Danskcolin: Sunday 23 June 2019 – Friday 28 June 2019

We spend a few days in Southport, Lancashire, in the north of England, with Iris, Lois' cousin, who lives in a nursing home up there. I had misgivings in advance that we might regret the decision to stay in the actual nursing home surrounded by "other" old crows, but actually our 4-day stay did not go so badly, thank goodness.

breakfast at the home

Dinner at the home, with Iris

However, we feel a little confined in the nursing home from time to time - when we want to get out, we need a staff member to open the front door, even though later in the visit we find out the access code. For safety’s sake, the staff make it a little difficult to get out of the nursing home - many of the residents do not move about very easily, and some are on the verge of suffering from dementia, we suspect.

It's a bit of a shame that all those safety concerns mean that the nursing home's immaculately maintained garden can't really be enjoyed by the residents - throughout our visit, we never saw anyone out there – good grief, what madness !!!

The impeccable garden to the nursing home, which we never see anyone in -

my god, what madness !!!

The nursing home is run by Lois' sect, so at the beginning I was a little worried that some of the residents might try to talk to me about religion, but in fact they are not up to that mentally for the most part, which is a bit of a relief to say the least.

There are various inspirational religious quotes exhibited here and there on the walls of the corridors, walkways and rooms. And before meals, a staff member rings a small bell to ask us to say grace for ourselves, and a second bell 2 minutes later, to tell us it's okay to start, which is cute. Every evening, the more active members of the lounge meet to read the day's 3 prescribed Bible chapters: 2 from the Old and 1 from the New Testament, but I can give that a miss, which is nice.

Iris's room is packed with books, pictures, CDs, DVDs, souvenirs, as always. There is almost no room to sit, as expected. But these are all the things that make her happy.

Iris in her room, with Lois

It all gives Lois and me an idea of what it means to move into a nursing home. The wifi is dodgy and only works intermittently for us. The worst thing is the building's central heating, which is constantly cranked up to max. Our guest room is on the 2nd floor, in the "attic", so it is very hot and for safety's sake the staff have fixed the windows so that they only open approx. 2 inches (5 cm) - damn!

our guest room in the "attic"

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

We drive Iris (86) to the town of Newton-le-Willows to spend a few hours with her 2 daughters, Heather (59) and Lorna (58). They are completely the opposite of Iris when it comes to the style of the rooms and suchlike. Iris's room in the nursing home is filled with this and that, and is a bit of a mess, to put it mildly - while Heather and Lorna's houses are completely immaculate, and mostly empty of books, etc., but packed with kitsch, bric-a-brac, and the like, both in the house and in the garden. Good grief, what madness!

I find myself beginning to praise Heather's décor, just to be polite, and to have something to say, to be honest. But as a result, Lorna invites us to see her house too - I suspect that there is a bit of competition between the two women, to see who can stuff the most kitsch knick-knacks into their houses.

in Heather’s House - from left to right Lorna (58), Iris (86),

Heather (59) and Lois (73). How young Lois looks !!!!

in Heather’s backyard

in Lorna's house

Flashback to 1967: Iris with daughters Lorna (left) and Heather, in happier times

Driving from Cheltenham to Southport

Lois and I drove north to Southport on Sunday the 23rd and Monday of the 24th of June - we stayed in a small B&B, located just outside the town of Congleton, because I no longer care to drive for more than 2-3 hours during a given day. And we did the same on our way home from June 27-28.

On Sunday, June 23, we arrived a little early at Congleton, and we spent a couple of hours looking around a charming historic old house, Little Moreton Hall, built in 1502 - it looks like a house out of a fairytale book, to put it mildly - totally charming.

Little Moreton Hall, built in 1502

display of instruments from England's Tudor period

folk dancing in the gardens

the moat

Danish translation: søndag den 23. juni – fredag den 28. juni 2019

Vi tilbringer nogle dage i Southport, Lancashire, i det nordlige England, med Iris, Lois’ kusine, der bor i et plejehjem deroppe. Jeg havde i forvejen dårlige anelser om, at vi kunne fortryde beslutningen at opholde os i selve plejehjem omgivet af ”andre” gamle krager, men faktisk gik vores 4-dages ophold ikke særlig dårligt, gudskelov.

morgenmad

aftensmad

Vi føler os imidlertid lidt indespærret i plejehjemmet indimellem – når vi har lyst til at komme ud, må vi et personalemedlem at åbne hoveddøren, selvom senere på besøget når vi at finde ud af adgangkoden. For sikkerheds skyld gør personalet det lidt svært at komme ud af plejehjemmet – mange af beboerne bevæger sig ikke ret nemt, og nogle er på randen af at lide af demens, mistænker vi.

Det er lidt af en skam, at alle de der sikkerheds bekymringer betyder, at plejehjemmets ulasteligt vedligegjorde have ikke kan blive rigtig godt nydt af beboerne – under hele vores besøg, så vi aldrig nogen derude – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

plejehjemmets ulastelige have, som vi aldrig ser ingen inde i –

du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Plejehjemmet er drevet af Lois’ sekt, så var jeg i begyndelsen lidt bekymret over, at nogle af beboerne kunne prøve at tale med mig om religion, men faktisk står de ikke til psykisk for det meste, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse, for at sige mildt. Der er inspirationelle religiøse citater udstillet her og der på væggene i gangene, korridorerne og værelserne. Og før måltider ringer et personalemedlem med en lille klokke, for at bede os om at bede bordbøn for os selv, og med en anden klokke, for at fortælle os, det er ok at starte, hvilket er sødt. Hver aften mødes de mere aktive medlemmer i loungen for at læse den pågældende dags 3 forskrevne bibelkapitler: 2 fra det gamle og 1 fra det nye testamente, men det kan jeg gå glip af, hvilket er rart.

Iris’ værelse er propfyldt med bøger, billeder, CD’er, DVD’er, souvenirs, som altid. Der er næsten ikke plads til at sidde, som forventet. Men disse er alle de ting, der giver hende glæde.

Iris i sit værelse

Det hele giver Lois og mig en idé, om hvad det betyder at flytte ind i et plejehjem. Det værste er bygningens centralvarme, der hele tiden dag og nat er skruet op til max. Vores gæsteværelse er oppe på 2. sal, i ”loftet”, så det er meget varmt og for sikkerheds skyld har personalet fikseret vinduerne, så de kun åbner sig ca. 2 inches (5 cm) – pokkers!

vores gæsteværelse i ”loftet”

Onsdag den 26. juni 2019

Vi kører Iris (86) over til byen Newton-le-Willows for at tilbringe nogle timer med hendes 2 døtre, Heather (59) og Lorna (58). De der det helt modsatte af Iris, når det kommer til stilen af værelser og den slags. Iris’ værelse i plejehjemmet er propfyldt af dette og hint, og er lidt af en rod, for at sige mildt. Mens Heather og Lornas huse er helt ulastelige, og for det meste tomme for bøger osv, men propfyldt med kitsch, nips, og den slags, både i huset og i haven. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Jeg finder mig selv i gang med at rose Heathers ”smag”, bare for at være høflig, og for at have noget at sige, ærligt talt. Men som resultat, inviterer Lorna os til at se hendes hus også – jeg mistænker, at der er lidt konkurrence mellem de to kvinder, om at se, hvem kan proppe de meste kitschede nips ind i deres huse.

i Heathers hus – fra venstre til højre Lorna (58), Iris(86), Heather (59) og Lois (73).

Hvor ser Lois dog ung ud!!!!

i Heathers hus og have

i Lornas hus

tilbageblik til 1967: Iris med sine døtre Lorna (til venstre)
og Heather, i lykkeligere tider

Kørslerne fra Cheltenham til Southport

Lois og jeg kørte nordpå til Southport søndag den 23. og mandag den 24. juni – vi overnattede i en lille B&B, der ligger lidt uden for byen Congleton, fordi jeg ikke længere har lyst til at køre i mere end 2-3 timer i løbet af en given dag. Og vi gjorde det samme på vej hjem de 27-28 juni.

Søndag den 23. juni ankom vi lidt tidligt til Congleton, og vi brugte et par timer på at se os om i et charmerende gammelt hus, Little Moreton Hall, der blev bygget i 1502 – det ser ud som et hus i en eventyrbog, for at sige mildt – totalt charmerende.