General Chat

A couple of years ago I was having B12 injections. I think it was for high blood pressure but it didnt seem to make much difference. I am a bit of a sloth too.

Huia.

My OH was complaining that I seem to be creeping around and not getting anything done, so I got up enough gumption to go and see the Doc. Seems I may be suffering from B12 deficiency, so tomorrow have to return for a full blood count. Oh may be having to look after me if this goes on!

We seem to have slipped a lot.

Son and his wife visited Phil yesterday, arrived just after lunch and found Phil awake. They took him for a walk around the enclosed garden. He was talking a bit but he is hard to understand. He seems to be scratching a lot so I will have to ask what sort of soap they use when they shower him. Years ago he had trouble with his skin and the doc told him not to use soap, suggested pinetarsol, but Phil didnt like it much. The alternative was a soap called Simple Soap. It didnt seem to affect his skin like the others.

Huia.

Hi love, just popped back as I thought you might be around. Yes, maybe ties would get pulled off or out , or too knotted to undo.

You do sound busy, hope the catalogue works out the way you want and it will be a lovely thing for the family to have.

Take care of yourself, mind you don't meet yourself coming back with all that to do.

love
Lizxxx

Liz, the man who died did have relatives visit last week, I think it was on Friday. At least they wont have to watch him deteriorate, which would be a small consolation perhaps.

I dont think ties would be good on the cushion covers as they would probably get pulled undone when they shouldnt be. I havent done anything lately as I have been busy with other things. I need to clone myself a dozen times over.

I am trying to sort out a catalogue of my granddads paintings for printing. I was thinking of printing it myself, but now I am not so sure. I am including dimensions of the paintings, any signature and date on the front, anything on the back , who currently owns it, although that just might be 'a family member' or 'an art collector.' But any information which might help future generations. I will give a copy of the catalogue to the Auckland art gallery and possibly to the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington. Family members who want a copy can buy one. It shouldnt be too expensive. Somewhere between $5 if I print it and $10 if done professionally, but that is just an estimate. There are about 25 paintings of which I have copies, and 2 or 3 others of which I dont have copies.

Huia.

Sharron, I wonder what you said then lol Hope your Dad's cold goes soon, if he is coughing don't forget the Vick on the soles of the feet and bedsocks routine.

Huia, how sad that after probably a lot of upheaval that poor person didn't get time to settle into their new home and enjoy the experience, to die almost immediately is so sad for them and all the family if they had one.

I am glad Phil didn't see anything going on and how discreet of the staff to move people so they didn't become distressed. May whoever it was rest in peace.
I am glad Phil seems to be feeding himself sometimes, and hope he will continue to try to do it. Do you feel more comfortable and happier now seeing him be a little more responsive?
I hope you make the cushion covers, the way you describe them sounds ideal, easy to whip on and off for washing as you said. Another way to do those sort is to make a channel for tape or ribbon a few inches in at each end (allowing for extra length of course) so they can be loosed to put on or off and pulled up and tied when on the cushion. I wonder if it would be worth taping a cut - up plastic carrier bag round the cushion first, not really tightly but enough to protect the cushion itself from a soaking.

Lizxx

My dad was moaning about his hearing aid this morning.He said the battery was flat so I said I would change it for him,(he has a cold so I relented a bit).The battery was not flat at all.It was still in the box.

Huia, its usual to try and not let other patients know when there has been a death. It can be difficult to do sometimes when you have alert patients.

I arrived at Phils place just on lunch time so they brought it into the lounge for me to feed him. I tried several times to get him to take the spoon but he wouldnt. After a while he fell asleep. Then the carers moved one person (in his armchair) into the 'quiet room'. I wondered why as he wasnt making a noise. Then they turned another mans chair around so he was looking out the window. The ones in the dining room couldnt get out as the door was shut. The woman in charge of the wing did say something quietly to me, but I couldnt hear what she said. Shortly afterwards a man came inside wheeling a trolley with what looked like a body bag on it, so I realised somebody must have died. The w.i.c. asked if I was alright and as Phil had his back to the room and was asleep anyway I said I was. Shortly afterwards the trolley came back out of the sleeping quarters, with a full body bag. I later learnt that it was the newest resident, had been there only about a week. He had been sick all weekend. I am not sure if they were shielding the other residents from the sight in case it upset them, or if they were just getting them out of the way so they didnt interfere with the trolley and its contents, but I thought it was all quite discreet. Phil didnt wake up to finish his lunch so after a while I left.

Huia.

Bob, Phil lost his sense of taste years ago. Somebody told him that it was an early sign of alzheimers but the doc pooh poohed the idea when Phil mentioned it to him. Phil could tell the difference between sweet and sour but that was about it (I think different taste buds on our tongue detect the different tastes). I joked for several years that I could put poison in his food and he wouldnt know.

Off out for the day soon, a couple of genealogy meetings (10am and 7.30 pm) plus visiting Phil and doing my shopping.

Huia.

Hi Huia

Our timetables are certainly not those of our loved ones.
I read your note today and here I am sitting having had my breakfast and ready to have my cup of tea and BH is still in bed. Unless we have to go out early I let her sleep until she wants to get up. If the porridge has to go in the microwave so be it. She prefers to stir it rather than put it in her mouth and can sit for half an hour to eat half of it. I generally have to show her how to get a spoonful. It is a long time since I made toast for I do not think she likes the hardness of the crusts but unusually when we went out to a restaurant with the family and our UK relatives the other day she seemed to enjoy the small portions of fresh bread and later surprised me by enjoying and eating virtually all her fish meal. Call me pinikety but when my daughter suggested she dip her bread in the olive oil, I suggested not, for I thought it best for her to handle it without, rather than have oil dripping over the table cloth or worse her clothes. She would have been a little embarrassed by that. For me that is the balance between independence and feeling that she had to enjoy the whole eating experience which to a large extent has gone except for one or two exceptions like chocolates and "Ensure"

Bob

When I visited Phil on Friday one of the carers started feeding him, then she put the plate on my lap and went off to do something else, so I was feeding him but he was very slow to open his mouth each time. Then when I was waiting for him to finish one mouthful the fingers of his hand curled, all except the index finger, and he raised his hand to his mouth and put his finger in and closed his lips on it. I was surprised that he should be sucking his finger, then I realised that he thought he had the spoon, so I put the plate in his lap and manouvered the spoon into his hand, and he fed himself much more quickly. Earlier he had been still rather sleepy but he became more alert as he ate.

I will be visiting tomorrow so I wonder what new things will happen.

Huia.

Jean, when I first got my hearing aids I wore them to one practice and a few days later to the dress rehearsal. We have quite high staging and I was in the top row, just in front of the organ pipes. The organist suddenly brought his hands down hard in a chord and I just about skittled all the sopranos in the rows below me. A little while later the big base drummer who was on the floor on our side banged on his drum and I clapped my hands over my ears. Unfortunately that made the aids squeal. I decided I shouldnt wear the aids in choir practice.

Huia.

Huia, try explaining to someone who doesnt wear hearing aids that though they are a great help, they can often be a hindrance when ther is other noise than the one you are listening to going on. I found our fishtank pumps very intrusive, and I cant hear the kitchen wireless when the freezer starts up. At least we have now given up fishkeeping apart from the pond.

Not at all Liz

We "Hunters and Gatherers" are all the same. At least you have got a roof over your head. I have sold our cave knowing that we will have to have two in the future. A "His and Hers". Fortunately we can stay here for up to at least nine months (as long as we can afford the rent) until those coming changes arrive which will demand further action. Needless to say I have put out a list of criteria for the future, such as close to shops and level ground so that I can use a zimmer frame which will inevitably replace the golf trundler. BH's criteria will be less onerous externally and the main thing will be the location and ambience of her future home. Keep "sparkling".

Huia
Does it do zig-zag? Sorry about the choir as well. Music is a little like reading if you neglect it, then after a while you do not miss it. Sad but true I think.

Bob
PS Is it too much TV or too much computer or just that we have too much? Hmmmmmmmmmmm??

Hi there Liz.

I bought my sewing machine more than 3 weeks ago. I took it out of the box when I got home but that was as far as I got for about 10 days, then when I decided it was time to try it out I couldnt sort out what to do about the spindle for the thread. I asked in the shop a few days later and discovered that it can be pulled up (only half and inch of it showing when not pulled up). I havent done anything since! But today I found some material I bought years ago that might be suitable for covers for some cushions I bought for Phil. After I bought them and took them out of their bags it said 'do no wash'. Since he is a rather messy eater and sometimes dribbles when sleeping I decided they needed removable and washable covers. They are soft cylindrical cushions so I am going to make the covers as tubes hemmed each end with elastic through to pull them in. Should be easy to take off and put on again. Now all I need to get is a round tuit. Instead of playing on here!

Huia.

Hi everyone, especially my friend Huia

I am glad you have had some positive visits with Phil and hope he will continue to be cared for well, such a weight off your mind.

It's a shame about the choir but perhaps things will become easier so you can attend again and cope with the people who don't seem so dedicated. Did you get your sewing machine and what have you made with it? I long to do some craft stuff but there is no room here, I feel stifled and bored as there is nothing I can do with this house, it's a roof over my head and no more and he will do what he wants as it's his house and I can only do what he wants me to do, even after discussion. He was happy for me to make his new curtains etc a while back but he is so slow at deciding what to do next and then getting on with it or finishing it off. The bathroom hasn't changed or progressed for more than a year now, and I don't know when he will finish it so we can use the shower he installed over the bath. Such a silly man, no go in him at all..

Bob, what a patient man you are, bless you.


take care all

Lizxx

Jean, I was having trouble hearing the conductors - my hearing aids would have been no help as people around me are rustling pages or chatting quietly. I also got a bit frustrated that a lot of the members didnt look at the music between practices and forgot what they had learnt the previous week. And I have a hand which gets very sore holding the folder of music. And I didnt really enjoy coming home to an empty house in the latter part of last year and it would also be cold in the winter (no central heating) and if it is raining I would get wet opening the garage door. I might reconsider if the choir is doing something exciting, or if my hand improves, but it has given me trouble for a long time. Anyway I have plenty to keep me out of mischief at present. I can sing around the house.

Huia.

Great that you are pleased with the care that Phil is getting. Such a load off your mind. Shame that you have given up the choir when it gave you so much pleasure.

Hello Bob.

I wondered why you were so quiet. I have been busy visiting Phil a couple of times a week. The hospital sometimes takes them for a drive. A week ago when I arrived at 11.30am he wasnt there as they had taken some of the residents up Mt Eden in the van. He was asleep when the van arrived back and had to be woken to be taken indoors. The carers are so good, and lovely people. I would recommend that place highly.

I am hoping to get to a genealogy meeting next Tuesday. They are now having one every 3 months in the morning, but the ones with speakers are in the evenings once a month. Previously when I was going to choir I couldnt get there but I have given up choir so now I can go. There will be a visit to Waikumete cemetery on Waitangi day, so I might go to that too. Five of my gt grandparents are buried there. It is time I checked out their graves again and cleaned the headstones if need be. One of them seems to get a lot of lichen on it.

Huia.