It's September!

Time to catch up with this blog again. Lots has happened, so it's hard to know where to begin. 

Mum's Alzheimer's has progressed to a point where she needs constant supervision, so my brothers and I made the big decision to find residential care for her. Fortunately dad had made ample provision for her and we were able to find a good care home. Since moving in , her physical health has improved, and we know she is well looked after. I visit every week, and she has settled well. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease, but for now, the memory loss is the only real symptom. She still recognises me, and we can still have a chat, but sometimes the conversations take a strange turn, as mum's memories of other people get mixed up with her own memories. Sadly, she does not remember any of her great-grandchildren, as her short-term memory capability had already been lost before she met any of them. 

I have been keeping a project365 blog this year- here are the summer highlights. 

In June, I went to the scoop open-air theatre twice- once for a play that got seriously rained off, once for opera;  joined ( and left) a tai chi class - sadly, my knees won't take it now; went to the cinema once and out to dinner twice, and attended one art exhibition. 

In July, I had to give back the iPad I had on loan from work, so I invested in a new iPad mini to replace it, and I love it. Mum moved into Abbotsleigh Mews. The weather got hot and I dug out my old fans; then visited the Fan Museum open day and bought another one. I joined a twitter-based maths book club and luckily already had a copy of the first book. Cliff had a birthday barbecue-luckily on one of the cooler days. It was really hot this month - I stayed at home mostly and tried to keep cool. 

In August, I retired from the university. 

We got the garden tidied and bought a new umbrella and barbecue. I also replanted the herb pots, which seem to be doing ok. We've had two barbecues this month- one for Ed's birthday and one to celebrate my retirement. I bought a couple of things for the house- a new side-table and a magnetic spice rack. Had the annual trip to IKEA so Bex could choose a desk and a brilliant chair. We found and uploaded all our old Venice photos, and broke two shredders while getting rid of old correspondence (finally resorting to making papier mâché). 

The house is tidy!

I also started keeping a food blog - (Bex says this is a "hipster" thing to do). 

I actually ate all these things ( but not always for my main meal). There were four big "en-famille" meals-two were barbecues, one was a birthday buffet. I "ate out" three times- twice at Nandos and once in the IKEA restaurant. Looking at this, there isn't really a lot of what I would call "junk food". 

Today would have been my first day back at work after the summer. I'm embarking on a new phase of my life …