WHERE are the chooks ?

On Monday night TH found a superb documentary from the BBC by a lady about her mother who has dementia. TH caught the end of the programme, then being a CWK, tracked it down on the ‘watch and listen again’ facility. So we saw it all after all. Entertaining, Harrowing and Inspiring. A most courageous undertaking to share so boldly.

DJ’s wife had Altzheimer’s Dementia. It ‘s a most cruelly demanding situation for TH, coping with a second parent with dementia.

We found this programme astonishingly supportive, admitting the emotional and practical difficulties encountered. Although every presentation of dementia is specific to that individual, so much is shared by many. And it changes. Sometimes daily – or hourly – so far as ‘details’ are concerned. But if you step back, you can see the more profound overall changes. Some of these are because you have found more effective coping or ‘dealing with’ strategies. Some of the changes are the deterioration.

One of the bells that rang for us from the programme was the difficulty of ‘pant pads’…… I’m sure these must be amongst the most uncomfortable things ever devised for wearing. And not easy to cope with on several levels. So it’s not at all surprising that the user with dementia takes them out and hides them. Dealing with the end results of that are not at all easy. But – enough !

An unsettled night for DJ, with the old GI tract playing merry mayhem at 5am. (giving thanks for 'pant pads' !) Not conducive to DJ feeling great. And it's raining again. So I’m letting him sleep on this morning, in hopes it will help him get through the day. T from the ‘Crossroads’ Support Organization is due to visit him this afternoon. They usually play dominoes.

DJ and I played for about 2 hours yesterday pm – it made the afternoon more acceptable than the morning had been. At the end of it we were both seeing spots...

HOWEVER - what I really really want to know is this. “WHERE are the chooks ?” This blog says it includes chickens………..

Well…. we’re still awaiting delivery of the henhouse. Current purchaser demands apparently far outstrip the production team’s ability to supply. We thought we’d have them by now, but though we were told ‘the beginning of June at the latest’, we’re still awaiting a delivery date.... We contacted a poultry supplier last week, and will probably have to wait weeks more for the hens to get here....

The therapeutic effects of handling hens sound considerable from internet trawlings, so I’m very hopeful that DJ will get some positive benefits from these new additions to the family. But at this rate we may never know……