Saturday, November 12, 2016

Never mind the world’s problems – I’ve got my own. My husband is coming home next week. Can I cope? Watch this space.

I had a pleasant evening in the kitchen yesterday with Perdita, watching an assemblage of interviews with Alfred Hitchcock on BBC iPlayer, and then, inspired by it, discovering that I could watch “Frenzy” from beginning to end on YouTube. I didn’t know that sort of thing was possible. My late sister-in-law often told me that "there's lots you don't know".

I was surprised (as often, reprising films) how brief were the three scenes I so vividly remembered –

a) the delay before the scream, as we watched someone entering a building where someone else had just been raped and murdered. In the cinema, that first time, the pause seemed endless.

b) the moment where the Bad Guy stands between two Tretchikoffs; nowadays, perhaps, Hitchcock would have gone for Vetriano.

c) the moment where the detective’s gourmet-cooking wife (he’d prefer steak and chips) snaps a bread stick.

All the British actors are in that film – Richard Attenborough, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Alec McGowen. I was disappointed at myself for not having spotted McGowen – he was the detective who preferred honest cooking. My mother and I went, once, in London, to his recitation of the Gospel of St Mark. It was impressive.

We had lunch, or tea, or something, in the theatre restaurant beforehand, and during one of those lulls which occasionally happen in a babble of surrounding conversation, I heard someone mention “…the best gynaecologist in London…”

And there, half an hour later, was McGowen telling us (Mark, Chapter 5) about the woman who “had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered…” How could I have failed to recognise him last night?

OK, knitting: I was most encouraged to hear from your comments yesterday that reversal-of-the-order-of-colours between balls of self-striping yarn, is not unknown. I think I’m about half-way through the ribbing for the second sock. Perhaps a picture tomorrow. If my husband is indeed to come home, this will be the last pair of socks for a while, but I should be able to make a good deal of progress in the next few days, and this is the second sock.

And I made a very good start on a sleeve for the half-brioche sweater while watching Frenzy.


Julie, I loved your comment yesterday about swamps and alligators. I hadn’t heard that one.

6 comments:

  1. Goodness, Jean. I know you have to try. I hope all the support in the world is lined up to help. I'm trying to finish up a pair of self striping socks in Patons Kroy Ragg - I'll have to look and see if the stripes are reversed. I never bother to look, just aim for fraternal twins that are the same height.

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  2. Chin up, Jean. Remember that your daughter Helen is within reach now, which she wasn't before. At least you can relieve some of the stress by sharing it with her. And put your name on that care home waiting-list - you can defer if a place comes up before you need it, for your husband, I mean!

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  3. Shandy's right - get on that waiting list!! If nothing else, YOU can move if it gets too stressful.

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  4. prayers for you in the soming week. agree with the other comment that you have a daughter nearby - a great improvement on handling this alone.

    we are here to cheer you on in whatever you decide to do but it does seem as if a care home is an option that may be time to consider. (noting of course it is easy to be a backseat driver on these situations).

    sending oodles of strength and courage and perseverance !

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  5. Anonymous3:06 AM

    Dear Jean,
    I hope your comment about your husband coming home means there is a 24-hour staff team to be in place to receive him?
    Your readers are definitely thinking of you!
    We really appreciate your posts especially when there is a lot going on for you.
    keep well
    LisaRR

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  6. Anonymous11:40 AM

    Only people in the exact same situation can truly appreciate what you are up against. Would it be possible to find a support group through the hospital with whom you could interact with? If not, Jean, cranky invalid husbands are certainly not all that unique or difficult for others to imagine and you have all of us to vent to - I highly recommend venting - and draw sympathy from (2 sentences ending with a preposition, oh my, what an unrealistic grammatical rule), and luckily your friends and daughter Helen Right from the start, establish a regular routine of escape that you can look forward to every week. Like Friday afternoons at the yarn shop or or brunch with friends every Tuesday or something. Look for FUN! Chloe

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