R's rue

By popular request, that's our lovely Little Phoebe in our kitchen this afternoon.  I  was busy cooking the Sunday dinner but I made time to capture a few images of her at sixteen months old. Those pink shoes are her second pair' Her Great Auntie Carolyn works in a charity shop and spotted a plastic kiddie car when it first came in. She thought it would be a good buy for Little Phoebe and this was  her very first outing in her new vehicle. To tell you the truth, it is not new at all. It's secondhand but that is fine with us, Stew and Frances too. We have made a point of avoiding buying any new plastic toys for Phoebe. Everything is secondhand or used - out of respect for this planet's finite resources.  We have been squandering plastic for far too long and it is time to cease or at least to hugely reduce our purchasing of plastic  items and  items encased  in plastic packaging. Phoebe does not seem to mind one iota that her car is used as ...

  I was late home tonight. I witnessed a road accident in Colwyn Bay and stopped to help. The girl was ok in the bashed mini but I had quite a lot of blood on my hands from a laceration on her knuckles  She told me I looked like her dad as we waited for the police  She was in shock  I needed the last of my Christmas gin when I got home. The bats were out in force in the lane as the dogs returned  My friend Nigel sent an email about his birthday gift to me  We have the same birthday  Under his message was one from a furniture company  I bought a chair from them  a few months ago and they cheerfully told me that it should be delivered tomorrow A friend had a similar one and I loved the way it felt when I sat in it  I’m a sucker for nice chairs  Just the living room carpet to change, I’ve toyed with a hardwood floor But you bloody well  can’t have slippy floors with bulldogs around…… They just can’t fucking co...

Today has been spent in a pretty solitary fashion. I woke at eight and pressed the button on our Sony radio alarm to listen to the morning news. That device is quite miraculous. It has served  us faithfully for thirty six years. There has been no reason to replace it. I wonder if it will just keep going forever. Downstairs in my dressing gown I fried two eggs and ate them with two slices of wholemeal toast - washed down with my customary pint mug of breakfast tea. On to the desktop computer to check out blogs and other favourite sites. Surfing the internet can be like a drug habit. See later Mid-morning I phoned my brother Simon. It can feel like walking on eggshells. He flared up when I gently reminded him about nourishment and hydration. I also phoned our son Ian in London. He had just come back from a gym session. We talked about his horse chestnut tree and other stuff such as his week's holiday in Lisbon,  Portugal. He's flying out there with his girlfriend, Sarah, a...

I love this song, obviously inspired by Maya Angelou. An anthem for keeping going.eh? It’s Saturday night and I’ve just had a delightfully hot long shower after work.  Covered in dogs I’m now watching the 1971 The French Connection and I’ve forgotten just how good it is .but I need to go to bed soon as I’m up in the morning  I can’t wait to go part time. Only a month or so to go. It’s almost dusk and a man is shooting rabbits in the field with a powerful air rifle  I can’t find Albert in the cottage so I’ve just called over for him to be careful as Albert too is hunting rabbits. The man didn’t look pleased I didn’t care. For Albert limped up out of the grass when he heard my voice . Mrs Trellis left a phone message worried about the war memorial inside the Church  My elder sister messaged asking what I wanted for my birthday I asked for a super king sized lightweight duvet  Another two friends have messaged me but I’m tired so I promised mysel...

 Yesterday I reclaimed  Something my soul Has lacked Complete joy In simplicity from R's rue https://ift.tt/R4O1HQc

The poem is new to me  It slaps you hard when heard for the first time does it not ? The words AND the performance  It’s Nu’s birthday today, she’s in Turkey  Off to work from Going Gently https://ift.tt/E37XJkK

It is 11.30pm  and I have just got home from babysitting duties. Little Phoebe was no trouble at all. We have been blessed with such a lovely granddaughter - now sixteen months old. When she wakes up in her cot she waves at the cuddly toys that surround her - her favourite one being Monty the Sloth. He is very soft - just like me. I have come home to an empty house because Shirley and her sister Carolyn are away for the weekend in a big house in Quorn, Leicestershire. There they are meeting up with ten of their cousins - all women. It has become something of an annual tradition. By the way, the village's name predates the vegetarian food company "Quorn", to which it gave its name, by a few centuries.  On Thursday afternoon my son-in-law's grandfather Brian died at the age of ninety four down in Stratford-upon-Avon. He drove his wife to the supermarket on Tuesday.  He lived in his own home.  Brian enjoyed good health all his life but in early April he was struck d...