swilkinson

Well, what a rush to get away from home. It seemed to take days to get Ray ready to go into respite including an extra trip to the doctor to authorise getting some of his scripts dispensed early. We have a 21 day rule, so usually have to wait three weeks between dispensing each repeat on a script, we needed a repeat for two of them. So much red tape....arrrgggh! But it is so worth it now I am here. Sitting in a jet plane for three hours hovering above the clouds it all seemed so unreal. I left home at 9.30am on Wednesday morning (about the time I usally fire up the computer for chat). I took a bus to the station, a train to Sydney. I stopped for lunch in one of the stations cafes before I took another train to the airport. Getting there early as you always have to I had to wait and wait, and finally we were boarded and fifteen minutes later in the air. I love the takeoff, that feeling of soaring away from the earth, such a free feeling. The plane came in as smooth as a pigeon and exactly on time...congratulations to the pilot. Shirley was there to meet me and not fifteen minutes later the rest of the family got to see Granma. What a treat for me to sit down and have a meal with them. The little ones are different in their own homes, more relaxed, but also louder, naughtier too. But what a pleasure to be able to hug them, talk to them face to face, see them smile. Naomi sat on me,hugged me tight and snuggled in for the evening. As I have not been here before it was good to fly in close to the coast and see the miles and miles of lovely beaches, some small islands dotting the ocean. There are hundreds of them here, large and small, it makes this part of the coast famous for snorkelling, scuba diving, all water activities. In days to come I will be able to see more of the place as we go about what to Shirley and Craig is now part of their everyday lives. You know what it feels like to visit family in unfamiliar settings. I makes me more able to picture who they encounter, what they do. Today we drove past Christopher's school, tomorrow I will go to Shirley and Craig's office. All designed to make me more able to familiarise myself with their world, to understand what they are talking about. And it helps me to feel as if them being so far away is not so bad. Today was day 2 and I had the grandkids all to myself all day! Both have colds and stayed home from school so we watched videos, took a long walk to the park, played on the swings etc. Lots of laughter and smiles, both ate a large lunch and showed definite signs of improvement, going out in the sun will do that, and yes, it is fine, warm and sunny today so wonderful in the face of our wet, cold winter down south. Tomorrow and the next day? who knows what they will bring? But whatever it is I will enjoy it to the full.

Sounds just perfect for you. And getting the church folk to help means a lot of people will know where you live so you should get visitors. Don't forget to get a visitors book for them to sign so you know who has been and how often. It will be lovely to have all your treasures where you have easy access to them. Maybe this will be the beginning of new things for you, being an independent woman and all. Need I say "behave yourself"? (((Hugs))) from Sue. :forgive_me?:

What makes me mad as a caregiver? Well everything at the moment. I am sad, I am mad, I am stressed and I am frustrated. Not necessarily in that order. It is mid-winter, I haven't had any kind of a break from Ray in a long time and I find that makes me build up stress until I want to go "Whoosh" like a small angry volcano. I know he was in hospital for eight weeks but that was not exactly a break as I was up and down to him all that time, 35 minutes travel each way, a couple of hours there and back home again. And at the moment because of the wind storms I am doing extra yard work to try and sweep up all the debris. My potplants have fallen over and need some attention and there seem to be broken plants here and there that need taking out and replacing. It is what most caregivers have to do unless they can afford a yardman to do it, I know that, but now I am tired. Where is that fairy godmother who with a wave of her wand could put it all right again? Or maybe one of those makeover teams of muscular young men to prance about the yard with shiny red wheelbarrows giving me edged garden beds full of spring blossoming plants....wait on I think I am dreaming here. The past couple of days have not been good ones. We have new service providers for Ray's shower and respite services and I think that is making for an awkward situation as they get to know us and we them. Having strangers in the house, however nice they turn out to be in the end does make for a unsettling situation. And having a male shower nurse/carer is strange too, I am always more at ease with women than with men and so I am on edge until I get to know them well. I'm not going to elaborate but a couple of incidents from my childhood have made me a bit wary of men.This new one seems nice and polite and I think he will work out okay but I still don't know him well so we will wait and see how I feel once a month has gone by. Today's respite carer was 20 minutes late. I have a Friday morning routine and that means I want to be out of the house at a cetain time, so a lady who is twenty minutes late and then wants a tour of the house before she starts is a nuisance. So I didn't get all the things done I wanted to do in my time off today which means that some of it will be left till next week. That is not a disaster in the scheme of things, just another annoyance to add to the pile. After all she is being paid to be here set hours and they all carry a mobile so she should have had the courtesy to at least ring and tell me she would be late. I went to my Dementia Support group today and we had an explanation of how damage to the brain, through stroke, TBI or dementia takes away our ability to perform certain tasks. It was very enlightening. I wonder why the stroke experts haven't told us some of this before. For instance, Ray's loss of balance, falls, slowed down walking etc shows that the damage from the stroke is beginning to affect his cerebellum although that was not the original site of the first stroke he had. Damage from subsequent strokes is working toward the back of the brain so he is losing more abilities in area which controls balance and co-ordination. This also controls sleep patterns ( he sleeps a lot still) and initiation. So when I tell him to do something he has previously known how to do he may not know how to start but if I show him how to do something he may be able to continue on by himself. We are back in the "accident" season again. I expect it is because it is cold and Ray is reluctant to get out of bed that this is happening again. I don't think he has a a urinary tract infection and he seems okay healthwise so I think again it comes back to being slow. Whatever the reason extra bed linen to be washed adds to the load. And the "accidents" have been in both kinds so sometimes a change of clothes and an extra shower is in order. Yesterday the problem was at the shopping centre so I cut the shopping short and came on home. Very frustrating to have to shower him when he has already had a shower, hair wash etc that very morning. I am hoping the problem goes away again and isn't a sign of things to come. So three more sleeps before Ray starts his two weeks live-in respite, five sleeps until I fly up to Cairns for my little holiday with my northern family. But I know how fast that time will fly by. So it is two weeks and two days before I am back in harness again. Hope by then the sad,mad, bad feelings have all retreated into the background for a while.

Now year one is over you will find a new confidence. It is so good to be a survivor. Ray is 16 years since hs first, two years since his last. Still here, still home, still able to enjoy life. I agree, your daughter is lucky to still have her mom at her wedding. Enjoy it to the full. It is your day too. You are mother-of-the-bride a very special person without whom there would be no bride! Got low net worth and a messy kitchen? WHO CARES. You have LIFE. Enjoy it. (((Hugs))) fom Sue.

I became an Australian citizen in 1988. Like you I was a permanent resident having come to Australia with my parents from England when I was seven. But I had an Australian husband and three children who were Australian citizens so I knew it was time for me to become one too. It felt good to know that it was a decision I made myself. :congrats: And may you be one happy Canadian for a long time to come. Sue.

This is it. For better or worse, For richer for poorer, In sickness and in health. I said that at 21, live it out in real life now at 60. For as long as it takes. (((Hugs))) from Sue.

I am back here this morning courtesy of Trev who has been at this computer for four hours trying to get enough drivers etc on to get me into chat. It has been a marathon and hopefully will work when I need it to when it is my scheduled time to host chat. What a nuisance when technology lets you down. One moment my good old computer was up and running just fine, next I had a message to say it could not recognise some segment or other and I was off the air. Wahhh! This is just an old computer which he was "gunna" rebuild for a while, now it was get it up and running so here it is, just the bare bones of a computer. And here I am again, like the boomerang I have done the full circle and come back. Now for some super glue to keep me here. So what have I been doing in real time? Well, the northern family came last Tuesday and it was just bliss to have them here. So good to catch up on the news, that sort that never comes across in phone calls, what they had been doing, where they had been going, people they were interested in etc. Those long talks don't seem to happen with kids around but it is during the walk on the beach, or while you are both pushing someone on the swings that each conversation takes place. Just so good to have the time to talk to my daughter again. And the kids have grown and are each a special personality. Both have put on inches and we had a lovely time getting to know each other again. Christopher knew immediately what he wanted to do and soon had it all worked out while Naomi was a little shy at first. The big success was having Tori as well on the Friday and we shooed off the parents and Granma and the kids did a round of visits to our favourite playgrounds and parks and we swung on the swings and crawled over the jungle gyms and played in the play areas etc. It was fun to watch the three of them together and to have them to myself. All too soon the visit was over and we were waving a tearful goodbye and then there was the clean-up to do, and so life goes on. But Ray is booked into respite starting next Monday for two weeks and I fly off this time next week to spend a week with them and get to know the area where they live, what they do daily etc. I am so excited. So wish me luck with flights etc. I haven't flown alone before and I am a little scared. Shouldn't be with all the new things I have had to do since Ray's strokes but still a little of the small town girl in me that is scared of the city, the thought of doing things alone etc. Last Sunday was Mum's 89th birthday so I went for a visit to her Dementia Lodge and took cakes and candles etc and we had a special afternoon tea for her. I "helped" blow out the candles and looked at her beloved face and thought of all she means to me and got teary again. Such a shame that she is present but not here, if you know what I mean. But it is still my dear Mum and that is what counts. And so life goes on, doing the best we can with each day.

Since I turned 60 I have suddenly become a "senior". Now I don't qualify for the old aged pension until I am 64 so technically I am still "working age" but twice in the last week I have asked if I needed to show my pension pass to receive the answer: "No, you're right love." so I presume I am showing my age! Not the young gal I used to be. But I guess there is a plus side to that too. I re-registered the car today. Here we get an inspection paper, called a "pink slip", a third party insurance , called a "green slip" and then proceed to the Motor Transport Registry to get the registration stamped ec. At each step of the way I had to wait at least half an hour and at each step got into conversation with an interesting person. At my age no-one is shy with me. One little girl came bouncing up and sat beside me and produced a doll and was talking away when her mother came up to me and asked who I was. I was a little surprised and told her my name. She said: "You must be a special person as my daughter usually takes an hour or two to talk to somebody she doesn't know and here she is chatting away to you as if she has known you all her life." I must have had that Granma look on my face. At the next stop it was a young mum who told me about her pregnancy and at the next a woman who told me what a struggle her husband is having with his business. I guess my point here is that it is not necessary to be lonely as you get older. There are so many people just wanting to have a little chat, to find a listening ear, from the youngest to the oldest my companions today just looked at me and saw a nice comfortable person to talk to. No-one special, just another member of the human race. I wonder now about who I am at this time in my life and where I am heading. Difficult to make plans with Ray the way he is and as our retirement happened eight years ago it is a bit late to plan that. Of course winter is a time when you do ponder the big events in life so I suppose that is what I am doing right now, and when our summer comes again I will spend the time pursuing the simple life and weed the garden and not worry too much with the abstract thoughts. Had an email from a friend today saying he had received an award from his works and "didn't recognise himself" from what was written on the citation. That can be a nice part of your senior years too, recognition for what you have done as your 25th etc anniversaries as an employee come up. Wonder what sort of citation caregivers get? Tomorrow the family come. I am really looking forward to that. Time to play with the grandkids. The weather forecast is horrible so we can set up Granma's video world and get out all the old favourites. The kids probably will play with all the old toys. And the Dads and Uncle Trev with the Lego and Granma and Mum hopefully will have time for a heart to heart. I need to talk to her about family matters. I learned on Friday that mum is going blind, macular degeneration, at her age, nearly 89, that is understandable but with the Alzheimers that will make it worse. If she goes from the Lodge to the nursing home she will be really lost. And I may have to go each day and feed her her lunch. I don't know how that will work out, but if that is what is needed then I will do it. That is what a dutiful daughter does. All the others out there live it up having lunch in restuarants like my sister did today, so she just told me on Messenger. I could tell today that Mum was "feeling" for her cookie rather than looking for it. It is so sad. So I must cherish the good years I have. Ray was asking what day it was yesterday and if he had had his lunch? He has some good days, some confused days. We do as much as we are able each day, plodding along as usual. We seem to cope with each new thing too. I guess that is another thing about your senior years, you learn to cope. And sickness starts to become a normal part of everyday conversation. And your friends and their husbands are on medication. And some have a little time in hospital etc for a repair of some kind and it is not just stroke survivors like Ray who do that anymore. Mind you some of my friends still pretend to be "young" too but now I find that amusing not annoying. I am becoming more tolerant too maybe. So remember, you've got to show me respect, I'm a senior now!

Donna, Ray and I have made a few moves in our life together and I was never so glad as when we finally came back "home". We have been back 23 years so you can imagine how much we have accumulated !! Good luck with the downsizing, repacking etc. Parting from Tinkerbell will be hard as she has been a big part of your post stroke recovery. I just keep remembering that all you get at the end of your life, when you are in the nursing home, is a bed and a chair and the photos on the wall! So I am enjoying what I have now but not planning to keep it all "forever". (((Hugs))) from Sue.

Hey Ken! The sun is shining here too and I finally got the tree branches etc out so the council could pick them up. They did yesterday and now I just have the raking up the leaves to do. Some rain has fallen in the catchment area too so that is a little pressure off the water users. I have a 1000 gallon tank for the garden but think I'll leave it a while before I water...lol. Soggy playing fields are a nuisance, I remember that from when our boys played football. Usually they just shorten the competition so that they fit it in before the cricket season. Ray has a flat "plug" that he uses on his walking stick when we have to cross soggy ground, of course that doesn't work with the quad stick which he is using at present. Try to get outside as much as you can. I know the sun seems to make so much difference to Ray's mood ( and mine too come to that). He is so much happier when he can get out onto the front verandah for a while. I won't take him shopping etc when it is pouring with rain either so we both get that shut-in feeling. I'm smiling like a fool, Sue. :big_grin:

Mel enjoy what you have. In my world that is what I do day by day. No-one knows what tomorrow will bring anyway. Nice to hve you back blogging again. (((Hugs))) from Sue.

How nice to get successfully into chat today. I had PMed Bonnie as we were supposed to have strong winds last night but thank goodness that did not happen and all was well. We have had eight days when we have hardly seen the sun and my! that can bring me down. I call it "rain depression" although officially it is called S.A.D or Seasonal Affective Disorder and what we all feel at some time in the short dreary days in winter. Strangely people in the tropics also feel the same thing when they have the humid, thundery build up to the wet season. While we were in chat we were discussing temperatures in the various places we live in. It is fun sometimes to do the "I'm in winter but you are in summer" comparison. The temps ranged from 90 degrees for Phyllis to me at about 55 degrees. Heck! you will say, that is not cold, but to me in my low set open plan cottage, with only a fan heater in the living room and me stuck out here in the back, yes, that is cold! At night when I come onto the computer I have a rug over my knees to keep me warm. Something funny happened when I asked Phyllis to send me some sunshine and next minute the clouds drifted apart and the sun came out. It was fine then till mid-afternoon when the clouds came back and it started to drizzle. But it was fine and sunny long enough for Ray to go out and sun himself on our front verandah and you all know how much he LOVES to do that! Thank you Phyllis! I am tidying house as I have my northern family here Tuesday to Friday next week. I am so looking forward to them coming. One of the evenings we will have Pam, Steve, Tori and Alex over and have birthday celebrations for Alex who has his 1st birthday on 21st. He will not know that it is a week out, he will just lap up the attention! He is such a bright little spark, there is a picture of him in the Gallery. He has Ray's blue eyes, so the girls will just love him! I have had to buy a couple of new doonas as the northern family are coming from the tropics and will probably feel the cold again when they get here! They are going down to their holiday cottage near the Snowy Mountains where it is snowing so will find that very cold! The strong winds etc have brought a little bit of snow to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney also so you can go there for the "Christmas in July" banquets that are so popular in all the touristy places like big hotels and guest houses and sing songs like "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" and really feel that it is Yuletide right now! We have had a lot of our activities cancelled due to the weather. The parking lot of the place where we usually have our Lions dinner was covered with sand drifts from the roaring onshore winds so that dinner was postponed a week. Other activities were cancelled as some of the participants are still helping with the clean-up after the wild winds. After all those tree branches are off roofs there is still all the leaf litter to rake and bag and the potplants to stand up ( I did some of that today). I am not even going up the back as a glimpse of that garden showed a lot of cutting back, re-staking etc needs to be done, there is a lot of wind damage up there. I'm not afraid of the work I just need the right weather to get it done. After the 22nd June the days will slowly get longer and if the sun shines again I can get active. Ray pedalled his exercise bike today, the first time for a while as it lives on our front verandah and was inaccessible. He spent quite long time pedalling and stopping, pedalling and stopping,daydreaming a bit in between I suspect. He will be having another minder for Friday from this week and the care provider has suggested that he/she help Ray with his exercises as part of their activities so I will have to get the list out and look at it and see how they can work it into a routine. So as the song says: "wish me health, wish me sunshine, wish me love" (author unknown).

Katrina - I have plenty of time to pray for you before 9am your time. So just picture me here sending up prayers on your behalf. And if you don't get it this time there is always a next time. As Donna said we can all get in a "blue funk" survivors and caregivers alike. And you do have a lot to contend with as a teenager who has had a stroke. But we are here to support you. And as Donna also said you can be a better parent by educating yourself and determining that you will do the very best you can do when you raise your own family. ((HUGS))) from Sue.

I'm not sure that fairness, justice etc is anywhere in the stroke journey for stroke survivor or caregiver. I think the goal is more to strive , to reach out, to keep on going. We all, no matter how far down the track, long to go back to the way things were. I would like my husband back healthy and strong, and I would like to go back to my job etc. But it is never going to be that way. I hear some of the things you say as echos of the things I said myself in the first few years. I don't know how you get to an acceptance but one day you see that this is the way life is - and you just live it day by day. I 'll just send you some (((HUGS))) to let you know I hear what you say and wish you well. Sue.

Mary, it is nice to see you back blogging again. Congratulations on your family, the graduate, the independent son and your daughter, busy with her own life. You have done a mighty good job under very difficult circumstances. And good for you, helping out and being a mentor and guide to another single mum. We need more of that in our communities, women who are willing to help out wherever they are needed. For a while there it looked as if the older, wiser woman was an endangered species! I think keeping busy and doing good are excellent goals for the future. (((Hugs))) from Sue.

I have many sad memories that come up at this time of the year. Of course we are in winter so duller, shorter days and too much time inside. We haven't seen the sun for a few days and that S>A>D (Seasonal Affective Disorder) feeling is overtaking us all. Add bad news like a couple of deaths at Mum's Dementia Lodge, Diane's death etc and it is easy to let it all overcome us. But memories of the good times can also sustain us through the bad. Just had an old friend telephone and we were soon laughing at a couple of funny moments we shared recently. We've got to concentrate on the positives in life and try to move forward with a smile on our faces. I agree with your Dad - God is still good. And Life is still good too if we learn to appreciate the sunrise and sunset and all the hours in between that are ours. Sue.

George you have been an inspiration to many and the information you have given has been a good critique of what is available. Don't worry about what people make of your writing style, we all write in our own way, that is what makes the blogs so fascinating. As for what people might think of you or whether or not you cause people to be jealous or envious, we are all envious at some time of others progress, comes with the territory. There is nothing wrong with just blogging about what you do to fill your life post-stroke. We are struggle with the limitations and exalt in the things that do come back, or the things we are still able to do. I am so pleased when Ray and I have a day that is close to normal, close to what two sixty plus seniors would have been doing at this stage of life. Keep in contact, keep us up with what Lesley and you are doing. Sue.

My condolences too. It is so hard to lose someone you love. And in a sense that love never dies but remains a part of you forever. (((Hugs))) from Sue.

Ross, I just read this. I have been off the air due to computer troubles. I am so deeply sorry. Diane will be missed on this site, she has a special place here. We have all been so impressed with her fighting spirit. Despite the severity of her stroke she really reached out and touched people's hearts. She was so determined to recover and she always tried so hard, what a personality too. I always felt Diane and I had some things in common as I was born near Croydon, actually in Red Hill Hospital if that is still standing. So we talked about England from time to time. Deepest condolences to you and your family and friends. (((Hugs))) from Sue.

Sorry to all on Tuesday chat last week. My computer kept losing the signal and throwing me out! I did manage to get back in a couple of times and then nothing! The computer couldn't find the site again. Then the next time I logged on the computer wouldn't go on the internet. Trev was away back at Mt Victoria and Steve was so busy with funerals etc after the long weekend. He and Pam both worked a fair bit of overtime this week so I didn't like to ask him to come and fix it. So I have had a week of reading and watching movies and listening to music. There is always handicraft to do and one night I even sorted out a couple of shelves of the main storage area. But I did miss you all. Today Steve came and looked at the computer and it had gone back to some old default and didn't recognise our present IP address, may have been as a result of one of the sudden power cuts, but it was easily fixed and so here I am again. I will have a lot of reading to do to catch up it seems. I have Tori over for a sleepover. She was to come last weekend but the weather prevented that. So she came this afternoon. Her brother Alex is walking a few steps now so I will have to start putting more of my craft materials etc above reach of his small hands. He is a bonnie boy and so happy. He will soon be running around the place and getting into all sorts of strife. The floods locally are not entirely subsided as we have had more rain the last couple of nights and a couple of heavy showers today. Wild winds were predicted but here at least they didn't have the same velocity as last weekend. I did notice some fresh tree falls, one two doors over is partly across the block next door. Insurance claims so far are listed in many millions. Some people will take a long time to get over this as they do not have much above what sustains them week to week. Our Samaritans which is a church charity is helping out and some of our churchfolk are helping the Red Cross set up an Aid Register for Disaster Recovery aid promised by the government who have declared it a natural disaster. Young families particularly are hard hit as a car under water or loss of clothing, food etc is hard blow to overcome. We are lucky, our power came on after 39 hours and we lost very little food etc but some people were off for four days and in some areas the whole system is unsustainable at present. The hardest hit are those around the lake edges where wild winds, king tides and other circumstances have backed up the little creeks which run into the lakes and that has flooded low lying areas quite a way inland. The seas are high and sand across roads is another problem. If this sounds like some of your winters I guess you'd say we are lucky we don't have snow and ice as well! There are elements of all this that are good. Fishermen are predicting a lot of prawns and good fishing next year as this is releasing a lot of nutrients into the lake system and far out to sea. The creeks that needed a dredging after years without heavy rain are now nicely scoured out and neighbours are getting to know each other as circumstances cause them to band together for help. And the powercuts may result in a record crop of babies in March 2008. One large nursing home was flooded out and the patients who were ambulatory evacuated to a working man's club close by as they have large modern kitchen. Volunteers there said the men particularly had a good time as the meals they were served were very different from the ones they were used to and came with a free alcoholic beverage of your choice until matron found out! So when the waters go down I don't think any of them will want to go back. Of course there have been tragedies and hastened deaths as a result of this and many thousands have lost cars and property of all kinds but I think we all feel now that nature occassionally has to be heard. We may be smart scientifically and have what we think is control over most things but nature sometimes over-rules us for our own good. Up against a fierce storm, a flood of water and without power and light we all seem pretty puny. And we do well to learn a lesson from that. Glad to be back on again. I'll hopefully catch some of you in chat next week.

Ray and I went up to my sisters place about 40 minutes drive from here for lunch today. We saw a lot of the low lying areas are still covered with water, and where we went past the lake the playgrounds etc on the edges are still under water. I only drove through one lot of shallow water myself. It was a lovely day today, bright blue sky, sunny, just a light breeze, what a contrast. The floodwaters should soon recede, the excess water should drain away. I just have a yard full of small branches and twigs to deal with. Oh well, I got off pretty lightly so have to be grateful for that. Sue. :happydance:

Now before you get too excited this is not an expose of the night life here. It is an explanation of why we have been off the air from 9.30am Friday till 12.30am Sunday morning. We have been experiencing really rough weather on our part of the coast and the power lines were down all over so no lights, no power, no computer...wah!! The drama started on Friday morning when after an overnight of high winds with some rain the lights went out. This happened just before our Friday minder came, this was not the usual one as he had lost part of his roof in Thursday night's wind storm and was waiting for State Emergency Services to come with a tarpaulin to put over it. So in walked a new young lady, 45 minutes late and wondering what to do. Ray headed for the shower and it wasn't until he was undressed we realised no power, no hot water. Luckily a trickle of hot water still came through the pipes so he did get a wash of sorts. This was the start of an event filled day as I had some company coming, old friends from the early '80's who were on their way to Sydney and had decided to use our place as their morning tea stop. Through wind and rain I went intrepidly to the shopping centre to buy supplies as this is also the Queen's Birthday long weekend so I had invited Tori over as well - alas that was not to work out at all. Got home after the visitors arrived, driving rain etc and had an uneasy first few minutes as I could not even offer them morning tea, but then Ray's bus came to take him off to Scallywags so the worker left and the visitors and I went out for a very quick lunch down at the shopping centre where the lights etc were still on. We had to go out as I couldn't even offer them a cup of warm water - no power. It's amazing how you never even think of the convenience of it until it is gone! And yes, we used to keep a small spirit stove etc for emergencies but seems they are all rusty, out of service etc now. However a sandwich and a cup of tea and we felt much better. And they went on their way glad they had been able to renew the friendship. I did manage a quick visit to Mum, that being the third time I got soaked in a downpour, it was getting a bit regular now. There was a wind warning, I heard that on the car radio and thought yes, a little bit of wind, the rain was still pouring down. Ray came home and went to bed and then a phone call: "Mum do you know anyone with a four wheel drive and a baby seat? Alex needs picking up from pre-school and neither Pam or I can get there, we are both flooded in at work!" So I went over the road to my neighbour who has that kind of vehicle and next door to my neighbour there who would need to mind Ray. It was just on dark and the wind howling like a wolf pack now. Luckily his GPS system chose the only road that was open all the way through! Long story short, we did get through, over the ridge, first time on the dirt for my neighbour's car! Alex was overjoyed to see the "gorgeous Granma" and we brought him back here. As the weather eased back a tad Pam managed to get out and get through the minor flooding and rescue her little man and take him home. Much relief all round. Tori had been picked up by a neighbour from her school and was happily playing with their brood. It was decided to postpone her visit to another weekend. But about 11pm the wind built up again and the house seemed under assault and by 3am it was like a mini cyclone, high winds, constant beating rain etc. Down came some branches off my trees, tin rattled and banged, the roof shuddered but luckily nothing broke through. In the morning we saw a lawn covered by leaves and twigs and the branches across the driveway but all else was fine. Thank goodness for small mercies. Some of the rest of the neighbours lost trees and fences and have pieces missing from gables etc but all of ours held. Today has been an odd day as we went to the shopping centre where they do have power and did some shopping and had brunch, then came home and did nothing much as it was cold and almost dark all day. Trev came home late after noon and we were mighty glad to see him. Another pair of strong arms is always welcome. And the second run of high winds didn't arrive so maybe in a few days when the rain clears up we will be able to go out and tidy up again. I was so glad when I woke after mid-night to hear the tv on and the house busy with the hum of the electrical appliances again. Power to the people!!! Hip, hip, hooray!

Blogging does seem to help to sort things out in my mind too. So pleased you are finding it helps you. I am like you, I put things off, put things off and when I finally get to do them it all sort of slides into place and I am so pleased! So why can't I do that right at the start? I loved the dresser story, reminds me of my late Dad who would take something home from my house to "fix it up" and then absent-mindedly give it to someone else! Keep on blogging! Sue.

Gary, I have just been watching ANNE OF GREEN GABLE _ The Sequel. Was any of that filmed on PEI? I've been a fan of the Anne books since I was a little girl. Glad you are putting your computer skills to work in a way that will be part of improving people's awareness of stroke, the symptoms and treatment especially. Maybe if there were more magazines circulating in the general community there will be less strokes in the end and more sympathy for those who have had one. Keep on blogging. Sue.