Jumping Ahead

It goes so fast.

I thought I was going to be able to blog regularly and keep everything in sequence but that was always a vain hope. So I will start where we are and do everything in stylish fifties Hollywood style flashbacks.

We are in the Derbyshire Dales in the charming cottage of an old and valued friend. We have been coming here for nearly twenty years now to what is always a warm welcome and a relaxing time. C is a retired Head Teacher and subsequently Foster Carer and she and R have shared much so they can still talk and relive the past.

Less so than previously though. Once they would disappear into the garden or the kitchen or wherever and I would hear laughter and animated conversation and would be left to my book or laptop, but the last few visits have been overshadowed by R's condition and managing her needs. She gets bored and distracted very easily and even though this is like a second home it is not our flat in London and this seems to make her more uneasy.

Today we went shopping and she bought some new towels (Bath Chair blog coming up will refer) and some plants. We ate in the cottage. We used to eat out a lot but it is not practical any more. R has such trouble with cutlery and managing the food that it tends to end up all over the table and down her front. This is just about manageable in a domestic setting but has severely limited the places we can go out to eat and the food she can cope with. 

She got upset around ten o'clock (not sure why) and insisted on going to bed. This means I have to go to bed quite soon because she will be up at six in the morning and wanting tea and stimulation. 

Tomorrow if the weather is halfway decent we will we will be driving over some moors near Sheffield. Some of the time R really enjoys going out for drives and with a bit of luck tomorrow will be one of them. 

I hope this is not another island post surrounded by acres of empty time.