Hexham Abbey

My lovely cousin, Freda, came for the day today.

We collected her from the railway station and went for a cuppa in the refectory at Hexham Abbey. (I do wish they would put some soft furnishings in because it is very resonant and consequently noisy in there. The two hearing aid users in my party found it very difficult.)

Then we viewed the photo exhibition in the north transept. I took a torch because I knew that the lighting on some of the prints (particularly mine!) was very poor and I wanted them to see the images. They enjoyed the digital images more because they were bright and we could sit and look at them.

I took this quick iPhone image on my way out, then it refused to send via email......This is a tiny version that I managed to send to my Photos on my iPad and then send on to my pc. Sigh but a minor irritation.

It was good to see Freda and to help her to have a day off. She and her sister Joan are both in their late 70s. Joan has Parkinson's and the cruel dementia that goes with it. Her husband and the rest of the family are doing their best, but she is in a terrible state. Now she is in a dementia assessment unit and the staff are trying to work out whether she can come home with a care package. There will be no happy solution, since her husband is not well enough to look after her, but thinks he can. Joan has insight into her dementia but now lacks capacity. How upsetting is that?

We had a lovely lunch here and then a quiet afternoon of chatting. There are two babies on the way to Joan's granddaughters, both due next February, so that's lovely news.

I've decided I need the weekend off from everything so I'm cancelling my commitments for tomorrow. Not easy.