Dad day

Dad and I took a trip down to see his old friends, including his dear friend H who is an old bellringing buddy. She always persuades another lovely chap, M, to come over for a spot of handbell ringing when Dad visits so I had a real treat listening to gently chiming bells as they rang various methods. It's mentally challenging (beyond me!) but I still recognise the coursing and just nothing beats listening to good change ringers (even better on church bells!).

We also dropped in briefly to see a wonderful couple who have been tremendously supportive towards Dad (and Mum) over the years and who've recently converted a stables into the perfect retirement house. They are fond of colour - no fashionable grey to be seen! - and have managed to get all that's necessary into a small but perfectly formed space. It's basically what LH and I were looking for 3 years ago and couldn't find ... so interesting.

We managed to find the silver napkin rings (a big choice too!) at a lovely silver jewellers in Hereford. What a treasure trove! I could have spent ages looking, but we just didn't have time, but if you like mostly antique silver I'd really recommend them. They had proper service too, getting Dad a chair in their little shop and offering helpful advice. In the end Dad was so pleased with his purchases and felt looked after and considered. Another big tick :-)

We've managed to find him a clever electronic magnifying gizmo which will allow him to view script so that the letters are white on a dark background. It's about the size of a mobile and magnifies up to x32 which is over the top tbh. This was delivered today and he's mighty pleased with it so I hope it has a decent shelf life. Anything that helps him cope better with the macular degeneration is such a bonus; his eyes get tired so easily and the frustration makes him understandably grumpy and frazzled.

All in all a good Dad day :-)

I'm slightly knackered though ...!