Shower

The district nurses have been saying since they started coming that a hand held shower head would be useful when they are helping Jim to shower. I was much inclined to agree.  I like them for washing my back, cleaning the shower unit, washing my feet.  I had held off getting a replacement because I thought it would be (i) complicated and (ii) expensive to install it.

Then I went to Bunnings and found a suitable replacement. No need for drilling or making holes.  Simple to install.  Allegedly!  I decided that installing new shower arms and heads was outside my skill set and arranged to use part of Jim's council funding for home repairs, maintenance and improvements to have someone come and do it for us.

Turns out it really was simple to install. It took the man who came on Monday a full 20 minutes to do it. The new arm simply screws into where the old one was attached. Maybe I could have done it myself, after all.  But certainly not in 20 minutes!

This is the original shower arm and head. The head is quite small. When the handyman took it down he found an ancient washer blocking the water flow. He asked if we had noticed that the water pressure had reduced at any point. In fact, we hadn't. We think the washer must have been blocking the water since before we moved in.

This is the new shower arm and head. The head is much bigger. And the water pressure is much, much stronger.

I really must remember that most little projects that I have in mind and even some of the larger ones probably won't be as complicated to accomplish as I expect them to be!

An Occupational Therapist came to visit on Tuesday. She had lots of sensible things to suggest to make the house safer and more workable for Jim. Some were simple and quick to accomplish, such as Jim sitting on the opposite side of the dining table and using the chair with arms, which was in our bedroom. Others won't be hard to implement, such as getting grab rails put in the shower cubicle. Some may take a bit longer. Apparently we are entitled to some state government funding to have the bathroom remodelled. The OT is going to help draft an application, but the waiting list for funding could be months or even years. We can be patient. The district nurses mean that replacing the bathroom isn't a matter of extreme urgency. She left a list of things for us to consider and is coming back next week bringing some things for us to look at and to discuss a few Next Steps.

In the meantime, Jim and the cats are enjoying watching the Olympics. They seem quite cosy, tucked up on the couch.

We are back out of lockdown in Victoria. There are still multiple restrictions but it does mean that we can go out to wherever we fancy within the state and we can, if we are minded, meet family and friends in pubs, restaurants, parks ... I have no immediate plans for such social gallivanting but I can now get to the mushroom farm. Lindsey is working today so can't accompany me. But we can go to Elaine tomorrow. There are no markets today. It's a fifth Saturday