The colour of hydrangeas

So the crisis must have passed a little with my family situation, as I’m now noticing the colour of hydrangeas. This is one of our blue hydrangeas 🤔?!? David says it will turn blue after it is pink. We shall see… apparently it depends on the alkalinity of the soil. I never knew that before.

I also seem to be growing a beanstalk…(actually a sunflower).. I planted a whole row of them at the front of the house but only this one is growing. I guess nature’s like that sometimes.

It’s been a busy day with my parents. My Mum is looking a bit shell- shocked still but she’s back at the care home after her hip surgery and mobilising with a frame and helper between her bedroom and the lounge and the dining room. So proud of her! It’s nice to see her back with her new friends.

My Dad has been to 3 medical appointments today, driven by David and assisted by me. We started off with blood tests and physio for his back this morning and then moved on to ENT this afternoon. He has finally had the hard wax from his ears cleared completely. The chemist and the NHS had already tried to clear this twice and gave up saying his ears were too hairy and the hair would have to be cut away by a specialist. The ENT consultant said it wasn’t actually hair, just A LOT of wax. He is SO much happier now this is gone.

Tonight it’s time for Charlie Bigham’s salmon en croute and baked beans. There hasn’t been much cooking going on recently as you can imagine. At times there wasn’t even much eating as there were not enough hours in the day. Old people take ages to do anything, everything takes so long.

For now my Mum is in the best and safest place for her. My Dad is still in the same care home for respite and then he ventures home into the big wide world on his own again on Sunday. It is a worry and I’m sure this is not his last time staying in a care home, but he is a new man compared to when he arrived a couple of weeks ago. He is proud and independent and will not have any help at home, or even any company except me occasionally due to Covid concerns. It may be that we are waiting for another crisis with him, but there’s nothing I can do about that except to try to work with him and steer him towards a safer path when I can.

Let’s hope August is a little less challenging than July. I still can’t believe how much was thrown at me all at once last month. Aiming to get back to some reading, cinema, cooking, socialising and concentrating on my job, but I won’t get my hopes up too much. My part time job running my parents’ finances, being their personal shopper and overseeing their health needs is not going away any time soon.