dear diary ~ back and forth

Gosh, just when you think life can’t get any busier….it does and hotter too.

On Bank Holiday Monday we took Little L and Sweetie out to Bradfield in Derbyshire. It is a beautiful Peak village and a conservation area. There is a place down by the river to picnic and paddle – our family have always gone there, my mum as a little girl, me and my siblings, our two daughters and now the grandchildren. We had a lovely day splashing about in the water and collected so many interesting things for granny’s nature table.

We spent the rest of the week, after they had gone back home cleaning and packing for the upcoming trip to North Yorkshire last week to stay with my younger daughter to lend a hand with Little L and Sweetie on the school run.

Sweetie started school last Tuesday but for some reason her school have a policy of only taking new reception children for half days…and alternating mornings and afternoons for the first week. This is not only very difficult to arrange for working and single mums but confuses the children no end. Sweetie has no concept that she will be spending a whole day at school next week and having school dinner there. She thinks granny will be providing lunch and taking and fetching her back at all odd times! Whilst I waited at the school gates it was obvious that many working mum’s couldn’t be there for their children on their first day and had to depend on a mix of grandparents, friends and even neighbours to help out and get their little ones to and from school at the appropriate times.

Master Freddie on the other hand, at a different school, starts on whole days straight away but does not start until this coming Tuesday (one week after the main school returned from the summer) – again very difficult for working mums, especially those like my daughter who work within the school system so cannot take time off. The gradual introduction to school is not practised everywhere and the irony is that most of these kids have been spending far longer hours in nursery than they will at school – Master Freddie will be at school 4 hours less and will feel it is a very short day indeed.

Whilst up in North Yorkshire we visited mum on a couple of occasions and she was in tears most of the time. The social worker who has assessed her as having ‘capacity’ and told her she could go home then went on holiday without arranging any care package or making a date for her leaving. So in the meantime mum has been very anxious and one day wants to go home but the next day wants to stay in the care home as she doesn’t think she will cope at home. She has been assessed as needing four care visits during the day but no overnight care so that will take some getting used to as presently in the care home mum can press the buzzer for help if she needs assistance during the night.

Mum is presently self funding as she exceeds the threshold where the local council have to step in and foot the bill so of course the social worker is in no rush to get mum home as it is mum’s money paying the care home bills. Whilst on the short term placement we have been paying in arrears and only oblidged to give one weeks notice. Now the social worker has assessed her as being able to go home this arrangement seems to have terminated and the care home have billed us for the whole of September in advance and we have to give 4 weeks notice. So it might be the end of October before mum can go home as the social worker has not arranged a care package and been able to supply us with a date for leaving so that we can give notice. This will cost mum around £9,000. Of course there is no urgency for the social worker to get this mess sorted as the council are not paying!

I have also been told by social services that if mum did choose to stay in the care home and then her savings fall below the threshold the council would not pick up the bill because she has not been assessed as needing 24 hour care. I rather think she has not been assessed as requiring 24 hour care because they cannot provide her with 24 hour care when she goes home. So it appears that mum will have to go home even if she would rather stay. If ever you have the misfortune to be caught up in the care system you will find it is all about the financial implications to the council and not about the best care of the elderly and vulnerable.

I have no doubt I will be on the phone for most of the week trying to pin down the social worker as she is back from her hols.

It is Heritage week this week and I have made a note of some of the interesting places we might visit. Yesterday we went to Beningbrough Hall (a national Trust property to the north of York) on our way home. My daughter, Little L and Sweetie came with us as it was free entry under the Heritage scheme. We had a little picnic in the shade and then explored the grounds and house. They have a rather unusual tower in the grounds beside the lovely play area for the children in the woods, but I was disappointed that the only water on offer at the cafe was £2.50 a bottle!

I do have plans for the coming 2 weeks where time allows, and hopefully it will not be as exhausting as last week. After all the unpacking, washing and ironing the garden will have priority – weather permitting, and I would like to put another maintenance coat of paint on the shed and greenhouse before the winter. We desperatley need a new garage door too and have arranged for a local company to come and quote.

As far as the house is concerned I would like to give the office / craft room a good clean and I do need to make a few more cards mainly to try and use up some of the card blanks that I bought.

I hope you all have a good week and enjoy the weather – it is a touch too hot for me and gardening might have to be kept to a minimum.

Thank you for all the comments on my last post and thank you Rachel for getting in touch and your concern – I will reply to your email shortly. There is no denying that having blog friends in tough times does help. xx