Talisman

Walking the Dog - Rufus Thomas

Jon Lucien - a singer whom I have only recently discovered, but whose voice I just love. This is his best known song, called Rashida.

It has been an interesting month for me. Coran and I went to Cornwall for a fortnight just before my birthday in June, which was great. It was our first 2 week holiday in all of our 18 years together, so I wasn't sure how we would get on, but it was brilliant. We stayed at 2 different caravan parks, one in the north and one in the south, for a week each and drove to a different place each day, doing lots of walking as well. The only problem with holidays is of course that you need another one to get over them. I have already booked the next one, which will be to Poland in October. Coran won't be going with me this time, as she doesn't have a passport ! I can't believe it is our wedding anniversary next month, it really doesn't seem like a year. It really was the best thing we ever did, and the only good thing that David Cameron ever did, not that it was his idea in the first place .... Corans book is about to be published as well, which we are very excited about. Work continues much the same as it ever has. I really love the place where I am at now, it gets better and better each day and the staff and clients are brilliant. At the moment then, life is pretty good.

The last film I went to see, which was last weekend was Amy. It isn't on at that many cinemas, but is well worth seeing if you are an Amy Winehouse fan, or even if you're not.

I have managed to complete another couple of countries in the past few months: A Farm in the South Pacific Sea by Jan Walker for Tonga The Blue Hour by Alonso Cueto for Peru The Cost of Sugar by Cynthia McLeod for Suriname (highly recommend this one) Wake by Elizabeth Knox for New Zealand Andorra: A Novel by Peter Cameron for Andorra Mangrove Roots Chronicles by Wanjiru Uhuru for Belize (another great read) The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway for Bosnia I didn't realise there had been that many !

That sounds yummy Chesil. I love the Waterstones cafe's - they are brilliant for gluten free cakes as unlike most other places, actually have a choice of different ones that DO NOT include brownies. I do like brownies, but it's also nice to have a choice, like everyone else does. I just wish that more of these places also did sandwiches, as the French Revolution ended I thought a long time ago .... This week though is almost coming to an end. It hasn't been a bad one all told. On Monday the entire staff from where I work had their bi annual Away Day at the local leisure centre. Sadly that didn't mean a spa day, it meant a day of various team working exercises with talks from the CEO and various presentations to various members of staff with long service awards and different things. It was quite good as it happened, and I was pleasantly surprised - and yes, they did have gluten free sandwiches ! The best bit was the drumming at the end of the day - every other Thursday they hold a drumming group for the clients, and they asked the Tutor to let the staff all have a go. The sound of 100 people drumming together for over an hour was something else ! On Saturday then I am off to Cornwall for a fortnight, so tomorrow will be last day of work for a while. On Sunday it is also my birthday, so I will be bringing in cakes and biscuits for everyone to share - a very strange tradition, as they should surely treat me !

Of Monsters and Men - Beneath the Skin. I wish I was in Iceland to see them live in August ! https://youtu.be/VRrwH-lJHFk

It worked ! Thanks everyone.

Well, hopefully this will work. Here is a video of us practising our Mop and Bucket Dance a few days before the event itself. I am the one that starts off with the red bucket,

Can anyone tell me how to embed a video from Youtube into one of the threads - I know you can do this as others do all the time, but having searched all the how to sections I can't find anything. I am assuming it is something to do the code button but am not sure exactly what ? !

So sorry to hear about the dog Noll. The Talent show last night went very well and was great fun. I don't think it really hit me what we were about to do until I saw them setting up the hall earlier in the day. They had 100 tickets available every one of which was sold, so at £10 a head it was a nice fundraiser. When we got back there just after 7pm the hall was already pretty much full. Seats had been set up at the back for the performers, with a few reserved at the front for those less able to walk, of which there were a few. Our CEO did a short introduction first before handing over to the Catering Manager and one of the male clients, who did all the compering. We had 24 acts in all, which considering our 100 or so clients, is brilliant, as that represents almost a quarter of them. Apart from us, only one other member of staff took part - our Finance Manager, who did a magic act, although our CEO got up on stage with one of the other clients who dressed up as the wrestler Hulk Hogan ! She really looked the part, complete with union jack leggings and a bright blue wig and glasses. You wouldn't get many CEO's who were willing to do that, but she isn't like most bosses I have had. She has an OBE for championing equality in the workplace which from what I have seen, is very much deserved. The first act was a group of clients from the on site care home who did a rendition of High School musical, this was followed by one of the male clients who did the Westlife version of Uptown Girl. As there were 24 acts, there was 12 in each half. Most of them only lasted a few minutes, but it was great with them all encouraging the crowd to join in with singing, clapping and waving their hands. Some sang (karaoke style), some danced, one played the piano, one read some poetry from Pam Ayres, and then of course there was us ... We were on halfway through the second half, and even though we had been rehearsing and practising for weeks, when it came to it, I still felt nervous. We walked on the stage wearing our cleaning aprons and carrying our mops and buckets with yellow warning signs which we placed either side of us to make it look authentic. The music we chose was from Dave Greenslade (inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld) and was called the Stick and Bucket Dance. It sounds a little like the sort of thing that Morris men dance to - I have always wanted to have a go at that. At the end we got a huge cheer and as we walked out of the hall at the end of the evening people were coming up to us saying how great and different it was - the clients loved it, because of course it's a parody of the job they see me doing there every day of the week. It really was though such a great laugh and terrific fun. By the end of the evening, my hands were sore from all the clapping. I would definitely do it again next year. I am sure a lot of them will be talking about it when I go back to work on Monday. Coran did record a video of us practising, so if I get the chance, I will post it here. One of the clients also recorded the whole thing, although I am not sure what he is doing to do with that, or if we will be able to edit it to just our act, as I wouldn't want to put videos of the clients on the Internet without their permission.

This time tomorrow it all be underway. There are 24 different acts - we are 1 of 3 members of staff (Coran of course though doesn't work there, just me) who are taking part, with the rest clients. Most of them are singing or dancing, but one (our Finance Manager who is a very staid looking man) is doing a magic show, and one of the clients is doing stand up comedy. The 3rd member of staff (our Marketing Manager) has teamed up with a group of clients to sing from High School Musical. We are act no. 17 so will be on during the 2nd half. 86 tickets have been sold, so it's going to be packed solid. I hope I'm not too nervous - I might need the free drink that you get on arrival !

I can't believe it's June already - another 3 weeks and it will be midsummer and of course my birthday, the big 50. We are going to Cornwall for 2 weeks the day before (June 20th), so I also have that to look forward to, and boy do I need it. We have the Talent show on Friday as well which many of the clients and a few members of staff (including yours truly) are taking part in. Coran and I have been practising our Mop and Bucket Dance for weeks. It's going to be a really good laugh and great fun, which is just what I need. We have our last rehearsal after work tomorrow, which should be fun.

A nice can of cold Icelandic beer

We have since bought and watched seasons 3 and 4, but now have to wait for season 5 to be released on DVD. No matter how much I like GOT I am going to subscribe to Sky for just one program. I will have to try then not to read all the spoilers about season 5 !

Thank you - and I hope you feel better soon.

I am not going to shout it from the roof tops of course, but if one of the clients asks me directly, I will tell them. An honest question deserves an honest answer, and one thing I have learnt from being here is that people with so-called learning disabilities are very often more intelligent and have a lot more common sense than the rest of us. They are also a lot more honest and accept things at face value.

That is brilliant news, which I am so happy about - the times are indeed a changing ... I have been pondering lately myself how to address the issue of Corans identity with the clients that I work with (most of whom have learning and/or behavioural disabilities). It wouldn't be an issue were it not for the Talent contest that we are taking part in in 2 weeks time, for which Coran has of course had to attend rehearsals. When we got married last year, I spoke about it with the clients, and they were very excited. Most of them just assumed that I was marrying a man, and on the advice of the Care Home Manager, I went along with that, but it didn't really feel right to me, as it felt like I wasn't being honest and telling them the truth. Now that some of them though have seen Coran at the rehearsals, questions are being asked as to whether she is a man or a woman. I therefore went to see our Quality Assurance Manager, who has more than 50 years experience in healthcare (there isn't much that he doesn't know or hasn't seen) and asked his advice. He said that he is actually planning some training courses for the staff in sexuality and relationships and following our conversations is now going to include trans issues, which is definitely a result. The advice was though to tell the clients whatever we feel comfortable with. Despite the fact that the Care Manager thought the clients wouldn't understand, when Coran spoke to one of the clients last week and explained to her that she was a man trapped in a woman's body, she knew without prompting what the term for this was - a transsexual, and even told us that she had a friend with this condition. She even knew the names for the different male and female hormones and what role they play in all of this. You could have knocked me down with a feather. This is the same Manager that I had problems with last year, who kept picking holes in my work and moaning about the fact that I spoke so much to the clients and other staff, asking questions about different things. I have come to the conclusion following this, that the reason she didn't want the clients to know is so that she herself would not have to deal with it. That though is her stuff and not mine, and like it or not, she will have to deal with it, for I have no intention of hiding from anyone. I have resolved from now on to be as honest as I possibly can, as it not fair to the clients or myself, let alone Coran, the person I love. People can be very strange at times though. If only they could be more honest about their motivations, the world would be much better place ! In the meantime, I hope our Quality Assurance Manager books her a place on that course. I am not eligible myself unfortunately, as it is only for care staff.

My Kindle wish list has about 90 items on it - some have been there for longer than others and some are not even published yet. Some I am waiting to appear as paperbacks so that the price will come down. I guess the list is a bit long (it would take me at least a year to read them all), but they are all there for a reason.

I will be keeping them crossed as well - and can I say a big thank you on behalf of everyone who will affected by the outcome of this vote. As you know my partner of 18 years (and husband of 9 months) is going through a change from male to female, so although I am not gay, this is still a subject close to my heart. It is not from where I stand even about gay rights, but about equality across the board, so that every man, woman or in between (and there are many of them) has the right to marry the person that they choose and love, as we both did.

Another rehearsal for the upcoming Talent show that Coran and I are performing in (2 weeks tomorrow). They enjoyed our little dance so much that one of the clients asked if he could join in !

I definitely won't be seeing it. I didn't see the originals (a bit before my time) and having seen the trailer the remake looks like what I can only describe as violence and gore. Not my cup of tea.

Chucking down for most of the day. I got more than a little bit wet.

We had another rehearsal for the Talent show after work today, which was great fun again, watching all the contestants. Some of them are really good.

We also had a fundraiser for Nepal at work yesterday - so mine is sitting in the ballroom with all the clients and staff drinking tea and eating flapjacks (especially made for me, the only gluten free member of staff by our wonderful chef) knowing that I was making a difference.