R's rue

Tonight it is cool, almost cold with a brisk wind The five of us settled in the living room together. The fire is lit, and I have a blanket come homemade pashmina on Chic Eleanor would be proud. Mary is on the little grey arm chair in the corner Roger is in front of the fire  Dorothy is in her usual position next to me  And Albert is perched on the back of the trendy blue Sofa next to my shoulder. We sit in the dark , with only me watching Bake off. The chubby Polish guy is sweet Roger took himself to bed in his crate in the kitchen a few minutes ago  Finally, he’s comfortable enough to make his own decisions   and he is truly home from Going Gently https://ift.tt/sXIKzdi

  In a corner of Cartmel Priory, I spotted this marvellous marble edifice. Carved in the late Victorian era, I naturally thought it was a tomb but it isn't, it's  a memorial to Lord Frederick Cavendish who was murdered in Phoenix Park, Dublin on the night of May 6th, 1882. His true grave is in St Peter's churchyard, Edensor near Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. He was buried on May 11th 1882 with thousands of mourners in attendance including some three hundred members of parliament. So why the marble memorial at Cartmel? Well, near to Cartmel is a lavish country house called Holker Hall and it was where Frederick Cavendish spent much of his childhood. He was the second son of William Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire. Holker Hall was just one of the properties that this fabulously wealthy noble family owned. Incidentally, when you follow the money trail back through time you  discover that the source of that wealth goes right back to the the eleventh century...

 I got up early and after walking the dogs, Roger and I drove to Llandudno. I had to take my DBS paperwork in to HR and needed to complete my online mandatory training, something I cannot access on nights or at weekends as I needed the aid of their help desk.  Roger proved to be a wow with the secretarial and managerial staff and after some initial nerves  Slowly got used to the adulation, closing his eyes to the mew mews of the ladies . I took him to the bedside of one patient who I had discussed his progress with. Much is said regrading disclosing your private life to patients , but in the hospice some idle banter about ordinary things can often be a great leveller to patients undergoing stress towards their end of life. I shared stories of Roger’s small adventures after coming to the cottage and she had offered me some sage advice of how to deal with a dog not blessed with a huge brain. Like most of my Welsh who visited patients, Roger was gentle and inquisit...