The joys of a good night's sleep

Yesterday I was so sleepy. I struggled to keep my eyes awake all through the day and kept nodding off in my chair like some old biddy.

My niece called and brought me some groceries. She also managed to fathom out how to attach the handles and grips to the bath seat which has made such a difference and I now feel totally secure in the shower.

Vicky J came and brought me 2 surprise gifts of flowers from the Knitty Noras. As you can see from the photos she has chosen some beautiful ones for me and as they are both in soil they will last longer than cut flowers. I have got my instructions from Vicky J on how to keep them alive so I hope that I learned all her instructions well. She changed my bed linen for me and loaded the washer. I am so lucky to have such a lovely friend. The plus side of having had such a rough couple of years healthwise is the lovely good friends that I have made and who have made my life so much easier with their love and friendship. I hope that I can be such a good friend to them in the future.

I woke up this morning full of the joys of Spring. I finally went to bed around midnight after napping on and off most of yesterday and although I woke myself up a few times during the night I actually slept in until 10.30am! I feel like I have turned a corner today and feel so much better. The sun is shining and it is a great day.

Yesterday I didn't get much crochet done as I felt rather sleepy. I crocheted a few squares. These are called Russian squares and I really like them although I am unsure as to whether they will make good squares as the shape looks rather dodgy without blocking. I am not making another shawl and at the moment what I have in mind for them is rather up in the air or within my designing brain. It involves the balls of unravelled wool as well so if it all works out then you will see the results soon.

I found out that I have been awarded the Arte y Pico award by Ambemoggie. I feel very honoured, but totally unworthy, of this award. I now have to make my own awards. As part of this includes links to the award and to people's blog sites and I am such a total numb skull at anything to do with the net this might take a while. I still haven't worked out how to add links to this page using peoples names as the link so am hoping to get some help with this. At the moment if you want to read about the award then please click on Ambermoggies blog link on the right hand side of my page. Amber was deservedly awarded the Arte Y Pico. She is a lady that I have drawn much inspiration from. How she copes with what life has thrown at her recently and still stays so cheerful is an inspiration to me.

I am off now to try to make something with the Russian squares. I hope that you enjoy the photos of my flowers. I wish that you could smell the scent that is filling my front room.

Almost back up to speed - well crochet wise that is

I had a productive day yesterday. I managed to finish off the brown flecked Doris Chan that started off life as a Tall Latte but evolved into a bit of a couple of other patterns in the end. Doris would approve as she does say the idea is to adapt patterns to suit ourselves. I am not a lover of the wool and having to unpick and re-do the bottom of the sleeves didn't help either. The wool was given to me on Freecycle when I requested wool to make outfits for the premature baby unit at Bolton Hospital. I had used a lot of my own wool in that project so don't feel that using this wool for myself is against anyone principles. I shall be making other items for the babies and no doubt using a lot of my own yarn next time and this wool was unsuitable for babies.

The garment turned out better than I expected for a stash busting exercise using wool I was not fond of. Last night I unravelled a knitted aran crossover cardigan that I made for myself about 18 months ago and never wore as it turned out far too large for me. Waist length wrap overs are not the most flattering garment for anyone of ample proportions especially one that didn't fit properly. I have started to crochet another Sweet Pea shrug this time for Caroline F today. The wool is very attractive but too thick for the pattern so as usual I will be doing a bit of jiggling about with the sizes and hoping to turn out a wearable garment. She also brought 4 balls of the pink Rowan cotton so hopefully there will be enough for the Mei Mei from Doris Chan.

I had Caroline F who came to hoover my house for me yesterday and also Vicky and Laurie who mowed the lawn and clipped the hedge. Vicky also armed me with supplies for the fridge for a few meals. I am so lucky to have such good friends. I would have been lost this week without them and it has made such a difference to me knowing that they will help me in any way if I have any further needs.

I am continuing to improve daily, mobility and pain wise, although the amount and quality of sleep that I get varies from day to day. Last night I didn't have a particularly good night's sleep and so am not as chirpy as I might be today. These things take time so I am taking it one day at a time. I tried to have a little nap on the sofa this afternoon but had weird strange dreams so was glad to wake up again soon afterwards. I have had very few weird dreams considering I am on strong painkillers.

My physio phoned me today to get the measurements of my bath to loan me a bath board but my niece had ordered one from Argos for me so I no longer need it. It has arrived but I have not unpacked it. I will take it upstairs with me tonight in time for my shower tomorrow morning. He checked with me how I was doing and I asked him for further instructions physio wise. As soon as I feel strong enough he would like me to try to go for a walk outdoors but as I live on an incline whichever way I walk he said take it easy at first and do the upward walk on the way out rather than the way back. I asked about the pain that I have when I try to get my legs up on the sofa or the bed in order to lie down and he explained to me about angles of back to leg and told me what to try next time ( I think I know what he means)so hopefully I might find it easier when I try to lie down.


I have changed my PC chair for a dining chair so hopefully that will allow me to sit long enough tomorrow to catch up with blogs. I hope that I get a good night's sleep and feel refreshed and a lot more chirpy in the morning. I had a really good day mentally and physically on Sunday so if Tuesday is another Sunday then I shall be happy.