"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Dec 2017 10:26:43 +0000, wrote:

On Fri, 29 Dec 2017 08:52:32 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 28/12/2017 19:24, T i m wrote:

Cheers, T i m


Not the answer you wanted, but DW suggests spending the money on a
cleaner, thus creating employment here rather than China.

An extension hose for the downstairs cleaner would provide "proper"
cleaning power whilst being lightweight.

And a trip hazard,

Yup, something I've just said elsewhere. It's interesting to see that
whilst Mum is still fully compo mentis (and can only appear otherwise
because her poor hearing tends to isolate her from some of the
incidental stuff), she can be quite unstable at times, stumbling over
the smallest of things (possibly linked to the poor hearing)?

For an 87 year old a trip and fall can cause injuries that a younger
person will find uncomfortable and a nuisance,

And nasty tears to the ever thinning skin, especially on her hands.

On the back of the hands presumably. I don't get
that at all, only get it on the bottom half of the arms.

for the elderly it can
often remove any vestige of independent mobility they may have and the
final miserable end arrives quite quickly after.

Quite, something we are keen to avoid at any cost.

For someone of that age if they or a relative have the finance a
homehelp for a couple of hours each week can be a good investment to
keeping them in their own home as long as possible, £25-40 a week is a
lot cheaper than what sitting vegetating in a care home costs.

Luckily, Mum seems way off that stage atm and is really enjoying going
out and about with friends and family. The problem we have it stopping
her over-extending because of the very points you raise (a small fall
or cut could be very bad at her age). An elderly family friend missed
the step whilst getting off a coach, fell, banged his head and died
right there. ;-(

So, we know the Dyson models and believe one might be useable by Mum,
initially just for use on the stairs but may also be ok for her to
'have a quick run round' between us doing a more thorough job with a
corded cleaner. Depending on what our daughter thinks, she may be
happy to let her Gran try ours before getting her one as a gift (which
I think is her plan).