We Visit An Old Friend

We Visit An Old Friend

Last week, we drove to a care home in East Sheen, to visit a dear friend of mine, Barbara, whom I met at St George’s Hospital Medical School over 30 years ago, when I worked for the head of Forensic Psychiatry. I hadn’t been widowed all that long, and reckoned I should probably get myself a “proper" job! It was definitely not for me, but I stuck it out for a year, and I learned a lot. Barbara worked for the specialist who was head of the Psychiatry of Disability, and we became firm friends, as we both had interests in theatre and music. Barbara was also involved with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) Streatham Branch, which always made me smile, imagining the lifeboats launching to rescue people out of the dangerous expanses of choppy seas in Streatham!

Barbara has never married; she looked after her Mum until the end of her life, and Barbara has no relatives to step up to the plate. She has had dementia for years, and things came to a head when she had a fall in her garden. She lay there for many hours, until she was found and taken to hospital, where it soon became obvious she couldn’t look after herself anymore. She has been in the home for some years now; during the pandemic, no-one could visit residents, and we were also looking after my Mum here. When you look back at it all, it was a really tough time for everyone. I kept writing to Barbara, but I had no idea how much she could read or understand what I was talking about. 

So, we decided it was time to make the effort and visit Barbara - it is an awfully long way, and even though we were still in the middle of the school Easter holidays, it took us 4 1/2 hours for the round trip - but we are very glad we did it, and we shall make the effort to visit more regularly in future. 

 

The home is beautiful, and the staff are on hand all the time - they really bother with the residents, and the owner is a Doctor, who is also present throughout the day.

 

 "Country and West End" back in action!

Some long years ago, we created an hour-long show of Country and West End songs and music, that we would present in many residential care homes around London, bringing some light-hearted entertainment to the residents - we were a bit different from other entertainers, because we included poetry and monologues from films, and encouraged our audiences to join in with sing-a-longs with music hall numbers. 

 

For our visit to Barbara, Bob took his guitar; we played and sang for a while, and found a little Country and Western music still goes down well!

Spring Is Sprung!

Spring is Sprung!

It has warmed all our hearts to see that - at least for a little while last week - spring has sprung at last! and the forsythia has been in full bloom.

We have had beautiful daffodils, and it seems the other springtime flowers are equally determined to put on a show! The tulips are up, in red and yellow, along with polyanthus, alyssum, and baskets of pansies that have seeded themselves and are flowering merrily. The roses have become a real leaf factory and there are sticky buds all over the bushes: the two in this picture are "Blue for You" and "Tottering-by-Gently." 

This latter rose has been inspired by a series of books featuring cartoons about a very aristocratic family, called the Totterings: Lord and Lady Tottering, otherwise known as Dicky and Daffy, with their extended family, who live in Tottering-by-Gently. They are the sort of folk who are always ready for a gin and tonic, once the sun is up and over the yard arm!

I've bought several titles of the books and I think it would be good to quote a few lines from the details published about the author, Annie Tempest:

"She created the Totterings in 1993 and in 2009, Annie Tempest was awarded the prestigious Pont Prize, for her portrayal of the British Character. The Tottering-by-Gently cartoon strip has been hugely popular in Country Life magazine for over twenty-five years."

I think it's no surprise they have received further appreciation, by having a rose named after them!

There is a main road I drive down when I'm going to Tesco, where one side in particular is the first to flower in the spring, and is usually a beautiful early mass of pink and white blossom. I may have written about this before, but it never fails to delight me, and to appreciate the beauty of nature at its best. Flowering is about a month late this year, but it's so good to see the trees waking up a last. 

The evening weather bulletins have also started reporting the pollen count expected for the next day; we know spring and summer are not pure, unalloyed joy for anyone suffering from hay fever, nevertheless it is a cheering thought to believe we shall have warmer weather at last - and hopefully a respite from the high gas and electricity bills we've had to pay to keep warm this winter! 

 

An Easter Lunch and My Birthday (Part 2)

An Easter Lunch and My Birthday (Part 2)

We are firm fans of the Beefeater Restaurants, and there is a really good one, attached to a Premier Hotel near us, called The Liberty Bell.  On Easter Sunday, Wendy came over for a lovely lunch; we hadn't been there for a while, so it was a real treat.

Wendy had also brought over all the necessary items to decorate a birthday cake for me; because of her work commitments, she hadn't been to do this on my actual birthday, but I am now of such a grand age, I am not too fussed if such celebrations take place a little after the event! 

We are not keen on fruit cakes, so she always buys a Madeira cake, with plain white icing; Wendy adds her own writing, candles and decorations. In view of all the fire hazards and indoor sparklers I thought she might be adding, I told her I had warned the fire brigade to be on stand-by! But she told me not to worry; she was not going to go over the top - and the end result was beautiful. 

The candles were lit, and Wendy carried the cake into the lounge, singing "Happy Birthday to you." I was so delighted she had gone to all that trouble, but she wanted to make sure I hadn't missed out on the treat of a cake!

Where is the ceremonial sword for cutting the first slice?! 

My Birthday!

My Birthday!

I may now be of a "certain age," but don't let anyone kid you that I am not fussed about celebrating my birthday! 

I had a lovely day - it was quiet, but with the promise of a further celebration over the weekend of 8/9/10 April, with Wendy's 50th birthday on Monday, 10 April.

Sydney, one of the young ladies who looked after Mum so beautifully, came round in the afternoon, bringing her two children with her - her little boy, who was born on my birthday, 28 March, is now 2, and her baby daughter is coming up for her first birthday in May.

It was such a treat to see them all, and Sydney presented me with a beautiful birthday bouquet - they are so very kind and thoughtful, and I am delighted we have kept up our friendship and contact with the whole family.

 

Sydney and family's bouquet

 

There was another delivery of flowers from Michael and Kathy, two dear friends who live not so far away from us. When we lived in Portsmouth, back in the early 1970s, I used to work with Michael's Mum, Peggy, so I have known Michael since he was a little boy; later on, when he had grown up into a very responsible and charming teenager, he used to come around and baby sit Wendy, whenever Bob and I had to attend Royal Naval functions. 

Michael was so sensible, and - just as an aside - a great amateur magician, so Wendy was always thrilled to see him, and be entertained whilst we were out. They were happy days.  

Michael and Kathy's bouquet included a beautiful protea flower, a nod to the time when I lived in South Africa; I had phone calls from Al and Dani and Wendy, and emails from friends all over the world. With wonderful presents and cards, from all my loved ones, I had a wonderful day!

Birthday flowers from Michael and Kathy

Tuesday, 28th March

Don't ask why I have a Christmas tree with the lights still on, coming out of the top of my head ... Heigh ho. We aren't fussed about timings and putting pretty decorations away on twelfth night - we just carry on enjoying them! 

 

Wendy is coming over on 9 April, ready to spend a somewhat longer celebration of her big Five-Oh birthday with us, so expect more photos and more descriptions about what we got up to!

 

 

The Redbridge Rhymesters

The Redbridge Rhymesters

It's happened again - all my good intentions to keep writing a regular (well, at least once a week) post for this blog has fallen by the wayside, but on the occasion, I have a good reason for the delay.

For the past 17 years, I have run a poetry group called The Redbridge Rhymesters; we meet quarterly at the Allan Burgess Centre in Wanstead, which is part of Age UK Redbridge, and is open for people aged 55+. Apart from an excellent lunch provided every weekday, there are various activities on offer, from Bridge and Art clubs, to Yoga and helpful advice sessions, and many other interesting avenues to explore. 

Many years ago, I recorded one of my poems, "The Last of the Old Victorians," for Age UK England; it was about my Grandma, Alice Woods, and a lady who ran the website asked me if she could publish my poem there as well. 

I was delighted to agree, and after it was up and running, I then got a call from AgeUK Redbridge, asking if I'd be interested to hold a poetry session at the Allan Burgess Centre. Of course I said "Yes!" and the meeting went so well, I was asked if I could make it a regular feature. 

I was so thrilled to be asked, and to be part of a great surge to interest people in poetry, and thus The Redbridge Rhymesters poetry group was born. 

At the time, because we were also looking after Mum, I couldn't do more than quarterly meetings, but from its early beginnings, the group grew, with many faithful poetry lovers coming along to each session. 

There was no pressure for people to write their own poems for the meeting, but if anyone had a poem they had written, but was too shy to read it themselves, I was always happy to perform it for them. They could bring along a favourite poem, or else just sit with us and enjoy the morning. It was a case of "great oaks from little acorns grow," and soon we had the added pleasure of being joined on some occasions by children from the near-by Snaresbrook Junior School, which also had various fund-raising schemes on the go to benefit AgeUK; there was double pleasure in it for everyone.

Then  came the great interruption of the pandemic - pre-virus, the last meeting was held in October, 2019, with the theme of Hallowe'en: 

but after that last great Hurrah, everything stopped with lockdown, and we didn't get going again until January, 2022.

During the two and a half years when we couldn't meet, some of our lovely members had gone on to do other things; some had developed medical and mobility problems and, inevitably, sadly some people had died. It felt like we were starting from scratch. 

Unfortunately, the January day chosen was freezing cold, with icy pavements and a bitter wind blowing. With folk still hesitant about getting out and about again, and nervous about slipping on the way to the Allan Burgess Centre, we only had a handful of poets join us; but at least we were on our way again.

It has been a slow start, but gradually people are getting to know we are back! and it's encouraging to see numbers building up again. The imagination and inspiration are still there, and everyone is encouraged to write and perform, and just enjoy what we're doing. 

And the best part? At our last meeting on 21 March this year, we were joined again by the children from Snaresbrook Primary School, and it was wonderful to hear them perform the poems they had written. Their teachers are terrific, encouraging everyone to love poetry, and the children had also been taught how to present their work: to speak up, speak clearly, and not rush their recitation, so that the entire audience could hear every word properly. The older poets also had much to contribute, with some very tender and poignant pieces: on this showing, the future of poetry is safe and well!

The Redbridge Rhymesters - 21 March 2023