Going Gently

A Pretty Shitty Love

I am glad and thankful that I have no hang ups about going to the theatre on my own.

Tonight, I grabbed a cheap 10£ ticket for Theatre Clwyd ‘s production of A Pretty Shitty Love by Katherine Chandler and again I was stunned by an innovative, provocative and intensely moving piece of Theatre.

A two handed piece set in working South Wales we are introduced to a cheerful but damaged Hayley ( Danielle Bird) abandoned by an alcoholic father as a child and desperate for love. The object of her affection is the taciturn and damaged soul Carl ( Daniel Hawksworth) the product of a drug induced death mother as a teen. The couple’s tragic love affair is cleverly portrayed in and around a Perspex set full of photos and words from Hayley’s prison letters to Carl and although the physical violence of the abuse between perpetrator and victim is only alluded to the true horror of the violence is underlined by one, clever but truly horrid scene when Hayley s left for dead and buried on a Sandy beach.

Domestic Violence has been depicted many times in stage and screen as we all know but this production, which depicts a true story, brings a new terrible light to an age old abuse problem.

No News

Ive nothing to say this morning.

Off to the theatre later

Evening Stroll

Walk a few steps past the ponies and this is my view of the valley to the South West.

I forget sometimes just how beautiful it can be.

The dogs, Albert and I walked to look at the view this evening.

A peaceful walk.

Roger arrives next week so things will be fraught for a while .

Puppies can be exhausting if you let them be .

I know, I’ve had enough of them

I’ve painted the upstairs doors a gloss white today,

Another necessary job to do before a puppy arrives.

Wipe clean surfaces are the order of the day.

I’ve sorted out my sister’s birthday trip on the 27th. I’ve rebooked trains for the day before the strike and booked us another hotel room for the night. Not the boutique Z Hotel in Covent Garden , that was full, but a travel lodge on Drury Lane.

I hear there are more rail strikes for the weekend of the 30th

Thank fuck I’m working that weekend.

Crossing the Bar

I had bought my friend Ruth a ticket to her favourite chorale group The Spooky Men for her birthday . With her all communed up in Scotland I was in two minds driving a hour West to see them last night, but having managed to get a work friend Steve to take the spare ticket I went.

It was a great concert, set in the historic Capel Jerusalem in Bethesda.

Funny, innovative, odd and at times incredibly moving , The Spooky Men , perform their own songs about such varied subjects of sad audience members, eyebrows, Men’s Groups and politics ( Vote The Bastards Out being a highlight)

But they peppered the humour with some truly beautiful singing , with a couple of Ukrainian folk songs and the sublime Crossing The Bar being true standouts.

I could hear several of our choir members singing in the audience as like me, they went to support Conductor Jamie ( sans his RAF moustache ) who is a guest choir member on The Spooky men’s Uk tour.

Jamie is on the far left

Ps . Remember that I’m taking Janet my sister to London for her birthday treat?

Well the RMT has decided to strike that day !

Heyho

1970s Holidays

I never went abroad as a child with the exception of my near fatal visit to Lloret de mar with my sister, Mother and Aunt Greta when I was a ten year old.

My memories, apart from the drowning centre mainly around large ants, the smell of leather goods in the thousands of shops my mother dragged us into and fields of hotel filled flooring.

The rest of the very few family holidays we had were in a beige caravan in Scotland, complete with orange melamine cups, midges, and family arguments.

Holidays were never happy affairs when we were children.

A thing that changed considerably when, as older teenagers, we were invited away with my elder sister and her family to Spain, where we sat at restaurant tables, were allowed to drink and were treated as adults for the first time in our lives.

My parents were not bad people, they were just a little sad and unable parent very well, but that did not mean that they did not want to, for I remember after my father had uncharacteristically made my sister and I laugh as we sat in the back of the car and only after he had got out to do something, my mother made a pointed comment that he wasn’t all bad.

Another dampener in another rain covered lay-by near Drumnadrochit.

Next week,(easyJet permitting) my family will be meeting up in Sitges at The Santa Maria.

I’m only popping over for three days but it will be enough to remind me of those first teenage holidays where we’re had fun for the first time and learned how to be adults

Life Finds A Way

I was busy yesterday, as I was the two days before

Four loads of washing, cutting the lawn, watering 30 planters,housework, painting

I overdid it

My post covid lethargy is back with a vengeance today and I have slept most of the morning.

I can’t quite get going, a feeling not helped by the weather which is humid and overcast .

It has rained very gently off and on all day, but the rain has been so gentle, the droplets have more or less evaporated before the ground got wet.

The buddliea in the garden has suddenly blossomed in the heat but there are no butterflies to be seen on them at present. I can’t wait for them to return

As I took the dogs out I noticed this perfect little antirrhinum clinging onto the cottage garden wall.

Life always finds a way

My sisters and extended family have now booked to meet at La Santa Maria Hotel in Sitges next month. I was in two minds to join them , but I have booked my flights nevertheless

Why the fuck not? Let’s take a chance .

The humid conditions here today coupled with my thoughts of the shabby chic Santa Maria transported me to those cheapo holidays in the sun of yesteryear.

1972 Lloret de mar.

Never supervised once in the pool by my mother

I nearly drowned in the deep end after slipping through my rubber ring

Today it’s called neglect

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.