We had a call from our kind social services chappie. He has managed to extend the respite, again.

We are now ok until the 21st Jan. The room we were hoping for in the care home has gone to someone else because we still haven't received the funding he is entitled to. The committee only meets once a week and invariably give the money to the most needy. It has been weeks now.

We are all agreed that to move dad back home and then to another place would not be in his best interest, nor mine.

I went up on the downs yesterday morning, it was very beautiful and quite exhilarating but today I am exhausted. I think I must try and do this at least three times a week to get back into some level of fitness. Daunting but hopefully doable.

I took the dog to see dad today and he went down very well with the inhabitants. The exquisite lady (Margaret) was still there wearing the most elegant of clothes. Hugo went up to her when she petted him and then he jumped up......The beautifully woven skirt got caught up in his nails and pulled a number of threads. She was quite charming about this social disgrace but called the carer over to try and pull the threads through. Unfortunately, only one of them returned to normal. She informed everyone that it was a new skirt. Her story came out whilst I was sitting with dad. Her husband had suffered a bad accident hence her change of circumstances. Tom (elderly with walking issues) couldn't understand why he was expected to stay the night; did his wife know where he was, would anyone be coming to get him, today. Margaret did her best to explain that he would be staying the night, over and over again. He couldn't retain the information and became quite upset. Another gentleman, Tom, looked over my shoulder and asked if that was the sea outside. No, I replied, we are in Crowborough, the highest point in Sx and far away from the sea.

Oh, I thought we were in Eastbourne he said.

Dad ignores them all and continues to sleep. He looks very rested but is wearing someone else's clothes and doesn't have his glasses on, again. He has also lost his toothbrush.

Bored with Christmas now.....It is raining. Wish I was in France.

My new year resolution is to be more cheerful.

Family coming to dinner tomorrow night and staying over, in dad's room. I have prepared room with expensive air freshener and my White House bedlinen but it still looks dingy. I wonder how M. will feel about redecorating. Our belongings - clothes, books, pictures and furniture will have been in store for nearly a year which just goes to show that you can live without things but it is not very nice. I think we will have to make decisions soon as to what we are going to do, we can't keep on paying storage but we have too much to fit into this little house.

My new year resolution is to be more cheerful

My new year resolution is to be more cheerful

My new year resolution is to be more cheerful

Write this 100 times and I might remember it!

Happy New Year

Today we varied the traditional Christmas Fayre by having beef. I pootled through the cooking with a couple of a variations on the veggies. Instead of mashed swede and carrot combined with a dollop of butter and sprinkle of black pepper, I mashed the swede with butter and horseradish sauce. Delicious. The roasted parsnips were accompanied by batons of carrots all sloshed in honey, olive oil and whole grain mustard and then cooked in the hot oven. They weren't quite cooked enough but timing was always my problem with cooking. Pudding was to be banoffee pie, a family favourite. Having had a bad accident with the tins of condensed milk exploding in the past I was greatly relieved to find the caramel ready made and just as good. It only needed to be put together. Unfortunately, (there is always one of them in our house when I am cooking) I forgot that we had no means of whipping the cream. I fetched my son into the kitchen to hand beat it.

That lasted all of 5 seconds before he went off in search of a better means that didn't involve manual labour. If I didn't know before that my son was his father's progeny - I do now. He came back with my husbands electric drill and inserted a fork into the bit before switching the power on. It worked. The drill however was ruined. A minor detail compared to not having banoffee pie. Usually it is the men in my household who make off with my kitchen knives etc. and use them for the wrong purpose now I have got my own back. The pie was delicious except that I hadn't quite cooked the pastry base.

We went to the respite place to see dad on Christmas morning. All was well, except someone else had dad's shirt on. It's a very distinctive shirt - black with great stripes. Not many old men wear black shirts; it reflects dad's teddy boy past! It was a bit tight on the old guy. One of the carers dressed up in an ill fitting santa suit and then proceeded to do a hoola hoop routine in front of everyone! Bizaare. Then all the residents were served schooners of dry sherry. Dad downed his in one go. We left as he fell asleep.

I have been told off for not keeping my blog going. There is plenty to say but it is not all about Dad.

We are all ready for Christmas, loads of food but nothing to eat. The fridge is full up and bursting at the seams with the freezer just as bad. Prescribed menus leave nothing to spontaneity (sic).

Anyway, it is sausage and chips tonight and bags of sweets. I Bought 7 bags of sweets yesterday to put out in festive bowls to be dipped in, as and when. The as and when took place last night and five of the bags disappeared. Today I replenished.

Two of us are going to visit Dad tomorrow and the other two are going to visit the other dad then we will all mass in Brighton for an agenda packed day. Secret Santa clues still to be written which is a bit difficult as two of our lot don't know the premises very well. I am basing my clues on nursery rhymes such as: incy wincy spider climbed up the spout...etc. Spout meaning teapot which is where my first clue will be found!

Thursday came and went still no news of funding. No surprise there then. It snowed big time

5/6 inches and everywhere came to a standstill. We got stuck out and had to abandon car and walk home in a blizzard. This does not feel good. Sharp pieces of glass flinging into your face.

Managed to get into Brighton even though there were no buses or trains to see Chicago at the dome.

Theatre was sold out but only third full. Freezing cold but drove home. Lift dropped me at bottom of hill and I walked the rest. Quite worn out with all the excitement.