About Me

My photo
SW London
A semi-mature, hardy individual who tries to get away with doing as little as possible in gardening as in life, still expects the best results & wonders why she is frequently disappointed! She likes to keep a photographic record of everything, good & frequently bad!

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Sometimes real life gets in the way

09-05-2010 A field of camassias at Wisley

It has been a funny few weeks recently; busy at times with not much to do at others but not being able to really concentrate on much. Importantly I have not really had either the time or the inclination to  garden or blog. I have certainly missed the first, I just have to look out of the window to see the results, & it just may be possible dear reader that you have missed the latter in some small measure, if only to see how tediously boring I can get.

So, real life…… I am of an age when you just about manage to sort out your children, or at least not have them hanging about the house needing you to spend money on them quite all the time, but you then find you have aging parents to sort out instead. In my case this has resulted in recently moving my 90 year old mother from her own home in rural Norfolk to a care home in bustling SW London. One of the points of the whole exercise has been to move her closer to me but suddenly I realised the weight of responsibility, particularly when I ended up going to St Geoge’s Hospital A&E department at 4 am last week (nothing too serious).

Image0535

The view from her window has changed from this…..

 

 

 

…… to this.

Image0526

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a period of some small ups & lots of huge downs! I don’t usually ‘do’ the personal but somehow felt it would be cathartic for me to get this out! I hope you don’t mind dear reader, that is if you have managed to get this far!

5 comments:

  1. We went through something similar with Gran a few years ago and it is such a strange and unsettling time for everyone trying to adjust to a new way of life and different surroundings. I do hope you can get outdoors and get a bit of garden therapy soon.

    Sending you big hugs and cupcakes,

    RO xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ms B,
    I'm sure your mum is comforted by being nearer to you and I know that feeling of responsibility weighing down heavily, not with my own mum but with my old neighbours, both in their mid nineties, who I shop for and generally help with all their household problems. Last summer saw one of them in hospital with a broken hip, 7 weeks in georges, then 6 weeks rehab, only for her to fall at home and break the other hip and repeat the whole process. I drove her husband to visit every other day and was almost on my knees with tiredness by the end of that spell!
    They have no children or family and I feel unable to abandon them..but I do hope things settle for you and your mum. Gardening keeps me sane, make time for it if you can!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thankyou both. I am sure it will settle down eventually - well it has to actually.

    Gardenlife, are you superwoman?

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are doing wonderfully, and will continue to, I know.
    It's a horrible time when one's parents become frail.
    My Mum actually preferred a busy view of a main road in the last place she lived, to the tranquil view she had before.
    She said it was good to be able to look out and always see some traffic whatever the time of night.
    Anonjan

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hope your Mum is settling down in her new home - must be difficult for you both. Mine has been in and out of hospital having tests for the last couple of months and now needs to have an op. very soon so I share the feeling of real life getting in the way.

    ReplyDelete