Extreme Knitting Redhead: All square (nearly)

Monday, May 4, 2015

All square (nearly)

I've managed a bit of crochet this weekend as my neck and shoulder don't hurt quite as much. Here's where I've got to on the Sophie blanket:

One more row until it's square again…..

….having its first blocking to get it square before starting on the next section (which has butterflies in it; very pretty).

Whilst I was doing this Tilly was playing out and I only had the old camera nearby but managed to snap her through the window having fun:

Having a roll just a few feet away from Mrs Duck who seemed completely unperturbed by her presence!

Dashing off on an important mission

Something needed to be investigated behind the herb bed

A more sedate return journey.

An important job staking out the enemy…..

……….a new Mrs Rat has a fresh brood! There's a brand new tunnel underneath the hedge and it's really hard to get at it to place the bait box. I can't leave it anywhere near the bird feeders as the pheasants push it around and spread the baited grain everywhere.

I hate having to control them but I know I must :-(

On the running front I'm just pootling along now until my next batch of marathons. Much more sedate this time as I'm doing 3 marathons in 2 weeks. What a lightweight! I've got a massage booked with Mary Massage Lady in about 10 days so she'll sort out any residual stiffness in my neck and shoulders.

I had a nice surprise in the post a few weeks ago but I forgot to show it. It's a medal from the Road Runners Club, of which I am a member. I joined a few years ago because members get a discount on race entry fees. It's a 'virtual' club in the sense that we don't meet up as members are spread far and wide but there's a newsletter and a championship each year which is how I got this medal for runner-up in the marathon category for my age group, 50 - 59. The winning lady's time was 3:35:25 and my time was 4:55:03 so I was a bit behind her! It made me chuckle that the winner of the 60 - 69 category was faster than me too with a time of 4:21:41.

I've had a certificate before for my 10k time in 2013 when I came 4th in the Championship but never a shiny medal so I was very pleased.

Pity it's got the image of a male runner though. It made me think about Kathy Switzer (see here too for photos and a write-up of the event and here for more background info) who was the first female to run with a number on to complete the Boston marathon back in 1967. This lead to an all-out ban on women taking part in competitions with male runners - yes really! It wasn't until 1972 that women were finally allowed to run the Boston marathon.

Thankfully we ladies are now allowed to take part in marathons along with the boys and I am very glad that we can.

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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.