Newcastle under Lyme

My friend designed this banner for a Mock Mayor ceremony he organised in 2021? To celebrate the ancient tradition of electing a Mock Mayor (like a lord of misrule) for a day. I’m not sure of I’ve remembered  the right date. But Covid happened and a new ceremony was postponed.

That means I’m still the Mock Mayor! It makes me laugh. It’s not real or serious but it is a nice thought that I was allowed to play the part! My hubby got to wear a dress and play the lady mayoress, he revelled in it. Fun memories….

Singing tonight

Choir was hard tonight, we were somehow bad with our timing, a bit out of tune and spent 40 minutes going over one piece of a song. We all seemed a bit tired, and our section was singing the main tune (we generally sing the backing part). It didn’t help that were singing “to make you feel my love” by Bob Dylan, but some of us were singing the Adele version!

By the time we had finished we had warmed up to the rehearsal and sounded a lot better.

Being in a choir is great for your mental health and helps you socialise, you can find lots of local choirs in the UK, so why not try it out?

Cat

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

Ultimately I’d be a cat because I know them the best. I might have chosen tortoises, goldfish and stick insects, all animals I had as a child. But cars have been with me in one way or another for over 40 years (not the same one obviously).

Cats are loving, so am I,

Cats love sleeping, me too

Cats like playing, yeah to some extent

Cats like eating, no argument there….

Cats are graceful, well I can’t compete with them!

Dear Me

Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

Dear Me.

I’m surprised I’m still alive, I didn’t expect that!

After Trumps final impeachment the world turned upside down for a while, then the whole “asteroid” thing in ’32 gave us a real scare. It was then that the world rallied and instead of warring turned our nuclear missiles at “the BIG ROCK”. Luckily it was forced off course and is likely to pass out of the solar system in a few years.

After that? Well you know what happened, climate change, another pandemic. That takes us to today, my 80th birthday. Only twenty years till I might reach 100.  I’m glad that new medication to cure various diseases has just been announced. I just hope they also rejuvenate people and turn back ageing. It’s strange to think in a few years time my body might be physically younger than I am now? Great that some dementia has been reversed too. Maybe I’ll have to work a 40 hour week when I reach the big 1OO! Life is strange. Good luck and look after my future self. Live long and prosper! Nanu Nanu!

Regards,

Yourself  xxx

Working in a care home

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

Understanding how people cope as they grow older is important to me. I worked as a carer after I finished college for a few years. When you work with people doing the job you learn about aging, mental health issues, loneliness, coping with disability, loss and other issues. You also find that some carers are more caring than others. Some people should not be allowed in to work with clients.

I worked in two different places and the clients were more disabled at the second home, but everyone worked hard to support them. My favourite memories were shows we put on for the residents. One Christmas we did a talent show. I wore a fur coat, tinsel, a home made tutu and blue wellies. I then tried to dance the swan lake ballet, at the end I had someone come on and shoot me with a pretend gun! I came second to two carers miming “sisters” from White Christmas. They were dressed up and were very good, but one of their wigs fell off and I think that’s what won it for them..

When you are on a low wage, part time contract, you really understand how hard life can be and caring for older people teaches you how complex life is.

Alone

I look at the bedroom window and see my hubbys cask of ashes there. I tell him it’s a sunny day and I wish he was here. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this low, and I’ve spent most of the day in silence. I spoke to a neighbour and had a brief chat, but that was like a tiny sticking plaster trying to cover over a deep gash in my flesh. It was never going to hold for long.

I’m sitting quietly, the TV is on. I just watched a show where a nurse recently lost her husband in an accident and the tears started filling me up. Like an ocean overtopping flood defences. Now I feel tired out and just overwhelmed with sadness. I need to get out, but I won’t ask anyone. I need to talk but I’m struck dumb, I need to feel better but I feel so low. I’m saying these things here to get them off my shoulders and mind. Things have got to improve, they must.

Auroras again?

I could see an odd colour in the sky last night at about 4am , just vague because it was cloudy. So I took a long exposure (60 second) shot.

I posted this on Threads and someone then told me it’s not possible to photograph an aurora through cloud? But I don’t know how thin or dense the cloud was and also my camera shake makes everything look extra blurry.

If this isn’t an aurora, (maybe reflected through gaps in cloud), what has caused this?

Fairy tales?

From Pinterest Lady Cottinghams Pressed Fairy Book, by Terry Jones, illustrated by Brian Froud.

Have you seen this book? It’s a really strange and funny book illustrated with squished fairys. The story is that a little girl  who accidentally snaps a fairy in her book, and then gradually collects more and more in her book. They are the essence of the fairys, their spirits, and incredibly cheeky looking.

Each illustration has notes of the capture alongside them. As Lady Cottingham grows up her writing improves and her speculation about the fairy world and the intensions of the “wee folk” gets more involved. I really enjoyed it.

Esther’s prompt this week is Heros and Villans.

Heros and Villans
Have to be the various iterations of Dr Who and his /her protagonists. In the early days I used to hide behind the settee when the Daleks or Cybermen came on the screen.


The first Dr Who was played by William Hartnell. I have had the privilege of watching almost all of them, (different actors have played him/her over the years. That is except when I didn’t have a TV in the 1980s. Of the modern villains I have to say I think the weeping angels (silent, only move if you close your eyes, creep up on you) were one of the scariest. I like it because of its English Charm. Which other country would have an alien traveling in a police call box, (a phone box for police). Bigger on the inside and travelling through time and space, THE TARDIS. My favourite!