my mother

In March my Mother will be 85. For the last few years she has been suffering with vascular dementia and has slowly become more confused. We have taken the decision to move her into a lovely home in Devon where she lives. This home is for people suffering with dementia. My brother is an architect and carried out the conversion on this beautiful building. 

We are just waiting for a room to become available.

Mum doesn't really understand that this is going to happen and we are praying that the transition will be a smooth one for her. With us living four hours drive away and my sister (not sure if I have ever blogged about the story of how my sister found us) even further away in Wales, all local jobs are left for my brother. 

For my Mothers birthday I have made a photo book of photo's taken over the years. 

I thought I would share a few with you.

Evelyn Myfanwy born in Wales 1928

 On the right side of this photo with some friends

 with her youngest brother Cyril

 Thomas Carlton...my Father

 on their wedding day

 with my bother and I....I have a grumpy face

 Evelyn Hannah...my Nana

 Shortly after we moved to Cornwall in 1973

 with my sister and I...my sister is 10 years older than I am and this was taken shortly after I discovered that I had a sister in 1984

This is taken at our daughters wedding in 1999. My mother is looking at the camera

 I realise that I haven't posted on here for two weeks, I have, however, been taking a look at your blogs....just havent had the time to post. We went to Wales last weekend to spend a few days with my sister and her husband. I have posted before about my sister finding us here We had a lovely weekend and the first four photos below were taken in Wales.

On Wednesday evening this week some of our Women's Group went for an evening walk (4 miles). It was a lovely evening.

I am very excited at the moment, my daughter and her family are arriving in the UK from South Africa on 8th June, I have tried to stay calm until they had the boys visas in their hands which they have today! . We have had a couple of times in the past when these things have been held up in SA and taken ages or not come through at all.We havent seen the boys for nearly a year. My other daughter and her family will also be coming to stay and so we are hoping that we will have one day when the whole family are together which hasnt happened since our sons wedding in  Sept 2008!



This week we are meeting up with my sister and her husband in Tewksbury, they will be in their camper van and we will be in our caravan. I thought I would make some cookies to take with us...I know my sister will make a cake or two. I used the recipe below and they have turned out really well!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspn baking soda

1/2 teaspn salt

3/ cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespn vanlla extract

1 egg & 1 egg yolk

2 cups choc chips

Preheat oven to 325 f or 165 c. Grease / line cookie sheets Sift together flour, soda & salt, set aside Cream melted butter, brown & white sugar until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips by hand using wooden spoon. Drop dough ¼ cup at a time onto sheets about 2” apart Bake for 15-17 mins in the preheated oven Cool on baking sheets for a few mins before transferring to wire rack to cool

Visit

We have just had a lovely couple of days with my sister and her husband staying from Wales. She is ten years older than me but I didnt know, until 25 years ago that I even had a sister. It turned out that my mother had her when she was 19 and as she was unmarried, living in small

Welsh village when things were very different, she had no alternative but to have her adopted. A few years later my mother met and married my father and although she told him, they chose not to tell my brother and I. Twenty five years ago after my sisters adopted mother died, she decided to trace her birth mother. Well we have been close ever since, she and her husband have two daughters similar ages to our daughters.

We had a lovely day today, walking in the woods and then going for lunch at the Greyhound in Aldbury.

My sister with my husband

My brother in law and I

The Greyhound

My lunch of organic, freerange sausages (i think it was the pigs that were freerange, not the sausages!) mash and vegetable with onion gravey...delicious!