Mindful

 I was never one for houseplants.

True, I have an aspidistra who is at least 40 years old and a flowering cactus almost that age , but these two are surviving more from luck than from design. 

Since lockdown I have collected houseplants and the best bit of advice I have had looking after them came from the postman, who one day complemented me on my collection.

When there’s a warmish rainstorm , put all of your plants outside for a long shower

It’s labour intensive , but it doesn’t half clean and nurture them

So that’s what I have done this morning. Set the plants in the rain and then returned them one by one when they were wet and really green again.

I know repetitive and somehow quite mindful.

This respective, mindless behaviour is a useful mechanism to employ when stress is in your life. I’ve always used it at work when things got too much to handle. I’ve gone to the drugs room to clean the drugs trays or move the laundry around or clean the dressing trolleys.

Washing dishes is a mindful chore too

It’s done with the above view of plants and flying gull and of pretty crockery and moving the plates and the knives from hot water to cold rinse let’s your mind unwind and slow down. 

My grandmother hated ironing clothes, she said that it “ slowed down the brain” 

Now it’s therapy

The Kindness Of Strangers

 

The film lecture and discussion was animated and informative. It was also fun and three hours flew by like a swift in summer. I was put into three break out groups , the last of which was dominated by a very chirpy lesbian from London who stopped us in our tracks by inviting us all to an on line meeting directly after the  class was over. Her reasoning was to celebrate the birthday of one of our “classmates” a chap called Paul whose 68th birthday it was today.

He’s on his own and if you you are free for a bit , grab what drink is in your fridge and pop along she yelled excitedly 

And that’s exactly what 35 of us did, much to Paul’s tearful surprise.

Various hastily opened bottles of wine, gins, a few coffees, and one very indulgent bottle of bubbly from a rather exuberant chap from Buxton were decanted and I found a tin of espresso martini in the fridge which I emptied into one of my antique champagne glasses before we logged in to meet again. 

Even the lecturer joined in and it was the silliest and sweetest thing I have done in a long time.

At one point Paul, ( who was a retired charity worker from Wimbledon ) made an impromptu speech sharing how depressed he had become over the winter and how cinema in particular had kept him going in the bleakest of moments and he asked us to raise our glasses when he quoted Jean luc Goddard and said“ Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world” 

And from all over the UK came the chink of glasses.

Film Nite

 This morning I took the first collection of money collected from the Memorial Windows to the clerk of the TCA at the Saturday coffee morning . 

As usual all the tables were full, and I could see as well as cake , there were homemade sausage rolls on the menu. 

Mrs Trellis put one in her handbag.

I said hello to a few people and collected another two sponsorships before coming home, I have an on line film course starting at 1pm.

The next event for the TCA Is a film night, which was the brainwave of Bridget who has secured a projector and a screen. Unfortunately I’m working night shift on the 29th but I will try and change it. 

(

It’s still cool but there is a bright blue sky over the village.

One of the ponies neighed at me when I got home .

Cuddle Time

Most evenings the trendy blue sofa is full of dogs, cat and me. 

It’s the nice part of animal ownership , where the pack quietly comes together for a bonding sleep, usually at the very end of the day when bellies are full and everyone is in need of a physical and psychological cuddle. 

Dogs remember their litter feelings , as much as we miss being cuddled as children 

Last night , I spent the evening FaceTiming friends as the pack dozed. 

I thank covid for this “new” phenomenon

Chatting when you can see the person you are talking to 

Is a great bonus when you live alone 

They are in the room with you! 

Always! 

On Saturday I’m taking part in an interactive zoom discussion / lecture on gay cinema. We had to share what films we would like to discuss and my suggestion of The Object of my affection has been accepted.

I’ve always loved the novel as well as the movie and how they views love 

This quote from the novel, I’ve always remembered and been touched by

"Often, what's most attractive about a person is that part they're trying hardest to conceal, that part they think is least likable. You find out about it and it becomes a secret bond between you, something you never talk about but hold close to your heart and are continually touched by"

My trip to Barcelona Is booked and sorted. I’m going with an old girlfriend which I know will be easy and fun and I hope I can book a cooking lesson on a Spanish cooking day I found through another friend. 

Like the dog’s cuddles, the break will be total therapy and will be totally embraced. 

I FaceTimed my friend and we giggled like schoolgirls about the holiday today.

It’s doing me good ….already

 

 

Pride and Prejudice

 

Pride and Prejudice *sort Of  was a bit of a romp last night.

A comedy version of Austin’s novel played from the perspective of five maids who Reinact the the lives of the Bennett family and their romantic connections with Wickham, Bingley and Darcy.

It’s clever and incredibly well acted and has comic timing to die for as the five leads play four of the Bennett sisters, and all the other main characters sans Mr Bennett who we only “see” silently sitting behind his newspaper.

The maid thing, is a loose connection as the novel is deftly covered from start to finish without much input from them. Mrs Bennett (Dannie Harris) is now detected as a potty mouthed, drunk with an east end accent where as Lizzie( Emmy Stonelake) is a buxom Welsh Nessa with hefty calves and who bursts into Carly Simons’ You’re so Vain when she meets Darcy for the first time.

So you get the idea

It’s all very silly, and well done.

But as the audience clapped away at the cast belting out  Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero, I couldn’t help thinking it was the froth that many audiences want right at this moment and although I laughed , I’d seen enough by the end of the first half.

So what today?

A bit of shopping, booking flights to Barcelona too…..it’s cold so I’m making soup  too.

Hey ho

Family

I love this photo of my elder sister and her husband 

I took it today to send to their granddaughter after lunch was done 

It’s been a nice day 

Pounds and Ounces

 Weigh in at fat club yesterday

Another loss….I’ve now got rid of almost one stone ( 13.2 lbs)

And yes I am feeling the benefit of it already.

My work pants are loose and almost fell down as I was helping a lady onto a commode on nights 

So what am I doing today ? I’m going out for lunch with my family ! Go figure diet.

I will be good the rest of the day, I will fast a bit and I’m meeting Gorgeous  Dave  later for a theatre trip ( ooooohhh how pretentious !) 

It’s cold today and blustery. 

And Ive made the effort for my family and have trimmed my beard and found a jumper without a hole in it to wear. Lunch out is a new tradition we have started recently. It feels all rather civilised.

Probably it’s just the fact that we don’t like late nights much anymore, even Chic Eleanor after she booked the silent disco for us in St Asaph Cathedral left the caveat “ I ve booked us the early session 😂6.30 to 9.40 oldies…bed by 10pm !”

Nothing else to report. 

The flowering current in the garden is in blossom and has lifted the garden’s spirits into spring.

Sit Down Madam

 

As people know I’m a big Theatre fan. I’m also very clear in my mind how people should act and behave in the theatre. ie there should be a mutual respect for their fellow audience and for the performers on stage.

At the end of lockdown I remember posting about being in the audience of the musical Far From Away where I experienced , what I can only describe as a small touch of mass hysteria .where the house erupted with a spontaneous cheer and standing applause after the very first song.  

There was a hunger for that large scale experience 

A hunger and a need for it.

Recently we are hearing of episodes of bad behaviour in musical theatre productions where mainly drunken women in the audience have stopped the performances by singing along with the leads.

Now, whilst I deplore behaviour like this ( and believe me I’m not shy at saying so) I do have a degree of sympathy for the women involved who , like us all have returned to live theatre in order to have a good joint experience. 

Often the productions are led by popular songs, and at the finale they actively encourage the audience for a joined singalong of best bits so to speak .

Mamma Mia started this trick to leave people happy but the trick has rebounded somewhat, fuelled by alcohol, high ticket prices ( I’ve paid for this ticket and I’m going to have a fucking good time) and a post covid hysteria , the sort I mentioned at the start of the post.

Theatres are to blame a bit too…..to recoup their covid costs many bigger theatres are putting on crowd pleasers which will prey on those wanting a toe tapping , dancing in the aisles evening of fun .

In The Bodyguard a working bar appears on set and is used in the interval to serve the punters in the stalls.

The worst audiences I have experienced in the theatre and cinema have been in,  I’m afraid, the United States, but their British counterparts are catching up, which is a sad fact.

I’m happy to being a bit of a snob where join in pantomime productions are concerned. These are morphing into comedy gigs and concerts which are interactive to an extent and for many are becoming the norm……not in my house they’re not! 

I’m going to see two productions this week. Too Much World At Once at Theatre Clwyd and the Lawrence Olivier Award winning Pride and Prejudice* sort of  at the Storyhouse  and I shall sit there sans toffees and mobile phone and I will listen quietly and with respect.

Sams

 I last volunteered for Samaritans nearly seven years ago.

Despite excellent supervision and training the calls eventually took their toil and I felt I lost my empathy with some callers which, as anyone in the trade would tell you, is the first sign of burnout.

I resigned and was happy to go

Another sign of burnout.

In my years working for the charity, one call will always stand out with me.

It kind of haunts me, even to this day and can still move me to tears if I think about it carefully enough.

It was from a young teacher, I will call David.

David had had a difficult year. His work had been stressful and many of his class had not achieved the grades that he and they had wanted. He felt a failure, isolated and miserable. 

He also, more importantly, felt responsible .

He was sat in his car, near a beach, somewhere in the UK 

He had no discernible accent and I could hear seagulls crying nearby.

He was drinking from a quarter bottle of Rum and had, he told me , taken enough tablets to put a horse to sleep.

He had started to slur his words and had cried for much of the call.

I felt as though I was losing him and called a colleague in to listen to the call. 

She listened and shook her head and squeezed my hand and told me I was doing alright.

But, I was losing him and I knew it.

He took another pill and I heard him swallow it.

And I asked him about his favourite music, his taste in films, and his best friend.

Anything to engage him in conversation.

Anything to create a hole in his depression.

Every trick in the book.

We had been on the phone together for over an hour and I sensed that he was wrapping up the call.

“ I just wanted to hear a kind voice John” he explained and at the end of my tether I asked him not to go.

But he did go.

With a gentle “Thank You” he ended a call which may of been his last conversation with another human being on earth

And that was the day, I knew I had done enough for the Samaritans .

Roger and Peter Ustinov

 

Pull up your knickers and tighten the bra straps 

Another fairly bland post is on its way.

Roger went missing this morning.

He was politely waiting to jump into Bluebell to go on his morning walk and poof ! he was gone.

He has only mastered jumping into the footwell of the car by the way, and can’t quite compute the slightly bigger jump straight on the driver’s seat. But I had turned my back for a gnat’s crotch of a second and he had vanished.

The lane was empty . He’d gone off like a rocket, so I checked up into the village towards the main road  first…nothing then down the lane to Trendy Carol’s ….not a sign. 

I was beginning to worry.

The main road is lethal for a dog of Roger’s IQ and so I drove around the main village calling his name.

Not a sausage.

So I drove down the lane again , parked outside the sheep gated field and called him.

Still nothing.

I was beginning to get worried.

Lambing time is no place for a dim dog to be roaming lost in fields.

I called him again.

And suddenly he was there in the lane with a black plastic plant pot in his mouth, 

Looking nonchalant and relaxed

Another treasure stolen from a ditch or a garden .

He brought the plant pot home with him, showing it off to the others with a toss of his head.

They weren’t interested.

So that was the mini drama for the morning.

Please no more today. I’m on nights now until Tuesday morning.

I made some coffee in my mokka coffee pot and have sat down to watch Parkinson on YouTube .

Now I loved Michael Parkinson in the 1970s

As a teen I was privy to the crem de la crem of the talk show , where icons such as David Niven, Peter Ustinov , Peter Cook , Kenneth Williams and Billy Connolly were given time and space to shine.

And shine they indeed did. 

Strange that the only woman of note I remembered being interviewed by Parkinson was Catherine Bramwell-Booth The Captain of the Salvation Army and she shone by virtue of a natural warmth and power

I treated myself to a low calorie brunch of eggs and potato cakes made from dried potato and herbs.

Bloody lovely….

And am presently watching Kenneth Williams in all of his full camp fury

The camellia has eventually flowered by the back door. I’ve had it five years now and it’s the first blooms 

It’s a good sign 

A good one

The neighbours behind me are beginning to get noisy as they do when the sun is shining

I’ve put Waloyo Yamoni by Christopher Tin on full blast to drown out  chihuahua  Charlie’s yapping

Culture Club - Church Of The Poison Mind

If I was a teen again, I think my “ phase”  would be Boy George

I never did the Culture Club thing when I was 16 , but I think I would do now given the chance 

His tops were very slimming 

Good? Friday

The cottage, looking cute

It’s a beautiful blue morning.

Springlike and quiet.

I’d forgotten it’s Good Friday.

I’ve never liked the holiday if truth be known.

I’ve opened the cottage windows facing the field and the ponies raise their heads as one to the noise.

I will cut the lawn shortly and tidy up the patio. 

If I have time the little flower bed by the church gate will get a weed.

That’s all I have planned today.

I feel I’ve not got much to share.

Sometimes I feel witty and interesting .

Today I feel reflective and quiet. Going Gently has always been a journal, not a forum for discussion  blog like most others, where politics and news are debated depending on how vociferous and bright the authors think they are.

Im neither, when it comes to politics.

And I’m keeping away from the news the older I get

I check my messenger account. 

A hello from a friend in hospital 

Two late replies from yesterday’s hello to friends in Liverpool and Sheffield 

Spam emails are next

Facebook likes.

Everyone intent on looking busy, vital, interesting and happy.

Albert resting in the sun

The ponies watching my sister in the garden

I cleared out a cupboard in the kitchen and boxed up an Art Deco clock, a tin tea caddy and bowls and other such bric-a-brac ready for the table top sale in the hall .

Then I watered the house plants in the cottage since covid I have collected 30 all told

I make another bucket of coffee, 

It’s nearly 11.30. The phone rings it’s a chap from the village wanting to pop down a cheque for the pane of glass sponsorship I’ve had another two requests by email, found by accident in my spam folder.

A group of walkers go past, but these don’t stop at the cottage.

My mind wanders to childhood Easters filled with too many cheap Easter eggs and The Greatest Story Ever Told on the tv.

I hated Easter as a child,

And I’m allowing old patterns of thinking to Reenact them

We all so that so well me thinks.

So I switch on the radio, something bright

Chic Eleanor has just made me smile , she saw there is to be a silent disco at the local cathedral in September and has asked if I want to go. It’s a 1990s based do where you dance with headphones on.

Sounds bizarre but fun.

I  said yes immediately.

At 60, I’m saying yes more and more.

My sister has just messaged that she will come and do the garden this afternoon. 

I’ve just cut the lawn and chatted with Anthea who lives in one of the neat little cottages on London Road.

She had been cutting horse chestnut on the bridle path and told me about orchids growing on the Gop

She has also planted an oak tree in the community garden just outside the village. 

It will be the first oak tree in Trelawnyd

I start brushing the patio. On the Garden wall was a box 

In it was small Easter egg in yellow gold foil

There’s no note.

Good Friday? 

Yes

Being Productive

 The apathy of yesterday’s hangover has got on my tits this morning.

I looked for a diversion and saw there was a play on this afternoon at Theatre Clwyd with the occasional tickets left. 

But I was good and gave myself a kick up the arse instead

The kitchen was feeling like a bomb site what with piles of papers, and other such detritus flung everywhere so I rolled up my sleeves and channelled my own inner Joan Crawford in order to take back control. 

Cleaning and organising are like dieting, it’s a control thing and I’m thinking that right now in our history, there couldn’t be a better time for us all to be taking control over as much as we can.

Roger has enjoyed the momentum as he has had the opportunity to look into the back of cupboards he’s only dreamed about raiding in the past.

Already I have found his secret stash in the garden where he has hidden, an out of date packet of pasta shells, a burnt wooden spoon, a vegetable bag and a sprouting onion .

A walking group have stopped by the corner of the lane and the leaders are spouting all sorts of information I gave them earlier in the week about the history of the cottage.

“ He has a lovely honeysuckle over the front door “ I heard one woman comment

But another butted in with a more pithy “ Yes but his windows are in need a good clean “,…cheeky cow

That’s  another thing on my list today.

Post clean photos

I’m buggered

Off for a tiny lie down 

Hangover

 

Unexpected boozy nights are the best

I have the first bad hangover than I’ve had  in absolute ages.

A product of the velvet voiced Linda’s unsteady pouring hand and bitter lemon and limes which disguised a cocktail that could floor an average sized bison 

I drank four of them

Roger and I are off to the beach and will stand in the wind 

With our faces to the sea

The Village

This photo sums up why I love living in Trelawnyd 

A meet up with members of the Hall Committee in order to iron out a few issues transpired into a gin filled chat feast .

A lovely unexpected night with some lovely people 

I love these people

So much and am lucky to have them 

 

On The Phone

 

Paperwork is not my forte

I’ve been overdue chasing up the sponsorship for the Memorial Hall Windows .

And so I’ve been on the phone, all morning, making notes and lists and sorting payments out.

It’s been quite fun really, chatting away to people and I caught up with former Flower Show matriarch Irene who needed a no nonsense discussion about the nuances of sponsoring a window.

Minimal pledges and orders stand at £1290 

This afternoon I’m doing my own financial overhaul and speaking of numbers it was fatclub weigh in today….I’ve lost 5 kilos ( 11 lb ) in 2 weeks….👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻  

Korea

 Readers may know of my slight obsession with Korea 

My friend Ruth and I had planned to go last year to meet our mutual friend Ben Who lives there with his family , but alas that wasn’t to be

Now I’ve heard that my great niece is going to her friends Wedding in Korea 

How lovely she looks too in the traditional Hanbok wedding outfits 

Next year , after Rome, Venice and Barcelona , I’m going

My great niece Ellie, far right

The Sea King

 I often take a neighbour to the hospital for a blood test on a Monday lunchtime.

It doesn’t usually take long.

I double park and listen to the radio outside haematology and today the air ambulance took off from its hidden helicopter pad behind in service training.

In Sheffield’s Lodge Moor Hospital  , everyone loved the sea king admissions , which, although rare, were popular with staff and local residents alike. Now the old Lodge Moor Hospital was perched on the Western most tip of the city at an altitude just shy of a thousand feet above sea level.

Originally a fever hospital, the “ South” wards were dominated by the Spinal Injury Unit where I cut my teeth as a junior staff nurse, and it was there, that the sea King’s used to bring their patients.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodge_Moor_Hospital

Our best nursing prank ever concerned the arrival of the sea king and a particularly dim student nurse I shall call Judith.  Now Judith was a game student. She would give any nursing experience a gung ho approach and when asked to bring the helicopter in , she jumped at the chance without a delay.

First she was instructed to remove her hat and to don a nurses cape reversed, so that the bright red lining was showing on the outside. Then she was given two table tennis bats from physio and asked to stand on the field in front of helicopter pad to “guide” the helicopter in to land.

And to the astonishment of the nurses on duty, civilians from the local housing development and the two RAF PILOTS in the helicopter she did just that ! 

It was the funniest thing that I have ever witnessed at work…….as the giant wasp coloured aircraft roared in over the moors ,nearly blowing Judith off her feet, her glasses skewwiff , her red cape blowing valiantly behind her, as she frantically waved her table tennis bats in the air !!!

The Ponies Return

 

The ponies are back on the field.

Just before Dawn , I noticed their large dark shapes shifting from leg to leg by the gate and I walked over to say hello .

I adore ponies noses.

Soft and pink and hairy and all smelling sweetly of fresh grass.

I dropped my head against the first pony’s muzzle and inhaled loudly, 

My nose against theirs and we stood like that for a while saying hello.

I dropped my head at the others in turn and did the same 

It felt as though I was being polite and friendly 

And so were they

Lovely Zombies

 

I found a new zombie tv series on Netflix yesterday. This won’t interest anyone but I rather enjoyed the Canadian filmed horror Black Summer.and binge watched it last night in bed from 6 pm. 

Something I never do. Perhaps it had something to do with the Hispanic leading man Sal Valez

I’m working days all this weekend. 

And I can’t be bothered to light the fire as I’ve not long got home and will be in bed in half an hour. 

I’m still eating very healthy but for a treat I’d plan in  having a miniature gin with ice and two Jacobs cream crackers with white crab meat for my supper.

This time it was  mary who stole the crab off the top of the crackers without moving the crackers from their plate….which in my mind was pretty nifty  so it was the neat gin and licked crackers.

I ate the crackers.

Fuck it

Today was busy as we admitted a very poorly patient from the Hospice at Home team but I was on with a great bunch of staff  so all went bloody well. 

When work goes like that, it’s a tiring pleasure to do what I do.

I’ve just made a chicken salad for lunch

Time for bed