Working in a care home

Posted on March 9, 2025March 9, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged carer, coping, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1865, Learning, Memory, older people, Thinking, TimeLeave a comment

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

Understanding how people cope as they grow older is important to me. I worked as a carer after I finished college for a few years. When you work with people doing the job you learn about aging, mental health issues, loneliness, coping with disability, loss and other issues. You also find that some carers are more caring than others. Some people should not be allowed in to work with clients.

I worked in two different places and the clients were more disabled at the second home, but everyone worked hard to support them. My favourite memories were shows we put on for the residents. One Christmas we did a talent show. I wore a fur coat, tinsel, a home made tutu and blue wellies. I then tried to dance the swan lake ballet, at the end I had someone come on and shoot me with a pretend gun! I came second to two carers miming “sisters” from White Christmas. They were dressed up and were very good, but one of their wigs fell off and I think that’s what won it for them..

When you are on a low wage, part time contract, you really understand how hard life can be and caring for older people teaches you how complex life is.

Alone

Posted on March 8, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged deep feelings, Lonely, Loss, Neighbours, overwhelmed, Sadness, Thinking, Time, Tired, World2 Comments

I look at the bedroom window and see my hubbys cask of ashes there. I tell him it’s a sunny day and I wish he was here. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this low, and I’ve spent most of the day in silence. I spoke to a neighbour and had a brief chat, but that was like a tiny sticking plaster trying to cover over a deep gash in my flesh. It was never going to hold for long.

I’m sitting quietly, the TV is on. I just watched a show where a nurse recently lost her husband in an accident and the tears started filling me up. Like an ocean overtopping flood defences. Now I feel tired out and just overwhelmed with sadness. I need to get out, but I won’t ask anyone. I need to talk but I’m struck dumb, I need to feel better but I feel so low. I’m saying these things here to get them off my shoulders and mind. Things have got to improve, they must.

Catty

Posted on March 8, 2025 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Age, back and white cat, Cat, Life, Photo, Photodirector, Poem, Poetry, Sad, Tuxedo catLeave a comment

On my lap

Looking sweet

Purring happily

He looks so neat

Black and white

13 year old friend

He keeps me company

My heart he mends.

One day my joy

Will come to an end

I’ll be very sad,

my heart will rend.

Car issues again!

Posted on March 7, 2025 Posted in UncategorizedTagged back car door, Car, car door, central locking, passenger, Problems, Stuck, window mechanismLeave a comment

I went out in the car tonight and the drivers rear passenger side door won’t open from the outside. I usually put my walking stick and bag on the back seat. I think I might have caught the button that locks all the doors? I don’t know though because the door at the back nearside still opens. Maybe it needs oiling? Or maybe if I leave the window down and try leaning in from the outside I could get it open? I will try and ring a friend for advice.

Auroras again?

Posted on March 7, 2025March 7, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged 4am, Auroras?, Clouds, Green, Life, long exposure, Night, Nighttime, PhotographLeave a comment

I could see an odd colour in the sky last night at about 4am , just vague because it was cloudy. So I took a long exposure (60 second) shot.

I posted this on Threads and someone then told me it’s not possible to photograph an aurora through cloud? But I don’t know how thin or dense the cloud was and also my camera shake makes everything look extra blurry.

If this isn’t an aurora, (maybe reflected through gaps in cloud), what has caused this?

Fish cushion

Posted on March 7, 2025 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Church, Embroidery, Exposure, Fish, Interesting, kneeling, long exposure, Pattern, Photo, Photodirector, TextureLeave a comment

You know when you see something and you just have to take a photo. Then I was explaining how to take a long, 60 second exposure to someone but it was bright enough at 15 seconds. Finally I used the photodirector app again to add some texture.

This is not my embroidery, it’s a kneeling cushion in the local church. I thought it was really interesting, and had to take a photo.

Strawberries and Cream

Posted on March 6, 2025 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cream, Dessert, Food, Photo, Red, Spring, Strawberry, Summer, Sweet, Sweetner, TastyLeave a comment

It’s not Summer, not even Spring, but Strawberries are out in the shops and are quite tasty. I had some tonight for tea with cream. I did sprinkle a bit of sweetner over the top of them.

I did think of adding a few blueberries to the fruit but there was enough with what I’d already prepared.

What I do like is the way cream fills in the little pores of the strawberries, it makes a nice pattern and could be cropped and put together as a collage. I might do that. Red is a favourite colour and this with the contrast of black and white makes a fresh looking image.

Fairy tales?

Posted on March 6, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged amusing, Brian Froud, Fairy, Funny, illustrated, Lady Cottinghams Pressed Fairy Book, Life, pressed, squished, Terry Jones2 Comments

From Pinterest Lady Cottinghams Pressed Fairy Book, by Terry Jones, illustrated by Brian Froud.

Have you seen this book? It’s a really strange and funny book illustrated with squished fairys. The story is that a little girl who accidentally snaps a fairy in her book, and then gradually collects more and more in her book. They are the essence of the fairys, their spirits, and incredibly cheeky looking.

Each illustration has notes of the capture alongside them. As Lady Cottingham grows up her writing improves and her speculation about the fairy world and the intensions of the “wee folk” gets more involved. I really enjoyed it.

Esther’s prompt this week is Heros and Villans.

Posted on March 5, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Cyber men, Dalek, Dr Who, police call box, Space, Tardis, Time, transdimensional, weeping angelsLeave a comment

Heros and Villans
Have to be the various iterations of Dr Who and his /her protagonists. In the early days I used to hide behind the settee when the Daleks or Cybermen came on the screen.

The first Dr Who was played by William Hartnell. I have had the privilege of watching almost all of them, (different actors have played him/her over the years. That is except when I didn’t have a TV in the 1980s. Of the modern villains I have to say I think the weeping angels (silent, only move if you close your eyes, creep up on you) were one of the scariest. I like it because of its English Charm. Which other country would have an alien traveling in a police call box, (a phone box for police). Bigger on the inside and travelling through time and space, THE TARDIS. My favourite!

Odd look?

Posted on March 5, 2025 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged App, Drying, Hair, Photo, Photodirector, sketching with photos, stiff, Texture, towel, Washing, WrappedLeave a comment

I washed my hair earlier. My towel is a bit stiff because I don’t use softener in the machine, so when I wrapped it round my head it stuck out! I laughed when I saw myself in the mirror. I took a photo but I was in silhouette so I tried to lighten it and reduce the contrast. Then I put the picture through my photodirector app which can add texture…. This is the result.