Routine

 I make a point of going out for a walk when I’m on night shifts. 

Even the shortest of ambles breaks the claustrophobic monotony of working all night and sleeping all day.

We walked down the lane at six pm. It was overcast and cooling rapidly and the sky had a slightly yellow tinge to it. 

It suddenly feels like autumn.

And of rain.

Untidy black “V’s” of Canada geese move east in the sky and the ponies, fortified  by being fed and watered by their owner Sue cantered up and down field neighing and whickering excitedly .

Albert remained home, hunched on the lawn, pretending not to be watching out for the house sparrows chattering inside the honeysuckle by the front door.

We amble home. 

Under the new arch over the gate, which still sports the final sweet pea blooms of summer.

The dogs curl up together on the couch to keep warm as I get ready for work. 

Life plods on

The Royal Opera House

 

Although I have seen several productions live at the cinema, I haven’t been physically back to The Royal Opera House since I went with my husband over three years ago now.

I thought it was about time to return.

Last night, on my break, I trolled the internet and found two reasonable tickets for the acclaimed ballet production of Romeo and Juliet , showing in February and bought them quick sticks.

The auditorium of the Opera House is a breathtaking over indulgence in gold and red.

Shaded lights cram the balconies and boxes and when full over 2,200 people share the view the place seems to glow in a golden light…it’s a view I have never tired of over the years.

Chopsticks

 I made Gyoza dumplings to take to work last night

I always eat with chopsticks when appropriate 

They make you eat smaller portions at a time

That’s all my news

Sentimental Value

It’s been a bit of a heavy week all told.

A funeral, a few work issues, a friend’s partner’s suicide, more vet visits

All varying in their direct effect on me , 

I’m not complaining, there’s never one thing

Boffin Cameron has tested positive for covid so can’t dog sit next week….

That’s only a minor brickbat, but it’s my nephew’s wedding 

I will sort something out.

Last night I sat down in front of the tv to watch The Repair Shop

It’s a real indulgence and remains the best emotional romp on tv at the moment.

Now for those that don’t know The Repair Shop is a show that has the demographic of blogging individuals ( genteel folk of a certain age) they are asked to bring in a usually damaged personal item which holds a great deal of sentimentality and importance to them. A group of talented restorers are then challenged to see if they can return the item to its former glory and the results usually get everyone involved sobbing gently into their jumper sleeves.

Marcia at the reveal

Last night we had fifty something Marcia who brought in her broken childhood doll Diana.

Marcia had been placed into care with her brother because her mother , one of the Windrush generation and a single mom could not look after them single handedly. Diana was the only thing Marcia had of her own and the significance of the cheap plastic doll was all to evident when the repaired toy was returned to a quietly dignified and emotional Marcia 

I bawled buckets 

We all have items at home that hold varying degrees of sentimentality and importance to us

What would you say is your most treasured item?

Mine? 

I was thinking about this this morning

My gargoyle , who is presently camouflaged amid the houseplants

Feather Boas, Welsh Terrier Sex and Trefor’s Two Mile Hike

 

It’s been a funny old day all told.

I went to a funeral this afternoon where all the pall bearers ( male and female ) were wearing fluffy pink boas

The coffin was carried out of the church to the graveside to the tune of  Big Spender By Shirley Bassey

It really suited the character of the guy who had died so that was cool .

During the service my colleague , who must have thought I needed a tissue delved into her handbag and offered me a sanitary pad, which flummoxed me just a little.

What would Thora Hird do in such a situation ? I thought quickly

And didn’t burst into my usual go to of schoolboy chuckling

Yes it’s been a funny afternoon all told.

I’ve just been talking to my neighbour old Trefor , who was out for his daily walk.

He’s 97 so “ old” seems somewhat of an understatement , but he’s still going strong and had just walked 2 miles up and around the Gop without stopping. 

As we chatted over the garden gate another villager passed and stopped his car. He has a welsh terrier and after the hellos were done and on the spur of the moment I asked if he would be interested in introducing his young male to Mary next time she was in season . He said he would especially as your average Welsh terrier now costs up to and beyond two grand.

I’m quite giddy at the thought of puppies in the cottage.

Photo Shoot

 

The reporter from The Daily Post was lovely and very balanced and professional . He’s hopefully going to run a story about the Church and Trelawnyd’s general wishes for it’s change of status.

It’s an interesting story, he said after a good hour on the phone.

I promised to take a few photos of the Church for him to use and he sneaked in with a request.

Could I be in the photo too? ….

I went cold.

I hate my photo being taken at the best of times, let alone have it splashed to the great and the good of North Wales but needs must and when I bumped into Meirion out for his daily constitutional I conscripted him as my official photographer 

I was like Edina out of Absolutely Fabulous during the shoot ….his nerves must have been shredded 

Lol

The Day A Crapping Dog Stopped The Traffic

Cro’s recent post Dogs Have No Shame  http://magnonsmeanderings.blogspot.com/2021/10/dogs-have-no-shame.html reminded me of a post I wrote several years ago. 

Incidentally it is Affable Despot Jason’s favourite post from Going Gently

Lazy blogging, but, like Fawlty Towers  it’s worth a repeat

We have only one zebra crossing in the village, and this as you would expect is located in front of the school. Given the amount of speeders on London Road, I always make for the zebra crossing when out with the dogs and will often launch myself ( keeping the dogs safely behind me) onto the first " stripe" in order to bring the speeding cars screeching to a halt, often just inches away from me!( readers of going Gently from years ago..may remember I had an altercation with a man in a pick up van at the very crossing which resulted at me throwing a bag of poo into his open boot!)
Today, I tend to use the crossing more because both Meg and George prefer to amble rather than gallop when out for their walk
This morning I used my tried and tested, " foot on the first stripe" challenge to an overly fast thornhill skip driver, who had to break so hard his mobile phone slithered off his dashboard.
The driver gave me a withering look but waited for several cars to come to a halt from the opposite direction before I marshaled the dogs in order to cross the road.
Now when four cars and one lorry are waiting for you to cross the road, what you don't want is a 26 kilo bulldog to stop dead in the centre of a zebra crossing, but stop dead she did and without a hint of embarrassment , Winifred brought the dog convoy to a scrum, squatted with a loud grunt and started to push out one of the largest and wettest turds in modern day history, right in the centre of a wide white stripe.
The lorry driver rolled his eyes, and I could see a woman in the car behind craning her neck to see what the hold up was.
When bulldogs poo.....they cannot and will not be rushed!
I smiled apologetically at the traffic and tried to pull Winnie onto the pavement, but she wasn't for pulling, so I made a show of retrieving a doggy poo bag from my pocket to show just how responsible I am as a dog owner.
Yes, you've guessed it
I had run out of doggy bags!
Mind you, by the look of Winnie's offering as it slowly and surely arrived, I really was in need of a large black bin bag rather than a dainty pooper scooper bag.
So there I was, standing in the road with three dogs in one hand and a bulldog squeezing out a turd the size of a small child in the other!..... No bags......and a captive audience of increasingly irritated drivers watching every move.
Finally, Winnie finished the caramel coloured " mr whippy" and red faced I had to mouth to the lorry driver a rather lame " sorry no bags" to which he mouthed out a reply something on the lines of " fucking disgusting "
I dragged the dogs to the curb as the lorry and the first car on the opposite side of the road moved forward. The woman driving the car was shaking her head at me as she swerved around the turd, the massive wet turd which was then flattened with a sickening squelch a second later as the car behind hers smacked into it.
Oh the shame

The Girl At The Desk in The Window

 

My darkest time of lockdown was last winter

I was on months of nights and like many of us, was physically and mentally isolated from the real world

All I saw was work, death, colleagues and bed.

As I drove into work, in the dark, I always drove through the slightly less salubrious suburbs of Llandudno.

It was the ordinary people’s Llandudno. Not the small hotels, and genteel Victorian flats of the Promenade and Mostyn Street, but the flats of the working people and the smaller terraced houses of the older locals.

Ordinary land.

It was then I generally spied the girl.

She always sat very upright at a table or desk in the window of her first floor apartment ( I use the word apartment because I’ve already overused the word flat)

The lights were dim in the room but she was always illuminated by a pink desk lamp, either with her head down , presumably writing or reading or looking forward , seemingly ,in thought.

She looked around 35, so was hardly a girl and with her hair pulled back into a ponytail , she always looked plain, and studious and thoughtful.

I never saw anyone else in the flat

Every night I came into work, she was there , and every night I came into work I looked for her.

She was a constant in a dark and depressing lockdown winter.

Reading or working or thinking in her window, next to the pink light.

I contemplated waving as I passed, but that would have been strange as I’m sure she never noticed the blue Aquila with the empty bike rack on the back, passing her window at 7.20 pm every night.

But she intrigued me, as things do to people who have a small ordered life with very  little interest or drama in it.

Last night I came into work and I saw her again. 

It was dark and she was at her desk again. Upright and still serious and

I was reminded of those dark lockdown nights of last year and breaking the spell I waved my hand and smiled as I passed

But she didn’t look out of the window 

……………………………………………………………….

It’s soup time. 

Overnight on Friday I left butternut squash and sweet potatoes in the slow cooker with garlic and chilli

And Saturday morning , as I opened the door, the cottage was filled with the spiced scent of the most delicious soup.

Saturday night I’ve left mushrooms cook down with ginger, garlic and potato and that will be ready for my Sunday morning breakfast.

The weather is atrocious and I’m glad I have only two weeks night shifts before returning to days.

And the land of the living

The Stranger

 

My gargoyle had a fall in the garden yesterday

He was decapitated 

I managed to reattach his head with the help of some extra strong glue and he lay forlorn  in the supportive  

recesses  of Dorothy’s favourite blanket on the sideboard all day.

Irritated by his presence Dorothy has checked on the “ stranger” every half hour with an angry snort each time she realised that he was still there

A Kiss

 I will leave you today with these rather sweet videos. The cute barber asked his customers to turn their heads to presumably sniff his aftershave . As they turn he kisses each one and the reaction from them

Is priceless and rather charming 

Chumaki

 

I’m back on nights tonight.

And so I wanted to plan something interesting to do today.

Weigh in , takes 2 minutes ( I’ve lost over 32 lbs!!!!!)

Pony sniffing only lasts for ten minutes or so.

Dog walking another hour.

And I’ve finished a couple of chapters of Miriam Margolyes’ autobiography This Much Is True lying in bed with a bulldog chipping away at my last remaining kneecap psoriasis scab 

I contemplated watching the new James Bond but the tickets are selling so fast I didn’t fancy dealing with a full cinema.

And so I decided to tick another small wish off my bucket list

I made sushi from scratch.

I chose to make two types of  Chumaki sushi rolls

Ones filled with salmon, wasabi and garlic and the others filled with strips of avocado dipped in lemon, cream cheese and onion.

Preparing the ingredients was therapy in itself.

Cutting the  avocado and salmon into strips , washing the rice free of excess starch it all slows you down quite nicely

And the results, rather surprisingly were rather pleasing 

The Ponies

At least once a day I go and visit the ponies

I go nose to nose with each one in turn, and blow gently.

They always respond the same way

They inhale and watch with calm brown eyes.

 

Arrrrhhhhhhhhh

I lost my temper with someone tonight

And I went up like a fucking firecracker 

It was the first time I had done so for over 3 years

I hate losing my temper but all I can say that it was fucking justified .

I will say no more

Apart I was ugly 

Arrrhhhhhhhhhhhh

A Palm House Concert

It was a bit of a rush but I got to Liverpool, met my friend Colin and got to the Palm House in Sefton Park for 7.27pm …minutes before the concert started.

We had bought tickets to a rather attractive string quartet playing a selection of film scores by candlelight amid the wonderful backdrop of the Victorian hot house and it was all rather civilised and rather sweet

Bravely the quartet picked some BIG numbers by John Williams , who is known more for his full orchestra set pieces with lots of horn ( so to speak) but they tried their best with the likes of Jurassic Park and Star Wars before giving a lovely rendition from Schindler’s List .

Their pieces by the composer Danny Elfman were much more lyrical and interesting and seemed more suited to the backdrop of palm trees, a thousand candles ( well battery operated ones) and dozens of banana fronds smelling a little like pee

 

The Walking Dead Episode 6

 

I’ve been loyal to The Walking Dead for over ten years now, and today , I must admit, I am so glad I have been . 

Under various showrunners the series , has, at times, been variable to say the least , but under the assured piloting of Angela Kang , the last season has returned to its horror roots and has provided several stand alone set pieces full of suspense and nail biting moments.

Episode 6 was such a set piece where the deaf character Connie ( the deaf actress Lauren Ridloff) found herself trapped in a gothic mansion with Virgil and a group cannibalistic humans 

It was a truly terrifying hour that left me somewhat exhausted by the time they were saved by an all female group from Alexandria 

The series, by the look of things is going out with a bang 

The power was out in the village just after 6 am so I've had to feel my way to work....

Ponies

The weather has turned again.

It’s colder and damp and everything looks a wet brown/green

The ponies are back though, 

Cheerfully clearing the field with heavy breaths.

I’m meeting a friend for brunch

More healthy today. I’ve got to lose another 8 lbs before my nephew’s wedding 

A few hours later and everything has changed. Sunny spells and warmth in the sun

And a Prom walk……

Enlarge this photo and trelawnyd’s Gop hill is the second hill on the left in the far distance 

Fat Bastard Breakfast

 I woke early and took the dogs out for a long walk.

Then Mary and I went out for breakfast. 

I wanted to read a paper in peace, so unfortunately the over excitable Dorothy had to stay home.

I bought the paper ( the first time in three years!) and we sat outside at y shed ( The Shed) where I thought fuck it and ordered a full English, WITH fried bread AND toast washed down by two lovely illy Americanos.

And I read the paper like a tourist.

It felt as though I was abroad, sat at the Santa Maria in Sitges 

Quite lovely

As we walked back I listened to a radio 4 podcast of Nurenberg Remembered on my phone. A detailed and incredibly moving documentary by William Shawcross who is the son of the leading Nurenberg prosecutor Sir Hartley Shawcross , this programme memorialised the 75 year old anniversary of the trails.

In it, Shawcross reviews the ten month military tribunal through the eyes of the children of the protagonists and despite the vastness of the subject matter I was incredibly moved by the stories that were unearthed.

Radio 4 gets slated occasionally for its news coverage and the like, but in this case, a quality documentary that provokes thought and emotion, the radio station excels like no other.

Sir Hartley Shawcross

This afternoon my twin sister came up to sort the garden out

As she did the heavy work, I titivated the patio and planted out baby cyclamen  on the kitchen wall

The result looks pleasing

Tonight after bath time 

Hound Of The Baskervilles

The comedy production of Hound Of The Baskervilles proved to be gently amusing rather than belly laugh   Funny. But it passed an hour and a half well enough. 

With Just three actors playing every character the pace of the piece was at the gallop so to speak and although not anything more than occasionally silly , it was diverting enough and reminded me of the set pieces performed by Laurel & Hardy

The audience went a bit hysterical about it..in a similar way the London audience did when I saw Come from away in July …..

Jake Feretti and Serena Maneghi 

Niall Ransom as Dr Watson

Fuel to Relax

 

I was at work yesterday with the nagging thought I’d only got two black dashes on my petrol gauge .

The frigging world had gone nuts here and several local petrol stations had already closed by mid afternoon with others getting over run by panic buyers, so with me already over my hours I’ve taken today off, just in case I couldn’t find the petrol to commute back to work early this morning.

In the end the village garage, who had prudently rationed petrol to 20£ a car was still open and fairly quiet so I’ve got enough to last me.

I’m glad I didn’t go into work today anyway.

I want to be quiet. I don’t feel very therapeutic. 

I’ve washed the cottage windows until they sparkled ( operation dog snot removal) and watched as some classic cars on their Pilgrim run got gridlocked down the lane for a while.

Mrs Trellis wanted to talk about the Church meeting but I didn’t feel up to her chatter levels so hid under the honeysuckle until she passed 

I’ve  messaged “chatted” on line with my Wales/ Korean group and have drank coffee sweetened with algave nectar 

Sat in the reading chair in the kitchen as the clock ticks 

I will take the girls down to the beach later and I’ve booked myself a ticket at Theatre Clwyd tonight. 

A comedy version of  Hound of the Baskervilles 

A Warning

 This lino cut print was left with the neighbours today .

I don’t remember buying it 

The invoice was dated a couple of weeks ago. 

At 23.43 hours after a night out and boozy dinner with a friend, did the order get registered 

Drunk internet buying……

Thank goodness I fucking like it