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 

As the stomach churns

 

Today has gotten off to a good start. Although my fibromyalgia muscle pain is really bad, I can live with it. What I can't live with is lack of spoons, but today I awoke with a bit of energy. It is like winning the lottery!

So far today, I have taken my bloods- 10.2!, done a load of washing, made bacon and eggs for breakfast, made our bed and taken the pork chops out to thaw for dinner tonight.

On my to do list today is:

1. Declutter my computer desk
2. Go to Officeworks for a FOR SALE sign for selling our fifth wheeler
3. Fold the clothes from the wash this morning
4. Prepare a pork sweet curry in the slow cooker for dinner

It was a good day until I noticed Xena our cat had vomited on the carpet. There is one thing I cannot stand and that is cat poop or vomit. Chris has cleaned it up for me and sprayed it with Glen 20. There's no evidence of it now.  

I am so grateful to him for doing that for me: I have enough problem keeping my medications down in the morning without cleaning cat vomit. In the mornings my chapter in my life's book is called As The Stomach Churns.... 

Home at last

When my mother passed away, I was not able to keep a lot of the things she left me. My sister took them on the understanding that if /when I wanted them, they were there to pick up.

As you know, we lived in a fifth wheeler for six months, so I didn't have room for all the things I loved such as Mum's tea pots. When we rented again, I asked for them back.

I have a few household chores to do today, then we are going to clean the fifth wheeler for sale. God willing. I still depends on how many spoons I have today.

Today's to do list looks like this:

1. Do a couple of loads of washing and dry and put away
2. Cook pork chops in the slow cooker for dinner
3. Clean the fiver if enough spoons

I was showing my friend around yesterday, and she noticed Mum's teapots. It was just a small thing, but I felt happy that the teapots that had been promised me since childhood had come home at last.

It's all about those spoons!

I am so happy to report that I have some spoons! For the first time in ages I have woken refreshed! It is such a novelty.  But the novelty is fraught with danger in that I can overdo it today and return to a flare of my fibromyalgia tomorrow.

Chris and I have been longing to get to the shops and buy some new clothes. He has told me to forgo the household chores I had planned for this morning, and just get ready to go shopping.

So I will just be preparing some bolognaise sauce in the slow cooker for dinner tonight and leaving.

Hopefully, I can get through without another flare tomorrow. It's all about those spoons! 

Our first guests

As you know, we had guests yesterday and today. They were the first to use our guest room and they confirmed that the new bed and mattress were very comfortable.

We ended up going out for dinner at the town pub, and we had a very nice time with lovely food as well. After the meal, we came home and had a game of UNO and retired around ten o'clock. Which was late enough for me, as I suffer from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. 

When I woke up this morning, I found that the cat had vomited on our bed, and I had to wash our doona and get it dry in time for bedtime tonight.

My pain was at a high level today so I didn't feel well enough for church. Besides, it gave me more time to be with our guests who were loving our new home.

Today I didn't follow any lists. I did the washing and meals and I plan to have an early night. But tired as I am, I still am glad that I was able to practise hospitality. I sure enjoyed having our first guests! 

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...

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! 

Another day in Paradise!

This morning I came into the loungeroom to find our cat Xena propped in front of the back door eyeing off the birds feeding in the bird feeder. She looked at me as if to say "I was just watching!" But she spoilt it all by immediately prancing around saying, "Out!"  yes, she talks...

As any cat owner will tell you, when you live with a cat 24/7 they get to imitate words and Xena knows, bed, food, out! She tells us "Out!" when she wants to be let out, she knows who Dad is and she even calls me "Mum!".... with the same inflection my own children used years ago! lol

My fibromyalgia flare is lessening and I have a few extra things I want to achieve today apart from following Sylvia's Saturday List. 

1. Go through our clothes and fold/hang them as per Marie Kondo
2. Cook a Shepherd's Pie with peas as side dish for tea

First, though, I am going to get dressed then fling all the windows open. Today the air quality from nearby fires yesterday has improved with rain overnight. I do love fresh air.

If I can achieve all these things, I will be happy. Not that I can stay sad in this place. No matter what comes my way, it's a nurturing place and every day is another day in Paradise! 

What I wouldn't give for a good sleep

Last night was a fizzer regarding sleeping. No matter how I positioned myself, sleep eluded me most of the night. I have woken up this morning so sore and tired that I don't know what to do with myself.

From twenty odd years of suffering from fibromyalgia, I know that today is going to be a wipe out. So I will be pacing myself and only doing the bare minimum of chores.

Yesterday I felt like this, but we had waited a week to see a new doctor and we had to go see him. He was good and seems to know his stuff. We have a few baseline blood tests to get done before we see him again next week.

We are into cooler weather with a top of 28C predicted. I have washed two loads of clothes and am too tired to hang it out. Sometimes you have to compromise when you have chronic illness. Sometimes you win, most time it does! 

I shopped online for groceries yesterday: the Woolworths delivery man is due soon... I am saving my few spoons to put the shopping away and mark it off the shopping list as received...

Things on my to do list today:

1. Put the food away
2. Cook my homemade pasta sauce in the slow cooker for spaghetti bolognaise tonight
3. Rest

That will have to do for today as I am having trouble keeping awake. What I wouldn't give for a good sleep! 

It's calling my name!

Today is a mild day weather wise. We are sitting on 20C with mild winds and no storm activity. I am sitting here wondering why I have no spoons and am lacking the energy even to have a shower.

Fibromyalgia is a mystery to me. Just as I think I have it worked out, a new or worsened flare springs me unawares, and I find myself unable to think clearly. Even my eyes have trouble focussing today, so pacing myself's not going to work.

There's much to do here as well because I have been in a flare for a few days now. I am even too tired and sore to follow any lists at all. Except Thursdays' List. All one does on Thursdays is rest. I think I will have to treat today as a Thursday. Which is the beauty of Lists: you can exchange days to accommodate how you feel....

There's a few things I must do today:

1. Cook a beef stew in the slow cooker
2. Rest

The first one is done and the second is a work in progress. I feel no false guilt anymore.  It's the only way I can get over this flare. Otherwise tomorrow will be just like today where it's all too much. 

For today, rest is my own prescription to get well. Besides, I can hear my bed: it's calling my name! 

What a drenching!

There's nothing nicer than being in bed listening to the rain on a tin roof. Especially if you don't have to go out in it...

Last night and this morning we had heavy rains and more is expected today. Next week we are going to be in the middle 20C's or 68F's. With all the bushfires around us, it is much needed and prayed for.

I took this picture from our back door just after I fed some bread to the birds that frequent our garden. I love the smell of the rain! We are getting some relief from the heat with a top temperature forecast for 21C or 69.8F. 

It was my plan to go to church this morning, but with all the storm activity yesterday my fibromyalgia's flaring and I honestly can't make it. Hopefully, next Sunday will be better.

Usually, I listen to the Bible on You Tube and worship and rest at home when I can't go. Which is often, unfortunately. 

I will be hanging up the clothes I took out to wear there this morning. Later on I will cook some curried sausages in the slow cooker, which is my favourite way of cooking when I am in a flare.

There are a few dishes in the sink soaking in hot soapy water as per Sylvia's Sunday List. I will attend to them later on after I have had a rest. 

It isn't ideal that I am seeking to go back to bed so early in the day, but such is the life of a chronically ill person. I no longer feel any false guilt over it like I did in the early days of finding out what my new normal would be.  I can only get through this flare by resting...

So list of to do's today:

1. Hang up clothes
2. Set slow cooker going with sausages for dinner
3. Rest

And last but not least, I will be rejoicing as more rain falls giving our parched land a drenching! 

First we have tea

We had a very fitful sleep last night due to the temperatures being so high yesterday. Our reverse cycle air conditioner just doesn't make it up to the front of the house and our bedroom is right at the front, faces east and catches the sun all day. It was like an oven in our room with the temp being 23C all night. Our fan only blew hot air around....

It is supposed to be 30C today with thunder storms later. We always have our Emergency phone app on to advise us on fire activity as we live in the country. Last year Chris's son, who lives near us, had to evacuate his family because of fires and this is something we are prepared for. 

In the front guest room we have our important documents, spare medicines and some clothing and our photos on USB  disk. They are easy to grab in case we get the evacuation call. With high fire danger today and lightning strikes a possibility, we have our fire plan in place. Yes, it's firmly in place,  along with our little white cat, Xena's cat cage. Just in case...

I am currently listening to the Bible on You Tube and it is great for times when I am in a fibromyalgia flare and can't take in what I am reading. This is my preferred method of quiet time on days like today when my fibro is bad and I am lacking sleep and spoons. 

So because of lack of spoons and much heat, we plan to stay home today. So far, I have showered, dressed and taken my medications. I have a few things planned for today:

1. I need to fold and put away three loads of washing.
2. I want to make a lamb stew in the slow cooker for dinner (so as not to heat up the kitchen)
3. I want to resume following FlyLady by jumping in wherever the zone is for today.

I usually use FlyLady and Sylvia Britton's Lists for chronically ill women depending on how I feel each day.  I use the List for the day, then I may follow FlyLady's zone for 15mins. Today I am doing 15 minutes of cleaning in Zone 1 in FlyLady.

If I get these three things done today, it will be good. I will just cross off those things I achieve. We will see. But first we have tea. Everything goes better with a cup of tea!