Wednesday, 4th May, less that a week away, is the date Arthur will be home again. Arthur is looking forward to it but the is worried about me. He does not know hope I will cope. He keeps saying he is sorry for me. It must be so hard for him to be a burden to me, in his own eyes.
I am not doing so well. I am highly anxious by it all. I suspect the respite has allowed me to get used to Arthur's needs not being here. I am not on call 24 hours a day. I visit him with the dogs, he is happy to see me, thanks me for what I am doing, there is no conflict and we are relaxed. When Arthur needs personal care or re-positioning, I go outside the room until it is done. His health and welfare are some-one else's responsibility and we just enjoy positive contact.
Even the ravages of grief have eased, somewhat.
The question arises, do I want Arthur to move permanently into a nursing home? The answer is no, I want him home. I want him home for his sake, not mine. He does not want to be there, he is just waiting it out until he is home again.
I do not know how I can cope with him at home with so few services. Just one visit a day means I will be changing his pad at least once a day, and now it seems he is bowel incontinent too, so coping with that will be so hard. I hate personal care, I hate everything to do with other people's bodily discharges. I toilet-trained my children as soon as they were old enough. I have helped Arthur on the toilet and changed his bowel pad a couple of times. How am I going to do this every day? I know nurses do it, but that is the reason I never wanted to be a nurse!
Why is it life gives you what you do not want so often?
My anxiety is making me nearly immobile with worry, my muscles are sore and I have tingling in my limbs. I hav e few things to do so Arthur can come home.
I have to get a mechanical patient lifter, as I cannot afford an electrical one. I have to make sure I have everything arranged for the day and that I have the shopping done.
I am looking forward to Arthur's happiness when he finally cones home again.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Gimlet on Ice - Cocktail Hour
As a sipper of that awesome delight, the cocktail, I am giving you the recipe for a Gimlet, one of my favourites. As cocktails are wonderful way of sipping through an hour in a lazy evening, I will give the recipe for a Gimlet, one of the simplest drinks.
Cocktails are potent drinks and I will say up front that they do not mix with driving or operating any machinery. They are not meant to be drunk to excess or drunk you will be and a drunk is neither amusing nor clever. They are also drinks for adults so anyone under the legal drinking age, please leave this site and comeback when you are over the legal age. (Please observe all your local alcohol laws.)
Now these cocktails are not made necessarily to the traditional recipes. I am not a professional nor have I ever even worked behind a bar but have honed my skills on my own guests and for my own pleasure.
I was introduced to the Gimlet by an Englishman who was in the Royal Navy in World War 2. He had the job of steward when the officers had dinner and drinks. The new captain asked him for a gimlet. All the sailors searched high and low for a gimlet and couldn't find one. As they were looking for a carpenter's tool for boring holes, and they were in a ship in which presumably holes were not welcome, of course they couldn't find that gimlet.
"What do you mean, sailor, you can't find a gimlet on the ship. A Gimlet is drink you fool!" My friend said he did feel a right fool, but he was more of a rum man, the daily rum ration being the right of the British Navy sailor for centuries.
The captain told him to mix gin, lime cordial and water and serve him a GIMLET man, a bl**dy gimlet!
So my friend introduced me to this most refreshing of drinks, that has it's origins somewhere in the mists of time. It has been said it was a way of getting British officers to drink lime juice to ward off scurvy.
I make this directly in the glass.
Gin.
Lime Juice Cordial (I use Bickfords Brown Lime cordial, but i do not know if you can get it outside of Australia)
Water (Still or soda, I prefer still)
A lime slice.
Take equal measures of each liquid, pour into a glass and stir, add a couple of ice cubes in the hot weather. Garnish with a the slice of lime, if you want to show a bit of flair. Do not add any little umbrellas, plastic stirrers or fancy straws. Remember this is the drink of officers and gentlemen and no flim-flam is tolerated!
If I replace the lime cordial and water with freshly squeezed lime juice it makes a sharper, less sweet taste. It could be sweetened with a little simple syrup if needed.
Simple syrup.
Simple syrup is a mainstay for sweetening cocktails. To make simple syrup, take equal parts of white refined sugar, and water. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil, simmer until all the sugar crystals are melted into the water. Leave to cool.
Do not try to sweeten cocktails by just adding sugar (unless a recipe says so),they will not dissolve. Instead use simple syrup.
So the next time an officer of the Royal Navy says, "I would like a gimlet, please", you will be able to reply, "Gin, lime and water. Yes, sir!"
Cocktails are potent drinks and I will say up front that they do not mix with driving or operating any machinery. They are not meant to be drunk to excess or drunk you will be and a drunk is neither amusing nor clever. They are also drinks for adults so anyone under the legal drinking age, please leave this site and comeback when you are over the legal age. (Please observe all your local alcohol laws.)
Now these cocktails are not made necessarily to the traditional recipes. I am not a professional nor have I ever even worked behind a bar but have honed my skills on my own guests and for my own pleasure.
I was introduced to the Gimlet by an Englishman who was in the Royal Navy in World War 2. He had the job of steward when the officers had dinner and drinks. The new captain asked him for a gimlet. All the sailors searched high and low for a gimlet and couldn't find one. As they were looking for a carpenter's tool for boring holes, and they were in a ship in which presumably holes were not welcome, of course they couldn't find that gimlet.
"What do you mean, sailor, you can't find a gimlet on the ship. A Gimlet is drink you fool!" My friend said he did feel a right fool, but he was more of a rum man, the daily rum ration being the right of the British Navy sailor for centuries.
The captain told him to mix gin, lime cordial and water and serve him a GIMLET man, a bl**dy gimlet!
So my friend introduced me to this most refreshing of drinks, that has it's origins somewhere in the mists of time. It has been said it was a way of getting British officers to drink lime juice to ward off scurvy.
I make this directly in the glass.
Gin.
Lime Juice Cordial (I use Bickfords Brown Lime cordial, but i do not know if you can get it outside of Australia)
Water (Still or soda, I prefer still)
A lime slice.
Take equal measures of each liquid, pour into a glass and stir, add a couple of ice cubes in the hot weather. Garnish with a the slice of lime, if you want to show a bit of flair. Do not add any little umbrellas, plastic stirrers or fancy straws. Remember this is the drink of officers and gentlemen and no flim-flam is tolerated!
If I replace the lime cordial and water with freshly squeezed lime juice it makes a sharper, less sweet taste. It could be sweetened with a little simple syrup if needed.
Simple syrup.
Simple syrup is a mainstay for sweetening cocktails. To make simple syrup, take equal parts of white refined sugar, and water. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil, simmer until all the sugar crystals are melted into the water. Leave to cool.
Do not try to sweeten cocktails by just adding sugar (unless a recipe says so),they will not dissolve. Instead use simple syrup.
So the next time an officer of the Royal Navy says, "I would like a gimlet, please", you will be able to reply, "Gin, lime and water. Yes, sir!"
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