My belief on capacity needs more reading.

everything mental capacity related is covered by the mental capacity act 2005 plus code of practice.

There are some good user friendly guides available, try the mind website or any of the dementia websites.

You can check if an LPA has been registered via the OPG, search OPG100 which is the form to submit via OPG website.

Getting married wouldn’t automatically revoke any previously donated LPA.

Where mental capacity is concerned, it’s referred to as “decision specific” ie someone does not “have” or “not have”. The process of assessment to determine the ability to make any decision is 4 stage:  can the person Understand, Retain, Weigh up and Communicate, relating to the specific decision. You referred to having capacity but not being able to remember, not being able to do one of the 4 would indicate a lack of capacity to make the specific decision.

@mrbadger said

Yet it appears rape isn’t treated as seriously

and I know this is a different case, but I was horrified this week to hear the mayor in the case in France of the man who drugged his wife for mass rape to be committed say this:

In an interview with the BBC, Bonnet said the case could have been far more serious. There were no children involved, no women were killed, the family will have a hard time but they can rebuild. After all, nobody died,” he told the broadcaster.

the mayor has since apologised, but it does make me feel that what mr badger said is depressingly spot on.

Looks great. Where is that second photo taken? I didn’t think I’d keep mine as a rigid bike for so long, I find it a bit fatiguing also in excess of a certain distance. But I realised I can’t bear to take the gold forks off mine so they’ll be staying on :-)

@superstu it makes a great gravel bike….

<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

@Vortexracing great to see it out and about with mud on it :-D

I started a full time degree in social work  at 39, whilst working full time simultaneously. I was sponsored and supported by my then employer but all the same it was a very intense three years with little social life. It was far and away my best career move to date however!

I am currently applying to do a post qual level 7 course which would entail studying full time at uni again for six months from January. Not whilst undertaking substantive role this time thank goodness.  This will also be a good career move if it all works out. Just turned 50.

That’s gorgeous. I love the yellow Big Bro. If we had space in the shed I would have bought one even though I already have a Big Bro and don’t need another bike…. Hope you’re getting on well with it.

@superstu I love mine, have it set up as single speed and ride it over my geared bike 99/100 times.

Yes I had to check that too. Broken direct current, shouldn’t have any volts dc on the speaker output essentially. Milli volts ok, volts not. My interpretation of a diagram he just drew of what yours might be doing is the output is flatlining at volts, it should be wiggly up and down at milli volts. You can tell I didn’t work in the test department at Naim  :-D if the flatline scenario, potential to melt speak coils so unplug.

I checked with mr b for you who used to work in the test department at Naim. He says:

I suspect it’s gone D.C. best unplug speakers. If you can use a low voltage multimeter on -/+ of each speaker output, and it’s more than a few 100mV then switch it of and send to JJ with my recommendation (I worked with him at naim).

 will be self funding until she reaches the limit at which the council will kick in. How does the funding work once this point is reached?

important you’re aware that once your mum is at financial threshold the local authority will assess her needs. If they assess that she doesn’t have 24hr care needs they won’t fund. You’ve said that your mums 86 and would like to move into a care home, LA funding is based on need and not choice. As others have said, far better to remain at home for as long as possible and that’s what the LA will encourage.

Stayed in Pembrokeshire a couple of years at aberfforest, accommodation link below. It’s basically a small beach with a collection of self catering cottages, different sizes. There is nothing else there other than the coast path and it’s absolutely beautiful. Lots to see and do, loads of walks and wonderful places to swim. Highly recommend.

https://www.coastalcottages.co.uk/pembrokeshire/towns-and-villages/aberfforest/

Shame not to see Pete there for the launch, is he still working in the Port Townsend boatyard or has he moved onto somewhere else?

If you look on Google maps, a building pretty close to Leo’s base at the port is labelled “Pete Stein Shipwright”. Suggests Pete is still there, and maybe that they didn’t fall out as badly as it seemed, if he’s based so close by. It’s odd though, that he hasn’t reappeared once since the episode when Leo said he’d gone.

Latest episode so joyful, what a watch!

Stayed in padstow a couple of years ago, really lovely town with walks, beach, swimming , bike and kayak hire, pubs,  restaurants etc

we stayed at tregella farm cottages, renovated farm buildings. Field view where we stayed was beautiful, can’t copy a link for some reason. Medium length walking distance into town, partially off road from memory.

I have a 26er geared HT and a Big Bro (Brother Cycles) 29er rigid steel single speed. I ride the single speed 99 times out of 100 and love it to bits. I’m quicker up hill on it than on my geared bike, and I’m never in the wrong gear :-D

Foggy silhouette is Friday just gone, early morning pre WFH pedal through Summer. Overgrown track this afternoon.

IMG_2579 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

IMG_2605 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Nothing useful to say other than I absolutely hate this “upgrade”.  I don’t have time or inclination to poke about on any app trying to find info that just used to be there. It’s changed to green all the colours for various activities that I had set up and right now I can’t even see a use for my garmin watch anymore. Should be allowed the option to upgrade when it’s cosmetic not security.

You can use it in anything where you would use spinach or really in anything you cook. omelette, chopped up finely into mash, in a curry, soup etc. If you have a food processor you could try making pesto. It’s super simple.

IMG_2214 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Dinner last night, wild garlic pesto and chorizo pizza :)

Went out picking a couple of weekends ago, got 1-2kg. A wood not far away has a carpet almost as far as the eye can see.
Have made:

two types of pesto, one walnut one pine nut, two different soups, wild garlic and chick pea curry, pesto bread, mini pesto quiches. I am slightly obsessed with the stuff. Today at work I had a double whammy of wg soup and wg pesto bread. Heaven!

Muddy as indeed! I was on Salisbury Plain early, the gravel tracks are generally good in Winter. However the army had clearly been playing with tanks overnight and some of the tracks were ankle deep where the mud had been dragged about.

FBD0DD0B-31E1-433B-AC11-A78ABAE637FB_1_105_c by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Thank you so much @amandawishart and @singletrackzoe ☺️ really appreciate your input and the link Amanda! they look nice too.  Not til June Zoe, few more months, thank you for your thoughts ref shopping and bronwen.

I’m a middle aged, overweight balding bloke. I like the idea of a Dryrobe entirely because people might be tricked into thinking its the Dryrobe that is shapeless and lacks style!

I see. You’re saying More Cash Than Dash? ;-)

I’ve had one for about 10 years, as long as I’ve been cold water swimming, it was a very generous present from a friend when they were niche and had hardly been heard of.

I can’t for the life of me think why you’d wear one apart from after swimming, it’s utterly shapeless and lacking any style whatsoever.
If you want a warm coat, there are so many better choices that aren’t a dry robe.

I am now vaguely mortified if I need to go into a shop post swim these days. I tend to swim in the river behind Waitrose in the town where I live and had to talk myself into keeping mine on recently as I was cold, and decided taking it off because of a weird trend/anti trend was daft. It’ll all get forgotten about soon… just please stop talking about them 😆

Hi Singletrackmind the first thing that sprang to mind when I read your thread title was Bowlbys “Attachment theory” – as one of the four basic attachment styles is “avoidant”. I then went on to read a subsequent post and wondered whether knowing about attachment theory might help you at all. It’s less self diagnosis I think, more a help to understand self and others.

I find it fascinating; essentially Bowlby who was a psychologist working in the 50s and 60s, theorised that our social and emotional development as children is directly linked to the relationships and experiences we have with our primary caregivers. We then take this into adulthood. He concluded that there were fours basic styles: secure, disorganised, avoidant and ambivalent. They sometimes get called slightly different things. Even though his work is some decades old now, it still stands and is taught in relevant subjects. It has been added to by more modern theorists who have included other styles.

So absolutely everybody has an attachment style, and they can also be mixtures. I have found it really helpful to think about my own, as it demystifies to some extent why I react the way I do. It also helps me to understand others a little. The good news is that it is suggested attachment styles don’t have to be permanent.

There is tons about it on the internet. You may know about it already, but if not it may help you to make a bit more sense of things, to go along with any other reading and courses of action you have decided on as per above. This is one website I just found which I think explains it well.

https://www.verywellmind.com/attachment-styles-2795344#:~:text=The%20concept%20of%20attachment%20styles,ambivalent%2C%20avoidant%2C%20and%20disorganized.

Take care :)

Extra hours worked meant I could take a flexi day today for a very much needed bike ride. More sun than I was expecting, and my route gamble – making a nice loop but including some tracks that can be very muddy – paid off.

IMG_1919 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Thanks :) I’ve haven’t seen another one out and about.

I suppose like many things, it’s personal choice. Someone asked me why I wanted to single speed, which I found quite a strange question given it was quite clearly something I had chosen :-D 

IMG_5327 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

I asked a similar question back in 2020 and had really helpful suggestions here. That thread might help but it was a while ago now and in the middle of covid which probably affected supply. Also the Singular swift was between production I seem to remember so not an option.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/please-help-me-with-a-singlespeed-frame-shortlist/

The biggest problem was finding stockists where I could go and have a look and test the bikes that had been suggested. I didn’t want to buy something unseen/unridden.  Don’t know where you’re based but I found a stockist of Brother Cycles not too far away from me in the UK and had a test ride on a Big Bro. Bought one and absolutely love it to bits. It’s only been set up SS so far and I can’t imagine that changing.

Feeling small on the expanse that is Salisbury Plain. Puts things into perspective.

IMG_1875 by

Sadly I probably waste more machine made bread than shop bought though as it is passable on day 2 but no longer than that, and we don’t eat that much bread.

You could consider freezing it? I make a sourdough loaf every 1.5 – 2 weeks as I also don’t eat much bread. I slice it and freeze it, either toast from frozen or leave out for 10 mins or so to make a sandwich. Would work the same with yeasted I think, definitely for toasting anyway.

OP, just have a go. There are as many opinions about everything as there are in cycling. Wait till the weather and water warms up a bit, find some people to go with.  I don’t think you need any special kit, I swim all year round in just a bikini, no neoprene. No bobble hats. No instagram. Just get some swim shoes to protect your feet. More layers than you think you might need for after. There are so many hundreds and hundreds of beautiful places to swim in the UK, I’ve swum as far south as the Scillies and as far north as Achmelvich in the far North of scotland and many places in between, lakes, rivers, waterfalls. No need to be able to *swim* swim, just not drown. It’s a whole, other, lovely world.  This is somewhere in Pembrokeshire.

CD528442-3513-43BF-9F96-8DE4F4EDDD80-16816-00000187C0A7C4FD by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Start when weather and water is warming up.

Then, good advice to find a local group to cold water swim or dip with. Unexpected bonus for me has been meeting lots of lovely like minded people. There’s lots to consider, if you’re on Fb I’d recommend joining the outdoor swimming society group. Lots of good info in the files section and lots of good advice to read through given to other people in similar situation, looking to start. I would not recommend

As a rule of thumb, for cold water you could plan on one minute per degree, in which case a thermometer is handy.

Mostly now viewed as erroneous and potentially dangerous advice. For instance five minutes in five degree water even for someone acclimatised is pretty significant. 

Glad I was able to grab the opportunity to get out yesterday on a lovely afternoon. Sat in the sun half way round, ate christmas cake and drank tea. Watched a short eared owl hunting.

IMG_1762 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

A cold water swim. Today 16 mins in the 11 degree river. Absolutely joyful. 

IMG_1599 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

Wareham Forest. Glorious in the sun :)

Hope you’re feeling better bunnyhop. They are horrible. Hope you don’t need this info in the future, but also in England the pharmacist can prescribe antibiotics for a UTI, no need for GP appt. There are about 6 illnesses inc UTI that pharmacy can support with. Removing pressure from gp etc.

You could also try looking up curam care and chs healthcare on the internet. They are third parties but their model is to help people to find social care who are classed as self funders , ie over £23,250.00 and therefore likely to be closed to the LA as above. If under £23250, houses are not taken into the equation by the LA for dom care, only residential care.

Not cycled for a couple of weeks, this morning was perfect weather and a perfect ride. 

IMG_1554 by Bindylou[/url], on Flickr

:)

@johndoh is there a foster carers support group you can attend? When I worked in fostering we held these regularly, and they are ideal for talking problems through with other carers who may have been though the same or similar situation , and from whose experience you can benefit. If there isn’t a group or you are not able to attend, you could ask to be paired up with another carer for some 1:1 support. Training or other get togethers are an ideal way of widening your fostering support network. Hopefully you have all this in place already though.
My other two thoughts were about being tested as a foster carer by your LAC, which I suspect you will have heard all about. Thoughts such as “are these the people who will stick by me? If not I need to know sooner rather than later”. A honeymoon cycle, rather than a period with a beginning and end.
my other thought you have touched on in your OP, attachment. It’s possible that your young person is stuck at a much earlier age than their chronological one, and can revert to a toddler tantrum stage. I suspect much as a toddler doesn’t know why they are tantrumming, your young person won’t either. Patience , distraction, etc as you would with a much younger child. Not asking why, or shaming them inadvertently. I would say filming them falls into this latter category and may be in contradiction to your safer care policy anyway.

it’s good that you have a clinical psychologist (?) you can talk to and I hope you find them helpful.   also seek support from your fostering SW which I think you said do anyway

you and Mrs Johndoh are doing an amazing thing, as rewarding as it is difficult.