COLLECTING LEAVES ALONG THE TRAIL

 The other day Mike dropped me off near a trail which is close by a Stater Brothers up here in the mountains - He shopped while I walked)  As i was walking I noticed a lot of these type of leaves had dropped on the ground - they seemed to be the only ones changing in color except for the dogwoods.  I started picking them up as I walked along  - good exercise  - as I would bend down and pick a few that I liked along the way.  I had two handfuls by the time I knew I needed to head back to the beginning of the trail.

Since last fall I've wanted to try and make something with the leaves I collect.  So, this is my first attempt.  I had something else planned for them but couldn't pull it off so I just did a design.  I glued them on a stryofoam board and then after that took a black pen to outline and then put lacquer on them.  I actually really enjoyed doing this.   I think I'll be make some more patterns as I find some of my favorite leaves during the fall (like aspen).  I have no idea what kind of tree these leaves fell from.   

The other day I was looking up a definition of a word and from there had found a site that teaches Japanese.  I found out today that Aki is the Japanese term for fall or autumn.

How are you all doing - I've been busy with decluttering but also with working on sorting through some of my dad's art work and poetry to add to his autobiography he wrote.  It's taking quite a bit of time to organize all his papers and then I had ordered a  3 hole punch which just came today from Amazon so now I can enter more pages into the ringed binder.  

The air feels clearer at least where I am .  The fires are still burning (Not close to me) and I so hope they get them out soon.  One of the fires in Oak Glen was started from a Gender Reveal party  (an explosive device like a fire work that when lit gives out either blue or pink smoke)  which began the huge El Dorado Fire.  

MND

For those that don’t know , my brother died nine years ago of motor neurone disease 

It’s a cruel disease, possibly the cruelest and strange as it may seem North Wales has a cluster of people diagnosed with the condition 

The three hospices of North Wales often take these patients in for symptom relief, respite  and for end of life care and their care is usually challenging and intense .

Communication of needs is often the major difficult area to nurse and something like the “ simple” positioning of a limb can take an hour to achieve correctly 

Perhaps now you can understand why I had such a hard shift the other night.

Now I’m not being dramatic here. 

I am good at distancing myself from situations that can suddenly become personalised 

Most nurses of a certain age, have to be

But motor neurone patients have special needs and those are ones that we all take for granted 

They need to be understood and they need to feel empowered 

Looking after them can leave you worrying that you’ve failed them 

and I always thought I could have done more for my brother.

So caring for them, can be particularly challenging 

I admitted a patient with MND the other night 

The night I got home very late

A friend and colleague has just texted me to tell me that they had died peacefully..... 

Too sudden but fortunate with the hospice care

And I took the dogs out for a walk in the now cold night 

And in the darkness of the still village

I remembered a lot of stuff running around my head 

And had a brief cry

Tantrums

 

The vet’s bill hasn’t arrived as yet

Mary has has a special “ pellet “ of antifungal meds placed inside her ear canal and she is looking brighter for it even though her already selective hearing has become even more selective 

A new smiley and rather smarmy vet has started at the practice And he didn’t ingratiate himself with me especially after referring to Mary as looking a bit tatty

“ You don’t look all that spruce yourself “ I countered to little effect. 

Never insult the dog of an old queen 

We never forget 

I’m having a mooch day today which is involving sharing the new sofa with Dorothy ( an activity designed to reduce her anxiety and jealous feelings of the other dogs.

Dorothy was Sooooo pissed off

It’s not working as you can see.

As Mary has just joined us

Dorothy is now  in a foul mood 

Foul

I’ve made pesto and sour dough bread this morning and my friend Colin is coming for dinner later which will be nice ( before the trolls say anything he’s in my bubble) 

I’ve just listened to the Whitty and Valance Speech on COVID too

Things seem a little glum and I wonder what gems Boris will come out with tomorrow 

It feels how we just have to live with COVID now and for some the axe will fall

Still maintaining “Dorothy “ time 

I’ve paid bills online, watched the trailer of the Walking Dead finale which airs in two weeks and written some emails 

And after Mary went off to mooch elsewhere Dorothy has had me all to herself 

And her sulking and tantrums subsided to a peaceful hug and her face on my feet 

 I need to get up soon 

The grass needs mowing