Late night ramblings

Hello Squeaky,

Yes, I feel good this morning. I agree my friend had things on her mind. I suspect it’s me. She also started crying last week when I left a gathering early and this isn’t quite her usual behaviour.

My ex-husband has been quite perturbed by a crow setting up residence in a cupboard in his gallery outside the house, in front of the cliffs). But there’s every sort of wildlife out there, including bats.

And my friend was telling me yesterday that a family of foxes, which lives under their wooden log cabin in the garden, is busy nicking stuff. Last week it was her new sandals followed by a very expensive pair of ray bans. Ouch!! I will admit to owning a pair of  Miu Mius  but keep them safely indoors, away from my rogue visiting seagull!!  

Pepys xx

Hi Lady P & co. I know what cheeky buggers foxes can be. Although i live in Central London. You wouldn'b believe the amount of wildlife around. (Apart from the mad clubbers nearby). I live right in TheatreLand. One night i'd been to a local pub, right on Drury Lane. It was a crazy Saturday night, about midnight. Loads of people staggering around. When all of a sudden, i saw a fox. It just strolled across Drury Lane. Not sure, but it might have used the zebra crossing! A real city fox. Used to the mentalness of drunken humans. It knew when people have a few drinks they get hungry. It strolled on up towards Holborn. It was a moment i'll always remember. Plus. While i'm writing this, there are magpies vocalising their presence. They must have a nest nearby, as they keep nosediving a local cat that lives nearby. I can suddenly hear a load of sparrows arguing. Plus we have a cocky family of crows that have muscled in & keep threatening a family of seagulls that have been coming here every year for years. There's nothing like lying in bed with a cup of tea/coffee, a naughty little treat & seeing the birds flying overhead. Especially when you hear the seagulls. You feel you're by the sea. Lovely & relaxing. Lovely when you're warm under your duvet, with the window open & your face feels the fresh breeze wafting over. My mum loved it too. Whenever she came to stay at my place from the burbs. I'd make her a cuppa, a little treat. Then get the bed ready for her to have a nap. She started to get more tired, especially in the warmer weather. I'd plump up the pillows, pull back the duvet & leave her to relax. I loved to make her feel comfortable & loved to hear the sigh of contentment as she appreciated the summer breeze, wafting through the open windows. Simple things like that, we seem to take for granted. Moments of contentment. So glad you're feeling more on the up Lady P. You inspire people. X

Hello all,

Just a quickie as I’m almost asleep.

I do miss London so much as you describe it. I was born in Camden, right opposite kings cross police station. I still have a couple of relatives living nearby. There was a big Irish population there at one stage. My parents met at Mount Pleasant  Hotel but my mother always hated the area. But Theatre Land...wow! 

My father told me that when they were dating, they walked through a street called ‘Percy Rise’ and my mother, spitting this, quipped ‘Percy Rise. Take up your bed and walk!’ 

Tomorrow is my rescheduled chemo and I’m already feeling quite shattered.

When I lived in London, I saw so many foxes and also had a fox family living in my garden. But a fox strolling down Drury Lane is seriously cool! 

I forgot to say my grandparents are buried in Highgate Cemetery. A friend asked me why (because they died? Sarcasm is apparently the lowest form of wit). She meant why, because they weren’t famous..I suppose in those days, perhaps even now, you got to be buried there because you were resident in the area! I went for a walk there with my son a few years ago and was so badly bitten by mosquitos in the tall grass that I ended up with cellulitis and had to take antibiotics. My doctor told me to stay away unless I wanted to join my granny early!!

Oh, you looked after your mum so beautifully that it seems you made her last months a pleasure. This is truly living in the moment, isnt it? 

Pepys xx

Hi Pepys. Wanted to say good luck for the Chemo. I know you're a 'pro' at it. I have an infusion of immuno suppresant drugs every 6 weeks at UCH in Euston. Been having treatment for over 10yrs. But i still get nervous. Still can't look at the needle going in. (Whimp). When i first started going, i had it in an old part of the building off Charlotte St. Nice big abandoned wards. Now the building's been turned into poncey flats. Plus where we have out treatment now, is in the basement of the brand new, big hospital. But they've put a load of cheap looking cubicles in it. Not sociable anymore & i feel like i'm sitting on the loo!! Plus they used to give you a cuppa & a biccie. I asked a nurse about 6/7 yrs  ago if she could kindly make me a cuppa. She gave me the most evil look. (I never liked her. She was too big & had big hands, not very gentle for giving injections! Glad she left. I never ask for a cuppa anymore. They're so busy!! They also have the air conditioning on permanently. Bloody chilly!

You were born in a 'colourful' area. Right opposite King's Cross Police Station. Not anymore. I just googled it. The Police Station is now a block of flats!! Very nice Victorian. But it's so scary the Stations are closing. Sometimes i feel the scum is running the streets. 

I know how interesting Highgate Cemetary is. Very prestigious to be buried there. They must be running out of space. My lovely parents are buried in a nice(?) cemetary in Enfield. This isn't something to boast about. But they filmed a few scenes in there on that 70's 'comedy' on the buses. Like i've said before. When my mum was ok, we loved wandering around old parts of London. Used to go on little walks. I had a couple of great books. Secret London & others. Lovely old alleyways, tucked away from the bloody tourists. Before she got ill, we were going to meet up & join this Vigil that's held once a month. It starts around St Paul's. People bring candles & walk to a lovely, hidden little Graveyard. It's part of a pet cemetary. It's to remember all the 'ladies of the night' from the 18th century. People read poems they've written & tie ribbons around the gates. It's become a regular thing. My mum was interested in going. Then she got so weak. Didn't bother with Central London. I knew she was seriously ill. As she loved going 'up to town'. When she abandoned it. I was scared!! Anyway. I really am rambling. Good luck Pepys & to everyone that's having 'stuff' done. Good luck. X

Hi pepys. Again. I just wanted to say my mum & i loved proper old boozers. Not gastro pubs! There's a lovely slightly shabby pub in a hidden part of King's Cross. MCGLYNN'S. I took her to it. It's in Whidborne St. Set on a lovely unexpected corner. Lovely old buildings surrounding it. Plus a lovely, lively cat lives in the pub. Loads of regulars go there. So not that many tourists. We both loved it. I wondered if you knew that part of King's Cross. Plus round the corner, there's an old pub called the Boot. There's a sweet little video with Kenneth Williams. His parents lived around there.. The Boot was opposite their flat. They used to wheel their piano into the boozer & have a little sing song. Then wheel it back again. Sounded great. Not anymore. Probably health & safety! Anyway. Night. Again! X

Good morning all,

Well that pub sounds like fun! I don’t know it but I wouldn’t mind looking it up. I’m sure my older brother would live to go there too. Btw, about 2 years ago I happened to be doing a home visit in the area (worked in Islington for years) and discovered my birthplace was now something called the Frank Handfield Centre. There were men sitting outside vin wheelchairs with cans of beer! I thought about how the house used to be. My grandparents lived at or near the top. The ground floor was an old typewriter shop...the typewriters had cobwebs all over them. Spooky! 

I think you would like the ‘Boot and Flogger’ pub in SE1. It is full of history and has those lovely little wooden booths for quiet conversations. I was there quite recently for a birthday do v

(upstairs). Opposite the pub is the old  prostitutes’ (or ladies of the night) graveyard. How fascinating London is! 

That infusion you have seems somewhat grim but if it keeps you well it’s all worth it. 

I’ve got chemo at 10 am. This particular chemo is done by bolus...ie shot into my system within 5 minutes to ‘maximise its effect,’ haha. The side effects are not as bad as some of the other chemos. Eribulin is pretty much a ‘big guns’ treatment for breast cancer which has resisted other treatments. My pancreas seems to be resisting it though! My hospice nurse has just prescribed oramorph for me. I never really know when I’m in pain though. The first thing I asked was ‘Can I have a drink with this then?’

How is everybody this morning? Still sleeping, I hope. 

You know Kate, I thoroughly agree with what you have to say about survival amongst us more determined and cheerier sorts. I think I’m like your mum...yours too Vixen! In a sense I don’t even understand what the nurse is saying. Dying? Who said I was dying? Talk about it? What’s there to say? Yes please, I’ll have another glass ofSancerre. Oh Squeaky, give the woman a virtual punch in the bracket from me. I’m feeling violent too!!

Pepys xx

Good morning

Yes, I’m up and about and have been since 5.30. I’ve an early dental appointment.

Pepys, I’ve given the woman a virtual punch!

Vixen, interesting to read about the wildlife in central London. Yesterday, there was a deer in the garden pulling up and eating my new bedding plants.

One of the particularly noisy crows is a young one shouting for his mother to bring food. He stood by the pond for ages yesterday waiting for his mother but I don’t see him today.

Pepys, I hope your chemo goes well.

Squeaky

Good morning Squeaky and all,

A deer! How fantastic! 

I am feeling very cheerful this morning g, even looking forward to doing routine stuff like shopping, picking up my prescription, cutting back things in the garden. Was it Julie Walters who said ‘Oh course god meant us to be bored, he gave us’ “gardeners’ questioning time, didn’t he?”’ 

Pepys xx

Hi Lady P & co. So glad you're in good form. I know what you mean about little things that could seem mundane can be a 'lifesaver' when you've been feeling (and are so ill). We take things for granted. I've been having the most awful, awful stomach cramps over the whole of the weekend. I was thinking of going to A&E. i could hardly walk. But now i've got a coffee & a simple thing like reading these posts have made me feel better. I like the sound of the Boot & Flogger Pepys. I love, love old boozers!! (I didn't mean Oliver Reed!)  There's an interesting one off Fleet St. The Seven Stars. I worked for the Civil Service, Portugal St, right near there until they medically retired me at 26!!!! Because of my arthritis. The pub has a cat that wears a ruff!! It's a legal pub. Being right opposite the back of the Royal Courts of Justice. Lots of Barristers & Judges & probably 'criminals' frequent it. The landlady's Roxy Beaujolais. Had been a bit of a character in her youth. A bit moody now. (Aren't we all?) it's a lovely old place. Low ceilings, very, very steep stairs up to the loo. Roxy keeps the door open to her own living room open. I went there once on a freezing cold winters night. Looked through, she had candles on, a real fire going & some lovely soft music playing. Was so cosy on a cold night. Alot of history in that pub. (300 yrs old). The Cheshire Cheese too on Fleet st. 300 yrs old. Your namesake Pepys, Samuel Pepys used to go there. Lovely low, cosy rooms. I don't mind low ceilimgs as i'm 5ft 2! But my boyfriend doesn't like them.

I love the deer bit Squeaky. I'd rather have your sort of 'wild life' than the tourists you get round here. But i am lucky to have a Peabody flat in such a central location. It's a sort of Council flat. There's a long, long waiting list. I got my flat in 2003. Even then, i had to wait 6yrs. But because of my medical 'stuff' i was put higher up the list & am i grateful!!  Anyway. Sorry. Whenever i write anything it goes off your health subject. People will be complaining. It's just great that you can write to people from different areas, different countries. Technology's so clever. Better let you all go. 'Talk' soon x

Hope the chemo hasn’t hit you too hard Pepys. Thinking of you xx