Every day seems 48 hours long. It's like rest-home time has hardening of the arteries. At 8.30pm all the patients are in bed. At 7am, it's time to wake up. The minutes loiter in ward corridors as the endless cycle of dressing, washing, eating, undressing goes on.
Lunch is a relief.
At 12 sharp, people stream to the main dining room, in a slow procession of wheelchairs and canes. Some of the women clutch handbags, a sign they are truly not at home. There's a little conversation and no laughter. Lots of utensils clinking and an air of impatience. Over in the hospital wing, lunch is a quieter affair.