Confusion, a Mystery Box and a Market

I have been so confused this week about what day it is that I have moved Jim's dementia clock into my bedroom! Stella has a similar clock in her room but hers is designed for the sight impaired rather than the mind impaired.

Jim's clock, now on my chest of drawers

Stella's tells her the day, date, temperature and time in a size large enough that she can see it, even from her bed. Jim's dementia clock doesn't give the temperature but does tell you the time of day. Before 06:00 it says that it is "before dawn" so if you wake up at 03:00 and think it's just after lunch, the clock tells you that it's the middle of the night and you should be in bed asleep. In fact, Jim slept quite well and, as far as I am aware, didn't get confused about the time of day, although many people with dementia do.  I like this clock because it has the day in very large letters at the top. My clock is much smaller and tells me the time (as a 24 hour clock) and also the temperature. I like that clock too. There may be two clocks in my bedroom at the moment.

Freyja and Simon were here on Thursday night. They brought with them their rather large TV, which doesn't fit in their new place. It is now on an extended holiday in my lounge room. My not so large TV is resting in the wardrobe in the study. We had to rearrange some of the furniture. The side table that my TV was on is too high for the visiting TV. We put the visiting TV on a coffee table and the side table is presently in the dining room. Whiskey thinks it's wonderful

He can now sit right behind me when
I am sat at the dining table
and supervise

Simon was working from (my) home on Friday. Freyja had the day off. So we went and visited Stella, diverting her on her way to her morning exercise class when we arrived bearing flowers and hot chocolate. Then Freyja and I went into town where we bought a replacement dishwasher for my place and then a mystery fruit and veg box from Wilson's. We had dumplings and spring rolls for lunch and then mid-afternoon they went home.

Yesterday, Lindsey and I went to the Lakeside/Zoo Drive market, where I seem to have spent next week's food money on top of this week's. I came home with the usual market stuff, plus a large shoulder of lamb, two more $4 bags of lemons, cheeses and a large Turkish bread. Out at the Mushroom Farm they asked if I had forgotten to buy dog treats for Rupert and Hugo, which I often do get. Lindsey had already picked those up, so I hadn't bothered. But it amused Lindsey and me that they noticed that I hadn't picked up any dog treats. but have not noticed (or at least not commented) that I no longer buy cakes, donuts or biscuits for Jim!

The upshot of all of this food buying is that I have a LOT of food at my place. Possibly too much:

My fridge is very full and I seem to 
have run out of bowls

The mystery box from Wilson's had a pineapple in it, which I gave to Simon because, although rational people know that pineapple is not food, apparently he thinks it is. (Lindsey, it seems, also thinks that pineapple is food. She can have the next one, should such a thing reappear in my kitchen.) It also had half a rock melon, two passionfruits and an apple. There were two bunches of parsley, a bunch of Dutch carrots and half a dozen fat carrots, four Roma tomatoes, two onions, some ginger and a large bunch of silverbeet/chard. And one lonely, small-ish potato. I'm not sure why just one potato. Seems a bit miserly.

So yesterday afternoon I slid quietly in Sunday mode, and processed most of the vegetables. I made a pot of vegetable stew with the tomatoes, some of the silverbeet, one of the onions, some carrot, and some cauliflower and green beans that I already had. I put the lamb shoulder in the slow cooker with some preserved lemons, some more of the veg and some water and white wine. I chopped up all of the parsley and made a not-tabouli with some of it, along with some cherry tomatoes and cucumber I got from the market and some mint from the garden. I chopped up the melon and a mango that I had hanging about and mixed it with the passionfruit to make a fruit salad. 

I trashed the kitchen!

The new dishwasher isn't coming for another week, alas.

The freezer is now almost full. Again! I have yet to peel and slice the fat carrots,  and to shred the lamb shoulder, which is cooling in the fridge after simmering in the slow cooker overnight. I have strained the stock, which is also cooling in the fridge. All of these things will end up in the freezer, which had already filled up quite a bit. Some of the Turkish bread is in there, plus some dumplings and spring rolls from Friday. Plus all the stuff that was already in there. I had better embark on another "shop from the fridge and freezer" campaign.

You can perhaps see why I am as confused about the days this week just as much as last. Freyja and I mostly did Saturday things on Friday, I did some Saturday  and some Sunday things yesterday. I was at work on the wrong days during the week. I expect to do mostly Sunday things today, but perhaps also some Monday things. And I am working Thursday and Friday this coming week. It's all very discombobulating!
 

My view this morning from the breakfast table