To cut a long story short, mum had a stroke a couple of days before her 75th birthday, following her second admission for a fall. Mum is now back at home with a hospital bed and a special chair. She gets four daily visits from carers as she has lost all her independence. I’d say she’s lucid around 20% of the time, though her memory for the past is impeccable. The rest of the time she seems to spend in a hallucinatory world, and conversations can be challenging as it’s all very real to her. She lives alone and I live 2.5hr ride away, my brother lives a 2hr drive away. I can only really get to see her once a week at best. I’m here primarily to gain insight on how best to support her in terms of staving off boredom, keeping her engaged, and exercising that quirky brain of hers. I’d love to take her on day trips but, unlike my brother, I don’t have access to a car, and I think she’d object to being bungeed to the pillion seat of my bike (not to mention the fact that her late TT racing cousin put her off bikes for life, as a teen!). I should also add that mum is wholly aware of her situation as she used to be the senior Sister in charge of a neurosurgical unit back in the day. This did make explaining the nuts and bolts of what had happened to her much simpler.
Hello & welcome @yorkshire_biker
A sadly familiar story that’s been written about many times on near - if your search for “mum had a stroke” (or dad/ partner etc) you’ll find them - and I’ll put a couple of links in too
Normal suggestions for things to be occupied with are generally previous interests - colouring or patience or photography or cooking or… as adapted perhaps for dexterity & | balance/ cognition etc.
Some links to similar journeys (If I remember correctly - Which is a long way from certain 
) that unfold others stories & challenges & learnings - not any are wholly relevant but between them they cover quite a lot.
Others might remember threads that are more relevant!
Caio
Simon
@yorkshire_biker Hi & welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your mum’s stroke. It’s very difficult when you live so far away & can’t be there with her.
Has there been any suggestion of Occupational Therapist seeing her? They might think it’s not relevant but could be worth an ask. If your mum is able to use a smartphone or tablet she could maybe try some brain training apps.
Colouring kept me going in the early days after my stroke as did trying wordsearches / crosswords…although I wasn’t very good at them. Audio books / music might be something to look into aswell. Others have tried painting by numbers.
Does she knit/crochet?
Of course it will depend in what your mum enjoys but post stroke a lot of us find enjoyment in new hobbies too.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi @yorkshire_biker and welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear about your mum. I certainly hope she is recovering well. Speaking from the experience of my own stroke some years ago, there’s not much opportunity to get bored in those early weeks/months. Yes, I got bored but any interests to entertain me were always so short lived, just a matter of minutes at a time before the brain lost interest and moved me on to something else or resting. And yes, short term memory is basically buggered because the brain is spending so much time in repair and recovery it doesn’t have time to take in, process and store any new. And even the smallest, simplest of activities were draining.
With that in mind, the suggestions made by @SimonInEdinburgh and @Mrs5K, for puzzles and such, maybe keep them simple, easy and achievable to start with. That will be more than enough for the brain to start with. Easy access to her favourite music would also be good.
Recovery is going to take 6 months+; its a marathon not a race. Those first 6 months usually see the most recovery and then it slows down. But it doesn’t stop, it all depends on how much time and effort a person puts in as to how much they recover. And naturally age, general health condition and how active she was before the stroke will also factor into this.
Thanks for all the responses. It’s going on for six months since her stroke and she spends her time either in bed or in a special chair. She is wholly reliant on the carers, and they use a hoist to move her between bed and chair. She can’t yet operate a phone or tablet, and I am thinking of getting her an Echo device that has a screen so people can video call her. She did used to be really creative, and enjoyed knitting and singing with the local rock choir. I have been singing with her after reading an article on how the part of the brain that processes music is separate from speech.
I like the idea of encouraging her to knit, though her dexterity has been grossly affected by the stroke (she has her drinks in a lidded cup unless supervised). Perhaps chunky needles might be an option? AgeUK did a home visit to see if she was suitable for support - just someone to pop round and chat to her for an hour to stave off the loneliness - but they said she was ‘too complex’ for their volunteers. She’s still having physiotherapy at home.
She could definitely try knitting & maube chunky needle will be worth a try. She might struggle to start with but with practice her skills might come back. A lot of stroke recovery is about repetition. Keep repeating the same thing & improvement is often made.
I love that you’re singing with her. Video calls are also a good idea. Some company for her for a short time which might just cheer her up. Bear in mind she might tire easy.
Best wishes
Ann