Harriet explores the changing seasons and how they reflect the transitions we experience in our lives, particularly for those living with dementia. As Harriet walks from England to Scotland, she shares her thoughts on the importance of nurturing connections with nature. We hear from Sue Hinds from Dementia Adventure on the importance of routines and how seasonal shifts can affect both individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Sue offers insights on adapting to these changes, emphasising the need for flexibility and creativity in daily life. We also hear from Freddie Garland, from Freddie’s Flowers, who highlights the therapeutic power of flower arranging as a meaningful activity that can bring connection and joy.

If you like what we are doing and want to support the Dementia Adventure Support Fund please donate

Dementia Adventure has been at the forefront of providing fully supported, small group short breaks for people living with dementia and their carers for 15 years. Our supported breaks offer more than just respite; they provide meaningful, purpose-driven experiences that significantly enhance the quality of life for both people living with dementia and their caregivers. 

The D Tour podcast is proudly sponsored by Macs Adventure

Macs Adventure specialise in self guided walking and cycling holidays for independent, active people who don't want to be part of the crowd or restricted by set dates and schedules.

You can listen to Harriet's playlist on Spotify. Each week she's adding songs to match her mood on her epic walk!

Harriet Thomas: 00:00:01

My path has gone right past these huge hay bales. Can you hear that? I'm just sort of.

I just looked at them and I was like, I have to touch them and they feel so lovely, so kind of rough and, I don't know, earthy somehow. And it smells. Oh, wow. So sweet. Such a sweet, sweet smell. And it's golden yellow. They're golden yellow hay bales. And I love this sign of the changing seasons.

Welcome to the D Tour, a special podcast series where I share my incredible journey, walking 900 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise funds for Dementia Adventure. I'm Harriet Thomas and you can follow my adventures by visiting D Tour UK. That's D,T,O,U,R, dot UK.

to: 7711

Macs Adventure specialize in self guided walking and cycling holidays for independent, active people who don't want to be part of the crowd or restricted by set dates and schedules. They encourage you to go at your own pace whilst they support you with all of the routes and logistics for a worry free adventure.

As I venture beyond the halfway mark of my 900 miles journey, the shift in seasons is impossible to miss. Gone are the sun drenched days of Cornwall. And now, as I edge closer to Scotland, there's a definite autumnal feel in the air.

The colours are changing, the air is cooler and the landscape feels more atmospheric with each step. In this episode of the D Tour, it feels fitting to dive into the themes of seasons and how they reflect the changes we experience in our own lives. Whether it's the shifting colours of autumn or the way nature cycles through time, each season brings its own beauty and lessons.

I'm also thrilled to share that this episode is sponsored by Freddie's Flowers and Freddie Garland. Yes, Garland really is his name. How perfect is that for a florist? If you haven't heard of them yet, you should.

Freddie's Flowers deliver beautiful seasonal flowers from farm to doorstep, year round, all over the country. And what makes them even more special in my eyes is their support for dementia adventure.

It's 8:30 in the morning on a beautiful day. There's not a cloud in the sky. There's a very slight chill in the air. That was a little duck on the canal. There's a very slight chill in the air, just reminding me that we're beginning to leave summer and welcome in the autumn, which I'm really excited to see.

I've just realized what the word to describe this day is, and it's mellow. So it's still warm, but it's not that crazy heat that I experienced in Cornwall that was really fierce, you know, between sort of 12 and 3. It was really fierce and I would love it when it got to about 4:35 because you'd feel the whole of the land beginning to cool down and the heat from the sun beginning to dissipate a bit and the light becoming softer and more golden. It's just like the world is saying we're closing down summer now and we're just moving in to autumn.

And now I'm leaving the canal behind and out on the fields again and walking across a fallow field. This is one of these paths that isn't really a path, but it's just a permissible way across a field.

Luckily, the field has all been harvested, it's been ploughed up, and it's just here, brown and fallow. And no doubt, perhaps it's going to stay like that until the spring.

It's one of the sights I actually really love about late autumn and winter is the brown fields that have been harvested and are now laying fallow, just resting. It's a time of rest and recuperation and the fields are gathering their strength so that they can provide abundance for the next year.

So I don't find, I know some people find the brownness of winter depressing, but I don't actually, absolutely really love the browns and greys of winter.

And as I say, for me, I just feel the land is resting, getting ready to put forth its beautiful greenhouse in the coming spring. As some people have said, I'm walking. Into the weather, but as far as. I'm concerned, I'm walking into autumn. And I love autumn.

It's my favourite season. I'm actually quite excited about it. I've got absolutely so many snacks you wouldn't believe.

I mean, half of my rucksack is snacks because I'm a little bit like. Oh, I've got to have enough food.

It's funny how these same topics keep popping up, isn't it? Food has certainly been on my mind since before day one of this journey.

Back in episode three, when Sue and Raja joined me for a walk in Monmouth, we explored how food shapes our lives and connections. And I've been thinking about it ever since. That's what being outdoors does. It really gives you a great appetite.

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting someone who really digs into the source of our food. James Cox, the head gardener at another place in Ullswater in the Lake District.

Like many of us, James got his start in gardening by helping his granny in her vegetable patch. Today, James works his magic in Another Place's kitchen garden, keeping their restaurant stocked with fresh, organic produce.

And it's not just vegetables. James also grows mint for the bars - Mojitos. A touch of summer I'm sure Nancy and Agnes would appreciate.

Do you remember Nancy and Agnes from episode eight, who love a bit of white water rafting mojitos and happen to have dementia?

James Cox: 00:08:14

Hello, I'm James Cox, head gardener at Another Place, the lake. Yeah.

The idea of seed saving is something that even we came to not many years ago as something that we could seriously try and do, not just in terms of saving money. It's not usually something that saves a lot of money, but essentially in having something that you then control the full cycle of.

And just to see you grow something, it flowers, you take the seed off it, and that's always a wonderful experience. Again, I get excited by things like that. That's just me.

And essentially, then putting it back in the ground or back in your pot and seeing it grow again and be the same thing, there's a miracle in that. That's amazing. Again, this design, it just seems so beautifully designed.

It works, and you have successes and failures and things work better or not, but generally, that's things we've done wrong. It's not what has gone wrong in nature.

We've done something wrong, usually, and I always say to people, there's no guarantees in horticulture, but there are ways of doing things where you give yourself the best chance.

But essentially seeing that whole process and having sort of control over that in a world that we have so little control over is just a wonderful thing. And I think that speaks a lot to our desire within us to be creative as well. So that's something that I've enjoyed and try to do more here.

Harriet Thomas: 00:09:24

I totally agree with that. And I find, like, in my garden, I always grow runner beans and broad beans, and they're so easy. They're the one. They're the one growing.

James Cox: 00:09:39

And yet I've struggled with broad beans.

Harriet Thomas: 00:09:40

Sometimes they must just kind of. I sort of put them around a certain little space and, you know, but they seem to work all right, and I always gather the seed.

James Cox: 00:09:49

Are you in your veg plot or just in the garden?

Harriet Thomas: 00:09:51

No, they're in my veg plot, but I gather the seed.

They're the two plants that I gather the seed and have most success with the seed, you know, maybe because the seed is so big, you know, I don't know.

James Cox: 00:10:02

But there's a joy to that as well. Lovely big seeds.

Harriet Thomas: 00:10:05

Oh, and those runner bean seeds are so beautiful, aren't they? And I think what's lovely about it is, as you said, it's a very simple activity. It's an activity that you can do when you're a child.

It's an activity you can do all the way through your life, you know, way into your, all your older years. And it is this miracle, isn't it?

And every time, although I have gathered seeds for years, I totally agree with you that the gathering of the seed and the putting it in its little.

James Cox: 00:10:34

Envelopes almost sort of harvesting and spiriting away and squirreling away, and then. But seeing it come to something next year, there is a magic to it that is undeniable, I think.

Harriet Thomas: 00:10:44

And it's. It is an adventure, and it's an adventure that you can have. You don't even need a garden because you can do it in pots.

James Cox: 00:10:51

No, actually, I say this to people quite a lot. Again, people come through the garden. I'm very lucky here.

I have people come through all the time, guests and people visiting, and they often stop and say how lovely things are. And that's wonderful. I'm always very thrilled to hear that.

But certainly we get some lovely conversations, and people say, well, how on earth do you do all this? And Jeremy and I say, well, you know, we're very lucky. I'm full time. I'm here all the time.

But when people say, oh, I've only got a small space at home, or I've only got a window box, and I say, no, you can still do this. You can still absolutely grow an enormous number of different things.

And you just take a few things you really want to do and have a go at them, and you could grow the best type of mint you can grow. Again, one of my adventures in gardening last year, I wanted to grow ten types of mint.

And again, doing a little bit of research into this, it's not quite certain how many types of mint there are. Some sources say about 30. Some sources say could be 120, some even more. It depends how you define it.

Harriet Thomas: 00:11:45

And that's another thing.

That's another part, I think, of the adventure of gardening is that the flower, I love seeing how the flowers change over the season, and I love keeping the flower heads, you know, so that you see their shape, you know, when they're all brown. And then in winter, this must be gorgeous. In winter, you know, you get a totally different colour scape, don't you?

James Cox: 00:12:06

Yes, absolutely.

Harriet Thomas: 00:12:06

And then you have all these browns and greys, and it's so muted, you.

James Cox: 00:12:09

Get a frost on it. And it just goes absolutely, stunningly, beautifully. Just all this white, but shining and different patterns changes the texture completely.

Harriet Thomas: 00:12:19

And it's so great how gardening can be made so simple and so accessible. You know, when you're thinking about things like no dig, keep the design simple. You don't need that many plants.

And, you know, think about those plants that give you all round interest. Although maybe, I mean, you don't even have to think about it. You just let them. You just keep them there. You don't. And just see what they do.

And it's just so interesting.

James Cox: 00:12:46

Don't be straight jacketed by the ideas of what you think it should look like.

Harriet Thomas: 00:12:50

Right, exactly.

James Cox: 00:12:51

And again, everybody has an opinion, and everybody will like something a bit different to somebody else.

Harriet Thomas: 00:12:54

Yeah.

James Cox: 00:12:55

So whatever you think is, I always say to people, whatever you think looks good, you go with that. And you can only be wrong if something goes wrong. Oh, well, start again, do something else.

But certainly to come back to that sort of idea at any age, any stage, I'm so encouraging of people continuing to garden. Just, it's a lifelong thing, I'm sure you'll agree. And again, we can all continue to do this, hopefully for our whole lives.

With the help of other people. We can continue to both enjoy gardens, but also to garden.

And as you say, the adventures, they get smaller in the sense of you work on a smaller patch, perhaps. And again, a wonderful story.

Quite recently, I have an old friend of mine in her eighties whom I know through my church, and she's a wonderful member of our church, a wonderful, still very active lady. But she's in a retirement home, and she was a bit sick of just seeing this lawn out the back and nothing else.

And so I truly think she's an inspiration. She went to the people who managed the home and said, can we have something else, please? They said, well, would you like to do it?

And he said, well, if you're giving me chance to. And so she came and tapped me on the shoulder when I said, James, come and come and do something. They've given me I think it was 2 meters by a meter outside. It wasn't quite her window, but a friend of hers window, she wanted it to be outside his window. And so there's 2 meters by 1 meter.

She said, they can cut the turf out, put something in. And the only brief they've given me is it must be spectacular. I said, all right, Joyce, we'll do this spectacular.

Anyway, so we had great fun rushing around, being queued. Other, other horticultural retailers are available.

Harriet Thomas: 00:14:29

It's not the BBC, don't worry.

James Cox: 00:14:30

Oh, good. And we had such fun finding the things that she wanted and let her govern it.

And, yeah, she asked me sort of, what, what do you think would look good? And I said, whatever you want to enjoy, Joyce. Anyway, and so we had great fun putting this patch just 2 metres by 1 metre.

And, yeah, she did her little bit and helped out. And mostly I was hoping for her that she'd get what she wanted to see, but we had such fun doing it together. I got more out of it than I thought.

So again, just a small example.

Harriet Thomas: 00:14:58

Totally.

And I think, I think what's nice about a gardening project, whether it's, you know, quite a big one like that, or whether it's, you know, planting your seeds or is that you're, you're looking forward to something. It's great for kids. Well, it's great for everyone, but there so many life lessons in it, aren't there?

James Cox: 00:15:16

And learn young. That's it. Again, we talked about young and old sowing seed, but we tend to learn that very young.

And obviously, whether it be with a family or in a classroom setting, we learn that what that seed does real young, and those early memories really do stick. And, I mean, for years and years and years, they'll be, some of the last things to go will be those lovely memories of sowing seeds as the child.

And so I think that's something that just sticks so well. And I think there's definitely a good reason for that.

Harriet Thomas: 00:15:43

Yeah.

I mean, I've said this sort of talking to people many times before, but when my mum had dementia and after she'd kind of pretty much lost her language, but when she, because she was a very keen gardener, when we went into the garden, for instance, if I got some rosemary and crushed the rosemary so she could smell it, she'd go, hmm, lovely.

You know, suddenly this would elicit a word or a rose or, you know, something that, that seemed to reach down into her because it was such a deep memory. So it was always like a miracle.

And another miracle that the garden provided was to sort of connect me and my mum and to connect her, you know, again to this thing that she loved, which was gardening.

James Cox: 00:16:31

And that is incredibly valuable. Thank you. For telling me that.

Even for me. I have the lovely glass house up there. I grow tomatoes in it earlier in the year and I have, just on the porch, there's two a windowsill either side, and I grow a tomato up either windowsill and over the top, and I try and form them into an archway and just so as people come in, they'll sort of brush the leaf and get that tomatoey smell. If you like tomatoes. Yeah, it's the best smell in the world.

Harriet Thomas: 00:16:55

I love it.

James Cox: 00:16:56

But brushing past the tomato or putting your hands into rosemary. And again, just that the smell just cascades off and it is gorgeous. There's, yeah, not enough words to describe your own.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:06

So should we walk towards the greenhouse? I'd love to see. I saw it yesterday and admired it very much.

James Cox: 00:17:13

Into the veg patches.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:14

Oh, yes. Definitely want to see the veg patch.

James Cox: 00:17:16

Our pride. Pride and joy.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:17

I want to eat a tomato now.

James Cox: 00:17:18

We're going to.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:19

We're going past these.

James Cox: 00:17:21

Come on, have one from up this end.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:24

They look so tasty.

James Cox: 00:17:26

This is irish gardener's delight.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:28

Oh, irish gardener's delight.

James Cox: 00:17:31

Grab one of these little red tomatoes. You can find one without, yes, Some of them split.

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:37

So what I'm, what I'm, what's amazing about these tomatoes, and again, sort of talking about those little miracles, is how shiny they are. They look so beautiful and shiny, don't they?

James Cox: 00:17:47

Again, what do you think about that?

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:49

Oh, my gosh.

James Cox: 00:17:50

Yeah. It's not bad, is it?

Harriet Thomas: 00:17:52

That is so good. I mean, that is like, that is. Like a fruit, isn't it?

James Cox: 00:17:56

Yeah.

Sweet, isn't it? Yeah. Again, the little ones, I mean, the bigger ones, feel free to have another as well. Just watch out.

Some of them split a bit and they'll have to be avoided. But if you can find a nice big, shiny one, they're absolutely delicious. But the small ones, I think somehow they just have that extra sweet pop.

Harriet Thomas: 00:18:14

Do you find guests come down here and just like they're eating all your tomatoes as they pass by?

James Cox: 00:18:17

We drag them in and off, again, I do love to see people, and particularly kids as well, coming and grabbing things off the plant because there's just nothing like it.

Harriet Thomas: 00:18:28

No.

James Cox: 00:18:28

Again, as you can imagine, I force my children to eat homegrown broccoli and they dislike that. But anyway. But you can find little victories. Sweet tomatoes, they love coming out and grabbing mange tout off the plant and they'll eat.

Harriet Thomas: 00:18:41

And even runner beans when they're young. I eat them all. I think they're yummy.

James Cox: 00:18:45

Absolutely. I think a lot of fruit and veg is just better eaten raw, straight off the plant. Again. We've just recently taken down our old mange tout.

We've got some new growing down the end, the next successional run, and we can't help but go past and grab a moisture and eat it as we go past. Some of it does eventually get to the kitchen. We can't help ourselves.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:05

And I noticed you've got a lovely chair here. So there's a beautiful chair.

James Cox: 00:19:08

I was going to say, after you're walking again, you might appreciate the sit.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:12

In this lovely chair. And is this a beech hedge?

James Cox: 00:19:15

This is hornbeam.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:16

Hornbeam.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:17

Hornbeam.

James Cox: 00:19:18

So again, it's beech like, but it's a different species.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:23

Oh, my goodness.

James Cox: 00:19:24

And now you can see.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:26

That's a bit of a view. So basically, you can, you're kind of looking down the corridor in the garden and you can see the boats. There's a boat yard there on the lake.

And then what's that tree that's kind of beginning to go a bit autumnal beyond where the boats are?

James Cox: 00:19:43

That one, I think that's probably a beech. I think he's just in the boatyard, so I can't tell you exactly for sure.

Harriet Thomas: 00:19:50

So there's a beech and then beyond that we've got the moors and the mountains and the fells.

James Cox: 00:19:57

Quite beautifully right in the middle is Hallin fell. That one you can just see, or we can see the obelisk on top. Oh, yeah, there's a stone obelisk right on top.

ound the Lake district in the: 1880

Harriet Thomas: 00:20:13

Oh, really?

James Cox: 00:20:14

So that's Hallin Fell right in the middle. And then it's got this lovely, commanding view down sort of two sections of the lake. You have the most wonderful view for not too much effort climbing up.

If you parked at Howtown or even further off, you get a really good view for a not too stressful walk. But it's very special to me, Hallin Fell, because up there I proposed to my wife.

So for me, this is the best spot in the world, because I have that memory.

Harriet Thomas: 00:20:41

You can always remember. You can sit here and just remember that lovely day.

James Cox: 00:20:45

I tell people that I can't help myself.

Harriet Thomas: 00:20:46

I'm glad she said yes, though. Imagine if she said no. Never sitting in this chair ever again. Yeah. What a great place to propose.

James Cox: 00:20:55

It's a very special place.

Harriet Thomas: 00:20:56

That's lovely.

James Cox: 00:20:57

Certainly we're so blessed with this view here and I think it's, I say to people, it's the veg patch with the best view in the world, I reckon.

Harriet Thomas: 00:21:04

It must be. It absolutely must be.

Harriet Thomas: 00:21:06

I absolutely loved talking to James. I could have stayed there all day chomping on those tomatoes. And the story of Joyce and her incredible garden plot was just beautiful.

What a joy for James and Joyce to create something so special together. There's so much about that story that resonates with me.

It's such a lovely reminder of how important it is to have something meaningful to nurture, especially as the seasons change. Speaking of nurturing, I'm thrilled to introduce Freddie Garland from Freddie's Flowers.

Freddie and his talented team specialise in bringing the beauty of seasonal arrangements right to our doorsteps, helping us to connect with nature all year round. Just like Joyce's garden, their flowers inspire us to appreciate the changing seasons and the joy that they bring.

I first heard about Freddie's Flowers earlier this year when they hosted a flower arranging webinar. Fiona, the CEO at Dementia Adventure, and I had a lovely chat about it as I was preparing for this podcast series.

It's always nice when things come full circle, isn't it?

Fiona Petit: 00:22:34

We had this wonderful Saturday morning seminar, flower arranging demonstration by Freddie's Flowers. And Freddie himself delivered that demonstration and that was superb. I mean, we had about 75 people tune in on the day. Well, that was, in many cases, there was more than one person behind the camera, so that was just lovely.

And they were all, they'd all received flowers themselves and they were able to, you know, either work in ones or twos, putting these beautiful arrangements together as Freddie was doing his. It was a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Harriet Thomas: 00:23:19

Now let's hear from Freddie himself as he shares insights about his amazing flower arranging initiative that he ran online to celebrate Dementia Adventure's 15th birthday earlier this year.

Freddie Garland: 00:23:32

Hi. So, my name is Freddie Garland.

ears ago now, back in October: 2014

I don't know, sort of Christmas time evokes certain memories that the scent, the smell of the place, the creativity, the sort of visual feeling when you walk in there is a great hub of, like, conversation and activity, I suppose.

I have experienced people with dementia and it's one of the most heartbreaking, sort of difficult things I've witnessed.

Working with people with dementia with flowers is the most amazing thing because it's just - everything I've just talked about is kind of amplified to the next level in so much as every little element of the flower arranging experience is kind of taken to the nth degree and you really witness the potency of flowers in the natural world and that element of creativity, how much of an impact that has on someone with dementia. And honestly, it's an extremely moving experience. I've done several sort of classes, flower arranging classes with people with dementia.

And, yeah, you're just blown away by how much it means to them, the flower arranging and to the people who are with them. They're carers. Part of the overall thing is bringing a sort of tangibility with nature to people so that they kind of can appreciate whether it's through the colours or the sense of what's going, you know, seasonal flowers that are going on outside, but also reflecting the colours of the season. So, for example, we're in autumn now. We're going into lots of golds and oranges and foliage and things like that.

And I suppose it just evokes what's going on outside in a lovely way inside. And you're quite right if you're unable to be outside, this is just a sort of hint of that in your home, which is pretty nice.

You know, I've done a few of these sort of online classes and we just thought it would be a really nice session for people on a Saturday morning, which, you know, one thing I've learned through the, you know, the work we've done with Dementia Adventurer is quite the volume of work looking after someone with dementia can be, and there's sort of not the toll it takes on people, but I suppose that how, you know, it's a full on non stop thing and possibly they're not therefore able to do as much as others. This is the carers, and maybe a Saturday morning is a time whereby that's almost most pronounced because everyone else is having a lovely weekend.

rs to people on a sort of pre: 11:00

I mean, I treated it much like I have done many of these things before, except I with the knowledge of, you know, the length of time I should spend on each stem.

I just wanted to say that before I hosted this webinar, I spent some time with Ruth, who is a program manager at Dementia Adventure.

This helped me really understand why flower arranging is such a powerful and meaningful activity for people impacted by dementia. Ruth also provided me with some fantastic tips to ensure everyone could make the most of the morning. Here's a little snippet of our conversation.

Ruth Thompson: 00:27:52

Often for people living with dementia, they're having to process everything. Their brain is working so much harder for us, but when we're doing something like a sensory activity, it doesn't require any factual information.

They're not having to use that factual recall part of the brain, so they can use it to reminisce. They can talk about those times. It might just be a case of they want to talk about what's in front of them, the colours, the smell.

So there's so many different ways that flower arranging can really engage somebody. And what we'd encourage people to do is just go with the moment. Don't necessarily think about that finished product. It's not that that is important.

Although that is beautiful. Obviously, it's at the end, actually.

It's the being a part of that and creating that experience and using that time to maybe reminisce or maybe just, you know, see where the conversation takes you. And sometimes it's about finding out what somebody can do. So when I'm working with carers, we talk a lot about it. Maybe, maybe somebody can't do the whole process, but maybe they can support that process.

Freddie Garland: 00:28:47

Nice. And I imagine it actually kind of is a lovely thing for, you know, a great sort of creative activity for a couple of people to do together and kind of create something around their day. Would that be true? Sort of create, you know, a nice talking point or just something to look forward to, I suppose.

Ruth Thompson: 00:29:06

Yeah, definitely. And I think it's quite, it's lasting as well, isn't it? So it could be something to really look forward to. Look, we're going to do this today.

Look at this bunch of flowers. This is beautiful. So you can start the conversation there. It gives a meaningful, like, a meaning and purpose to that person's day.

But also when they've done that and they've enjoyed that time together, they can also, I don't know, display that on the table, maybe, or in the living room, and it's a reference point. How lovely was it when we did this together?

And again, it doesn't necessarily create, you know, need that factual recall.

Somebody might not remember putting the flowers together, but they may definitely remember how it made them feel, enjoying that activity with the person supporting them.

Freddie Garland: 00:29:44

And do we feel this is for everyone?

Ruth Thompson: 00:29:47

Absolutely.

Ruth Thompson: 00:29:48

100%, yeah, I mean, for everybody. What we talk about doing is adapting it and making it personal to the person you're supporting.

So you know their limits, you know what they're able to do and what they're not. But it's really about encouraging somebody to join in as much as they feel they're able to.

It's amazing for all of our wellbeing, definitely, but, you know, that becomes really key when we're living with dementia. Statistics show that actually, around 40% of people living with dementia will experience depression at some point in their journey.

So the more we can do to increase that, like those wellbeing opportunities, the more we can support somebody to keep that mood lifted. And what can't lift your mood when you're looking at flowers, they're just absolutely beautiful, aren't they?

Harriet Thomas: 00:30:28

So I'm just leaving the lovely town of Jedburgh and heading for Galashiels, and I had a lovely hotel, actually, and a very nice hotel owner.

Harriet Thomas: 00:30:44

And I can't believe how you can just walk for a day and suddenly.

Harriet Thomas: 00:30:48

People are speaking with a broad scottish accent. How come?

Harriet Thomas: 00:30:51

Accents seem to just literally change as you cross the border.

Harriet Thomas: 00:30:55

They don't kind of morph or transition, they just completely change.

It's really interesting anyway, and one, it's one of the things I hadn't kind of thought about when I did this walk was that as I traveled through the country, you know, the accents have gradually changed. It's amazing. You know, our regional accent accents are very much alive and well, and it's, and it's, they really form a part of the places that I've traveled through. So the accent has suddenly changed. It's noticeably colder. It's a beautiful day. Absolutely no clouds in the sky, but it's noticeably colder. Very cold.

Well, not very cold, but definitely going to put my gloves on, got my hat on, and my coat on, and I can see I'm going to have to quite soon, won't be surprised if I'll have to put on my down coat under my, under my thick raincoat soon. So, yeah, very excited to now be walking in Scotland.

Harriet Thomas: 00:32:06

Change of country, changes in accents, changes in seasons.

All this really got me thinking about routines, how they can shift, and how that affects all of us, especially people living with dementia and their carers. Sue Hinds from Dementia Adventure is here to explore this further for us.

She'll dive into the impact of changing routines, particularly at this time of year when the days grow shorter and we all adjust our daily lives. So, sue, over to you.

Sue Hinds: 00:32:45

So I wanted to pick up on the changing seasons that Harriet is experiencing and talk about something that affects all of us. Whether you're a carer, a person living with dementia, or simply navigating the shifts of everyday life.

As the seasons change, particularly as we move from the long days of summer into the shorter, cool days of winter or autumn even, we all experience changes and disruptions to our routines. We also often create new routines, which take us a little time to get used to.

Some we get used to immediately, but some do take that little bit longer. And some of these changes and the adaptations we need to make can be challenging as well for us as we make the transition.

I think as we reflect really on the summer months, we can acknowledge that life had a slightly different pace. I know mine did. It was full of different activities, lots of foods and experiences that I associate with the summertime.

There's often more light, more activity, and a natural openness to spending time outdoors and doing outdoor activities, engaging with nature and so on.

But as we shift into autumn, these routines and the activities and the sights and the sounds, even the colours that we see change, even the foods that we eat, tend to change. As we go into autumn and winter, the days have got shorter, the weather is cooler, and life takes on a completely different rhythm.

And these natural seasonal shifts and our responses to them is something we notice and we connect with. Perhaps we take joy in them. We like the difference of the seasons and that we mix things up a little bit.

But they can also be particularly significant for people with dementia and their carers. We know that a well established routine is often a vital tool for maintaining a sense of calm and predictability for a person with dementia.

Dementia giving them the connection for their identity, their attachment, their. Their inclusion, who they are and what is it of meaning to them?

As autumn emerges, the fading daylight at an earlier time as well, and the changing of the clocks by an hour can impact on a person's circadian rhythms. That's our body's natural 24 hour clock. And these rhythms can really significantly be affected by light.

In addition, the changes in light can make it harder to understand what time of day it is. And the activities have changed, the foods have changed.

And so the signals that help you and me and give us a guide and our ability to cope have all become mixed up, and take some time for us to adapt to.

All of these changes and our ability to adapt to them are often associated with words and language that you might have heard before, such as confusion or disorientation, sundowning, pacing, wandering, and so on. Yet what's really important is to understand why the person is responding in such a way, not just that they're responding in such a way.

So it's not just a label that the person is confused or the person is sundowning. What we really need to do is ask for what is the person confused about? Is it about what time it is? What's expected of them?

Recognising the room because there's been some subtle changes, so it doesn't look like it's supposed to look to the person. Why is the person pacing?

Is it because the light is triggering their thoughts that they may need to be somewhere else, such as collecting the children, cooking the tea, or expecting something to happen, but not sure exactly what that something is?

In addition to all of these experiences for the person with dementia, carers can often feel that the early evening in the autumn and winter months are especially tough.

It's that time when you're getting tired yourself or trying to manage other household tasks, such as preparing a dinner, cleaning up, helping children with the homework, preparing lunchbox for the next day, and so on and so on.

And so what we can see is that the combination of exhaustion, fading light, seasonal shifts can have a significant impact on both the person living with dementia and the carer's own emotional balance. Really, it's given us the potential for a perfect storm. But the good news is that there are proactive steps that we can take to manage these changes.

As autumn sets in, it's a good time to review your daily routines and how these might have changed. What might appear different to a person with dementia? Maybe something big or maybe something small. How can we reduce the impact of these differences?

Can we do things that we were doing before?

So keeping a familiar activity going, such as bringing an activity from outdoors indoors, this might be shifting from work in a garden to flower arranging in the house or planting herb pots for the windowsill. Continuing themes can help.

Perhaps a person adjusts to the changing seasons, perhaps as a way to incorporate more light into the day to compact the shorter hours of daylight. You'd be surprised how small adjustments, such as adding extra lighting in the home can help. But thinking about that lighting is really important.

We know that lamps and night shades can cause lots of shadows and passing cars can cause light and shadows to move around a room and play tricks on what we see. So think about drawing the curtains early.

That way we can reduce the impact of that planning activities which connect with our past and give us a sense of purpose are really important. And then, of course, we can use lots of different things to slow the pace down just a little bit as the evenings draw in.

We might use music, familiar tv programs. We might reduce noise levels or just reduce the pace at which we move around.

It all helps to reduce the sense of urgency and can help to produce a calm environment. But maybe what we need to do is just change one thing at a time.

One day move the furniture slightly towards the source of the heat, the next day add the throws and the next day add those additional lighting sources. Try just changing one thing at a time. The important thing is go slow and go steady.

Of course, these seasonal changes are part of a bigger picture, aren't they?

Life is filled with transitions, whether it's moving from one stage of life to another, or if it's just adjusting to some of these new routines and circumstances. And for people with dementia, change can feel very unsettling.

But with a bit of planning, we can smooth those edges of transition and help maintain a sense of peace and connection.

As we talk about the changing seasons in this episode with Harriet, it's a perfect reminder of the natural cycles of life and how we all adapt in big ways and small to the ebb and the flow of time. So I encourage you to think about your own routines and consider what adjustments you might make as we move further into autumn.

Whether it's keeping things consistent or introducing new activities to brighten the shorter days, every little change can help. Just go slow, go steady and enjoy the autumn and the winter.

Harriet Thomas: 00:40:10

Thanks as ever to Sue Hinds for her wealth of information. When we talk about routine, we're really talking about rhythm.

That idea of rhythm has been with me a lot as I've walked, especially with the constant rhythm of my footsteps guiding me along this journey. It's funny how even when the landscape changes, the rhythm of walking stays the same.

I found comfort in that, just as I think we all find comfort in the routines that help ground us. It also reminded me of how music, with its beats and rhythms, can have such a powerful effect on our mood and motivation.

Whether it's lifting our spirits or helping us to find a sense of calm. What a perfect segue to choosing my playlist songs for this week. Each week I pick some music that connects me with my journey.

This week I've chosen the Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond, sung by Ella Roberts.

And this is because as I record this podcast, I'm sitting on the eastern edge of Loch Lomond and tomorrow I'll actually be walking up beside Loch Lomond. So this seems a very fitting song to choose for this week's playlist. In a complete change of mood, my second song is Tubthumping by Chumbawamba.

And that is because at the beginning of the third month, my walk, I definitely had a few days when I was feeling like this was difficult and that's the first time that was happened on this trip. So I'm feeling much better now. Now that I'm in the Highlands, I'm feeling really excited again and really inspired.

But this song is just to remind me to never give up, just to get up, start walking again and I be mindful about all the beauty that's around me. You can find the whole playlist on the detour website at D Tour dot UK.

That's D Tour dot UK and also on music for dementia radio at www dot m four d radio.com.

It's day 57 of the 900 miles detour and I'm leaving Galashiels in Scotland to walk to Innerleithen.

And as you may be able to hear, it's a typical autumn rainy day and I've got my waterproof trousers on and my waterproof coat and then on top of that I've got my waterproof poncho. Just checking the sign here - yeah, they're all pretty good quality, so I feel pretty dry so far, but it is only 8:30 in the morning, so let's see how it all goes. Obviously my boots are waterproof and my socks are also waterproof, so I am one waterproof person. So we're going to see how this goes.

I've just walked through a lovely bit of woodland and walking on a carpet of copper coloured autumn beech leaves, which is always a favourite of mine. So I'm heading out to upland now. So yeah, I'm on the Scottish Upland Way. So yeah, I should be in the full force of the rain.

It's absolutely beautiful. It's very, very misty today.

It's as if a huge curtain of very fine grey white voil has been sort of lowered down over the landscape and everything is these very muted greens and greys and browns, but very, very muted. So it's grey green and grey, brown and grey. And there's a lovely wind up here. It's not a, it's not a horribly harsh wind, it's just a wild wind.

Not a wild wind. It's just a roaming wind. That's what I call it. It's a roaming wind.

And so it's blowing the grasses that are growing out of the top of Hadrian's Wall and it gives everything this feeling of slight isolation and a lovely kind of wilderness. Black crows kind of soaring at about my level on the other side of the wall, dark silhouettes against the white sky.

I love this kind of weather for walking in. I'm sure I've said that before. It's so atmospheric and evocative up here. You can really, you can really hear the ghosts of the soldiers, you know, you can hear this cries, horses neighing and bridles rattling. And maybe just the noise of soldiers gambling with coins in one of their little towers. I don't know, you can really feel it up here.

It's like the, the aura of all the people that have lived on top of this hill, along this wall, has sunk into the ground and into the stones and into the grasses, and it gives it a sort of timeless quality. It's fabulous.

I've really enjoyed exploring the natural cycles that govern not only the seasons, but also our lives. As the colours shift and the air cools, the changing landscape is a reminder of how everything in life ebbs and flows.

Like the cycles of a garden or the rhythm of our days. Each season has its own beauty and lessons to offer.

The idea of seasons mirrors the changes we experience in our own lives the ups and the downs, the periods of growth and the periods of rest. This concept is especially relevant when we think about dementia, where the cycles of memory, mood and energy require constant care and adaption.

Next week, as I continue my journey through the Southern Upland Way and along the River Tweed Cycle Path, I'll be facing new challenges in Scotland's mist covered Monroe's. With the days growing shorter and the weather more unpredictable, staying motivated will be key.

We'll also be diving into the topic of mood and motivation, exploring why it's sometimes hard to get up and go, both for people living with dementia and for those who support them. I'll be sharing tips on how to lift spirits and stay focused, all while taking a much needed rest day in Linlithgow. See you on the trail!