R's rue

 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...

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 fai...

  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 listen...