We had a lovely lunch outing with Mum yesterday. I had a look at her head and there was definitely an injury, but it looked like it was on the surface. So glad they sent to her Emergency to have it checked out. She seemed fine and was quite bright. Stephen says he thinks she will be with us for quite a long time as she seems so lively and ‘with it’. I think the stimulation helps.

Before going out, we checked on her seeing the visiting doctor to have her blood pressure checked. After asking several people and consulting with the RN, it was decided that she will see the Clinical Nurse on Friday. The nurse is there all day, so Mum can go out with Robyne without worrying about when the doctor is coming.

We went to the Parky for lunch and shared a couple of light lunch items and a bowl of desert – which worked well for three people. We also had coffees and went outside after our main meal so that she could smoke and enjoy her coffee in a leisurely way. She talked about her father and mother as the Parky brings up good memories. As usual, we shared the cost of the lunch with her, especially important as today was a little more expensive than going to the Mt Helena cafe.

In the evening we were rather entranced by the combined Blue Moon (2nd full moon of the month), Blood Moon and eclipse. I’ve not had successful photos of moon events with a good camera, so just took my littlest Sony and a basic 55-210mm lens to the end of the driveway for some shots. They were surprisingly clear. We had binoculars, which gave us an amazing view, and in the end took chairs out to watch for a while until the mozzies drove us in. Whilst sitting in my low chair I was able to use my knees as a tripod to get steadier shots.

The first one was taken quite early in the cycle, with just some shading at the bottom. The photos are cropped, with a slight use of the ‘clarity’ slider in Lightroom.

The video clip below shows how difficult it was to hold the little camera steady to get clear photos. I had it set on spot metering, so even when there was light in the sky, the background looks black.

This morning I had an appointment with Glenda at the Ability Centre to discuss NDIS funding. Basically we don’t have to worry about the transition which will happen next year as the Ability Centre will do all of the work of setting up the plan and we just have to be careful to not lose funding by saying something dumb.

We also discussed her ideas about community building in the local area, something that she is hoping will happen gradually over the next couple of years. It reminds me of the community building that is happening here in Victoria Park – driven mostly by the council, and warmly embraced by the residents.

We also discussed the possibility of Matt having a couple of  breaks from his Opportunities program during the year so that his Christmas break can be a bit shorter. I think it’s an excellent idea as three weeks off must seem a long time to him. He has periods where he doesn’t feel well, and appears to be in pain. This can affect him for a week or more. We discussed him maybe taking a break when that is happening so that he has a chance to get better. The pain is likely to be in his muscles as his body is changing as he gets older.

The great thing about having the meeting today is that is coincided with Matt’s Smoothie Bar. I had a mango, coconut milk smoothie, just lovely. Although they use ice, they keep it going for an extra 30 seconds or so to warm it slightly so that you can taste the full flavour. Matt has his own mixer and is now using a switch near his head to operate it. He has to use his manual wheelchair as his powered chair doesn’t fit under the table due to the control display on one side.

One of the huge machines on the building site behind us sometimes makes a curious rumbling. It gets particularly noisy in the kitchen and makes things rattle in the cupboards. A light fitting became partly detached in our ‘powder room’ and Stephen took a photo and sent it to our contact person at Celcius who own the project. They sent the builder over with a ladder to fix it. We were very pleased as we thought we would need an electrican. But, it does demonstrate how the grumbling and shaking can loosen things.

Still no call about the Winnie being ready. Maybe tomorrow?