A Jubilee and some bragging

England is in the midst of a jubilee.  Queen Elizabeth II is being honored for 60 years as England's Queen.  I have been watching some of the proceedings on BBC and listening to many interviews.  I realize that many Americans do not know anything about England and their Queen, many don't care.  I, for one, have grandfathers that hail from British ancestry.  I have dreamed of living in England since a child.  To live in a small village, in an ivy covered cottage, own a yarn shop and have a Corgi as a companion.  I hope that still happens.  I do hope that you take a look at all of the various videos from the last few days.  Tomorrow night will be the last of the public celebrations, but I do believe that England will still be celebrating, and honoring, Queen Elizabeth II for many years to come.

Now I would like to do a bit of motherly bragging!

This is my youngest daughter, Laura.  She has just completed her first year of public school, the 7th grade.  Until this year, she has always been home schooled.  I didn't think she would have 'social problems', like home schoolers are often accused of.  I had just hoped that the schooling we had done was sufficient.

I am happy to say, not only did she make straight A's, on her ISTEP's, she made all Pass  +!  For those of you not from Indiana, ISTEP's are tests for Mathematics, Language Arts and Social Studies.  Not easy at all.  She also has applied for advanced classes in 8th grade Mathematics, Language and Foreign Language.  If she passes those three advanced classes for her 8th-12th grades, she will be able to test for an International Diploma!  I am so very proud of her!

I have been sewing, crocheting, cross-stitching, and even knitting almost constantly this last week!  If all goes well, I shall show you some of it in the next several days.  I seem to be able to focus better this last week, which is very good.  I don't like Fibro Fog!

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend.  Hoping your days are filled with sunshine, cool weather and lots of flowery, springy things!

Hugs...

My Jar of Spoons

When we write our blogs, we write for ourselves and for others.  Hope that someone who would benefit would find our blog.  Learn something from it, whether a new recipe, a new product or information. When I wrote about my fibro and how it affects me, I really hoped someone would read it that needed to know they were not alone.  That is what happened.

While reading the comments on the post, I felt like I did help.  I also learned of a site that I want to share with all of you. It is  butyoudontlooksick.com.  This site is for those of us, and our loved ones, that have chronic illnesses and invisible disabilities to realize we are not alone.  WE ARE NOT ALONE. The founder of the website, Christine Miserandino, has lupus. She has dealt with lupus and the effects, since she was a teenager.

Christine has a way of telling people who do not have lupus what it is like to live with it every day.  How she has to plan everything she is to do or needs to get done in one single day.  To explain it, she has what is called 'The Spoon Theory'.  The theory uses a spoon for each step that will be taken during the day: getting up in the morning, showering, getting dressed, etc.  The trick is you only have 12 spoons for a whole day.  You don't get more if you run out.  If you borrow a 'spoon' from tomorrow, you start with less the next day.  I do believe this is the best way I have ever heard of explaining what we go through in daily life.  If we could tell all the lucky people, that don't live like this day-to-day, how it feels, maybe they would understand more.


When you visit her site, click on 'The Spoon Theory'.  I suggest you do it with kleenex close at hand.  I tend to 'wear my heart on my sleeve', but I doubt you will read this dry eyed.

My wish for today is for all of 'us' to explain to one person what it is like to live in our shoes.  Why we hope no one ever need live like we do.  I know that so many diseases have no cure.  Most of the time, the meds given to us have worse side-effects than the disease.  I don't expect a cure, but making others understand will make it better, for us, to take that disease, no matter what it is, by the horns, shake it around and let it know who the boss is.

Remember that we do matter, we are not invisible, we are valuable, and we are not alone.

Have a restful afternoon.

Hugs...

Memorial Day

In my life I have been lucky to live in Europe for 10 years.  While there, I have seen things that most of us have only heard about or read in a school book.  I have seen history in the making, as I lived in Berlin for the fall of the Iron Curtain.  I have traveled to many cities while there, but the one that I remember the most is Brussels.  

While in Brussels, I went to many monuments and museums.  Walking the normal city streets is a history lesson itself.  The most memorable of the monuments were the cemeteries.  I never knew so many of our men had died.  More than I could even imagine.  When you are given numbers of the dead in books, on the news, etc.,sometimes we say ,Wow, that's so many.  Then when you see it in front of you, it is overwhelming.  I have been to many cemeteries, both military and civilian.  I have never seen so many crosses.

In Belgium, and the surrounding borders, there are many monuments and cemeteries that are American.  The Belgium people tend the graves of a chosen soldier.  This is a lifetime commitment of their family.  The graves are well tended.  School children go to the cemeteries as classes.  They learn about the history of the wars.  It is truly overwhelming to see how tender and loving they are with the dead, of whom they do not know.

When I went to the memorials, it was as though I was at peace.  That is the only way I can phrase it.  It is peaceful there, among all of our men who took up the fight for us.  Many people would talk to us, asking where we were from, if we had any loved one there.  Many of the Belgium people have found families of the graves they tend.  They would share with us about the soldier.  It was a wonderful experience.

I have seen Flanders.  The poppies.  I have walked in the trenches that still exist.  The same trenches that our men sought refuge in. Died in.

While re-reading some of the history about Flanders Field, I have found videos of some of the memorials in Belgium.  I couldn't figure out how to link it here, so here is the website: abmc.gov/cemeteris/cemetaries/ff.php


Many of the men in my family were in the military.  I was lucky, as I never lost any of them in war.  My father and his brothers were in Korea.  My ex-husband was in the 'cold war', behind the Iron Curtain.  I have lost friends in the more recent military battles.  I hope to never lose any more.

I will end with the poem that most of us think about today, Flanders Field.

Remember them today and every day.

Hugs...

The Silent Monster

Well, it has been a long time since my last post.  I do apologize.  My life has been taken over by a monster that can creep up on you at any time and, once in its control, you must just wait for it to release you.  This silent monster is fibromyalgia.

Those of us who have fibromyalgia  look like ordinary people. No scars or identifying marks.  We look NORMAL, but we are not.  A simple act of dusting or hovering, watering the yard, shopping for groceries, can leave us so tired we need to sleep for days.  Going to work for 8-9 hours daily is something that we may not be able to do.  Fibro can change your life.  If has for me.

How do you know if you have fibro?  Most doctors will ask you questions concerning your daily routine, if you work, how long, etc.  They will ask questions about your eating habits and sleeping habits.  They will do a  pressure point test on 18 spots on your body.  These 18 points will probably be very sensitive to touch.

For many, medicine and diet and exercise will help.  Avoiding stress will help.  I do not take the normal meds of fibro patients, as I have bad reactions.  I take a med that had a totally different use in the 60's.  This is taken at night, as it helps me sleep and keeps the pain tolerable.

Not every one with fibro will have the same symptoms.  I can feel when a 'flare' is going to happen.  I feel like I am on fire, actual fire.  The way I described it to my doctor was dousing myself in petrol and lighting a match.  After this, I will have a bad 'flare' within 12 hours.  A 'flare' is also different for everyone.  I get the 'burning', cannot get enough sleep, am restless and walk around in a fog (referred to as 'fibro fog').

In the last month or so, I have had several of these 'flares'.  One was so bad that someone had to stay with me, as I almost could not walk.  I did not have the strength.

Stress, for me, is normally what sets it off.  The last several months have been hard on me.  Things have happened that I never thought would.  I let this eat me up inside, and that's what set my 'flares' off.  Trying to be  'stress-free' is very hard.

Why do people get fibromyalgia?  There is no answer for that.  Doctors have thought/said it's inherited, others have said a reaction to another disease.  I have no answer either.  I know that no one on either side of my biological family has had this diagnosed.  I do know that my 20 year-old daughter has just found out she has this.  She is not on meds for it, as she is having a baby in late July.  I suspect my 12 year old daughter also has it.

For me, fibro started when my arthritis  was getting bad.  I also was diagnosed with lupus around the same time.  Were these factors?  No one will probably ever know.

The month of May was labeled National Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Month.  If you have or know someone who has this, were purple.  I don't have a lot of purple clothes, but I have kept my nails polished with purple!  I have seen t-shirts with slogans on them, wrist bands, bumper stickers, etc.

I know it is at the end of May, but I think we shouldn't stop remembering people that have this.  We really look just like everyone else.  Most of us put on a 'happy face' and continue with everyday life.  I know I do, far too often.

So, if you know anyone with this disease, wear purple for them.  If you have it yourself, know that you aren't alone.  There are many of us that understand how you feel and how your life has changed.

Have a wonderful day,

Hugs.....

Warmer weather and knitting

   Good morning!  Hope you are having a wonderful morning so far!  Yesterday was a doozy!  Not only was it windy, cold and 38 degrees, it also SNOWED!  Now, I know it wasn't much and it did not stick, but that is trivial!  I almost thought I was hallucinating!  So many people have already put in flowers, trees, etc.  I've only lived here 13 years, but I know you don't plant until May!

   I have really gotten the knitting bug!  I am  slow right now, so I'm not knitting any baby clothes.  The babies might be in 3rd grade when I finished their booties!  I have fallen in love with the Debbie Bliss books.  My favorite one so far is ' The Knitter's Year'.  It is broken down into the four seasons, each having several projects.  I am working on one in the Spring section.  I will show you that in a few days.

 

   These are some of the projects in the book.  The pink baby cardigan is so cute and seeing it is worked in seed stitch, the sleeves can be turned up and the collar turned back without seeing the 'wrong side'.  These flags are also cute!  I really love anything British.  .




    I have also been reading a book series by Gil McNeil.  The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is the first book.  It is about a young woman and her two sons moving from London to a town on the coast and the woman running her granny's yarn shop.  I am almost finished with it and will start the next in the series.  I do recommend this book.  It is a good read and it shows just what a single mom can do.  I say BRAVO for the bravery and stamina of single moms!

   That's all for now.  I hope the day brings to you good times, warm weather and many blessings.

Hugs...

Happy Easter!

   The Easter lily is a symbol of purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life.  It has also been called "the white robed apostle of hope".  It has been said that when Eve was banished from the Garden of Eden, her fallen tears turned into lilies.  The lily was found growing in Gethsemane after Christ's agony.

   The lily was originally brought to America by a tourist that had been in Japan.  By 1941, America was importing the lily bulbs in great quantities.  Today, they are mostly grown in Oregon-California coastal areas.  About 11.5 million bulbs are shipped to local greenhouses each year for Easter.

   I hope that all of you have a wonderful Easter.  As you celebrate this day with family and friends, stop and remember what the day is really all about.

   Hugs....

Snafus, weeds and a new friend

   My goodness, it seems like eons since I have posted!  We had anelectric snafu that lasted 6 days, yes, 6 days without electric!  Then my poor, old, tempermental computer decided it needed a vacation, so it went away to Computer Vacationland, and has just returned, rested and ready to work!

   Have you been having a problem with weeds this spring?  I am mostly talking about dandelions!  My goodness, they are taking over the entire city!  I'm thinking it must be due to the warm winter we had, with a very limited snowfall.  I am not sure, but I think i saw a sci-fi movie about the weeds taking over!  It has gone from 1 pretty dandelion to whole fields full!  Allergy meds are flying off the shelves!!  It may be a bit soon to ask for it, but we need a cold, snowy winter!

   Now I am going to tell you about my afternoon.  There is yarn store in the town I live in.  It is called Ewe-Nique Knits.   I have lived in this town for 8 months and never, until today, have ventured inside.  Now, seeing you don't know me except through this blog, you don't know how hard it is for me to talk to a stranger.  I just clam up, break out in sweats, the whole nine-yards!  My daughter has told me that I really should check the place out.  I love crocheting and am getting back to knitting and there is nothing like being surrounded by yarn!  It is a calming experience, at least for me.  So, today I ventured out.  I probably sat in my car, outside the shop, for a good 5 minutes.  I finally gave myself a talk, opened my car door and went inside the shop.  It was heaven!!  I touched every hank and skein of yarn in the store, looked at book upon book, and guess what?  I talked to the owner!  The nicest woman there is!  She talked to me about the yarn, projects she has done, showed me a scarf she designed and then, she invited me to come to the Monday group that meets!  I tell you, I haven't felt this good or happy in a while!  The knitting night is April 16 and I am going!!  Besides getting help with my projects, I may make another friend!

   I must be off now.  Have some things left to do today before I can play with my new yarn and needles!  Thanks for stopping by and hopefully, I won't have anymore snafus in the future!

   Hugs....