Good evening.
We just got home from Woodstock. A very nice drive home--not like the rainy, hazy, foggy drive out this morning!
Arrived at Sakura House around noon. Alice was sleeping but awoke as we came in. Daughter-in-law Elaine and Doug were there; Trish Weir and her mom, Mary McArthur were just leaving. We got busy preparing lunch--warmed up some of Alice's own recipe: Hearty Casserole (also known as 'slop', 'skub-gub' and goulash in various households!). She and Doug split it but neither had much appetite--there are still leftovers in the fridge. We plied both of them with water and Doug with Gatorade, too, reminding each of them to drink through out the day. Strangely, each time the chocolates and fudge came out--neither one turned them down! Hmmm...
Alice slept most of the day--she seems to be napping after every meal. Eating takes a lot of concentration. She truly doesn't move much anymore.-- didn't even try to feed herself today. She lay pretty still, with her hands under the covers. It seems that she is getting smaller. Physically, yes, a little, but I mean more in terms of her personality. Her eyes are still bright, but she rarely speaks. She may nod or give yes or no answers, but choices are hard for her and open-ended questions are almost impossible. It's hard to get a feeling for what she would like for lunch. Sometimes her eyes will flicker and I can get some information from that, but often, her face is placid and blank. Then, my face is clueless! I can guess some things, based on her likes and dislikes and fortunately, she's never been a complainer.
She seemed to spend a lot of time watching out the window and maybe keeping an eye on the bird feeder. A sparrow found it yesterday and s/he was back today. In fact, this little bird spent a good part of the afternoon tucked into that feeder. Sometimes eating, but sometimes I think s/he was napping and guarding her/his new turf! And staying out of the rain, of course.
She has a gorgeous new fleece blanket, in soft rainbow colours, made by her sister Joyce. It's thick and warm and each person who came into the room couldn't help but stroke the cozy fabric. It was quite nap-worthy and Alice tested it out several times today. I'm glad to report that it performed very well!
We brought in some cds that we thought she might like. Played one with bird sounds and soft classical music. Look through the pile next time you're in and put one on, if you feel like it. They are hiding under the bag of chocolates.
I'm going to try going up for an afternoon, every second or third day and driving home the same day. This way, I can sleep in my own bed every night. This gives me a better chance of having consistent sleep. We'll see how this goes for the next week or so.
Okay--I'm off to put laundry away. Curl up with a good book. Batten down the hatches. Drink your water!!!
love, Robin.
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