Extreme Knitting Redhead: Every man should have one.........

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Every man should have one.........

....a digger for the weekend! We had some serious clearance work to do in the front garden and this was the most sensible way to do it. Mike was overjoyed to have a big boys' toy and took to it like a duck to water. We had a great weekend shifting stuff around.

To get rid of some of the spoil we had to take loads of it across the horses' field into the next one and that caused great shennanagins from the horses. Esther is surveying the scene with a look that says "I demand to know what you're doing!" Each time we crossed their field they came trotting over and tried to get through to the next field. Then when we shooed them off they pranced around snorting indignantly.

Anyway, we spent 3 whole days clearing stuff and now the heavy manual digging begins. GULP! I have been too cream-crackered to even pick up my knitting since last friday so I have only managed to knit the leg of the first sock. It looks good though (I should take a photo later....)

I spotted my tradescantia plant displaying transpiration perfectly this morning. If you look closely you will see little beads of water along the edges of the leaves. Beautiful.

Tinker is making an appearance because he's beautiful too and he isn't feeling very well so needs lots of virtual love and hugs. Poor little fellow. He's been to the vet many times of late and at 12 years old we can't help worrying. Paws crossed that he's OK.

1 comment:

Marina said...: Oooh! My kids would love the digger. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent at parks or science/children's museums watching them play with "big boy toys".

Esther is gorgeous. Poor Tinker, I hope he feels better soon. His "twin", who recently turned 15, sends kitty licks!; August 28, 2008 at 6:35:00 AM PDT

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.