RTA

 At 8.30 pm Albert followed us for our evening dog walk and was clipped by a blue estate car speeding up the lane towards Cwm, as he galloped for cover. I saw him get lifted into the air 

He ran into Graham the  shepherd’s field next to Trendy Carol’s

And disappeared 

I looked but could find him

Twenty minutes ago he finally walked into the living room  with a vague limp and a serious attitude

I’ve checked him and his legs look ok

And he’s now sat on the trendy blue sofa looking majorly pissed off

These animals will be the death of me 

Revalidation

 

I’m back to work this week.

I’m working nights over the weekend.

So I still have a few days off until then, but this week my days will be filled with completing my nursing revalidation .

For those that don’t know, nurses in the Uk have to adhere to a strict code of conduct as set out by The Nursing And Midwifery Council NMC. We pay an annual subscription of 120£ in order to work and every three years we have to prove to the council that we are fit to practice by providing evidence that we have updated ourselves professionally over that period. 

This evidence has to be then presented to an objective senior nurse who will sign you off as having reached the required standard to practice.

This week, I am completing my own paperwork. 

It’s a bit of a chore to be honest, and one which is a little more complicated for me as I have had a period when I was effectively retired from nursing.

Anyone can look on the NMC website, and it’s sobering to see where a lot of our annual subscription money is being utilised which are the legal investigations of nurses involved in fitness to practice and in house disciplinary procedures.

In May 106 nurses were investigated and in June the number was 118. 

In the majority some sort of disciplinary action was involved.

Mistakes happen and the NHS and private organisations such as the hospice are much better at recognising    these in house but as in any job, there are bad apples that need to be removed from any barrel and a code of conduct can be an instrumental tool in achieving that.

I don’t really know where I am going with this, I’m just having a mull about things in my head I guess, but I do find it 

interesting that on the same day that the Queen has given the George Cross to the entire NHS the Government is still offering just a one percent pay rise . Something that we may not even receive in the charity sector .

Meetings & Company

 

Yesterday I went to the AGM of the community association which bookended the coffee morning

I knew everyone in the hall, both from the committee members and the coffee drinkers. 

Former flower show matriarch Irene, Mr Poznán looking better than last time I saw him , old Trevor and Barbara Parry among others left as the meeting started and the association members seated themselves  across the hall.

Leader Ian and his soft spoken wife Helen. The affable Chair Nick and his wife the velvet voiced Linda, 

Stalwarts  Di Ellis and David S, the broad smiling Gwawr, Karen Manly with her huge hand knitted poncho, Pippa from the rectory , Ed Lloyd Ellis looking like his dad….the nice as cake Wilson’s …..

We talked a lot about future projects…the future of the hall, a film night sponsored by the choir, the successes of the toddler group and youth club …..the proposed exhibition by villagers of “ what I did during lockdown “ an outside party to celebrate lockdown’s end

It was a positive and constructive meeting.

Being single in your late fifties is made bearable by having a sense of community around you. 

I’m lucky I guess 

Pilgrim Church

 

This is a bit of a community based blog today.

On Friday the 16th  of July  the vicar David Lewis will hold a meeting in the Church grounds to discuss options about the future of the village church of St Michael’s 

Financially the Church is in dire straights, so apart from closure the only way to allow the building to survive as a Church is for it to become a Pilgrim Church .

There needs to be more community input for this to happen, so I am appealing to locals like myself , who perhaps love the building but who don’t attend church , to make themselves known and join in with keeping the building going albeit in a different form.

So, if you would like to be involved please let me know, alternatively you can either come to the meeting which starts at 4 pm or contact the vicar directly ( phone 01745 888122) or email davidlewis@churchinwales.org.uk 

I am more than happy to organise a community group to oversea such a change , but we need people to voice their concerns and wishes for the Church’s future.

*

Moria Rose

My hero

 

A week to go

The garden borders are getting more colourful

Affable Despot Jason messaged me this morning with daughter Liv’s school report. It underlined just how funny, supportive and wise above her years she is. I remember baby sitting her when she was around seven. I told Jason at the time that I thought she was a 31 year old midget hidden in a child’s body. It was nice hearing just how proud he is of her.

I remember telling her and her sister the story of how Winnie once stopped the traffic in Trelawnyd by having the biggest dump of her life right in the centre of the zebra crossing.

We were baking tarts at the time and the kitchen was filled with screams of laughter that almost shook the windows.

It’s nice to be kept up to date with the girls’news.

I return to work in another week’s time and I’ve not had the urge to go to the cinema or catch up with friends. I’ve pottered again, gardening and weeding and cleaning and organising .

It’s humid and sunny 

Albert is sitting on the kitchen wall watching magpies argue in the graveyard.

His tail twitching 

 

Bedding

 After our walk, I slept for three hours in the reading armchair in the kitchen with an unread and opened book on my knee…and was only woken by Dorothy who was tap dancing on the vinyl in an effort to control her bladder.

Albert joined us for a walk and the  Animals sat around my laburnum in the graveyard in a circle while I tended to it and watered it. 

Polish Monika with her little daughter stopped, they were chatting in Polish, Mary rushed over to hug the child, who tumbled backwards giggling. 

The dogs ( with Albert) then piled into Bluebell and we popped up to the bus stop in the village to clear one of the untidy planters which had been left unkempt ( I had to keep the dogs with Albert in the car) 

I planted up cheap bedding plants  and will fill in the gaps with white petunia tomorrow.

I hear the village WI and the Papworth’s will be revamping the raised planters on the green on Saturday.

It would be nice if more interested parties would plant up their parts of the village.

Before, home I collected firewood from my sister and lit the stove when I got home

The dogs are tired and are snoring softly . A so-so adaptation of The Lady Vanishes is on the tv.  

Stir fry eaten with chop sticks for supper

Supper

 Last night I prepared supper for two. 

It was warm enough to sit out and the simple activity of cooking and chatting and drinking a nice rosé couldn’t be bettered. 

Trendy Carol ( dressed in something floaty orange and very summery ) called round to collect Mary as we were eating. Some evenings she just goes for a sociable cuddle.

I’m going to have a lazy day today.

A beach walk, some reading, an old movie ( Build My Gallows High) 

Nothing much

Think Of Me

 

I got a card today from a Charlotte, a charlotte who I don’t remember.

She had been a student nurse and I was her mentor on spinal injuries nearly thirty years ago, 

I feel bad that I don’t remember her name.

I have mentored a large number of nurses over the years.

The card was kind and reflective and timely.

It’s always nice to hear good things about yourself , especially when the praise is carefully thought out and you have been remembered after so long a time has passed.

Thank you Charlotte 

I’m sorry I didn’t  remember your name

I think , this underlines the importance of feedback. All too much, we give negative feedback in this service based world , but do we often give positive. ? I think we all think we do….but do we……? 

It’s lovely, and warm and affirming and I’m grateful for it today

Pass it forward …even if it’s 30 ago….let someone know they made a difference x

Knackered

 I knew England had won the football by the screams echoing around the village 

I understand the tribal attraction to the game but it’s always left me rather cold. 

It’s nice to hear people so happy at the result though.

Everyone needs a boost

I carried on with a late dog walk as the yelling continued

I’ve finished the painting today and despite some wobbly lines, I’m pretty happy with the result .

Not one of the cottage walls in the bedroom is straight, so says the spirit level, so I have something else to blame than my fading eyesight and wobbly hand.

I’m knackered but happy that I finished….well almost finished . I’m waiting for some burnt orange curtains and a matching rug to be delivered and there’s a bit of outstanding gloss work to complete but tomorrow I’m meeting my friend Polly for a walk and later another friend Colin is coming to dinner….so I’ve peaked with the paint brushes.

I’m fucking knackered

It’s Gay Pride Month

This scene from the lovely gay themed film Pride has a resonance with me

It’s not rainbows covered with sparkles 

It’s underplayed and emotionally real 

And speaks a lot for acceptance and friendship 

Happy gay pride month xx

Postscript

I’ve just read the last post and bored myself. 

I omitted my conversation with Animal Helper Pat which was a natural world ‘s masterclass.

She is a mine of information on plants and trees and wildlife and gave me an impromptu lecture of Elm Die Back and the recent visits by two great spotted woodpeckers to her garden bird table.

She looked animated and bright eyed. 

I enjoyed it.

I told her I hated painting .

She said she preferred wall papering 

The ceiling in the bedroom has now been painted a jasmine White and now looks fresh and clean and inviting. I’ll start on the walls tomorrow.

I’m sore, so walked the dogs at five to limber up and then potted up roses, geranium and petunias to excite the patio.I’d bought the geraniums to liven up the planters up near the village bus stop but the Papworths have beaten me to that one. They have also weeded and replanted the pretty small flower bed next to the church which was kind.

Tonight I’ve cut honeysuckle and the iceberg roses from the front garden which both smell wonderful in the kitchen. 

I’m going to chill out later with Dorothy licking my feet as I read Prince Philip’s biography , which is an eye opener.

 

Painting

I’m painting my bedroom……It hasn’t been touched for 15 years

I fucking hate painting…..but it has to be done.

Sailor John and Mandy from next door have had the right idea. They have gone off  with their canoe, 

It’s hot, humid and sunny despite the forecasts.

Every time I spy a local, I’m finding myself making an excuse to go and talk.

Animal Helper Pat has not long stopped.

It’s amazing just how much you can cram into a conversation when you are stopping yourself from doing something you hate.

A Birthday and a Tattoo !!!!!!

 

It’s my sister Ann’s birthday tomorrow .

The family met up today for a long lunch in her garden which was lovely

Both my sisters have a talent for gardening.

We shared our respective news over baby lamb chops

I didn’t tell them about the tattoo.

Oh, I haven’t told you lot either have I ? 

Well I’m having a tattoo….

You can blame Gorgeous Dave if you like, for after a night out with him, during which he shared with me his recent booking for his tattoo, I hatched my plan to have one myself.

And all in a good cause

I will be having a tattoo in a fund raiser for my hospice.

I will publish details of how to sponsor me ( if anyone is interested) at a later date 

But I will leave you with an illustration of what the tattoo will look like

Yes it’s classy and very small…it’s one of the Llandudno goats..an emblem that saved the hospice this year

Yes, it’s of one of the famous Llandudno goats

In The Heights

 

It grew in me, but I wasn’t blown away by it

This just about underlined what I thought about Lin Manual Miranda’s intensely personal production of 

In The Heights. 

Now you could tell from the get go that this sprawling depiction of Miranda’s home “town” of Washington Heights , the Latina quarter of New York, was going to be a nostalgic homage to a diverse community which is longing for home or indeed desperate to escape it but, for me despite the colour, the huge flamboyant set pieces and the rhythms, it was all a bit too much. 

Anthony Ramos

Having said this, the cast was impeccable. Anthony Ramos is an instantly lovable leading man and Melissa  Barrera and Leslie Grace stand out as two twenty something women who are both trying to forge themselves a place in a city who still view latina women as nothing more than waitresses and maids .

 Olga Merediz also shines, reprising her stage role as the quarter’s gentle natured matriarch Abuela , an old lady who has never forgotten the poverty of her homeland of Cuba.

Enjoyable. Energetic and Occasionally stunning, it’s well worth seeing……

But I wasn’t blown away .

Olga Merediz

Chester races were on yesterday, so the city was buzzing with drunken race goers when we came out of the cinema. It felt like a Latina carnival itself. 

It was nice to go for supper late in a restaurant overlooking Bridge Street and watch the world stagger by

Big thank you to the Storyhouse front of house who gave me one of her bespoke masks when I forgot mine 

Wild Flower Meadow

 I’m meeting a friend later for cinema (In The Heights) and supper in Chester.

Today I need to buy my sister a birthday gift, but before that I will just have to share of a blissful half hour I have just had lying in the graveyard.

Village Elder Islwyn’s manicured lawn, the prospective resting place of many of the village people , has burst into colour after the recent rain.

A whole plethora of wild flowers have burst forth through the green turf. Crowfoot and self heal, creeping cinquefoil, daisy, buttercup and red and white clover

It looks quite beautiful close up

I would heartily recommend any Trelawnyd-ite to come to St Michael’s right now

And lie in the grass of the Churchyard

Theatre In The Afternoon

What a grotty day! 

Thank the lord I’d arranged to meet up with Chic Eleanor for an afternoon at the Theatre. This time we went to see the bleak comedy play For The Grace Of You Go I by Alan Harris.

It was a powerful and rather interesting piece which explored how Jim, a man with profound mental health issues, copes with his production line job and life by viewing things through the eyes of a film director, inspired by the weekly film club he attends.

I loved the fact that in an audience of say just 20 people Eleanor had the total lack of self consciousness to be able to give the actors a standing ovation .

“ Darling Please tell the actors they were absolutely wonderful “ she told an usher as we left

The usher promised he would , and beamed from under his mask

Apologies

 

I’m usually very responsible when taking the girls for a walk

Mary is always on a lead, and Dorothy who returns to me as soon as I click my fingers is leashed whenever a dog she doesn’t know looms into view or a cyclist appears on the walkway we venture down daily.

I didn’t see the man happily eating his bag of crisps this morning

It was raining softly and I had my head down

He was sat back, away from the path and was obscured by long wet grass

But Dorothy saw him.

Moments later all I heard was yelling

“ FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” the voice bellowed

Dorothy shot passed me with a cheese and onion Crisp bag in her mouth and moments later a middle aged man in grey jogging bottoms thundered out onto the path

Sans crisps, he stood there, red faced with two perfect and very muddy bulldog paw prints on each thigh of his joggers, then stormed off with my ineffectual and perfuse apologies ringing in his ears.

Pointy Breasts

 Just seen an intelligent 2 handed play at Theatr Clwyd ....A Splinter Of Ice 

With Oliver Ford Davies as Graham Green and Stephen Boxer as Kim Philby discussing their mutual past lives and connections ...lovely to be back in the main auditorium even though there was were only 100 people in the 569 capacity theatre

It was a quality piece 

But I have to admit that when I got home , I tuned into the 1964 Uk Thriller 

The Earth Dies Screaming with robots, and zombies and the apocalypse set in middle England on tv

And I Loved it 

Lots of sexist screaming and massively  pointy breasts

Tomorrow

 

Came across this video at breakfast

It’s living in my head rent free now

I’m pottering today. The weather has changed drastically, and so I’ve kept the outside jobs to a minimum.

I’ve bought paint. A warm navy for the walls of my bedroom and a soft ivory for the vaulted ceiling and walls.

And I’ve started Giles Brandreth’s biography of Prince Philip which is rare for me for I don’t do royal biographers. 

I’m going to the theatre tonight alone to see the cold spy drama A Splinter Of Ice

Thank you Megan