Carer’s Journal – August 2025 – Part 2

In my recent post about the situation in early August, I recalled how my mother had been hospitalised for 6 days after falling and breaking her wrist (which followed on from the various other events I’ve written about previously).

She has now returned home, and naturally it’s been a difficult couple of weeks since then, because she hates being in a cast and unable to do much. But there has also been some help from carers, my aunt and a mental health specialist.

So here’s my latest update on how things have been going during the second half of the month, and I hope you find it insightful.

Continue reading “Carer’s Journal – August 2025 – Part 2”

Carer’s Journal – August 2025 – Part 1

It’s time to bring things up to date in my journal posts about being a carer. Having rambled on at length about my mother’s struggles since the start of the year, including a collarbone fracture in July, there’s been another big development this month, with Mum sustaining another serious injury, resulting in almost a week spent in hospital.

There are thankfully positive signs emerging in the latter half of this month, which I’ll begin to talk about in my next update. But August so far has been our most stressful period yet this year, which isn’t ideal when we’re both meant to be celebrating our birthdays this month! So here’s what’s been going on lately.

Continue reading “Carer’s Journal – August 2025 – Part 1”

Carer’s Journal – July 2025

Continuing with my catchup of events from earlier this year, in relation to caring for my mother, I’m now going to share my journal from July. And things took a more serious turn this month, as she had her first (and sadly not last) fractured bone as a result of a fall, which didn’t do her anxiety and poor confidence any favours at all. It was the sort of thing that I’d feared coming, hence I also tried to request a carers assessment this month. And we were able to arrange appointments for other forms of help as well that might be useful.

So again, I really appreciate you looking through these diary entries for awareness, even though it’s not an easy read. I’m just glad I’m getting all this stuff out there so people know what’s going on.

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Carer’s Journal – June 2025

Following on from my post looking back at May, we now move on to June for the next in my series of journals about my life as a carer, showing how things have evolved during the year with my mother’s physical and mental health (and again, please do read those posts if you haven’t already, to put everything here into context).

These entries are not comfortable to read, I know,, and nor were they to write either. But as I’ve said before, I want to be open about things to help raise awareness. So I appreciate you taking the time to look through them, and I hope you find them interesting.

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Carer’s Journal – May 2025

Having recently explained the complex situation regarding my mother’s declining physical and mental health, and the impact on my own wellbeing, I’m going to document how things are going as time goes on, to keep you up to date.

It seems easiest to do this in journal form, which I think will be more insightful anyway, as things keep changing so quickly that trying to do a summary roundup every so often would be rather difficult. I’m already keeping a personal diary anyway, so rather than writing something new, it’s much easier for me to just adapt my journal entries for public viewing, taking out details that are private, intimate or irrelevant – just like I did for my Devon journals from the early 2000s that I posted during lockdown, which proved to be surprisingly popular. It also gives me the flexibility to post whenever I need to, depending on how much there is going on.

To start with, therefore, I’m going to share more detail about events from earlier in the year, so you can get a sense of how things have progressed up to this point. This will help to add context to my previous trilogy of posts as well – so please do read those first if you haven’t already, to fully understand what I’m talking about here.

The months of January to April weren’t without their issues, as Mum did have a couple of falls in that time, which led to us having telecare installed. But it was in May that things really took a downward turn. So I’m just going to quickly summarise the key points from the first 4 months of the year, and then share my journal for May. In subsequent posts over the next few days, I’ll then take you through June, July and August so far.

So I hope you find it interesting, and it gives you a sense of how hard it can be as a carer for a loved one who is struggling and acting in unpredictable ways. As strange and difficult as it is to share such details sometimes, I think it’s important to be open to raise awareness and to let others know they’re not alone, as it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

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June 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. Those of you who saw last month’s roundup will know that I’m going through a difficult patch at the moment because of my mother’s health. We have started to get a bit of help, in terms of medical assistance and reaching out to support services, all of which takes time, and I will explain more in due course. Suffice to say for now that going totally blind has naturally had a big impact on her mental health and sleep, and by extension has affected my wellbeing as her carer. We are ok, but certain aspects are quite difficult to deal with

As a result, I’m not making videos to go with these posts for the time being, as it’s just not practical right now and I want to make things easier for myself. It also means I’m not doing as much out and about as usual, as my caring role is dominating my time much more than it used to – and I am therefore starting to explore the support that’s available for carers.

However, I did manage to go to the theatre a couple of times with friends early in the month, which I was really grateful for, as I needed to confide in them about what’s been going on, and the shows were great escapism, especially because of the touch tours and audio description.

So I’ve got those shows to tell you about, as well as some bits and pieces I’ve been watching at home, and none of it’s sponsored or gifted as usual. So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

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May 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. For me this has been a very difficult month to be honest, as my mother’s had a decline in her mental health due to issues relating to her blindness and sleep, and naturally that’s had a big impact on me too as her son and carer. We’re in the process of having appointments to try and get her some help though, and I’ll keep you posted.

Suffice to say, I haven’t been able to go out and do as much as I’d planned this month. I did meet a close friend for a good catchup, and I did manage to have a few walks, but there’s nothing for me to write about on that front. So this post is purely going to be about the entertainment I’ve been enjoying at home, which has been a good distraction for me.

My situation also means that I’m going to stop making videos to go with these Favourites posts for the time being, as I don’t have the time, privacy or mindset to film and edit them at the moment. Writing’s much easier, so I’m going to focus my efforts on that for now. I’m sorry to those who enjoy watching or listening to me ramble on, but I will get back to making videos when I feel ready. That might be in one or two months, or it could well be longer, I just don’t know yet. I’ll try and make little vlogs here and there though, just to quickly share how I’m doing.

So with all that said, let’s get on to nicer things with the TV shows and DVDs I want to talk about, none of which is sponsored as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

Continue reading “May 2025 Favourites”

April 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.

The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

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March 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re doing alright, and welcome to my latest roundup. March has been a bit of a mixed month for me, what with losing our Virgin Media service for almost a week (thankfully now fixed), and hearing about the government’s plans to cut disability benefits (which I’ve talked at length about in a separate post).

But there have been good things too, as I saw a couple of my favourite entertainers live for the first time, and enjoyed a variety of bits and pieces at home. So I’m going to focus on all of that in this post and video, which is relatively short I know, but I hope you find it interesting as usual!

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February 2025 Favourites

Hello again. After a nice quiet January, this has been a slightly busier month for me, as I paid a visit to Kew Gardens to see their Orchid Festival, and I went to the cinema with a couple of friends. The latter in turn led to me watching a few more animated films at home, which has been a bit of a theme recently given my previous reviews of Wallace & Gromit and other Aardman productions, although this time they’re Disney films. So there are a few bits and pieces to mention in this month’s post and video, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

Continue reading “February 2025 Favourites”