Round up of 2024

What a year it's been here at Crazy Towers I've achieved the square root nothing, I didn't even have the time to get down to our allotment to prepare the beds and plant all my seedlings so no home grown vegetables this year, to add insult to injury the birds stripped the plum and cherry trees bare of fruit so we had none of those either, the only thing l did succeed in growing were some spectacularly tall weeds

Image Descriptions - Head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting outside in our garden, both are wearing red Santa hats tipped at a jaunty angle looking and the still with a white pop tipped forward between their eyes too o look adorably cute

Thankfully I was given a pass for this years allotment inspection, but if I don't plant it up next year I could

December Already 😲

So much has happened since our last post that I've not been able to keep track of the time, when we last spoke Eko was recovering well from an acute case of pancreatitis and my dad had  finally had his cataract surgery, has since made a good recovery and things were starting to settle down again

At the end of October Paleo Ridge launched Paleo Senior to the Paleo Plus range which we were excited about as they will really benefit Boris and his specific dietary requirements as a senior boy of 10 years old with chronic arthritis 

Image Descriptions - Two head and shoulders shots of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking very majestic holding in his mouth the distinctive and artistic new packaging of the Paleo Senior Turkey and Lamb Dinners. Boris is looking at the camera standing amongst a small clump of trees out in the woods and is slightly damp from the wet grass he'd been running through previously 

Paleo Senior is designed to meet the distinctive needs of senior dogs by using lean high-quality meat cuts enriched with nutrient-packed green leafy vegetables, this low-fat formula is also enhanced with Reishi mushrooms to support the immune

Sorry we've been AWOL

Apologies we've been so very tardy about posting recently, the truth is I've been really struggling with my own mental health for the past couple of months

Something happened which made me realise that all was not well in my world and that I couldn't ignore it anymore when I hadn't been in to check on my parents for three days

They weren't totally abandoned as mum has carers that come in first thing each day to help her get washed and dressed, but I just couldn't face another day trying to cope with these two strangers who look like my parents and live in their house, but aren't the people they once were

Nothing prepared me for becoming my parents caregiver, it was forced upon me because I'm the only one near enough to do it. My life has been turned upside down and my own health struggles make things really difficult as I never get the time to just stop and rest up for a few days

 I'm absolutely exhausted with the constant worry

Christmas Round-Up of 2023

It's been another tough year here at Crazy Towers as my parents dementia continues to erode the people that they once were, adjusting to being their carer and putting my own life on hold has certainly taken some adjusting too, but we have a system that seems to be working now for the most part, Boris, Eko, Himself and my brother have all been my rock throughout this past year

Photo Description - Three people sitting on a sofa, two females each side of a male. From L-R it's my mum, my dad and then myself. I'm laughing at something my brother said as mum and dad stare at the camera

Boris unfortunately fractured his elbow at the end of July which required a specialist surgeon to repair it, thankfully Boris is fully insured which covered most the costs, although there was a large out of pocket expense for an echocardiogram, for the first time ever this year

If I didn't laugh .......

I'd cry about the chaos that is now my life

I seriously couldn't make this stuff up if I tried

Welcome to this week and it's only Tuesday morning

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

I had to cancel someone from coming round to my parents house to clean the gutters for an extortionate price, mum had booked them because someone put a leaflet through the door, thankfully she let slip about it to my brother who then told me, so I was able to cancel them. My brother will go up and see if the gutters need cleaning at our parents house when he comes over for Christmas 

Photo Description - A fun head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in the garden, both are wearing Santa hats worn at a jaunty angle as they look at the camera

Getting told somebody came round the house to see mum, but nothing is booked on the calendar or I'd have been there, mum can't remember who it was or what they came round for.

International Dog Day

The terrible twins are back, walking Boris in his stroller has made so much difference to his happiness levels, he's now back to his cheeky happy self again now that he's regularly coming out on walks with Eko and I  once more

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel in the boot of my car, I'm standing off to the side of the car for a different angle, Boris has his front paws up on the bumper to be in more light, whilst Eko remains in the darker boot area, both dogs are looking round at me after a walk out on the common and looking happy

I admit was starting to get a little worried for Boris as he always seemed so depressed because he was getting left at home and missing out, no amount of enrichment toys or chews seemed to lift his mood in a way that going for a walk does

On Thurday Boris and I headed over Lumbry Park so that Boris could have an

Never say the Q word

As a shift worker for most of my adult life there's one word you soon learn to never utter

Within minutes of somebody saying it the incidents would start coming in thick and fast and the rest of the shift would be hectic

When I turned the page on my calendar this morning to organise my life around my parents various appointments I got a pleasant surprise

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying on a Union Jack covered sofa when we were recently at Dogstival in the VIP area, both boys are facing the camera with their tongues out and wearing blue cooling bandanas around their necks as it was starting to get very warm

There's only one appointment for mum at the

Some Days are Overwhelming

What a hectic day yesterday and today has turned out to be, Thursday and Friday are normally my days off to catch up with myself and household chores

Late yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from my dad that his leg was sore and he'd shown it to his friend who said he needed to go to hospital

I thought that sounded a bit of an exaggeration because everything is an emergency to dad since his cancer diagnosis, so I asked my son who was at dad's house to send me a photo of dad's leg and sure enough it looked swollen and a bit red, so I  immediately phoned the Doctors for an appointment for him hoping  to get him an appointment for yesterday or at the very least for today as it's another long weekend with the Kings Coronation tomorrow

Good Riddence 2022

Good Riddence 2022 it has not been nice knowing you!

I'm sure some good things must have happened but I honestly can't remember them over the 💩 you've dealt us as a family

2023 is also going to have a tough start, especially for my dad as he starts his fight against Esophageal Cancer

My mum is living in her own world these days due to the Vascular Dementia caused by her stroke in 2021 which is tough on everybody, what little empathy she ever had for others which wasn't much, has now completely disappeared

My uncle was finally laid to rest in Cyprus after we weren't informed of his death until several months after the fact

Christmas Round-Up of 2022

Wishing all our followers both new and old a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Photo Description:- Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in front of a frosty Azalea bush. Both are wearing red Santa Hats worn at a jaunty angle as they look at the camera

It's been a tough year here at Crazy Towers, first discovering that both my parents now have dementia and all the changes involved in

Time Lost

Later today dad and I are heading back to the hospital for his 6 week post op check up, the new knee looks great and he's getting around so much easier, also his pain levels are now greatly reduced which is fantastic

I'm a bit worried about the amount of pitting edema still in his calf and lower leg as he keeps forgetting to elevate it, but he's religiously doing all his physio exercises which is great and he now has 85 degrees of bend in it, 90 degrees is what the physio aims for

Physio is the most important part

A Day Off - NOT

Saturday morning - and so it starts when the dreaded house phone wakes me from my slumpers before it's even 0800

One day is all I ask, just one day to myself!

A typical type of phone call I recieve several times a day on most days from my mum, the item she requires varies from time to time, but the conversation always takes the same route

Whenever mum wants something from Tescos I'm expected to jump too it,  drive the 10 miles to my parents house, do their shopping then unpack it all once I get back to their house, then drive the 10 miles home again without so much of a word of thanks

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Mum - Can you go shopping today?

Me - Can it wait until tomorrow?