THE DAYS FLY BY.

A picture heavy post.

I sometimes long for a childhood summer, with the holidays stretching on forever. One day someone will prove a law of physics that, put simply, will show that increased age = time getting faster. You know what I mean ! The days whizz by, and we never seem to have much to show for it. Least of all knitting.
Last weekend Kerrie and her family paid a flying visit. Although too short, the time spent with her, her charming husband and delightful children was wonderful. Oliver very much enjoyed having other people to chat to and play with. He loved showing off his Hippo [power chair] with a trip along the esplanade and to the local park. The children went with their fathers whilst Kerrie and I sat and attempted to catch up on missed conversations.
It's no good expecting pictures ! Neither of us managed to extract our cameras from our bags. Or knit one single stitch ! In fact, knitting was hardly mentioned !
This photo is for Kerrie.

It's the Victorian, cast iron drain-pipe outside their hotel. There was one each side of the entrance. They have cables ! I never noticed that before.

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The little bit of knitting is pretty enough, if somewhat insubstantial.

Kauni has grown a little. I'll post a pic with flash, as it shows the colour changes a bit more clearly.

I'm knitting a nice, bright sock. I really love the colours [ It's Posh Yarns Luscia, in Limes]. I'd never wear them, at least not near my face. That's one of the great appeals of sock knitting. You can knit yarn in colours you'd never normally consider, knit patterns you'd baulk at knitting a large garment in, satisfy a need for lace or cables. And there's always someone who will love the resulting sock.
[That's a hard sell to both ''my'' Kays ! One about to knit her first socks, the other stubbornly resistant !]

I have a post in mind. A tale of ripped socks, and sock frustration. In time. You know, that thing that flies by.

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Most of my time is devoted to keeping our chick [I am still allowed to call him that !] happy, clean, fed and watered [repeat often] and amused. Allan does the stuff I can't manage when he gets home, like going whizzing off to the park, at top speed, and lifting him into his standing frame.

This is important for bone density, lung and kidney function, and the avoidance of constricture by giving ligaments and muscles a good stretch, in the hope of avoiding deformity, particularly hip dislocation. I have to say that Oliver is pretty good about this. Sometimes he gets fed up, but we try to change the position of the frame and the view, and find fun things to do to pass the 45 + minutes. We also have weekends off !
Thinking of posture brings me to Oliver's manual wheelchair. This was provided by the NHS. It's a servicable, sturdy chair. It no longer gives adequate support. It was recently adjusted to give more width, so now Oliver keeps trapping his right arm down between himself and the arm rest. He sort of twists, putting his weight through his left hip. We keep adjusting his position, straightening him up, but he twists into a bad postural position in seconds, without any thought or effort on his part. The seat, and postural support cushion, sag under his weight. It's a very heavy chair, not just for us to push but also for Oliver to move around in. Although he only uses his left hand and arm functionally he can get around the house quite well, with the judicious use of door frames etc.
Anyway, it still ''fits''. We cannot get a new NHS chair until it really is too small. It's difficult. Wheelchair services' funds are very stretched. They provide services for an awful lot of people. They really can't afford to fund the latest light framed, fully adjustable chairs [ which cost 5 x the price of this chair]. Still, Oliver is uncomfortable, and I worry about the long term effects on his posture.
I've been putting money into his fund every month since we opened the account. Funds were given a fantastic boost when Kay generously held a raffle. We are so grateful for everyone's gifts of money and kindness. Your support is so appreciated.
With the addition, I hope in the not too distant future, of Allan's bonus we shall be looking at chairs at the end of the month. The Whizzkids' therapist will help and advise on the best chair to suit Oliver's needs. We anticipate that we'll be placing an order. Very exciting, especially for Oliver.

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Talking of exciting things for Oliver, I have old news ! I meant to blog about this at the time. In mid July school kindly let Oliver have a day off to go to a Special Needs sports taster day. He had a fantastic time. Of all the children there he seemed to have the most fun, try the most things and generally speed about more ! He is such a good driver we just let him get on with it, keeping an eye on him of course. We allowed him to choose who he spoke to, where he went and which sports he tried. So what, you ask. Well, all the other children were closely supervised by teachers, care workers or parents. It really struck us how much confidence Oliver had, and we had in him. The place was awash with therapists and specialist coaches. What was he going to do that we needed to be sure to avoid ?
Here are a few pics from that day. The powerchair football was interesting. Whilst other children, in both manual and power chairs, just rammed the ball with their chairs, Oliver used his feet to get the ball into a good position, aiming and then bashing it with his chair. The boy has skilz !