Cats in the Kitchen, Flora in the Garden

I returned home on Tuesday evening to see that parceline had tried to deliver a parcel to me, and I have had it redelivered today. It was from my Chocolate Swap Partner, Kim. Both Kim and I have been concerned as neither has received the other's parcel, but today I received hers and it had been on its way many a weary day. I hope mine soon limps towards her home, tired and hungry and needing to be unpacked. It was full of lovely goodies, I have taken photos of everything, finished my film off and sent it to be developed, so for actual photos you will have to wait [you know I can't give up my husband's superduper camera for a digital one], but here's a description of everything for now.

All contained in a stripey chocolate coloured bag were:- a pair of socks with a motif of a cheeky monkey holding a banana, an embellished notebook, a chocolate candle, two beautiful mini pillows bound together with leather thonging from which the most beautiful fragrance wafts. A lovely little windchime, I adore windchimes and they pop up all over my house, this will be the first one in the artroom, a rubber stamp, a tiny roll of ribbon from Joannes, wow people are always talking about joannes and now I have something from there, a box of assorted seeds and nuts covered in chocolate coating, some of the pieces were shaped as eggs and marbled almost too good to eat, but I did and they were delicious, a pretty chain with a stone at the end for my neck, and best of all a lovely pouch with one of Kim's lovely beaded faces, which I have admired on her site, attached. I think I have mentioned everything, but they are all on the photographs. Thank you Kim I loved the parcel, it was worth waiting for.



I was commenting on Terri Tinker's site, I love her rambles, when an idea occured to me. After the Halloween Ghost Story Circle, at the beginning of November, how about this? I will put on my site a random list of words or phrases, you can all pick any one [it doesn't matter if a few pick the same] and in your next posting you all make part of your posting about that word or phrase, a sort of stream of consciousness ramble, let the word or phrase take you where it will, it can be silly serious, short or long, if you like it can even be an illustration. Just don't think seriously about it just go with the flow. Who wants to play?



In an earlier posting I talked about 'One Day in History' which was on Tuesday, 17th October, when you were invited to submit a blog posting for posterity, so in the future people could get an idea of life in 2006. This is the blog I submitted, it happened on Tuesday, but you had until the end of this month to post it. The only grumble I had with submitting it is that the entry could not be over 640 words, which really isn't a lot when like me, motormouth, you have a lot to say.

Tuesday, 17th October, 2006

Up at 7.30, get myself ready for day and have weetabix and a cup of coffee for breakfast. I had thought that today would be quite a mundane day but my mother was taken away from her flat yesterday and sent to a local care home for at least a week’s assessment of her severe arthritis, it has suddenly taken a turn for the worse, especially in her hips so that she can not walk at all at the moment. I live in the country, so first of all I head for my nearby town to buy a few toiletries for my mother, everything happened in such a rush yesterday. I then head towards the care home.

My heart sinks as I walk into it, it smells of stale food, I can see no reception, then I notice an office in the corner. I go to the open door, the lady is on the phone, she sees me and I stand back waiting for her to finish her call. She knows I am there but doesn’t break off her phone call or acknowledge me, not even with a nod of her head, I find that this angers me it is discourteous, as far as I am concerned. Eventually I introduce myself, she doesn’t introduce herself, she says my mother is upstairs and will take me there. We go to my mother’s room where she is sitting in a chair in her dressing gown. I feel very depressed, I know it just a spare assessment room, but it is so bare and institutional. My mother is very tired, still in pain, but pleased to see me. We talk and after a couple of hours I have to leave as there is so much sorting out to do in her life. It is now mid afternoon.



Returning to town these things, in particular, occur to me. The humiliation and indignity of the place. No one wanted to talk to me about my mother and or could tell me what was happening. A carer had come into my mother’s room in the morning stripped her completely naked handed her her flannel and said, you wash your face with that while I wash you. She had no sponge, one of the things forgotten in the rush, the carer brought this dirty yellow sponge in to wash her with. My mother refused to have is used on her. The carer said’ I have washed’ it’, I saw that sponge it was disgusting and unhygienic, I threw it in the wastepaper bin. When her lunch tray was brought in the potatoes and vegetables were cold. Where is the dignity of life in that institution? I felt so depressed when I left, I know one thing, if my mother does need residential care, it will NOT be there, I couldn’t leave her there.

The National Health Service, I think is the most wonderful thing a government ever gave to England. I wonder what those who fought for this service would think of the crumbling edifice we are left with today. Top heavy on the management and administrative side, befuddled by it targets and reams of red tape paperwork and with not enough trained nurses and carers. Nothing happens smoothly. The day before my mother sat in a chair waiting for an ambulance for six and a half hours. Her home carer assessor neglected to tell me, her next of kin, what was happening, relying on a friend of my mother’s to get in touch with me. I do wonder how much more of a shambles this country can get itself into. I mourn for England at this point in time.

I returned home to my peaceful cottage last night, where I sank down in a chair with a plate of sandwiches and a glass of red wine.

Don’t forget to join in Daisy Lupins’
Halloween Ghost Story Posting
Post a ghost story, something strange that happened
To you or a tale you want to tell
On 31st October, or as near to before
As possible.
Let’s have a Giant Story Circle