Catch Up

It's September 12th. It sounds a bit lame but the days have been so full since my last post I've either been too busy or too tired to put stylus to keyboard on the i-pad and fulfil my commitment to blogging 'every day'!
We spent a great week on holiday with the family in Worcestershire. The cottage was comfortable with adaptations well suited to my needs. The single beds in the ground floor bedroom weren't too clever, though, so after a couple of nights Ross, Mary and Caroline carried me upstairs on a dining chair to a very comfortable bed! We entertained visitors as there was room to have friends to stay over, so Viv (used to be a neighbour) came up from Devon with a rib of beef for Sunday dinner, and our mates from Stamford, Kay & David, came over. We had some good lunches around Malvern, a particularly good one at the Michelin starred Cottage in the Wood, where the restaurant enjoyed spectacular views across the hills. An old friend from our youth, who has recently moved to the area, caught up with us there to reminisce on the past and our changing lives. We visited some National Trust properties and found them well equipped for disabled visitors. At Croome they had a chariot on caterpillar tracks which carried wheelchairs up the stepped entrance to the house, while at Stoke I used a sort of off-road mobility scooter to conduct a thorough visit of the gardens. Actually the sun shone briefly that afternoon making a change from the more or less incessant rain!
My power wheelchair arrived the day before our holiday so I wasn't able to get to grips with it until our return. The pillow lifter was delivered on the day of departure so we took it with us, along with the Nippy, the use of which I had to abandon as it was preventing me from sleeping.
We also discovered on the day we left that Caroline's car had been stolen!
Since our return the weather has been fine, enabling me to get out and about in the Salsa (power wheelchair). It has variable speed up to a heady 4mph and the facility to recline. Because the mid-wheels provide the power it turns very tightly so is extremely manoeuvrable around the house, and the lift moves it (and me) between floors. I soon discovered that the seat cushion provided little protection for the posterior on bumpy paths or taxi rides. So I invested in a premium comfort cushion which smoothes out the rides par excellence. Last Saturday Caroline took me to the Olympic Park where we watched paralympic athletics in the stadium then looked around the park. I was in the chair all day from the time the cab collected us throughout the visit, including lunch in the Champagne & Seafood restaurant, on the journey home by bullet train and a final cab from Ebbsfleet Station, around 7 hours in all! Wonderful day, and not a peep out of my bottom!
Now we are looking into getting a WAV (wheelchair accessible vehicle) through the Motability scheme. It is likely to be a suitably adapted Citroen Berlingo so fingers crossed for success with that. 
Today I went for my introductory session with the MND day therapy group at the hospice. Around a dozen men and women affected in different ways by the condition, but most seemed to be able to talk without difficulty, and apart from 3 of us in wheelchairs, walk around too! Everyone was very friendly, the atmosphere was relaxed, we were given a pleasant lunch, with wine if desired, so all in all a very pleasant day. Had a bit of time to myself when they brought me home, which accounts for this catch-up blog!