Wednesday 13 July 2011

Holiday Snaps {visiting Lulu in Cape Town}, plus the quickest mini-album you will ever make!






Flying in again between "stuff"!  Working in a bomb-zone right now but going well - 2 layouts down - only one more for today then 2 more for tomorrow!!  Then Friday off to spend with our visitors - yay!  Have just made a collage which shows what I was up to when I went away last week.


Chelsea & I went to visit my sister LULU in Cape Town last week.  Lulu suffers from Cerebral Palsy & lives in an institution.  Recent events have meant that she has been shunted off to a different institution so I wanted to go & check it out & see that my sis was okay.  She has been really ill of late but happy to report she has made a huge comeback :) 

She had a fall a couple of years back, when the driver of a van she was being transported to physio-therapy in, didn't secure her wheelchair properly & she was flung out of it {but not out of the van}.  As a result she suffered all sorts of injuries, including brain-swelling that caused her to become "too difficult to manage" for the last "home" she was in.  Various infections kept fueling each other & we were thinking she was on her way out, but she's a little fighter & now looks fit as a fiddle!

Fortunately she is so much better, was delighted to see us & gave me a shopping list as long as my arm {!} so we went back again the next day, plied her with junk food at her request, "pimped" her "|zone" with some bling alphas for the wall above her bed, some new bed linen, Harry the hippo, and a new disk-man & some up to date music.  I wish she could come & live with us but that would require an extension that we can't afford, as well as 24 hour nursing care, so she is better off where she is.

***Anyone living in Cape Town that has the time or inclination to visit Lulu can e mail me & I will give you more details - she gets a weekly visit from relatives then sits & waits for the next time to come around so if you are looking for a charitable way to spend an hour a month it would literally make her day to have someone read to her, paint her nails, or simply feed her a soft drink & a chocolate ***

I made Lulu an 8 x 8 album too, simply by printing out photographs of my most recent scrapbook layouts (selecting A4 size & clicking "shrink to fit" so that they remained square, and measured 8 inches, perfect, quick & easy!)  so looks like digital scrap booking.  

It was freezing in Cape Town & I didn't take any more photos, I was just too cold!  





21 comments:

Mitralee said...

Love that your sharing this with us! Good luck with your bomb zone!

Rachael Funnell said...

Have FUN in that Bomb Zone!!! hehehehe
Gr8 pics with your Sister.....

Alison said...

Glad to hear you found Lulu in a better way than you expected...great pics! Hard as it is, you are probably right that she is better off where she is.
Alison xx

topkatnz said...

What a great getaway. Glad to hear Lulu is doing so well. Hope one or two kind people take up your request become visitors.Hx

Kerryn said...

I love how you pimped her space :). Thanks for sharing.

dstandard said...

Hugs - challenging - awesome photos! Glad she has improved. As a nurse I can so relate but glad you had such a wonderful visit with her!

Lisa Amiet said...

Oh Helen, that pic of the two of you brought tears to my eyes, the love that is passing through that pic is unbelievable! Glad to hear that Lulu is feeling better, loving the blinged up room! xoxo

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

You are a beautiful sister for checking in on Lulu... so many siblings don't care enough to do that... so God bless you Helen... I absolutely loveeeeee the photos of the two of you! Can't wait to see those scrapped! :):):):):):):):):):)

Eila Sandberg said...

Your sis sure has some spunk! I love what's going on in her eyes, no way she's quitting on you! YAY for pimped fuchsia bling, chocolates and painted finger nails!! Thank you so much for sharing this with us, your heart is as beautiful as you are Helen! xoxoxxo

Kiki Aposeki said...

What wonderful pictures! every time I visit your page Ι excited more and more!!!

Jasmine S said...

Oh she sounds like a beautiful sister to have. I love her big smile. I cannot believe how much she looks like you and your daughter. I hope she receives lots of visits. If I lived closer I would call in for sure....

Unknown said...

Oh how I would love to pay her a visit and paint her nails..what an awesome thing you did with her room!

sandi said...

Helen it sounds like your visit with your sister was wonderful! Hope she continues to improve with her health. Great pics! I'm certain that she was absolutely delighted with everything that you got her. She's so lucky to have a wonderful sister like you, and I see that you are blessed as well...just look at that smile of hers...so happy that you were there!

Pearl said...

Good to hear that your sister Lulu is doing well right now ! She looks so happy here , it's true ! ;)

Lynette Jacobs said...

Glad to hear your sister is doing well...I do hope that some Capetonian people will offer to go and visit her...it must be lonely.

Bellaidea said...

So good to know she is improved, looks like she had lots of fun with you, great news!

Mel said...

Oh that is so terrible about Lulu's accident, and sad that she waits around for her visitors to come, the gorgeous mini book will be so great for her to look in. I am so happy she has improved and your sister is feeling better too dear friend. Our lives are filled with soooo much that others don't see. Thanks for sharing your week with us. Melx

Sharm Nidyanandan said...

Reading this post reli tugged at my heart strings...but i'm glad to know that your sis is doin better and I can see the joy in her eyes at havin u and Chelsea visit her :)...you're a beautiful person inside and out Helen!! Wish Lulu well and it was nice that u gurls blinged up her wall and spoilt her while u were there! :)

Shayne said...

And voila - wireless = comment box!

love that you spent time with her adn she obviously loved having you there - those pics tell it all.

Glad to hear that she is doing better and i do hope that some CT folk go and visit her xx

tania said...

Helen!! thanks for sharing this,happy to hear that she is doing better, although I don't know her... this must be so hard with you living so far away, and then again travelling all the way to visit her. You are a wonderful sister:)

Diana said...

this is nice :-)