Extreme Knitting Redhead: On T.O.P. of the world ma!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

On T.O.P. of the world ma!

"T" is for tapering (that means reducing my mileage) ahead of the Hastings marathon in a couple of weeks. It will be my 5th and last marathon of this year bringing my total run, since I started marathoning 3.5 years ago, to 16 of which 12 have been run in the last 2 years. I can hardly believe that I've done it actually but I'm jolly glad I did as it's raised money for the Alzheimer's Research Trust and got some useful publicity too.

"O" is for Oregon which is progressing nicely. The Virtual Yarns wool is very different from the Jamiesons wool as it's all lovely and fluffy to start with, just as Marina had told me. I wasn't sure about some of the colours to begin with but am liking them more as it progresses. I've confirmed that I really am rather a slow knitter as I timed myself and it takes me 20 minutes to do a row. I shall never win a prize for being the fastest knitter in the West!

The yarn I need to start my lace project is still out of stock which is very annoying.

"P" is for the Press as there is going to be lots of stuff about Alzheimer's in the News over the next few days as Terry Pratchett is off to visit the PM to discuss the lack of funding for research into the disease. There will also be a press release about the scarf I knitted at the London marathon as it's about to go to auction. Hopefully it will raise some more money.

2 comments:

kathryn said...: Congratulations on your running - and fund raising!

Thank you for your comment on my Cowgirl vest....gd1 is 2 1/2 years old - and small for her age (although seemingly wise beyond her years!). I knitted the first size and in fact made it longer than the pattern suggested at her mum's request. It has turned out to be a favourite garment!

PS The colours of your oregon are gorgeous!; November 27, 2008 at 10:25:00 AM PST
Marina said...: 20 minutes per round, if you can maintain that speed for a few rounds IS fast. I'm happy if I complete my 10-12 a day, no matter how long it takes!; November 28, 2008 at 3:16:00 PM PST

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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.