tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54100744296448397702024-03-19T01:46:54.290-07:00Broken CloudJohn Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.comBlogger2808125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-65751988092191619832024-03-19T01:16:00.000-07:002024-03-19T01:16:14.796-07:00Marcus Aurelius...<p><span style="font-size: large;">It is almost 2,000 years since Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius gave grateful thanks for the blessings of this life. “Observe how transient and trivial is all mortal life; yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a handful of ashes. So spend these fleeting moments on earth as Nature would have you spend them, and then go to your rest with good grace, as an olive falls in its season, with a blessing for the earth that bore it and a thanksgiving to the tree that gave it life”...</span><br /><br /> </p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-17642255077270605602024-03-19T01:04:00.000-07:002024-03-19T01:04:24.442-07:00All wind and piss...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Feeling invigorated, rather than knackered, after my evening with Howard and the ‘York lads’. Fun to feel normal, conversational (even if a ‘trip to the loo’ required a discreet piss into a bottle)… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-63867415699454388012024-03-18T09:15:00.000-07:002024-03-18T09:15:21.704-07:00Draughts...<p><span style="font-size: large;">The punishing new schedule of care home events includes Prize Bingo, “Let’s Laugh Day”, Gardening Club, “Knit and natter”, silent disco, and draughts. I’m off out this evening; the draughts can wait…<br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-60416864321151234342024-03-18T00:56:00.000-07:002024-03-18T00:56:55.281-07:00Sparks...<p><span style="font-size: large;">It’s almost three months since my head exploded in a shower of sparks. I had no idea that the experience had anything positive to offer… and yet it has. Strange days indeed…<br /><br />Seeing the ‘boys’ this evening in Grassington. “We want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!”... </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-15792657626630586532024-03-17T02:29:00.000-07:002024-03-17T02:29:26.917-07:00Sunday lunch...<span style="font-size: large;">Nothing to organise today. Phil & Colleen are taking me to lunch at the Rose & Crown in Bainbridge…<br /></span><br />John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-75732776212363778922024-03-16T00:00:00.000-07:002024-03-16T00:00:36.894-07:00Visitors...<p><span style="font-size: large;">A busy schedule of visitors today; I’m definitely more popular now than when I was alive. I think I arranged for Gordon at 12, Rachel and Tony at 1pm, for lunch, at the nearest wheelchair friendly pub in Grassington… the Black Horse, close to my ‘digs’. Then Phil & Colleen at 4pm. There’s food on all day. My phone: 07941-630420. If I’ve got the timings wrong… just blame the drugs!…</span><br /></p><p><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-18380308417892098642024-03-15T01:53:00.000-07:002024-03-15T01:53:56.247-07:00Calm...<p><span style="font-size: large;">I’m woken up with a start, as a mug of tea appears, bottles of piss are decanted down the loo, and I’m told that it’s raining. I feel calm, pain-free and lazy. Maybe my job is just to listen to the chaffinches and feel the meds’ analgesic balm… <br /><br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-46018168952883623802024-03-14T05:21:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:21:51.167-07:00Meds..<p><span style="font-size: large;">Still feeling good, but energy depleted… especially after I’ve taken a handful of meds in the morning. Best time to visit: afternoons… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-50694958809491831522024-03-13T06:38:00.000-07:002024-03-13T09:27:02.885-07:00Lazy day...<p><span style="font-size: large;">A lazy day, propped up by soft pillows, as the meds start to take effect. So far, so predictable. A woman came round, to convert my talons back into toenails; next week’s highlight is a haircut. Living the dream… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-86945779713381906942024-03-12T04:31:00.000-07:002024-03-12T04:31:24.441-07:00Casey...<span style="font-size: large;">The mobility scooter is now charged up and working… and the maintenance guy’s name, no kidding, is Casey! Off into town for a look-see, and to sniff the springtime air…<br /></span>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-86401204301788628312024-03-12T02:40:00.000-07:002024-03-12T02:40:19.777-07:00Diary...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Off into town today, to buy a <strike>five-year</strike> diary… to keep track of when chums are arriving and leaving. Feeling rested this morning, after yesterday’s ‘tumble’, but I’m aware that fatigue is likely to get worse, not better, as winter turns into spring…</span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-11870259825575398102024-03-11T18:02:00.000-07:002024-03-11T18:04:26.142-07:00Feeding time...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Had a (small) fall yesterday. No damage done, and the nurses quickly restored me to verticality. Casey, can you email instructions, please, for the scooter, so I can restore battery power tomorrow? Enjoyed an early lunch in the pub, just around the corner, with Helen and Mandy. I'm very well-fed!… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-12971991741425788652024-03-10T23:03:00.000-07:002024-03-10T23:03:09.630-07:00Pressure drop...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Sleep is elusive some nights - not sure why - but all too easy once I take my cocktail of meds each morning. Dozing under a cosy duvet is never the wrong option, though my determination to write is taking a hit. Thankfully, BF, SR is all finished, so I don’t feel any pressure to produce. Instead I can doze, see friends and pootle about on my mobility scooter… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-64535115929612956122024-03-10T00:22:00.000-08:002024-03-10T00:22:57.976-08:00Grassington Sunday...<p><span style="font-size: large;">It’s Sunday in Grassington as me and my mobility scooter wonder what the day will bring: church, chapel or Madrassah? In hospital the days went kinda slow; now I’m enjoying the space to think, wander and remember. Not sure how many of my resolutions to keep, and how many to let go. I’m starting to feel the analgesic effect of increased medication; soon my responses will be more sleep than wakefulness… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-49277661543604019072024-03-09T04:08:00.000-08:002024-03-09T04:08:44.312-08:00Scooter...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Plans derailed this morning, as my new mobility scooter ground to a halt on the cobbles. It was only a matter of moments before a guy stopped to investigate. Five minutes later he’d adjusted the wheels, and all was well… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-36357624345605647722024-03-08T23:47:00.000-08:002024-03-08T23:47:28.785-08:00Jackdaws...<p><span style="font-size: large;">A new day dawns in Grassington, with the cooing of pigeons and the chattering of jackdaws. Lots of plans for today: getting more proficient on the mobility scooter… engaging a young emanuensis to help with writing… drinking a pint in the square with nephew Joe… and whatever else may happen on a chillly spring day in the Dales. Feeling ridiculously healthy, and ready for breakfast… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-78364157615421866822024-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:002024-03-08T15:10:37.466-08:00Mobility...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Casey… the motorised chair is brill (far better than anything I might have bought). I went for a wander round the day-room, practicing my handbrake turns while it was quiet. Mobillity will mean such a lot during these final weeks. Everything I need is now in place… so time to get some writing done…</span><br /> </p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-62231957719569871862024-03-07T02:29:00.000-08:002024-03-07T02:29:15.031-08:00A change of pace...<p><span style="font-size: large;">This is the life: breakfast delivered on a tray, while I acclimatise to my new surroundings, my new role. I still feel like a bit of a fraud - very fit and responsive - though my walking pace is a reminder of my immobility. The answer, though obvious; isn’t one I’d originally considered: a rechargable mobility scooter. A shop in Grassington sells s/h scooters, and I won’t be adding much mileage before it is sold again… <br /> </span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-78788845586974489862024-03-06T09:39:00.000-08:002024-03-06T09:39:05.950-08:00A last pivot…<p><span style="font-size: large;">Casey delivered me to my final destination: a cosy little room at Ghyll Top, Grassington… where I slept and dozed. Saw Chas and his lads today, for a slap-up meal at nearby Linton. All good; just tired… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-29578229282004322202024-03-05T00:32:00.000-08:002024-03-05T00:32:51.584-08:00Home again...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Casey will pick me up in a couple of hours, and whisk me back to God’s Own County. It’s been a while. Is there honey still for tea?… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-58747765671211201332024-03-04T02:25:00.000-08:002024-03-04T02:26:36.044-08:00Golden shower...<p><span style="font-size: large;">My last full day in Rugby… with an early start tomorrow morning. Very glad I was ‘bullied’ by Matron into taking an early-morning shower: soooooo good… <br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-73465920332451290332024-03-03T10:50:00.000-08:002024-03-03T10:50:09.266-08:00Plan B...<p><span style="font-size: large;">A quiet Sunday comes to a close with a kind of controlled mayhem. Revised plan: a drive across the fells, from Rugby to North Yorkshire, with Casey at the wheel. Arrival at my Grassington ‘digs’ should now be Tuesday tea-time. Thanks, Casey…<br /></span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-69174385630483388702024-03-02T23:53:00.000-08:002024-03-02T23:53:14.198-08:00One more day...<p><span style="font-size: large;">One more day before I can head back to Yorkshire, pick up the keys to my room in Ghyll Top, Grassington, and - finally - unpack my bags. My one need is still to get a car-ride from Rugby Hospital to Grassington (approx 3 hours drive) tomorrow?? Any volunteers?? Happy to pay for petrol and a slap-up meal… <br /> </span></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-76320444551451773932024-03-02T09:46:00.000-08:002024-03-02T09:46:42.077-08:00Monday...<p><span style="font-size: large;">Plan B now is to travel North on Monday, not in ambulance, to reach new Grassington 'digs' by 6pm. Anyone like to drive me north?? </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5410074429644839770.post-21331983553572430552024-03-02T03:00:00.000-08:002024-03-02T03:00:16.329-08:00Gills Top...<p><span style="font-size: medium;">My new abode is now confirmed: Gills Top Care Home, Scar Street, Grassington BD23 5AF. I’m trying to move asap. Gills Top prefer Monday. If I can get a car-ride today, that would be ideal… </span><br /></p>John Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06164338457447828823noreply@blogger.com0