Weekend planning.

Fabia here today so we are starting to plan her jaunt with Mum this weekend at the christmas markets. Two nights chez Fabia and one night in Rochester.

We have a bag packed and ready to go and Mum has been primed with the itinerary. We drop her of with Fabia Friday teatime, Friday night in Lynn then on the coach to Rochester to stay at the Holiday Inn with FIVE yes FIVE free drink vouchers. Sunday, travel to Canterbury then back to Lynn for another night chez Fabia. Return home Monday.

Simple.

Its Tuesday now. We have the best part of three days of bag unpacking and repacking. Three days of

What am I doing?

When am I going?

What day is it?

What day do I go?

Where am I going?

You never tell me anything!!


Think the food and humour tactics will work best for the next few days. Diversion and redirection. If Mum's not eating then make her laugh. Generally seems to work in the short term.

Once aboard the charabanc she will be so excited that all the worries disappear. She does still enjoy an outing of any description.



The pistachio mountain has been restocked as I forgot to hide the start of the xmas snack stockpile, and a search of the bedroom will be in order whilst she eats breakfast tomorrow as my new tube of toothpaste disappeared within seconds of me returning from the supermarket.




If you haven't checked it out yet please have a look at my website dementiacarer.comwhich will soon be the new home for this blog. It has links to other people providing care for dementia sufferers, the start of a forum and other bits and bobs.The aim is to try to provide a place for people touched in any way by dementia to hang out and recieve or offer advice, support and help.


Please pop over, sign up and introduce yourself in one of the forums. The only way it can work is if we get a bit of "community" going on. Suggestions for improvements and content are always most welcome

Its Alive..

Its Alive!

Finally I have plucked up the courage to flick the "on" switch for my website, dementiacarer.com. 

The idea behind it is to take a step further than this blog. On the site I have forums so carers can share problems, hints and tricks. Something you need to know? Start a topic, as more and more people sign up then more and more advice will be forthcoming. I am also actively seeking ideas for content, what would you like to see on it. If your life has in any way been touched by dementia and you want to tell people about it let me know.

I also have links to other blogs from dementia carers, a section I would like to expand. Have you stumbled across any other dementia related blogs?  Let me know.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I will be moving to the website in the near future so please go to the site and register as there will be a newsletter available in the near future. 

Quick Update

Just a quick update.

You know when you surf the web? All those sites you look at, lovely pictures and nice text all laid out in shiny boxes with links to loads of interesting beautifully formatted stuff? Do you know how hard it is to do that?
I do now.

Its a learning curve I will admit, but I want to be at the top of the curve now. So please be patient if you are Watling for the website. Something will be online this Sunday but it wont be quite the amazing site I was hoping for. I really must learn to be patient.

In other news..

Mums pistachio mountain is dwindling, don't think she will see it through the winter may have to think of restocking at the weekend.

The dog had a funny turn after dinner tonight, crying panting staggering around we were a little concerned till........BBBBuuuurrrrpppp! right as rain now.

The nice Gentleman is now an outpatient so we can visit whenever we like, mum very happy about that.

Thats it for tonight, back to wordpressing. Watch this space.

Good times

Had a great weekend, thanks for asking.

Saturday Sarah went to London to meet the Kids, turns out the streets aren't really paved with gold but the Mayor Is a Dick. Nice day out with Mum, lunch in a lovely little village pub then a ride around in the countryside. Glorious weather, blue skies sunshine Mum and me in much better moods. Pop up to see the lovely old gentleman as he is out of hospital. Now receiving his medication as an outpatient so Mum will be able to visit more.

Lazy day today, quick trip to the tip, I`m sure someone keeps slipping wine bottles in to our recycling boxes, Sainsbury`s and home. With a bit of team work we pull together a lovely roast dinner. Free range chicken, roast potatoes carrots and parsnips, steamed cabbage with leek red onion and feta. While this is on the go knock up a large batch of spicy vegetable soup for the freezer.

No signs of Dark Mum this weekend at all. In fact as I type this she is standing in the middle of the room conducting and humming along to west side story, happy as Larry.

So, no sting in the tail here, all in all a lovely weekend was had by all.

Tomorrow, work on the website in earnest. I have been putting this off for whatever reason I can find, nerves I think. What happens if it launches and no-one visits?  So I have set myself the challenge to have something, anything, on line by this time next week. I have some amazing people offering help for nothing, I have other bloggers and interested prepared to offer content, so lets go.

If you are new to this blog you can get a little more info about what I am trying to achieve with the site Here.

Light to dark.

Funny old day today.

Respite carer from Age concern, Donna takes Mum out for the morning on a Thursday so I treat myself to a lie in. Then out for a walk over the hills to Dingley, trying to shake off some of the extra stones that stopping smoking has piled on. Lovely.


Back in the house and Donna just leaving, she`s been to town with setting off all the musical toys in Wilkinsons, a favourite pastime of Mums, so she`s in good spirits.


Quick cuppa, put the radio on for the Archers and think about a hospital visit to see the nice gentleman. All of a sudden we go from Light Mum to Dark Mum. Now this is something I haven't really touched on here. Its not something that happens often, but its something I think I may have to prepare for being a more common occurrence?


Hard to describe really. Sitting quietly then suddenly almost a physical change, Mum stands and glares not particularly at me, just in my general direction,and a weird torrent of words and gestures starts. Almost like speaking in tongues, the odd word or phrase will make a little sense but in general a string of random phrases and sounds that may once have been words. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes and we start to calm down and try to get to the bottom of it. This time I have genuinely no idea. In the past it has been things as diverse as something on the TV, the weather or more deep rooted problems like the inability to converse but this time? I don`t know. I really don`t know.


Its funny. Just those few minutes can leave you emotionally and physically drained. The thoughts and emotions that fly through your mind. Is it me? Is it aimed at me? What should I be doing to change this? Most of all why has this happened to MY Mum? Once one of the most eloquent people you could have ever met now cannot even tell me why she is so cross.


This may all sound so trivial, maybe I`m not explaining it too well but today has been a hard day. Just thought I`d share that.








On a slightly lighter note Here is a link to the article in the Harborough Mail, and in case you missed it Here is one to the Leicester Mercury article.

In the News again

In the news again !!

Sorry about the quality again. Will get some decent scans this week.

Leicester Mercury this time. Another well written article, this time including a few quotes lifted straight from the blog and also words of praise from the Leicestershire Alzheimers society. So it looks like I may be getting something right!

If you are new here from the Mercury can I suggest you have a look Here as there are links to a couple of my favourite pages and me on twitter and facebook.

Its great to get feedback of any sort, especially if your life has been touched in anyway by dementia so please drop me a line. I`m hoping to gather stories, hints and tips together for when the blog makes the step up to full website.

If you havent seen the article you can read it here on the Mercury website.

Nuts.

Another weekend away this time with Mum.


Off we went to Norfolk for fireworks and a bonfire chez the lovely Patty, my sisters friend.  She has a garden as big as a small county so every year half of Kings Lynn descend and party on. Following the usual plan of a few glasses of wine and a couple of beers then the long walk to the fire, and pyrotechnics the size of small houses. Very good show, the fire burnt well and included all Marks "confidential information" and the generous donation of a fine dodger from the Norfolk Constabulary.

Amazingly, yet again with this heady mix of Fire alcohol and high powered explosives  there are no injuries. Must try harder next year. Back into the house for a great chilli and sausages and maybe a glass or two more.

Mum had a thoroughly good night. she still enjoys a party, especially with such a good cross section of ages and she managed to keep going till about 10.30 before having to retire.


In other news, Pistachios.

While I was faffing around in the kitchen, probably organising my shopping list into aisle order for increased efficiency, Mum was sitting at the table in the back room with a cup of tea and a bag of pistachios. A large bag. Every now and then she would wander off for a couple of minutes then back to the table for a few more minutes. This cycle went on for a while but not really out of the ordinary so I didn`t pay much attention. After a while pop in to see if she wants a cuppa and there is a huge pile of pistachio shells on the table and an empty bag. After the initial concerns that she may have eaten half a kilo of salted nuts I located said nuts sqirreled away in her bedroom. It would seem we are in for a hard winter.




Further to our appearance in the Harborough Mail I recieived a phone call from a reporter at the Leicester Mercury which has 5 times the circulation of the Mail. They are doing an article on this too!! More details to follow.

In the news.

We made the News!!

Sorry about the quality of the picture but was the best I could manage without a scanner.

As one of the reasons for doing this blog is to try to raise awareness of the challenges coping with and caring for Dementia I decided to try and increase the audience. After a couple of emails and phone calls Elinor at the Harborough Mail wrote this lovely article which appeared today. So if you are visiting from that article please feel free to say hello in the comments.

A good place to start is Here an early post, nice and short that outlines a little history. If you have time please also read this. Its the closest I am able to having a little rant, but I think its a good read. Things are in the process of changing as I turn this from a simple blog to more of a website. There will be links to other similar blogs, sites and resources that may be of use to people who have been in any way touched by Dementia, and also a forum as a place to have a chat.

If you are a real glutton for punishment I can be found on Twitter and Facebook too.