Monday, April 28, 2008

Carry On Caring...

I've got a lot to catch up with, so I'll begin at the beginning.. are you sitting comfortably?

To follow on from my last post, Son's music event in London on Friday night was a great success. They had a good crowd, and everyone enjoyed the music. Son was dee-jaying with his music partner, another gorgeous D-J (they're jointly known as Living City - see previous post) and Daughter was on the door! She really enjoyed her night too.. I think she enjoys being in a position of power.

Next morning (Saturday), I drove to Kent to do my Florence Nightingale impression for Aristocratic BF, who is bed-bound after her accident and consequent operation. Well, what a drama. ABF had telephoned in the morning to ask if I would arrive in time for lunch, as her (very expensive, Private) Carer would be cooking. I was expecting at least Cordon Bleu standard and was a bit concerned about being 15 minutes late, but I needn't have worried. I was greeted in the drive by a worried-looking young lad who darted indoors to announce my arrival. Mysterious. When I got inside, ABF was sitting up in bed, in her Sitting Room, looking very regal, but rather pale. "It's the Carer", she said, "We can't wake her up." Well, I was all for going to do that very thing when my Friend said, "No, don't wake her, the Manager's on her way and they want to catch her out." It transpired that this "Carer" (I use the term lightly) had disappeared regularly while on duty, leaving ABF unable to get out of bed, or go to the loo; had turned off her monitor so that no-one could get hold of her; had shouted at my Friend a lot; had spent most of her time on her mobile phone, and had finally fallen asleep on the sofa in the Conservatory! All efforts to wake her had failed - and the anxious young lad turned out to be the Plumber's Mate (they were installing a downstairs shower for ABF) who had been frantically trying to help. I did pop my head round the Conservatory door, and saw Ms. Carer lying spark-out, with her mouth hanging open. And I didn't like the look of her. When the Manager of the Care Company finally arrived, (she got lost twice) there ensued a regular shouting match in the Conservatory, while I tried to calmly boil an egg for my starving and wobbly ABF. The Carer was shown the door, and the Manager came into the kitchen to talk to me. She opened up the official File, to check the notes, and there, nestling inside the cover, were three empty miniature whisky bottles. "Ah," said our Manager " I think we may have solved the mystery!"
Precisement, Mon Ami! Not only had Ms Carer emptied the bottles, she had also noted in the file that my ABF had been doing the drinking! After the dust had settled, we could see the funny side of it. My ABF ate a hearty boiled egg and soldiers, I had a cup of tea, and we thanked our lucky stars that ABF is not a vulnerable and isolated little old lady. The outcome could have been a lot more serious. As I said at the time, you couldn't make it up!

The weekend followed a frantic course after that - for me that is. My ABF is used to issuing orders, so I was Cook, Housekeeper and general skivvy for two days. I sorted the Airing Cupboard, organised her clothes so that the Carers would be able to dress her, cooked a risotto on Saturday and a roast on Sunday, watered the Greenhouse, cut the asparagus, went shopping, dressed and undressed her, ran up and down stairs countless times, made countless cups of tea and countless hot-water bottles, escorted ABF to the loo countless times, and laughed a lot. By the end of the weekend, we had told the Carer story to everyone ABF knows, and each time it got funnier. After all this, ABF was looking and feeling much brighter, so I was able to leave her this morning in very good spirits. 'Tis true that laughter is undoubtedly the best medicine.

On Friday, before all this excitement, I had a day out with another BF, at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. As you know, I'm not a great shopper, but this was a wonderful experience. The place is full of Designer Outlet shops, and is right on the edge of the Portsmouth Docks - an interesting development and planned so that you can stroll around the shops or sit and watch the boats, whatever takes your fancy. The only reason I'm telling you this, is because we managed to get the bargain of the century - twice! We wandered into the Ralph Lauren Polo shop, where my BF made her way to a rack of long, indigo linen coats. Think Commes des Garcons, loose, unstructured and F*** Off gorgeous. They were marked £64.99 and my BF tried one on. At this point, another woman came over to us, protesting that the price had been increased since she came in, ten minutes before. I said, "Really?" not sure what else to say, while my BF stayed schtum. The other woman attracted the attention of a Salesman, and asked him why the price increase from £45 to £65. We just stood there and listened. After a bit of a discussion, the Sales guy said, "Oh alright, I'll do them for £29.98" What?? Where did that come from? My BF promptly grabbed her coat, I grabbed one too, and we went to try them on again. To cut a long story short, we each bought one for £29.98. My BF waited until we were outside the shop and then said. "The last time I was here, those coats were £500!" Hoots of laughter and total disbelief (from me). As I said, the Bargain of the Century..

PS. The best news for me, is that when I got home today, I discovered that I had lost two pounds in weight over the weekend. Must do it again some time...

16 comments:

Donna said...

OhMyWORD!! You've been busy!!! So Glad things worked out for your friend!!! Could have been a Very bad thing for her!! And Happy for your coat shopping!! Very profitable!! And Funny!! Happy day sweetie!hughugs

Mean Mom said...

What a hectic and exciting few days you have had. The carer story was very entertaining, but I'm glad it worked out okay. Something awful could have happened! How did she expect to get away with that sort of behaviour?

Your were so lucky with those coats!

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Donna, yes it has been busy, and fun really. Will be over to visit you and catch up later. Hugs, M xx

Hi Mean Mom - yes it was funny but could have been awful! I can't imagine how she thought that behaviour was OK. Will be over to see you later too. M xx

aims said...

OMG! What a wonderful friend you are! I bet ABF cried when you left! What a horrible thing to have to endure when you are sick and confined to bed and unable to do for yourself. Why is it always like that??

Still - it is so obvious how unselfish you are! No wonder you have so many wonderful friends - as they say - it takes a friend to be a friend....

I loved the buy of the century! OMG!! I would have done the happy dance outside of the shop! What a great score!!

Working Mum said...

What a busy life you lead! Glad they got rid of that 'carer', shouldn't be allowed!

I'm a bit concerned you still haven't got the 'Blog of Distinction' on your site, especially as I designed it! Pop over to mine, right click on the graphic and save it in your 'my pictures' folder, then upload it as usual. Hope it works!

Dusty Spider said...

Good Grief! How did you survive that lot! What a nightmare that "carer" was. Thank goodness no harm done. Loved your shopping story! Flick xx

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Aims, well we did have an interesting time, and it was good fun in an odd way. Thank you for your lovely comments - my friends are pretty special! The coat is soooo lovely - what larks! M xx

Hi Working Mum, thanks for coming over - it was a funny experience. Thanks for reminding me about your lovely award - I kept getting a frozen computer and sort of gave up. I'll try again now. M xx

Hi Flick - well life is never dull with all that going on! And the coat was such a winner. M xx

Maggie May said...

What a terrible carer that turned out to be. Thought she was on a good number. Enjoy reading these little dramas! You sound forever busy!

Elizabethd said...

What a shock for your friend to have sucha 'carer'. A good thing you were there.
The coat sounds gorgeous, and what a bargain!!

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hello again Maggie, thanks for visiting - life's little dramas are interesting aren't they? M :-)

Hi Elizabeth, yes, it was a shock, but she soon recovered and her appetite wasn't affected!! M :-)

Swearing Mother said...

For someone who says she isn't much of a shopper, you sure can bag a bargain. Fantastic!

Maggie May said...

PS ..... Thanks for the kind comments left on my blog! Much appreciated!

Rob Clack said...

God, I'm exhausted just reading about it! Congrats on superb bargain! Deserved bonus following the weekend's exertions. Rx

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Swearing Mother (how I envy your name!) Yes, I don't usually enjoy shopping, but that was an exception! Thanks for visiting. M x

Hi Maggie M, you're very welcome, and thanks for popping over again. M xx

Hi again Rob, yes, funnily enough it wasn't exhausting, but rather invigorating, all that laughter I suppose. And the coat is superb! M xx

family affairs said...

There's a scene from Neighbours exactly like that recently where this old bloke's carer was really horrid to him and nobody believed him...scary. At least she got found out - she's lucky to have you about x

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Lulu, yes, it is scary and if the person is old, confused and has no-one to support them, it would be too easy to get away with such abuse. Horrid! M xx