Yesterday Stephen had his second visit with the heart specialist. Apart from upping the new medication, he did not suggest anything. He said that the stress test showed an increase in his heart rate that was more than it should have been, which is why the dosage has increased (doubled). However, in regard to future he is waiting on the results of the visit to the neurologist and will send a copy of his report to her.

I dropped Stephen off for his appointment, then went to stay the night with Mum. I found the whole time I was with her that her short term memory was mostly quite good, much better than at other times when I’ve been with her. The time there was very peaceful, we at dinner at separate times, but watched the news, 7.30 report and Catalyst together. She had two glasses of wine, her new ‘normal’, cutting down from three per day.

I had a window open and the fan going to drown out the noise of her going to the toilet in the night. Not that she is noisy, but the floor creaks a lot! I had a very good night’s sleep and woke up at 6.15 a.m. to the alarm. We both had our morning hot drink, then I had a shower, and we went to her appointment, leaving at about 8.30 a.m.

She still had to wait to see Dr Littlewood, but not as long as other days. Mum remembered how to drive there and also the floor he is on. She was quite able to cope with the process. He said that her eye condition that is treatable is doing well, she is still able to follow the routine of eye drops morning and night.

Mum did not want to go to Midland Gate even though she is interested in buying sandals like mine. We went to Mundaring where she had her scripts filled. I went and bought a cooked chicken, some bread and sausage rolls, and a cup of coffee each.

After lunch we had a rest, then finalised the form for her Personal Alarm. She still insists that she doesn’t need it, but I said all her children wanted her to have it and that it was part of helping her to remain living alone independently. She said that she still does like living alone. Mind you, she often rings Robyne to ask her to come to visit her. Marie said that sometimes she rings both of them. I assume that she doesn’t ring Jamie and I because we are visiting so often!

We also made an appointment with her GP to help  with applying for an ACROD sticker to use when we take her out. I notice that Mum doesn’t like to walk very far and has difficulty with coping with pavements (they are often uneven).

The doves have taken over that spot on Mum’s roof. My brother has tried to move them on, but they appear to have decided to ignore him. The other photos were taken in the garden Tuesday evening.

Last summer we started Monday morning swims at Riverton Leisure Complex. We like the  covered, heated pool that is separated from the area where small children play in shallow pools. We compete with the schools for this space, but if we get there early enough there are no problems.

Afterwards we stopped at the Lo Quay Cafe on the Old Riverton Bridge for a shared bacon and egg sandwich and our coffee and chai latte drinks. There were plenty of newspapers so Stephen got to indulge.

Sunday and today have been quite cool and we both went for lap rugs when having our afternoon rests.

I did a couple of loads of washing, and enjoyed a gin and tonic in the late afternoon. Less the gin, of course, since we don’t have any. Tonic is almost as nice on its own!

Apparently Mum had four visitors on Sunday morning. She had rung Robyne and asked her to come, plus Marnie was there. Tracy came to do the housework and Jamie came with her. I wonder how it all went.

Stephen and I walked over to the Farmer’s Market this morning, just to see what it was like. There were a few food stalls, a bouncy castle for children, plus about 3 stalls with fresh produce/meat. I bought a jar of honey from a stall, very local as it comes from Shelley.

Matt was very happy when he came home and we all enjoyed the evening. Stephen was feeling better this week, so able to do things with Matt as well. We looked at photos on Matt’s iPad of his sister’s wedding and some from Christmas events that we missed by being overseas. Matt ate well, unlike last week, perhaps having a roast dinner helped. I dressed up in the chef’s hat and apron.

Della got back to me with some photos. They have had some snow in Chongqing and visited a nearby mountain – it is as special to them as it is to us because it doesn’t happen very often. She has two tins left of the milk formula and said she would indeed like some more. Probably six tins at a time would work as that is what fits into one of the post office boxes.