I was awake for a chunk of the night so I went shopping and disposed of a load of our money.
If anyone in the family is reading this – I need ideas!
When I was wandering around at 04.00 I noticed white stuff falling from the sky. It was rather half hearted white stuff but it dusted the ground. And was soft and fluffy ( and cold) when I removed it from the car. The temperature of the day has remained fluctuating around 0C. Mostly just below.
I managed to get T to daycare in time and then H and I pottered a short route around Castle Meadows. The cattle were much calmer today and lurked in the gateway which leads to the Water Meadows. There were not so many people about.
The approach lane was very icy and I was alarmed by a skid over one of the craters.
Upon my return I investigated the Christmas decorations and the new ‘pretend’ tree. It’s definitely of inferior quality when compared with the first one we bought. ( The John Lewis version.)
It awaits baubles. Just the job for T, I thought to myself. Just the sort of job he might enjoy, placing baubles carefully so they were pleasing to his eye.
However he turned his nose up at my generous offer. Just like everything else I ask him to do.
I hung the exterior tree up and checked the lights. We now have two white birches, and one is inside and the other outside. They are pretty.
When I picked up T, we visited the emporium that is Screwfix for extension cable, timer and batteries. Screw fish in Newbury was always busy with people constantly coming and going. Wallingford is much quieter but then it has not been open for very long – 7 months. They’ve moved from their fat paper catalogue to an online one.
And no sooner are we home, than I find T ‘fixing’ the bathroom loo. I wasn’t aware there was anything wrong with it. It was fine before I picked him up. There is nothing worse than seeing T ‘fixing’ or disassembling something. It is never improved and is usually wrecked.
Living with someone with Alzheimer’s is a nightmare. When they are in denial and have no insight, it makes everything much worse. Throw in a dose of a naturally stubborn personality and you end up with big bother. With general wreckage to deal with. Wreckage of things that were working well. Wreckage of normality and normal life.
As for the washing up liquid. Well that’s another frustrating story. A bottle a day keeps grease at bay. And then there are the taps that always run at full tilt so the kitchen floor and work surfaces are covered in puddles. He is now washing up things that could go in the dishwasher, without washing up liquid, because I refuse to put more out from my secret supply.
At least when T is at daycare care, I don’t need to worry about what damage he is doing, or what chaos he is creating .
I enjoy that time.., it is such a precious treat.
I also realised today, as peace settled around me, that he is quite noisy. He coughs a lot, spits, blows his nose, mutters, talks to himself, is rarely still, is always moving stuff around the kitchen or is in the bins or elsewhere.
I’m not going to bother with seasonal decorations again. Today he has already wrecked my light display. He switched it all off, shifted things around. Don’t touch I pleaded a few hours ago… as if…It is just not worth it.
I feel as though January is tumbling towards me with the burdens it brings – like a dark snowball…starting small but gathering troubles to grow and offload .
This has turned into a bit of a whinging offload. I will blame Christmas, not top of my favourite times of year. When there were small children around, my own, or the next generation, I used to love it. But they are not small anymore. And we are the little old people they are obliged to entertain! Life’s rich pattern.
I fell asleep on the sofa.
My hiccup has passed. It’s always the same with Christmas decorations, brings all those resentments to the surface.
On a different note… we are proud of the achievements of all our children and our grandchildren, but, today was Fleur’s day at the Downs School Awards evening. She mopped up two awards for her time in KS3. One for the overall achievement award and the other, the Science Award, where she has been described as gifted. I wish I could claim some genetic input for all this but there is none!
Thought for the Day
Leave a Reply