The Queen of List Making

So I did it again! Instead of cleaning up after dinner, I went to bed with dishes in the sink. I hate when I do that!

I mean, with fibromyalgia robbing me of a good restful sleep, the mornings are hard enough to face. Having a dirty kitchen to wake up to is the pits!

Most would think that it's just laziness, but by the time I have cooked dinner my spoons are almost gone. Yes gone! I am so done in by the end of the day that even lifting my arms up to put my nightie over them creates pain.

Oh, yes, I make lists and read motivational blogs and You tubes, but to no avail. I am the Queen of List Making. Yet my limited spoons dictate that I do very little and I am left with ashes in my mouth.

I know I said before that I have been keeping busy and that's true, but I now have a rebound fibro flare and coupled with our autumn cold snap with rain, I am in a lot of pain.

You would think that I would have worked out this fibromyalgia lurk after twenty years. And for the most part although I hate it, I have learned to exist with fibro without feeling false guilt that leads to depression.

Most days I accept my disability, but deep inside is a perfectionist screaming to get out! On days like our current lockdown days, due to Rona, I try to nest and I overextend my limits. Hello, Fibro Flare!

I am grateful to my husband Chris. He is an mild mannered man who is happy with how I do manage to keep our nest. He and most people who come to visit- well in better days obviously- are happy with the state of our home.

It must be that I am my own worst enemy: trying to do the work of a much younger healthier self: everything in its place and a place for everything. But always straining, never achieving thanks to Fibromyalgia.  I need to accept what is and hang up my crown as the Queen of List Making.

Today I am doing just a few things:

1. Cooking a chow mein in the slow cooker
2. Doing those dishes from last night
3. Giving in to the latest flare and taking a nana nap

Home is the new church

So today is Resurrection Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. It is a joyful day in the Christian calendar and one I look forward to each year.

I am so grateful that Jesus saved me from my sins and that when I die, I will be with Him for eternity. That is a wonderful promise to hang onto in these uncertain times.

This year will see many of us viewing online Easter services and I will be doing that later, but today I will be taking Communion with my sister and one of my sons online. We will be FaceTiming.

We did this last week and it was very fulfilling. What better way of celebrating Resurrection Sunday than by worshiping and remembering Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us all?

I have some homemaking chores to do:

1. Make pumpkin soup
2. Fold a load of washing and put it away
3. Clean my kitchen

I will get to this hopefully after Communion today. I will be taking it under our picture of the Last Supper where Christ introduced Communion as a way for Christians to remember His sacrifice. 

It's quite pleasant to be home doing it: like other things we have to accept for the time being: home is the new church! 

And so Easter is upon us!

Today is Maundy Thursday, the eve of the Crucifixion of Christ. Usually I attend a Maundy Thursday service commemorating Christ washing the feet of His disciples and introducing the first Communion.

Of course with church services being banned, I won't be attending this year, but I will be focussing on Christ and His atoning sacrifice. 

I usually have a quiet time of a morning where I worship God and give thanks for His salvation. Not even Rona can stop that.  I will probably watch church services live streamed throughout Easter as well.

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

1. Go to the chemist and pick up our scripts that were ordered yesterday
2. Clean my kitchen
3. Go to the post office to pick up something I bought on ebay
4. Cook lamb steaks, mashed potatoes and salad for dinner

Obviously not a lot to do, but as much as my spoons will allow today. 

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! 

Entertaining the young'uns

So with staying in isolation with the CV, we have had time to enjoy the antics of the birds in our yard and our little cat, Xena.

She has been so funny as she claws her way up and down her scratching post complete with stuffed mouse and pink ball. 

The weather has been lovely with mostly warm autumn days and just a little rain. It's been perfect for outside activities like cleaning the outside windows and pressure hosing down the front porch and carport.

We have accepted that we will be isolated for six months or so. We are grateful for our little cottage hidden away in our quiet country township.

We are believing that we will be OK as regards this virus and have been filling our home with worship music and faith building words.

Whilst Chris has been concentrating on the outside of our home, I have been tending to the inside. I actually have been enjoying my homemaking efforts despite not having enough spoons each day to complete everything I would like to do. Still, one has to accept that with fibromyalgia and aging.

I didn't get the cooking done yesterday so it's on my to do list for today.

1. Making some mini quiches to freeze
2. Making cookie dough also to freeze

We are so glad we bought that scratching post for Xena. It's been fun for us to watch her and she's happy that we are entertaining the young'uns.

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. 

Enjoying my time in the kitchen

So we have a lovely large kitchen which is a novelty for me. There's so much storage space and lots of drawers and  bench space. I love it.

It's just as well I am enjoying my kitchen because I have been doing a lot of cooking from scratch here. With the Corona Virus, and not wanting to shop too often, I am trying to rotate and use the oldest vegetables and canned stuff first.

Being at home all day, I have endeavoured to make Chris things he enjoys eating. There's nothing like the smell of a cake cooking or a soup simmering. It's important to me that I cook nourishing meals no matter whether we are isolated at home or not. 

I have some things that I haven't completed from the previous days, and hopefully my spoons will be sufficient to get the jobs done. On my to do list still are:

1. Fold clothes from yesterday and put them away
2. Mop the vinyl areas
3. Cook a shepherd's pie with mashed potato and peas for dinner

I already have cleaned the toilet and done a load of washing and sorted out our weeks' worth of medication. I also have made some pumpkin soup just to keep on the stove.

By keeping a blog like this, I can see areas that I have to still do or have fallen down on. Oh yes: and to remind myself on bluer days how much I am enjoying my time in the kitchen! lol 

You have to do your bit

One day seems the same as another!  We have a sunny day and a big back garden. The birds are getting cheeky and are coming to the back door calling for more food. 

I just have some clothes to fold and put away left over from yesterday's chore list. Then I will make some salad sandwiches and we will eat them outside in the sunshine. 

I am determined to find as much joy in each day as I can. I guess I will have to stop reading all the Corona Virus stuff online. That will definitely help....

The warmer weather is helping with my fibromyalgia a bit. I have managed a few more chores because of the extra spoons.

This is on my to do list for the day:

1. Spot vacuum 
2. Quick mop the vinyl areas
3. Cook a lasagna with salad for dinner

I managed to dust the bedrooms. I will finish dusting tomorrow because I still need to pace myself. It's funny to stay home on a Saturday morning... but you have to do your bit...

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

Stay safe. Stay vigilant. Stay home.

Yesterday I received a message which I couldn't share as it was an audio message. It resonated as true to me and is worth passing on. It was written by a nurse who is working with Corona Virus patients. 

She states that China has found out some more facts about the CV from autopsies and this is how it works. Once in your mouth, it hangs around for a few days before infecting your bronchial tubes and lungs. It forms very thick phlegm which impedes breathing.

Before it gets to that stage, if one starts to get a sore throat, she recommends immediately gargling with salt, lemon or vinegar in water. It doesn't do too well in heat, so she recommends drinking hot drinks: soups, tea, coffee and warm water. By doing this, initally the virus will be transferred to the stomach where the gastric juices will destroy the virus. Obviously, washing hands, refraining from smoking and social distancing will all help us avoid getting the virus in the first place.

These steps seem commonsense to me and certainly can't hurt to try.... Stay safe. Stay vigilant. Stay home.

Better days are coming!

So today I stayed home as we are self-isolating. It's not too bad being home when you have plenty of food in the pantry and fridge. Not to mention extra medications on hand. I love my home.

We have had some beautiful autumn days and I intend to spend quite a bit of time outdoors in our back yard the next few days.

The last few days have been spent in the kitchen but now I have soups in the freezer and so on, I can relax and wait out this Corona Virus.

As spoons permit, I will be doing some decluttering and Marie Kondo minimalising and folding of stuff from the move from the fifth wheeler. I also want to gradually deep clean our home. I will find plenty to stop me from going stir crazy during this trial.

Xena has been totally spoilt with all her choices of cat food that we have got her. I think she actually has more stored food than us at the moment.

We are trying to keep optimistic about life and are clinging to God's promises. Especially the hope of His soon return for His Bride, the Church.

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Saviour but would like to, please click here

Meanwhile, let's prepare our nests for possible lockdown, keeping in mind that this will eventually pass if we follow instructions and assist our health professionals. 

Remember that better days are coming! 

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! 

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