He Needs Me To Tie His Dressing Gown Cord.

Budleigh Salterton yesterday afternoon.

The nice man from social services says he'll start the process of getting an agency carer to come in every morning and get Robin up and dressed.  He'll work out a budget. We'll have a financial assessment and will have to contribute to the cost of it. I don't like the idea of a different person every day. He says that once it's in place he'll get someone from another team to talk to me about the possibility of a personal assistant for Robin through the direct payments option. My head is all fuzzy after the meeting - so many questions to answer but it's clear Robin is not eligible for Continuing Health Care. You have to be seriously out of control for that.

 Half way thorough we are joined by another nice man, an OT, who measures Robin's leg and the height of the  sofa and the bed and the loo and looks at his office chair and the shower and says we may need adaptations later on but not yet.

 Afterwards all Robin wants to do is go for a drive, which we do, and end up in a cafe which is about to close, with a tepid cup of coffee and a slightly stale biscuit. And I try and explain what's going to happen which he seems to understand.

Now he needs me to tie his dressing gown cord and make him a cup of tea and he'll watch the news for a bit which he won't understand.

 Tomorrow I'll get up early to have a new tyre fitted on the car and later we'll drive up to Sheffield and spend the night there. And the next day we will remember and honour my aunty at her funeral in Dore where we went this time last year in memory of  my uncle, her husband.

All day I've been thinking about my brother who lives in a spiritual community in Fiji. The hurricane  on Saturday devastated the island of Naitauba where they live. All the organic vegetable gardens he's responsible for have been destroyed as well as the two boats they use to get supplies to and from the island.  There is no way to contact them but today I found out that at least he is alive and well. For which I'm truly thankful.