Extreme Knitting Redhead: So much to say

Monday, July 7, 2014

So much to say

Crochet

First here's bit of Nellie, who now has all her legs and body:

I'm halfway along her trunk now so she'll soon be ready to trumpety trump.

I haven't done any knitting for a few days so my cardigan is no further on.

Dementia: Innovation

Last week I had to tear myself away from the garden and head into London again to speak at the Dementia:innovation conference. This was my second sortie into the City of London in as many weeks and it was interesting to see why caught my eye this time.

I had to leave home at silly o'clock in order give myself plenty of time as the venue was a good 25 minute walk away. I could have taken the tube but I'd rather walk and take in my surroundings.

Walking across London Bridge at 7am

What a strange blob on the right hand side. That's the Monument to the 'great fire of London' and if you click on the link you'll find photo without a giant black blob! I cleaned my lens later but didn't spot it at the time.

A beautiful clock and stone pillars

A more modern clock

This emblem was on the gates to Grocers' Hall. I mentioned the many Livery companies in this post about the G7 Summit

The tip of the Gherkin peeping out over the buildings

My route took me right through the heart of the City of London, along Lombard Street, which I used to know well, then past the road named London Wall (with apologies for the dark blob!) until I reached my destination.

The Barbican centre

To be continued……..

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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.