My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

Yet more from Bath on a sunny but breezy day

Off to Bath to buy some bits and pieces for my birthday party next Sunday. We stopped off at the Methodist church in Manvers Street. There is always a welcome in this clean and bright place with plenty of social activity for the older people.

someone has taken the trouble to provide this helpful flyer

Sam Evans, 26, he passed away three years ago 24th of May leaving a massive hole in our hearts he was a big man with a massive heart. There is not a day goes by then we don’t miss him we love you Sam xx I saw this outside the homeless shelter attached to the church.

A sign in a lovely flower and plant shop hinting that we should not take it for granted.

Sweet Little Things bedecked shop

Bath is a unique place because you can see a huge variety of shops and establishments in a very small area so you don’t need a car to explore it. I find the side alleys among the most fascinating because you never know what you’re going to find.

I accosted a woman in the women’s shop ‘Next’. Welcome its mostly a woman’s shop. I’ve told her she had a voice very much like singing to which she replied that she didn’t very much like the sound of her own voice. I said that her sibilants  added to the character. The point is that we have always not to merely speak but to use our voice and she was not using her voice to its full potential in my opinion anyway,

Someday when I meet my Maker I will have to explain all my weird conversations with strangers and I will simply say ‘I did my best to draw something out of the situation’. I only spoke to about six strangers today which was somewhat short of my record. I made the mistake of approaching a couple where the woman was eating a sausage roll and I should have checked her more carefully because she was from Holland and she looked at me in  a wooden way and said  ‘ what to do you say?’.  I was a bit naughty on reflection because I caught her with a mouthful of food.

Never mind you can’t win them all.

Feedback from last night’s initial ZOOM meeting – which I mentioned in yesterday’s diary-  were encouraging.  As I say we had a debate about whether to record the meeting or not and the person who was concerned wrote to me in a very positive and objective manner. As she is anonymous I will publish the letter in full. Here it is:

Dear Brian,
Thank you for organising and running the group last night which I enjoyed very much.
It was great to be given given the chance to get to know the other Dowsers, such nice people and hear what they do. Something that has been missing for most of us, it seems.
Regarding recording.
Whilst I would prefer to not have the Recording of meetings, which I feel could restrict what some Member’s share and discuss, I can say that having listened to *****’s explanation of how recording can be used for demonstrations, I can see that it will  be useful in that respect.  Also, as you point out it will be  useful for some members to study  and learn from later on.
Therefore, I’m happy for the group meetings to be recorded, so long as everyone agrees to not circulate or use the recordings  outside of the group.
Thank you again for suggesting this group and organising it.  I look forward to future meetings.
regards,
—–

and another letter

Hello everyone and apologies for missing our first meeting
I was on holiday in Somerset and was unable to get a decent signal – I tried standing on my head and putting my finger in my ear but it was having none of it ….
I thought that I was in for a chance when my ‘zoom app’ opened, but this was short-lived when it said that I needed to update the version I had … After an hour and it was still at 44%, I knew, it was not to be.
Thank you for sharing the recording of the video – I have just watched it, it was great that you shared your experiences and there was such a positive and welcoming feel to the meeting, I felt very welcome and it was almost like I was there, so I must have been there at least in spirit, with you all.
I can relate to your experiences of family and friends and how they respond to what we do – and yes I am ‘mad’ too … I have had all the same experiences of; raising their eyebrows, just ignoring me and to be fair, just letting me get on with it.
As a shift working, ‘front line care worker’, I may not be able to make all the meetings but I will certainly try my best.
Thank you Brian for setting up, and facilitating the group and I look forward to seeing you all on the next meeting
Best Wishes
——–
Plenty of ‘job satisfaction’ for me.  ‘I don’t mind if I do’