Whatever he says, the weather does make a difference

If you mention the weather to Ash you always get a response as he tells you again and again that there's no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing.  He will say that he goes out in sunshine and rain and is happy with either but that's not quite true.  It's true that he will take the dog out in any weather condition but other than that, if the view out of the window isn't unremitting sunshine, he doesn't know what to do with himself.  This is at complete odds with the old Ash who really would be out in all weathers;  poor weather would find him collecting wood, sweeping up leaves, tidying the bin area, lopping branches from trees, strimming the church yard or any number of other healthy, physical activities.  Sunshine would see him gardening, cleaning windows, mowing lawns, cutting hedges and, when he'd finally run out of things to do, he'd sit in the garden looking around and taking pride in what he'd achieved.  Today was a prime example of how his life (and, consequently, mine) has changed.  I went out walking in the rain with a friend this morning which meant I was out of the house for a few hours and when I got home it was to find Ash grumpy and pacing the floor just because he's lost that all important ability to 'find something to do' and so I have to do the finding for him.  Years ago when Ash's mum and his aunty were alive they liked nothing  more than to be taken out for a drive in an afternoon, calling somewhere for a cup of tea before heading home to settle in front of the tv.  I realised this afternoon as we went out once again to the local garden centre that this is what I've taken to doing with Ash in an effort to occupy and entertain him; it does appear to work but the sad thing is that when they went for their afternoon drives it seemed like something old people did so this is most definitely not a life I expected to be living just yet.  However life is what you make it and I'm certainly getting to see Christmas displays far earlier than I've ever done before as garden centres love them and, it seems, the earlier the better for some reason.  

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