Friday Update!

I am exhausted as I write this. I spent last evening chopping down and clearing a large part of Mother's garden, which she can't tackle any more with shears and secateurs. There were masses of nettles and alexander plants to contend with, but I had cleared quite alot by dark. I really needed a strimmer, but don't have one.

My father has not been very well at all over the last 24 hours. I phoned Mother this morning as I do every day before I go to work, to make sure they are both ok. Father had been hallucinating badly and had pulled down a curtain and rail in the middle of the night, besides other stuff going on. Ordered Mother to ring GP straight away. District Nurse came out later and took a u. sample, but nothing found – all normal. But she didn't even take simple observations I found out later! You would have thought she would have taken BP, Pulse rate etc, but no she didn't! Hello..... he's 88!!! Anyway, he carried on like this all day and Mother was beside herself with it all. I rang GP receptionist when I finished work and suggested he may have a general infection (which he had before in the Spring) and they prescribed a course of penicillin, which I then had to go and pick up before they closed at 6.30pm. It's not funny after a hard day at work to then have to fly asap to Burnham Market surgery to pick up a prescription – I got there just in time. I then drove along the coast road to Holme. On route I stopped at the Thornham Farm Shop Fish 'n' chip restaurant to buy Mother some chips as she had said earlier she hadn't eaten all day with worry. By the time I got to Holme, Mother had eaten, but was pleased with the chips anyway.

Father had calmed a little when I arrived, but still very confused and was rambling about everything and nothing. He agreed to take the penicillin straight away, which I hadn't expected. I cooked my diet tea and then sat with father, held his hand and tried to reassure him that he would feel better once the penicillin kicked in over the next day or two. He was very emotional – heartbreaking to see him like this. Mother and I then had to do a Blue Peter job to rectify the curtain situation. Mother found a large piece of dark material in the linen cupboard and we found and removed 2 screw cup hooks from elsewhere in the house and put these up either side of the window and then with rubber bands secured the material over the hooks! Temporary curtain now up!

Father then got agitated and requested to go to bed and said he was exhausted and could sleep for a week, which is hardly surprising after shouting etc for so many hours. He point blank refused to let me help him get to bed, which I found so frustrating as Mother really struggled to sturn transfer him into bed. He was so tired he could hardly hold onto the sturn. I left their house at 9.30pm and then had to go to the supermarket in King's Lynn before returning to my house. Absolutely shattered!