Extreme Knitting Redhead: Two Walks and a Triumphant sock

Monday, February 25, 2008

Two Walks and a Triumphant sock

I forgot to write about a lovely walk Mike and I did last week. It was a 7 mile route around the village of Salehurst and the footpath took us alongside the beautiful church of St Mary the Virgin, a 13th century chapel, so we went in for a look. This first thing that struck us was the glorious stained glass window above the entrance. The colours are jewel-like and absolutely gorgeous.

Just inside the porch we spotted this most impressive font. It dates back to the times of the Crusades and was reputedly a gift from Richard 1st as a thank you to the Abbot of Robertsbridge for assisting him. At the base of the font you can see the salamanders which are a symbol associated with the Crusades. You can see a good photo of the interior of the church here

On the way back we passed through several orchards and I took this photo because the apple trees looked almost alien and I loved the shapes their bare branches made. You can see that the farmer had been busy pruning them and all the prunings are laid out neatly in piles ready for collection.

Our walk yesterday took us across the fields not far from home. It was an unseasonally warm day. We crossed a field of ewes who looked as if they were getting close to lambing. One of them was especially friendly and took a liking to Mike. I think she was trying to see if he had anything to eat in his pocket!
She followed us all the way to the stile and stayed to watch us walk along the lane. Awwh!

Last but not least, I've finally got round the heel on my sock and it fits this time. HOORAH!!! There's about 1" to go before I work the toe so it should be finished tomorrow with a bit of luck. Here's a sneaky peak. There will be more photos soon 'cos I'm rather pleased with it now (hope that isn't tempting fate for the toe!).

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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.