Sand Mandala - 2

Another wonderful day - it must be spring.  We went down to the Town Basin to see the Sand Mandala sprinkled in the river.  This photo was taken just after the sand had been sprinkled in the water followed by everyone throwing in their flowers.

These two shots are looking both up and down river from just above where the ceremony took place.  The white "sails" are a canopy that is being put in place over the old bridge which will be used as an artisan's market.

When we got home this New Zealand Pigeon was in the tree at the bottom of the garden.  Not the best shot as it was taken from a distance from inside the house.

Sand Mandala

A wonderful clear sunny day today and we went to see Tibetan Monks creating a Sand Mandala.  It takes ten days to create and was nearing completion.  Tomorrow is the closing ceremony when it is blessed and then taken to the river and scattered.  The Buddhist Centre is on the outskirts of Kamo but the Mandala is being created at the new Yvonne Rust Gallery.  Also in the gallery is the Great Plate Auction Exhibition and I took some photos of some of the plates.  Each artist is given a bisque fired ceramic plate and they create a plate in sellable form which is donated to the Gallery.

Well, the pictures didn't all come in the order I expected but they are of some of the plates and the Sand Mandala.  The colours in the Mandala are amazing and it is fascinating to see the fine work being done.  We may go down to the Town Basin tomorrow to see the scattering of the sand in the River.

As you can see there is great variety in the plates many of which have been sold and removed.

Surely Spring Can't be too Far Away

Surely Spring can't be too far away with these flowers appearing in the garden.

Keeping Warm

It has been cold in the mornings here this week but Kath knows all the places to go to keep warm.  The photos are not the best but at about 6 a.m. our new Econoheat panel switches on and when we get up in the morning she is sitting next to it keeping warm.  Then I go and light the pot belly stove which gets very hot but she just loves getting in behind it to get the warmth.

Have spent this week trying to get medicine to correct M.'s low blood pressure - finally today I took him for a blood test - he had to be in town by 8.45.  The traffic was very heavy but luckily I got there just in time as it would have meant a trip back tomorrow.  Looks like the results won't be through till tomorrow - he was prescribed fldrocortisone on Tuesday but the doctor then decided he would check with the geriatrician first hence the blood test.  Tomorrow he comes home so I have my fingers crossed about his health especially over the weekend when most things shut down.

Inner Turmoil

I had been feeling guilty with M. now staying until next Friday at the Rest Home but had planned to have him home for lunch today.  I had bought a free range chicken when I thought he was coming home yesterday so at about 4 p.m. I put it in the oven.

Shortly after that I got a phone call from the Rest Home saying that M. had a high temperature and wanting his G.P.'s after hours phone number.  Our after hours service is White Cross Emergency Dept. so I was told I would have to take M. in there as they couldn't give him Paracetamol without a doctors' script even though I have some that were prescribed for him.

I turned off the oven and went to the Rest Home and the nurses got M. from the wheelchair into the car (it was now raining quite heavily).  I drove to White Cross and nurses helped me get him inside.  We waited for a couple of hours and then saw the doctor who couldn't find any cause for the high temps which had started to go down and said I could either take him to the Emergency Dept at the hospital or she would phone and see whether the Rest Home would take him back.

I didn't want to take him to the hospital if possible for both our sakes (It would most likely have meant 5 or so hours in emergency) and so drove him back to the Rest Home collecting the paracetamol prescription on the way.  It turns out that M. had been incoherent earlier in the day but the high temp had only started later on.

I visited him today and he was sitting in a wheelchair in the dining room having morning tea and seemed fine.  When I was going one of the nurses wheeled him down to the quiet lounge and we tried to get him into one of the easy chairs but when he stood his blood pressure dropped again and he slumped.  They checked him out and then put him on his bed to sleep it off.

All of this is not doing my nerves any good.  I am worried about how I will manage him if he is still like this at the end of the week.  Just when I thought things were starting to improve as I was getting more rested.  No gardening to relax me today just splitting firewood before I put the car back in the garage (the splitter is in the garage).

Oh well, Pilates tomorrow - I don't want to miss that.

Ferns

A short while ago Cro asked about ferns surviving in pots for a long period.  When we moved here two years ago we brought a lot of plants in pots.  Among them were three ferns that were completely pot bound.

To make life easier I decided to plant them out to save having to keep watering the pots in summer.  The maidenhair fern was chopped down to ground level and went in front of the shed.

The "piggy-back fern" and a more hardy fern that was self-sown went in the area that I have cleared of Wandering Jew.  Of course I had help with all of this in the form of Kath and Kim.

More Respite

I think I must have overdone it yesterday getting the jobs done ready for M's return tomorrow.  Anyway, I visited him this morning and we were sitting in his room when the Manager came down and told us that the room was now available indefinitely.  It was agreed that M. would stay for a further week.

Mixed feelings - I know I still need more rest and this was proved when I fell asleep for a couple of hours after lunch.  However, M. was looking forward to coming home tomorrow.  I am also worried about how I am going to manage with broken nights once he gets home.

Anyway, I shopped yesterday for two people so that should help me put some weight back on.  I have been doing well eating lots of cheese, olives, chocolate, nuts, bread and butter pudding  as per the instructions of the dietician (all things I love).

So, I will get more rest over the next week and, if the sun shines, catch up on some jobs in the garden all in readiness for his return a week today.