A slightly tidier house would do no harm.It's no use pretending I'm naturally tidy though, and Mum's habit of rearranging everything she can reach gives me the perfect excuse. They do say an uncluttered environment is best for those with dementia, but the only thing which occupies Mum's magpie mind is fiddling with whatever takes her fancy that day. So I leave things she likes all over the place and let her get on with it.
As for the Santa thing... now you've got me worried. I can't see your Santa (maybe we each have a personal Santa?) but I can see one reflected at the top right of the big central mirror on the back wall. I think I may have to get a Grinch in to excommunicate this ghostly observer.
The way I look at it, that person's still there, but is hibernating, and life is shovelling a nice, warm layer of protective manure over it to protect it from the dreadful weather.
Spring will come, but it'll take a while to find the light and we'll need a good wash.
The panels are very stiff wire with flexible, but tough, plastic panels*, and stiff plastic clips fasten them together (which can be a bit of a faff to fasten but are solid when done). But it forms a pretty stable structure. I'd hesitate to call it sturdy but it's nowhere near flimsy.
*They're not Mum-proof though. Part of the unit is now in the kitchen for my shoes, but Mum's slowly destroying it. She just fiddles and fiddles with it until the clips come off (no mean feat!) a panels can flap about, and she can then worry away at it until something starts to tear. Then she's off to the races! I let her get on with it, as long as she's (apparently) happy. For some reason a lifetime of creativity as a hairdresser and gardener has turned to a life of getting some kind of satisfaction from disassembly and destruction. There's probably a metaphor for life in there somewhere... ashes to ashes and all that.
Thanks for getting back to me. Please keep posting any more wonderful ideas you have I can pinch!
