I have had a hectic few days. On Friday, I cooked an amazing stew. When I say cooked, I mean that I bullied my PA to obey my instruction. We really enjoy our Masterchef boot camp sessions. My PA thinks he can't cook and I enjoy teaching him the rudiments. Bronagh spent the evening with me devising and designing her costume for a fancy dress Halloween do on Saturday.
On Saturday, my regular PA was off sick and so I went with Friday's PA and his 2 children to a museum. The Bradford Media Museum was enormous fun. Fortunately, his 10 year old was happy to entertain his 2 year old on the interactive exhibition whilst we browsed the photography displays, which were fantastic.
Outposts: Donovan Wylie was a disturbing and thought-provoking series of photographs from the 70s and 80s in Northern Ireland showing military instillations and an insight into the Maze Prison. It brought back many memories and also showed the frightening range of military intervention on the landscape itself. There was also a series from Afghanistan, but with less point of reference for me. It made less impact. We came out of this first floor exhibition greatly affected with a hollow feeling.
David Meadows: Early Photographic Works cheered me up no end. It follows a variety of people photographed in the 70s in Salford and Manchester and catches up with them in the 00s. I spent the exhibition transported down memory lane exclaiming at each shot, “I had that wallpaper!”, “I had that tanktop!”.
On Sunday, I was shattered and good for nothing, which was a relief as I had nothing to do. My daughter and her friend had been to a party and woke me in the early hours after which, I couldn’t sleep. On Monday, Friday PA was back doing his own shift again: more cooking. On Monday evening, his girlfriend came to tea and we showed off our new skills. I had taught him to make sauce from scratch and he was like a puppy with a new trick explaining how he had made a roux. I was very proud and it was an exceptionally tasty meal.
On Tuesday, I went to Trafford General for a Catheter change. It was particularly painful and gory. When I had the procedure done initially, I had no idea that I would have to have the tube yanked out bleeding, every 5 weeks. I may have felt differently about having it done. Just when all I wanted to do was curl in a ball and feel sorry for myself, I had to entertain visitors. For anyone else, I would have refused but my sister has flown halfway across the world and is going back to Australia on Saturday. It was lovely to see my nieces for the first time in nearly 2 years.
On Wednesday, we were struck down by another bout of staff sickness and yet again, Friday PA stepped into the breach. This time, he took me and my 2 year old companion to Chester Zoo, where we met up with the Aussies again. It was a fabulous day out and I thoroughly enjoyed myself but I am truly suffering for the exertion, today.
I have been eating well all week without needing a feed overnight. I have felt amazingly strong and I have had more energy than I can remember. I put it down to a tiny amount of weed taken last week. If I can have a week like this one every once in a while, I think it’s worth doing.
I have started a craze. Since renewing my friendship with D last week, which has meant the world to me, I have heard from 4 other people, who I had lost touch with. Although I paint myself as a voluntary recluse, I am enjoying my renewed friendships. For a while, when I thought I was about to die, I was overcome by false nobility. I lost contact with friends and convinced myself that it was a generous act to 'let them go'. I was wrong.
Listening to Indigo Girls: Ghost
Remembering... Remembering being young and vibrant and vital and thanking you for validating that memory x
No comments:
Post a Comment