Lighthouse

I was asked by a neighbour how I would make Corned Beef Hash. I'd quite forgotten how tasty is was. With some runner beans and peas from our garden, and some local cauli.......time to cook and prepare, about three quarters of an hour. Time to eat.........minutes!

They've been needed for a long time. The handles were becoming loose on a daily basis, and most of the knobs on the lids have been replaced. So I've treated myself with a little recently received windfall. A new set of saucepans. They're not 'top of the range' but they are quality, and should last me for the next twenty years.



I bought a set of five, four saucepans and a frying pan. Then I bought an extra 20cm and a 18cm, as well as a small non-stick frying pan, all from the same line. I've also up graded my steamer to a 3 litre with decent handles that won't smell if the heat is a little high.



And great news.............................. they work!



Lamb stakes, cauli, beans from the garden and 'bubble and squeak' potato. I don't know how many times Cag asked me today, "what are we having for dinner?" It was the B&S that threw her. Her short term memory is getting shaky, one of the joys of M.S, I guess.

Must have been good.......... as Dillon had very little from the plates.

It's two thirty a.m. A nudge from Cag. The dog is whining. Got to be his ears ( he's had ear problems since he was a pup ).................. or he needs to go out, I think to myself.

I get up and go into the hall. The kitchen door is open. In the kitchen I find my mother has fallen..................... and is sat in the dog's basket! She's distressed.

"I can't go, I can't go.....", she keeps repeating. "Don't let me go", she says. I settle her and manage to bring her back to the here and now. It's a dream that's turned into reality for her. We'd talked about going out during the day, and these thoughts had turned into the real thing, albeit in the middle of the night.

Now the problem of moving her. Luckily Cag's wheelchair strips down, and after a struggle I get my mother onto it. I manage to get her back into bed, with less trouble that I'd expected, and within minutes, she is back to sleep.

I check the dog. He's not flat, so he must have got out of his basket in time when my mother tried to sit on him!

This morning she was bruised, and a little sorry.................. for the dog. It appears that he had escaped the basket just in time. He had wriggled out from in under her, she said, as she slid down the wall. It was probably the truth, as he has given her a wide berth today. He's disappeared every time she has gotten out of her chair. Wise dog!

The Church Magazine, from Barton in Torquay, arrived yesterday, along with a note from the vicar that said he would be breaking his journey today by dropping into see us for a cup of tea. He was having a few days off and was making his way to Falmouth, his previous parish, to hold the weekend services.

He came baring flowers for my mother, and with all the news of hatch, match, and dispatch from her old parish. It was also a time for me to catch up with news of the kids I grew up with. Those who still attended the church that was so much a part of my early life.

He stayed for an hour, long enough, then promised to visit again when next in the area. His first parish was at St. Blazey, then Falmouth and his parents live in Cornwall, so he has plenty of connections with the area and County.

I thumbed through the magazine shortly before he arrived and came across this little poem which might amuse. Being partially deaf, it made me laugh........

I had an early night. In bed just after mid-night, early for me. The nudge came a few minutes after five. Cag needed some gel rubbed into her gum, to ease the pain from an infection. Once awake, I thought I had better take a trip to the bathroom.

I passed my mothers room and I could see her, fully clothed, laying on top of the bed, fast asleep. I tried to wake her but there was no response, so I covered her and thought I'd sort it all out in the morning.

It appeared she had woken and dressed herself and only then realised what time it was, a little after four. She sat back on the bed and went back to sleep. It wasn't a problem, just one of the joys of dealing with an elderly person. Thank goodness she's not a wanderer. Her lack of mobility keeps her 'under control'. I would hate to get up one morning and find the outside door open, her missing, and then what?

Funny old life!

I've still managed to find some 'me' time. Cloud watching, when I get the chance. Been trying out different setting on my the camera and shooting into the sun............

...... a favourite sky, and an hour later.........

......looks like night, but it's just the camera, trying to handle too much sunlight.

I've been putting my new Photoshop CS2 to work. Repairing and printing about 80 old black and white photos for a cousin. It didn't take me long to realise that my tired old 810 Epson was due for an update. So replaced it with another 'cheap and cheerful' Epson from Amazon, ordered, delivered and installed in three days! Well done Amazon!!