Tag: elderly

#365daysofbiking A complex question

May 1st – Not far away, just a few tens of yards up the Chester Road, the new nursing home, built on the site of a former quarry and blockworks seems open.

Castlehill Specialist Care Centre seems to cater for people with quite marked dementia and it seems to be intended to serve a growing market – and it’s a very decent looking building, which now appears staffed, and open.

I found myself wondering if they were admitting residents yet, what with coronavirus being so pronounced in such places.

But it’s a fine looking place and I wish all concerned with it – residents and staff – well.

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#365daysofbiking Unique characters

May 25th – One thing I love about Derby is its characters. At the River Gardens, a dapper, older gent waited for his ladyfriend to go walking along the river, before dinner and a drink, a routine they’ve had for years in good weather. He was a lovely chap and his character as individual as his fantastic style.

I hope they had a lovely evening.

At Shelton Lock, a no-nonsense neighbourhood, a fluffy-tummied tabby with a very individual ear arrangement glared at me for disturbing his evening activities. He seemed like a lovely puss that someone must adore very much.

Cities are about the personalities that inhabit them as much as architecture and geography.

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365daysofbiking Decent, enough:

October 6th – From the wailing and gnashing of the NIMBYs of Aldridge, anyone would think that the block of apartments planned for the long derelict land right at the bottom of High Street on the Elms Island would be some monstrous, hideous carbuncle that didn’t fit with it’s surroundings at all.

Studying it closely while in the village of 26,000 on Saturday afternoon, I actually decided I quite liked it. I’m not fond of the flat roof, which is a cop out in design terms, but the rest of it is an interesting blend of textures and colours, and is actually quite bland, really. It’s not too big, it certainly doesn’t block light to the hHigh Street as some alleged and it seems a good match for the rather stark pub nearby.

I’m sure the elderly folk it’s built for will enjoy living close to the amenities of the ‘village’ centre, too, and it will help keep the local retailers busy.

It seems a decent thing to me.

August 6th – He’s been keeping a low profile this last couple of weeks, the King of Kings Hill. But today, I spotted him. Asleep in a shady under-hedge, he was dozing in his usual bit of garden and resolutely ignoring the world around him.

As is usually the case.

He’s so old is Sam the cat that I’m surprised at his re-emergence every new spring, and seeing this elderly, toothless but otherwise very well presented lad having a really good summer makes me happy every time I see him.

What more could an old fellow want than to pass his days napping, dreaming of kittenhood and being soothed by the warm sun and noises of the neighbourhood he rules around hm?

Long may he reign. Sweet dreams, Sam old lad. Sweet dreams.

June 14th – The King Of Kings Hill is still napping outdoors even though the sun’s gone in. Old Sam continues to enjoy this most temperate of seasons.

But interesting to see the effect the cooler day has on his sleeping position, in a ball, on top of the retaining wall, pointedly and resolutely with his back to the passing world.

Sorry, but I’m a little bit in love with this old chap.

May 29th – Sam, the elderly king of Kings Hill is still out in his favourite patch of communal garden nearly everyday.

Following the rains of the day before, the grass was clearly still a bit damp, so this black and withe, toothless old lad was en repose on the garden wall, and watching me carefully.

But only with the one eye.

April 30th – Another sign of spring in the air is the re-emergence of the urban and urbane cat population. Indolent and mainly indoors during the cold months, characters you haven’t seen for months miraculously reappear in spring, owning their neighbourhoods like they were never gone at all.

I was particularly pleased to meet this venerable old gentleman in Kings Hill, taking the air. I now know his name is Sam and he’s the companion of an elderly lady who lives nearby. Sam himself is getting on, has no teeth and is generally a stern but authoritative figure, even when asleep on the grass around the flats where he lives.

I usually spot him inactive and dozing in summer, usually in some well-chosen, sun-dappled spot where he can curl up and dream of his kittenhood, and feel the warmth ease his old bones. Very rarely do I see him as I did today, up, about and alert.

Yet again, a lovely old lad enjoys one more spring. Welcome back, Sam.

June 20th – This old chap is someone I’m very pleased to see, for the first time this year.

This elderly, gummy old cat lives in Kings Hill, Darlaston, and is clearly a well loved companion to someone in the old folk’s flats there. I’ve been saying hello to him in passing for years now, and he’s a good natured but aloof fellow who’s proud and busy despite his clearly senior status.

His whiskers are always immaculate, and his lack of teeth doesn’t seem to impede his hunting instinct. But the reason I’m pleased to see this gentleman is that I always think about old cats, lying in the sun, enjoying the day. Never is a cat happier than summer, and I’m pleased this one survived long enough to feel another day of healing sun on his back, ease his aches and maybe stir the memories of kittenhood and a life well lived.

So pleased you’re still around old lad.

September 8th – People keep grumbling about all the cats. Sorry, but I adore them.

The characters that appear in the warmer days of summer – loafing, watching, patrolling and generally taking the air include in their number the more elderly of the local feline population, and I find them quite charming.

Usually dozing, washing or lazing, these characters have done all their rushing around, and are generally too comfortable to run off when you stop to say hello.

There’s often a world of experience in their manner, features and battle scars.

I’m never too busy to stop and offer an ear-tickle.