The 5 Minute Rule

 I strongly believe in the 5 minute rule for doing larger cleaning projects. Since my surgery last Friday and my very obviously diminished supply of spoons, I have come up with a very effective variation of the five minute rule. 

It goes as follows. If I manage to get up from my very important job of resting I try to put a few things away.  While my tea is brewing, I put things away around the kitchen.  If I need to go to the back of the house for any reason, I try to return things to the back of the house.  If there is nothing to bring forward, I stop and try to un clutter an area for a few minutes. I find it amazing how much I can get cleaned up in 5 minutes.  

As usual the recovery is taking longer than I think it should.  Although it is going according to the doctor’s recovery plan.  As you know I hate the recovery period. 5 days in 9 to go for the hard core recovery. Then I will start to increase my activity.  

I have also started a new shawl. Hopefully I will finish the entire 100 grams of wool before I complete my recovery.  I am using a Zauerball. I find the Zauerball’s very fun to knit with. My husband thinks that I should choose a brighter color for the next one. 

The Snail is Ahead by a Whole Lap

 I am still in the very long process of healing from the March 1st medical emergency.  It’s has been a slow and bumpy journey. The things I still need to learn is how to sit quietly and rest. By far this is the hardest task I have ever had to accomplish. Also it’s ok if it takes me more than one day to accomplish a chore.  I did not have the energy last month to fold towels so I took my own advice to a new extreme.  In case you have forgotten my favorite laundry quote is “Laundry is like fine wine. No laundry shall be folded before its time.” So I went a month without folding bth towels. Guess what? No one complained about the wrinkles in the towels.  They still work well when hung on the towel rack.  I might just do that again this month. 

I also got new book in the mail that I pre ordered. Advocate by Eddie Ahn.  It is the very first graphic novel that I have ever read.  So far I am 66 pages into the book.  I am impressed by Mr. Ahn’s original art work. His ability to overcome adversity seems to be something I could learn from this book.  I do have an affinity for audio books so I can read while knitting.  I do believe this book needs to be a spiney version.  I am really enjoying it.  The quality of the paper and ink make it very easy to read with my dyslexia. I also tend not to read when exhaustion has set in.  That is why I have not finished the book yet. 

Well it is getting late and I have 1 activity tomorrow.  So I do need my rest.  

My Self Cleaning House is Missing

 Today was spent on chores and deep cleaning. Followed by an evening of knitting.  The most eventful event was getting out the hand vacuum to catch the dust bunnies.  They hide every where given the chance.  

I am stating to feel better, but still tire out very quickly. So it’s equal amounts of chores and rest.  I really want that self cleaning house of the future that G.E. Promised in the 1960’s.  It’s 2022 G.E. I really want my self cleaning house.  

Allergies and more.

 I spent the day going between resting and doing light chores.  I would like to state for the record that deal with an allergy and Sjogren’s flare at the same time is not fair. Stamping my foot kind of not fair.  The end result is my face is so puffy that even if I smile you just can not tell.  I think the plants are still in deep drought mode so they are sending out extra pollen.  

Tomorrow I will try to get as many projects off my knitting needles as I can.  At least until my hands say stop.   Have a good week everyone.  

I Hate Colds

 I woke up early with my first cold of the season.  So after 2  24 ounces tumblers of ice water, 1/2 mug of ice tea and oatmeal I went back to bed and slept almost to noon.  John made me chicken soup with a pumpkin bagel for lunch.  Then it was couch potato time.  

Another mug and a half of ice tea was consumed while binge watching Downton Abbey.  A little knitting was accomplished.  As of this evening no projects have been completed.   No spinning or Cubii2 we’re done either.  I figure exercise is not good when I am sick   

My plans for this week are to lay low.  Only if I feel better will things get done.  My to do list from today will wait.  Of course things will get added.  

It’s Official

 Well it’s official, I am going into a tired hand phase.  This means that I will be cranky for a few weeks of no knitting.  Knitting withdrawal is hard every time I have to slow down.  I will still do a very little bit of weaving, but it is no more than 30 minutes once or twice a day.  

So I will spend my time reading, cleaning and the dreaded relaxing.  I am a go go type of girl.  I am like the energizer bunny I go until I stop.  I am doing this to delay hand surgery.  This comes at a bad time too with COVID19 Delta variant rising fast.  I have started wearing my mask in stores, well I never really stopped.  

Maybe I will catch up on pattern writing.  Stranger things have happened. 

Hopeful

I am hopeful that I have beat this cold.  I have my fingers crossed that the fever has finally broken.

I spent another day sleeping and not doing much. I managed to finish 2 UFO’s, this means that  hats 6 and 7 for the year are finished and hat number 8 was cast on.  If I am feeling better tomorrow I will cast on some fingerless mittens for me.  I was also able to consolidate  yarn from 2 project bags devoted to hats into 1 project bag.  Small step progress.

Right now it is time to try for more sleep.

hat 7

Hat 6

A Rest Day

Today I woke up feeling yucky. So I made it a rest day.  John joined me in the rest day. We binge watched TV watching The Good Fight. This lasted until the  CBS all access app crashed. I spent the day binging on yarn. I am on the last section of my new pattern.  The reveal will be later this week.

Well I am exhausted and going to call it a very early night.

Taking It Slow

This morning the laundry room was knee high. Still being in the recovery mode, I choose to take  it slow.  Of course Eric’s laundry came first, he had 2 overflowing baskets.  I still can’t figure out how he makes so much laundry all by himself.  Then since it was Sunday, I washed the sheets, just because they take up so much space when they are dirty. This still leaves 3 loads of laundry for tomorrow,if Eric does not make any more tonight. The truth is he has already made a good start at filling his basket.

Most of the day was spent resting.  I would do 15 to 20 minutes of work then rest. It seems the older I get it takes me longer to recover. Tomorrow will be spent resting and doing a little spinning research. I think that Eric has settled down for now so I will take this as my cue to get more rest.

I will leave you with a little yarn porn tonight. I don’t think I could have gotten much more yarn on this bobbin. The spinning wheel is a Louet Victoria on the art bobbin. It went slightly over the edge.

Feeling Better

Tonight I finally started to feel better.  After a few days of napping and being a couch potato I really wanted to spin tonight. Since I was not up to much, I plyed some sock yarn to make it more suitable for charity hat knitting.

Eric and John are feeling better too. We fell line dominoes with this cold, first Eric, then John and because I was exhausted I got it too.  I hope to have my voice back soon, right now it is very spotty. Some times I have it and sometimes it is gone.  Although I think we will be staying home until our regularly scheduled activities next week.

I expected the laundry to be knee high tomorrow.  I do not intend to get caught up for a few days.  We will e on minimum work and maximum rest for a few more days.

Resting

After I over did yesterday, I had a very bad night. So I spent the day letting my body decide what to do and it wanted lots of rest. So I seem to be back into the cycle of do everything I can one day and rest the next. I really need to find balance again.

On Track

I got to hang out with some friends today.  We sat around crafting and talking.  This was followed by Physical Therapy which I hope is almost over.  Then some shopping, a quick lunch and a nap.  I picked up Eric so he could supervise the cleaning and laundry. He actually was worried that I did not have enough laundry and made more for me to wash today.  

I was working with a new aide for Eric this afternoon.  When she tried to rush through things, I explained that Eric's schedule was like a concert.  You don't start with the finale.  So we are working on the rythem of Eric.  I think things will go well.  We just need to practice, practice and a little more practice. We will not get to Carnagie Hall, but Eric will be happy with a smooth routine.  

Tomorrow is being set aside for paperwork. With any luck I will be caught up by carpool time.  

A Day of Rest

Today I took it easy and just kind of went about life at a very,very slow pace today. I did make a quick trip to Target and Trader Joe's but mostly it was just relaxing.

I was too tired to spin today but I did get a lot of knitting done. I finished one scarf that used four skeins of yarn. I then started another hat and I almost finished it tonight. It's within a couple rows of being finished so I'll get that done in the morning.

Eric got to spend the day at Mount Lemon with his friends at a picnic and he came home very very tired from his day program. I hope he has a good and quiet night tonight because I can use another night of sleep.

Tomorrow I plan to do about the same things I did today although I am going to try to get some spinning done too. Of course I've already got four loads of laundry lined up in the laundry room so I'll probably have to get some of that done too tommrow.