Staying home for real comfort.

So like most  of the world at the moment, we are staying at home to help stop the spread of the Corona Virus. 

We have accepted that this will be the new normal for at least six months and with acceptance comes a certain amount of peace.

As we talked about earlier, Chris and I are focussing on making our home a cosy nest. We have been getting a lot done that makes us both glad we have this home to nest in.

I have been cooking things I know Chris loves and have joined the local chemist's phone app for ordering our repeat prescriptions without going in. They make them up, then phone us when we can come and pick them up.

As spoons allow, I am doing my cleaning by zone according to FlyLady  However with my fibromyalgia flaring due to changing weather- lots of rain, that hasn't been a regular thing.

By and large I have enjoyed being home. There's a peace knowing we won't be likely to get Rona and also that by staying home, we in turn will not be passing it on should we get it.

I have been playing scripture in the background and changing to worship music at times as well. Whenever I find I am worried about Rona, I start praying. That is such a wonderful tool and brings an immediate sense of peace.

I have a few things I want to do today:

1. Do my dinner dishes as I just didn't have the spoons last night.
2. Bake some scones for afternoon tea
3. Make another veggie intensive chicken chow mein with rice for dinner

That will probably be it for today as I am feeling extremely sore and tired. Just another reason staying at home is real comfort.

Making room for more

So yesterday I did an inventory of our pantry and fridge stock and decided that I really should replenish it and even make room for more.

With us living on the aged pension, we have lived from pay to pay and day to day, but with the CV dictating our lives, we decided to use the $750 grant from the Australian government to stock up on food.

So on my to do list today is:

1. Tidy the fridge and pantry
2. Fold today's washing and put it away
3. Make Shepherd's pie for dinner

I was able to grocery shop online as I am a senior and also disabled with fibro, back and heart problems. One can apply for Priority Assistance and they will deliver your groceries if you provide your Customer registered number from Department of Human Services aka Centrelink.

I had to chuckle when I checked the bottom of the pantry: there's so much cat food there. I think Xena per rata has three times the amount of food as we do. (And still she is fussy)

I better get a wriggle on and sort this pantry out before the food is delivered. I am grateful that I have the means and quite enjoy the feeling of making room for more! 

The gentle art of getting on

As you know, this Corona Virus has got us isolating at home. We have been getting a lot done around the house as our focus has been on homemaking.

With being together 24/7 it sometimes happens that we get on each others' nerves. I think it comes from an underlying anxiety about what's going to happen and being stir-crazy.

Whatever, it is a lesson in self-control, patience, kindness and loving one another inspite of the circumstances. Because we still do love one another.

Close quarters like this last week has shown both of us that we are not as nimble and not as fit as we were twenty years ago. But it has also shown us that we are mighty grateful for each other in spite of transient tensions.

Ladders are now not  climbed easily, wherein tempers can be frayed easily. Like I said, it's a lesson in all the above things. 

Spending time with each other in this trial is a double edged sword: we are grateful for each other as we are, but are afraid of life without each other. We are realising how vulnerable we really are. 

Like it or not, we are in this together and are facing life as one. Which is why the lesson will be quickly learned: the gentle art of getting on. 

All things work for good...

So we are staying at home with the Corona Virus spreading fast. But today we had to go to see our Doctor P to get some repeat scripts. He said that from now on we can just ring the clinic and he will fax our scripts to our chemist. We are glad for one less reason not to have to go out.

Our BP was pretty good: 138/74 for me... and Chris's, strangely was exactly the same. The doctor laughed and asked if we even synchronised our BP! I said to Chris isn't that romantic, and Dr P laughed again and agreed that it was!  We are always together and we never tire of each other!

Apart from today, we have been home and it hasn't been all that bad. I have been getting some things done around the house like decluttering and Chris has been putting some pictures up for me in our room and the guest room.

I am making sure we are eating proper meals but I do have some snack foods in the back of the pantry for comfort eating. Chris loves to munch on almonds whilst watching TV and I love eating muesli bars.

My fibromyalgia is dictating my life a bit, ensuring that I have a nana nap in the afternoons. With no social commitments, it's pretty easy to go to bed when I feel the need. And I don't feel guilty.

Staying at home because one has to with the Corona Virus like a spectre haunting our peace, is not ideal, but if we do what we are told, I am sure it will burn itself out soon.

We are refusing to give in to anxious thoughts and are trying to keep ourselves busy. Well, as busy as I can be with limited spoons.

My to do list today is to follow Thursday's List which is basically a rest day as I had the doctor's appointment today.  I am feeling tired now. 

I will be spending time watching You Tube and Netflix with Chris and trying to keep myself busy in the home. We can use this time at home for good if we think it through. All things work for good...

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Waiting for my first wind

So today's a day where I sit waiting for my first wind. Not even a breeze! I have another flare of my fibromyalgia and I am so tired breathing is an effort!

I have been pacing myself to get the essentials done today. Mostly catching up on dishes and a couple of loads of washing.

The weather is fantastic and it would be wonderful to dry the clothes outside, but alas, my spoons dictated that I chuck them in the dryer.

This is my to do list for today:

1. Washing 
2. Folding and putting away the clothes
3. Finishing washing the dishes.
4. Cook curried sausages with mashed potato and veggies for tea

Needing to take a bath but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I am dreaming of bed while waiting for my first wind.

Jewish Penicillin

The last few days I have been busy making sure we have enough food and medications for a possible lockdown for two weeks. It's not coming yet here in Australia, but I want to be prepared if it does. I know we are all sick of hearing about the Corona Virus, but it's no good treating it like it isn't a real issue. 

I have been making good use of my slow cooker lately, making and freezing soups to help extend the life of the poultry and meat that I have bought. In particular I have made a large batch of "Jewish Penicillin". It is so nice and also it is very nourishing if someone is under the weather. It just made sense to me to prepare some.

Whilst I believe in a healing God, I also believe in being sensible in heeding the advice of our goverment health department. I want to do whatever it takes to protect my family. That is not lacking in faith, in fact, we are called to be good stewards of our belongings and caring of our family.

I did not panic buy like so many did over the last few weeks. I did however, grab some extra things like bottled water, cans of milk powder (all the long life UHT milk was gone), canned goods and meat. A few frozen dinners as a standby were added to the mix. I also got some extra hand soaps and washing powder. Plus some tissues as all the toilet paper was gone..

As Chris and I are on quite a lot of medications, I got extra scripts made up in case we can't get them later on. I was not the only one: the average wait was two hours! I also bought some paracetamol tablets at the chemist as they also were sold out at the supermarket. By the way, don't use ibruprofen or aspirin if you think you have the C Virus... it makes it worse apparently.

My spoons are few and my efforts certainly made me what I class a Sacrificial Home Keeper! Nothing like trying to keep on top of things with a hefty dose of Fibromyalgia and angina!

I need to eat something that will give me a boost: I'm off to heat up a bowl of my Jewish Penicillin! 

Nothing like country life!

So this morning I came out to see this from our back window. We love it here and this window is like a screen saver. It is always changing! Chris grabbed my phone and took a video to show you.

It is lovely outside today. The weather is forecast to be 23C and is perfect autumn weather.  I have to go out to the chemist for some refills of our medications and I can see a sit out in the sun in my future.

My fibromyalgia flare is a bit better today, but I am still going to pace myself because if I don't, I know I will be in a flare again tomorrow.

So today I am following Tuesday's List and making a Shepherd's Pie with peas for dinner. Shepherd's Pie is one of Chris's favourite meals.

Oh, and when I get home, if I don't need a nana nap, I will be sitting in the garden seat taking in this lovely view!  We are grateful that God gave us this place to live in. There's nothing like country life!

It's not rocket science

Yesterday I wrote a post in my other blog about practising good hygiene like the Jewish people do. 

I really believed most people washed their hands and cleaned their homes on a regular basis. However,  with the shortage on hand cleaners and anti-bacterial soaps in supermarkets, it would seem that no one much has this stuff on hand like you would expect in a home where good hygiene was practised daily.

Simple measures like outlined in yesterday's post, sneezing or coughing into your elbow and avoiding large crowds will go far in not catching or bringing illness to your home.

I always have the antibacterial spray Glen 20 at home. I regularly spray it near Xena's litter tray and around the toilet floor, especially behind and on the seat. Sometimes I spray it on door handles too and I wipe my computer mouse and mobile or cell phone with antibacterial cloths in sachets.

People are panicking about catching the Corona Virus, but are lining up en masse at Cosco's to purchase toilet paper. This to my mind enhances the chance of catching something like the ordinary Flu that really has killed more people worldwide than the Corona Virus.

We are likely to stay well with simple hygiene measures. It is not rocket science.

Today's to do list is:

1. Clean my kitchen
2. Do some washing
3. Vacuum the middles of the floors
4. Feather dust
5. Cook a lamb stew for dinner in the slow cooker

No need to panic

So there have been a few cases of Corona Virus here in Australia. People have panicked and supermarket shelves here are running low on bottled water and toilet paper. Knives have been  pulled on people over a dispute on toilet paper. There have been stampedes. 

There is no need to panic. For starters, one- we have a very good health care system that can cope with helping anyone who succumbs to the virus and secondly, according to statistics, we have more of a chance of catching the common flu as we do of contracting and then dying of the Corona Virus.

I think the news is to blame, exaggerating and fear-mongering. It is no wonder there's panic in the ranks.  We won't be stock piling. But we will be following normal precautions by avoiding large crowds, airports and even shopping centres. We will shop online. And we will wash our hands frequently. It's just basic hygiene really.

With how I am feeling at the moment, with the fibro flare not over and constantly tired, staying home and shopping online will be the norm for us anyway. But in all honesty, we are not panicking.

My list of to do's today is basic:

1. Follow Thursday's List  
2. Do a 15 minute stint on FlyLady's Zone
3. Cook a stew in the slow cooker for dinner

More tea, Dear?

So whilst writing this post, I bought in some water and a cup of tea to take my morning medications. I was interrupted by a knock at the door which was the Woolworths delivery man with my online grocery delivery.

When I came back, I was horrified to see my little cat, Xena drinking happily from my tea cup! Knowing that the tea had already been spoilt for me, I stood back and let her finish drinking. Luckily, my phone was on my computer desk and I was able to take a picture of her lapping my tea.

She's a lover of Vegemite too. I found her a few weeks ago licking a plate that was stacked by the sink ready to be washed. She was really enjoying the saltiness of my Vegemite from my leftover breakfast toast. I guess she's a true Australian then! We love our Vegemite from the first tentative suck on a piece of toast our mothers offered us as babies. 

My sugars this morning were 10.1 which is better than 18.6 plus Ketones last night. I am avoiding sugar like the plague! I think I went wrong with eating a pear before going to bed last night...

I have a few things on my to do list today:

1. Make our bed
2. Clean my kitchen
3. Dust
4. Make another cup of tea to replace Xena's...
5. Cook a Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight:  not necessarily in that order :)

I think from now on I will have to make a cup of tea and pour it into Xena's drinking bowl with a piece of toast and Vegemite in her feed bowl. After all, in her mind she's not a cat: she's a human child who is very loved and spoilt. "More tea, Dear?"

A busy day

So yesterday our little township had its annual Festival. All along the strip of parkland outside our home, food tents, stalls selling all manner of things apart from homegrown produce and beauty products, lead happy customers to them.

The weather was perfect for the Festival and the townsfolk enjoyed rock bands, concerts and school bands until the evening. Horses pulled carts of people around the parkland borders. It was fun.

Chris and I had intended to go yesterday, but my fibromyalgia flare which seems never ending put me in bed. There was no way I could have even walked there inspite of it being just across the road. So whilst all this was taking place, I was sleeping the exhausted sleep of the flaring fibromite.

Chris took a short video from our front garden to show me some of the fun. I hated missing out.

Today's weather is 29C which is lovely. I got up, did breakfast, took my medications and fed Xena and that has wiped out my spoons for the day.

My sugars were 11.4 this morning and I feel quite off. My eyes are blurry and my toes are burning and stinging. I am getting quite worried. My diabetes is out of control.

I have brought the minced steak out of the freezer and will be doing some spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.  That's it. Nothing much going on today, yet my body feels like it's been a busy day.

Ending the chapter

So today we put our fifth wheeler up for sale. We were travelling round Australia but 3 months into it, I tore my meniscus in my left knee and I couldn't manage the 5 steps into the fiver. Eventually I became housebound and 3 months later, we decided to sell it and rent again.

We live in a country township which is quite a distance from my family and friends, so we have made a point of having them over each weekend.

Today my old friend from school days, Ann and her partner are coming to see us. We met when we were 11 and we are both 67 now. I am so grateful to God that we are still close. After seeing the house and a cuppa, we will be going to the local pub for a meal.

Yesterday and today I didn't take the new diabetes medication called Forxiga. It gave me thrush and a kidney infection. Plus my sugars went from 9 to 10-12.3! Fasting... still you have to try don't you?

So on my to do list today is

1. Tidy the house
2. Enjoy my friends

Oh, and check the advertisments to see if anyone has responded to the ads for the fiver. It's sad that we didn't manage to travel like we hoped, and selling the fiver is ending the chapter.

A land awash in floods

Australia is a land of bushfire terrors followed by torrential rains bringing floods. Today has been such a day with a bushfire near us and then a massive storm bringing rains that have flooded our roads and the little stream at the end of our property.

We are grateful for the rains of course, but the changing weather is playing havoc with this fibromyalgia flare. I think it's ending, but new weather changes make it return with a vengeance. Such has been today.

I haven't followed any list and have had to go back to bed this afternoon. I expect to be in bed early tonight too. It simply is too hard to keep awake. I no longer fight it but go with the flow. It is what it is. False guilt is now a thing of the past...

Today I have only really managed to cook devilled sausages with vegetables for dinner. 

As I look out the back door and see the stream overflowing and the birdfeeder full of water, I realise that that is exactly how I feel with weariness... overflowing with it. A woman awash in fatigue, and a land awash in flooding rains..

Cats and dogs

We have had very crazy weather this afternoon. Torrential rains, which are a blessing with all the fires we have had recently, caused flash flooding, almost blocking the one main road into our little town. This is a picture taken just after the deluge near our place. 

Having been warned of severe thunder and possible hailstones, I brought my washing in, and Chris moved our small white car under the carport. Unfortunately, the Sierra ute and Play Mor fifth wheeler were in the firing range. However, there was little hail and the rains washed the van for us. It is soon going up for sale.

We watched the storm through the back glass sliding door and were horrified to see a fireball come down, almost hitting the shed in the paddock behind us. It was a ball of glowing light with a tunnel in the centre, with swirling energy like the sun in the middle. It was so very bright and was accompanied by the loudest crack of thunder overhead. Chris said it's the worst storm he's seen, and he has worked outside most of his adult life.

Our area is well known for chaotic and harsh weather. It has snowed in previous years and gets very, very cold. I can see a lot of thick socks, minkie blankets and warmed up wheat packs to take to bed in my future.

To be honest, I think I prefer the colder weather. You can always rug up to stay warm, whereas cooling off is more difficult. I even love rain, especially when you don't have to go out in it. The sound of the rain falling on our tin roof was lovely. I love it when it rains cats and dogs! 

Flat out in bed

So today is going to be busy for me. First thing this morning a technician from Telstra  is coming to install the NBN for us. Hopefully our connection will be faster.

When that's done, I have to go to the Post Office and request another invoice to renew our post office box. They have overcharged us on the invoice. As the post man doesn't home deliver here due to us living in a tiny country township, we must all have a PO Box. They charged us as having a mail delivery but wanting a PO Box. A lot more expensive! 

I have also to change our bed and refill the weekly pill container for our medications. I will be taking note what medications we need a prescription or a refill for at the chemist,  for the doctors' visit tomorrow.

So todays' list of to do's looks like this:

1. Change our bed
2. Finish cleaning the kitchen
3. Refill the medications
4. Do some washing but using the dryer: it is going to rain for the next 3 days
5. Sweep the vinyl floors
6. Bake a cake for afternoon tea
7. Dinner for tonight is quiche with vegies.

This is a pretty full on day for me. I will have to pace myself so as not to prolong my fibromyalgia flare, or instead of being busy flat out like a lizard drinking, I will just be flat out- in bed.

Like a beetle on its' back

Today I have woken up tired. Fibromyalgia and angina are vying with back pain to see which is going to be the one to send me back to bed.

So far I have taken my medications, made some toast and tea for our breakfast and thrown some fruit bread out to our delightful birds.

I was planning on following Mondays' List but instead I will be following Thursdays which is a day of rest. God willing, I will be able to do Monday's List tomorrow..

I have a pre cooked slow cooker meal in the freezer for dinner tonight. So no need to cook. I don't like using frozen dinners, but I learned years ago to accept what is and not be a perfectionist...

We are experiencing thunder and rain and I am wondering if that is what is causing my renewed fibro flare, or if it was making the effort to go to church yesterday. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure: today I am as weak as a kitten and as helpless as a beetle on its' back! 

It has to be enough!

Since moving here, there is always something to see in our backyard. It's like a screen saver: it's always changing.

This morning I found some rosellas enjoying the seed Chris put out for them. They were later joined by some King Parrots: green headed girls with red and two shades of green in their feathers, with the boys red headed with the same two shades of green feathers. 

We were woken up with a kookaburra laughing outside our front garden and he was later joined by some magpies warbling. If you love birds, you would love our place! 

I am in need of a nana nap this afternoon to tide me over till tea time. We saw a new doctor recently and we needed to get our blood tests done today. We fasted for these ones and in spite of my drinking heaps of water,  the phlebotomist couldn't get any blood- in three tries, nothing.

So Chris had to drive me to another clinic 20 minutes away and she got it first go. I was praying and sweating as my veins are very tricky. They wimp off at the first sign of a needle.

My spoons are all gone so very little is on my to list:

1. Rest
2. Cook chops, veg and mashed potato for tea

It's not much of an effort, but it's all I can do today. It has to be enough! 

Scarce as hens' teeth!

It is quite cold here today: 8C! By midday we should be hitting 24C which is quite pleasant. I have the reverse cycle air con set on 22C which is quite comfortable.  Xena our little white cat got up, used her tray, had some kibbles and went back to bed. Before I came out to the study, she was seen nestled next to Chris under the doona. So when she does that, you know it's cold!

My plans for today are

1. Catch up on last night's dishes
2. Do some washing
3. Go to the doctor and chemist
4. Do some grocery shopping
5. Cook sausages, veg and mashed sweet potato and potato

Fibromyalgia has me aching everywhere but there's no time to go to bed.  Today we are going to see a new doctor here. We only know his name but haven't seen him yet. Our little township has a drought on doctors with the average wait a week.  With all of our many illnesses, we are praying that this guy knows his stuff. But even so, beggars can't be choosers: doctors in the country are scarce as hens' teeth!

A joyful day

Today has started out to be most joyful. I have been watching the birdlife in our back garden and you can see some of the birds enjoying the bread I have just thrown out to them.

Another happy event was the heavy rain just stopping at the taking of the video. With many bushfires around us still burning-(they can burn slowly for months with all the undergrowth), it is good to know the rain will be helping put some of them out. 

Weather is strangely cold for the hottest month of the year. We are sitting on 17C with temperatures set in the middle to high 20's next week. 

My fibromyalgia is still flaring with weather changes making for great muscle pain and fatigue. So today I will be following the Monday List

On today's to do list includes:

1. Folding up some of the washing that I didn't get round to on Saturday
2. Making a Shepherd's Pie with vegetables for dinner
3. Sorting my pills out for next week and recording prescriptions repeats needed

All in all, I will be resting as well as working, pacing myself as I go. And you can be sure I will be looking out at the flowers lifting up their heads to the rain as the birds fly into my garden.