A #Tortoise + A Weather Report + #Crafting

 

The photos at the top of this post are just a couple of random ones I took with my phone's camera of Artemis climbing on a pile of throw pillows on the sofa.  Just because you haven't seen an Artemis photo in a while, so I thought I'd take a photo or two to share with you.

***~~~***

The days are just flying by.  It's hard to believe we're already a week in to April.  But, here we are.

~

 

We got a little bit of snow just as we entered April.  We didn't take photos, because none of it settled.  We did get something like half an inch, but the conditions weren't right for it to stick around once it hit the ground.  I got to have fun catching snowflakes though, so there's that.

Lilie and Logan love when it snows too.  Partially because they do play with the snow a bit (though Lilie wasn't so interested in it this time) but I think mostly because I'm never in any hurry to go indoors when there's snow, which means they get to stay outside longer.  LOL!

~

Since then it's been alternating between rain and hail storms, and sunshine.  And the temperatures have been all over the place as well, so that one day we're opening the windows to let a nice breeze in, and the next we're making sure the windows are firmly closed and looking for warm blankets to snuggle in because it's so cold.

***~~~***

I've been doing a lot with the ACB Crafters.  I'm now part of their admin team, so helping to run some of the classes.  So much for my not wanting anything to do with all this when I was first told about the ACB Community calls about a year ago.  LOL!

 

~

 

Anyway, I have some photos of finished projects to show you.

First, here are two different loom knitted shamrocks I made:

Next, here's a crocheted shamrock and a crocheted mini Easter basket:

I'm thinking of putting the shamrocks on some fabric and turning it in to a shamrock themed throw pillow.  The crochet and smaller loom knitted ones are close to the same size, and anyway all three of them are slightly different, so I thought it would look nice with the big loom knitted one in the middle, and the smaller two one on either side of it.

Anyway, I also made a couple of Easter cards... One with a rabbit head on it, and the other with two sheep on it... These were my own designs, and not following the ones the class was doing, because I didn't have the kit.  Anyway, here they are:

And this is the party hat you'll have seen if you read Lilie's post last week:

~

I also sometimes attend classes via Future In Sight, which Kaila (one of the ones in charge of the ACB Crafters) works for.  Those are held via Zoom like the ACB Crafters ones, and are also aimed at visually impaired crafters.

Anyway, I made this rope coaster in one of those workshops recently:

And, while trying to get the rope coaster made, I somehow made this cone shaped thing, which reminds me of the kind of hat you'd see on a garden gnome, so I've been calling it a gnome hat, and am thinking of making a gnome to put it on.  Anyway, here it is:

***~~~***

Going to let this do for today.

Hope you're having a great week.

#Storms + #Crafting + Random Ramblings

Storm Eunice, which hit at the end of last week, was bad enough that the MET office issued a red warning for severe weather, and I'm told stories of the damage from it were mentioned on the news outside the UK.  There was a bit of rain and hail with it (and a little snow in some areas, though not anywhere near me) but mostly it was the winds that were the problem, and the cause of all the damage.

 

Schools were switched to remote learning the day it hit, and the rubbish collection didn't happen.  It's possible there was no post delivery that day either, because I don't recall hearing any sounds of the postman/woman (we have both, and I'm not sure which would have been delivering that day) and something I'd been expecting to arrive that day didn't come until the following day, when the winds weren't quite so strong, though the rain and hail were heavier, and the storm was definitely still around.

 

The noise from the wind tossing things about, and making our letterbox bang, was driving the dogs nuts, so they were barking a LOT.  Though I was struggling to remember it while dealing with the constant barking, I'm incredibly grateful things weren't worse for us - we only lost power very briefly, and the only damage we needed to worry about was to a drain pipe that somehow got bent in the wind (which we're now waiting to have fixed... Unless it gets done between when I'm putting this post together and when it goes live).  A lot of people weren't so lucky.

 

~

 

The milder storm Dudley had been here before Storm Eunice, and then Eunice was followed on Monday by Franklyn, which hit further North, so things were even milder in my area than with Eunice, with just a little wind and some rain.  They say there's yet another named storm on its way in the next day or so though, so we'll see what happens with that one.

 

*~*

I finished some more craft projects.

For one thing, I worked on an enamel jewelry kit I got from Cosy Craft Club, and made a necklace with three red and white flags and two blue flags on it, as well as a bracelet with a round circle that's blue with white flecks.  Had to get Dad to help me with atatching the chains, because it was rather fiddly, and I was struggling to manage it.  Anyway, here are photos of them:

I also went to a Future In Sight quilling class, which is part of the Zoom sessions they do for their Kaila's Craft Corner podcast.  And I made this picture of a flower, which also has two hearts and two stars in the corners of the canvas.  The colours are kind of random, because I didn't know which colours I was grabbing for each piece (and didn't really care, hence not asking Kelly to help me make sure I knew which was which before I started).  Anyway, here's my quilling picture:

And I made this good luck card, just as an excuse to play with the Celtic knot and shamrock stamps I got recently.  Yes, I wrote the, "Good luck," on the card.  Anyway, here's a photo of it:

~

I love getting my happy post, as I call it, but I've decided not to continue with the Cosy Craft Club and Makerly Crafts boxes any more.  Though I'll be continuing to get the subscription boxes I have for other things.

 

They're fantastic kits, and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a craft subscription box.  However, it's harder for me to do those kits because of instruction accessibility, so for the most part they're just piling up while I work on other crafts.  And even when I have accessible versions of the instructions - like I got from Rachel of Cosy Craft Club for the jewelry kit... Thanks for that, Rachel (if she happens to see this post, which is doubtful, but you never know) - they're still really tricky for me to do without calling in sighted help, because they're designed with sight and the ability to see the pictures in the instructions in mind.

 

So I decided to stop those, and use the money I'm spending on those each month to ensure I have the supplies for any projects I want to do with the ACB Crafters group or Future In Sight, which are spacifically designed with visual limitations in mind, so are much more accessible to me.

 

I will, of course, get someone to help me get the Cosy Craft Club and Makerly Crafts kits I do have done - Dad and Kelly have both agreed to help - but I won't have those coming every month now, and they'll just be done whenever time and availability of sighted help permits in between other projects.

*~*

There's new content on my YouTube channel, with hopefully plenty more to come in the not-too-distant future.

 

The new stuff this time is all music videos and poetry readings, but you might like to check it out.  If you would like to check it out, and aren't subscribed to my channel, you can find it here.

I'm thinking of possible ideas for other things to put on my YouTube channel, but not sure what I'll do yet.  Suggestions and requests for content are welcome, so feel free to post those below, or eMail me.

*~*

 

On February 13th I did host training with the ACB.  Now I'm officially an ACB trained Zoom host, and can host calls as well as facilitate them.  Well, not at the same time, since the two roles have to be held by separate people if it's on an ACB call, but you get the point.

 

I had my shadow session this past Sunday (February 20th) which is when an experienced host acts as co-host for a newly trained one, just to make absolutely certain they know what they're doing.  It's something all new hosts do for their first time hosting, just to be sure someone's on hand if they have issues.  And tonight (Friday February 25th) I do my first solo hosting session.  It was going to be tomorrow, but I got a message asking if I can fill in tonight, and I'm available at that time, so I said I could.

*~*

 

On February 15th Kelly had his Covid booster.  Now he's tripple vaccinated.  He was a bit more tired than usual for the first 24 hours after it, but otherwise you wouldn't have known he had anything done.  He's been really lucky with jab reactions every single time, even with him being given the Maderna vaccine this time for some reason, despite having had the Pfizer one for the other two.

 

*~*

Speaking of Kelly: he went to the shop for something the day before Valentine's Day, and came home with a present for me.  These white roses:

 

And he promptly apologized because they were white and not yellow.  He said there were all kinds of shades of pinks,  as well as both red and white, but he couldn't find yellow.  It bothered him because he knows yellow roses are my favourite kind of flower.  I told him the white ones are close enough, and anyway I appreciate the thought enough not to mind what colour they are.

A Weather Report + #Crafting + #AmWriting + #Music + Day To Day Life

No sign of any more snow here.  Some rain, some sun, some chilly temperatures, but no snow.

 

Never mind, there's plenty of time for more yet, and it's not unusual for us to get our best snow in March, so I'm not giving up hope.

 

~

 

Anyway, it's been a busy week, so let's take a look at what's been going on in my world during the past week, shall we?

*~*

Friday was mostly taken up with Zoom calls.  I try to make it to the ACB Presents call every day at 9:00am Eastern, and like to pop in to the ACB Crafters call for a while before the Free To Be Me call I co-facilitate on Fridays.  But I also decided to go to another call, which I don't always attend, but is fun when I do.  Between that and the usual day to day chores, petkid care, etc - which you can just assume I did every day, and I won't bother mentioning every time - there wasn't much of Friday left.

*~*

Saturday was a day mostly filled with crafting.  I attended a Zoom call on ways to add crochet to other forms of crafts (cards, fabric, etc) which was fun and interesting.  I also finished up the crochet mug hug I'd been making, which I mentioned in last week's post, and which Kelly has claimed for his mug.  LOL!

Here's a photo of the green crochet mug hug (essentially a mug cosy) on Kelly's mug:

Oh, and here's a photo of the blue needle knitted round dishcloth/doily thing I made too:

~

 

I also wrote the first draft of an article on audio book production I've been meaning to get to.  I've been promising someone I'd work on it since about November, so it was long since over-due in my opinion, even if I didn't officially have a deadline for when I was meant to submit it by.

~

The other thing I did Saturday - well, I'm calling it Saturday, but it was technically Sunday, since it was actually early hours of Sunday morning for me - was to go to ACB's Saturday night kareoke, which I've started doing on a regular basis now.  And, yes, I sing each time I'm there.

I attend the ACB's open mic night when they do that too, but that doesn't happen every week like kareoke does, because the person who facilitates that can't do it every week.  But I read some of my poems for that instead of singing.  I mention it though because it's another one that happens late (when it's on it's a Wednesday night/Thursday morning thing) and I wanted to tell you about what happened after the last one ended, since you won't have seen about it if you're not on Facebook, and might find it as amusing as I do.

So, when open mic night ended it was about 3:00am for me.  And - seeing me remove my headset - Lilie and Logan got up and ran off in to the bedroom, knowing I go in there afterwards, even if I end up reading rather than sleeping.  I didn't pay much attention, but the next thing I know there's a whole lot of noise going on in there, so I went in to see what they were up to.

They were jumping on the bed.  Literally just bouncing up and down on the bed.

I asked them if they realized it was 3:00am, and they stopped bouncing for a moment, looked at me as if to ask if I had a point, and - deciding I clearly didn't - promptly started bouncing on the bed again.

I guess they didn't care if it was 3:00am, or see why that meant they shouldn't bounce on the bed.  LOL!

*~*

Sunday I finally got a chance to play with my potters' wheel.  I made two pots of slightly different sizes and shapes (one a sort of vase shape, and the other a little round pot) which you can see in the photos below.

 

 

 

 

I also made the pen part of a pig sty I'm making as part of the scenery I'm making for my Dad for gaming.  I told my Dad with how much crafting I'm doing he'd likely end up with handmade items for his birthday and Christmas the way I'm going, and he said the thing he needs most is more scenery for his figure gaming, and mentioned an interest in things you'd find in farms or rural settings, like a pig sty, a pond, etc, so I'm taking him at his word and making him a pig sty, and will later make him a pond or two as well.  He gets what he wants/needs for gaming without having to pay ridiculously high prices for scenery, or find time to make it himself,and I get to play with my clay.  Everybody wins.  But, anyhow, I only got as far as making the pen part of the pig sty on Sunday, since I wanted that to dry before I started working on doing the shelter for the pigs to go in it.  Plus ran out of time to do more than that anyhow.

~

I also went to a cooking themed ACB Zoom call on Sunday, where they sometimes do cooking demonstrations, and other times discuss things on the general theme of cooking.  This week they were talking about meal planning and prepping, which is something I'm trying to get back in the habit of doing.  It was an interesting call, which I'm glad I went to.

*~*

Monday afternoon I had a papercrafting Zoom meeting scheduled with someone I won it from in the ACB Crafters holiday party I attended a week before Christmas, which for various reasons has taken us this long to be able to arrange.  So I tried to make sure to have everything ready for it before the ACB Presents call, since with my time difference I was scheduled to literally come out of one meeting and in to the other.  I forgot a few things though, so had to go run and get them during the call.  Despite not being quite as prepared as I thought I was, I still managed to make two cards during it though, trying out a couple of new techniques for me; I'd never done cards with extra folds like these before.

One of the cards I made was a star-themed one.  The bulk of the card is white.  The inside has green stars stamped across the top of what would be the back of the card front, and blue presents stamped across the bottom of that same side, with a strip of blue running down the other side.  When the card is closed you can see that strip of blue, and the rest of the front has a strip of green on it, more stamped green stars and blue presents, and three slightly overlapping stars (two blue stars, and a bigger silver glittery star with a small red star in the center of it).  Here are photos of both the inside and outside of that card:

 

The other card is a more feminine card.  The inside has purple butterflies stamped on a white background on what would be the back of the front of the card, and the other side is a yellow background with a pink balloon up near the top of one corner, and a pink heart almost centered at the bottom.  When you close the card the balloon and that area of the yellow background is visible.  The other side of the top of the front has an orange background with a silvery glittery heart on it, and the bottom of the front is left white with purple butterflies stamped on it, and a pink ribbon in the shape of a bow. Here are photos of the inside and outside of that card:

 

 

~

 

I have roleplaying some Mondays, but this wasn't one of them.  Just as well, since we ended up having Mam's dog, Izabel, over for a sleepover Monday night, because Mam was unwell.

 

Lilie loved it; Izi and Lilie had a great time playing together.  Logan wasn't so pleased about the idea; Logan thinks Izabel and Lilie are much too energetic, and spends most of the time when Izi is here just trying to stay out of the way of the girls' games, while also trying to keep them in sight so he doesn't miss anything he might decide he'd like to be involved in after all.

 

*~*

 

To Logan's relief and Lilie's disappointment, Izabel went home Tuesday early evening, during the time when we often have had Dad over for roleplaying and dinner, but as it happened this week I only saw Dad for him to act as mine and Izi's transport, since he and Wayne had their Covid boosters Tuesday afternoon, so we had planned on us not seeing him until it turned out I needed transport to first pick Izabel up on Monday, and then take her home Tuesday.

~

Shortly before Izabel went home on Tuesday I went to a different ACB cooking Zoom call where they were making ginger brownies, and offered some substitution tips for those who might want to reduce the amount of sugar they use (or use a different kind of sugar) or avoid using eggs for whatever reason.

~

I also went to an online clay workshop on Tuesday, which was for the visually impaired, but not run by the ACB.  It was run by Future In Sight.  Officially it was a beginner workshop, but to me it was just an excuse to play with my clay again.  LOL!

Anyway, I made a sort of oval shaped shallow pinch pot.  And here it is:

I also made the walls for the shelter part of the pig pen.  Since some games are better with no roof put on buildings you make for scenery to use with them, while for others a roof is a good idea, and I'm not sure which kind Dad wants this for, I decided to let Dad do the roof if he wants his pig pen to have one, so here's a photo of the finished pig pen, which is essentially a round pen with the walls for a square-ish structure inside it, and a gate like you'd find on a farm in one area of the pen's wall.

*~*

Wednesday was one of those days when I needed a lot of resting time.  But I also had my keyboard lesson, and there's a fun chatty call I like to go to about an hour after the music lesson ends, so I did make sure to be up for those, as well as for the ACB Presents call.

~

The only other thing - besides essential petkid and personal care tasks - I stayed up to do on Wednesday was to take the time to use the bit of clay I hadn't used up from the open packet Tuesday to make the foundation and walls for another building I'll be giving to Dad.  Again, he can either add a roof or not, depending on what he wants to do with it.  But here it is:

*~*

Thursday I finished working on that article, and finally sent it to the person.

I also got caught up on laundry - in case you're interested in hearing about that.

~

The only other thing of note about Thursdays is that I have a knitting Zoom call I go to late evening my time on Thursdays.  This week's was needle knitting.  It's needle knitting on the first and third Thursdays of the month, and loom knitting on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

*~*

Since I'm putting this together Thursday ready for it to publish Friday morning while I'm on the way to the hospital for my Haematologist appointment, that's you all caught up with everything that's happened between now and my last post.  I hope you enjoyed having a day by day glimpse in to my week.  Not all my weeks are as full as this one was... I had a lot going on this week, that's for sure!

Mam's Birthday + The #WinterSolstice & #Christmas 2021 + Wishing You A Happy #NewYear

It was my Mam's birthday on December 19th.  She wanted a birthday cake I could have some of, so I made her a vegan one. It's a two layer ginger cake with vanilla buttercream icing between the layers, and pink icing in various shades on the top and sides, some of which spells out the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAM" with a couple of little hearts below the writing.  Here's a photo:

*~*

I forgot to have Kelly take a photo of the fake mistletoe hanging above our living room doorway when he did our holiday decoration photos, so here's a photo of that:

Also, we got a pine reef for the door, so here's a photo of that too:

*~*

As you may or may not know, Kelly and I celebrate the Winter Solstice, so for us the holidays kick off a couple of days early.  But the rest of the family celebrates Christmas, so most years we end up doing both.  This year was one of those years.  We had our own celebration on the 21st of December, exchanged gifts with my Mam Christmas Eve, and exchanged gifts with my Dad and Wayne (one of my brothers) on Boxing Day.  In between those things I was involved in various festive calls with the ACB, including a virtual tree lighting on Christmas Eve, which was great fun.

~

Lilie was really excited when she realized Santa Paws had been, and eager to get hold of whatever treats he'd left for her.  Logan was rather confused by the whole thing, but eager to accept any treats and toys on offer.  Logan's always happy to be involved if there's something in it for him, even if he's not sure what's going on - especially if that something involves treats.

Anyway, here are our stockings and gift bags all set out on the chair and sofa ready for us to open.  There's a gift bag and stocking each for me and Kelly, and a gift bag and two stockings between the petkids (one stocking is for Lilie and Logan, one is for Mollie and Artemis, and the bag is for all of them).

 

 

 

And here's a clip we took when Lilie realized Santa Paws had been:

The dogs also got some tennis balls, and some squeaky snowballs...

As well as a toy goose each that's a cross between a cuddly toy with a squeaker in it and a rope tuggy toy, which I'm giving to them in this next photo:

Plus a honking pig toy each, which I didn't get photos of them with, and a load of treats, including the rawhide candy canes I'm giving them in the first of these next photos, which they're each enjoying in the two following it (at least, that's how it will be if these post in the order I'm uploading them).

Mollie and Artemis got some raisins and some dried rosepetals to share.  Mollie also got a willow reef to gnaw on.  I didn't end up getting photos of Mollie and Artemis though.

~

As for me...

I got a potter's wheel and some clay to use with it, bath/shower stuff, plenty of vegan friendly treats, a whole load of Burrows & Badgers figures to add to my collection, a snuggly blanket, a bird sounds CD, two pairs of Disney socks (Dumbo and Eeyore) and some money.

I also got this Discworld themed bookmark and cuddly toy of "The Luggage" (a character from the series that's basically a magical trunk with loads of legs on its underside that gets in to mischief)...

A black "Witches Brew" teapot...

A wooden ornamental Hogwarts Express...

An oil/wax melts burner with oils and wax melts to use with it.  Plus the dragon shaped incense holder in this next photo, with some incense cones and sticks to use with it.

And some cards from a few of my family and friends...

Speaking of cards: if you didn't get one from me, that's because I only ended up doing them for immediate family, because I left it too late and didn't have the time or energy to even get them made before the holidays in the end.  I'll try to do better next year.

*~*

Whatever you did to celebrate them, how were your holidays? Did you get anything nice?

 

Also, since it's New Year's Eve, I'd like to wish you a happy New Year! Stay safe while doing whatever you might be doing to ring in the new year - if you are doing anything, I mean.  See you in 2022!

Recent Important Dates, Medical Mutterings, And Random Happenings

I missed mentioning both my bookerversary and bloggerversary this year.

 

April 22nd was the 11th anniversary of when I published my first book.  It was "Mr. Pumpkin-Head And Other Poems" - in case you don't know, but are interested.  I've published more than 50 titles since then.

 

And May 3rd was the 15th anniversary of when I published my first blog post, which was on this very blog.

~

 

Also, Ostara (the Spring Equinox) and Beltane have both come and gone, with only minimal celebration, and no acknowledgement on here.  For those who don't know, and are interested, Ostara is generally celebrated on March 20th (though the astrological event that marks the equinox may not actually fall on that exact date) and Beltane is celebrated on May 1st (or, in some cases, April 30th through May 1st).

 

I'd just damaged my hand when Ostara rolled around, and still wasn't feeling too great from the issues with the jab come Beltane, so I didn't do much for either.  However, they weren't completely ignored.

 

On the afternoon of March 20th I attended the monthly crafting Zoom I've started going to.  I couldn't do any crafting, but figured I'd go along for the company and a chat anyhow, and still managed to enjoy myself.  That evening I attended a live Facebook concert by a Pagan musician named Damh The Bard.  If you'd like to check him out, his YouTube channel can be found by clicking here.

For Beltane I attended a Zoom Beltane gathering an online friend was hosting.  Patty - the host - was a little surprised I did manage to make it, since it started at midnight here in the UK, but with my sleep pattern I'd actually woken up from a nap not too long before.  I'd said I'd go if I was up, and I was up, so I went.  And we had a great time.  OK, so it technically wasn't Beltane any more with me by the time it was happening, but never mind.  It was something I did to celebrate, I enjoyed it, and that's what matters.

I'd also attended a Zoom book club on the evening of April 30th, which is a weekly thing also hosted by Patty.  I had a great time with that too.  I've never been in an actual book club before.

 

~

 

There's also been one more important date: Kelly's 50th birthday.

His birthday was on May 2nd.

We'd hoped all restrictions would be lifted before his birthday, so he could avoid having another lockdown birthday.  Especially with it being a big one.  But with some restrictions still in place, and my poor health and dietary issues causing even more restrictions, it ended up being a quiet birthday at home again, with take-away: Chinese for me, and pizza for him.

 

My Mam arranged some chocolate cake for him for me though, and he had a few cards, as well as plenty of money, which he spent on some figure gaming stuff he wanted, including the newest codex for the army he plays for Warhammer 40,000, and a set of files to help with putting the figures together (since we can't find his existing set... We assume it's among the things not yet unpacked).

 

Anyway, here are the cards he got from my Dad and Grandma:

And here's the one I made for him:

 

 

~

 

Making Kelly's card is the only crafting I've so far done since damaging my hand, but I hope to get to do more soon, since I have an ever-growing pile of craft kits, a couple of projects of my own on the go, and a few projects of Nan's I'd like to try and finish up for her.  And that's if you only focus on kits and partial projects, without thinking about all the potential options all those craft supplies present.

 

Soon.  Very soon!

 

~

 

For now though, Kelly wanted to show you all some of the figures he's been putting together.

 

They're some of his figures for his Space Marines army for Warhammer 40,000, and here they are:

*~*~*

For anyone wondering: I'm still struggling with recovering from the effects of the Covid jab.  In fact, last Friday morning (April 30th) the doctor sent me to the hospital for tests, since it had been five weeks since I had my Covid Vaccination, and I was - and still am - still suffering badly.

 

Amazingly, though I ended up with a nasty bruise, and my arm still hurts like mad in that spot (despite it being done a week ago) the nurse taking blood from me managed to get blood first time, which was a relief, and a welcome change from the usual fight to get my veins to co-operate.

 

Anyway, according to the results (which I got yesterday) my kidney function is  on the low end of the normal scale, but not a cause for concern right now,  which is fantastic for me, since I've had kidney problems literally since my conception.  And pretty much everything else is clear/normal for me too.  So, that's excellent news.

 

The only cause for concern is a slightly low platelet count, which could be just that we caught it at the point in its cycle where it's naturally low, could be a sign of a compramized immune system, or could be something worse.  With it only being a bit low, the doctor is thinking one of the first two options, but I'm to have it checked again in five weeks (six weeks from when it was done before) so he can see what it is then to get an idea of if it's staying the same, or see if it increases or decreases, and if so which direction it goes in, and by how much.  He's not overly concerned, but does think it worth checking to be sure, and I'm inclined to agree with him.

What this essentially means is that my body has finally - despite me still feeling otherwise - decided to step up and finish fighting the effects of the shot like it's meant to, but was slow enough doing so that I'm not recovered yet, but I should, in theory, go back to my normal in a few more weeks (apart from the now worse asthma).  I sure hope so.  It's so far been six weeks since I got the jab, and I have yet to do so, but that's hardly surprising with how bad of a reaction I had.  Fingers crossed it won't be much longer, because these headaches especially are really getting to me.

#Pets, #Crafting, #Baking, #MothersDay, A Birthday, And Medical Mutterings

 

 

The above photo shows Artemis enjoying a bit of green bean, and is included just because she's cute, and because I took it (how much she was enjoying that bean made me feel I had to take a photo). Though I'm starting the post with it, it was a last moment addition to the post, since I only took it yesterday (Thursday). Sorry if it's not a great shot, but I was doing everything one-handed.  If you saw my post on social media, you'll know why.  If you didn't, you'll understand by the end of this post.

         

*~*~* 

         

Despite the fact it's still a little bit chaotic in there, I found an excuse to play in my craft room a little.  Well, technically two excuses: Mother's Day (which was March 14th here in the UK this year) and the birthday of one of my brothers (which was March 15th).

 

So, this past Saturday (March 13th) I spent a bit of time in the craft room to make them cards.  And here they are, for anyone who would like to see them:

    

            

~ 

        

Presentwise...

 

I brought Mam a new purse (wallet) as well as a magnifying glass with a light on it that would help her when she's trying to read things, since she's said a few times recently she could do with both things.  I made sure the magnifying glass was one that also has a light on it on purpose, since she says her living room is quite dark, so I thought that would also help her with seeing to read things, since good lighting can help in itself.  It's also lightweight and easy to grip (designed to be so for people, such as children, the elderly, or people with medical conditions that affect their hands or arms, who might struggle to hold anything heavy for extended periods of time).  She seemed really pleased with what I got her.

 

And I gave Wayne some money, because he said that's what he wanted.

         

*~*~* 

         

Mam and I cooked a roast dinner for Mother's Day. It was Mam's idea, so no comments about how I made my Mam cook on Mother's Day, please.  I didn't make her, she insisted, even though I asked her a million times if she wouldn't rather not do so.

 

Anyway, we were cooking for four, since Mam always cooks her next door neighbour dinner on a Sunday, so we made sure to make enough that she'd have one to take back to him as well as the meals for me, Mam, and Kelly.  As it happened, there was alsosome left that I put aside to have a couple of days later for a leftovers dinner, which meant it ended up being Wednesday before I had to worry about cooking again, since Dad provided my dinner for Monday (as I'll explain in a moment).

 

It was a chicken dinner for the rest of them, but we made me a vegan potato and beetroot gratin, which Mam had spotted the recipe for when looking for something for me to have with my potatoes, parsnips, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.  I wouldn't have minded not having anything else with all that veg, but she insisted, and the potato and beetroot gratin did sound nice, so we made it.  It was beetroot, and potatoes, sliced, and then layered with some vegan cheese, with a white sauce (flour, vegan butter, and vegan milk... Oat in this case, since it's what I had open).  It was very nice too.  Here's what it looked like after it was cooked, both before and after we started serving some of it:

We also made pear and apple ccrumble, though I didn't get any photos of that.  There was regular vanilla icecream to go with that for Mam and Kelly (well, actually, Kelly just had the icecream, since he didn't want any crumble) and a coconut-based icecream alternative for me.  Mam took some crumble home for her neighbour too, but gave him custard with his.  I had Kelly's piece later, with more of the coconut-based icecream, since he insisted he definitely didn't want it, and crumble is a favourite dessert of mine.

    

~ 

    

Kelly got me a craft kit to make a needle book from the petkids for Mother's Day.  It's a felt needle book kit, which is meant to feature an embroidered design on the front.  So, there's another kit to add to my projects list.

 

It's a very useful one though, since a lot of Nan's sewing needles are just in a little pill pot, so having them in a book would be a good idea.  But I can't put them in mine, since the little needle book I made is already full.  That's another reason making another one would be a good plan: if I have any needles with any of the kits I have waiting to be done - which I likely do, since a couple of them do involve sewing, if I remember correctly - I'll need something to put those in too.

        

*~*~* 

        

Since Dad being the carer for my brother, Wayne, means Wayne's had to be part of my extended bubble anyhow so thatDad could still help us with a few things (like getting those food boxes) we all agreed it would be OK for me to get to see him on his birthday, which was the first time I'd seen him in person since early December... Last time I saw Wayne in person was when Dad was looking after both of us the weekend we moved back to Wales in early December, and took me and the dogs to Wayne's place for a large chunk of the Sunday.

 

We've been being cautious with physical contact even in our bubble, which is why I went so long without seeing him in person, but we figured it would be OK, especially with lockdown restrictions being eased enough that you're allowed to mix with another household - though only one other household - now.  A rule change here in Wales that came in on March 13th.  We're still being cautious - even with the rule change - but Dad's been going between us these past few months anyhow, caring for Wayne, and helping us with a few things, and has sometimes been close to all of us at one time or another without a mask during his duties, so if there was any risk we'd have already exposed each other anyway.

So, I went with Dad to see Wayne for his birthday.  And, to make sure it was vegan (so that I could have some too) I made Wayne a birthday cake.  I made a cinnamon cake, so we could have it sweet enough for me and Wayne, but without making it overly sweet for Dad (who's diabetic, so needs to be careful of sugars).  To make it a little more special for Wayne, but still keep sugars down for Dad, I dusted the top with a little nutmeg in the way people sometimes do with powdered sugar.  I made it on the morning of Wayne's birthday, so it had only been baked a few hours before Dad took me down to Waynes with him that evening.  Sorry, no photo of the cake, since I forgot to get one.

         

~ 

         

Dad brought us all Chinese food.  So we had that, and then Wayne let me play with Gizmo (his Leopard Gecko) for a few minutes.  After that we watched a movie, and then had some of the cake I made.

 

The movie we watched was "Carry On: Don't Lose Your Head" - which was Wayne's choice.  I'm not a huge fan of the Carry On movies.  They're funny in parts, so I don't dislike them, but they're definitely not something I'd pick if I was choosing the entertainment for the evening.  But it was his birthday, so he got to choose.  At least this was one of the better Carry On movies.

Since I need something to do with my hands when I'm watching a movie - especially if I'm tired - I took my crochet down with me to work on that while we watched the movie, so got a couple of rows of my crochet scarf done that evening.  I got a little less done than I expected, since Maya was rather pleased to see me, so I had to wait for her to calm down before I could work on it.  I don't mind though, since I was there to see Wayne (and sort of the animals too, because it's me).

        

~ 

        

It was a lovely evening... Until I shut my hand in the car door when me and Dad were leaving.

Luckily, the door didn't close properly, so only minor damage was done.  But - as we discovered when I finally relented and agreed to go to the hospital the following evening (so, this past Tuesday) - that was bad enough, and I did plenty of damage as it is.

 

I cracked the bone of my middle finger on my right hand.  It's only a small crack, though they can't tell exactly how small, because I also crushed the finger a little, so things are slightly compressed at the moment.

It could have been a lot worse.

Let me tel you though, this is bad enough!It's very painful, and my issues with taking most painkillers means there's not really anything to do but tolerate it, and hope it heals quickly so it will stop hurting.

 

My middle finger is strapped to my ring finger, and will be for the next six weeks, with only short breaks between changes of the bandaging.  I can only use the thumb and index finger on that hand, but have strict instructions to only do so when absolutely essential for the next few weeks, since it's only out of consideration for my lack of sight I was allowed that much use of the hand.

 

Yes, I've just been typing this with one hand.  It's been an incredibly slow process.

Needless to say, I haven't done any crafting since Monday, or made progress with organizing anything this week.  Unfortunately, I have several more weeks before that can change.

       

~ 

        

Anyway, those of you who know him - or read last week's post - probably won't be surprised to hear that Logan wasn't happy about me being gone all evening, and was overjoyed when Dad brought me home at what Logan considered a time that was much too long after the time I left.

 

Actually, he wasn't alone in his feelings.  None of the petkids were too impressed at me being gone, since I was out past the time we turn Artemis' lamps off for the night (9:00pm) so Kelly sorted the 'tortoise time' routine (which involves checking Artemis and making sure she's safely tucked up in one of her sleeping spots for the night, turning off her lamps, giving Mollie her evening snack, and starting to settle the dogs for the night).  It's usually me who does those things, and none of the petkids were impressed that Kelly did them instead.  According to my petkids, "At least someone did them for you," isn't a good enough answer, and the fact it was Wayne's birthday isn't a good enough excuse.

  

Logan - and Lilie, for that matter - were rather upset when I then disappeared for several hours again the following evening.  And crazy with excitement when I returned home.

        

*~*~*

        

For those who might be wondering: my Mam had her Covid vaccination on March 13th, and other than some pain in the arm they used for the shot, as well as a headache, is just fine.  Well, she's also feeling tired and drained, but since she suffers with chronic fatigue anyhow, I'm not sure if that's just her normal tiredness, from our late night because of all the time the hospital trip took (it was Mam who took me... Once she finally convinced me to go) or if it is part of her shot reaction.

 

Dad gets his tomorrow, so hopefully he'll have the same luck.

 

With how they're doing it over here though, they won't get their second dose until early June.

        

~ 

        

I was slightly reasured to learn that the first thing they did was ask Mam several questions, including what her allergies are - both to medicines and food items - and how she'd reacted to flu jabs in the past.  So, at least they are considering that.  She was going to ask them about it because of me, but didn't bother since they ask about it anyhow, so she figured she'd let me and them decide when I show up and mention my previous reactions and the list of things I'm allergic to whether or not I should get the new jab.

#Snow + A Happy #Westie Wiggle Dance + #Grogu+ A #Teapot + #Selfcare + Inheriting #Crafting Supplies

Look what we woke up to Sunday morning:

 

 

The dogs and I had to go out and play in it, of course...

Apparently my dogs love the snow as much as I do.  This is their first time seeing this much snow at once, and they were thrilled.  They were also as reluctant as me to stay indoors, and as eager as me to keep going out to play in it, which - since they were enthusiastic about the idea, and it gave me an excuse to do so - we did on and off most of the day.

To my delight - since yes, I was delighted, even after a day playing in it - it snowed more in the afternoon, after a bit of the earlier stuff had melted, and we'd trampled a lot of it.  So, since we caught it snowing this time (we'd been asleep when the earlier snow fell, so it was a nice surprise for me to wake up to) we got a bit of a video of the snow falling:

 

 

 Later that same day it snowed some more...

So, of course, I took the dogs out to play in it yet again...

(OK, so I took them so I could go out there again myself, but whatever... They still got to go outside again, which they were happy about).

I know this isn't much to some of you, and it will likely all be gone before this goes live, but... We got around five inches in total in our area that day, with a lot of it (what hadn’t melted or frozen overnight) still on the ground the next day, which is a big snowfall here in Wales.  It's rare to get more than an inch or so in one snowfall.  It's been a great Winter for snow this year, and Winter's not even over yet!

~

I’ve been mentioning Lilie’s happy wiggle dance since she was a tiny puppy, and trying to get a video of it for almost as long.  But, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t get it on video, even though it’s her regular form of greeting.  Now though, with her almost four years old, I can finally show you it, since my Mam got a video for me when I took the dogs outside to greet her when she came to drop off a couple of things she’d picked up for me from Tescos that we didn’t get in our food box, and couldn’t get at the corner shop.  So, though I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with an excited Logan getting in the way from time to time (he was pleased to see Nana too) here, at long last, is a clip of Lilie doing her happy wiggle dance:

 

 

As you can see, my dogs love visitors – especially Lilie.  Even Logan is learning to be enthusiastic about people other than me and Kelly.  Just wait until we stop being in lockdown so Mam and Dad’s visits don’t have to be restricted to them only seeing us briefly for essential errands*.  Lilie’s going to be over-the-moon.  LOL!

 

*We could technically have one of them visit more.  However, to do that we’d have to prevent the other coming, and since both of them are doing different things to help us, we all agreed it made more sense for us to just restrict visits from both to short ones just while essential errands/tasks are dealt with, and keep other contact to phone calls.

 

~

 

Though we still have plenty of things we actually need to get to sort things in the new house, when we learned that Build-A-Bear did a Grogu (Baby Yoda) plushy, I really wanted one, so Kelly told me to get myself one, and count it as paying myself back some of the money I should have been having presents from anyhow (in other words, the money I’d gotten for my birthday and Christmas, which I’d been prioritizing paying for moving and household costs out of, and not spending on myself like I was meant to).  So, I got a Grogu plushy, and here he is:

 

 

He has a sound chip in each of his little paws.  One plays the “Mandelorian” theme tune, and the other plays the various cute little baby sounds you hear him making throughout the show.  I could have had him with just one or the other, or with neither, but I decided to splurge for the whole package.  I mean, if I was paying out for the plushy – which was the bigger part of the cost – I might as well just pay an extra few £s for the sounds too, right?

 

~

 

 I also brought myself a teapot.  It’s a little ceramic one that’s perfect for just a couple of cups of tea, so ideal for when it’s only me having some tea, which is the case more often than not even without lockdown making visitors few and far between.  Anyway, here’s my new teapot:

 

 

Though I’m told it’s not easy to tell from the photo, it’s actually purple.  Well, when I saw they had them in purple, I had to, didn’t I? I mean, purple has always been my favourite colour.

 

I had a teapot before – that one was purple too – which was bigger.  But it was a bit big for me to be using on my own, and I gave it to someone a few years back.  I’ve wanted to get a new one ever since, but wanted just a little one this time.  Well, now I have one, and even managed to make it a purple one again.

 

~

 

In the interests of practicing better self care, adding proper “me time” to my routine is something I’m working on making a priority this year.  I even have a plan.  In fact, I’ve got a list of some things I want to do every day, and a list for stuff I’d like to do at least once a week, which I’m setting days for. My plan is to do the daily things for at least a few minutes every day, and each of the weekly things for at least an hour each per week.

 

Every day I want to:

•         Enjoy a quiet cup of tea while listening to some music

•         Meditate

•         Read

•         Write

 

My weekly self care activities list though is:

•         Have a bubble bath (scented candles optional)

•         Have a movie/TV show night where I just curl up somewhere and watch a DVD or something on a streaming service

•         Work on crafts (I even re-activated a craft box subscription service I used to get to encourage this... You may remember me mentioning the Makerly Crafts subscription box in the past?)

 

My tentative plan for the weekly thing is a bubble bath on Friday night, a Saturday movie night, and a Sunday afternoon crafting session.  That way I get the whole weekend to recharge.

 

~

 

I won’t be doing a review of this every month, but I figured I’d do a check-in this time, since I’m only now getting around to telling you about my plan.  So, how did the first month – well, about four weeks - of doing this go?

 

I’ve been managing to sit and relax while listening to music for at least a few minutes each day, even if sometimes it’s with a cold drink rather than a cup of tea.  The point is the quiet time just relaxing while listening to the music though, so I’m not complaining.  I've listened to a variety of music, including panpipes, country, 80s, 90s, and classical.  I tend to do this in the morning, when the dogs aren't quite ready to start racing around and cause chaos, Artemis hasn't yet crawled out of her bed, and Mollie is sleepily waiting to see what I'll be offering her for breakfast before she goes for her daytime sleep.  It's a nice relaxing way to start my day.

 

I’ve also generally managed to get at least a small amount of reading time in each day, even if some days it’s only been maybe 20 minutes or so.  And I managed to read five books in January, even with two of them being long-ish books, and mostly doing shorter reading sessions.

 

I’ve had less success with the meditation and writing.  I’ve done some writing since the start of the year, but not as much as I’d hoped, and definitely not every day.  We won’t talk about the meditation part.  Yes, I did that badly with it.  With the writing it was a conscious choice, since I chose to use my writing time to work on unpacking boxes, but the meditation thing just didn’t end up happening... I'll make it a habit again eventually.

 

Also, despite having resubscribed to the Makerly Crafts box again, and gotten my first kit since doing so (January’s kit was a Valentine's themed cardmaking kit, if you're wondering) I’ve not done anything worth mentioning in the way of crafting yet either, since that’s another time slot I gave up to unpacking boxes.  In this case it was essential I did so though, since I needed to unpack and organize the craft supplies I owned, as well as ones I inherited from my Nan (the one who died last August) – which my Dad has slowly been dropping off here for me whenever he’s been here to do an essential errand – as well as make a space to work, before any crafting could actually happen.

 

Plus, my relaxing bath nights have been a bit hit and miss, and the couple of baths I have had didn’t include scented candles, even if they were still relaxing.  Baths are on my self care list because I mostly just have a shower, but a nice relaxing bath is something I enjoy having sometimes.  However, it’s a bit more special if I don’t have one all the time anyhow, so I don’t mind if this one doesn’t happen every week.  I mean, I kind of would like it to happen every week, since it would be a nice way to kick off my weekend.  But I’d still call this one a success even if I only did it once a month.

 

I’ve had better luck with TV show/movie nights.  I watched more episodes of “The Simpsons” as well as a couple of movies.  The movies were the live action version of “Mulan” as well as “Soul” – both movies were on Disney+.  “Mulan” was really good – very different to the animated version I’m familiar with, but still good, even if I did enjoy the animated one more.  “Soul” was fantastic though... An absolutely wonderful movie with a lovely message.  I’d give “Mulan” four out of five stars, and “Soul” five out of five stars.

 

All in all, I don’t think the first month went too badly, especially since I was making unpacking and organizing stuff the main priority intentionally, and we actually have most of that done now, with mainly just stuff we need to buy extra shelves or other storage solutions for still in boxes at this point.  Although, more organization will need to happen with the craft supplies, especially with Dad still slowly dropping off more.  But at least I can now make use of the craft room and supplies when I want to, as well as claim back my writing time.

 

~

 

And there are so many supplies!

 

Nan was a big crafter, who dabbled in a lot of different crafts, and kept anything potentially useful for future craft projects, and I'm inheriting the lot, some of the tools for which she's had longer than I've been alive.  Dad’s dropped off a load, and there’s still loads at his place yet to come over here (since he has to do it in bits, since he can only drop stuff off when he’s coming this way for other reasons, because of needing to restrict his visits due to lockdown, plus there really is a LOT of stuff).

 

There are supplies for crafts I do a lot already, like sewing.  Supplies for crafts I’ve tried in the past and want to do more of, like quilling.  Supplies for crafts I haven’t done since I lost my sight, but would kind of like to try again to see if I can do them – despite my initial reaction on thinking about it being that it would be impossible – like cross stitching.  Supplies for things I’d like to get back in to that I haven’t done much of for a while, like cardmaking.  Supplies for things I’ve never learned to do, but wouldn’t mind learning, like crochet.  And supplies for things Nan was going to teach me, but we never got around to more than a first lesson I don’t remember very well, like tatting.  Let's just say my craft room will be very well stocked by the time it all makes it over here. Oh, I’m going to have so much crafty fun!

I just have to decide what to play with first...