Last week when I went shopping in Asda for the first time in months, I managed to buy two or three of what I call 'thin strip' calendars that just fit inside the kitchen door jam and upon which I record birthdays and so on (when I remember) But for reasons that will become apparent, I felt I could do with a calendar printing off just this last month of 2024, December. Finding a website that would do this for me, I could also print out some complete calendars for the whole of 2025 which I proceeded to do as I have several uses in mind for such documents. According to the schedule of care workers, the two workers allocated to get Meg up this morning should have arrived at 8.45 so I was bobbling about, just ready to go and get showered when the two workers turned up at 8.00am i.e. three quarters of an hour early. I think I must have shown my displeasure because one of the care workers communicated with HQ and apparently the schedules were changed last night and the care worker who was a team leader should have communicated the change of time to me. I subsequently got a telephone call with a half apology and the information that the relevant team leader had been 'spoken to' whatever that means. So I am going to utilise one of the home made calendars which I printed off this morning to assiduously record every time that the agency falls short by only sending one care worker when two were allocated. Meg certainly needs two workers to get her up and dressed in the morning and the reverse process to get her ready for bed in the evening. As for the other two calls during the day, then if it is necessary to utilise the hoist to get Meg out of whichever chair she happens to be occupying, then health and safety demands that two workers should be utilised, one to operate the controls of the hoist and the other to ensure that Meg is not made uncomfortable by the hoisting process itself. I am quite prepared to lend a hand when necessary on an occasional basis but the occasions when I am becoming the 'de facto' second care worker are multiplying so that they now number about every other day. So this is going to be carefully documented and I intend to inform the manager that careful records will be kept and a more formal report submitted to the care agency management about once a month from now on. I am hoping this shot across the bows might have desired effect but the toll of the winter pressures is certainly making its presence felt.
After breakfast, it seemed a fairly fine day so Meg and I set off down the hill but a principal task was to deliver some nine cards to near neighbours and friends. This having been done, we picked up a copy of 'The Times' and then set off along the High Street. Actually, we got no further than the Salvation Army (charity) shop because this store provided me that everything that I needed. When I sent our Christmas cards, I send religious cards to the definitely religious of my friends, secular cards to the avowedly none-religious and a variety of cards to everybody else. When I looked at the cards left over, I had only religious cards so I felt I needed some more but secular cards for recipients such as the care workers that we have. But my search only went as far as the Salvation Army because I found packs of cards with the 'Dove of Peace' which fitted the non-secular bull perfectly and I bought a couple of these. I also found a specialist knee support on sale on a ridiculously cheap price because my left knee occasionally plays up in the bad weather following an accident at Leicester Polytechnic when I was hit by a run-away car on the Polytechnic campus in about 1974 which is, of course, half a century ago. I was warned I might have some osteoarthritis in my knees later in life but I regard myself as fortunate in having survived this long with my knee(s) in a tolerable state. I also bought another thing singlet which I want to wear under my pyjamas to keep me war at night. This particular garment is decorated with a couple of cute little kittens which are not exactly to my taste but I am prepared to overcome my scruples as the garment is the right size and material and had been massively reduced to £1.00.
Around lunchtime, we received a call from our friendly chiropodist who called around for her month visit. After this we had our chicken and broccoli which had been in the oven for longer than I had intended but was nonetheless very tasty. I had parboiled some broccoli and then put it in the oven, whilst the oven was already on but when we came to eat it, it was decidedly crispy. But it was delicious and had the taste and texture that I sometimes associate with a crispy seaweed which I have occasionally eaten when visiting Meg's cousin in South Wales where it is considered a local delicacy and known as 'lavabread'.Originally, Laverbread hails from Pembrokeshire, but it can also be found growing in the Gower Peninsula in Swansea. After harvesting, the laver is boiled for around 10 hours, before being minced or pureed into a dark greenish-black, viscid substance. While it may not look or sound overly appealing, many people find that the marine, slightly salty taste tends to grow on them. It is boiled down and made into a green paste, usually enjoyed with a traditional Welsh breakfast. Contrary to the name, it is not bread, although it can be served on toast or with a Welsh breakfast.
After lunch, Meg and I watched the original 1939 edition of 'The 39 steps' although I must say that I did not enjoy it nearly as much as the remake of the film made in, I think. the 1970's. The film we watched this afternoon did not match my memory of it very well and I wonder if the original version and the remake differed quite a lot. Then we followed this up with a natural history film upon polar bears which Meg is quite enjoying but it fills in an odd 20 minutes before the carers arrive for Meg's teatime call. In the House of Commons, the Chinese 'spy' has actually been named under the terms of Parliamentary privilege and I am pleased this has happened. The extent to which the Chinese have burrowed into the elite of British society to obtain influence rather than direct spying activities as such. The activities of the Chinese state in sponsoring this type of 'soft power' is quite extraordinary but, of course, China is such an important trading partner this has not been 'called out' by the UK until today.
© Mike Hart [2024]