Nipples on the concrete

 

It’s still and very hot indeed.

The ponies in the field are standing quietly in the shade of the hawthorn hedges with back legs bent and Dorothy is lying nipples to concrete in order to cool down after a short walk. 

The cottage is peaceful as my neighbours in the new build have put Charlie inside out of the sun, where he can bark his voice box out of his head without bothering anyone.

I’m off out shortly to buy white gloss paint. 

I’ve been meaning to paint my bathroom door since CBM was here. 

Not only did I buy white paint but I saw some planters going cheap at Sainsbury’s so brought them home and filled them with cheerful pink geraniums 

I’m not booked to work until the weekend and have emailed the dog breeder about picking Roger Up

It sounds that a majority of the village has covid

Btw my booked train home last night ( the last one from London ) was cancelled, thank goodness I got an earlier train, the guard on which let slip that the recent excuses of shortage of personnel wasn't quite the truth? 

Hummmmm

Old Friends

 

Walking into town from Bloomsbury , not far from Russell Square I literally bumped into an old friend from North Wales. I had forgotten he was a solicitor in London now as we’d sort of lost touch but it was lovely to see him.

We arranged to meet last night and as it was so warm I decided to blow off My Fair Lady for some proper conversation, A very cold Italian beer and a cheap pizza. 

Soho was heaving, and felt oppressively busy what with the trans rights supporters demonstration swelling the street, so we walked down to the south Bank where the air was fresher and the streets less noisy.

This morning I packed up a brunch from the hotel dining room and went out with coffee and a book to St James’ Park .

It’s already hot and I’m mindful that Avani West Coast trains have already cancelled several trains north this morning so I will plan to return a bit earlier , to make sure I get home

I’ve seen some of the visitor posts  of comic con at Olympia on Facebook , it looks fun

I’ve promised Leo we will go next year if everything works out fine

London

 It’s hot 

Sushi, then Bloomsbury for cinema ( an odd bromance film Brian and Charles ) then a walk to St. dunstan’s Church (a garden in a former bombed out church in the financial district ) 

The lovely ladies at my hotel couldn’t refund me Leo’s hotel room but did give me 2 complementary drinks and a free breakfast which was sweet.

Soho is buzzing…..

Strange as it would seem Ive just bumped into an old friend and we are just going out for a drink shortly

Hey ho

 I’m allowing myself a slightly ironic smile this morning

The direct 8am train Prestatyn to Euston has just been cancelled

A Sleeping Dog

Then I look at the face of a sleeping dog

And all feels a bit better with the world. 

Dogs sleep when their pack slows down and they feel safe

And I’m watching over my sleeping dogs I realise

What a great job to have

Best Laid Plans II

 My nephew Leo is now unable to meet me for comic con at the weekend , which is a shame as I was so looking forward in catching up with him again.

The mantra of the past month must be best laid plans should it not.? 

Comic Con or not I still now have a spare ticket to the theatre and another empty hotel room for Saturday night which is a shame as so far I’ve not been able to conscript any fill ins.

And even my two new Walking Dead T shirts were delivered again today. 

No trouble 

I’m not going to be downhearted, London is always fun to visit on your own and according to my friend John Vanessa Redgrave completely steals the show in My Fair Lady.

Anyhow I made meatloaf in the air fryer for supper today and spiced up the recipe with Korean hot sauce. 

It’s a lovely evening with a blue sky fringed with clouds and Merv Price’s racing pigeons are roaring above and around the Church like giant shoals of fish. 

And so I’m eating outside, my eyes closed in the sun,  listening to the WOOSH of feathered wings as they circle a dozen or more times before settling

I will leave you with this tiktok video . It’s a cross between a social experiment and some visual silliness where an attractive man pretends to need a helping hand in order to cross a busy street.

I found this excerpt rather uplifting and it sort of reminded me a little of when Leo was a small boy…when we were in the centre of London for the very first time, he would nervously take my hand with his before crossing the road.

Early Dinner Out

 Caught up with an old friend over from Australia.

Lovely to have grown up conversations with her kids over a meal and a walk with the dogs up the Gop

Not a late night , bloody hell , I’ve had hardly any sleep today so 

I look rough as a bears’ arse 

But a nice afternoon, easy, unhurried and perfectly normal 

Lies

 

Brought down by a gay grope

Boris will soon have to go, even non stick Johnson can survive the latest bout of lies and the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid .

It’s a sad state of affairs indeed and has been for a considerable time.

I’m just waiting for that slimy little weasel Michael Gove to come crawling out of the gutter with platitudes aplenty as the rats are swimming hard from the sinking Tory ship

I despise them all 

Scratching an Itch

I had haggis for yesterday’s tea. 

Haggis and fried eggs

Bloody lovely. 

Sainsbury’s had haggis on special offer 

Like you do.

I have lots to say today but can’t quite express myself coherently 

Do you ever get like this?

My head is filled with thoughts of travel, and change and movement and I feel unsettled 

But before anyone commiserates, I don’t feel bad , just a bit restless.

That feeling you used to get the night before school. Or the day before an interview , or a holiday .

Waiting for something to happen

Later this week I’m off to comic com with Leo. It’s a weekend which will be filled with extremes , his superhero's and my My Fair Lady . 

This will scratch some of the itch, I suspect 

I’ve ordered my walking Dead t shirt for the day, knowing I can’t overshadow his superhero outfit.

We’ve organised for sushi too in between geeks and has-beens.

I’ve been talking about going to Berlin with a friend and am suddenly sick of the fantasy of the proposal 

Time for action dearhearts 

It’s now a time for action with many things 

Buggery Bollocks

 I’m writing this at work.

No I wasn’t expecting to work last tonight either! 

I arranged to meet up with a friend and make supper, so as the fish pie was browning nicely in the oven and a nice white was chilling in the fridge I was surprised by a phone call from work .

I failed to notice it was at 7.30 pm, the start time for night duty .

A month ago I have volunteered to cover a night duty without a second R./N on duty

I’d totally forgotten about it

Supper wasn’t scheduled until 8 pm so I did the dash of shame , dropped off the wine and dinner at my guest’s house with profuse apologies before driving to work a good hour and a half late.

Bollocks, bugger bollocks 

Any dinner party disasters out there? 

Sausages of all kinds

 As she grew older, my mother developed a rather unhealthy obsession with her dog, Hamish’ s bowel habits. When, after I had travelled 2 hours from Sheffield to see her in North Wales, one of the first subjects she always crossed was the consistency of his stools. 

This was often discussed before I had managed to take my coat off.

Now most dogs ( and I’m especially referring to welsh terriers here) have the grace to look embarrassed when going to the loo in public. Mary will back into some bush off the beaten track and will complete her toilet needs with the decorum of a debutante. 

Unfortunately, bulldogs show no such reserve and will take a dump, generally rather gleefully, in full view of the  Dagenham Girl Pipers if they got the chance. 

It’s almost a badge of pride if one can pass something the size of a large haggis in front of as many passers by as possible.

Like my mother I have noticed this glitch in their usually bouncy and diva- ish personalities, but only now am sharing it with you all.

This morning on the Dyserth walkway, Dorothy knocked one, the size of an average anaconda, out in front of a large group of middle aged lady walkers, much to the disgust of one who loudly complained it all as being “ Revolting “ 

True the walkers had to form themselves into a fork of two branches in order to negotiate the massive turd as I was looking for a suitable receptacle in which to envelope it in and I thought, at the time that Dorothy did try to make the best of things by grinning widely at the walkers as they tiptoed past.

I must be feeling benign this morning as I didn’t rise to the revolting remark .

That’s not like me.

Anyhow it’s been a nice morning all told. 

Walk, shop and brunch.

I bought sunflowers, bespoke spiced sausages, a reduced priced haggis and some mozzarella cheese 

And cooked sausage with egg for brunch made special with dusting of mozzarella and Korean hot sauce

I finished that with my daily bucket of coffee.

Bliss…..

I took my time over brunch and read as I was eating, only being disturbed by commotion in the lane when forty or so vintage tractors, out for a jaunt passed cottage with a roar. 

We went out to wave as they got a little gridlocked by the church 

The chilli sauce soon had its effects and I retired to my bathroom for a sit down and a read.

As usual Dorothy followed me and sat watching carefully from the doorway .

A “ Thats my boy “ look on her fat face.

Missing The Raindrops

 The field isn’t mine anymore, but I’m still glad to see that the  ponies returned yesterday .

There was a look of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse about them as they are all wearing their fly masks, not that they seem unduly bothered by them .

I drove to Llandudno and bought a gift for my sister’s birthday at Mostyn Gallery 

I’m going around to see her for supper later.

I enjoyed the folk concert last night and my companion. jason is an interesting character and always good company to be around. 

He has an interesting philosophy in life which predominantly centres around the abject refusal to get stressed by anything 

“ What’s the point ? “ he says simply 

And strange as it may seem he seems to live successfully by this maxim.

It’s an enviable quality 

Folk At The Hall

Chic Eleanor was double booked tonight and her daughter’s birthday celebration of course  took priority over the return of Folk At The Hall so affable despot Jason gamely jumped into her Gucci pumps at the last minute. 

We had a lovely time, a right beer filled, folk clapping lovely time.
 

Caught up with Hattie , on her first night out since Freyr was born 

Lively , boisterous and great fun .

Lovely to see boffin Cameron too, he’s dancing on the right 

Dominion

 

I’m nothing but loyal to a franchise 

But I wish I hadn’t really bothered with Jurassic World Dominion 

Too many dinosaurs, too much plot, too many characters 

That sums it up.

I liked Sam Neill and Laura Dern revisiting their old roles though.

Out to the village concert tonight

Food

 

Around 5 am I tend to eat my “ supper” 

Tonight is chicken and olive salad 

I’m still trying to keep into healthy holiday mode.

Above is the obligatory photograph

One of my favourite Facebook pages is the daily publication from an old acquaintance in Pittsburgh who posts exactly what he has for breakfast almost every day for years now.

I find it a fascinating read especially as he is of Polish decent. So every day, there’s photographs of potato bread with plum butter, kanapka open sandwiches with cheese  and kielbasa with scrambled eggs.

Memories of breakfasts on his small blue collar apartment balcony in the rough part of town circa 1993

I love Rachel’s blog when she almost absent mindedly recalls that she had a sardine and bread and butter for her tea. It conjures up supper time in the 1950s with lashings of hot tea from a green teapot and tea leaves in the bottom of the cup.

I’m making Turkey meatballs in the airfryer tonight

With a light sauce and sticky sushi rice

Crackerjack

 It’s Wednesday already…..bloody hell.

It’s dawn and the seagulls are already screaming over west shore,

We’ve seen a couple of foxes playing in the car park on CCTV.

It started off busy but now remains peaceful.

I’ve read and made notes from my counselling reading list since 4 am

I am wearing a extra small pair of reading glasses which were bought by mistake.

According to my colleague I look like Peter Glaze  from the 1960s children’s programme Crackerjack

Him or a school yard pervert she noted wryly .

I’ve joined a gay reading group based in Chester and have just heard details of my first group meeting.

Apparently a selection biscuits will be provided.

No book title as yet

Simplicity

 

Professionally I seem to be liaising more and more with companies that provide cheap, simple cremations. 

Slick, and for the most part professional, they certainly seem to have taken advantage of a gap in the market where minor celebrities like Debbie McGee reinforce that you can have a funeral for the cost e of a cup of coffee a week whilst earning a voucher for Marks and Spencer’s all at the same time.

In this time of austerity, spending thousands on a funeral is no longer a luxury many can now afford but I have concerns that these “ faceless” companies could be having a detrimental effect of how we grieve rather who we grieve for.

Getting a funeral right, is a difficult objective for any family as grief can often be fickle, laced with anger and intensely personal in nature. 

The more modern trend for a well chosen eulogies, music , green burials, are complications from the formal “norms ” but at least personal touches often give loved ones the time and space to grieve. 

Funerals are only really important to the living.

Cheap cremations will work for some and not others.

I’m just concerned that financial prudence is taking over from the healthy need to be able to say a proper goodbye to a loved one 

Mother’s Bladder

 There is nothing more entertaining than a public row between partners

I’ve just been following a middle aged couple around Sainsbury’s and was privy to the best line of the morning when she turned to him and hissed loudly

“ Graham If you mention your mother’s cancerous bladder one more time I swear I will bloody swing for you” 

That one sentence paints a myriad of storylines just there.

I feel a bit more energised today, still snotty and coughing but I’m covid negative for a second day and have already taken a neighbour for a blood test, walked the dogs and done the shopping. 

I’m back working tonight but will make sure I have a good sleep this afternoon.

My tickets to the folk festival starting on Friday in the village came today. Chic Eleanor is accompanying me

Mini film

I caught this video earlier

And I thought it was an unexpectedly powerful piece of film making

Albeit in tictok form

 

Sunday 5 am

 I know it’s very early. 

Somewhere just past 5 am

I’m way past sleep and am breathless 

Since covid I’ve not been able to breathe through my nose much.

I get up and make coffee

The pleasure of the smell of percolating coffee still gone. 

And I sit in the living room in silence with only the sound of the wind for company. 

And look around at things 

The knot of houseplants in the window. 

A sketch of an Italian Villa on the wall. 

Coats hanging by the stairs.

Thumb sticks in the umbrella stand.

Stuff.

Barefoot I walk out into the garden, my head bowing under the fragrant free honeysuckle

The wind is loud but I can still hear the bickering crows around the pond to the East

The Wisteria around the gate arch is doing well but won’t bloom for a couple more years yet.

I wonder what those few years will bring

It’s been a long lonely week 

Albert appears 

Looking surprised as always. 

He’s annoyed by something and swishes his tale

I drink my tasteless coffee

And shiver.

Sunday morning.

And no plan for the day.

As yet

Kitchen table, stronger coffee.

The covid swab today is negative

Fucking finally…….