New Distractions!

 It was my birthday back in August and it's always a bittersweet time of year for me as usually the Rheumatoid part of my pain is at it's highest point during the summer and although I really do enjoy the company of friends and family I struggle to keep up with it all.

Since starting on Humira I have had a slight improvement in that sort of pain and my bloods have come back as OK but the joints that are already damaged really, really hurt and that's all the time - 24/7...Tramadol and Celebrex help a bit but sometimes the pain switch is turned up to *11* and drugs don't touch that pain, I try to keep busy and distract myself as much as I can. I am (of course) limited by the 15 minute thing*see end of post*

I LOVE chickens and finally family and friends gave in and agreed, indeed INSISTED that they get me some new chickens for my birthday!
I have two VERY old ladies in my flock so we get very few eggs at the moment and as those two ladies have lived twice as long as they are usually expected to I'm probably going to lose them over the winter.

The two hens at the top of this post are Skyline Hybrids and there's a 70% chance of getting blue eggs from them so I was hopeful of getting maybe one that laid blue eggs but *tada* yesterday there were two lovely pale blue eggs in the nest box!

Lovely surprise from Bramble (left) and Rose (right) who are fitting in brilliantly!

Chickens are funny old things and as disease spreads quickly through a flock I persuade the Fella that we HAD to get the new girls from a man over at Little Bealings who had sold me my original old girls and it was well worth the journey as in addition to Bramble and Rose I also chose two younger hens, a Cuckoo Maran and a Wheaten Maran, yet to be named and currently occupying the folk's garden while I sort out their tempory run and house that they will live in until they're a bit bigger...

 It's thanks to my lovely friend Jenny Tidman that all these extra hens are joining us as she and Mr T have helped us out with some extra housing. 

All this was organised before, during and after the many felting workshops that Jenny teaches for me at HH HQ. Until now Rachel did the Wet Felting Workshops and Jenny did the Needle Felting ones but as Rachel is no longer teaching the first of Jenny's Wet Felted Bowl workshops took place last Friday and I made a bowl - I didn't think I'd manage it because my hands have been so bad lately but with after being reassured that I could stop and restart it whenever I wanted I had a go!

With a very gentle approach to the technique I didn't find it as tiring as I'd feared and I think everyone was pleased with what they produced - I will include the finished pics on the shop blog www.halfpennyhome.blogspot.com as they were all still drying when they left with the textile artists!

 It's always interesting to see how many interests 'overlap' and how many things creative people have in common with each other! We tried out a couple of new recipes at the latest Soap Making session and one of them is a gardening soap - a soap specially made for gardeners!

The recipe was adapted from a book I bought at Victoria Bells's bookshop in Framlingham and also gave me the basis of the recipe for the soap below - Calendula and Chamomile which includes Marigold petals from the allotment.

Beautiful!

I've become more and more interested in including plants from the allotment and hedgerows in some of the crafts I enjoy teaching, there is so much to learn about them! We already make our natural dyes from locally grown plants and future workshops will include a Lavender, Lemon and Nettle balm which is supposed to ease inflamed joints...

Nic x

*as RA patients we are constantly told to 'keep moving' 'exercise' 'rest' 'don't stay sitting for too long' 'don't stand for too long' 'rest' 'don't do too much' 'try to do as much as you can' 'rest that knee/foot/ankle/hand' 'don't stop using that knee/foot/ankle/hand' *sigh* I call it the 15 minute thing because if I do anything for longer than that without changing position I have intense pain and stiffness...

Spare time and the happiness scale...

 My little brother was 40 this year and had a massive party to celebrate, it was organised by my clever sister-in-law who runs an events company.

 He had a band playing 'The Kings of Leon Smith' ROCK and one member Luke is the plumber who sorted HH HQ's horrendous plumbing back in 2009 when we opened!

It was a great night, a great weekend really as my aunt and her partner came to stay and as she is also a knitter, artist and fanatical Bowie fan we had a lot to catch up on.

I did get a little sad a times as it would have been great to dance, I did risk a jig holding onto my sister-in-law incase my knees suddenly gave way and I joined my nephew behind the sweet table where we had a secret bop...but for the most part it was very much a sit down affair for the Fella and I.

 We did notice that there are rather a lot of beer bottles in the picture above and there was also some cracking food, mini versions of fish and chips. horseradish and mushroom stuffed yorkshire puddings and all of us adored the mini cottage pies!

 As the paragraph above illustrates we love food, growing it, picking it, cooking it as well as eating it and as both of us have become increasingly unable to be as active as we both once were (I walked, cycled and ran everywhere - did yoga etc. and the Fella was a footballer...) the love of food has taken it's toll!

 It's always healthy stuff, mostly organic a lot home grown like the amazing garlic I grew this year! But whichever way you marinade your salmon the age old problem of energy in versus energy out will always be there.

 We have regular weigh-ins at the hospital check-ups we have at least every six months, mine are currently every three...and the effects various drugs we're taking are having on our bodies is monitored closely and reminders about weight are uttered.

My new consultant is pretty wonderful, nags me about blood tests and listens to me.

My last appointment with him was a good one, this time last year RA/PsA were having an intolerable effect on my life. Each day was an endurance test from waking to bedtime, the happiness scale (a device used to measure the effect arthritis is having on one's life was set to one up from the bottom for me. 

It was noted by my consultant that I was coping with being ill much better now, due in part to better pain relief available to me and the Humira working a bit. As I type this I am literally limping towards Saturday's jab which I hope will give some relief for 4 or 5 days or so - 4/14 better days are definitely an improvement from 0/365!

I measured my illness on my own personal 'happiness scale' I'm growing stuff again, picking, harvesting and actually managing to farm my allotment! I've changed the way I do things, I can't dig or lift anything, can't kneel down so I adopt a strange 'John Wayne' style stance and hope to goodness I don't fall face forward as I inspect my brasiccas for caterpillars...a morning on the allotment is the best therapy ever! Last year as in the previous two I would be worn out after ten minutes...

So, the pain is still there but I've got better at handling it and now have the tools with which to do so! Just the weight issue now, the Fella's hips have been really bad and mine have developed bone spurs from prolonged inflammation and when they *lock* it causes a pain which actually takes my breath away!

Just one problem and it's a BIG one...

 ...I hate diets, the word, the industry surrounding it and the idea that deprivation is the only way. The only scales I have at home are the ones I weigh my fruit haul in!

So after reading some sciencey stuff about the effects of following the 5:2 diet may have on inflammation in the body I persuaded the Fella that we could give it a try!

Two days of very low calorie intake and 5 days of eating 'normally' = fewer inflamed joints? Sounds like a great deal to me!

 So far it's been a month and we like it, he jokes that I failed to tell him that it's probably going to be a life-long way of eating...but despite having to reduce his breakfast by one slice of toast he seems to be enjoying it, if 'enjoy' is the right word!

A plate of vegetables never tasted so good and we're both sparkling water addicts now - no marked effects on the joints yet but we'll be keeping notes and a watchful eye on those blood test results!

Just a beautiful picture of some yarn I dyed with turmeric, happiness in fibre form!

I'm now *blogged out* having posted here and on www.halfpennyhome.blogspot.com with the latest workshop list...time for some allotment therapy and some chicken hugging, best medicine ever...:)

x