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.

A neighbourly thing to do.

So I did my grocery shop online yesterday. Sadly, they were out of stock with sugar. So Chris and I went to the supermarket to get that and some other essentials like milk (out of stock) and bread.

No white sugar at all... just dark brown. So there I was thinking all was well with my stocked pantry, only to find I have one small canister of sugar left.

We put out the call to local family and fortunately for us, they have plenty and are willing to share. They are going to leave some for us on our front porch.

Whilst the supermarkets were restocking the shelves, Chris told me that they were unpacking unessentials. All the essential stuff: toilet paper, hand sanitiser, milk, bread, flour and sugar weren't available.

Chris went in by himself and I sat in the car as it's silly to have both of us go in for a few things.  Besides, I was saving my spoons for today. I have some household chores to clean up and it is a race between detemination to get it done and my spoon swallowing flare of fibromyalgia.

So on today's list is:

1. Folding more washing and putting it away
2. Doing last night's dishes and this morning's as well
3. Making some mini quiches to freeze
4. Making cookie dough also to freeze

I think that will be it for today for my spoons and definitely it will be it for my sugar. Such a small thing until you run out of it. Now I can obviously see that lending a cup of sugar is a neighbourly thing to do.

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 

Tomorrow is today

So I have put off some things from yesterday that I didn't get done.  The plan was to do it today, but unfortunately my spoons once again dictated my ability to do them. Tomorrow is today and I simply can't function.

I have had a bath and that was enough to wipe me out of spoons. I have microwaved some party pies for lunch, opened the windows up and made a cup of tea.

After lunch, I will be going back to bed for a while. After that, I will be cooking chow mein for tea. I have taken the mince out to thaw but that's it. 

Once it would worry me, but twenty plus years of living with fibromyalgia has taught me never to plan too far ahead. Until I actually wake up in the morning, I simply don't know how or even if I will be able to cope with the day.

I have found if I just accept that this is the nature of the beast aka fibromyalgia, and go with it that I can avoid false guilt and depression.

So it all will get done when I get to it, even if tomorrow is today! 

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.