Another week has flown by..

As I read all my favourite blogs, I like to comment on them where it is appropriate, but I think I am spending too much time on doing that, and not enough time posting to my own blog! I got a little shock when I saw my last post was a week ago. Perhaps I felt there was nothing very interesting to write about, and yet I have had a busy and productive week.

My work always provides variety - I visit 8 or 9 different clients each week, depending on whether they need me weekly or fortnightly. And each person has different needs - mostly housework such as vaccuming, mopping, cleaning bathrooms, washing, ironing and shopping. So where is the variety, you may ask? That comes with the individuals. Even though the physical work is important, and the primary reason for being in their home, the moral support we give our clients is equally important. Our supervisor often says "You are not just cleaners or housekeepers. You are Carers". So once the necessary stuff is done, I spend some time chatting over a cup of tea or coffee. I have got to know all my clients pretty well, and I am aware of their unique problems, physical and otherwise. Some of them are chronically depressed, so I spend time listening to them, and when they are ready, I talk a little about me - usually about my linen collection and my stitching. This brightens most of them up, as they find it fascinating that I buy things over the Internet. "But isn't that dangerous?" they want to know, so I explain to them how eBay works. They love to see my auction wins as they arrive in the mail, and they also like to see what project I am currently stitching myself.

Today was a bit different. My last client for the day is often depressed, for a number of reasons which I don't need to detail here. Today was a lovely sunny day, and when I arrived at her home, she was sitting outside in her garden. After our initial "hello and how are you?" exchange, I asked what needed to be done inside, and she screwed up her face and sighed. I knew what to expect, so I said "How about I just whizz through with the vac, and then we go and have a cup of coffee down the road?" So that is what we did, and because it was my last job for the day, I actually spent well over my allotted time with her, just because we were enjoying each other's company so much! I knew from her bookshelves we had interests in common, but today we talked in depth about the subjects of some of those books, and I came away feeling that, despite our age difference (30 odd years) I had found another soul mate. More importantly, I think I had cheered her up quite a lot.