Just Humans Being...

Life Without Maple Syrup , a set on Flickr. Via Flickr: Breakfast will just not be the same without our Canadian maple syrup... Click on the photos to follow our story. K&S xx

Bebe loves singing, so Sime dug out an old microphone. Dementia makes it a struggle for her to remember the words as well as she used to, but it doesn't stop her from having fun & of course - we are only too happy to encourage her! She also loves seeing herself on screen & even though the words are a bit jumbled, she's always keen on us sharing the videos & keeps saying "It'll give the world a laugh!" Hope you enjoy it. Kay & Sime xx

Picture from here Tonight we're going to be trimming our tree, making & drinking mulled wine, enjoying the sound of the wind howling outside & sitting by the fire... Happy solstice! Love Kay & Sime xx

We are really getting into the swing of life with Bebe & she is doing wonderfully well... Far better than we ever imagined! She has been with us for 3 weeks now & has already got to grips with the stairs & where her bedroom & bathroom are... When she arrived she was unsteady & using a walking stick, we had to assist her on the stairs & getting up the step in her bathroom. Now she has given up her stick & can negotiate the stairs & step independently... Has she just gained confidence or is our vegan diet working wonders?!  We moved to Cornwall when Hugo was just 5 years old & although Bebe has seen him regularly over the years she just can't accept that he is now a young man, so sadly she greets him as either a stranger or thinks he is Kay's Brother! Bebe is loving day care & will soon be going in for regular respite.  We are missing being able to go out in the evenings, so once we are satisfied that she is ready

We seem to be getting into a routine with Bebe & have seen quite a transformation over the last week... Amazing what a hair cut & some new clothes can do! She is settling well & although there are periods when reassurance is needed, she has been able to move away from focusing on things which cause her distress. We have spent many hours talking & helping her to understand why she thinks the way she does. Some of the more mundane topics, Sime has now written about in a laminated letter - which we hand to Bebe when she starts to repeat herself & gradually the answers to these questions are seeping through!  She is loving her time at daycare, which is a great bonus & she is amazingly sleeping well - if we can persuade her to keep off the coffee at night! Bebe's had a go on her old typewriter, though found it a struggle to concentrate...  We'll get it out again at the weekend & keep encouraging her. We've also tried

Bebe is here with us at last... We found out recently that Bebe also suffers from Sundowners Syndrome & witnessed during our journey home yesterday just how quickly her personality changes. We were in the car & as soon as it began getting dark, she no longer knew who we were... She had been happy & relaxed, chatting away - when suddenly, she was filled with fear & agitation! She was angry on her arrival; the house was too cold, her room was too big, but eventually we calmed her down by distracting her with some of her favourite music & very quickly, she was dancing! She was on top form over dinner & had us all in hysterics...  She is having a problem recognising Hugo - it's been a couple of years since she last saw him & of course, he's a young man now. Last night he was Rodney, we have no idea why... She enjoyed the laughter as much as we did! By midnight, we were flagging & had to call time on the fun, again she bec

We've almost prepared the house ready for Bebe's arrival - most importantly, her room is ready... She will be going into our guest room, so we haven't had much to do in there. We've put her photographs up on the walls, put her CD player in place, clothes in the wardrobe & drawers, but kept it simple & clutter free. When Nan was with us, we made her room into a comfortable bedsit, but she tended to stay in there & almost cut herself off from us at times...  We want to encourage Bebe to spend time downstairs, she'll have the sitting room more or less to herself if she wants some peace & we've brought her TV down, so she'll be able to watch all her musicals again... She lost the ability to use her DVD & CD players a while ago, which was really sad - she loves music & we'll make sure she gets plenty of opportunities to enjoy them all again!  Lupe's already made himself at home & seems to be loving Bebe's