I will try to be brief.
Last Monday was the 50th anniversary of our meeting. We went out to dinner at a restaurant we have been to once before a couple of years ago (during our visit when we bought the block of land) and have been meaing to go back to. I am glad we booked as they were turning people away.
I had oysters with parmesan, chilli and garlic ...
... Himself had baked camembert ...
... and I followed with the catch of the day (gem fish)
... and he had the seafood crepes.
Earlier that day I went back to the shop that sells those amazing planters and upgraded for this spot ...
Lots of other things have happened and life is good and I have photos to share but The Aunt rang and everything got rather messy.
This is my mother's 93 year old sister who lives in far north Queensland. Australians will know that FNQ has been inundated with torrential downpours resulting in horrendous floods. The Aunt lives in an area that is particularly susceptible to flooding during cyclones but heavy rain isn't usually an issue so I wasn't too concerned.
Until it is and I was.
I found out about this several days after the event due to power being out and phones not working.
The volume of rain was such that parts of her house were flooded and her washing machine, a fridge and freezer and her car are all stuffed. The washing machine has been replaced, the fridge and freezer were superfluous to her needs and not having a car could be a blessing.
Just to add some spice into the whole situation, The Aunt is showing signs of early dementia and can't remember what people have done for her and what needs to be done and who she has spoken to. Throw stress into the mix and her cognitive and emotional states are not good.
She still knows to call me, though, so I was trouble shooting from a distance of approximately 3,000 kms.
She is very well supported by amazing friends and neighbours and I am in contact with them and she is now coping a bit better. I will head up there in May or thereabouts once I know the outcome of some specialist appointments for Himself (he does come first) but it has been a challenging week.
Shit going down around the world makes most of our issues pale into insignificance so I will leave you with a recent Marsh Family video. They say it so well.
At that age, too. Poor lady. It sounds as if she's still independent, if she's having to cope with the help of friends and long distance you. It's very stressful being so far away. I hope she does better.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your aunt has friends who can help out. Poor lady. Getting old is hard enough without all the other shit.
ReplyDeleteThe Marsh family, not only amazing singers but amazing what they do with the lyrics.
Oh gosh, what a mess. And so hard to manage from so far away. I'm glad she does have a support system who are helping. You have so much on your plate, I wish you all well.
ReplyDeleteI really hope your aunt is going to be ok. She’s lucky she has a support group around her.
ReplyDeleteNow I wish for hubbys test results to be great news
At 93 I would definitely be surprised if your aunt didn't have some sort of cognitive thing going on. Bless her! And bless you for helping as best you can from such a distance.
ReplyDeleteHappy fiftieth anniversary of when you met! I love it.
The meal looks so good.
ReplyDeleteThat's not great about your flooded aunt. Even without dementia, in times of stress, the memory can be poor, as it becomes overloaded with detail.
Mmm, baked camembert. I hope your aunt is doing okay by the time you get there and has assistance from some sort of in home care.
ReplyDelete