Dolly 2

In four days I’ve been made redundant, had a car crash, gone to Cardiff, seen Dolly Parton, been to Battersea to get another dog and had a biopsy. Oh, and we went to Asda. S’all go!

I picked up my friend J on Friday afternoon so we could drive to the concert in Cardiff and while stationary at lights a car went into the back of us. I went postal. I got out the car and yelled what the fuck have you done?! Not helpful but as I’m sure you can appreciate, I was a little vexed. Anyway, we pulled over and remarkably and I do mean remarkably, there appeared to not be a scratch on Maddy (our car!), the boot closed fine and subsequently when we left, she drove fine. Not a scratch. Thank god I didn’t have my handbrake on and was first in line to pull off when the lights changed; so when the car impacted we rolled forward and then I applied my brake. However, I am going to have the car checked over for any damage my inexperienced eye cannot detect. I have since had a sore upper back and neck and a headache as well, but here’s the thing – I am a bit stressed at the moment so I don’t know whether these symptoms are as a result of the accident or as a result of a tension headache because I did have a headache before the accident and my shoulders do get very sore as a result.

Anyway, the rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived safe and sound. The hotel was lovely! Very posh. We had a deluxe twin room and spent a few minutes freshening up before heading out. We ended up at the Kings Cross (ironic really) a gay pub where we ate and had the first of many drinks! Cardiff was crawling with Dollyites and there was a rash of pink Stetsons and tour t-shirts. The concert was at the International Arena and after food we headed over feeling very excited!

The concert was amazing. Absolutely amazing. It was without exception, the best concert I have ever been to and it felt a privilege to be in the audience. She did monologues between songs and was incredibly funny and warm and she had us in the palm of her hand.

Her voice was stunning. She has lost no power with age – in fact her voice is as supple and strong as it has ever been. She did some old favourites like 9 to 5 and Jolene and also material from her new album Backwoods Barbie. She also did an acappella version of Little Sparrow and I cried because truly it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. When she tours again, we’ll be there. I resent the ever increasing ticket prices of concerts and it really puts me off, but I don’t care what she charges next time, my partner and I will definitely go. To think I grew up listening and loving her music and for some reason assumed I’d never be lucky enough to see her live. Just goes to show you!

After the concert we headed back to the bar and got very merry and then headed back to the hotel bar and got merrier still! Other than some idiot smoking where s/he shouldn’t and setting off the fire alarms, we slept very well that night.

I got home Saturday afternoon feeling happy and tired and went to a bar-b-q in the evening but by 9.30 I was practically asleep so we headed back home.

We had discussed getting another dog and then by serendipity, we found Bess. Bess is between 5 and 7 and a Staffie/Mastiff mix. She had been kept in a small concrete yard and been used as a breeding machine. She was got rid of and rescued by Battersea and now lives with a fosterer (who is a fantastic woman) because she became very depressed in kennels. We all met for the first time yesterday and fell in love! She’s a quiet and very gentle lady that would just like a home to call her own and lots of love. We’re setting up a play date at Epping Forest next week so Bess and Pluto can meet and then hopefully we’ll go forward with the adoption. The family is growing!

Finally, this morning, I had to have another biopsy on the lump in my neck. (You can’t actually see it just in case you feel compelled to stare… although as I think I’ve said before it would make a change from people staring at my breasts…)

I find the whole thing painful and stressful and unfortunately we discovered this morning, that the lump has grown. I will get the test results in a couple of weeks but in the meantime I have to meet a surgeon in case it needs to be removed. Bit of a bummer but nothing I can do.

So for once I don’t feel pathetic when I say, I’d just like a day in bed please!

(The pictures perhaps don’t need explaining but one is of Bess and one is of Dolly! I didn’t know how to use my partner’s camera and so took lousy pics at the concert, but this one is at least recognisable.)