These are strange days as Meg gradually declines. She is now at the stage where we do not get her out of bed any more as excessive handling via the hoist may be painful for her so we are keeping her as comfortable as possible. Last night, the two young carers who put her to bed were absolutely excellent and, after Meg was in bed, sat with her holding and gently stroking her hands and were so full of tenderness. I went to bed at about 9.30pm but was awoken an hour later by my Italian friend down the road who had texted me to enquire about Meg and we exchanged a little 'ping-pong' of good night texts. When her husband died about seven years ago or even longer, I tried to be a source of emotional comfort to my friend and she has promised that she will do exactly the same for me now that we are in an analogous situation. My son texted and phoned this morning and after an early morning swim (now that he is retired and can do that sort of thing) he will be over a little later on in the day. The day may prove to be a busier one that normal as our domestic help will call around as well as the scheduled visit of the District Nurses. The staff from the care agency are being absolutely marvellous and are giving me lots of hugs as well as TLC for Meg. Sky News has an interesting post this morning which as it is a videoclip I have not played but the import of is a discussion why the Pope is important to all of us even to non-Catholics and can make an impact on our own laws as well as world affairs. I was recently completely offended by seeing Donald Trump dressed up (in an artificially constructed photo) in the Pope's regalia coupled with his expressed desire to be treated like a Pope - this is the ultimate obscenity and a mark of the depravity of the man. I hope USA Catholics who voted for Trump now express their revulsion in their voting behaviour. On the domestic front, we are now in for another spell of warmer weather but not as hot as the weather we experienced about a week ago which set records for 1st May and, eventually when time permits, I must get out and start to do some gentle gardening again (a task neglected over the months, I am afraid to say) Yesterday when the 'sit' carer arrived, I did manage to make a lightning visit outside the house to get some cash out an ATM and to fill the car up with petrol (which, given it is hybrid, does not have to be done too often these days) In the morning, I exchanged series of supportive texts with my sister and niece who are following events closely and are offering all of their love and support which, is, of course, wonderful to have.
Our domestic help called around and very kindly did one or little acts of ministration to Meg by combing her hair and putting some cream on her hands. Obviously, she is as upset as the rest of us but managing to contain herself. Later on the two District Nurses called around and after a hunt around we found the morphine medication which is available for us them to administer to Meg should the need arise. There is now no need, apparently, for the Palliative care team to call around as Meg is already under treatment but the two District Nurses are skilled and knowledgable about these matters from what I could tell. I have been left with a telephone number if Meg's condition worsens or there are any other matters to report. The house now seems empty after a flurry of activity this morning but the next visit of the care workers will be in a couple of hour's time. This morning whilst it looked as though Meg could safely be left for a few minutes, my son and I completed the tidying up of the study by getting rid of the multitude of cardboard boxes which had been stored along the top of the bookcases and were being retained in which any equipment bought in the past needed to be returned. We must have got rid of about 30 boxes all in all but we ripped these up so the cardboard was reduced to fairly small pieces and then straight into our green bin. I was pleasantly surprised that we did not fill the bin to overflowing but this is a job well done and we still have things (like toner cartridges of which we seem to have a good supply) which are still housed on top of the bookcases. I forced myself to cook some lunch for which I was not really hungry but I have spent some time emailing/texting various friends and relatives informing then about this last stage in Meg's illness. This way, when I have to convey some sad news, most of my friends will have had some forewarning. After I had taken the grey bin out ready for collection in the morning, I tool the opportunity to call in on our neighbour to inform him of developments.
As you might imagine, the return of Labour MPs to the Commons has given the opportunity for them to vent their anger at the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance. This is the one issue that came up on the doorsteps time after time and the amount of political damage it created is incalculable. Of course, we have the situation where the Prime Minister feels he has to justify the policy even when it is subject to attack but there is no indication that the government will change its mind. The Opposition parties must be rubbing their hands in glee as the policy of withdrawing the winter fuel allowance will not save a great deal of money and makes the present government appear to be lacking in both competence and any kind of concern for the voters who elected them.
© Mike Hart [2025]