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!

Grateful for my servants

So today has seen a slight improvement in my sugars. They were 9.5 this morning which is a lot better than 11.6 yesterday. I have been very careful of sugars in what I ate and the results are pleasing.

Also I have less pain and I think the fibromyalgia flare may be abating. So today I have added a few things to my to do list- things that will be a lick and promise only: I have had to give up on my perfectionism.

1. Do a couple of loads of washing
2. Cook some minestrone soup in the slow cooker
3. Change our bed
4. Vacuum and sweep an area of the house
5. Order online groceries for tomorrow
6. Cook curried sausages with rice for dinner

I am determined to do at least some of these things today and I have enlisted the help of some of my servants. 

Top of the list is my Dyson stick vacuum because it's not heavy, does a great job of picking up Xena's white fur and does not hurt my back.

Second favourite servant of mine is my dryer which saves me a lot of spoons in hanging the washing out then bringing it back in.

Having said that, I am also grateful for my slow cooker, my front load washer, my microwave and my toaster. I don't know how people managed in the past without these. I am grateful for my servants. 

Not lazy: smart

Anyone with chronic illness that makes you fatigued like fibromyalgia, will know that part of accepting the new normal is planning to do the most you can with the least amount of spoons. That applies to all housework chores and social activities. 

Lately, Chris and I have been ordering our groceries online. This has so many benefits and is worth the $15 delivery fee. It makes ordering the shopping easier by having a list of previous shops to copy from. Wonderful when concentrating is hard when one has brain fog from fibro or medications...

The delivery guy will even bring it into the kitchen and place it on the kitchen bench. It is then just a matter of putting it all away. So much better than handling it at the checkout, loading it into the boot of the car, bringing it all in.

As a Sacrificial Home Keeper, I have streamlined the inside activities, and now I have streamlined the outside activities. 

With paying for delivery, some may say shopping online for groceries is lazy: I say no: it's actually very smart. Designed with the Sacrificial Home Keeper in mind. I am very grateful for it.

Today's list is simple as I am still under the weather:

1. Do dishes
2. Fold clothes in dryer
3. Make our bed
4. Cook lamb stew in slow cooker for dinner

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..

We must make memories

There's widespread flooding everywhere today.  One of the roads is impassable still. Fortunately, we are staying home today as we have guests coming this afternoon.

With all the thunder and weather changes, it is playing havoc with my fibromyalgia flare. I am in considerable pain today and I long for a nana nap already: it's only 1pm!

So far I have done a load of washing and am using the dryer. We have had breakfast. Xena has been fed. I will soon be making a ham and cheese toasted sandwich for our lunch. We will be having a big meal for tea tonight.

I am following Saturdays' List as I plan to go to church tomorrow. 

Still on my to do list is:

1. Lunch
2. Change over the washed clothes and put in dryer
3. Cook the defrosting chicken for our roast dinner

I am really looking forward to having my guests come, but I am forcing myself not to go back to bed.

The struggle is real. But I feel if I don't practice hospitality and have people come see us, that my life will be the poorer for it. 

So today, I am taking some paracetamol tablets with my toasted sandwich, and pretending I am having a good day. It's all part of making memories...

Blessed day today!

When we started our new chapter of life by stopping living in our fifth wheeler and renting again, we had to start off  again just like newlyweds.  We had either sold or given away our furniture and most of our extraneous possessions. We had nothing to move into the house.

Eventually we managed to get new furniture and Chris gave me carte blanche to pick out the furniture and decor. It was fun and we have mostly got all we want.  However, the house still needs some pictures etc and is a work in progress.

One of my favourite areas is our diningroom/passageway display of family photos. We have Arkiane's Prince of Peace front and centre with our wedding photos and our children's wedding photos. Directly under Him is my 7 branch menorrah, a gift to me from Chris to acknowledge my Jewish heritage and because Christianity is based on Judaism, and of course, Jesus was a Jew. I see it and it reminds me to pray for Israel.

Today is Sunday and I am talking to you and preparing to go to Church. We have a little church within walking distance. It is alongside the little Catholic church. This church I go to is a Co-operative church which caters for 3 different denominations. This morning we will be taking Communion with an Anglican minister presiding. Last time it was with a Church of Christ pastor. 

I truly am comfortable in any church that proclaims Jesus Is LORD! I feel that's how it should be! 

So today, I am following Sunday's List.  I will be making chicken chow mein for dinner. No extra chores are needed. It's a day of rest. I hope you are well enough to go to church today: if not, I pray you will still  have a blessed day today! 

Cat fur and tickling whiskers!

The sun is sinking under the nearby hills, leaving pink streaks in the sky. I have drawn the drapes and lit the lamps. 

My dishes from dinner are drying in the drainer. Xena has been fed and is indoors sitting with her Dad, Chris. 

The weather is slightly cool and we have put our fire on low which gives a cosy effect. I love my home, my husband and my cat... and of course, my God. 

Not only has He  blessed us with a lovely home to live in, but He graciously gave me a few surprise spoons (energy) this afternoon.  I managed to do what was on my list, plus I finished off putting all my clean washing away.

We live a simple life, but it is one of contentment and joy. I am believing for a good sleep tonight. I have already taken my medications and I can retire any time after an hour. I must remain upright and awake for an hour after taking them or my sleep is fitful and sore. I know that if I lay down soon after taking them that I can either have GERD or aspirate some acid and develop pneumonia. I have had pneumonia three times. I don't know why my sleep is fitful and my muscles sore if I don't wait an hour, but I am sick of trying to work it out: It is what it is.

Soon I will join Chris in the lounge room and no doubt Xena will jump up onto my lap for a cuddle and cat nap. As soon as she hears me say I am going to B.E.D. she springs off my lap and nearly trips me up to get there before me.  I have to spell B.E.D. because she knows the word- yes she does. She's a smart girlie! 

As I lay thanking God for the good in each day before I sleep, I can be sure of one thing: my little feline mate will be under the covers, pressed up against my back. She is always purring at night and I have no doubt that she too is grateful for the ending day. And for a Mum who overlooks cat fur and her tickling cat whiskers!