Cambridge. A city of romance, art, history, books...

... and lots and lots of bicycles.

The colleges are impressive 

I made some new friends....

St John's College - I got the guided tour, courtesy of a real "Johnian"

A real feeling of the past

Bridge of Sighs. Look familiar? Think: The Theory of Everything.

Now this bin used to have arms, and a guitar, and it sang...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Db8DpIlgcg

City of romance

... and interesting places

next time!

... and sunsets

A moment to absorb it all

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Jim Rohn

That said, I spend my time with a 99 year old lady with severe dementia. All of my time.  Constantly. Each shift being three to five weeks long. 

How many people am I the average of now?

From one minute to the next, I don't know what I am going to be met with. Who am I? Her sister? A long lost friend? A stranger?

Where am I?

What story am I walking in to? 

Does she eat porridge today, or does she despise it, as was the case yesterday? Will she take her medicine? Or spit it out? Or politely refuse it, with all the charm and grace of the Queen Mother?

Will she be happy to see me? "Oh, my darling, how lovely of you to visit. Will you be staying long?"

Or will I be in the way? "Stop it! You are always interfering when I need to discipline this boy! Get out!"

How many plates will she break today? Will her tea end up splashed over the wall as she tries to fend off a threatening stranger (or the little boy who teases her?)

When she calls for her mother, is it because they are rushing to catch the midnight train? Or looking for her sister? Or is she simply wanting to die?

Will she allow the assisting carer in today? Or will she send her packing, with a "and don't you come back here, you are not wanted!"? Leaving me with a bedridden old lady to spend the night in tea-stained pyjamas and a wet diaper? And the fourteen hours of complaints that will follow before the next carer arrives, at 8am the following day?

Why do I do this? Who is it helping? Does the old lady even know that she is in her own home? "I just want to go home to my dog and my mother" is the plaintive cry I hear at least once a day.

Is it helping her family? Who visit once a month for two days, work permitting? Do they feel less guilty for leaving her, knowing that she is at home with a live in carer, and not in an institution? 

I wish I knew the answers.

What I do know is this. As I opened her curtains this morning, she reached her arms out to me, told me how much she loves me, wishes we could spend just one more night together as if I was a soon-to-be-gone lover, and my heart broke. With love for this poor old lady who retains all the vibrancy of youth. With sadness, knowing that one morning she will not wake up. With despair, because I don't know if I can carry on with this lifestyle for much longer. But for as long as I can, I will strive to make her last days, months, years at this rate, as good as I can for her.

A small town called Chieveley - Autumn walking

Chieveley, Newbury. My smallest town so far. A newsagent with a post office counter, a pub, and a church. And miles and miles of beautiful farmland, made for walking.
I was averaging 5 - 10km a day here. What is that in miles?
May I present Chieveley in October:

A rose outside my bedroom window.
My first view of every day.

The first of hundreds of pics taken while walking.
I love paths that disappear into the distance,
 reflected in the clouds.

How NOT to shoot a delicious mixed seafood platter.
Battered fish taking on a new meaning.
Lunch for two at The Crab
http://www.crabatchieveley.com/

I nearly turned back here. This was pre-boot days.

Never know what is around the corner.
In this case, a bridge over a busy road!

Gravestones in Autumn

Never know who you will meet when walking
in the country

Colourful birdlife outside the kitchen window

The beginning of another long walk

Pathways...

Go round yet another corner, and find eggs for sale,
and some llamas!

Bridge - fields behind me, woods ahead.

The gate at the end of the bridge

Through the gate, and into a magical fairy land

Friendly little robin came to say hi to me.

One of the walking trails I found after crossing a field

More pics from the Wales break

I needed some R&R - as a live-in carer sleep is sometimes hard to come by, and with lack of sleep comes a need for a real break, away from it all, and I discovered Wales.
Now, to find a way to live here for a while.... how can I make that happen?

My new favourite place

Hi guys, nice to see you too! Brecon Beacons National Park.
A gap between rainfalls.

The kind of view that makes everything ok in my life.

Also at Brecon Beacon National Park. The colours!
In spite of the gloomy weather.

More sheep... and a patch of blue sky.

Sunrise from my bedroom window in Brecon.

Drive-by shooting. Sometimes I have to stop the car and start snapping.

This is the bookshop where I found my 7 League Boots story!
I could get locked in here overnight, very happily.

Here it is, in black and white. I didn't dream it up!

Aardvark Books. Ok not quite Wales, but close enough.
This is where I found my long lost Fables of Da Vinci.

From the window ledge of my room at La Fosse B&B.
Highly recommended, go there! Hay-On-Wye

Beautiful Wales

I'm in love. Again. This time with a small village named Hay-On-Wye. Full of bookshops, friendly people, lovely walks, views that go on forever, and with a small car I can disappear into the hills within a few minutes of driving.
These are a few pictures from the walk I did, across a field, into England, then over a small bridge back to Wales....