Horrible horrible bad back today and run out of Tramadol so had to do a Quasimodo style leg-drag into Tesco and buy pathetic Solpadeine instead. To be honest with you, I'm not sure what to do with myself as sitting, standing or lying down doesn't help.
Cooked Ma red flannel hash tonight which she hoovered up to my considerable surprise. She's been ok today, much more level and far less volatile. We went to Tesco first thing. It took quite a long time to get relatively few items (one carrier bag) because she spends a lot of time studying the shelves and then declares that there's nothing very interesting to buy! We did manage to settle on some cookies she fancied which was good and got some new bath mats to replace the ancient ones in situ, also good :)
This afternoon was bittersweet. We watched Wimbledon and she asked me to explain the scoring to her. I remember asking her the same thing in about 1969.
More later maybe. Not feeling too great if I'm honest.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Slight change
I've been advised to change the format on here so that the comment box is a pop-up rather than embedded at the bottom of the post. This may solve the posting problems that people have been having. Feel free to comment on this post and see if it works. Thank you :)
Monday, 27 June 2011
Cooking the beast and other stories
The meal yesterday went very well indeed. Ma loved having people round and everyone seemed to have a good time. I got unbearably hot unfortunately and did wonder the wisdom of serving a full on roast on the hottest day of the year even if I didn't realise it was going to be when I planned it! Simon, bless him, brought the big floor-standing fan downstairs and set it up next to the Aga and that quite possibly stopped me from passing out.
The pork was sublime (and still is - leftover heaven here) and worth trying if you've never done it, although be warned it does feed an awful lot of people! Simon Rimmer's Lemon and Mascarpone tart http://tinyurl.com/3a43q5j is definitely worth making - but don't faint at the egg count - as is the Amaretti, raspberry and almond cake from the Good Food website http://tinyurl.com/647m8oa. I took a couple of photos and will post them after this - although the one of the table is a bit blurred due to me shaking from feeling so hot and crap. Sorry.
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Days like today are the ones I find the hardest to deal with. Again, I think the excitement of yesterday has tipped her into a small decline. I call them white knuckle ride days.
When I took Ma her tablets this morning she was crying over Dad's photo (this is not unusual) and barely called goodbye to Simon before he left at about 9:00. She did not want to get up, which is fine, so I gave her a cup of tea and her tablets and left her alone.
At 9:30 Sue from the Community Mental Health Team (Older People) came to see me, she is the person who cares for the Carers and offers support etc. to people like me. Within five minutes of her arriving Ma came into the room fully dressed and lipsticked and obviously wanting to know what was going on. This made talking to Sue a bit tricky because obviously we needed to talk about Ma and how I am coping. However, I think Sue and I sparked off each other quite well and I'm sure we will get on famously, she is coming to see me again in a couple of weeks to do a Carer's Assessment. There's quite a lot of support out there that I hadn't realised existed and which I will be taking full advantage of, starting with a meeting on Thursday evening.
After Sue left Ma did her hair which she finds ever more difficult to negotiate - today she couldn't find the hairspray in addition to the regular difficulties with using her curling irons. She then went and sat outside in the sun for a while before coming back inside and becoming morose and beligerent, refusing to speak to me and spending over three hours on the sofa in the kitchen refusing to eat or drink anything. I was actually quite worried about her being dehydrated after being out in the sun but it took that long to get her to drink anything. I'm still not sure why she took against me but she's now sitting in the lounge watching Wimbledon (I've always loved Nadal, he used to be good. Which one is he?), is about to eat some tea, and chatting happily about yesterday.
Rollercoaster.
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Uncle Vic outdid Simon in the mis-naming of things yesterday. Apparently he's been watching a foodie programme he thinks is called 'Two Fat Greeks'. In fact he's been watching 'Two Greedy Italians'. Still chuckling.
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The pork was sublime (and still is - leftover heaven here) and worth trying if you've never done it, although be warned it does feed an awful lot of people! Simon Rimmer's Lemon and Mascarpone tart http://tinyurl.com/3a43q5j is definitely worth making - but don't faint at the egg count - as is the Amaretti, raspberry and almond cake from the Good Food website http://tinyurl.com/647m8oa. I took a couple of photos and will post them after this - although the one of the table is a bit blurred due to me shaking from feeling so hot and crap. Sorry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days like today are the ones I find the hardest to deal with. Again, I think the excitement of yesterday has tipped her into a small decline. I call them white knuckle ride days.
When I took Ma her tablets this morning she was crying over Dad's photo (this is not unusual) and barely called goodbye to Simon before he left at about 9:00. She did not want to get up, which is fine, so I gave her a cup of tea and her tablets and left her alone.
At 9:30 Sue from the Community Mental Health Team (Older People) came to see me, she is the person who cares for the Carers and offers support etc. to people like me. Within five minutes of her arriving Ma came into the room fully dressed and lipsticked and obviously wanting to know what was going on. This made talking to Sue a bit tricky because obviously we needed to talk about Ma and how I am coping. However, I think Sue and I sparked off each other quite well and I'm sure we will get on famously, she is coming to see me again in a couple of weeks to do a Carer's Assessment. There's quite a lot of support out there that I hadn't realised existed and which I will be taking full advantage of, starting with a meeting on Thursday evening.
After Sue left Ma did her hair which she finds ever more difficult to negotiate - today she couldn't find the hairspray in addition to the regular difficulties with using her curling irons. She then went and sat outside in the sun for a while before coming back inside and becoming morose and beligerent, refusing to speak to me and spending over three hours on the sofa in the kitchen refusing to eat or drink anything. I was actually quite worried about her being dehydrated after being out in the sun but it took that long to get her to drink anything. I'm still not sure why she took against me but she's now sitting in the lounge watching Wimbledon (I've always loved Nadal, he used to be good. Which one is he?), is about to eat some tea, and chatting happily about yesterday.
Rollercoaster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uncle Vic outdid Simon in the mis-naming of things yesterday. Apparently he's been watching a foodie programme he thinks is called 'Two Fat Greeks'. In fact he's been watching 'Two Greedy Italians'. Still chuckling.
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Friday, 24 June 2011
It's the weekend
Today started with Ma looking for a dress to wear to church. When she realised that it wasn't Sunday she went into a decline refusing to eat or drink anything, just sitting in the chair with a face on. She did eventually have OSS at about 11am and gradually got over her snit.
Luckily for me I had E's visit to look forward to so pootled about in the kitchen making a quiche for lunch then did some apple sauce and started the stuffing for Sunday. Just generally faffing about really. I was desperate to start the puddings but will have to wait until tomorrow.
E arrived and it was fab as usual. Never run out of things to chat about and we noshed away on the quiche with some new spuds and salad. I was rather miffed that the Aga Know How book failed me regarding a 'crisp quiche base' and actually you DO have to bake the pastry blind first Grr.
After E left took Ma to the Doc's for a bit of a check up which went well and he picked up on my verbal clues and told Ma that he thought it was an excellent idea for her to go to the day centre. Now that Dr Hampson has spoken she's champing at the bit to get there *rolls eyes*
I also collected the pork from the butcher. I think it's fair to say that I'd forgotten just how huge a whole shoulder of pork is, scoring the skin is proving to be a challenge too far for my poor old hands. I'll have to do the other half tomorrow. It does do justice to the Aga roasting tin though :)
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Another chic-lit recommendation for you: Milly Johnson's The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Cried like a loon at the end.
All this reading is in the name of 'research' obviously. One day I will have a go at writing one.
Luckily for me I had E's visit to look forward to so pootled about in the kitchen making a quiche for lunch then did some apple sauce and started the stuffing for Sunday. Just generally faffing about really. I was desperate to start the puddings but will have to wait until tomorrow.
E arrived and it was fab as usual. Never run out of things to chat about and we noshed away on the quiche with some new spuds and salad. I was rather miffed that the Aga Know How book failed me regarding a 'crisp quiche base' and actually you DO have to bake the pastry blind first Grr.
After E left took Ma to the Doc's for a bit of a check up which went well and he picked up on my verbal clues and told Ma that he thought it was an excellent idea for her to go to the day centre. Now that Dr Hampson has spoken she's champing at the bit to get there *rolls eyes*
I also collected the pork from the butcher. I think it's fair to say that I'd forgotten just how huge a whole shoulder of pork is, scoring the skin is proving to be a challenge too far for my poor old hands. I'll have to do the other half tomorrow. It does do justice to the Aga roasting tin though :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another chic-lit recommendation for you: Milly Johnson's The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Cried like a loon at the end.
All this reading is in the name of 'research' obviously. One day I will have a go at writing one.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Back to Normality
The aliens have returned my mother. Damn them.
At 6am she woke me up to tell me she wouldn't be going to 'that place' because she didn't want to sit in a room with old ladies. This is not open to negotiation but we do have to wait for a place so there's time yet to bludgeon her into going.
I am convinced that the problem is fear. She is being asked to attend something new, on her own, for the first time since Dad died. They really did do everything together so this will be a first for her and it's a biggie. She keeps saying that I can/will go with her and this morning she said something very telling 'I looked around and didn't see anyone I know'. I do believe that once she has been a couple of times it will become something she looks forward to and it is also, in my opinion, something she needs to do. By that I mean meeting new people, many of whom are in very similar circumstances to her, and getting out of the house with some small measure of independence. And at the risk of sounding horribly selfish, it would give me a little bit of time off too.
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Watching Wimbledon has been relatively frustrating. She has always loved watching it and in years past I vividly remember her and Mavis glued to the tv watching Borg, Nastase, Conners et al. Today she decided that they've changed the scoring rules, that the Hewitt match 'is going on too long, it's ridiculous!' and responded to everything said by the commentators.
Eh well. Only another week and a half to go.
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I've ordered the pork from the butcher this afternoon. So far I've decided on roasties, newies, carrots, blue cheesy leeks, courgettes with rosemary and garlic crumbs, beetroot and horseradish relish, apple sauce, some sort of stuffing involving lemons and parsley etc., Yorkshires and gravy (natch). Then a tarte au citron and a damp raspberry/amaretti/ground almond cake thing with cream. I think some Cornish greens need to be in there too, for colour and also for balance. Do we think this sounds ok? Or am I missing something? (yes I do worry about things like this)
ETA oops forgot to mention the sausages wrapped in bacon. Someone attending is v partial to them :)
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I had a bit of vein poppage in my leg on Sunday but not, thankfully, DVT. The result is a whopping bruise on my calf which aches like a bugger. I rang NHS Direct when it happened, they couldn't have been more helpful, calmed my fears and told me to see the GP the following morning. GP was reassuring and told me to rest my leg and elevate it. Which I did. But only after I'd driven 500 miles obviously. I'll post a pic in a bit however, the bruising has faded a bit so not a gruesome as it was on Monday!
Actually Sunday night was eventful for another reason too. Some f****r kicked off my nearside wing mirror overnight. Definitely kicked off as the car was parked nearside to the kerb. I've managed to clip the housing back together but the glass won't go back in properly so it's now taped up waiting for a repair which will cost me £75 excess on the insurance. Like I said. F*****s.
At 6am she woke me up to tell me she wouldn't be going to 'that place' because she didn't want to sit in a room with old ladies. This is not open to negotiation but we do have to wait for a place so there's time yet to bludgeon her into going.
I am convinced that the problem is fear. She is being asked to attend something new, on her own, for the first time since Dad died. They really did do everything together so this will be a first for her and it's a biggie. She keeps saying that I can/will go with her and this morning she said something very telling 'I looked around and didn't see anyone I know'. I do believe that once she has been a couple of times it will become something she looks forward to and it is also, in my opinion, something she needs to do. By that I mean meeting new people, many of whom are in very similar circumstances to her, and getting out of the house with some small measure of independence. And at the risk of sounding horribly selfish, it would give me a little bit of time off too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watching Wimbledon has been relatively frustrating. She has always loved watching it and in years past I vividly remember her and Mavis glued to the tv watching Borg, Nastase, Conners et al. Today she decided that they've changed the scoring rules, that the Hewitt match 'is going on too long, it's ridiculous!' and responded to everything said by the commentators.
Eh well. Only another week and a half to go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've ordered the pork from the butcher this afternoon. So far I've decided on roasties, newies, carrots, blue cheesy leeks, courgettes with rosemary and garlic crumbs, beetroot and horseradish relish, apple sauce, some sort of stuffing involving lemons and parsley etc., Yorkshires and gravy (natch). Then a tarte au citron and a damp raspberry/amaretti/ground almond cake thing with cream. I think some Cornish greens need to be in there too, for colour and also for balance. Do we think this sounds ok? Or am I missing something? (yes I do worry about things like this)
ETA oops forgot to mention the sausages wrapped in bacon. Someone attending is v partial to them :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a bit of vein poppage in my leg on Sunday but not, thankfully, DVT. The result is a whopping bruise on my calf which aches like a bugger. I rang NHS Direct when it happened, they couldn't have been more helpful, calmed my fears and told me to see the GP the following morning. GP was reassuring and told me to rest my leg and elevate it. Which I did. But only after I'd driven 500 miles obviously. I'll post a pic in a bit however, the bruising has faded a bit so not a gruesome as it was on Monday!
Actually Sunday night was eventful for another reason too. Some f****r kicked off my nearside wing mirror overnight. Definitely kicked off as the car was parked nearside to the kerb. I've managed to clip the housing back together but the glass won't go back in properly so it's now taped up waiting for a repair which will cost me £75 excess on the insurance. Like I said. F*****s.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Okay....
Where's my real mother and what have you done with her?
Today (so far - it's now 17:20) has been easy and pleasant with Ma clearly pretty contented. She didn't get up until just before 8, decided not to have a shower today and requested porridge for breakfast just after nine o'clock. I successfully negotiated the tv schedule away from Jeremy Kyle and hit upon Cruise TV which pleased her no end. I was somewhat flummoxed when she said she thought she should be having some lunch at 11:30 and then proceeded to eat a small fish pie with tomatoes, four custard creams and a hot chocolate.
Her social worker arrived after lunch and took her off to the day centre which she really wasn't very keen to see. (I finished Mandy Baggot's book Knowing Me Knowing You *sniff*) When she got back she was full of it! 'They give you lunch and you can get your hair done and they have music afternoons and send you home with some tea.' There was some confusion over the arrangements ie she seems to think that I can go with her and she doesn't quite understand about the minibus collection schedule - I think she thinks this is a personal taxi service - but all in all it was a fantastic response. We now have to wait until there is a place for her but hopefully it won't be too long, not because she will forget but because she won't and will ask me many times a day until it is sorted.
She's watched a couple of hours of Wimbledon and has just asked me when her tea will be ready and would like cottage pie and peas.... This is when I began to suspect an alien abduction.
Yesterday when I was literally nauseous with fatigue and pain after all the driving she was in a vicious mood, got unbelievably annoyed when I dozed off for 10 minutes, banging cupboard doors open and closed and throwing things around then pushed food around her plate at both meals and went to bed in a huff. So that's the last time I let her have blue Smarties for lunch (kidding).
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I've invited Ma's friend's over for Sunday lunch again. I fancy doing something very slightly different ie mustard and maple syrup glazed roast gammon with parsley and Cumberland sauces and the usual roast dinner type veggies (roast, new, cabbage, cauli and leek cheese, peas etc). Never done gammon for Sunday lunch - do we think this is ok? Otherwise it will have to be 24 hour pork in the bottom oven. Which, now I think about it, is a very good (and going to church friendly) idea. Place your votes now please....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'So did you like it?'
'It was very nice, the girls were ever so friendly.'
'Well that's great! You'll soon make some new friends and it will be nice to chat with some new people.'
'I won't be talking to any of those old ones though. Poor souls.'
Today (so far - it's now 17:20) has been easy and pleasant with Ma clearly pretty contented. She didn't get up until just before 8, decided not to have a shower today and requested porridge for breakfast just after nine o'clock. I successfully negotiated the tv schedule away from Jeremy Kyle and hit upon Cruise TV which pleased her no end. I was somewhat flummoxed when she said she thought she should be having some lunch at 11:30 and then proceeded to eat a small fish pie with tomatoes, four custard creams and a hot chocolate.
Her social worker arrived after lunch and took her off to the day centre which she really wasn't very keen to see. (I finished Mandy Baggot's book Knowing Me Knowing You *sniff*) When she got back she was full of it! 'They give you lunch and you can get your hair done and they have music afternoons and send you home with some tea.' There was some confusion over the arrangements ie she seems to think that I can go with her and she doesn't quite understand about the minibus collection schedule - I think she thinks this is a personal taxi service - but all in all it was a fantastic response. We now have to wait until there is a place for her but hopefully it won't be too long, not because she will forget but because she won't and will ask me many times a day until it is sorted.
She's watched a couple of hours of Wimbledon and has just asked me when her tea will be ready and would like cottage pie and peas.... This is when I began to suspect an alien abduction.
Yesterday when I was literally nauseous with fatigue and pain after all the driving she was in a vicious mood, got unbelievably annoyed when I dozed off for 10 minutes, banging cupboard doors open and closed and throwing things around then pushed food around her plate at both meals and went to bed in a huff. So that's the last time I let her have blue Smarties for lunch (kidding).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've invited Ma's friend's over for Sunday lunch again. I fancy doing something very slightly different ie mustard and maple syrup glazed roast gammon with parsley and Cumberland sauces and the usual roast dinner type veggies (roast, new, cabbage, cauli and leek cheese, peas etc). Never done gammon for Sunday lunch - do we think this is ok? Otherwise it will have to be 24 hour pork in the bottom oven. Which, now I think about it, is a very good (and going to church friendly) idea. Place your votes now please....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'So did you like it?'
'It was very nice, the girls were ever so friendly.'
'Well that's great! You'll soon make some new friends and it will be nice to chat with some new people.'
'I won't be talking to any of those old ones though. Poor souls.'
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Wincey's Words of Wisdom
Quick update on today.
Picked Ma up just after 10 this morning. We listened to the Radio 2 pop quiz on the way home which she seemed to enjoy - although I'm not so sure it was quite as funny as she seemed to think it was... The weather was absolutely foul so the journey wasn't the best but we got home ok.
She's eaten a three egg cheese omelette with bread and butter for lunch and a small portion of braising steak and onions with some mash just now. Plus tea and chocolate biscuits with Vic and Mavis. A good food day for once.
Lots of confusion about what has happened recently so I've had to do a fair bit of picking through the conversation carefully to make sure that I don't piss her off because I'm 'not listening' or worse, correcting her.
And I am shattered and in quite a bit of pain after all the driving so need to go and lie down in a darkened room.
So a short update today, sorry. More tomorrow.
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M62. Saddleworth Moor. Just passed the sign which says 'Highest Point on British Motorway 1221ft'. It is raining so hard and the spray is so bad you can't tell one from the other.
'It's a bit dull isn't it'
Picked Ma up just after 10 this morning. We listened to the Radio 2 pop quiz on the way home which she seemed to enjoy - although I'm not so sure it was quite as funny as she seemed to think it was... The weather was absolutely foul so the journey wasn't the best but we got home ok.
She's eaten a three egg cheese omelette with bread and butter for lunch and a small portion of braising steak and onions with some mash just now. Plus tea and chocolate biscuits with Vic and Mavis. A good food day for once.
Lots of confusion about what has happened recently so I've had to do a fair bit of picking through the conversation carefully to make sure that I don't piss her off because I'm 'not listening' or worse, correcting her.
And I am shattered and in quite a bit of pain after all the driving so need to go and lie down in a darkened room.
So a short update today, sorry. More tomorrow.
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M62. Saddleworth Moor. Just passed the sign which says 'Highest Point on British Motorway 1221ft'. It is raining so hard and the spray is so bad you can't tell one from the other.
'It's a bit dull isn't it'
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Playing away
My planned quick getaway this morning was slightly scuppered by Ma breaking the flush mechanism on the loo in her bathroom. The flush mechanism is easily repaired and it really isn't much of an issue because there are several other loos available but it sent Ma into a decline whereupon she went back to bed for two hours and cried a lot. Obviously I couldn't leave her in such a state so I pootled about until she was ready to get up then fed her breakfast, cleared up and left at about half 10.
The journey was the usual mix of slow-ish traffic, bad weather en route, stopped traffic due to rubber-necking a three car pile up on the OTHER carriageway etc. etc. So six hours after I set off, hello North Devon. As predicted, the house was fairly empty although Will was at home and not at Abi's as I'd thought. Otherwise the house is in good order, Lily was thrilled to see the children and we've all just scarfed a Chinese. Chicken balls for them, king prawn egg foo yung for me (no noodles ironically) whilst watching Kung Fu Panda. As a result of this I have booked tickets to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D with my daughter tomorrow (Pullman seats - get us!).
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Father's day tomorrow. Exactly seven months to the day since my wonderful dad left us and I can't tell you how much the whole thing upsets me this year. I have tears running down my face as I type this. I miss him so very very much. The silly sense of humour, the Basil Brush laugh, our daily phone calls that often went on for an hour or more. His compassion and wise counsel, his love and affection. He was a great party animal, adored my mother, custard, a drink and a tidy drawer. He was deeply loved by so very many people and is deeply missed by all of them.
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Ohhh! So THAT's what the new +1 button at the bottom of the page does!
The journey was the usual mix of slow-ish traffic, bad weather en route, stopped traffic due to rubber-necking a three car pile up on the OTHER carriageway etc. etc. So six hours after I set off, hello North Devon. As predicted, the house was fairly empty although Will was at home and not at Abi's as I'd thought. Otherwise the house is in good order, Lily was thrilled to see the children and we've all just scarfed a Chinese. Chicken balls for them, king prawn egg foo yung for me (no noodles ironically) whilst watching Kung Fu Panda. As a result of this I have booked tickets to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D with my daughter tomorrow (Pullman seats - get us!).
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Father's day tomorrow. Exactly seven months to the day since my wonderful dad left us and I can't tell you how much the whole thing upsets me this year. I have tears running down my face as I type this. I miss him so very very much. The silly sense of humour, the Basil Brush laugh, our daily phone calls that often went on for an hour or more. His compassion and wise counsel, his love and affection. He was a great party animal, adored my mother, custard, a drink and a tidy drawer. He was deeply loved by so very many people and is deeply missed by all of them.
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Ohhh! So THAT's what the new +1 button at the bottom of the page does!
Friday, 17 June 2011
Friday and beyond
Today Ma went to hospital for some tests. Everything seems to be ok but they did take a biopsy as a precaution.
Naturally she was up at daft o'clock so I'd done a full day of housework by 9! We had a few inside out issues and tricky pants to negotiate, and the shower was 'broken' again but generally it was a fairly easy start to the day. Porridge (Oat So Simple Golden Syrup Thank you Thank you Thank you) and ITV kept her entertained until Jane arrived. 'We' are now watching Emmerdale.
God bless Jane who came and took her to the hospital so I had a few hours off. I'm ashamed to say I spent them catching up on House. I love the relationship bits and think they are far more interesting than the ridiculous medical scenarios. Yep that would be me justifying my viewing habits. Sue me.
I'm off to Devon tomorrow to spend some serious time with my children. This means that I will arrive to an echoingly empty house and my daughter drawing on her graphics pad with no sign of any boys. Will will be staying at Abbi's and George will be working then off to a party (or making jazz hands). I shall wrestle H into a girlie night of dvd/chocolate/ice cream and a discussion about the various merits of Mr Depp, Mr Bloom, Mr Radcliffe and Mr Smith (we are geeky Dr Who types). I think she will vote for Mr Smith. But only because I don't intend to include Mr Hammond.
Happy times.
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Spanish Chicken for tea. I was convinced Ma would push it around her plate but she hoovered it up. Perhaps having Jane here helped. I used some cooking chorizo along with chicken thighs, onion, peppers, tinned toms, red wine, chick peas, parsley, garlic and paprika. They had it with mash, I used a large spoon. There's just enough left over for a one person frozen meal :)
Naturally she was up at daft o'clock so I'd done a full day of housework by 9! We had a few inside out issues and tricky pants to negotiate, and the shower was 'broken' again but generally it was a fairly easy start to the day. Porridge (Oat So Simple Golden Syrup Thank you Thank you Thank you) and ITV kept her entertained until Jane arrived. 'We' are now watching Emmerdale.
God bless Jane who came and took her to the hospital so I had a few hours off. I'm ashamed to say I spent them catching up on House. I love the relationship bits and think they are far more interesting than the ridiculous medical scenarios. Yep that would be me justifying my viewing habits. Sue me.
I'm off to Devon tomorrow to spend some serious time with my children. This means that I will arrive to an echoingly empty house and my daughter drawing on her graphics pad with no sign of any boys. Will will be staying at Abbi's and George will be working then off to a party (or making jazz hands). I shall wrestle H into a girlie night of dvd/chocolate/ice cream and a discussion about the various merits of Mr Depp, Mr Bloom, Mr Radcliffe and Mr Smith (we are geeky Dr Who types). I think she will vote for Mr Smith. But only because I don't intend to include Mr Hammond.
Happy times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spanish Chicken for tea. I was convinced Ma would push it around her plate but she hoovered it up. Perhaps having Jane here helped. I used some cooking chorizo along with chicken thighs, onion, peppers, tinned toms, red wine, chick peas, parsley, garlic and paprika. They had it with mash, I used a large spoon. There's just enough left over for a one person frozen meal :)
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