Yesterday was a magical day. My cousin and her daughter are visiting from Sydney and staying with my mother so they all came over with lunch. I haven’t seen my cousin for 15 years and it was wonderful! Ming and my cousin’s daughter are the same age and already friends on FB but there’s nothing like face to face. My mother made the lunch and served everyone which gave me more time with the cousins . It was fantastic and I am still tasting the joy of yesterday and looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow before they go back.
After lunch my mother took them to a magical little corner of our countryside called Gnomesville. I stayed home with Ants.
I had had Anthony wheelchair- taxied home for the event but he was mostly withdrawn and became sullen when he had to go back which always upsets me no matter how much I steel myself for it. His withdrawal isn’t intentional; it’s because he can’t focus on more than one thing at a time, so five people conversing excitedly is impossible. I remember when he was being assessed by a Parkinson’s Disease specialist in a Perth hospital, a kind lady who also had PD, befriended Ants and told him about this inability to focus on more than one thing and both Anthony and I realized how true this was for him too. For me it explained why he had become so silent and for him it was reassuring to know he wasn’t the only one to be confused by crowded conversations.
He is getting more and more shark-eyed. You can kind of see it in the photo below which is from ages ago. Now his eyes are often half closed and he looks at me with what seems an expression of malevolence but is really him trying to focus cognitively (well that’s what I think anyway!) He doesn’t know he’s doing it. Ming, on the other hand, appears to know exactly what he is doing with his eyes in an expression of unadulterated sarcasm! The only resemblance between these two sets of eyes is that they are blue.
[Oh, see that little spot next to Anthony’s left eye? That is now the massive skin cancer I was talking about the other day and, yeeha, we finally have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow morning!]
Speaking of blue eyes, my photos of Woodroffe’s and Ola’s blue eyes yesterday intrigued a few people one of whom was Susan at http://susandanielseden.wordpress.com/
She is a talented poet and I can’t always keep up with her blog because she is so prolific. I suggested she might write a poem to go with the blue-eyed geese and within what seemed like minutes, she wrote this:
blue topaz eyes
chipped ice set in softness–
unexpected jewels
MAGIC!
So I decided to try and find a few more photos of the blue eyes!
And then I found this one. I had forgotten that the geese have an ability to change their eye colour if prompted.
MAGIC!
jmgoyder 
magical day — sounds fabulous – and magical eyes – amazing — loved the poem – so special! xo
It was pretty good! Do you know Susan?
Yes– spent some time with her blog tonight actually — love her work! Beautiful poetry! xo
How are you and what is the latest?
yesterday thought improved a drop today — the pits! 2nd Dysplasia specialist receives my films tomorrow- hoping for some more feedback and confirmation. xxoo Love u Julie!
Argh but hopeful for you – much love Robynxxxx
xo thank you Julie — trying to be hopeful too!
I can’t put into words how hopeful I am too Robyn!
that was magic and medicine for you! a good dose of friendship and visiting is what the doctor ordered. when you made that comment about only being able to focus on one thing at a time, i thought immediately to Al, because for years this is how he has been. he gets to flustered if you try to talk about more than one thing at a time. makes me wonder if Al has had PD for many years, and then this past two years has really shown its ugly self!!!!!!!! i am just so excited that you now have your appointment. Yipeeeee!!!!!
That focus thing is apparently a symptom of PD. I think Ants, like Al, probably had undiagnosed PD for years.
yes, i am seriously thinking Al has had it for longer than doctors thought, they are going on when he was diagnosed, mainly!!
Same here!
It’s always good to see people (family) you haven’t seen for some time. These are wonderful photos Julie. xo
It was such a (mostly) refreshing day!
So touching. I want to visit Gnomeville. Hope all goes well with Anthony’s skin cancer.
Thanks Victoria – I think it will entail a general anaesthetic as it is so close to his eye – a bit scary.
Awww, Jules–what a wonderful day. Sorry about the difficulty at pickup time–that is the WORST. And…oh my goodness, I cannot believe you included my cold-pill-induced haiku–but I have to say, it suits those gorgeous geese! hugs to you…
I am very grateful for your cold-pill-induced brilliant haiku!
I’m glad you’ve had a good time, and I completely understand about Ants, Momma gets so nervous if there is more than one conversation at once, if the room is full of people, she gets nervous and kind of retreats, one on one she is fine, but put her in a room full of people and she gets confused and clams up.
Yes, exactly same with Ants! It didn’t occur to me that he might also be nervous so thank you for that tip.
Ming’s has a real stunning look that says go on try it and I will poke you in the eye………lol sorry but that is what I got from the photo……..lol
Love Gnomesville a place I would love to visit I like Gnomes but hubby not so much…………
Haha!
I have two gnomes on my living room shelf. Love them. It sounds like a wonderful day–a catered lunch and great company. AND Anthony gets to see a doctor tomorrow. Sounds like a terrific Tuesday.
Yes indeed – you have gnomes? You would love Gnomesville!
Lovely post… great to have the family visit after 15 years… don’t blame Ant… I’m nearly deaf and when in company with a lot of people talking at the same time I get left behind and it all becomes one big noise…. tend to shut down myself at times like that….
Yes my mother suffers deafness too so I see what you mean.
Carpe diem my friend!
It is wonderful Jules to read abou you & Ming building more memories. And despite what emotions pop up you just keep doing it. I admire more you than I can say (on WP), and yes I see you shaking your head no So don’t ‘-)
I
You are grabbing the times of your life and making the most of them. I kind of think that is amaXing…
I think we drank from the same kool-aide jar on somedays ~
This is exactly MAGIC dear Julie and it works for me too, I am lost in this amazing place and inspired me too… 🙂 As always it is so nice read you and your memories, and stories. You are a wonderful writer. Thanks and Love, nia
so your days are made up of the wonderful, the magic, and sometimes the not so magical–I am so glad you had a wonderful time with your cousin and her daughter and your mom –they did come back from gnomeville didn’t they. My dad had Parkinsons (mildly) and I was so unaware at the time–he also had colon cancer so the Parkinsons took kind of a back seat, but I am starting to understand a few things better now–hope you have a good Wednesday
me again — that little poem was magical btw
Glad you had a happy day, Julie – popped over to Susan’s blog and am now subscribed – thx
I’m glad you had a good day, Julie.
And really glad you’ve got an appointment at last.
[…] MAGIC! […]
How wonderful! Love all the wee gnomes. 🙂
Wow, that’s a lot of gnomes!
It is the weirdest place!