19th January 2010

Well - a lot has happened since the last post.
My FIL was discharged from the psychogeriatric unit to an EMI residential home between Christmas and New Year. It became apparent on the ward that rather than improving things or even stabilising them he was deteriorating. We looked at all the homes nearby before Christmas and then I took MIL to those that weren't too dreadful. She chose an old manor house out in the countryside that was in 3 acres of grounds and we moved him there 3 weeks ago. Sadly he died on Sunday from pneumonia which came as a bit of a shock but is a merciful release for all of us but especially for him. MIL and OH are understandably upset. The boys are dealing with it in their different ways - the eldest doesn't want to talk about it, the youngest wont stop. When my Nan died 2 years ago the eldest did the same then fell apart a few weeks later so I am looking for the fall out all the time now.
Yesterday I spent the day at the house going through all his financial papers trying to work out what was where. It was sad going through them watching the deterioration over the last few years - by the end he was filing away envelopes and advertising as well as the important stuff because he couldn't work out the difference. This afternoon I may go back to wade through files of electricity statements. We are still waiting for the death certificate to be issued so there's really nothing else we can get on with at the moment. Hopefully this afternoon we might be able to book a funeral. Then comes the issue of what to do as he was born a Hindu but was not really religious and ahs family in India who may want things done for him..

On a green front - the log burner came into its own over the Christmas period. The oil boiler has been making a funny noise but the repairman couldn't get to us in the snow. At least we had a reasonable back up. The veggie patch had a bit of a dig but then it snowed so I couldn't get on it. The snow also meant that the car couldn't get off the drive so we avoided using petrol and walked across fields instead. That's about it for now!