I’m having days of feeling unwell, not every day, but fairly often. I am putting it down to the stress of things at the moment. We have a resolution of sorts with my mother. The doctor at St John of God has done some memory testing, including what I have reported, of course, and diagnosed Alzheimers, which he explained to her and us as a steeper memory loss than would be expected for her age. He has given us a list of things, some of which are aimed at helping to slow down the rate of loss. He has also suggested that she not drive, and I have taken the initiative of taking away her car key. However, at the moment the plan is to hid in in the house, and she may get hold of it. My concern was mainly that she drives herself to Mundaring, but it is also a worry in the local area.
Mum seemed to take it quite well, but I am not sure how well she understood it. Marie was at the appointment as well and took her home. Robyne and Tracy will both see her this weekend. I find that although I am somewhat relieved, especially as Mum and I discussed going into a hostel as ‘respite’ for a short while. Even Tracy has said that as it is Jamie’s idea that Mum move into their granny flat he should take more responsibility. At the moment his plan is to go prospecting as much as he can for the winter. Which leaves Tracy to cope with Mum. Not that she is unwilling to drive Mum around and spend time with her, but she should not have to have the full responsibility of being the primary carer. Still, at least the women in the family are all sharing responsibility. I should feel less overwhelmed, but I don’t somehow.
Other important things this week: I took my A7RII to Camera Electronic to have the sensor cleaned. Stephen and I had a Rod Evans lunch on Tuesday and found we could catch a bus into North Perth and fairly easily get there on foot, so this may be my preferred method of going there in future. Lovely to have it ready for action again.
I took 10 meals and 10 soups to Mum’s on Wednesday. We went over to look at the new things done by the electrician and enjoyed a cup of tea with Tracy. She is doing the cleaning step by step, including washing windows and curtains.
Working Voices Committee had our first meeting on Thursday evening at Munch Tce. Some of us had food, others had water. It was good to get together to discuss things. Cherry took notes as I was eating. We enjoyed the rehearsal with Raelene, but are still wondering about her commitment to the choir and also whether the choir is going to survive.
Friday morning was the appointment at St John of God for Mum. I went up to her place early and found that although we spoke about it on Wednesday and I rang her Thursday evening she could remember that something was happening, but not exactly what it was. When she spoke about feeling muddled I said that that was why we were worrying about her. She acknowledged that she is lonely and feels she would do better with more social interaction. That is how the notion of going into a hostel for a short period to see how she likes it. As compared with living in the granny flat. I think we need to get her there (moving date is now May 7th) and get her really settled, with her routine established, before trying something different again. The stress must certainly be contributing to her problems.
The reason I wanted to hide the key was because I thought she might forget about not driving, but also because it is very hard for her to give up the freedom of driving, even though all of us are willing to take her whenever she wants to go out. But, one can’t just decide on the spur of moment to get something done, and that is hard. Different for Stephen as he is so good at working how to do things by bus/train.
The next thing was taking Matt to the football on Friday night. It was enjoyable and having the powered chair was great in terms of being able to get around. He will have to give up this better chair this coming week and apply for funding for his own chair. They think he will qualify for most of the cost from the government, but he had to be able to demonstrate that he can use it to qualify.
Tin dropped us off a little way from the stadium and we walked in the rest of the way. With the powered chair we could even walk further and save dealing with some of the traffic. We arrived a little before the start of the match and Matt was quite ready to go home after the first half, which was when we had asked for Haidar to pick us up.
Matt had tea before he left, and didn’t have much of his drink, but ate all of the snacks provided. He is definitely having difficulty with the chair being tilted a bit far back for eating. I propped him up a bit with his jacket. It was a mild evening, so jackets weren’t actually needed.
We had planned to go to Fairbridge for the day today, but when we looked at the cost it felt like too much to pay, especially as I didn’t want to drive home in the dark. It makes the full ticket including camping seem very good value. A pity to miss out entirely, but the timing is bad for us this year. There are other music festivals during the year and we are taking in at least one of them, the Denmark Festival of Voice.
I have pleaded for a day at home, rather than going out to see a movie. We walked over to the shops before breakfast this morning for a few things and I’ve suggested we watch a movie rented from iTunes in the afternoon. We can have another walk before dinner time if we want to get out again.
The featured image is of the West Coast Eagles warming up. They were well in front when we left last night, but I’ve not checked on how the night finished up.
I almost forgot, but how could I, that we went over to see Marie Hastings on Thursday. This is the first time we have seen her for about 3 years or so. She is looking very well for a woman who is still in a lot of pain over the separation. The house looks lovely, she has put in crimsafe screens on the doors and windows, and white shutters instead of curtains in the kitchen and bathroom. Everything was very clean and tidy, unlike our house.
She is babysitting Alyssa all week and Shane for a few days, so it was a chance to see them again. She keeps herself busy with her interests and the grandkids, who are a continual delight even though it’s a big commitment on her part. I am so happy that we have reconnected properly again, after trying to connect via emails and phone calls. We hope to get together again fairly soon. She doesn’t seem to have got any older, unlike the rest of us, although I realise that she works hard to be positive and energetic around the children. Shane still ‘minds’ her when she reinforces good manners, etc., I think because she is consistent in her expectations and does it in an authoritative (not authoritarian) manner. As grannies go I think her children have struck gold and I hope they appreciate her. The grand children love her, of course.