Saturday, June 27
26 of the Robertson clan (plus two dogs) between the ages of 7 and 90 gather 5 hours around a picnic table in Wascana Park......
Conversation and laughter....talk of farming, jobs, career plans, and summer holidays....
Piles of cousins and nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews and Aunt Isabel who talks with everyone with her letterboard (and wrote the party speech) ....
And Uncle Ben who turned 90 this month......
Birthday cake and photos and "the speech".....
A talented 16 year old bagpiper....Road to the Isles....Skye Boat Song.......Scotland the Brave.....Bonnie Dundee.... and The Green Hills of Tyrol.
Opportunity to remember our Robertson clan heritage and family members gone before us....
Wind and sun and clouds.....walks to the lake and games of catch.....
And a promise to gather again next year.....
Gratitude for 26 of the clan who find ways to organize their lives to gather once again on a summer day in a beautiful park....
And Isabel tucked in on Saturday night with a new bagpipe CD playing the songs of the afternoon.
Happy Summer Everyone!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Bloom Where You are Planted
Isabel says that her "theme" for this summer is: "Bloom where you are planted".
She says this while enjoying the second floor terrace garden filled with red, pink and white geraniums, pansies, violas, wave petunias, salvia, lavatera, polka dots, poppies and portulaca (the flower, not the weed!). Isabel's terrace garden was all planted with only the occasional tiny visible patch of soil. And then along came the Wascana Rec Director with some more bedding plants that needed a home. STUFF THEM IN, Isabel said....
Colour abounds and there is no order.....
Just like life.
Bloom where you are planted.
Isabel has a new neighbour. Isabel is helping her new friend get adjusted to the "ropes at Wascana". Her new friend is a lifelong gardener who like Mum can no longer actively do the gardening, but can supervise and enjoy! She and Isabel have had a long discussion about "gardens we have known and loved".
A lovely lounge with floor to ceiling windows overlooks the terrace garden. Her new neighbour spends many hours in that lounge each day, and we are thankful to be able to share Isabel's flowers. Family members from both rooms now fertilize and water the garden as the long days of summer enjoyment stretch before us.
Happy Summer Solstice!
From the Gang in the Garden
She says this while enjoying the second floor terrace garden filled with red, pink and white geraniums, pansies, violas, wave petunias, salvia, lavatera, polka dots, poppies and portulaca (the flower, not the weed!). Isabel's terrace garden was all planted with only the occasional tiny visible patch of soil. And then along came the Wascana Rec Director with some more bedding plants that needed a home. STUFF THEM IN, Isabel said....
Colour abounds and there is no order.....
Just like life.
Bloom where you are planted.
Isabel has a new neighbour. Isabel is helping her new friend get adjusted to the "ropes at Wascana". Her new friend is a lifelong gardener who like Mum can no longer actively do the gardening, but can supervise and enjoy! She and Isabel have had a long discussion about "gardens we have known and loved".
A lovely lounge with floor to ceiling windows overlooks the terrace garden. Her new neighbour spends many hours in that lounge each day, and we are thankful to be able to share Isabel's flowers. Family members from both rooms now fertilize and water the garden as the long days of summer enjoyment stretch before us.
Happy Summer Solstice!
From the Gang in the Garden
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Summer Days at Last!
Isabel indulged her love of all things flowering this week with a family trip to the Regina Floral Conservatory. Two hours amid flowering hydrangeas, begonias, and many familiar and not familiar annuals with a backdrop of tropical ferns, palms, figs and cacti resulted in an informative and relaxing visit.
With summer temperatures finally with us, Isabel's own terrace garden is flourishing at last. Mum has a new neighbour at Wascana, who like her, loves gardening. Along with welcoming and helping orient her new friend to Wascana's ways, Isabel is glad to be able to share the terrace and overlooking lounge with someone who appreciates bright coloured blooms as much as she does.
Four friends from Abernethy came for a three-hour visit and Isabel's tour of Wascana on Saturday! It was a great day!
Happy summer days, everyone!
With summer temperatures finally with us, Isabel's own terrace garden is flourishing at last. Mum has a new neighbour at Wascana, who like her, loves gardening. Along with welcoming and helping orient her new friend to Wascana's ways, Isabel is glad to be able to share the terrace and overlooking lounge with someone who appreciates bright coloured blooms as much as she does.
Four friends from Abernethy came for a three-hour visit and Isabel's tour of Wascana on Saturday! It was a great day!
Happy summer days, everyone!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
"I Just Can't Stop Talking"
This posting could be called:
* A Red Letter Day
* A Quiet Miracle, or
* A Noisy Miracle!!!
But we are calling it "I just can't stop talking" as these are Isabel's words.
On Friday, Mum hosted two early-bird Abernethy friends for morning coffee in the Wascana cafeteria. She and Rufus then led them on a tour of Wascana ~ to the Departments of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy ~ then Recreation and Music Therapy ~ and then to the Chapel. Then down the elevator to the main floor to the gift shop and concourse and to see the huge art on the walls. The walk and drive took in the floor-to-ceiling windows, many huge live plants and trees inside Wascana, and the hundreds of recently planted bedding plants (shivering in our June cold!) on the terraces and courtyards.
Then it was back to Isabel's room where Mum took the plunge and carried on an hour's conversation OUT-LOUD with her friends. With her trach cuff deflated, the questions and comments tumbled out as Mum got caught up on all the news at home.
As family we watched ~ almost in disbelief ~ at Mum's ability to talk out-loud this much ~ and this well. Long after her friends left, she chatted on.
As she said Friday morning, "I haven't talked for 20 months, and now I just can't stop talking".
You go, girl!
It ain't all easy. Mum continues to have some paralysis in her throat which means she can't easily swallow. She needs to suction her mouth (just like at the dentist) every few minutes.
Mum can only speak out-loud if a family member or nurse is present to deflate her trach cuff, so if you are visiting, you may not hear her speak. She still uses her letter-board most of the time.
Some sounds are hard to say. "CA" and "J" aren't easy, but "N" is ~ so Nancy is getting far more orders than Catherine and Janet!
Mum has weakness in the tip of her tongue and back of her palette so her speech pathologist has given her exercises. Some words are still difficult to make out.
The set breathing in and out of the ventilator can make it difficult to talk. Yes, even when the trach cuff is deflated, Mum still uses the ventilator 24/7 to help her breathe. 8 small puffs a minute.
However Isabel's stamina and strength of voice are excellent, and we are confident that she will overcome the issues with which she still struggles. In the meantime, we rejoice in hearing for the first time faint but recognizable laughter and the familiar intonation of her voice. Her characteristic rolling of eyes, shoulder shrugging and animated left hand now accompany out-loud words.
Tumbling out with all these words is GRATITUDE.......who could have ever guessed after these long months that Isabel would speak full sentences and questions again?
* A Red Letter Day
* A Quiet Miracle, or
* A Noisy Miracle!!!
But we are calling it "I just can't stop talking" as these are Isabel's words.
On Friday, Mum hosted two early-bird Abernethy friends for morning coffee in the Wascana cafeteria. She and Rufus then led them on a tour of Wascana ~ to the Departments of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy ~ then Recreation and Music Therapy ~ and then to the Chapel. Then down the elevator to the main floor to the gift shop and concourse and to see the huge art on the walls. The walk and drive took in the floor-to-ceiling windows, many huge live plants and trees inside Wascana, and the hundreds of recently planted bedding plants (shivering in our June cold!) on the terraces and courtyards.
Then it was back to Isabel's room where Mum took the plunge and carried on an hour's conversation OUT-LOUD with her friends. With her trach cuff deflated, the questions and comments tumbled out as Mum got caught up on all the news at home.
As family we watched ~ almost in disbelief ~ at Mum's ability to talk out-loud this much ~ and this well. Long after her friends left, she chatted on.
As she said Friday morning, "I haven't talked for 20 months, and now I just can't stop talking".
You go, girl!
It ain't all easy. Mum continues to have some paralysis in her throat which means she can't easily swallow. She needs to suction her mouth (just like at the dentist) every few minutes.
Mum can only speak out-loud if a family member or nurse is present to deflate her trach cuff, so if you are visiting, you may not hear her speak. She still uses her letter-board most of the time.
Some sounds are hard to say. "CA" and "J" aren't easy, but "N" is ~ so Nancy is getting far more orders than Catherine and Janet!
Mum has weakness in the tip of her tongue and back of her palette so her speech pathologist has given her exercises. Some words are still difficult to make out.
The set breathing in and out of the ventilator can make it difficult to talk. Yes, even when the trach cuff is deflated, Mum still uses the ventilator 24/7 to help her breathe. 8 small puffs a minute.
However Isabel's stamina and strength of voice are excellent, and we are confident that she will overcome the issues with which she still struggles. In the meantime, we rejoice in hearing for the first time faint but recognizable laughter and the familiar intonation of her voice. Her characteristic rolling of eyes, shoulder shrugging and animated left hand now accompany out-loud words.
Tumbling out with all these words is GRATITUDE.......who could have ever guessed after these long months that Isabel would speak full sentences and questions again?
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