February. 10

 Family gathering 

Help at hand

My family again turned up trumps today - by turning up to help clear the flat ready for the move.Brenda Ivor Jim and Val what a difference. 

February 9

 

I think Amazon’s share price  is due to drop. My avalanche of spending is subsiding. I cannot count my purchases but it runs into  hundreds.

 I started  from scratch when I went to Sunrise four years and  it has continued at a mad pace  as I stocked up a huge range, from food to clothes,  radios to sweets. 

A non stop procession to Bedroom Two  with only one error in four years. 

 Amazon.You have been brilliant. 

February 7

Long tales 

They’ve got legs. That is what reporters call stories published and broadcast for a long  time like  Maddie McCann missing 16 years ago as new theories arise. And it is happening all the time.  the latest Nicola Bulley who disappeared three weeks ago with a reporter at the scene explaining how she disappeared from a river bank, her dog loose and phone found. The verdict from the police-she fell in and drowned.

The same story has appeared now daily for every day A reporter always  at the scene A distress to the family. Far too much. The only change, finding one witnesses who saw nothing that happened.Today’s report complains about tourists trampling the area. 

I agree it should be published as ‘ breaking ‘news” but not s?slavishly "If there is no development that is not necessary a sentence or two would enough. Just 

Think of the families distress.

The media do not care. They regularly carry on despite the stress,

The latest involves ……l last seen two weeks ago with daily reports, all speculation, after a few days a ‘witness’ was reported to have seen her On a river bank, her dog roaming and mobile phone.

Day after day,  the same story is repeated d@y after day with a reporter at the sce

February 8e

 Hospitals 

I hope this will be my last time in hospital. I have had more than enough not just for the past seven months but over the years.

The first was simple..

 I broke my arm falling off a wall in our front garden  in West Ham when I was about seven and a week later I was back there when I broke it again while paddling in the sea with Dad.

The next was a long stay after injuring a leg in the army I spent weeks at Aldershot army hospital making rugs and tapestry. Very embarrassing when I was transferred to Chepstow military  hospital.

En route, in full uniform, lying on a stretcher, cap and a large rug on my chest, I was  left on the floor of a crowded Reading station. 

I looked like a wounded soldier but the war was over.

I was at Chepstow for weeks. It was the end of my army career.

Since then I have been in hospital regularly for operations, coronavirus, and two serious illnesses, and now. None easy, the latest an ordeal hut at last coming to an end. About time too.

And to think mum in her 112years spent just one week in Cardiff Infirmary when she was 100.

After weeks s

February 5

 If

If - and it it is still a big iff - I will believe it only when it happens  I am wheeled out to the ambulance on my way home next Monday as Social Services tell me, I have so much  to do.

Clear out

A mountain of packing. My room is cluttered with boxes, tins, bottles, cases shopping bags and a walking aid,  the window sills covered, seven month of muddle, all out of my reach.

Two  walking sticks are hiding somewhere and I cannot lift a finger.

Once again it’s family to the rescue. Karen says she will do it all. 

Brenda and Ivor also volunteered.

How fortunate I am.

February 9 an

Fishing .

When I was young one of my favourite pastimes was - fishing.

Not in a stream, lake or in the sea but in a cardboard  box.

Cardboard fishes of different sizes with tiny magnets attached were placed in the box, having to be caught. Often tricky and time consuming.

It reminded me that recent political antics are very similar.

This time instead of fish it is the government trying to catch cheats, fraudsters, and bullies  among ministers and high power members with the chairman of the party the biggest recent catch. 

It is proving a problem for the prime minister accused of being  slow in making the catch and others too slow.

I’m 

February 2

Mum and me This year my mother and I would have clocked up 200 years. She was born in 1891,Iin 1926. Quite an achievement, There are many other examples of her busy earlier life.It was after her father died and her mother Fanny could not cope with looking after six youngsters, including the baby Mabel Mum took charge, with her eldest brother, Walter. She made a perfect job of it, even managing to become a bookmaker for many years in Cardiff, at first in a Cardif butcher shop and later at the Avana cake company and Western Mail. Dad's sudden death in 1942 at 16 changed her lifr; she became so seriously ill that Dorothy gave up her job to look after her. It turned out to be a lifetime task but Dorothy and her husband George did it so well Mum recovered and lived so long. Her health was mostly good but when I started to lose my mobility about eight years ago she was much fitter than I. Even at very old age she came to Bert and Jean, Dorothy and George and Rosemary and me regularly.She used to get up and down the steps outside their flat much better in all wrather and came for the day and on holiday regularly having her firs trip in a plane when over ninety. She was wonderful with all the family children and children generally. i remember her as always being cheerful When she finally became ill a few weeks before she died she was angry as she was still enjoying life so much.

January 28

 Friendship

Friendship. One of the richest treasures of life. Infinitely varied, ageless, deeply rewarding and comforting .

A source of love, contentment anf fulfilment.

That has been my experience over the whole of my long life.

Sadly, most of my older friends have died but I still enjoy and appreciate the companionship and love of younger ones.

We usually make our first friendships during our school days but my experience was restricted as a teenager when I switched schools and homes in four war time years.

There was rich compensation during my years in the Boys Brigade in Cardiff, serving as private and officer. I remember them all.

Most rewarding and treasured friend was Bill Miller who worked for Cardiff city council and spent most of his life as captain of the 23rd Cardiff Boys Brigade company .

Bills  wife showed the same commitment to the Girls Life Brigade

He taught me so much, including public speaking which proved  important for me as reporter and pr man.

Then there were scores of BB friends, the soccer and other games teams.

 There was less time to develop new friends in my long, busy carer but here too I was fortunatewith some of those I worked with and even my bosses including Peter Davey the county chief executive with whom I travelled the world on work.

My longest friendship has also been international. It was sixty years ago I met three families from overseas.

Caerphilly’s twinning with Ludwigsburg in Germany led to my meeting young Ursula,- Uschi- who came to Caerphilly as translater for the Ludwigsburg choir’s first visit and her husband Dieter, andWerner who came to our home in Cardiff when on teaching practice near us.and his wife Sabine.

Uschi’ s daughter Anette, the same age as Robert, and we used to take t.hem to the local playground.

The Wises - Jim and Betty, our friends from Des Moines Idaho  first came to Cardiff  over fifty years ago on a travel schefounded by the President.

Since then we have made many visits to Germany and the Des Moines where Jim and Betty died last year.

 Now, back in Penarth, I have been reunited with many old ones friends, making my life still interesting and positive

How fortunate I have been with all my friendships.

Brexit bungle

Brexit Bungle? How is Bexit working? It is almost a secret.Few are bothering to assess it but no-one, even some of the pro brigade, are enthusiastic. They are worried as the latest survey suggests all is not well. The confident claims that it would set the UK on the road to greater responsibility has been dented. We may be gaining a degree more independence but it is counterbalanced on the negative side. Claims of important new trade agreementsa around the world including Australia and New Zealand have so far proved less successful. There have been some - a very welcome one just announced between the EU and Northern Island over border trade but most have been less than before with a soecial problem with the USA. Some of the most enthusiastic pro supporters are becoming dissolutioned. One of the holes in the bucket is the loss of trade with Europe which should have been the fallback but there seems little movement there. And no party is suggesting we might try to rejoin the EU.

January 31

Ebullient Boris The latest revelation from Boris Johnson that President Putin threatened to kill him is yet another example of his regular flights of fancy,eye-catching but ridiculous. The media, of course has fallen for it, television showing Putin on the phone apparently corroberating the story. Mr Johnson has a long history of telling tall tales that have proved fabricated, back to when he was a foreign correspondent reporting the EU He was sacked twice for innacuracy. It has made no difference. In fact it has got worse, especially during his farcical time as pm. He is incapable of telling the truth, using instead lies and jokes. He was never fit to be pm but that has never occurred to him or worried him. He must be in the limelight, centre stage, witty irrevarent. He flourishes on it and surely will never change. Now out of the limelight he still stretces his imagination and our belief. He will never change.

T0

Rogue politicians. Yet another politician is sacked after clinging like a limpet to his job Conservative party chairman,Zadam Hasardi has finally given way, furiously persisting he was not at fault. He is the latest in a long succession of our politicians who have fallen from grace, a sad army down the years. Remember the Profumo sex scandal in 1974 . The usual first move is for the alleged offending MP to be shunned and voted out by his constituents, with the party withdrawing the whip.. his ability to work for them. It was even more prolific in local government with the sensational scandal of Newcastle County council leader in 1974,: T Dan Smith who defrauded the authority on a huge scale. I was public relations officer for Cardiff city council. It has even beenb more serious. My boss, Stuart Lloyd jones was in 1974 seconded by the government as national anti corruption Szar, judging by the many incidents since it was not very successful.

January 29

Arrangements being made for my return home mainly by social services. The first few weeks will be very important and interesting as there is a lot to do and learn and the carers will be very important. i still have poor mobility and must improve this. not had much chance here as I have only been able to be helped out of bed to sit in a chair. i am going to have a hospital type bed at first and I hope a support on my arm chair. i will also need treatment for my legs. i will have a lot of care at first but I am happy with that as I will be home and I am looking forward to different food. Much easier for visitors,too. i should know this week when it will be.

January Z

Knit away So the good male members of Conwy council are offended,shocked even, by a woman member knitting during a budget debate on Zoom. They said it held the council in disrepect. Rachel Garrick said she was taking part in the debate and rather than a distraction her knitting was important as it helped her concentrate and avoid pain. I am surprised the council have not been accused of anti feminism. There is nohing new about knitting councillors. Many years ago when I reported Caerphilly concil all seven women out of seventeen members were assidous kniters expert, wih jumpers pouring off what seemed to be an industrial production line. No-one complained.

Jamuary 26 The doctor won't see you now Despite a two year campaign the NHS has lost another 600 more gps. the result - increasing difficulty in getting to see yours.It is almost impossible for him or her. What a difference from the past. Fo many years our family had a reliable,friendly and efficient gp. It goes back to my father who was ill often; his gp became a friend,calling when needed spending time to chat.He even helped him fill in his weekly football coupon. When we lived in Cardiff Don Dymond,my cousin, was our doctor and he could not have been been better, kinder or moreefficient. He had the perfect ' bedside manner especially with children as he was also a musician which he used while treating them. if you needed a call. no trouble. He picked up his bag and came,usually very promptly. What a change. gps are so busy and stressed now they are reluctant to get out and it is just as difficult to get a surgery appointment. It became even more difficult when our practice merged woth another. ; you got an appointment it meant a long wait in a packed, dangerous surgery, And it is getting worse, Sontry not to get ill!

January …

 Hard taskmasters

Physiotherapists. Why do I dislike them so much. Especially hospital ones?

Because their main strength and success is based on pain. The patient’s pain. 

They are oblivious to this. In fact I am positive it spurs them on. Their  gospel is, no pain no gain, and they try to prove it as soon as they start their machinations on you. Sessions of just a few minutes stretch, punctuated by my gasps and protests.

Over the years, of all the physios who have treated - tortured - me only one, many years  ago  had the gentle touch. And I am sure the profession is toughening up, expecting you to do the same.

It certainly applies here until I rebelled not just at this but despite my learning to put up with it and cooperate, they came irregularly, missing days or even weeks.

Eventually, frustrated by lack of progress, I complained and it stopped. Not only the pain, but the physios and I have not seen one for months. Despite the fact the hospital sees them as vital. allowing them to decide rather than the doctors when you are ready to go home

They have obviously given me up., thank goodness so I am getting on with  physiotherapy myself.

Less pain, more relief.

January 25

Homeward bound I can hardly believe it but I am going home- soon! The social services woman who is based here and who saw me this morning is helping with the arrangements including initial home care.I wont believe it until I get out of this room! Seven months and so many ups and down. i often thought it would notcome. Will keep you up to date.

January 23

Non stop hospital 

One  of the most unshakeable hospital habits is the typical,  continuous work programme, Day and night the nursing staff for the patients. 

After all the months I cannot get used to it. 

My day starts at 6 am, perhaps a little earlier. My room light is switched on and two nurses give me my first check suddenly awakening me, moving me back and for in the bed, with me hanging on to the bed safety rails

It only takes a few minutes but it’s a big upheaval and off they go.

Just as I lapse into sleep another nurse comes to test  my blood sugar and then in comes nurse with the blood pressure contraption. 

Silence but only short lived.. It is breakfast, just in time  for the first dose of tablets health drinks and injections but at last quietness.

Just as I snuggle down its time fir my 'bed bath’ - more manhandling and discomfort but it is good "to settle down into a freshly made bed, tingling from the rough towelling.Then it’s orders for the the day’s meals and I start my working day getting up to date with my emails and reading the Times,

Lunch served with more medication

and my afternoon until tea is spent watching news and a film or reading my kindle - a welcome distraction and at 9pm I ."start an hour  of music  interrupted by nurses preparing me for sleep

It comes, only for another round of injections and painkillers, bed tidying and sleep, but near midnight comes the last check up and I can sink into sleep, 

worn out after my long, 18 hour constantly interrupted day.

Apart from the patients I don’t  see how the nonstop  staff can manage to keep it up and keep smiling. 

One nurse tells me she walks or runs the corridors for over three miles a day.

No wonder I cannot wait to enjoy the luxury and peace.of my bed at home.

January

 The doctor will NOT see you.

Seeing your doctor used to be easy. A phone call, the date  fixed.and in the surgery you would have anunrushed diagnosis and decinion on treatment. No cost, no hsstle. Quiet confidence and satisfaction,

J. When you got to know each other the doctor could become a friend. That was the case with my father who had long spells of illness after an accident at work.

The doctor was a regular caller where he find time to chat. He even helped Dad fill in his weekly football

In Cardiff our family were fortunate to have my cousin Don Dymond, the perfect GP with a comforting ‘bedside manner’ 

Mespecially withbchiodren who he kept happy by his hobby as a magician, reported in the local paper.

Even more useful, for many years doctors on call came out p, usually very promptly, and very reassuring. 

How time have changed. There are       Few and there is getting increasingly difficult to get an appointment with far fewer.home calls.

If our yeas ago when I had a sudden se5iiud viral illnessvpInwas fortunate to have the doctor at our door in minutes and my immediate transfer to hospital.

The situation had been deteriorating for years. Our pal oval surgery combined with another,mcreatingbovercrowding andvdelay to ge an appointment Often took over half an hour at 8.30;€am followed by a long wait at the surgery.

And it is getting worse. It is better to keep well.

January 20

 Small world

One of the many disadvantages of being so long in a hospital bed is how your world has shrunk, physically and mentally which has become more pronounced every week over the past seven months.

My life is a travesty compared with when I was fit and free.

 Frustrating, too. And not just the bed. My room can be very claustrophobic no matter how much I try to adapt.

Defining the inconvenience and awkwardness, my life is dominated by the bed, just over six feet long and four feet wide with safety rails either side. If I want anothing beyond my reach I only have  small trolley that gets complicated when full with hospital and personal paraphonalia. If I can’t read reach something  I need to call the staff with my emergency button, which I am loathe to do, especially at night. It has been made worse lately by fewer staff, and strike days.

The nurses and their assistants are very thoughtful and willing to help so I try to remember all the help I need so cut my requests as far as possible.

Having visitors is my window an the world but again the space for them is very limited - just one chair if available.

The real life save is this iPad which keeps me in touch with news and entertainment and, more important with family and friends. So easy and instant.

Without it life would be much harder. Almost like a prison cell, and I am still grudgingly accepting it, but longing for home freedom

And d

January

 January 19

Do Gooders

 The number of ‘experts’ and advisers who tell us how to lead the good and healthy life is growing like a plague . They know what is best for us and have ready answers, happily broadcast in the media.

The latest food dictator, Professor Susan Jebb , chairman of the Food Standards Authority,, is on the warpath, angry and about us  taking cake into work to share with friends 

She warns us it is as harmful as passive smoking. Even one Welsh cake?

So forget that lovely piece of birthday cake with your coffee or tea break, it might kill you

The best tea break I have ever had was in a a miners canteen on the hills of Yorkshire when I was practicing rough motor cycling in my I Corps trading. It was the biggest and most welcome ‘illegal! snack  I ever tasted, with a mighty mug of hot tea.

And I have enjoyed a tea break,with cake in the office, hundreds of times, and I am still here. 

Come on, Professor Jebb. Lighten up .

January 18

 Stormy weather 

If more evidence were needed about the reality and danger of global warming the past year or two have provided solid proof.

Baking heat - even In Britain, surging waves, widespread flooding .

And for months I have missed it all, in bed.

Floods are among the most destructive of nature whims as I have seen at close hand over the years, especially in Cardiff.

For many years it was a regular feature, with  three rivers pouring into the sea swamping whole areas of the city. Almost every year Itbwas so bad I was involved in the regular teams that tackled the problem. It usually meant daily briefings and what,limitrd  action could then be taken. It affected much of the city with some areas, especially in and around the seafront and the area around SophiaGardens . 

But it also struck suburban areas; for years Uncle George’s house by a stream was flooded time and again. 

The problem has been tackled extensively and expensively by the council  and many of the danger areas are now dry. The most important is the area leading to the sea. Despite sceptics m the huge plan it has proved a complete success.

 The three rivers flowing down to  the sea in Cardiff Bay have  been tamed. And the whole area saved. The £22 million      barrage has even encouraged salmon breeding.

But it is now certain that with the changing times, the battle against flooding will have to be fought even more effectively to limit the possible disastrous effects of global warming.

 With light and power lost sometimes for days.

And 

The cinema

I was intrigued by Robert’s blog about his filmgoing. I have been a film fan for over ninety years and still am.

My earliest visit to the silver screen was in West Ham when Mum was delighted to lose Bert, Dorothy and me for a couple of hours at the local cinema. Saturday morning matinee…thrilling with usually a cowboy serial lasting a few weeks. I remember Hop Along Cassidy - marvellous value for a couple of pence. I graduated to proper films when I was at Cardiff High School. Once a week without fail - easy too as the school had games on  Tuesday with Thursday afternoons free .- we went to school on Saturday. 

I was evacuated to my Auntie Flo  so and one afternoon aafternoon a week I made a beeline for the Splott Super cinema on Splott bridge.

I watched everything. Two films I remember were the Hound of the Baskerville and Jamaica Inn, both based in Cornwall.

Cardiff was the Mecca for film goers with a whole clutch of cinemas in the city centre apart from the ones in the suburbs like the Plaza Robert mentions.

My first date with  Rosemary eighty years ago was to the Odeon while over the years we went to most of the cinemas

The Capitol was outstanding, not just for its size but for still having a resident organist playing a massive ‘ up and down’ organ. The classical organist  was Fela Sowande.

I had practical film projecting experience when I was in digs in Hengoed. Alwyn my landlord was the regular projectionist at the Palace cinema in Ystrad Mynach - he did if for nothing and I used to help him. He needed it as there were frequent breaks, with the audience jeering as the film poured out. American popcorn became essential but I never liked it.

When on the Argus on a few mornings I took in a trade show.

Years later I produced a few films, one of the new London borough of Hounslow and three promoting Cardiff, its airport and Wales.  The downside result was I spent many evenings showing them.

I met a few cinema stars including Ray Milland, an inevitable  mining story, and became friendly with a local writer, a bus driver, who made a popular film featuring a valley being drowned  for a reservoir.

I still watch films regularly - on my iPad now in bed, a pleasant relaxing diversion in a dull life.

Most popular film yes, A Christmas Carol which I have seen time after time.

 

January 17

 Dogs galore

Dogs as pets. More common than ever, spurred on by Covid and lockdown.

Feeding, dressing and healing them has become highly profitable. 

Most of my family are into dogs, and I know what pleasure that gives them.and enjoy reading of the those important family members, child like  companions.

The latest is jet black Rufus, the delight of Owen, Karen and Robert, one of the oldest Siân’s  Austin.It made me sad seeing pictures of him looking ill and listless.

A worry for Siân as are the substantial vets fees. 

When Braydon Manor was flourishing it was  a perfect home for Beverley, Julio and their family of dogs. 

I like dogs but have  never had one.

I took to cats whom I have found good.companions - and needing less energy and cost.

One of ours, grey Smokey was Limpy for years after being knocked down by a car in Cardiff. Spot, was another of my favourites. He used to  follow me to school, padding through front gardens. One evening we thought we had lost him. He had followed us to the  pub near our home in Cardiff. It was not until two in the morning we realised he was missing, I got dressed and returned to the pub.He was sitting outside, still waiting for us.

An even worse experience was when Robert brought his Fluff  by car To Penarth for the day and we ‘lost” her… we frantically searched, even across to the pier and I made some Lost leaflets. 

Late evening, realising we had to tell Robert the bad news I kept calling her and there she was, curled up behind a curtain in the living room.

I am tempted to have a kitten when I go home and have had offers but I doubt if I will do so. 

January 16

 

Sad NHS

The NHS is beset by a sea of troubles, seemingly insoluble whichI I have seen for so long now day by day. 

The most obvious and basic is the shortage  of nurses and nursing assistants..

The staffing in my ward,  responsible for 27 patients, is permanently short. They certainly do their best in the circumstances, almost running past my room from early morning - patients  wake-up time 6am - to late at night. Long hours and short breaks.

Hard work, too.

I understand why they have  moved to strike for the first time  even if I think it should not be needed as it just makes matters worse.

Even more understandable is the uncertainty for staff which is a further worry. Of those  looking after me some can’t wait to retire, others to find a new less stressful, better paid job

I don’t blame them.

 January 15

Politics calming.

 After years of upheaval ending in the farcical and dangerous brief reign of Liz Truss, comparative calm has come to our political scene.

The frenetic days have mercifully given way to a quieter more adult, reasonable approach by the new prime minister and leader of the opposition.

Even Prime Minister’s Question time   Is interesting and often instructive.

Mr  Sunak is proving to be  thoughtful and forceful while Sir Keith Starmer is an effective speaker and advocate.

Both have their eyes on next year and a general election that could decide their and the country’s long term future

They need to combine caution with practical ideas and policies.

It is an intriguing time. 

January isn’t

Strikes

I have never liked strikes, now so hugely desrructive They have long become something of a ritual, a well rehearsed  dance with both sides denying blame.

Over many years reporting  I covered hundreds of strikes, almost weekly.

Very lowly paid, at less than a £1for a short piece in the hey heyday of the Rhymney Valley mining for short items. 

I remember the ‘swearing  strike’ when a miner insulted his boss. Those strikes usually lasted several days in which time I would have sold a couple of dozen.

It was easy money reporting for the press agencies and and national papers.

Only once  have I been directly involved in the NUJ - National Union of  Journalists - when I was on the South Wales Argus.

I carried on working, even covering some big stories including  a front page lead in our rival the South Wales Echo.

A couple of years later I became chairman of the Wales and Marches section of the Union.

 I

 January 12

Not so bad 

Looking back just a few weeks it was all gloom. An army of glum researchers and analysts were reporting massive problems caused by widespread inflation including some the most brutal for decades. that would engulf the country. It would be a disastrous winter  for millions, they firmly predicted.

And the media lapped it up, causing a shock wave of worry and despair.

But, as so often is the case of bold headlines and dire warnings, now in midwinter the situation  is not as dire as predicted. 

Of course there are millions struggling to manage on shrinking budgets and across the board inflation, and the latest problem, wide ranging strike action, but life is not desperate for a large proportion of the public.

The winter, wet and windy is milder than expected, saving heating and other costs while the lifestyle of millions is improving. 

Since Christmas the media is reporting an astonishing revival in fortune and opportunity for so many.

What was to be a disastrous Christmas has proved astonishingly successful  for a wide range of businesses, from supermarkets to travel.

The headlines tell a happier story : One after another they have been surprised by the revival in shopping, entertainment, and travel, announcing substantial profits.

Many have proved to be resilient and positive, outward looking.

D Staycation seems to have given way to travel, worldwide holidays booming, many at all in cost. 

Despite  what was expected to be a stranglehold of inflation, shoppers have been out in force not just for food, and essentials ibut across the board with luxuries selling well.

There is a downside, of course. Too many people, especially families are finding it going, penny pinching, still not managing to make ends, food banks busier than ever, but the overall picture is so much brighter, certainly from those gloom laden weeks of autumn.

Blogging againhp

Blogging again.

My optimism has been low for most of the seven months I have spent here - often non existent . So I am ultra cautious in letting it creep in now. But there are signs to raise hopes.

I am feeling well, no pain and desperate to get out of bed and start to walk again.

Talking, at last, with a doctor last weekend I explained how I needed to do it. I was allowed to get up for two hours and it looks as though I can do so again today. 

No reason has ever been given for me being confined to bed for so long.

I am convinced that if I can get up regularly for a few weeks I can be mobile again, ready to go back home

 A huge change of life. 

Two big new improvements will help…. at last having teeth, due any day now, and repaired hearing aids that are making a tremendous difference.

So, cause for optimism, but I have been disappointed and frustrated for so long it is still just a hope. The next few weeks will decide