Not sure if this belongs here or not???????????

I had occasion yesterday to phone the farmer who sold me Kali and Snorri - I was hoping to get some info as to where their brothers and sisters were living, for my projected page on relatives.

I was stunned to hear that he is in hospital, suffering from what sounds like Alzheimer's Disease.

Mrs S and I plan to go to town on Saturday, so we think we may go and visit him, perhaps taking him some pics of the dogs (if I can get the Big Mac to print them, that is )

Robert was very fond of his pups, and getting Kali was like an interview ("Are you good enough to have one of my dogs?" was the general thrust of things - exactly what I think all breeders should do!.) He always took an interest in the pups' progress, even if he wasn't really a breeder (as such) - just a simple farmer doing his best.

We hope he will still recognise us, and the dogs (we won't be taking them into the hospital, obviously!). At least he knew we were taking good care of them, though he muat have thought we were mad - Xmas cards with pawprints and badly spelled letters! He used to see Kali on a rtegular basis, and sometimes I had the impression that he thought he should have kept Kali instead of the one he did keep from that litter (Roy).

I feel so sorry for the remaining son, now looking after a 300-sheep farm on his own. The mother died in 1999, hisbrother shot himself a year or so later, now his Dad has become unavailable to him.

Snorri

Thats very sad Snorri

I think his remaining son will need a LOT of support especially given what happened to his brother. I think the dad would appreciate you taking time out for his son more so than visiting him himself if that kind of makes sense. Being on a farm all alone I think it will be extremely tough does he have a family of his own? Is it too rural to get his friends round? I don't mean to worry, but the sooner he gets some 'support' the better

So sad

what a shame,i think alzheimers is probably up there as 1 of the cruelest illness/diseases.i hope he recognises the dogs,hopefully if he can it will cheer him up a bit

That is sad Snorri

But I must say I think its wonderful how you and Mrs. S has kept in contact with cards and stuff. Even if the man thought you were crazy
I´m sure it has ment a lot to him anyway and that you`ll bring him some pics of the "kids" is a nice thought

Without knowing all there is to know about Alzheimer's Disease, I believe, atleast for some amount of time, they are able to "become themself" again before changing back to what that horrible disease unfortenally does to humans. Point being, he might not know straight away but hopefully he´ll have a glimt and remember at some point doing the day, week, whatever.

Not sure how to comment on the son, except it must be very hard on him and he deserves every break he gets. Will you be calling him or meeting him telling him you went to see his father? He might like that?

That is so sad....

Some hospitals will allow their patients into the gardens to visit pets; it would be worth asking to find out.

Perhaps you could offer to do this with your dogs - or if he has left his own dogs at the farm, maybe offer to take them on behalf of his son, who must be so stressed and busy right now.....

that is so sad Snorri

sorry to that Snorri and visit would be nice from you .

We doubt that the hospital will let the dogs in (but we'll ask, for future reference), but I'll try to print some of my usual pics, off the computer (if the printer will co-operate with me).

I have long thought that Robert looks a lot like the actor James Cromwell, who played the farmer in the film "Babe", though I don't see him as being likely to enter a pig in a sheepdog trial!

Unfortunately, he has only two dogs left at the farm now, one being "Roy", a litter-brother of my Kali, and, for the first time, they had to buy in a new dog (don't yet know its name, just that he is two tears old. Ceilidh, Kali's Mum (farm matriarch) has passed on, as has Kali's dad "Toss". Roy is also Snorri-dog's dad. We have said we'll go visit the farm (I need a pic of Roy for my "Clook Clan" project anyway!), always assuming that Roy will let us get out of the car! He has even more "attitude" than Kali, and Kali is no slouch!

I am very sad about this - Robert had that aura of permanence about him, like he'd always be there, unchanging, and he had that sort of "wisdom" that the old-style Orkney farmers always seem to have. He will be a great miss.

Snorri

Snorri, such a sad situation for the remaining son, sounds like it is going to be tough for him, Alzheimer's Disease is an awful disese, i used to nurse quite a few people with it and they do have times when they are themselves but these lesson as the illness progresses, it's worse for their families as having a parent that no longer recognises you must be heart breaking. I think a visit would be wonderful, and appreciated if not by robert but then by his son.

I think the sending of cards and letters is so lovely xxxxx

It is distressing for the family - I know, because of my own mother. Not Alzheimer's, although she may have had a touch of it, too. My mother had a series of small strokes back in 2000. She's in a (Very, very expensive) home close to my sister's house. The last time I had the chance to see her, she did recognise me, but that was all the sense we got out of her. Now she doesn't even recognise my sister or the grandchildren she was so proud of. She gets wheeled out every morning, and wheeled away again at night, spending her day gawping at the TV that she probably doesn't understand any more.

This is what I expect to see with Robert, although I hope not. I will take the doggies' photo albums with me, and see if they spark anything, and we'll go over and suss out the son's situation (not that there will be much we can do, I suspect : it could well be seen as interference, they were quite a "tight" bunch, quite private). The son is quite tough, really (Orkney folk do tend to put a firm face on things, it's a sort of tradition!), but he must get quite fed-up, to put it mildly.

The son who committed suicide always seemed such an outgoing, reliable sort of bloke; this one is a bit different, a bit less manically funny and more down-to-business (if you get my meaning). More steady, if you prefer. I hope for the best!

Snorri