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| Though it looks like an upturned fan, this is a room heater and very effective one I must add! |
Room Heater (Wordless Wednesday)
B is Bills
Hello and Welcome to my sixth attempt at the AtoZ blogging challenge.
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
Bills are something that simply have to be paid in the stipulated time. Thankfully, we now need not stand in queues to pay for various services that we use.
As a care giver, we need to be alert about bill payments of residence of our ‘wards’ and also our own homes and offices.
This is the place to make full use of all available technology.
Let me elaborate.
Use online payment methods via a laptop/desktop or mobile phone whichever one you are comfortable with. Many offer prescheduled payments or automatic payments when a bill is generated. For those who do not wish to use automatic payment options, check if it is possible to make an advance payment to over upcoming monthly bills. This can be used for electricity, phone, internet, annual property taxes and so on. Grocers, Newspaper, domestic helpers, cable/satellite TV also have to be paid on time.
Payments will also have to be scheduled for any medical services for the ‘wards’ – as in monthly medications, for helpers/nursing or physiotherapy services availed.
Occasionally payments may be required for services of a plumber/electrician/mason etc.
The above relate to the home of our ‘ward’ but the same bills have to be paid at our (care giver’s) own residence as well – assuming the care giver has his own separate home. Things like income tax need personal attention so one has to make time for it. If one is running a business, then additional attention to employees Pay and reimbursements and incentives need to be calculated and scheduled.
Its best to use a diary or put in reminders on your phone calender. Tick off as as you go along so there is no repetition. Every family will have different headings to be paid and I have only made a general list on the basis of what I do.
Always keep another responsible family member in the loop so they can take over in case needed.
I would love to hear more ideas on managing bill payments.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Encouraged by my first drawing, I purchased a notebook.. the store only had a ruled variety and undeterred I began sketching in earnest.
Here is another of my efforts!
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
Bills are something that simply have to be paid in the stipulated time. Thankfully, we now need not stand in queues to pay for various services that we use.
As a care giver, we need to be alert about bill payments of residence of our ‘wards’ and also our own homes and offices.
This is the place to make full use of all available technology.
Let me elaborate.
Use online payment methods via a laptop/desktop or mobile phone whichever one you are comfortable with. Many offer prescheduled payments or automatic payments when a bill is generated. For those who do not wish to use automatic payment options, check if it is possible to make an advance payment to over upcoming monthly bills. This can be used for electricity, phone, internet, annual property taxes and so on. Grocers, Newspaper, domestic helpers, cable/satellite TV also have to be paid on time.
Payments will also have to be scheduled for any medical services for the ‘wards’ – as in monthly medications, for helpers/nursing or physiotherapy services availed.
Occasionally payments may be required for services of a plumber/electrician/mason etc.
The above relate to the home of our ‘ward’ but the same bills have to be paid at our (care giver’s) own residence as well – assuming the care giver has his own separate home. Things like income tax need personal attention so one has to make time for it. If one is running a business, then additional attention to employees Pay and reimbursements and incentives need to be calculated and scheduled.
Its best to use a diary or put in reminders on your phone calender. Tick off as as you go along so there is no repetition. Every family will have different headings to be paid and I have only made a general list on the basis of what I do.
Always keep another responsible family member in the loop so they can take over in case needed.
I would love to hear more ideas on managing bill payments.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Encouraged by my first drawing, I purchased a notebook.. the store only had a ruled variety and undeterred I began sketching in earnest.
Here is another of my efforts!
See you tomorrow folks with my C post!
A is Ageing
Hello and Welcome to my sixth attempt at the AtoZ blogging challenge.
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
While this is a vast topic, I shall be focussing on persons who are looking after their old or sick or terminally ill elders – this can be parents or other family members.
With modern medicine and improved diets, lifespan has increased which is not necessarily be accompanied by better quality of life. While some may be ‘sick’ others may have mobility issues which severely restricts their lifestyle. Memory – age related issues (Dementia) present a totally different set of challenges.
In my country, for some reason, old age homes have a taboo attached to them. Shifting one’s ‘wards’ there is considered as shirking one’s responsibility. The facilities themselves need huge improvement.
Yet they do exist. Some better than others.
Some are called Assisted Ageing Homes and offer a fairly dignified stay/care.
Some offer care for terminally ill or bed ridden patients.
A new concept in Pune, is day-care for elders.. meant for families with working professionals .. the elders can spend the day at the centre and return home at night. Just like day care centre for little ones.
Some centres in Pune:
DISCLAIMER: I have no vested interest in any of these. Some have been recommended to me, we have had acquaintances staying at some of these and some I have found via Google search.
Athashri Housing scheme by Paranjpe Schemes
Krishana Prabhu Old Age Home and Hospital, Parvati
Devtaru Old Age Home
Tapas Elder Care, at Baner and Aundh
ONP Silver Homes at Balewadi
Madhur Bhav at Pimple Nilakh and Nerhe
Some more facilities found by a google search.. not seen them personally:
Rainbow Day Care Centre
Ananddham Vruddha Virangula Kendra on Apte Road
Chaitanya Rehab Centre
So when does one consider such a ‘home’?
In my experience, it can be as a temporary measure when the care giver has to travel and there is no backup support. Or when it becomes impossible to look after the ‘wards’ at home.
I would suggest visiting such a centre before taking any decision.
Talk to the managing team, to some residents if possible. Find out what kind of food is served, entertainment and medical support. Check reviews online. Most important, check the financial implications as the cost for such a facility can be prohibitive. Then talk to other family members and the ‘wards’ themselves before making a final decision.
Like the care givers, the ‘wards’ need to accept the move to a ‘home’ and be happy about it. This takes time and is not easy.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
Here is my first sketch that I have done on a newspaper handout.
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
While this is a vast topic, I shall be focussing on persons who are looking after their old or sick or terminally ill elders – this can be parents or other family members.
With modern medicine and improved diets, lifespan has increased which is not necessarily be accompanied by better quality of life. While some may be ‘sick’ others may have mobility issues which severely restricts their lifestyle. Memory – age related issues (Dementia) present a totally different set of challenges.
In my country, for some reason, old age homes have a taboo attached to them. Shifting one’s ‘wards’ there is considered as shirking one’s responsibility. The facilities themselves need huge improvement.
Yet they do exist. Some better than others.
Some are called Assisted Ageing Homes and offer a fairly dignified stay/care.
Some offer care for terminally ill or bed ridden patients.
A new concept in Pune, is day-care for elders.. meant for families with working professionals .. the elders can spend the day at the centre and return home at night. Just like day care centre for little ones.
Some centres in Pune:
DISCLAIMER: I have no vested interest in any of these. Some have been recommended to me, we have had acquaintances staying at some of these and some I have found via Google search.
Athashri Housing scheme by Paranjpe Schemes
Krishana Prabhu Old Age Home and Hospital, Parvati
Devtaru Old Age Home
Tapas Elder Care, at Baner and Aundh
ONP Silver Homes at Balewadi
Madhur Bhav at Pimple Nilakh and Nerhe
Some more facilities found by a google search.. not seen them personally:
Rainbow Day Care Centre
Ananddham Vruddha Virangula Kendra on Apte Road
Chaitanya Rehab Centre
So when does one consider such a ‘home’?
In my experience, it can be as a temporary measure when the care giver has to travel and there is no backup support. Or when it becomes impossible to look after the ‘wards’ at home.
I would suggest visiting such a centre before taking any decision.
Talk to the managing team, to some residents if possible. Find out what kind of food is served, entertainment and medical support. Check reviews online. Most important, check the financial implications as the cost for such a facility can be prohibitive. Then talk to other family members and the ‘wards’ themselves before making a final decision.
Like the care givers, the ‘wards’ need to accept the move to a ‘home’ and be happy about it. This takes time and is not easy.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
Here is my first sketch that I have done on a newspaper handout.
Irrespective of the final sketch, drawing so many tiny lines helped focus my attention, throw out unwanted thoughts and generally helped calm me.
I would certainly advocate this for care givers!
See you tomorrow folks for the B post!
2019 AtoZ Theme Reveal
Hello everyone!
The 2013 April AtoZ was my first blogging challenge and this is my sixth attempt. Considering the number of tree related posts you would see in my blog, curating a tree-nature-related theme was almost a given..
However I have chosen to write about another topic that almost all of us will face – which is taking care of our elderly parents/relatives. Very often, the care-givers are forgotten and not much attention is not given to their well being. Of course this is not deliberate but it happens…
Hence I want to share my thoughts on this topic so that care-givers stay healthy and fit to take care of their ‘wards’ in the best possible manner.
Recently I was in this role and took up sketching to pass my time. Surprisingly I found it was a big help in reducing my stress. Naturally, Google was a big help in generating ideas as I am not an artistic person. I am happy with the results and would like to share those.
Hence each of my posts will be accompanied by an image of a sketch.. its just simple dots and dashes done on pages of an ordinary notebook which is all that the store had. I am quite happy with them!
See you in April 2019 folks, and hope you will share your thoughts and tips with me.
A quick recap for everyone on my previous attempts can be read here:
2013 – Being my first attempt I went without a theme
2014 – Exercising for fitness
2015 – Gardens in Pune
2016– Herbs
2018 – Contemporary AtoZ
I have yet to schedule my posts so Bye for now!!
🙂
Shining (ThursdayTreeLove)
Waras is a tree native to India yet there are not many of them growing in my city. It has large compound leaves that fall every winter and then the tree bursts into yellow funnel shaped flowers in February.
This year, I spotted its flowering both in the early morning and also on another tree at night.
At both times, the yellowish white flowers seemed to be glittering..
Here is a video of the flowering Waras in the morning…
I saw this tree at night and the flowers seemed to be glowing! Growing as it was on the footpath in an area of heavy traffic, the tree held its own, shining in its beauty for anyone who cared to look up!
Waras goes by the botanical name Heterophragma quadriloculare and belongs to the Bignoniaceae family.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop.
Head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world.
Better still, join in.
Log Table (Wordless Wednesday)
You Choose (ThursdayTreeLove)
One a particularly chilly morning, I was trying to capture the colours of the sky as the Sun rose. As I checked the image, and despite not wearing my spectacles, I thought that something in the foreground was equally eye catching..
Sure enough, a closer look revealed that a Capparis was blooming and its flowers begged me to admire them too. Capparis grandis belongs to the Capparaceae family and its flowers characteristically have showy white protruding stamens.
I was torn between the glorious sky and the beautiful flowers of this tree.
I am unable to choose which is more beautiful..
I leave the choice to you!
🙂
This is my 40th post on this Label/Hashtag as I join Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove Blog hop. Its been a Tree(mendous) journey, one that I hope to continue to read (on other blogs) and share (here). So dear readers, join us on this blog hop to see some beautiful trees from around the world or better still, share yours!
🙂
Umbrella Stand ( Wordless Wednesday)
What Do You See? (Wordless Wednesday)
Arrows (ThursdayTreeLove)
I spotted this Mango tree in full bloom quite recently. Almost every branch and subbranch seems to have an inflorescence. They reminded me of tiny arrows that seem to have framed the tree almost creating a brilliant halo around it!
Actually almost all Mango trees are blooming right now. The profuse flowering suggests a bumper harvest but usually many of the flowers fall off (for various reasons) and the actual fruiting may be lesser than the number of flowers.
Here is an image of the inflorescence.
Have you noticed the Mango blossoming in your city?
While there are several varieites of mangoes, they are horticultural variants of Mangifera indica. Mango belongs to the Anacardiaceae family. Cashew and the Indian Ash Tree are also members of Anacardiaceae.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still join in!