I was reminded how lucky I am this weekend. I had taken Vicki, the young friend who is staying with me to the Saturday markets at a friend's church. We had looked at all the stalls and were sitting having tea and scones when a man came up and sat down at our table. He obviously had brain damage and told us he had a career as a school teacher and youth worker when he was involved in a car accident that was not his fault and his whole world was turned upside down. It reminded me so much of the stories on here, how in the midst of life our world can be turned upside down, never to be the same again.

I think he had his eye on Vicki as he kept telling us how good it was to have morning tea with such beautiful young ladies. One out of two ain't bad...as my Dad used to say. We also went over to Trev's and had lunch with his family.Vicki was impressed with Alice. Alice is such a funny little creature. I love her heaps and will really miss her and the rest of the family when they go tot Broken Hill. Edie is enjoying the training and knows she will have to absorb a lot of information if she is to do the job satisfactorily.

On Friday I did a pastoral visit to a lady who now lives in the Dementia Lodge that Mum lived in for 8 1/2 years. It was hard to go there in a way but I was asked to visit her by our young minister who had received a call from her family saying the church didn't visit her after all her years of service etc. We would have visited her earlier if we had known she was living there but as usual no one had told us. So I was happy to go and see her. She is at the humming, mumbling stage so I did a visit where I sat alongside her and talked to her gently about what was happening around us. It is easier to do that with a stranger than with someone who is dear to you.

I did two more pastoral visits in the Hostel over the road. One lady I am just getting to know, she told me she had stroke aged 36 six weeks after the delivery of her fourth child. Luckily she had family at first to look after her children and as her husband had a well-paid job they could afford to hire a housekeeper. Gradually she got some movement in her left side, enough to stand but not to walk, finally she took the first steps. It was under the direction of a PT who told her: " Never say can't, always give it a try, the more you try the more you will regain". She made that her mantra and finally could dispense with the housekeeper and just have some help in the house. Now she is 84 and knows her body is breaking down and is so thankful she has lived a long and fruitful life. It does my heart good to hear such stories.

Vicki lives a long way from the coast so is enjoying visiting the beaches. She loves to explore rock pools and to just sit on the beach absorbing the sights and sounds. Today's visit was to my local beach and she saw an eel eating mouthfuls of small fish and tiny crabs scattering to get what fell from his mouth. She comes home and goes onto the internet to find names for the creatures she has seen. I am glad she enjoys holidaying with me.

My latest carpenter had an "Incident" on Friday and rang yesterday to tell me he cannot take on the restoration job. This sure is turning out to be a nightmare. I want the cabin roof fixed, I need find someone who actually wants the job. My Ray would have fixed it all in a weekend and added a couple of coats of paint! Why is my man taken away from me? How fair is life? (Okay, unfair question).

And so life goes on. I need to find a balance in life. Eat, sleep, pray, wake , work, play.