Sandwich generation

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jugglingmum

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Jan 5, 2014
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Thanks everyone.

Since the start of lockdown we have been having socially distanced drinks at 5pm on Saturday - so this week my OH said a few words and we had a few moments silence to think about my neighbour. We then toasted her with Martini and Lemonade. There is a tale to this. We started having street parties in 2002 - starting mid afternoon until late with all food and alcohol bought centrally. We all got alcohol of choice and all our neighbour would drink was matini and lemonade - she drank so little that she was givne the bottle and she brought it to each subsequent party. So we all toasted her with her tipple and then her husband thanked us for the cards we'd all sent. Her son had made the difficult decision to fly over from the US (he dad didn't want him to) but I'm really pleased he has.

In other news, after loosing our much loved 17 year old dog, we made the decision to register with a few rescues, not expecting anything to come of it during lockdown. We got a message last Wednesday from a small local rescue advising us of a Collie that urgently needed rehoming, and having walked with her on Friday and Saturday, the second time with our kids we welcomed her into our home on Sunday. She is 6 years old, a little older than our ideal but seems to have settled well so far.
 

jugglingmum

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20200520_082257.jpg
 

annielou

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Sep 27, 2019
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The martini toast on Saturday seems a lovely idea for a tribute x Hope you have lots of good times with your new dog after such sad times lately ?
 

Woo2

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Second that @jugglingmum the martini toast sounds very fitting , a lovely tribute. Ah your new little girl is very sweet, she will keep you entertained and on your toes for sure .
 

jugglingmum

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So our new dog is settling in, and learning a little, like 'sit' at every road junction, 'come' etc - she has been taken to woods and given a 1.5 hour run but not really interacted with much, and not sure she even knew her name.

Cats are still very unimpressed - I had a bit of a hissy fit yesterday as OH wants dog in more of house than I do and one cat seemed very upset - discovered later the cat had puss coming out of a wound on his ear and he was much happier when he got home from vet visit and now both cats are coming further into bits of the house that the dog isn't in. Dog has been allowed to bark and chase cats (including the one she lived with).

Missing seeing mum - 12th March was last time I saw her, no point phoning as I get such little info, even though when I dropped her shopping off I never stayed long due to deafness and inability to make sense of any 'written' conversation, I could see how she was and knew what was happening.

Son's veg garden is coming along, I'm following @Bikerbeth @Woo2 and @Sarasa 's progress. He harvested some jewel radishes today - the first real harvest as he has been popping them in his mouth as he picked them before.
 

Sarasa

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Apr 13, 2018
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Those radishes look lovely @jugglingmum . Do they taste as nice as they look?
I haven't spoken to my mum since the middle of March either, and then I was a bit distracted as I'd gone into the care home to help run a poetry session and mum wasn't really engaging with it.
 

annielou

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Not a radish eater but those do look like jewels well done to son. Such a shame can’t visit tour mum. Its a terrible situation x Hope dog continues to settle and cat with wound gets better x
 

Bikerbeth

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Feb 11, 2019
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The radishes look nice. I just wish I liked them.
Glad dog is settling in. It is always different with dogs and cats. I always had semi feral cats and they always seem to make friends with dog before me. The Cats always seemed to bully the dog. Hope cat recovers quickly.
I hope given a little more time, settling in and training they will all find their places.
sorry to hear that you and @Sarasa have been unable to see/speak to tour Mum’s. I feel very lucky even though today it appears that I am in France
 

Woo2

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They look amazing @Juggling mum , I picked mine when they were about size of a grape . I’m glad to hear dog is learning fast , sorry about pusskin , glad it’s better now though . I can’t imagine how difficult it is not seeing your loved ones , hope there is a solution find to enable visits soon ? .
 

anxious annie

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Jan 2, 2019
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Hi Jugglingmum
I haven't been on the site for a while, so just caught up with some threads.
Sorry to hear all that has been happening with your family , colleague and neighbour. It's hard not being able to visit your mum, and I can imagine how you feel loosing your dog.
You will have a new focus with your lovely rescue dog, and having your daughter home.
Take care
 

jugglingmum

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Jan 5, 2014
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So this isn't dementia related but certainly pandemic related.

Had tears from both children this week.

Dau is desperately sad at missing out on the uni life she had so looked forward to, and after all her problems over many years, she had made many good friends and was part of several social groups, a new beginning. She is very upset that her boyfriend is 200 miles away and she has no idea when she might next see him again. On the plus side she has worked well at home, and got the grades she aimed for in all her coursework, but she is worried she has missed out on the lab based work she feels is essential to progress in her desired direction (she loves her course and says many find this unsettling as to how enthusiastic she is).

Son is desperately worried about his GCSEs next summer, we've had very little actual contact from school, they supplied on line materials in many different places to start with so he got confused and very behind. He has caught most of it up, but he has had no marked work back (he has submitted stuff every week) so he has no idea where he is at. Engineering is 70% course work with a year long project he was about to start and he has struggled to complete any pieces for Art at home which is 60% coursework.

Son has worked so hard to overcome his dyslexia, and 25% extra time in exams make a huge difference but he has found online learning cumbersome - he keeps up in class at school but it takes him longer doing the work on line.

In a normal exam year he would need a good set of across the board GCSE grades to apply for the courses he knows he wants to study for at Uni, and I am scared this is going to affect him for life. He will get the required grades in his proposed A level subjects but I worry about the rest of his grades. At least this year's exam cohort had near enough finished the courses and for most the grades will reflect their effort with a chance for a resit in the autumn, whereas if you haven't even covered the course how can you be graded.
 

Spamar

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Oct 5, 2013
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JM, it’s not the end of the world for son, though it may feel, to him, as it is. There will be plenty of time later to do all the exams he needs.
i got a useless amount of O levels, very bad grades, and unspeakable try at A levels. But now I have B.Sc and Ph.D, so if I can do It, so can he and I will be rooting for him.
My problem at moment is the iPad I normally use has run out of battery and the new one has only ‘learnt’ where DTP is! Does that show its good taste?
and I had made a list of things that needed to be ordered online!
 
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