Westgate

This morning I met my Mum and a nurse from her care home at the  GP surgery, where she was to have her leg ulcer re-dressed. Fortunately, the lesion has improved greatly with compression bandaging over the past six weeks. I returned with her  to the home, where I joined her for lunch.  Afterwards, we had a walk around the garden and  spoke to some other  residents, but I was aware of a growing unease and irritation building  up  in my Mum's  state of mind. She  had several outbursts, shouting at  me that she wasn't  staying there, demanding I must take her  back to her home, etc. I gathered from other residents  that they were aware of her agitated behaviour  and had tried to pacify her.  At about 4pm I tried to leave and she said she would  see me off. However what  she actually wanted to do was to shout at me again,  in the entrance hall, where two members of staff saw what was happening and guided her away so I could  leave! Later, on speaking to my sister, we agreed this is most likely  Sundowner behaviour, a common feature in some types of dementia. We had seen this exhibited in her own home but it has become more pronounced since her move. This is proving a very  bumpy ride for all of us. I'm sure staff at the Home are observing and discussing  this, but waiting for a while  before they try making any major interventions.
Meanwhile,  back at the ranch, two expert flooring fitters were prepping our kitchen floor for laying the new flooring. Last week the carpenter  did his best to replace rotten chipboard but there was still the challenge of ensuring the newer solid  floor of  the extension was completely level with the  original suspended floor.  So we used this as an excuse to go our for dinner, again! Twice in a week, what  decadence! This time we bussed into  Winchester  to eat at Cote Brasserie, which was very good.
My blip is of  Westgate, at the  top of the High Street, and now the only surviving  medieval gateway in Winchester. It houses a museum (currently closed, I believe). What I find  remarkable is that until well into the 20th century all the traffic passed through the  main arch way !
The view from Westgate is my all time favourite image of Winchester, having  discovered it on my very first visit to the city, when I came for a job interview in 1981.