00:00 I'm half French and half Scottish. One came from Algeria, North Africa, and my dad came
00:08 from the Orkney Islands. I was born and brought up in Algeria. After the war, the Second World
00:14 War, and we could start travelling, I went right up to the north of Scotland to Aberdeen
00:22 where I started doing nursing. When I'd finished my nursing and I was a state registered nurse,
00:28 I went down to Guy's Hospital in London to do midwifery. I speak French with my sister,
00:34 she phones and we'll be on the phone. Spanish, well I can sing to you songs in Spanish, say
00:41 'Puedo hablar un poquito de' yes. I have not had difficulties in speaking languages,
00:50 so it's very easy for me to say yes. I couldn't converse for a long time in Spanish anymore,
00:55 but French of course I do. My sister picks up the phone now, we'll speak French, and
00:59 my girls both speak French quite fluently. Well it was all outside hobbies, swimming
01:05 and tennis and walking, yes we did a lot of walking, everybody had dogs. But swimming
01:16 and tennis were definitely the things you did outside automatically. I think that also
01:24 mentally I still feel that I can go on with Spanish or French now any minute. Je peux
01:31 parler le français tout de suite si vous voulez que je parle. Si je peux parler un
01:35 poquito de espagnol, señor, that's no problem, I've done it all my life. So I'm just lucky
01:40 not to be ill. If you're ill and you're in pain, I think that changes your personality
01:46 completely. I've only lived in Shrewsbury since the pandemic. The Mount made me feel,
01:52 no, made all of us feel that it was a party for everybody. It was really a party for the
02:01 residents of the Mount. Had a beautiful cake, the atmosphere is here, and as an old nurse
02:08 and midwife having dealt with people all my life, the respect is permanently shown to
02:16 the residents. And I find that a very important thing. As an elderly person, I can honestly,
02:24 I can say truthfully that the atmosphere is of a family atmosphere in this place. And
02:32 this to me, and to most of us, is a tremendous asset. I mean, the staff will come and put
02:39 a hand around your shoulder and say, "Not feeling too good today." Well, you know, they've
02:44 noticed that. So it is a home, there's no doubt about it. Yeah, I got a lovely card
02:52 from the King and Queen, which is in civilian clothes, which is absolutely lovely. No crowns
02:58 on them, they just look like a normal couple. And it's up in my room, yeah.
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