That was painless as the electrician turned up at 8 a.m. and fitted a new fuse and provided some advice. The light switch was fine but now temporarily sealed off as there is potentially some damp on that wire. He said the wiring is good but once we have had the damp course sorted and fully dried out, we will need an electrician to check things out and he suggested some new light switches. I have never felt comfortable with workmen in the house and I have to admit I dread the thought of having this work done but it needs doing. On the plus side, we can finally get some redecorating done as well. 

Our road is extremely busy with traffic as the local bridge is closed for repairs and some refurbishment for the next week. This means a lot of heavy lorries, buses and impatient covid happy car drivers hitting the horns and arguing with each other. With traffic noise, constant noise at work, arguments amongst neighbours at the back so even the garden isn't an escape I really enjoy the quiet and silence when I can.

                       Photo provided for educational purposes.

I spoke with my sister and Mum is improving and her independent spirit means she is doing better than expected. I still have no place to stay locally as the flat at her complex for visiting relatives remains closed and hotels are being funny about vaccine status and certificates. My sister has both her adult sons home so no room to stay there and I have been told under no circumstances am I to drive there and back the same day to visit. I have to agree as the roads are busy and general one lane only. I would be driving a total of eight - nine hours for a return trip and I am far too old for this. We keep in touch by telephone most nights and this will have to do for now.

With the above works required and hopefully getting to see my Mum I will have to book some time off and Sue doesn't feel comfortable being alone at home with workmen around so she wants me to be present during the works. For the rest of today I intend to just relax and enjoy the novelty of having elektrickery and light back.

TTFN.

 It's been a strange old week at work with everyone working at full pelt and stress levels have been high. To cap it all yesterday we discovered one of our colleagues is leaving for another team, moving back to Forensic Mental Health. She's an excellent nurse and will be missed but once again we will be very short staffed with a vacancy still to be filled, another nurse sadly off on long term sick and now this. Community MH teams are struggling to cope and although we all carry on with our regular visits, we are increasingly dealing with crisis work and covering for absences. There is apparently a plan 'going forward'...

Anyhow, my Mum is back home and she had carers going in but yesterday some supervisor visited and made the decision to withdraw the carers! I will be discussing this with my sister because six days post discharge from hospital and she is still recovering but this person decided to pull the care support. My Mum says she is improving but she wants to be independent so I will hopefully find out more today.

The Spitfire build is now complete and the damage to the engine frame is very noticeable hence the aircraft will form part of a repair diorama. Somehow I have managed to mislay the box of RAF ground crew / pilots so play stopped for today!

One thing I learned from this build is that I need to keep a record of paints used and particularly any paint mixes when I have to do any paint repairs / touch ups. I am pleased with the build despite the damage to the engine frame and time to consider the next build as I search for the missing kit. 

I have booked one day off next week for a shorter week and happily the following week is when I start my reduced hours. It does now feel like the next stage of my life and I was discussing this with a patient, that when we reach our  mid fifties to early sixties, if the opportunity arises to move towards doing what you want to do. Opportunity means 'Can I afford it?' or if redundancy / retirement forces a change. It's well known in the team that I enjoy working with older patients who aren't likely to find employment because they are deemed 'too old' or 'Come with baggage'. I work with the philosophy of taking the opportunity to change direction in life, to find meaning and re-evaluate how best to enjoy life. It's not easy for many of the people who come our way and I take a pragmatic and realistic approach to the work. 

I am continuing this on Sunday because ironically the electrics blew. Happily just the lighting ring so we have no mains lights but everything else works. I have booked an electrician who can attend tomorrow morning but we have a horrible feeling the damp problems has hit one of the electrical light sockets. The plan is to have a damp survey completed and work to commence this summer. Now there is an added urgency to get this done. This is an old house, about 120 years old and there is some much needed work due and our plan is once the damp has been sorted out, we can then redecorate. That's my extra days off booked for the next six months!

TTFN.

 The good news is that my Mum is being discharged from hospital today having received the all clear from the doctors. She was moved to a ward which she described as a 'messy broom cupboard' a few days ago because although medically fit, the nurses thankfully insisted on further physiotherapy as she wasn't walking very well. Unfortunately my Mum heard 'discharge home' and gave the nurses a hard time because they wanted her up and mobilising before she could go home. She had a full blown melt down with one nurse and my sister but all's well that ends well. Hopefully returning home with a package of social care support and physio at home will help her settle in. I have fired off several annual leave requests with odd days here and there throughout the summer so I can have a couple of weekends down there. 

Speaking of which...there is some managerial backpedaling happening around my request for part time work. It seems that some of the other Community Mental Health Teams have few available staff with sickness amidst an ageing workforce and others leaving, some for good. We have been requested to help out one team but we refused stating we too are short staffed and that is the quickest route to destroying our team. The past sixteen months of governmental covid bullshit has pretty much put us all on our knees. We are exhausted, being pushed to take on more work and constantly harried to get things done, meet targets, etc...I have reminded colleagues that if they cannot cope and need to go sick then please do so. I'd rather they look after their own health than succumb to breaking down completely and we will plod along and prioritise cases. As regards my request for part time work...they are now aware that one of my alternatives is to quit and move elsewhere. I suspect I will get my request agreed just in time for when I am called in about my non-vaccination status!

Here is the progress in my current build, the Spitfire Mk XVI which has the decals attached on the port side only as Cats interrupted play. I'm sure my moggies have a pester rota. I have to shorten the painted yellow markings on the wings and I will finish the decals completely tomorrow plus a further clear coat to protect them. I can do the final weathering after that and the aircraft is complete. Just the tarp to be added which I have mislaid but another piece of treated and painted paper can be made up and then some figures to paint for the diorama. I am pleased with this build despite my clumsy fingers breaking the engine parts twice! I have a Spitfire Mk V in the stash and in the same scale of 1/48 and I am tempted to build this next so as to compare the two. 

This morning I planted out five new tomato plants donated by a colleague at work, taking an opportunity between the rain showers and also getting some weeding done. Despite it being damp and cooler then of late at 14°C my hay fever still flared up. I still have a lot of weeding to do but I have little time and Sue is still struggling with her health since her second vaccine. Tiredness and aches and pains in various muscles which don't seem to be going away. She's keeping an eye on it and will contact the GP if it gets worse.

For now, a welcome cup of tea and feet up for a while as we have some shopping to do later today. I feel very tired and the Father's Day present of a bottle of Gordon's Sicilian Lemon gin will need some tonic water to go with it during the football this evening. Yes...I have watched as many of the games as possible and yes, England were rubbish yesterday and Scotland deserved to win but a draw will suffice. A good game tonight as Germany play Portugal and Germany need to win or they are out. 

TTFN.

 It's been a very odd week, busy at work, hot and sunny so lots of visits in a hot tin can with malfunctioning air con necessitating the windows stay open with dust, exhaust fumes and a high pollen count made driving somewhat unpleasant. All the while keeping up to speed on my mum's progress and pulling over every time my phone pinged. The good news is that she is making progress and I have talked with her a couple of times now. She is still being treated for an infection and having physio so that she is match fit to play for England...no..to return home! One side effect of the past week is that her Northern Irish accent has returned and is very strong. Fine for us as we understand it but not so much for some of the ward staff. Fingers crossed she'll be home very soon and I am making plans for a trip down to see her. 

I started this entry yesterday but it was such a lovely day Sue and I decided to go for a walk instead, enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Further news about my Mum is that they are considering discharge home next week after further physio and some support at home. 

This is the slow progress on the Spitfire which I have now added a dark pin wash to and I plan to clean it up today before painting in some further bits and pieces. A slow build which I am enjoying and I can see this continuing for another two weeks whenever I have some free time. It will go into a small diorama with some added figures.

Inevitably I bought another kit which has been on my to buy list for the past year and it was so cheap for a new kit I leapt in there. In the background is the tiny 1/76 scale Renault FT-17 tank which has been painted, clear coated and had a dark wash added to it. I also bought another book by David Thompson, 'Woodbrook' after I had read 'In Camden Town', the latter being a diary from the early eighties set in Camden Town. As someone who frequented Camden Town at that time and knowing the area well I bought it after a recommendation by Tom Cox on his blog. Fascinating book, well written and wonderful characters and very evocative of that time. Writing of Tom Cox his 'Notebook' is also pictured above and I have just finished reading it. I can heartily recommend it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. His writing sets my imagination running and I find myself writing stories in my head based on everyday experiences but from a slightly different perspective. 

Inevitably with the warmer weather the behaviour of our cats has changed and the two boys are out most nights, gallivanting around town with their mates. As middle aged cats I assume they go to their club as opposed to being roustabouts on street corners pestering innocent passersby. The large 'Bruiser' and the slightly smaller 'Red Collar' are still around and we still aren't sure if they are strays but they certainly look the part. The Bruiser is the one our cats fear although it is Red Collar pictured below who has been found wandering around the house. Cheeky bugger!

Yes, Sue's cottoned on to my designs to rescue him but so far he keeps his distance. He is scruffy and his coat is dirty and we suspect he is a stray but no one has come forward in the local farce book cat rescue group to claim him or report him missing.

I will away for breakfast and coffee and to check on the garden as today will be a hot day with predictions of 25°C or possibly higher. After yesterdays warm but somewhat cooler day I shall have plenty of cold squash and soak up the rays to top up my vitamin D ready for the busy working week ahead. We are again short staffed and inevitably as the 'pandemic' subsides senior managers are again pressuring us to discharge people and take on those on the waiting list. Amongst the team we worked out we could do fifty hour weeks and still not get everything completed and one of my colleagues was told by a manager she could do the extra work on Sunday evenings. Her response was certainly robust but civil, I'd have used a choice pithy Anglo-Saxon response which is probably why it's never been directed to me. Roll on July and shorter working weeks although the pressure during the four working days will remain the same I will have three days off to ignore it all!

TTFN.

 Watson rarely meows. He has become known as 'Silent Wat' as invariably cats names change as the years go by. They have their proper name assigned to them by their human servant and possibly a name known only to themselves, probably a variation on 'Cat god' or 'Lord / Lady of all I survey'. Watson as a young adult cat was fond of chasing insects and butterflies but he also chased bees. Inevitably he ate one and having learned nothing from the lesson that stripy insects sting he ate a second one a few days later. Since that day he either makes a pathetic croak or a silent meow. It could be a coincidence that he ate and was stung by bees or it could be he is a silent cat. We'd ask him but he isn't telling!

No further news today about my Mum but my sister will update us all later today and I take the view that no news is good news.  I had booked today and tomorrow as annual leave days to get the air con fixed in the car but that can wait for another day. Instead, quiet days in and relaxing, some modelling as the weather is again wet and the prediction is for thunderstorms. 

As I wait for the Spitfire to dry having painted the camouflage on and clear coated it I decided to do a quick build. The above is the Renault FT.17 light tank, originally used in WW1 but still in use in 1940. This kit is in 1/76 scale and it is tiny. A very quick and easy assembly although its very size made it difficult for me and I brush painted a light coat of a mix of earth and dark yellow acrylic paint. The track assemblies are dry fitted for ease of painting and I will add the dark earth camouflage tomorrow plus  clear coat, weathering and decals. The other tank in the box is a Char B.1 bis which I have long wanted to build but the kits in the larger 1/35 scale is expensive hence this smaller scale and also easier to display with limited shelf space.

I bought a Petunia as I love the colour of these flowers and I plan to repot it into a larger pot in the garden. Sue wasn't too enthusiastic about more plants but I suggested we could do with some splashes of colour in the garden. This coming weekend I will put this and the Marigolds out and hopefully we might have some sunshine instead of the usual rain. 

Otherwise it will be reading, podcasts and back to the models tomorrow if the rain continues as I intend to have another lazy day tomorrow. The emotional rollercoaster of the past week, little sleep and tiredness plus a sense of no longer looking forward to work means I'll make the most of my time off. 

TTFN.

 A further update about my Mum. She is making slow progress and she is now breathing off the ventilator but with oxygen. She recognised my sister and asked about each of us which is great news. She still has some way to go but hopefully she is over the main obstacles. I travelled down to Colchester in appalling weather and I could not believe the traffic, absolute madness with roadworks, heavy traffic and delays. A four hour journey took me five hours to complete in torrential rain. I then discovered that the only relative allowed in to see Mum was my sister! I understand why as the risk of any infection and the critical care unit is very busy so the one same visitor and a strict one hour time limit only. Disappointing but I understand why. We are getting daily updates and I have plans to make regular trips down once she is back home.

I made my usual stop at ‘Beers of Europe’ on my return journey and bought the above beers for the weeks ahead. All of them beers not available in the supermarkets and the Belgian beers in particular can only be purchased at specialist shops. A much needed and welcome treat as this past week has been an emotional rollercoaster after some late evening talks with my sister I am giving a lot of thought about the future. We had a trawl through old family photos and documents and we have agreed a future trip to Ireland to do some further genealogical research. Surprisingly she too has been looking at camper vans and how that might help with trips abroad. We are entitled to Irish passports and apparently are regarded as Irish citizens and my sister and her husband are considering a possible move to Ireland at some point. 

After a better journey home I have spent today resting and catching up with stuff here at home. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight but all of us have been struggling with sleep, anticipating a phone call and worrying. I am going to crack open one of those beers, they are mainly stouts and porters and some of them have to be treated with respect at 10% abv, put my feet up and watch some old British comedies. ‘Allo Allo’ is on and as a mild somewhat silly comedy it is just what the doctor ordered. I hope all is well with you folks and hug your loved ones.

TTFN.

 Hello folks, just a quick update.

My Mum had surgery and a stent inserted to the kidney causing the problems but the surgeons discovered she has sepsis. They are treating her with antibiotics to reduce the infection but this has not reduced quickly enough and there are still problems with her kidney. She has been sedated since Sunday and yesterday she was hooked up to a dialysis machine but the surgical team still have concerns about the lack of progress regarding the infection and kidney functioning. A decision will be made as to whether they have to remove her kidney and this in itself could cause problems as the other kidney is smaller than usual and it's whether she could survive with just that. She remains sedated and my sister will keep me informed. I am now off work as it was quickly realised I cannot focus on work and if anything goes wrong I will leave immediately.  I plan on travelling down to spend a few days there and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will recover. It will be her eightieth birthday this September and we plan to help her celebrate it. 

Otherwise I am now at home, pottering about the garden and last night I slept like a log after the last two sleepless nights. This is very different to when my dad died as he had been absent from my life on and off for many years. Our Mum brought us up, she held down two jobs at times to ensure we were ok and she always stressed the importance of education, enjoying life and escaping to better lives. Some of it sunk in...eventually. Her life wasn't easy and she was fiercely independent and refused charity including benefits; she saw the two as interchangeable and preferred to rely on herself which at times made her life harder. My being present in Colchester doesn't necessarily help her any more than being here at home but I will be there for her and my family. Especially after the last fifteen months it will be good to see her and catch up with everyone. 

TTFN.