After two very welcome false starts the girls made it back to school this week. Rolf has valiantly stepped into the driving seat and taken on the school run which is great. Rolf has had some practice as he drove us to Austria a couple of years ago, and had to negotiate multiple hair pin bends up very steep mountains covered in snow, so the trip to school, whilst needing care, does not phase him.
The house seems very quiet and I have returned to my “U” bend duties in the B&B cleaning the rooms. This is a good opportunity for me to reflect and dream and a good opportunity for Rolf to have a break and do something different, like the ironing! He has once again worked through a mile-high pile of laundry and enjoyed every minute as he caught up on two episodes of Dr Who! What a star, I shall definitely keep him on!
The house also looks very bare as, save half a jar of pickled onions, all trace of Christmas has been guzzled, gobbled, recycled or cleared away. The girls are re-assessing their bedrooms and planning a new look for the year ahead which will no doubt include posters of Miley Cyrus and High School Musical. The Disney princesses have been demoted from their position of honour, just as Barbie and the Bratz had to accept their fall from grace. It seems to be an inevitable cycle that we follow, but it only seems like yesterday we were raving over Noddy! I’ve really enjoyed all the different phases, greeting old characters from my childhood and meeting up with new ones that I thought would never catch on, but lived to brand many an item in the Griffiths’ household. I wonder who will be the next icon.
Rolf has threatened to put a blind at the kitchen window to increase my workload as I seem to be spending ages watching the poosies rolling and leaping in the snow. It seems that the snow has robbed them of their sedentary poise and elegance and transformed them back to kittens – mesmerizing and very therapeutic.
A nut and bolt fell off Tilly’s powerchair this morning which meant that the leg rest and changing table function did not work. Rolf worked like a racing mechanic in the pits to put it right before school, but we’ve had a call to say that the nut and bolt has come out again. Fortunately the school has installed a changing table in the ‘Disabled’ loo, and thankfully the school caretaker has done a temporary fix so that Tilly could stay at school. Hopefully, Rolf will be able to sort it out over the week-end. It’s not until a seemingly small thing like this happens that you realise how heavily the chair is relied upon. Also, if Rolf wasn’t able to fix it this morning then goodness knows when and if Tilly would have been able to attend school as my wheelchair maintenance skills are rather weak.
A huge sigh of relief went up chez Tilly as we were notified that she did not need to have the second shot of her swine flu jab. However, I was going to use the visit to the GP to arrange a few other services for Tilly so I emailed our ever wonderful GP and it has all been organised electronically. What a Superstar! Our GP Practice is brilliant, we are very lucky indeed.
I also emailed the Community Nurse about a requirement for Tilly, and almost before I’d pressed the ‘send’ button, Gill was at the door with all that we need. We seem to be on a roll; perhaps I should do the lottery!
Things are hotting up on the Rudyard Sailability front as we are approaching the time for the demolition of our current boat store. Charlotte Atkins (MP) has been working tirelessly behind the scenes with other Trustees to arrange for a ‘stay of execution’ from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, and a Mediation meeting between Rudyard Lake Limited who manage the Lake and Rudyard Sailability. British Waterways, the owners of the Lake, have agreed to organise this important meeting and will be present to make any decisions regarding any lease agreements.
These next few weeks seem to me to be the climax of nearly five years of battling for a building to support those who live with disability who wish to participate in sailing at Rudyard Lake. Tensions are starting to mount and I am praying for a positive outcome for all concerned. In other words, I’m praying for a miracle.
1 comment:
surely the school's got a hoist rather than just relying on the fact that the chair stands tilly up and lies her down, so she can stay in it from first to last bell! Not that it would be pleasant for her, going from the relative luxury of a chair that imitates the functions of every day life, to having to be hoisted, mauled and manhandled! I'm just surprised that if the chair fails, that's it, back to being carried about, when it comes to transferring.
As for the poster situation, you wait!It won't be long before the cartoons are a distant memory, and everywhere you look there's some film or music celeb with his top off, giving his best muscle pose!! Noddy is a legend, true, but his six pack's really nothing to write home about, is it?
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