Cath Sheard Art

Tag: Mum

  • GPP Crusade No 14 – who is your Muse?

    Michelle Ward asked “who is your Muse?”. Hmm, I didn’t know, wasn’t sure I even had one… I have been thinking on this for days.

    In the end the answer was easy, so easy I kept discarding it. My Muse is my husband Tony. We’ve been together for 15 years, married for 10. I was not really doing any art when we met but over the years it has come to occupy more and more of my time (okay, and the spare spaces in our house!). And he’s always been cool with it.

    Sometimes he does not ‘get’ what I make, does not understand why I like it, or what I could possibly do with it. But he never fusses about all the hours, all the products, all the mess. How cool is that?

    The photo is of Tony with my Mum. We live with Mum as her caregivers; he is patient and caring. Life’s good.

  • Hospital watch, and creating

    Mum’s doing okay in hospital but will be there for a bit yet. They need to figure out why her heart rate is stuck down in the very low 40s. No wonder she feels awful. Mum has reminded them she is ‘not for resus‘ – good on her for knowing what she wants.

    In the meantime, I have kept playing with wool and stuff -this time a fluffy, airy scarf.

  • Hospital

    Well, Mum has not been to hospital since late February. We managed to get right through winter with no dramas. Amazing. We had been going to hospital very very regularly from late 06 through till Feb.

    But the dry spell has been broken. Yep, she went off in the ambulance this afternoon (with my husband driving). Seems like most of the problems may stem from being dehydrated, but that also means her meds need adjusting – which is always a bit of a nightmare.

    Reaffirmed with the doctor that Mum is not for resuscitation – always a hard thing to do, but she is so very clear in her wishes. So, fingers crossed…

  • 81-84_365 : time out

    I have been so tired I could not face uploading anything. I think when Mum has been very sick, then gets better, I relax and it hits me. Watching someone dying slowly over years is not an easy thing; nursing them at home is emotionally draining.

    Would I change it though? Not on my life… This time with Mum is precious, and it is not an opportunity every daughter gets.

  • 75_365 : photographing Mum – capturing the moment

    For me photography is a way of recording a scene so I can paint it later, recording my life so I can scrapbook it, and capturing day to day activity in our house so we can celebrate it.

    Today’s photo has a story behind it —

    We live with and look after my Mum full time; she’s 82 and very ill, but also strong-willed and determined. Nurses either love her or are terrified of her! She loves ‘good’ music and doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
    Two days a week she goes into the local rest home during the day, to get her out of the house and give her some different people to chat with.

    Judy, the home’s manager, invited Mum to the rest home’s St Patrick’s day morning tea and lunch – to my surprise Mum agreed to go. Into a lime green t-shirt and off she went. They had scones with green topping, Irish Stew for lunch and apple cider. The place was decorated and so were the residents – Mum came home displaying newly painted green fingernails.

    I went along to drop her off, and take some photos. When the visiting singers started up Mum obviously thought they were murdering some Irish lyric. For just a second, long enough for me to click to camera, Mum had her “oh god they’re going to sing badly” face on!!
    She recovered herself well and put on a polite face. I left and she sat it out with good humour…

    Gotta love her.