Anthea Rowan Anthea Rowan

Blowing Away the Cobwebs

I said to my sister, my marriage feels like it’s got a puncture. A slow hiss accompanies us everywhere. We needle one another, are scratchy…

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Anthea Rowan Anthea Rowan

How to Stop Rust

I call Mum late in the day, after a walk which takes me to the top of the farm and gets me out of the ‘office’ and my head out of itself.

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Anthea Rowan Anthea Rowan

Look Up!

Melie said to me once, ‘We always look down, we always seem to have our eyes downcast – do you think that’s because we need to watch our step?

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Nothing is easy now. Dressing. Toileting. Moving. Moving is especially hard. She leans backwards. She wobbles, knees bent, feet tangled so I must keep reminding her, ‘feet apart, ma'. Oh yes, she will say, and for the briefest moment, she is s
I wrote a piece about the place of pets in the lives of those who live with dementia @irishtimesnews (link in story and bio). Sometimes the relationship makes me laugh. But not always. Thank you Jip x #dementiaireland #Alzheimers #labradorlove #pe
He wrote often and copiously, using the same words he spoke with; he might have been across the room and not half way around the world. I pick one up and begin to read. He finds me. Sitting cross-legged on our bedroom floor. I read passages out to
I leave mum for a moment and dash out to get night-time meds. As I walk back in, I find her scraping the last of her supper - spaghetti bolognese topped with expensive Parmigiano - onto the floor for Jip who is hoovering it up at guilty speed. MUM,
#cropcircles #roundandroundthegarden #lookwhatiwokeupto #greenfingers #cuttingthegrass #africangarden
I find there is something sacred in walking where giants trod in the hours before me. Elephant evidence is everywhere: in the deep bowls their feet leave in pillowy mud. I can see where they have taken detours and where they have tugged branches an