Knitting, knitted, knotted.....

My Kindle has been objecting to writing my blogs in an orderly fashion... baa humbug! but still I persist & struggle on regardless... so apologies If the odd error slips through :) 
Your may also find the odd 'cat' related item slipping through (I have a love of all things feline) hence the Pusheen pic LOL x

My little stash of wool has been laying forgotten, until that is, Baby Logan's arrival became imminent... at which point my needles took on a life of their own & I went back into knitting mode.
So... here are the first things I knitted him, a jacket made from an original 1950's something pattern & and ice cream hat (I'd always wanted to make one x)

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After I'd finished these I made a mini size owl hat for him and a Scrappy Bunny. Goodness, once I'd started I couldn't stop LOL  This is one of the advantages of  not sleeping at night x

My next post will cover my Fibro & bring us up to date on the creative side as well... here's one more pic of lovely Logan & I'll say goodbye, until next time x

Spring is in the air & its baby time for our family x

Our daffodils are blooming, despite the nip in the air... & my cyclamen are still going strong, I do love these little flowers!

My youngest daughter and her hubby had been trying for a baby for quite some time & were on their second IVF cycle when she fell pregnant.

I think it was because this baby was 'special', that I wanted to do something special for them... so, I decided to make them Moses basket drapes, something I hadn't done for 30+ years.

Here are mother & baby, doing well... despite a worrying hour when she hemorrhaged & lost 4 pints of blood, they are both fine and doing very well at home.

As you can see our new arrival is not a small bubbie! 

Let me introduce my 5th grandchild, Logan Robert Cox, b.17th March 2014 & weighing in at an impressive 3975g or 8lb 12oz!

Now they are both recovered, Logan has been made right at home in his new crib...

This crib is very different from the ones I used to make... less flounces but a lot of class, if I do say so myself LOL the following pics include one of my original silk, commissioned baskets x

Well, that's all for now peeps, I have some more baby goodies & baby loveliness all ready for the next post... so until the next time, take care of each other 💖

I'm back !!!

Hello everyone.... it seems so long since I wrote my last blog,  it's been 5 months ( which is way to long LOL), but at last I'm back on track (fingers crossed).
Since May, when I last wrote, I have been granted my DLA !!! WOOP WOOP ! & I've also been given my mobility allowance ! I couldn't believe it, especially as I've been trying for over 10 years!
As soon as it all came through I hot footed it down to my nearest mobility dealer... I have to say that Hyundai in Rochester gave me the best customer service & care... they picked me up and delivered me back home on 3 occasions, until my car arrived.

                                                    This is Black Betty (bam ba lam)

So, I'm now mobile ~ it's amazing to have some freedom after so long. At one point I didn't leave my house for 9 months, except to go next door for coffee and the chat ~ thank goodness for my friend and neighbour, she kept me sane x 

I am also the proud owner of a blue badge.... what a shame I can no longer use it at the hospital... my reason for wanting one ! Cut backs are hitting us all eh?

.... a quick update on my health & then I'll bring this post up to date on the crafting side.

Since my hip operation in January, the Fibromyalgia has been relentless & has increased in intensity.  Apparently this was something the consultant and surgeon could not predict.... this has been an enormous blow and has been so debilitating, with an increase also in the associated fatigue and sleep disorders. The last 8 months have not been a picnic!

There's nothing to be done about it, so I've been muddling along, making the most of my good days. It's been incredibly stressful for my'Stevie, who has had to adapt to long periods of me being either asleep or miserable... bless him, I'm hoping I've now started to turn the corner and come out of this prolonged flare up.

Herne bay with the nippers, this was a good day.

In July I was admitted into hospital on two occasions. The first was only for 8 hours or so, I had been vomiting continually, since the day before & had terrible abdominal pain...  after being given morphine and anti sickness medication intravenously I was allowed home. The hospital put this down to some bug or possible virus. 

3 weeks later, while babysitting down in Hythe, I again began feeling unwell again. 3 hours later I began vomiting again & in the early hours of the morning I started to vomit blood... quite scary, for everyone including myself ! 

I was admitted to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford & stayed there for 6 days. After a gastroscopy I was diagnosed with a Hiatus hernia and gastritis. 

SO...  a complete change in diet for me, no alcohol, fizzy drinks, chocolate, cheese, tomatoes.... the list goes on and on LOL but at least it's something that can be controlled, I thank my lucky stars it wasn't something more serious.  

As you can imagine completing my crafting projects has been a real struggle & my optimism & initial enthusiasm often fizzle out way before completion. I've learnt the hard way, not to overestimate my energy levels & not to bite of more than I can chew.

Last year my sister-in-law gave us some retro curtains but they were way to long for our windows.... I eventually got round to shortening them and made a back door blind and cushions with the remnants... good job done, I'm well pleased :)

Tilley, next doors terrier, really appreciative of my hard work LOL

My next project was to give my old handbag a new lease of life. This was a really easy quick fix and well worth the short amount of time spent. I used the neck of an old jumper, that had been earmarked for the charity bag. All I did was hot glue it around the inside of the bag & then turn it the right way.... leaving gaps for the leather belt that I put on for a shoulder strap. Another good job jobbed, as my gran used to say. 

My next project was something for Christmas. I'd had this idea for the nippers' s presents for some time... so I ordered the girls names online, laser cut in wood and then decorated them. These are to stick on the bedroom wall or to put on their bedroom doors. 

I'm going to do the boys some as well, but need to think about the decoration... I'm thinking dinosaurs for the younger ones and football colours for the older ones.... maybe earphones and CD' s could also be an option for the teenagers. What do you think?

I love it when I have good days and actually create something... it makes it all worth while! This is my new watch strap, made from the left over curtain cord & and beads from an old bracelet.

Well, that's about me all up to date, for the moment... I'll leave you with a pic of the 3 babies we dog sat, during the summer.... until next time peeps :)

May the 4th be with you... and Fibromites rule the month of May x

Well, what a week this has been !
My birthday was on the 4th of May... the same day that I had my DLA medical examination, both of which followed hot on the heels of 3 days of chronic fatigue & intense Fibro pain... including a really terrible migraine ~ I haven't had one like that for a couple of years... I'm surprised I actually made it through the day LOL
My birthday ended up with a wonderful gathering of my family, which brightened up my whole week ~ it made everything seem worth it.

We had 2 granddaughters staying at the time & they came in from playing, with some of the local kiddies, with this little bunch of flowers! That made my day LOL... even if half of them were dandelions !

I shall have to wait and see what happens with the DLA (Disability Living Allowance). The medical examiners always hold their cards very tight to their chests... and, as many spoonies know, the first you know of the result is that dreaded brown envelope through the letterbox!
So... for the moment I'm putting it to the back of my mind... I doubt if I will be accepted, given the current climate & benefit changes... but there's no point stressing about it, on top of everything else !

I finally did my our accounts & realised that we really can't afford to stay here, in our home, because of the council tax & bedroom tax we now have to pay... I'm so miserable & panicky about the whole affair! anyway, I made my mind up & I've filled out the forms for a internal exchange & ... if the gods are smiling down on us, we will be able to move across the road & still stay where our friends are... but, as with the DLA, I'm not going to hold my breath... neither of us have ever been that lucky :(

Sorry peeps, but I just had to share & get it out of my system !

Now... enough of this doom and gloom ~ here's a bit of crafting catch up. Last year I made a masquerade mask, which I called 'SwanSong' because of the shape & the materials... namely a lot of  fluff & some music score :)

So, I just had to finish of the ties (just as I had to do with the Scarlet Woman mask) and make a box... then I could actually put it up for sale... who knows I might make a bit more money for the Fibroduck foundation this year !
I used the top of the last box as the base for this one, made a lid & covered them both to match. I have to say I'm very pleased with the finished effect... in fact all I have to do now is outline the music score hearts with some gold pen (when it arrives from ebay ! )

The box and all of the other materials are up-cycled, & coordinated just beautifully x

I'd love to know what you think ? and don't forget it's Fibromyalgia day on the 12th May... so please send people this way, or to my FB page https://www.facebook.com/DreamIt.MakeIt.LoveIt  ~ lets turn the world purple for a day & educate the people out there x

...the crafting spoonie reports in!

Good evening peeps, I hope everyone is OK?
I thought I'd bring you up to speed on the crafting side, followed by a quickie on my health... so if you're a Spoonie or a Fibromite, with no interest in crafting, you can skip to the end... & visa versa if you're a crafter LOL

Since I last wrote, I've finished a major project that I started last year... my Scarlet woman masquerade mask.

The mask was almost finished & just needed ties attached but I was unhappy with the finish on the back.  I realised that if I wanted to put the mask on my Etsy shop (link on the right) I also needed to create or find some kind of container for it.
So... I made some elasticated loops & attached them to the mask. These would allow the wearer to adjust the ribbons for ease.

Here you can see the loop with the ribbon attached. the next thing I did was to recover the back of the mask. As this had originally been an experimental piece I hadn't really worried about the back before. I found some burgundy lining fabric & used that, it looks a lot better now.

... it's something I really need to work on when I do the next mask, to get the back looking as polished as the front.

Now that the mask was finished I turned my attention to the packaging. I found an old box that was the right size, just a bit to deep... an easy solution was to make a new lid & cover both to match.

 hmmm, I thought long & hard over the decoration of the box, & at the end of the day, as always, I had to use what I already had in the house. It's a right pain living on benefits & not having any money for luxuries LOL

In the pics above you can see the papier macheing with red tissue paper and the leftovers of the mask's ribbon. I then cut some burgundy tissue hearts in different sizes & applied them & then dotted some gold heart gems around for a bit of glam.
I'm very pleased with the finished box.

I have another mask, one that also needs ties & a box... so that is being attended to as we speak.
I wanted to make my other ongoing project in time for this weekend... oops, that's gone now so I've missed the dead line by a mile LOL ~ it was for a crafting competition with the only stipulation that the theme was 'book'.

My idea was to make a treasure box out of a book, it's going to have a secret compartment & the cover is (hopefully) going to be an Ab-Fab mix of shabby chic & a pirate's chest... well that's the general idea.
Here's the book, with the pages cut out. It's all ready to have the pages stuck together, the spaces to be lined & the cover decorated.

That's the end of the crafting news... here's the update on the health & home side.

I received a letter from the DLA during the week, they're arranging for a medical examiner to come & visit ~ at least I know it's being dealt with, although I don't hold out much hope of getting anywhere with the financial support... but you never know & like they say ~ it's not over until the fat lady sings !

I managed to get down to see my GP on Tuesday, my brother was off work & I actually managed to co-ordinate everything so that the appointment fitted in with him & mum arriving & giving me a lift... wonders will ever cease LOL

To my immense relief he was very understanding, well he seemed to be! he's put me back on morphine ~ only to be used at times when the pain is too much, what a relief to have it as a back up again! ...and he's referred me back to my consultant to investigate the Chronic Fatigue & the Sleep Paralysis, my appointment is on 22 nd May.
So, all in all the visit was a success & worthwhile me making the effort. As always, I couldn't have done it without my family & I'm so grateful for their support.

I also had my last physio session this week, I've now been signed of. As Mary said, there's nothing else she can do because the most pain is from the fibro & she was only sent to me to deal with me post-op, for my hip. I shall miss having her visit but I can report that I did everything she asked me to do & she was very pleased with me (smug grin ! LOL)

Today I ran out of spoons... deep sigh... after managing to get upstairs, find some fabric & other bits for my crafting... AND have a bath...I then tried to make my bed with clean sheets & duvet... I persisted & although I probably broke a few records for the longest-bed-making-session-in-know-history, I did it BUT I lived to regret being so damn stubborn!

The end result was too much pain, no crafting & ending up in bed, horizontal, with 2 of the cats. I really should have learnt to pace myself by now ~ to end on a nice note, here's some pics of my Montie, one of our 5 cats...  he's my faithful companion... he really is a mummy's boy, bless him x

That's all folks... until next time x

What a beautiful sunny Sunday...

It's a beautiful day in sunny Kent... what a welcome change from the recent cold weather, I hope everyone is enjoying it. 

I had a rotten night last night & ended up surfing the net at 4 am. It was while looking at people I follow on twitter that I found some other like minded people, one of them was Dee. 

After reading Dee's blog  (http://fibromyalgia-dee.blogspot.com/ ), I thought I'd see if I could alter the tone of my blog... I realised that all of my posts had concentrated on the crafting side of my life, while the real reason for them, Fibromyalgia' had been left in the shadows, with only an occassional mention. 

I thought that if I could incorporate the two, without force feeding any crafters a dose of 'fibro misery', then  I could eventually accomplish what I had originally set out to do ~ to achieve world domination through crafting & raise awareness about Fibromyalgia. You have to have a sense of humour about these things LOL

So... a quick update on me & then a quickie on my day, just to give you a taste... I promise this will be a short post LOL

I have the following conditions ~  

Hypermobility Syndrome http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Joint-hypermobility/Pages/Introduction.aspx 

Fibromyalgia http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Fibromyalgia/Pages/Introduction.aspx 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chronic-fatigue-   syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx  

Sleep Paralysis ~ I get the full version http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sleep-paralysis/Pages/Symptoms.aspx )

Along side these conditions are other symptoms ... such as insomnia, IBS etc. The links will give you some understanding of the conditions; non of them are life threatening but all are life changing.

I live with my partner & 5 cats, our family's have all grown up & we're both grandparents. I've been with m'Stevie for nearly 12 years but it is only in the last 6 months that he has had a real taste of what it means to live with a 'Spoonie or Fibromite' (definition at the end of this post). Bless him, he has now become my unofficial carer & can now turn his hand to most things. 

We've worked out a system, if he needs help with something he brings it to me & I do it (if I'm able), if not then we just leave it for another day... for instance ~ yesterday he needed help with chopping the veg to make a stew. He did the potatoes & the meat & I did the mushrooms, onions etc... sitting on my bed (which is downstairs) & balancing a tray on my lap.

Today he did, what I call, his 'first real washing day'. He's been doing the laundry since January, but today the sun was shining. He stripped his bed, I stripped mine (I did it sitting on one end & then swapped ends) & he managed to get 3 loads of washing done, out on the washing line,  dried & brought back in... where I folded it, sitting on my bed. 

The reason I'm sleeping downstairs is that I had a hip operation in January, so stairs are more of a problem than they had been before... we soon realised that our bed & settee's were also a problem, because they're all so low ~ If I could get down on to them I couldn't get back up. Occupational Therapy raised my downstairs bed up by 3" ~ problem solved :)

   

I have various other aids around the house & I alternate between sticks & crutches for daily mobility... depending on how I am on any given day.

Today I'm having an average day... which is good, especially considering I had an awful night. I think I had 4 or 5 sleep~paralysis episodes last night, which was very distressing (please read the link up above if you do not know what this is) 

I eventually managed to wake up enough to sit up & stay awake for 2 hours & managed to break the cycle... a bit like you do after a nightmare, when you worry about going back to sleep in case it comes back, so you wake up, get up, have a hot drink & eventually go back to sleep OK.

So today has been quite good. I've sorted out all of my tiny diamanté gems into individual colours & stored them in my old pill boxes... something I've been putting of for a few weeks. 

I've been for a couple of trips next door to my friend, for coffee & a chat & shortly I shall be going up to our local field (a very short walk) with her & her dogs... it's the furthest I've been since before Christmas 2012, so I count it as a large achievement every time I manage to do it... like today !  

Well,  you've now had a small peek into my day ~ I hope it wasn't to traumatic & that you'll come & visit me again... the next things on my list are ~

Number 1 make a doctors appointment about the increasing sleep paralysis episodes.

Number 2 finish of one of my masquerade masks & get it in to either my Etsy or Folksy shop

... I'm definitely looking forward to sharing the second one with you !

The images, in between the text on this post, are all taken from Spoonie & Fibromyalgia tattoo's ~ I have started to design my own, incorporating some or all of these symbols. Actually having it inked, on myself, is on my bucket list ! 

The purple butterfly, the purple ribbon & the spoon are the symbols of Fibromyalgia ~ purple is connected to Fibromyalgia as pink is to Breast Cancer... ooh yes, and Fibromyalgia day is May 12th 2013. 

The Definition of a Spoonie.
A person living with chronic illness that identifies with Christine Miserandino's spoon theory.
Say for instance, that each and every day every action you do equals 1 spoon.
Cleaning your teeth = 1 spoon
Having a bath = 1 spoon
Going up stairs = 1 spoon.
If you are healthy you have unlimited spoons to get you through your day, you can do all your daily activities.
If you are a spoonie you only have a limited supply of spoons ~ having breakfast AND getting dressed might mean you don't have enough spoons to have that bath or to make lunch... you've run out of energy or your pain levels have gone through the roof & you can't function.
A spoonie's day is always about pacing themselves & making choices.