21:15 I arrived. Flute music was playing on the radio. Dad's breathing was rapid and rasping (46 breaths per minute). His eyes were open.
21:36 Breathing 46/min. Blinking maybe once per minute. He groaned.
22:30 Two nurses came in to turn dad and swab his mouth. I saw that the discolouration of his legs went 2/3 of the way up his shins.
22:40 Breathing getting harder.
23:10 Breathing 46/min.
23:18 I wonder how long he can keep this hard breathing up. It is as if he has finished a long-distance race, but cannot ever recover like a runner would. Every few minutes his breath catches and he takes a bigger one.
23:35 I had a snack.
23:55 A nurse moistened dad's mouth with the swab and applied lip balm.
00:15 I took a short video of dad, using my phone.
00:20 I got a small reaction out of dad when I spoke to him. His pupils appeared very dilated, so I switched the light off again, since he was staring right at it.
00:25 The nurses came in to turn, swab, and apply balm. I asked why dad's tongue looked so scabby. One of the nurses said that it is just because of the way he is breathing, which dries out his mouth - and hence the swabs. When he was turned, dad's breathing suddenly went very quiet, almost silent. One of the nurses and I both looked sharply at dad to see whether he had stopped.
00:40 I had some more coffee.
00:49 47/min.
00:58 I did some stretching.
01:03 Dad groaned.
01:06 I reminded dad of the week I stayed with him at his flat in Virginia Water, in maybe 1980 or 1981. It was a good week.
01:17 A nurse came in to swab. Dad wanted to swallow some of the water, so she gave him a little more, but not enough to choke on.
01:57 50/min.
02:00 I had a snack.
02:07 50/min.
02:18 50/min.
02:25 The nurses came in to turn, swab and apply balm. One of them massaged his feet.
02:33-03:35 I read my novel.
03:37 44/min.
04:10 I sent an email to a friend.
04:12 I put the heater on.
04:18 The nurses came in to turn, swab and apply balm. Dad's breathing went very quiet again.
04:28 I drank some coffee.
05:05 A nurse came in to swab and balm.
05:10 Dad groaned.
05:18 I did some stretching.
05:22 I had a snack and started to read again.
06:00 A nurse came in to swab and balm.
06:27 48/min.
06:28 The nurses came in to turn, swab and apply balm.
06:30 Greg sent an SMS 'How is dad doing?' I replied 'same'.
08:02 A friend called to see how I was doing.
08:10 The manager came in to see dad and swab his mouth.
08:30 Greg called to see whether I would stay for a bit longer.
09:00 Greg arrived with coffee.
09:10 I left for home.

I got home at about 10 am. I called a friend and began this blog entry. At 11:35 Greg called, in tears, unable to speak.
'Is it dad?' I asked.
'Yes.'
'Is he dead?'
'Yes,' he said.

I said I would come over, and asked him to take it easy. He told me the home is going to notify Rachel.

It looks as if dad held on to die on his own.