Possum Galore
A life ‘Down Under’!
Busy Morning, Busy Afternoon.
After my Victor Meldrew moment I rang the illusive electrician. We have heard nothing from him since he came to look on Monday.I suspected he had returned to Korea bemoaning the Australian electrical system.......but he answered and is coming on Friday.I hope he can fix it.....we are managing with extension cables, but Dulcie's fear of fire, means she keeps switching off the socket the fridge is now plugged into.We had made an emergency batch a'biscuits by 9.30 am."Two eggs," she said, mixing at the table........I fetched them."Two cups of self raising flour"........I brought it and sieved it in.I rolled them, she added the jam and coconut.Yesterday we had Janina, today we had Janine.....Is there a theme developing here?Janine came to help with Dulcie's shower.We told her we had had a busy morning baking biscuits."Would you like one?" I asked.Of course she did. Janine looked like she ate a lot of biscuits.She chose a chocolate chip cookie."Do you know what my dad used to call jam drops?" She asked.We didn't."Cat's bums!" She laughed........"Sorry for being rude," she added."Thanks," I said, " I will try not to think of that next time I pop one in my mouth."In the afternoon Matt the Physio arrived.Dulcie had to do various exercises, show him how her balance was and we went for a walk down the road. She walked all the way to the bottom of the road and nearly all the way back again before she had to sit for a rest.When she got her breath back we made it the rest of the way back to the house. Dulcie was all for getting back up the steps but he wanted to see her walk over uneven ground so she sat down again for a rest.Lots of little ants were milling around on the floor at the foot of the steps as we stood waiting for Dulcie to get her breath back.Matt stepped forward and put his foot on them and pressed down. Matt was in the health profession but that obviously did not apply to the health of ants.When Dulcie was up again we set off round the back and had a walk around the garden too before heading to the back steps."Do you want to have a rest" I said "before you go up?"She didn't and walked straight up. It was the most exercise I have seen her do for ages.Matt was really pleased.He listened to her breathing, took her blood pressure and measured the oxygen in her blood. He said her COPD was mild and she was in good shape for her age."You should be proud of how far you have come since your fall," he said, "I don't see many ninety year olds who have recovered as well as you. You are stoic."(Medical Definition - Stoic, meaning 'tough old bird'.)When he had gone we rushed to sit down......'The Virginian' had been on for 20 minutes!!!!!
Becoming Victor Meldrew?
I have to inform Centrelink that Will is earning more than normal as he is covering in the other Kindy group until they can find a replacement classroom assistant. Centrelink will undoubtedly dock my pay......SIGH!Having asked, the other day, when the best time to ring was....I was told first thing in the morning. The line opens at 8.00 am and so this morning I rang straight away. Unbelievably I got through immediately!"I need to inform you of my Partner's earnings" I told the man on the other end."Oh, I'm sorry," he said,"we had some computer updates on Monday and were expecting problems then but they have only surfaced this morning. We currently cannot get on our computers. I would advise you to call back later."I DON'T BELIEEEEEEEEEVE IT!
Regular respite!
So today I had my first two hour 'respite'.Blue Care are going to be coming twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays to give me two hours, on each of those days, to myself.I am not sure what Dulcie understands or thinks about it but today I made a shopping list with Dulcie and said that someone was coming to sit with her while I went out to the shops.Janina came at 11.45. She brought a packed lunch.She looked at Dulcie's file."Oh, she likes playing cards!"She returned to her car for a game that she had....'Rummikub.'"Are you English?" She asked."Yes, " I said. "What is your accent?" I had her down as Russian. She was Polish."I used to live in the U.K," she said, "in Harrogate.""Oh, Posh Yorkshire!" I said. She laughed.She had moved here some time ago and did not like it. She loved the U.K."It is too far away here," she said..I left them setting up the Rummikub game. I was not sure what Dulcie would make of itHow quickly two hours pass! I did not realise until I got back that I spent the whole two hours out with my fly undone! It is a miracle that no little old Asian lady at Sunnybank Mall passed out with shock.I returned back at 1.45 and found Dulcie teaching Janina how to play Euchre."Our first game took nearly an hour," said Janina. She meant Rummikub."Did you like Rummikub?" I asked."Yes," said Dulcie.The Euchre game fnished and Janina packed up."Nice to meet you, Dulcie," said Janina."It was nice to meet you too....and if you are passing again, call in to see us," said Dulcie.It was pretty certain that Janina would be back sometime.When she had gone I asked Dulcie what she really thought of Rummikub...."You can be honest this time because she is not here.""It was a good game. It made you think," she said, "but she's shit at cards!"
Back on the job!
I have jet lag.Will and I were in bed by 8.15 pm last night. I had already succumbed to an afternoon nap but slept well all night.I was up for 7.15am as we were expecting the arrival of an electrician.The day before my return home the kettle suddenly stopped working but the fault, it seems, did not lay with the kettle itself but the wall socket it was plugged into. When that socket went so did a number of others including the one the fridge was plugged into.The electrician arrived about 8 ish. He apologised for being late.He checked everything over and finally said that he was baffled. The sockets still had power but not enough to work the appliances. He needed to go away and think about what to do.I did wonder if we would ever see him again.Dulcie and I went for a walk around the garden after breakfast. Will had planted more vegetables and flowers while I had been away. We now have Tuscan Kale, Purple Broccoli, Purple Cauliflower, Lettuce, Peas and Potatoes growing in the garden.Later in the morning I rang Centrelink to tell them I was back in the country. When I had answered all the standard recorded questions I was informed that due to a high volume of calls I could expect to wait over 90 minutes!Who would wait for 90 minutes?..........Not me!I rang later...........I was told the wait would be over 30 minutes.......it was better than 90 so hung on......Mae arrived from Blue Care to help Dulcie with her shower......I was still waiting on the phone when Mae left.I waited 40 minutes until my call was answered. I asked the cheerful woman, that I wanted to throttle, what was the best time to ring again, if I had to, because I was not prepared to wait 90 minutes. She recommended 8.00 am in the morning but not on a Monday.With will working full time at the moment, covering the role of teaching assistant in the other Kindy group until they find a replacement for the one that has just left, I will have to inform them of his temporary salary increase......it will mean that I will get no carer's payment.........for the next few weeks.Tonight we had Paella made with one of the sachets that I brought back with me......it was lovely!