Busy week - but blogs back up to date now

It's been all go since we got back from Exeter on Monday. Tuesday morning was meetings in Fraserburgh, then dash back to Aberdeen for more meetings. Wednesday was Aberdeen in the morning then down to Glasgow in the afternoon. I met Dawn at Bridge of Allan (where she now works) and we went for a short stroll and sat on a park bench for an hour or two.

Dawn headed home and I made my way past the horrible roadworks round Cumbernauld through to Erskine Glasgow to see Dad. I thought my 6:15 pm arrival would be early enough to see Dad, but, blow me, he was already fast asleep in bed! I did waken him and he acknowledged me but he was dead tired and was in some pain. I discovered that he had fallen out of bed again on Sunday night and was still complaining about the pain. The staff had examined what he'd done and had apparently put a plaster or two on - Dad won't take any medication. The doctor is scheduled to examine him again this morning.

I sat in silence and half light with Dad for an hour or so - it felt a bit like a death bed scene. His sleep was fitful and was punctuated with small cries of pain. I told the staff I would be back about the same time tomorrow and it would be good if I could see him awake this time.

I spent the night at Barry and Helen's and then headed off to Glasgow airport on Thursday morning - I had been invited to a corporate golf day out at Macrihanish (http://www.machrihanishdunes.com/) so we were catching a plane to Campbeltown. If you're wondering why we didn't drive, you obviously don't know the geography of the West of Scotland - and the Mull of Kintyre in particular - check http://www.mapquest.co.uk/mq/maps/mapAddress.do?cboCountry=GB&txtCity=campbeltown.

We boarded the aircraft but were then told we had to get off again - technical fault, which the engineers would try to fix. We waited for a while but were then told that they couldn't fix it quickly, so they had had to order another plane which would be in shortly. Again another wait until the plane arrived and the crew then got back on board and they were just about to tell us to join them when we heard the same announcement - technical fault again! By the time they would have been able to get a 3rd plane in, it would have been too late to get there, play golf and still make the return flight, so we had no option but to abort mission.

What to do now? We had all written the day off already, so we decided to go and play golf locally at Ranfurly Castle GC, Bridge of Weir (http://www.ranfurlycastlegolfclub.co.uk/), where 3 of the guys were members anyway. It was actually very enjoyable, but we couldn't help feeling we'd missed a great weather window for travelling down to Macrihanish. We've been promised a return visit next year, but, with our luck, it'll be blowing a hoolie and p.....g it down then! This was me yesterday in front of the clubhouse at Ranfurly Castle:


As promised, I went back to Erskine to see Dad - and we was up and awake this time. He has regressed considerably, however - he's but a shell of the man he used to be - hardly surprising, considering he hardly eats, drinks or take his medication. See for yourself:



He hasn't been walking since he went in to hospital - and I don't know if he'll be capable any more either. Dawn and I tried to get him up to at least support him back to his room, but each time we tried, he was in pain and so we gave up - perhaps he has cracked a rib or something. We had to get the staff to bring in the hoist to get him up and into a wheelchair to get him back to his room. How sad - his time is coming soon, I fear. We both noticed how much everyone in Flanders House - not just Dad - had deteriorated over the last year.

The physiotherapist, as well as the doctor, will see Dad today and we'll know more then.

Dawn and I went back to Barry's for a cup of tea - and I caught Dawn and Helen unawares with this shot:


This morning, I headed in to Glasgow city centre for my 7:30 am meeting. I had to be on the road quickly after this as my crown had finally arrived (from Switzerland) and the dentist was going to fit it at 11:15 am. This meant I would have to miss out on Dad's 2nd six-monthly assessment at Erskine - but Dawn and Barry were there anyway.

I got to the dentist's in good time - but the crown didn't fit!!!! Now I have to go back again on Monday to get another impression made of my jaw and then they send off for another one - here we go again! And I missed out on Dad's assessment because of this! Grrr!

I've been called in to play football again tonight, but Jo reckons I shouldn't play, what with my run of luck!