h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Enjoy the strawberries you deserve them.

Websailor

Good for you GB. These conversations are just like the one's I had with my Mum too and can be so funny.

I forgot my Uncle's birthday on 7/7, and Mum hadn't mentioned it to me. She's so far gone in her own world that she seems to have lost the ability to care about anyone else.

And within a week of Eileen's passing, my best friend has lost her only remaining sibling, her brother Kelvin (whom I knew well) to cancer. He was diagnosed on Friday last week (they had been treating him for a kidney infection when he finally got a scan) but he died on Sunday. He was 56. I am gutted for my lovely friend, now lost 3 siblings to cancer, and her mother, who admits she's lived too long

That's so dreadful for you GB! My thoughts are with you

Thank you dear friends. I've rung her and had a lovely long chat, she can tell me things she can't anyone else, and it made up for the fact that we're not near each other at the moment (she only lives around the corner, but is currently at her mother's home in Great Yarmouth). I'm desperate to give her a big hug and comforting shoulder, I fear this will break her and she's been through such an awful lot herself (she had a heart attack earlier this year)

I can only offer 5 words "they are at peace now"

It will be a great comfort to know she has someone like you to care about her GB

How are you? Is it as hot up there as it is down here?

Take cae,

Websailor

There's lots going on and today is Eileen's funeral. I know she was 99 and had a good life with loving family around her but I loved her so I'm going to indulge myself and have a I will miss going to the Old Library and may continue to drop in on my old friend Olive though I won't specify when or how often because it's so easy to become taken for granted. Those who didn't see it last October, here's a nice story with photo of 5 generations to read today and maybe think of Eileen and her family at 1.40pm when her funeral commences. (I apologise in advance about the adverts which are impossible to block, I don't access this site unless I have to) http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/landlady-Cleethorpes-celebrates-99th-birthday/story-20001228-detail/story.html

my virtual shoulder is next to you lovehave a lean if needed

*leans heavily*

Can't stay long as I have to fit in a visit to my Mum this morning before performing chauffeur duties for the funeral this afternoon.



I had my living room carpet fitted Wednesday. I had texted brother Rob, who'd already asked me to leave a note for the Tue tea carer not to feed Mum as he was fetching fish & chips, if he could do the purse for the Curzon to save me a trip there and back as my carpet was being fitted and couldn't do the usual Wed morning routine. He said ok but he must have told my sister because she also went round Tue night, she wrote in my carer log that there was no bread for Mum to eat () [she rarely eats it when it's fresh, says it gives her bellyache, will eat it dry and I end up dumping almost a whole loaf when it's gone mouldy]. So she logged in my carer book that she'd been to the local shop, bought 5 ready meals, milk, eggs, bread and a raspberry sundae "because Ann can't make it". (The £20 bill was in the bread bin for my brother to pick up and reimburse her). She then texted me exactly the same thing, about the food she'd bought. And she wrote that Mum had enjoyed her fish & chips that Rob brought and he'd even washed up, Bless him. But neither of them told Mum that my carpet was being fitted. When I walked in yesterday morning and smiled and said good morning, looking forward to a new conversation about my carpet, she all-but wailed "where have you been? You've been gone since last week! Yvonne had to do my shopping!"



*continues the *

Always here for a friend sweetheart

and it's always appreciated

Well, among all the stressful and hard-to-get-through days there shone the beacon which was yesterday. The funeral over but Ian's brother & family still in town, we arranged to meet them at the pub last night. I went to see Mum in the morning, having been texted to "be hungry" around 1-2pm for a visit from Yvonne & Gavin, her eldest, whose 31st birthday it was. While I got on with lunch at 11 (Mum couldn't wait til 1-2pm) and I was washing up when who should walk past the window but my grandson Liam and his new girlfriend Hannah. They were on their way to the Cleethorpes Carnival but decided to call and see great grandma first, so I got to meet Hannah and Mum was thrilled. Then Yvonne turned up with Gavin with a birthday cheesecake and we all sang him happy birthday which also pleased Mum. We all had a slice of and then Yvonne gave Mum a bunch of flowers and gave me a small watering can containing a peace lily in a pot, in memory of Eileen.

Later I collected Ian and we had a lovely evening in the pub with his brother and his family, Ian's daughter Caroline, Andy & Loren and us. Truly a red letter day.

Glad you had such a good time! Here's a toast to having more like it.

"Truly a red letter day" bloody hell! do you owe money out as wellI got those for electric/gas/rent/board-lodgings etc etc etc

Thanks for the laugh, Prof

I swear those carers will be the death of me. Yesterday morning I did the Tesco run and arrived at Mum's approximately lunchtime, to find her with dry, red, sore eyes I asked why and she said the eye gel (which the carers are supposed to apply morning and night) was out of date. news to me, the pack was opened on 17/7, I'd seen it in the fridge with the date on! In the kitchen was a note from a carer on 19/7 (must have been after I left on Saturday and I don't go on a Sunday) saying "couldn't apply eye gel as 2 days out of date, sorry!" I checked the box and it did indeed say 17/7, but that's hand-written and means the date it was opened/unsealed, it's only good for 4 weeks after that. I checked the Farringford carers log and each morning/night carer had taken it as read that it was out of date and put an "X" in the box to say they hadn't applied eye gel. That's 4 doses she missed, I can't imagine the pain she was in but I was that NO-ONE HAD RUNG ME, to even enquire, I am her next-of-kin, carer, I'm the one who orders medication, liaises with the chemist/delivery, deals with district nurses, doctor's surgery and in an emergency, doctors. Luckily the lunch carer turned up, she applied Mum's eye gel (I can't do it, I've tried, it freaks me out that I might hurt her) and within half-an-hour her eyes were as good as new

it might sound silly, but stick a notice on the fridge door

Carer, please check use-by date on eye gel and notify if replacement needed

Good thinking Prof! A large notice.

GB! This is yet another one of those 'you couldn't make it up' situations. How your patience survives them all I shall never know I would have done some serious physical damage well before now.

Hang in there love