One size fits all.

So it's school holidays and we have been blessed to have our little granddaughter, Taylah stay with us for a few days. With Corona we haven't seen her for ages...

She was feeling the cold this morning and asked if she could try my Oodie on. It was comical to see how big it was on her. For crying out loud- it's big on me, and I am not a light weight!

What made us laugh was that it's advertised as one size fits all- if you can call fits where it touches, " fitting". It made me think of the lies salespeople used to tell us back in the day when we actually got served.

Today we are hoping to go feed the ducks who live in the field near our stream- hoping because of lack of spoons for nana: my fibromyalgia is reacting to the cold and protesting that I baked with Taylah and had some fun yesterday.

But as I said to one of my reader friends, I want to live my life, not merely endure it. So I have had to do what I can to make happy memories with my granddaughter and pay the price in pain after.

Fibromyalgia is a balancing act that demands choices daily. Choices based on available spoons. And if the spoons aren't there to be used, it demands a rethink of every action for the rest of the day. It's a harsh master.

So, God willing, I will have enough spoons to help Tay cook a simple meal for dinner tonight, and to bake a no knead bread loaf for lunch.

But one other thing I have noticed with fibromyalgia is that it is different for each of us. Five spoons does not go as far for one fibromite as for another. To say that all spoons are equal is as bad as being told like with my Oodie, that one size fits all...

Rattling those pots and pans

So I had a few spoons today and decided to follow my favourite recipe for no knead bread.  You may recall I bought these appliances with my economic booster courtesy of the Australian government. 

The bread recipe calls for a Dutch Oven and I don't have one, so I used the casserole dish and it did the job beautifully. The bread turned out to be so yummy and we will eat it with a minestrone soup for dinner tonight.

I also have made  icecream using Monkfruit sweetener. It is in the freezer as I type, getting ready to be tonight's no sugar low carb dessert!

I have been preparing our guest room because tomorrow we will be blessed with our little granddaughter's company for a few days. Boy, have I missed her! Our postcodes are not under lockdown with the Corona restrictions, but it's anyone's guess when or if we will be back to lockdown as well. So we are getting her now before it happens.

Housework-wise, I am following each day's work on Sylvia's Lists. I still have bad fibromyalgia, but we are getting there slowly and I am at last ratting those new pots and pans. 

My heart is here

So we have seen total lockdown of a few suburbs in North Western Melbourne because of people testing positive and still visiting family and friends. 

Fortunately we aren't in lockdown yet but I am thinking I better get a bit extra in groceries as lockdowns in Victoria are still a possibility.  Our Premiere has said it may have to be implemented.

We are getting fed up with being home, but we have devised little things to do to make the most of it.

Our little cat Xena has been a lot of fun as we sit and watch her. The birds know she's outside, watching them from a safe distance, but they don't bother with her. They know she's a bit of a coward. If she gets too close they gang up on her and chirp in unison and she feels intimidated and runs off.  We laugh..

Yesterday I baked some bread... it was nice when it was hot but was rather hard when it was cold. It didn't bother our birds who got the left overs.

My last day has come today with the home help lady and I am now on my own for twelve months, until I get the government placing in the Aged Care package. I will be following Sylvia's Lists from tomorrow onwards..

I have polymyalgia rheumatica as well as fibromyalgia at the moment and feel so sore around the neck and shoulders. I am upping my pain killers to paracetamol slow release plus two paracetamol at night. 

Ideally, I would be on prednisolone again, but my sugars are high, I have thinning bones and I really don't want to feel ravenously hungry all the time. Besides, my doctor won't let me have them anymore. 

Not for the first time, I have asked myself why something that actually helps my pain is not suitable? You would think doctors could come up with some pain relief that actually works for all the arthritic and fibro maladies...

I have put the electric blankets on, drawn the drapes and lit the lamps. It's already fresh outside- the hairs in my nostrils just about froze when I opened the door to let Xena back in.

The two heaters are full on so it's not too chilly.  I still love our little home and feel most grateful for it.

Looking at the fire and lamps, our living area has a lovely ambience and it shows me what I feel about living here- the house nurtures us. We both feel that.

If we have to be home in lockdown or because of my fibromyalgia etc, it's such a blessing to have this home to do it in.  

Home is where the heart is, and my heart is here...

We are so over it!

Here in Victoria there has been an increase in people getting Corona. Apparently, people who have tested positive have been told to isolate at home, and they have ignored the orders and visited their families. 

We have had clusters of positive results because of this and therefore many of the lessening restrictions that were coming in have been delayed.

Now I love being home and except for rare occasions such as doctor visits and chemist trips, we have been doing what we have been told to do. But for the majority of us Victorians who are doing the right thing, the minority that have not have sent our positive tests up.

Businesses that were tentatively putting their "we are open" signs up have now had to quickly turn them around to read "Closed".

People here are losing their livelihood because of the idiots who think they can win the battle with Rona by doing what they please! These idiots who disobey quarantine rules should be imprisoned for a time. Or fined- or both.

I mean, what sane person who is tested positive would go to their family and give it to them? It just goes to show their selfish mentality.

Don't get me wrong: I am not against us staying home or visiting family- if one is well. But to visit them when positive for Rona is wicked. Nor am I against the government trying to stop the spread.

I am a home body- Chris is as well, but it was all starting to close in on us and we were looking forward to a relaxation of the rules. Now we will be ordering our food online and staying home.

With my fibromyalgia reacting to the stress of a couple of family members having tests for cancer, home is quite a good place to be.

It's just that I was looking forward to a trip to see those family members but it's all been curtailed. So all in all, we aren't very happy.

I never thought I would say this, but I am even sick of my computer... I have cooked a few dishes I wanted to try and done some de-cluttering too. There's nothing much to be done and the boredom is real.

Keep in mind, I love my home and can see the need for isolation once more- It's just a bit overwhelming at the moment- and we are so over this! 

Spitting chips!

     spit chips: 

slang To be loudly or vehemently angry. Primarily heard in Australia.Everyone's spitting chips over the recent tax law now, but in a month's time, no one will even remember that it happened.

Although I did get out of bed today, I haven't achieved much. I have managed to sort my dishes out from last night and they are soaking in hot soapy water in the sink.

The washing is still in the hampers, glaring at me when I pass them by, ignoring them as I go to the loo. They will keep! 

I have some minced steak thawing on the kitchen bench and I have no idea what I am going to do with it tonight for dinner. Pot luck! 

How I feel is pretty much the same in the graphic here. I am whacked and in pain that makes it hard to sit and talk to you. My neck and shoulders are killing me.

The rain is really heavy and the temperature is cold. Totally to be expected as it's winter here in Australia. And where we are, it even snows! 

My sister and daughter are Fibromites and are suffering as well, so maybe it's the weather changes..

My plans for baking and icecream making went out the window yesterday and certainly aren't in today's plans. Instead, I am here mentally shaking my fist at fibromyalgia and, sad that I can't do the few things I planned for today, I am sitting here, spitting chips! 

Again: it's just the nature of the beast!

Chris is going to help his son with car stuff so I will be home alone today. 

If I have enough spoons, I plan to make no sugar icecream that Karen posted in her vlog, bake a no sugar cake for Chris to enjoy and cook a beef stew for dinner. 

Last night I facetimed my grandaughter, Taylah. I miss her terribly!  Although the children have just returned to school, it will be school holidays again this Friday for two weeks. I plan to have her stay with us for a few days. She's excited too! 

My fibromyalgia is still flaring and my sugars were high today. I think maybe I need a nana nap before cooking... one can never plan anything with certainty. 

That's the emotional downside of fibro... it tries to run our life. I mean, really, is cooking a few things too much to ask in a whole day?

Somehow, with twenty-two years of fibromyalgia, my answer is: sometimes! Yes, it's all about spoons!  

No good whining about it: I've said it before and it's true- it's just the nature of the beast! 

Sparrows kneecaps

The lady the hospital pays for to do housecleaning (for another two weeks) came this morning. I feel so happy with a hand and the house looks lovely. 

I was depressed that I had to resort to getting help, but I still do a lot of chores related to running our home to make me mistress of my house still. So I decided to just be happy and not overthink it.

She made our bed up with a coverlet that was my mother's. I think it looks nice. Finishes our room off nicely.

We bought another fridge and put the older one in the laundry. There's heaps of room there and talking of room, I love that I have a large freezer again. I plan to cook and freeze some meals in advance.

Of course, I will have to pick a day where I have enough spoons. With the fibromyalgia flaring again, it won't be any time soon. I made lamb souvlaki for dinner tonight. 

Helping unpack then move two fridges then repack them has left me bereft of spoons. I am going to bed soon.

Well, I said "helping"- but in reality I just guided Chris around with it. There's no way I could truly help him push a fridge: fibromyalgia has given me muscles the size of sparrows kneecaps! 

Strine's a language all its own.

They say English is the hardest language to learn, but I think good old Aussie slang called Strine, is harder still.

We Australians have a unique language which causes problems to even English speakers who aren't in the know.

It is funny to speak Strine amongst ourselves and we delight in shortening words, names and places.

For example, when speaking of the Corona Virus we call it Rona. The town of Mordialloc is Mordy, Broadmeadows is Broady, and Dandenong is Dandy.

I am having a lot of fun teaching my English husband how to speak Strine. He's been naturalised and has almost lost his English accent and has lived in Australia longer than England now. But every now and then, a new Strine word will come up and he asks me for the interpretation.

"Got a bingle (crash) out in Broady (Broadmeadows)... towies (towtrucks) on site but as a result it's chockers (bumper to bumper or full) in that direction"  There now,can't be any clearer can it? lol

Today I am catching up on dishes and washing. I will be serving chicken parmigana with mashed potato and greens for dinner.

I am so glad that the Bible comes in easy to read language: something that can speak to all of us and not just a select few. I just can't see a Bible written in Strine as something that would minister to all men because as I said, Strines' a language all its own.

Let's be clever ducks!

So I am at  the "beach" again today... just watching out the window as the sun hid behind a tree. In the paddock behind our property, a little family of ducks waddled across towards the stream. One by one with a big plop, they threw themselves in and were rapidly whisked away on the current, probably ending up at the larger town twenty kilometres away.

With world events on my mind, I thought of how quickly we can all be whisked away to a future world we don't really enjoy or even like much any more.  It is dark and frightening for most of us-and especially so for the non believer in Christ.

For Christians have a hope and expectation: we are expecting and waiting for Jesus to come for us, and so we will be forever with Him, away from the anger and wrath that awaits the world. 

Whether we like it or not, we are being whisked away on a flood of rushing water and where we end up for eternity depends on whether or not we accept Jesus Christ as our LORD and Saviour. 

No good works will make us good enough to go to Heaven: Jesus Christ is the ONLY way. 

My prayer today as I watch those ducks making use of that current is that we will all be found safe at the other end with Jesus. Let's be clever ducks!

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. —Acts 4:12

From the comfort of my couch

Today when I woke up, the outside was like a winter wonderland. Everything had a cloak of white from the frost. I quickly put the heaters on and warmed the place up.

After my lunch, I was still in my Oodie and I just didn't really have any spoons to do much. The birds were eating in our bird feeder and the sun had come across the back garden and was so warm that I was able to turn the heater off.

My stress levels when Chris became ill were pretty high, and I had done a lot of driving over the last two weeks. It played major havoc with my fibromyalgia, back and hips. I don't usually drive so of course I was using muscles that don't get used much. And they were complaining!

We opened the back door to air the house. The birds were chirping, the cattle were lowing and the stream at the end of our garden was flowing fast and bubbling. The sun shone on the water and not for the first time, I thanked God for giving us this home to rent.

Chris was sitting at the end of the couch and invited me to lay down and he would give me a foot rub. Now with all the driving, my right foot was extremely sore from using the pedals, and my peripheral neuropathy from diabetes was causing my feet to burn. He knows I suffer with sore feet and oedema in my legs, thanks to heart failure, and he rubs my feet and massages the water from them up towards my heart. It is supposed to help with heart failure.

The sun was shining right in my eyes, so I pulled my Oodie hood over them and lay listening to the birds, cows and stream. With closed eyes and the sun shining on my bare legs, the birds continued to chorus and with the water running, it felt exactly like I was at the beach. I fell asleep.

When I woke from my resultant slumber, Chris had closed the door as it was getting cold again. My muscles felt more relaxed and I had a few spoons to cook some fish and mashed potato with peas for dinner. I even did an apple pie sweetened with Hermasetas and cinnamon.

I was so comforted by just getting to rest and sleep and I intend to go to the "beach" again tomorrow- all from the comfort of my couch!