In late.

In late.

Hi there.

Fab photo of my two faves xxx

Thanks for popping in. Bit of a runaround today. Made an early dash for Gillingham, before the traffic congestion clogged up all our Kentish arteries, in good time for a hearty breakfast with my parents.

Went with Mum and Dad to Macknades, Faversham, because we do like a destination when we take a drive out. Macknades: excellent, BOOMING farmshop. A lovely and very different selection of fresh produces and delicacies. Bit like Fortnum & Masons came to Kent, and moved into an old barn.

Then back to Gillingham, to take Mum to a long awaited hospital appointment with a consultant. Very nice man, and after a very thorough examination, he concluded that Mum does indeed have a bad back problem, and that all her other ailments (which are crippling her) probably stem from that. STBO. Next step? Back to the GP for yet another referral. We may have to fast track this….

Waited for the traffic to die down before heading home. Hence late in. And way too late to be getting creative!

I help my parents and I help them very gladly, without hesitation. Always have, always will. NOTHING is more important, everything can wait. Clarity gets parked. It ain’t going anywhere. It’ll still be there tomorrow morning – warts and all, won’t it? And anyway, I love sitting with them in the kitchen, drinking tea and telling them what’s going on, who’s getting on my pip, why this happened and “you’ll never guess who emailed me the other day!” You know. Stuff you can only talk about with your Mum and Dad.

Yeah. All in all. A great day. Back to Clarity tomorrow. Clear head, grateful heart.

Love & Hugs,

Barb xxx

33 thoughts on “In late.

  1. It was a bit wet out and about wasn’t it. Hope you can get your mum more comfortable and sorted out with her back, they are a pain at times and I can quite believe it causes other problems as you hold yourself differently etc. I’ve had a great day and gladly took the bus a few miles away to Witney to Ronk Langton’s groovi class had a great time, met up with Pat and Ronk again and made some new friends too. Absolutely fab day. X

  2. You know Barbara is give anything to be able to do what you did today! So what I deduce from that is you are right to take time to spend with them. You are so lucky to have them both still with you!
    Cherish every moment.
    Love and hugs xxx

  3. You are so right to put your lovely Mum and Dad at the top of your list. Family always come first and I am sure they really value the time you spend so willingly with them. I hope the doctor can deal with your Mum’s pain very soon. Meanwhile, don’t forget to look after yourself and Dave. That is important too. Every minute you spend with your loved ones is so precious. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter)

  4. It’s such a blessing to have our parents still here to spend time with isn’t it? I feel lucky to come from a long-lived family – my dad is a great-grandad to 5 kids, I remember my own great-grandad, and my dad remembers HIS great-grandad (and dad will be 90 next year). You’re so right – work will always wait and will still be there tomorrow. x

  5. So glad you are able to step back for a day and spend time with your parents. You have no idea how some of us envy you. Would give anything to be able to do that. Enjoy your time with them, everything else can wait.

  6. Every day spent with my darling mum in her latter years was so precious and I felt privileged to be able to look after her when I could. You will always cherish the time spent with your parents. I hope that your mum will get help with her back pain ASAP.
    Sleep well. Hugs. Annette X

  7. Glad you had a day off and enjoyed it with your parents. Back pain is awful so your mum has my sympathy. Hope you can get her fast tracked for treatment soon.
    Paul did a great job with the ODS and I have spent a lot and learned a few things too.
    We seem to have got off lightly with not too much rain but some were not so lucky, heard Somersetad some snow!!!
    Have a good evening.🍒🍒🍒

      1. I live near Taunton and there was definitely snow on the Quantocks which are close by, and also Exmoor and Dartmoor, but we down below just had rain, although it has been very cold. I hope it stays that way as I hate snow. x

  8. So lovely that you get to spend time with your mum and Dad. So very important. Been to see my mum after work today. She has vascular dementia and is in a fabulous care home in Horsham. Its taken me 20mths to get an offer on her house in Kent. Having lowered the price by 60k.. I’m practically giving it away. However having mum near me happy and settled with the very best of care is nothing but a gift.

    1. Glad your mum has such good care. She is lucky to have you at a difficult time for her. Remember she is still entitled to attendance allowance every week if she is self funding the home. And you need to keep checking if she meets the criteria for continuing care funding – local authorities don’t tell you, don’t always use the required national criteria, and you always have to appeal. Hope that saves her some of what she lost on the house.

    2. Hi Jayne, I know what you mean.
      My mum had dementia I looked after her until she had to go into a home,it was a terrible day but she was looked after so well.
      Can relate to you.
      Lynn xx

  9. As others have said Barbara, you are so right to cherish your Mum and Dad. I had a lovely chat with your Mum at the Friday Open Day at Ditton, you were racing around doing your thing, and I asked her “how proud you must be of Barbara”, she gave me a lovely smile, and said “yes, we are”.

  10. Hi Barb, so lovely to read you’ve managed a day of with your Mum & Dad, precious time well spent.
    Praying for a speedy resolution to Mums back problems, any Pain is awful but back pain really is a PAIN.
    Love and healing hugs to anyone else suffering as well 😘

  11. Macknades is brilliant isn’t it!! Must go again soon before the Christmas rush starts. They usually have most unusual foodie gifts and I can normally get my Stollen there.
    I do hope your mum’s back problem is soon eased. I had a great surgeon when I had more surgery on mine 3 years ago -went privately but it was well worth it. Nothing like a hot water bottle to help when the pain gets too bad. I always turn to that when maxed out on drugs and the TENS is no good- it always helps, even if not for a long spell -and friends and relatives feel as if they are helping too. It is awful to see a loved one in pain and be unable to do anything isn’t it?

  12. Nothing is more important, I agree. I consider it a privilege to be able to help my parents and perplexed by cousins who seem to find it all too easy to step away from theirs. Family is everything.
    xx

  13. You are such a good daughter to your parents and talking to your Mum at one of the Open Days they really appreciate what you do. Wish I had my parents still we were very close too, miss them both so much. Sorry to hear of your Mum’s back problem, hope she gets the right help soon, after having had mine now for 5 years and still not much further ahead I really feel for anyone who is suffering this pain. If I didn’t have my Clarity I really don’t think I could carry on. My next step too is to fast track the system, it’s been so long winded and appointments so long in between and I haven’t to date had a confirmed diagnosis so I think fast tracking is the only solution. Go for it Barb.xxx

  14. Bless your mum and dad seem so lovely sometimes really miss my mum died when I was sixteen so missed all those special times would love to have shared with her my dad went three years later did manage our wedding last few could have done with her hate to her people moaning about there’s cause they are very precious sorry your mum is in lots pain your back effects every part of your body when in pain every movement so if can go private why not your min is precious sending hugs and lots love. Joy xxx😘🥰

  15. Glad you have found a way to get your mum’s pain eased. Hope it can all happen quickly. Maybe they could have a look at your neck too? Your parents won’t like watching you in pain either.

  16. Sorry to hear your Mom is having problems with her back & hope she gets the right treatment soon. As you say sometimes you just have to speed things up a bit to get the results you need.
    The wheels of Clarity will keep on turning as the team continue to work in the way you have shown them – you have to do what you have to do be it your parents or yourselves.
    The weather has been absolutely awful here in the Midlands today so hope everyone has managed to stay safe & dry. It will be as the water flows along the rivers that the problems will escalate so take care if out on the roads in the next few days as unexpected floods appear.

  17. I spent the day with Samuel and gave him lots of hugs from his favourite people (Yes, I included you Barb 😁💖). I then had enough time to get home, take the dog out and grab a bite to eat, before heading off to Hempstead Valley for a 4 hour shift in Sainsburys. It might be ‘just a supermarket job’ to some people, but to me it’s a job, recreating my independence and giving me the chance to meet new people. I love it 😁. Much love to your Mum & Dad xx

  18. You are right Barbara family is the most important thing and everything else can wait, and you have such a reliable team at Clarity that you know that everything will be OK until tomorrow and beyond if necessary. What a lovely photo of your Mum and Dad and hope that your Mum’s back problem will be addressed soon as I’m sure that it is very debilitating and can lead to all sorts of other problems arising. Glad you had a lovely day together. x

  19. Hello Barb, your are very lucky to still have your parents around, and the way you take care of them is wonderful, so many seem to think it is a chore. Hope you get Mum’s back issues sorted. Taek care all. bx

  20. Beautiful photo Barbara I hope you are able to help your mum. I wish I still had mine. She died of motor neurone disease 37 years ago age 52. Still miss her every day. She would have loved Groovi!!! Xx

  21. Morning Barbara, family comes first indeed. Back pain is horrible I know so I really sympathise with your Mum and hope you can fast track her for treatment and she will feel better soon! Please give her my love and a hug from me. Glad you enjoyed your day out with your parents. Real quality time, isn’t it? Have a great day xx

  22. I agree need to spend as much time with family as possible , as we know you never know what’s round the corner . Lost our lovely niece last week to cancer she was only 56. On a brighter note went to Hever castle yesterday with my sister they had the local Christmas fayre there , lovely time walking round the grounds and the castle ,even bagged few xmas prezzies . Off to lunch soon with my friends .

  23. It’s lovely to spend time with family, I lost my parents when I was in my 30s, I’m in my late 60s now and still miss them so much.

    I agree with you about Macknades, I live in Gillingham and my daughter in Newington and we’ve visited Macknades for years now and seen it grow into the fabulous shop it is, I love it there, I highly recommend their lemoncello olives, yum yum.

    Been making special groovi cards for family this afternoon 😊 x

  24. Hi Barb,
    So sorry to hear that your Mum is in such pain with her back. She has my sympathies. Lovely that you have been able to spend a lovely day with her and your Dad too. It is great that you put them first above everything else – Clarity will run smoothly for a while whilst you sort your Mum’s pain out. You have such a brilliant team behind you. I sincerely hope that you find a way to get your Mum some relief from the pain. Take care and sending love and hugs,Alison xx

  25. I would give anything, absolutely anything, to spend a few hours with my mum and dad. Mum has been gone 26 years, and Dad 4 years. And I’m just a year younger than you Barb. My first born was just 6 months old when Mum died suddenly, unexpectedly, and whilst my Dad was great and helped where he could, I really needed my mum. So I’m so jealous of people who still have one, or both parents, at this age. But it’s so lovely to read about you and yours, thank you for sharing xx

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