The other thing that happened yesterday was that our air-conditioning cut out, we think about 4.00 p.m. It was 42 degrees (about 107 F) at the hottest part of the day and we had been running all the rooms. I had just added the bedroom.

We thought it was the same problem as before where a part had to be replaced and took ages to arrive. We set in motion a backup plan (packed up to go to stay with Mum) and then switched everything off. We had rather a hot night again, though it did cool down in the morning. I set up the little evaporative cooler when I made our cups of tea.

Then, we switched on. And it worked. Such a relief!

The lesson learned is that for such extreme weather we need to try to not overuse the system. Today we were out until about 2.00 p.m., and had closed up the house and put down the blinds everywhere, and it wasn’t too bad when we got home. We switched on and it has been working this afternoon. We have closed the studies and the bedroom and switched off those rooms. We have always done this in the past when using the system to save electricity, so I don’t quite know why we were so blasé about it.

Of course, we are having about a week of extreme temperatures, although I notice that the maximum temperatures have been revised slightly downwards for the next few days.

Yesterday (Monday 8th) was finally the day for Stephen to see the neurologist, Susan Ho. She asked me to join in on the consultation so that I could give my take on what I saw happen. She said that she would not prescribe medication for a one off seizure as if he never had another one, we wouldn’t know if it was because of the medication or just that it was going to be a one off. She said that the scans from the MRI were too grainy for her to be able to make a diagnosis and asked Stephen to book in for another MRI and an EEG in the next couple of days.

She took a fairly detailed history and asked many questions. Basically, she established that there were no factors that could have triggered the seizure, such as extreme fatigue, heaving drinking the night before, or anything else.

After the consultation we went to a couch near her rooms and made the calls. We were able to book the MRI at Hollywood SKG and the EEG at St John of God, Subiaco. Stephen said that the EEG was much more thoroughly done this time, with several different phases and electrodes directly connected to his head. Like this:

Dr Ho was not able to offer Stephen a second appointment until the end of February. She checked the diary herself. She said that if she felt it warranted, she would contact Stephen sooner to make an earlier appointment. I guess it means she would have to work a longer day. She already looks like she works very long days.

After lunch at St John of God, we did some shopping and came home for a rest. I suggested that we not go to the Cabaret at St George’s tonight as it is going to be hot and Stephen should not risk the heat stress.

On Sunday I subscribed to a new photography site called PhotoTraces.com run by Viktor Elizarov. It included some free Lightroom presets and after installing them, I did some reworking of images from Stara Boleslav and Brandys Nad Labem taken on the day of Stephen’s seizure. We had completed a long walk across the bridge to the other village. I used a couple of the presets, HDR and Heavy Shadows. It is possible to adjust them to taste. One is used as the Featured Image for this post and some others are included below. These have been resized in ImageBucket, so I hope they are not too small.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We cleaned the floors yesterday. Even with the two of us working, Stephen with the vacuum cleaner and me with the mop and broom, it took about an hour. Stephen did a thorough clean, including under the queen bed where there are lots of his musical instruments stored, so it took longer than it could have done.

In the evening we had Matt to tea. I seem to be getting a bit better with guiding the wheelchair. He is still leaning back too far and I think it makes it harder for him to switch on the dishwasher, as well as being bad for when he is eating. Maybe needs a bit of a ‘push’ to get them to adjust it. When Matt had a go outside I noticed he was better at being able to go in a straight line, so practice is paying off for him as well.

Stephen and I are proofreading Eversley’s new book on Rottnest. The featured photo is of Stephen working on the Mac in the study nook in the living area.

And a photo of Matt. I took lots, but this was the best, with a little catchlight in his eye.

Yesterday Stephen went to one of his opera movies, a modern work that I wasn’t interested in. I went to look for sandals for Mum, and also spent time near the sea. Several degrees cooler than inland, of course. In the evening after the usual news and 7.30 report we watched Chariots of Fire. Very dated, but still a great movie. The music didn’t sound too good, it seemed to be a rather poor copy of the original movie as I am sure the sound was wonderful when we first saw the movie.

Yesterday (Friday) we spent much of the day at home. I caught up with Stephanie from Townsend Studio re what Matt is doing this year. An individual programme. I said that it was important to us that staff write in his Chat Book so that we can share in what he is doing.

I phoned Mum to say that I would look for a pair of the same sandals that I have. I asked if Marie visited yesterday, she wasn’t sure. I couldn’t resist ringing and speaking with Marie – confirmed that she did go to see Mum yesterday. Marie wasn’t feeling too well and she was able to go home fairly early, hopefully to have some rest.

In the evening we went to the rehearsal and met with Eversley for a shared supper. Jeff Caroll came as well and appreciated the supper, plus the extra folding chair we brought along for him. It was an enjoyable night and although we took light jumpers/jackets, they were quite enough, it didn’t get cold.

The photos were taken on the Nikon D7200 with 16-85mm lens. I processed some in Snapseed on my iPad, then sent them to myself via email. Not wonderful photos, but I enjoyed having the camera and playing in Snapseed.

All in all, a very pleasant time. This opera only lasts about 50 minutes. Sometimes there was a loss of the sound, or the sub titles didn’t work, but basically it went very well. They went through it again, but we felt that once was enough for us and after sitting talking for a while we left as it started up again.

Yesterday we did shopping during the day and had the first meeting of our choir for the year. A very good turnout of about 20 people meant that we could stop worrying about the viability of the choir, for now. It was great seeing everyone again. Raelene, our new choir director, is very encouraging as she works on getting us to sing songs as they are written, rather than approximations. Bernard had rather given up I think.

Today not much happening. Stephen swept the outdoor area and I walked around the block. I was rewarded by finding a $5.00 note on the footpath in Miller Street, quite an unusual thing to happen.

A bit of washing.

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.