Far Away, So Close

We're having a great couple of days, what with visiting people and the harmonious mucking around at home and having people visit us and the lovely messages from people arriving through the weekend. And our colds are on the way out. Thinking straight for the first time in days.
Yesterday Sweeney and I visited the hospital and the ambulance arrived to transfer Martin to the hospice soon after we arrived. We saw him and his dad to the ambulance, then home for dinner and a long session of playing with the remote-controlled battery-operated crane. I don't entirely get how someone can enjoy a thing that turns around in a circle quite so much, but Sweeney loves it so.

Headed to Martin's new digs after breakfast, loaded up with snacks, cars and books to keep Sweeney occupied. Palliative care is such a shift from clinical care - everyone is so completely, impossibly Nice. Smiling but not laughing, no giggling. No sharp edges anywhere. Not that hospital staff aren't nice - they're just not as Nice. It's a whole level of Pleasant I've never struck in such numbers before. The staff are much more forthcoming about things - no, Martin's not up to going for a walk, yes, he can have as much juice as he likes, yes, we're giving him morphine for his pain - that sort of thing. Offering information, even - practically had to get paid informants in place when he was in Wellington Hospital, unfortunately.

He has a room to himself, with access to a lovely courtyard. There were a million finches mucking around out there this morning. There's a view over Newtown, but Martin's not using it right now. He's having trouble talking and is sore and sleepy. The carpet makes the place seem cosy and it muffles the crash-bang! of Sweeney's car games. Ladies with tea and coffee came around and forced cheese scones on us. And like I say, there's this air of Kindness over the whole place that just makes you want to hang out. Even parking is easy.

In other news, all this black-shadowness is made easier by cleaning bits of the house, I find, or immersing myself in Sweeney's stuff. Haven't read him so many stories ever, I think. Yesterday we spent ages chasing each other around the garden - Sweeney told me we had a mission to perform. I still don't know what it was, but it required a lot of running and giggling.

And the sunroom is pristine, for the first time in ages ...
Ooh, and I won speckledegg's giveaway - a Temari Ball. Hurrah!! Something pink with flowery things on is just the ticket, right now. Thanks, Lucy!!