The Adelaide Fringe event I put on this year raised funds for dementia research and The Big Issue (SA) organisation, and I feel thrilled that I can now donate $3000 towards each. The other thing I wanted to do for this, was to set a small fire towards greater research into dementia and authentic brain rehabilitation, and now because of this event, it seems this is on its way. Earlier this week, a NeuroPhysiotherapist who is in private practice in Adelaide, and is also a Senior Lecturer at Flinders University, who wrote a new course for their program submitted and accepted for students this year has agreed to see if their school can support a student in using these funds in a suitable research project. After reading my blog for the first time last year, James changed part of the course to ensure it covered dementia care! To me, that was more exciting than the funds I raised, and I can’t wait for him to 1) collaborate with his colleagues (and me!) on what would be the best project, 2) get the support required from his colleagues for this to happen, and 3) to find a student to take this up next semester. I would never in one healthy life time be able to do all the research I believe needs to take place for better outcomes for people with dementia, through non pharmacological interventions, but I sure as heck can start some fires to get at least some of it happening. And I can still come up with ideas, and I can still fundraise, and in fact am still quite good at both of these things! And, unlike many of you, I have my own back up hard drive, my very own personal BUB!!

It is always the case, when the student is ready, the teacher appears!

Yesterday, Richard Taylor gave me some wonderful advice about changing goals, or setting up more, or different ones, some of which I have taken on board. Thank you Richard :-), and smelling the roses, and spending more quality time with my husband have been thought about with much intensity overnight, and I realise it was very sound and timely advice. I’ve been thinking about a newsletter too, but feel my blog already has enough information about living with dementia on it, and sites like yours and the Alzheimer’s Reading Room offer enough other types of advice. I have recently been asked to contribute to a new initiate in Australia, the Australian Journal of Dementia Care, and hope my first one will be in the July Edition.

Ps. I am currently focusing on GLUTEN FREE recipes on my Conversations and Recipes Page, so as of today, most of them will be suitable for people with coeliac disease or who are gluten intolerant.