Although I was a bit reserved and not really bothered about London 2012 I have to say I've been sucked in!!
I sat down with trepidation on Friday to see 'what they've come up with' for the Opening Ceremony. I was amazed and open mouthed at how fabulous it was. Ok so some of it seemed a bit surreal, like live animals in a stereotypical British landscape, children bouncing on giant beds. Overall though I was very impressed. I felt very proud, once again, to be British.
My favourite bit has to be Her Majesty getting involved with Daniel 'Mr Bond' Craig and also Rowan 'Mr Bean' Atkinson.
Of course we had to wheel out Mr McCartney to try to sing another dirgy tune from years ago. He was out of sync and why not sing a more upbeat Beatles song?
I was out on Saturday but since Saturday afternoon I've been glued to the TV. I'm not usually a huge sports fan but I've been enjoying the cycling, equestrian, swimming, sailing, rowing, canoeing, gymnastics and beach volleyball.
I've been flicking between channels (I'm glad hubby isn't here as we'd be arguing about what to watch)catching all the action.
Such a shame to see empty seats, feel very lucky to have tickets to canoe sprint and football in Cardiff at the end of next week. Have been looking at the website to see what other tickets are available.
Have now got more tickets for the Paralympics for cycling and equestrian events so even more excited!
Of course I'm working tomorrow and Thursday this week so how will I manage?
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Hobbling
Isn't it amazing how easily and quickly you can injure yourself?
Yesterday morning I was walking downstairs with one armful of washing and another on the bannister when two steps from the bottom, my left foot slipped and I ended up landing most of my weight on my big toe! Ouch! Not the first word which sprang to mind.
I sat on the bottom step, still clutching the laundry, holding my foot and holding back the tears. What pain!
Hubby is away so I couldn't just crumble in a heap and let him take over.
I had a few plans for yesterday but apart from putting the laundry into the washing machine most of the day was spent with my foot up, with ice applied.
I hobbled around the block with Maisie dog who was keen to get a walk but that took ages and was painful too.
This morning my toe had turned a lovely purple- black colour, was swollen and painful to touch or bend.
I managed, somehow, to drive to a couple of local patients but I ended up postponing a couple of more distant ones.
Let's hope it feels better tomorrow. I have more patients and I don't think it looks too good if your foot lady turns up hobbling/limping.
Yesterday morning I was walking downstairs with one armful of washing and another on the bannister when two steps from the bottom, my left foot slipped and I ended up landing most of my weight on my big toe! Ouch! Not the first word which sprang to mind.
I sat on the bottom step, still clutching the laundry, holding my foot and holding back the tears. What pain!
Hubby is away so I couldn't just crumble in a heap and let him take over.
I had a few plans for yesterday but apart from putting the laundry into the washing machine most of the day was spent with my foot up, with ice applied.
I hobbled around the block with Maisie dog who was keen to get a walk but that took ages and was painful too.
This morning my toe had turned a lovely purple- black colour, was swollen and painful to touch or bend.
I managed, somehow, to drive to a couple of local patients but I ended up postponing a couple of more distant ones.
Let's hope it feels better tomorrow. I have more patients and I don't think it looks too good if your foot lady turns up hobbling/limping.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Wonderful people
It's a hazard of doing a job which involves you with people of an older generation that once in a while you get the dreaded phone call to say they have passed away. Well, sometimes you get a phone call, other times I get told by a neighbour or another patient when I visit them. Most recently I read about it in the paper.
I always feel sad, even if the person involved could be a grumpy old sod at times.
I like to think of myself as someone who cares about my patients, I do! I like to chat to them, I do ask them questions about themselves and their families even if it is to help them jog their own memories.
I don't always attend their funeral but I do try and send a sympathy card to their nearest and dearest because although they weren't a member of my family and I only saw them every other month, they have become my friend and I hope I've become one of theirs.
The thing that has struck me most recently is just how little I have known about some of my patients and the wonderful things they achieved in their earlier years, before I met them.It's a shame that I only find out some of these interesting things after they are dead and buried!
One most recently had been an actress in her younger years, and although I knew she liked horses I didn't realise until afterwards that she had been a champion in her discipline! How much more we could have talked about!
I always feel sad, even if the person involved could be a grumpy old sod at times.
I like to think of myself as someone who cares about my patients, I do! I like to chat to them, I do ask them questions about themselves and their families even if it is to help them jog their own memories.
I don't always attend their funeral but I do try and send a sympathy card to their nearest and dearest because although they weren't a member of my family and I only saw them every other month, they have become my friend and I hope I've become one of theirs.
The thing that has struck me most recently is just how little I have known about some of my patients and the wonderful things they achieved in their earlier years, before I met them.It's a shame that I only find out some of these interesting things after they are dead and buried!
One most recently had been an actress in her younger years, and although I knew she liked horses I didn't realise until afterwards that she had been a champion in her discipline! How much more we could have talked about!
Monday, 2 July 2012
Flash mob
This weekend was very hectic. Not only was it our first weekend to look after our 6 month old granddaughter, ( no big deal you may think but bear in mind I have never had children myself so have never even changed a nappy before!) but Saturday was also the day I was taking part in events organised by my Applestroodle improvisation group in Ludlow as part of the Ludlow Festival.
At the last minute my husband had to dash off to sort out our boat in Cardiff so I called upon my lovely mother to help me out whilst i was taking part.
The main event of Saturday for us was the Flashmob. Now how to explain a flashmob, well Wikipedia says that a Flashmob 'is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression'.
Thats quite an accurate description I suppose, although by providing entertainment I fail to see how it can be pointless.
Our Flashmob was a dance to Shake Your Tailfeather, a song made famous in the Blues Brothers films. We had all practiced a dance and turned up take part. The key to a good flashmob though is to appear to just turn up and dance and then disappear again, as if you were out shopping, stopped for a quick dance and then carried on shopping!
The music started and we all appeared, a crowd soon formed to see what was going on and there we were, all dancing. As soon as the music finished we just walked of in various directions, myself back to a bench with my mum and grand daughter.
It was great fun, I really enjoyed it.
We also did two 30 minute sessions of improvisation in a local pub beer garden, playing several games, involving suggestions shouted out by the customers. That was great fun too, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would love to do more of that type of thing, perhaps even getting involved in doing a play or something.
Click on this link to take a look at our Flashmob
At the last minute my husband had to dash off to sort out our boat in Cardiff so I called upon my lovely mother to help me out whilst i was taking part.
The main event of Saturday for us was the Flashmob. Now how to explain a flashmob, well Wikipedia says that a Flashmob 'is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression'.
Thats quite an accurate description I suppose, although by providing entertainment I fail to see how it can be pointless.
Our Flashmob was a dance to Shake Your Tailfeather, a song made famous in the Blues Brothers films. We had all practiced a dance and turned up take part. The key to a good flashmob though is to appear to just turn up and dance and then disappear again, as if you were out shopping, stopped for a quick dance and then carried on shopping!
The music started and we all appeared, a crowd soon formed to see what was going on and there we were, all dancing. As soon as the music finished we just walked of in various directions, myself back to a bench with my mum and grand daughter.
It was great fun, I really enjoyed it.
We also did two 30 minute sessions of improvisation in a local pub beer garden, playing several games, involving suggestions shouted out by the customers. That was great fun too, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would love to do more of that type of thing, perhaps even getting involved in doing a play or something.
Click on this link to take a look at our Flashmob
Monday, 25 June 2012
Car Boots
Yesterday I took part in a strange phenomenon which seems to have taken over people's weekends, something which I've done before but not, it would seem as seriously as some people.
A car boot sale!
Do these sales happen in other countries?
Are they called car boot sales or something else?
It's a strange event which involves getting up and to the venue at some unearthly early hour. Once there tables of varying stability are laid out and boxes are emptied haphazardly onto them for members of the public to come and rummage through. The junk that some people are selling, and DO sell is quite remarkable. What's that saying? One mans junk is another mans treasure?
In years gone by I have been very occasionally to sell my junk at such sales. Usually on some muddy field somewhere. I remember going once with my brother and my mum. We had, like most people, a dodgy pasting table with its customary uneven surface which only dips in the middle as you load more and more stuff on to it.
I remember how we looked in horror when said table, laden with our prized possessions, toppled forward and into the mud!
In fact my brother was always a very good salesman at car boot sales. We all took our own things to sell and while my mum and I would stay at our stall, my brother would wander off and would often come back with a box. "not more stuff" my mum would say and he would end up selling the contents of the box for a lot more than he paid for the whole box.
Yesterday was a showery day which didn't really help although there were plenty of people there. Luckily we weren't in a muddy field but on a car park and my table is much more sturdy.
I was there to sell some books on behalf of a local scrapstore and was pleased that considering the weather I did ok. I'll definitely do it again but hopefully on a day when the weather is better.
I may even take some of my unwanted possessions, my junk, to see if it can become someone else's treasure.
A car boot sale!
Do these sales happen in other countries?
Are they called car boot sales or something else?
It's a strange event which involves getting up and to the venue at some unearthly early hour. Once there tables of varying stability are laid out and boxes are emptied haphazardly onto them for members of the public to come and rummage through. The junk that some people are selling, and DO sell is quite remarkable. What's that saying? One mans junk is another mans treasure?
In years gone by I have been very occasionally to sell my junk at such sales. Usually on some muddy field somewhere. I remember going once with my brother and my mum. We had, like most people, a dodgy pasting table with its customary uneven surface which only dips in the middle as you load more and more stuff on to it.
I remember how we looked in horror when said table, laden with our prized possessions, toppled forward and into the mud!
In fact my brother was always a very good salesman at car boot sales. We all took our own things to sell and while my mum and I would stay at our stall, my brother would wander off and would often come back with a box. "not more stuff" my mum would say and he would end up selling the contents of the box for a lot more than he paid for the whole box.
Yesterday was a showery day which didn't really help although there were plenty of people there. Luckily we weren't in a muddy field but on a car park and my table is much more sturdy.
I was there to sell some books on behalf of a local scrapstore and was pleased that considering the weather I did ok. I'll definitely do it again but hopefully on a day when the weather is better.
I may even take some of my unwanted possessions, my junk, to see if it can become someone else's treasure.
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