Hello!!

I thought I'd better check in, it has been quite a while!  As all things have quietened down on the home and health front, we are settling into a nice quiet routine.  I am still swimming, most weeks managing to get to the club 3 times and clocking up 6km swam and lots and lots of repetitions of my hydrotherapy exercises completed.  My weight is slowly (very slowly) coming off, the good thing about this is that it is staying off, even when I have 'naughty' weeks.  I am now the same weight I was about 10 years ago after I had my children, still a long way to go!

When I am not at the club swimming, I have decided to relaunch my crafting shop on folksy, Mrs Craftypants.  In addition to making things for my shop, I have also purchased my domain name, so you can find out a little more about me over at www.mrscraftypants.co.uk.  There has been the purchasing of business cards and getting out and about touting for business.  This is the bit I like least - I wish I could just make and not have to do the selling!  However this hobby needs to fund it self and so I wondered off to a little shop near by armed with a selection of Easter bits and pieces and they have agreed to sell it for me on a sale or return basis.

Another new venture is the start of doing workshops.  I am starting with a crochet workshop first of all on Saturday 7th March, so I am busy this week writing up patterns, taking photo's to go on the patterns and doing things like writing this blog to distract me from doing what I am really supposed to be doing!!!!!!!!

I will try and keep popping by and keeping up to date with other blog posts, maybe if I set myself a few deadlines then I will spend more time prevaricating and do this more often.

Take care for now xxxxxx

What a difference a week makes.

I can't quite believe that I was writing such a happy up beat post this time last week!  After writing that the following day I woke up with very sore joints,  this happens some times with my rheumatoid arthritis, but often wears off over the day.  However Weds it was still just as bad, so was Thursday and Friday - grrrrrr.  It is so easy to be pulled down by pain.  I suddenly become aware of all the things I cannot do, rather than thinking about the things I can do.

It took me until yesterday to put a plea out for prayers from my friends for healing and today I think God has answered in a gentle way.  The first thing is I managed to have a telephone conversation with my GP and so now have some stronger pain killers - which are already working better than my other ones!  The second thing was that because I had to go to the chemist to pick up my prescription, I had to use the car, which spurred me on to drive just a little further to the gym and go for a swim.  I had to use the indoor pool because it is the only one with gentle steps down into the water rather than a ladder.  However it really was bliss.  I guess I was more floating than swimming.  When I am floating my arms feel so supported and weightless, I so wish I could bottle that feeling it is just bliss.  It reminds me of years ago using a floatation tank, where you get into a coffin like piece of equipment that has salty water in it and you lie in the darkness.  They were all the rage back then, I wonder if they still exist.  Anyway the pool is definitely as good a place as any to capture that beautiful floating feeling.

The bonus of getting to the gym means I could shower as well, at home I have to go upstairs to do this, so when everything is as painful as it is now, I can only shower either first thing in the morning or last thing before bed.  The gym is great as I am able to stay all on the ground floor all the way from my car.  So though I cannot say there has been a lot of physical healing take place since the prayers of yesterday, I do know that God is here with me and am very grateful for the moments of relief, medication and water have given me.

Have a good week xxxxxxxxxxxx

Swimming.

Picture taking from Google images, not the real thing!

Hello!  I am still here.  I thought I had better come and say Hi.  Life has been a little (ok VERY) consumed by a wedding dress making project.  I shall be blogging about that another time over on my Mrs Craftypants blog after the wedding next weekend, when the Bride has had the opportunity to show all her friends her dress first.

I thought I would write about swimming today.  (I know the last one was whirlpools - there is obviously something watery going on here).

Since mid May I have been enrolled at a very lovely independent gym with fabulous indoor and outdoor swimming pools.  It is at least a  20 minute trek to get there in the car (as opposed to our local baths which are 10 minutes away).  However the luxury of the place plus the expense means I am totally taking full advantage of my membership.

I arrived today to find the outdoor pool was empty.  I slid into the wonderfully warm water and out of the slight chill that was in the air.  I took myself off to one of the lanes and set forth with my usual rhythm, a length on my front followed by a length on my back.  I can continue like this for an hour.  I know that on my front it takes either 24 or 25 strokes to get from one end to the other.  And on my back it takes between 21 and 22 arm strokes.  I love this rhythm, it also means I don't have to think of much and I don't bang my head on the side of the pool when going backwards.

With the luxury of the pool to myself I was revelling in watching the water still ahead of me whilst going forwards.  Whilst on my back the sky kept me entertained.  Pure blue at times, the occasional fluffy white cloud, the odd grey bubbly cloud, birds, aeroplanes, butterflies, bees - complete bliss.  I stroke away feeling blessed beyond belief.

Then I hear a splashy swishy sound, and I am certain I was not making it.  I was on my back so could not see what was behind me, but I guessed it - my peace had been shattered.  If only it had been a shattering of the pure bliss I was experiencing, but it wasn't.  Big Splashy Man had come into the pool.  Not content with  taking a space on the other side of the pool from me, he came right up against the lane divider next to me.  Within seconds the water was choppy.  Every time we passed each other I had chlorinated water splashed all over my face and up my nose.  On one occasion as I was just finishing off my back length he completely submerged me and left me gagging and gasping for air.  I was going to say something, but he had no idea of the carnage he was causing and continued a pace.

The peace was gone, a few more folk came into the pool and suddenly my back lengths of 21 or 22 strokes were taking 24 to 25.  On my front it felt like I was swimming in treacle.  The edge of the pool taking forever to come into reach of my fingertips.

I looked at the clock and saw that I had done almost an hour, I could hear my friends voice in my head, reminding me as she had to take it easy (having been ill over the weekend).  I stopped and looked around and saw big black clouds looming.  Sometimes it really is about knowing when to get out.

Sitting in the sauna afterwards I was musing on how much my grief is like Big Splashy Man.  I rarely know when it is going to rear it's head, however there are triggers which mean I know it may well be coming.  For me at the moment, it is seeing the lights on in the house where my mum used to live.  Or looking at the house she was going to buy just around the corner from us.  Even shopping in our little town centre where I would often bump into her.  Like Big Splashy Man, I have no control over it's intensity, sometimes it is worse than others.  It is also quite interesting to note that it is often following moments of complete bliss and feeling blessed that  Big Splashy Man, rears his head.

After a lovely quiet time in the Sauna, I decided to treat myself to 10 minutes in the indoor jacuzzi.  Once more I was peaceful.  I was also feeling very smug that I had been right about those big grey clouds, they were still hanging over the outdoor pool.  Then would you believe it Big Shouty Man got into the jacuzzi next to mine and started having a very loud conversation with his friend.  Typical I was just thinking when horror of horrors - Big Splashy Man got into MY jacuzzi.  That was too much, it was obviously time for me to go home.


post script - I do apologise to Mr Splashy Man and Mr Shouty Man for associating you with my grief as I have, it really is nothing personal, I am sure you are perfectly lovely people!!!!!!!!!!!!

post post script - the swimming is doing me a lot of good, I'm going 3 times a week and have so far lost over 5 kg :o) x
 

Simple Days

Life is seems to be starting to slow down into a simpler routine than when I was working.  On the whole my days go by at a much more gentle pace.  I am managing to get to the swimming pool three times a week with my mum, and have built up to swimming 1100m each time (that's 44 lengths of our pool) which takes me between 40 and 50 minutes depending on how many lengths I do on my back.  These are the only set activities I presently have.

Tuesday and Thursday are my non swimming days, last Tuesday felt like a break through.  The first day when I felt as though I was able to do all that I wanted to do.  I spent the morning doing some crochet after a quick catch up on facebook, twitter and blogger and checking e-mails.  After lunch I made supper for me and the children (husband was working an afternoon shift) so that it could go in the oven as my daughter has her saxophone lesson from 5.30 to 6pm.  I then did some more crochet, managing to finish off a second pair of wrist warmers/fingerless mittens for one of my God-daughters and one of my nieces.  These were then ready to package up and sent through the post BEFORE their birthdays!

When my children arrived home from school there was time for a catch up with them and we then had notice that my daughters saxophone lesson had been cancelled.  The one activity I had not managed was walking the dog so this gave me the ideal opportunity to go and do that AND to go to the local shop at the same time to get milk which we were running low on and I had noticed!

Supper was ready when I got back, I put bread on to bake in the bread maker and the day was rounded off nicely with a bit of TV with the children. An early bed when my son went up meant I could read the very good book I got on my Kindle last week, you can see what it is here.  I can highly recommend the book, I have been introduced to the author on facebook via another author friend and this is the first book of hers I have read - a very gripping historical tale.

What made this day quite so perfect?  My husband coming in from work at 10.30pm, popping his head around the bedroom door and making a lovely comment about how nice the house smelt as the bread was almost ready for him to take out :o).  Sometimes it really is the simple things.