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

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.

Things are getting done

So we are staying home and doing some jobs around the house that I have been wanting to get done for a while now.

My sister gave me this picture of the seaside with ladies in crinoline dresses enjoying the beach. It is really pretty in real life and looks wonderful with my pale blue curtains and pink and mint green minkie blankets and blue doona cover. I hope it's not too girly for poor Chris. I will post a pic of the complete room later.

I am very weary today but have determined to follow Wednesday's List regardless. I really want to keep up with my housework, so I will be pacing myself. 

Although today is Thursday, I have followed that list yesterday as I had a doctors' appointment and was really tired after that.

On today's list of to do's:

1. Do a load of washing and put it away
2. Hang some pictures in the lounge room
3. Change our sheets
4. Cook some chicken kievs for dinner
5. Wash the dinner dishes from last night.

I trust you are all keeping well and staying at home where possible. It's not all bad and perhaps like us, you are finding that things are getting done..

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! 

Overcoming the Fear Virus

So I have been anxious about the Corona Virus. I won't lie and say I haven't. But I forgot something very important. Read about what and how I overcame my fear that I blogged about his morning.

I have had a few day's rest from the computer as I am sick of doom and gloom and I rested my body to get over the fibromyalgia flare.

Today, I feeling a  bit better and I have a few things to do:

1. Make three slow cooker soups: pea and ham, chicken broth and pumpkin
2. Do a load of washing
3. Cook chicken kiev, mashed sweet and ordinary potato and peas
4. Dust furniture

I think that will just about see my spoons out today...

Hoping for a better tomorrow!

I have relapsed with another flare of fibromyalgia accompanied by angina. The angina is present in my sleep and wakes me up. That is in the few hours of sound sleep that fibro gives me.

I have done nothing today except make Chris dinner. The rest of the time I have been sleeping. Depression has called on me making me feel over this.

And I am so over chronic illness. Not that declaring this achieves anything. I am going back to bed in hope of finding a few hours of comfort when I sleep. 

So goodnight to you all. I am hoping for a better tomorrow for you and for myself! 

Weighing up the spoons!

I am overjoyed to wake with some spoons today! I have been in this fibromyalgia flare so long that I have forgotten what energy feels like. 

To cope with the residual muscle pain, I have taken a couple of paracetamol with my other tablets this morning. 

I am sitting trying to work out how to utilise my spoons skilfully. I know if I overdo it, I will be back in a flare tomorrow. There's much I would like to do, but I think I will keep it simple to avoid a rebound flareup.

On my to do list today:

1. Follow Wednesday's List
2. Get a few groceries and go to the post office
3. Cook some devilled sausages with vegetables and mashed potato for dinner
4. Have a bath in the evening if I have enough spoons left

If I can get most of this done, I will be happy. It's all about balance and weighing up the spoons!