans

Now my last post raised an interesting question ( well for me it did) do American's prefer Thanksgiving dinner more than Christmas Dinner?
To the Brits here, a turkey dinner is a Christmas only thing....
I like the thought of Thanksgiving ... but I'd have it in June.

( the painting is a Norman Rockwell ...one of my favourite artists from the US ...my only complaint is that the turkey doesn't appear to be very heavy ( and if you've read my previous post you would understand that I know how much a turkey weighs)

Anyhow! American readers what do you prefer?

thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I'd pay tribute to an old friend long since gone now.

Boris was a pure delight.

A Norfolk Bronze turkey stag of some age and standing Boris was the king of the Ukrainian Village . He and his sister Grace were gifts from a grateful patient of mine and were hand delivered to the cottage as babies by the patient's daughter.

I knew nothing about turkeys then and I had to learn quicksticks as turkey poults are notoriously delicate creatures who can die easily of disease and the cold.

As Boris grew, he became as tame as a canary and would follow me around in his usual slow shuffle amble. He would spend long periods of time standing by the gate watching cars and people going by and would gobble merrily at anyone who took his fancy. 

Strangely the only person who didn't take his fancy was The Prof and the two shared a rather sharp hate/hate relationship where Prof and Turkey would take potshots at each other when backs were turned.

In the new year I may think of getting another turkey stag. 

They make clean, loyal and rather delightful pets.

And rather good dinners too

( I didn't eat him)

Mr Gay

I've had to chase up quite a few things with the kitchen fitters today ( apologies for the yawn)
One email from a manager called Gail, amused me amid the phonecalls, internet exchanges, complaints and answerphone messages

"Good Morning Mr Gay.
Hope you are well. I have tried to call this morning as it has been passed across that you have tried to contact us. I have left a voicemail asking if you could call back, in the voicemail I have mentioned that the installations team haven't been able to answer due to a meeting, apologies this is not correct......"

I answered

" Dear Gail,

 My name is GRAY and not GAY
But strange as it maybe I am actually gay so no harm done.
I will contact you after discussion with the new fitter regarding the cost of his works....."

Overcrowded

The ever chirpy kitchen fitters brought with them an even chirpier electrician at the crack of dawn this morning so after I'd made them all coffee and shared out a packet of chocolate fingers, it was time to leave them to it.

I am going to walk around and drink coffee, Im going to Browse the bookshop, art gallery and give the kitchen shop a good once over!
What are you all doing today?

The Walking Dead episode 5

Rick and Daryl fighting! Doesn't feel good!

Has Gabriel been bit?

And what's with the helicopter ?

And I've just washed the dinner dishes in the bath! 

Hesperus

The kitchen fitters are a cheerful duo.
After ripping out the old units they presented me with eight washing powder balls, two dog toys, various bits of cutlery and a mummified scotch egg! All items which had rolled away from daylight view!
" You'd be surprised what we find hidden away inside old kitchens " Shawn, the lead fitter told me
 "bottles of booze are the most common " 
Roll on Friday! 

Jobs Done

Islwyn ( pronouncing Trelawnyd) for a previous post

There was a small line of cars filling the lane as the Ikea lorry unloaded my kitchen.
I popped from one to another apologising for the wait, and everyone was good natured as they generally are on a weekend.
One chap who lives directly across the valley whistled through his teeth
"Dew......that was a big fire you had the other night" he said" I thought the entire village was alight!" 
I replied that I hadn't had a bonfire and enquired what night he had seen the blaze.
" bonfire night" the chap explained
One of the nights we were in New York.
I walked on the field to investigate and surprise surprise my bonfire that I had been building for a year now had vanished. The old sofa, four old hen houses, trees, garden waste and an arm chair had disappeared  Only a big black ring in the ground remained.
Village Elder Islwyn had been at work
Now every village needs an Islwyn.
He is someone that sees a job that needs doing and who does it, bugger red tape or procrastination.
After the recent storms, many of the churchyard trees were damaged or were felled and although the responsibility for the upkeep of the plot is the job of the community council, Islwyn and his brother cleared the trees themselves, sawed them into manageable chunks and added them to my bonfire before incinerating them on November the fifth!
Job done.
I saw Islwyn's brother tidying up the new graveyard last night. It was almost dark and I joked with him just how impressive the bonfire was to the residents across the valley who thought Trelawnyd was burning .
I also noted how neat the graveyard looked even in the murk of dusk.
" we wanted it tidy" he explained " we bury our mother next week"           

Kitchen Porn

Ikea sent the kitchen on time and in 1000 boxes.

The cottage is crammed nose to nipple with flatbacks

We went out to Liverpool in order to get away from the clutter.

Walking into John Lewis' Kitchen Department, was like tiptoeing into a piece of heaven for me, and I walked round running my fingers over gleaming measuring jugs, shiny pans and oh-be-still-my-beating-heart a garlic press in the shape of a lobster to die for! 

My new kitchen reality is palpable!

The Prof bought me a new rolling pin just to get me to shut the fuck up ( he guessed quite rightly that it will match the new counter tops) 

Things Lost

I noted a photo of the Prof and I the other day.
It was taken perhaps a decade ago in Central Park in the snow and we had on winter hats
I tell you this because I miss that hat ! ( mine not the Prof's)
I lost it on the plane home I think

Im always losing, breaking  and  mislaying things
I'm terrible for it
There are so many well loved things I have let go over the years! And it bugs me
This evening , on the last dog walk I've thought about them

For example,
My signed  autograph photo  of Olivia deHavilland
A watercolour of a smiling tiger ( the first piece of art I ever bought)
A Charlotte Rhead vase! -Worth a small fortune,
My reply letters from the entire cast of Tenko ( I wrote to each one of the actresses in 1980 as I was such a fan)
A framed victorian photograph of a courtng couple from my grandmother's old house.
A multicoloured hand knitted jumper, ;a gift from my-mother) from 1978....I looked like a male prostitute in it( accorrding to my father!)
A scarf worm by my first male chrush ( A pupil from Ruthin School!)
A hand crafted crucifix made by a psychiatric patient of mine in York
An all encompassing wicker chair bought from an art shop in York
A photo of my sister Janet with her horse's foal Kelly from the 1970s
My first dog -Finlay's collar
A "book"I wrote when I was 18...a review on disaster movies
All of the cards my grandparents sent to me
Maureen mcgovern's " best of her hits " Album"
And finally a Christmas Card from the relative of a patient that died on my ward on spinal injuries!
It said " you made me laugh, when I thought I never would again  "
That moved me more than any of the others

A Thing Of The Past

I can't remember when I last received a real letter.
Hand written or typed, inside a stamped envelope and posted through the letter box to be snatched by William who adores baiting the postman.
Yesterday I received a short letter of thanks from The Trelawnyd School's " Eco Committee" for the Flower Show donation to their garden project area.
It rather amused me as it is clear that the Eco Committee consists of a group of small children.
Did we have " committees" in primary school?........shit it was fingers on lips and drink your milk at Penmorfa Primary!

Twenty minutes ago another thank you letter arrived! This time from the Village Friendship Group

Postscript

Twelve years is too long not to have seen old friends, and this afternoon it was lovely to catch up with two of the best.

It's all a bit shaky as we were balancing on the back of Dale's wheelchair/bike

Moving On

"Dear Mr John Gray

Your registration expires on 30/11/2017

We recently emailed you to advise you that your annual registration fee is due. According to our records you have not yet paid this fee. It is essential that you pay this fee now so that your registration can be updated on time. If you have not paid the fee before your registration expiry date, your registration will lapse."

Nurses have to pay £120 a year in order to work in clinical practice and regular as clockwork from 1986 I have begrudgingly paid my dues on time.
This time, and after much thought, I am going to let my registration lapse.
It is not a decision I have made lightly, as nursing has been an integral part of my identity since I was twenty years old, but now I am ready to let go of my last tie to a vocation that has served me well for so many years.

Ironically  an old nursing pal of mine contacted me out of the blue recently and this afternoon I am meeting up with her and her husband in Chester for lunch. Her husband was an old patient of mine from my Spinal Injury days so the meeting ( our first since I left Sheffield) will be timely and oh so nostalgic.

Posh Porn

The plumber returned to tinker away with all of the radiators this morning and Winnie, with her serious face on, shadowed his every move, her nose inches from his tinkering!
When he came downstairs he mentioned that he saw one of our original bits of art propped up in the Prof's office
" I like your bit of posh porn!" He quipped
I was  embarrassed and just smiled weakly

Man The Pumps!

Sandra, the village Hall's caretaker spied me down Byron Street and hurried over with her elderly Pug.
As my dogs surrounded him for multiple botty sniffs she gave me one of those I'm glad to have bumped into you moments and asked if I would help her with her Christmas Fair which is booked on the 2nd of December .
Could I Marshall the troops and man the kitchen?
Of course I said I could, Sandra is such a sweetheart

Ps Nice to see the Aussie's jumping on the ever growing bandwagon

Workmen

The plumber seems like an old, safe pair of hands.
He arrived early with a slightly dim and very loud sidekick in order to remove an ancient radiator in the kitchen and to replace it with a shiny new one.

I find myself getting all " blokey" when in the company of practical men.
I call them " mate" and ask them technical questions that I have no way of understanding when answered.
It's the same phenomenon I used to see when my English sounding father used to talk to an old Welsh Farmer at the farm my sister kept her horse. My father always suddenly acquired a Welsh accent when they chatted, a fact he never had any insight into
It's the chameleon in us I guess

Anyhow I've never really been happy in an all male environment .
I once worked on an all male ward in psychiatry. Male staff, male patients, male domestics, male doctors.
It was a dreadful experience where too much testosterone, banter, crudeness and Micky taking ruled the day.
I was far too fey to have felt comfortable in that environment.
I never could fit in with it all....it was a rehash of the misery of games at school.

Now, because I am more comfortable in my own skin, I can cope better with company which is out of my comfort zone so to speak.

And when all else fails the offer of a hot cup of tea and a large chocolate biscuit always seems to break the ice.

Dealing with workmen at home can be rather stressful!
What are your stories?
I'd be interested to know

Ps I've just furnished the guys with tea and kitkats and the testosterone filled apprentice has just asked where I got my bespoke cheese board from as he " absolutely loved it's design!

My sister Janet designed it !

" For Being Such A Cool Dude"

It's good to say this but The Walking Dead, after a somewhat shaky start, is now back on form.
During a tense fourth episode , King Ezekiel has lost most of his subjects in a surprise attack. carol is left to face the saviours alone and good, happy old Jerry (Cooper Andrews)comes  up trumps with his theatrical axe.
The episode has everything: a deposed king who is really a flim-flam man, a woman of fifty who can kick ass better than Sigourney Weaver and a sweet natured Polynesian who has suddenly become a firm fan favourite! Oh and Richk and Daryl kick some saviour ass and do some Bro bonding
Pity Shiva had to die but I suspect the CGI budget was probably well over what it ought to be .  

Idiot

A very nice inspector for the RSPCA came around this morning as I was making parsnip soup. She had reports of an " umkempt goat" being dumped in a field.
After we popped over to the Ukrainian Village she was happy that Irene, was not unkempt, dumped or even a goat!
I have no problem with well meaning people worrying about animals, even though they don't understand Scottish sheep look scruffy when moulting
The inspector said she would try and help me find a field mate for Irene.

I always feel very guilty when I deal with officials in uniform.
I can resort to babbling when stopped by the police , (which has happened several times when I have driven home late after Samaritans ) it's a false guilty/ nervous kind of thing!
The RSPCA inspector was lovely and was busily kissing Winnie on the Forehead as the terriers crowded around her but I still found myself admitting to her that when I was eight I poured peppermint essence into our pond which killed all of my mother's goldfish!
Huh?

Remembrance Sunday

I was reminded of this wonderful talking heads episode of the BBC series Queers today
Wonderfully moving...stick with it..it's worth it

Murder

Kenneth Branagh makes a rather good Belgium detective in Murder on the Orient Express.
He has a certain twinkle in the eye and a steely kindness which was sadly lacking in Albert Finney's 1974 overblown creation . I liked him
The film is ok. It's not as good as the " original" but it passed muster with nice performances from Branagh and Michelle Pfeiffer as the wisecracking Mrs Hubbard. Unfortunately most of the cast don't have any time to flex their dramatic muscles and so the talents of Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Judi Dench and Olivia Coleman just stand around looking worried.
I found myself missing Ingrid Bergman and her " little brown babies!" 
Oh , and I hated that the closing credits featuring the magnificent train disappearing into the sunset was spoilt by the now obligatory modern day power ballad hoping it will win an oscar for best song.