28th January

I forgot to mention last week, I had a particularly bleak moment on a splintery wet Wednesday afternoon when Vick realised she could not put her shoes on due to puffy feet, and I drove to the grey roundabouts of Burgess Hill industrial estate to the beige mobility shop.  I bought some enormous shoes with velcro fasteners which Vick finds not a fashion statement.  It is a shame that equipment is so ugly, but it is life-transforming as well.
Vick has had low sodium in her blood which explains the faraway feeling she has, and she is craving peace and quiet.  Shortly, one of my dear nurse colleagues is coming round, and I will dye her hair, but Vick consents for us to discuss in detail every aspect of her physical being, which is nice for me, to check I'm not missing anything.  The community nurse and hospice nurse also come regularly of course, but I'm wary of being too knowledgeable and bossy with them in case they feel undermined so I try and keep schtum.  
I went to see David Copperfield at the cinema with great anticipation but was sorely disappointed.  I couldn't bear the cheerful crescendos of music and general frivolity.  I was hoping for something much deeper and wanted to actually care about the characters, which I didn't.  I did not fall asleep but was desperate for it to end.
Josie

Yesterday was chaos here.  A workman came first to do some odd jobs and started sawing noisily and then a huge consignment of Aids came;  a trolley, an enormous white plastic bath seat which lowers itself at the touch of a button, a four-wheeled pusher and a rail for the bed.  I've still got the Zimmer of course which they would not take away.  I'm overcome by the generosity of the NHS but it is difficult to move in this small bungalow with all this equipment.
The cello and the wheelchair are handily stored at the foot of the bed in the spare room.
Outside the window, a disconsolate fox was walking up and down as if he was waiting for a friend.  The usual gang of squirrels and magpies looked a bit wet, but fortunately today the sun is shining.  I'm still feeling fluffy in the head but I'm just taking each day as it comes.
Vicky