Extreme Knitting Redhead: Some you win, some you lose

Monday, December 6, 2021

Some you win, some you lose

....marathons, that is! I've had 2 visits to beautiful Samphire Hoe during a 10in10 marathon event (that's 10 marathons in 10 days). The first one I abandoned at 20 miles as my foot was hurting, the second was perfect and I sneaked in at 5:12:45 which is a vast improvement from my current form. I admit that I can sometimes be a bling tart, especially when it's a really clever one, and I really wanted the latest medal! It's an Advent calendar with a magnet on the back so you can move the counter along each day - simple pleasures without the chocolate guilt, perfect.

I'm also plotting my fund-raising challenge for Alzheimer's Research UK in 2022 and as I will be 65 years young next year I think it needs to be something that challenges me even more - gulp! No decisions until after Christmas. I'm still taking loads of photos of the sky, mostly at the back of the house but with the last one being the sunrise taken at the front of the house this morning:

Another delight was a visit from a Green Woodpecker:

But one of my favourite snaps was down at Samphire Hoe where I spotted this beautiful cow licking her calf lovingly:

Our resident Philip the pheasant has managed to stay alive for 2 years now which is a miracle given the number of foxes around! He arrived in early 2019 when the shoots finished early due to Covid and he's stayed with us ever since. Here's a short video clip of me feeding him - I don't feed him out of my hand as it hurts when he pecks!

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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.