Lockdown 4.0

Yup. Melbourne is in another lockdown due to an outbreak of Covid. I wonder in 20 years time what people will remember of these times. I wonder if it will be like the AIDS crisis of the 80s. At least with Covid we know the enemy even if we can't control it. Other countries must shake their heads. We go into lockdown over a cluster of 13 cases. They are dealing with thousands, tens of thousands of new cases and countless deaths. People are complaining that they can't get vaccinated. Well, they have had ample opportunity but were complacent until now. My priority was the flu vax which I had on Monday and now have another week to wait until I can get the Covid jab. I must say I am not looking forward to it as I have heard of many people having quite unpleasant reactions but I really don't want to contract Covid as the older I get the more chest infections I seem to get. The payback for years of smoking in my younger days.

Himself is thrilled with the results of his surgery. The doctor said it was complicated because of all the scarring but is pleased with the outcome. I have to put drops in his eyes 4 x a day for 4 weeks. 

My loom arrived on Friday. I am most impressed with the speed of delivery. I have waxed the timber and assembled it and am now reading the instructions before I have a go at warping it and weaving my first item. Probably a placemat! Or two. I am being very controlled and will use cheap acrylic for my first few attempts before using more expensive yarn. 

 

Finally ...

 

This morning I dropped himself off at the hospital for his long awaited cataract surgery. Hopefully when the surgeon gets in there he won't find too much (if any) hidden damage from the accident 60 years ago. Himself is looking forward to better vision so fingers crossed.

Autumn is nearly over and winter is well and truly waiting in the wings. The trees have nearly lost all their leaves, although in typical Melbourne style many are already gearing up for spring. My birches are a lovely shade of gold and I keep looking to see if my daffodils are going to emerge again this year. They are early flowering but seem to be late erupting.

I ordered a weaving loom last weekend and it's being shipped from New Zealand. In the mean time I've been poring over youtube videos and am eagerly awaiting an actual book - in print!- to arrive to teach me the basics. I was completely unaware that there are different yarns for weaving and knitting/crocheting. I had assumed my stash would be enough. Some of it will, especially my cheap acrylic yarn for practicing. I will need to check the integrity of the rest of it to see if it can be used otherwise I shall have to buy some yarn for warping. It's a whole new language! I thought crochet was bad - weaving is another level. I am so excited to learn it, though. A lot of friends have jumped on the cricut wagon (a sort of cutting thing to make designs to put on fabric and other stuff - I think!) but it just doesn't tickle my fancy whereas weaving has always held a fascination for me. I met a woman at my favourite yarn shop a few weeks ago and she had some beautiful work then I saw a post on facebook (that site has cost me soooo much money!) where someone had used scheepjes whirls deconstructed to weave a couple of beautiful scarves so down the rabbit hole I went. I bought the smallest loom and was concerned I'd regret it but accessories aren't cheap so I figure if I really love it and want a bigger loom I can either have two or sell the smaller one.

Well, I guess I'd better go and take the hoonds for a walk before the rain sets in.

Sunday again

Where is the year going?

Every day is blurring into the next with some embarrassing consequences. I am meant to touch base with the student I volunteer with on a Tuesday only for some reason this week I thought we were a day behind so when I contacted her on Wednesday to ask if we could chat a bit later there was an oh crap moment. She is a lovely woman and very understanding so all was good and we chatted on Friday instead. I now have a post-it note stuck to my desk with her name on it!

Himself now has his cataract surgery booked for the 26th. Hopefully he won't get too stressed about it in the lead up but I fear that will happen as he is already showing signs. I had my eyes tested on Thursday and have small cataracts in both eyes. Not anything to worry about but with pressures consistently at the high end of normal and a family history of glaucoma I will see the same ophthalmologist at least for a base line so he can monitor things as I get older. The cataract in my right eye is small as I said, but it is right in the middle of my lens and did cause some issues with the eye test so I shall see what he says about that as well. I tell you, getting older has whiskers on it - but it is better than the alternative ... at the moment any way. 

I finished my first knitted jumper and I'm pleased with it. Yes, there are mistakes but that makes it unique, right? I am working on Himself's now and just hope it will fit him. I don't want to have to pull it back and start again.

Weight loss has stalled a bit. Self sabotage and cooler weather. But I am not gaining so will keep on keeping on until things click again.

The two dogs are lying at the back door whilst the damned Indian Minah birds walk past them into the house to raid their kibble bowl. So on that note I am going to make another cuppa and chastise my great big guard dogs!!

Mothers' Day

It's never a big deal here. When the boys were little I used to love the handmade cards and gifts from the stall at primary school or what they made in class. Not to mention the milky tea and toast crumbs in bed! Now? I figure it's more important their wives get a break for the day. Having said that, Three and his lot will pop over later in the day. We may or may not see One but I expect a call at some stage. 

The highlight of my day will be going to the supermarket around lunch time when I expect it to be deserted!! Like Melbourne Cup and the Footy Grand Final. Best times to shop.

Himself saw his mother on Friday. He took Murphy and he showered her with puppy kisses.  I scored a free bottle of questionable perfume for buying a bottle of gin yesterday (the centre was having a MD promotion - spend $30+ at any store other than the supermarket and get a free gift - the perfume was all that was left). I might get Himself to give that to MIL. I'll make sure it's not awful first. She like to wear a bit of scent. Unlike my mother who used to spray it liberally several times a day. I still can't smell that particular Lancome scent without feeling slightly sick. 

Sad news ... Two and Mads have had a miscarriage. I didn't even know she was pregnant but she was 12 weeks along. They seem very pragmatic about it. They have two gorgeous girls and will try again as soon as she is given the all clear. She wants 4 kids!!

I am so close to finishing the final sleeve on my jumper. That is my goal for today.

Just cruising along

One day really does just blur into the other.

I can't believe the last time I posted we were saying farewell to summer and now we are hearing winter knocking. Not that we had much of a summer this year but this black cat ain't complaining. I really do not cope well with the heat and love the cooler weather. And rain. And storms. And snow if we had it. In the 60s we lived in Hong Kong and in '66-'67 the communist riots meant it was unsafe for me to travel to secondary school on the other side of the harbour so my parents stuck me in boarding school in the south of England with little to no preparation - the worst 15 months of my life. BUT - it snowed. Such fun. 

So what's been happening? Well, the biggest news of course is getting wee Murphy. We picked him up from the airport on 10th April. He is a delight. Such a fluffy bear of a puppy. Jinx and he became besties straight away and he cries when she goes somewhere without him (he's still not fully immunised so can't be around dogs we don't know or in contact with dog poo). An excellent decision and any doubts we had have been completely dispelled.

Mother in Law has had her moments. She had yet another UTI (sometimes I think she never gets rid of them) which resulted in more hallucinations and weird behaviour but even when she's clear of them she is still confused as to the whereabouts of her dead husband and is convinced that he is out working in the fields and having an affair. The former I have no idea about; the latter did happen. Very hard for Himself to deal with.

Speaking of Himself. When he was 11 he managed to blow up his right eye by looking down a metal pipe that had a firecracker in it. At the time they managed to save his sight (remembering this was 60 years ago so no mean feat on their part) but there is a lot of scarring. He finally saw an ophthalmologist and was booked in to have cataract surgery. Normally this is straight forward and they remove the old lens and replace it with an artificial one. In Himself's case though, because of the scarring which has caused significant distortion of the eyeball he needed a special lens made. After an initial postponement he was booked in to have it done today only to get a phone call late yesterday to say the lens still hasn't arrived from Germany. He was very upset as he had been psyching himself up for days. The risks with this surgery are minimal but because of the trauma to the eye the surgeon won't know exactly what he's dealing with until he gets in there. Hence the greater sense of anxious anticipation. 

The Fast800 is going well. I lost just on 14 kgs then took a bit of a break from it and regained a couple. I'm now back on it. It is certainly the easiest weight loss program I have ever undertaken. I follow the recipes in the books and occasionally use others if I am sure the calorie and protein, fat and carb count fit. I have the occasional drink, lunch with friends and can honestly say that if I follow it properly I am rarely hungry - so different from other attempts.

I have taken up knitting. I still love my crochet but for garments knitting uses a lot less yarn and in many ways is easier to do - once you know what you're doing! Also the patterns have changed so much since I last tried decades ago. I have nearly finished my first sweater and have started one for Himself. I have 3 more tops and a couple of scarves ready to go. I really need to stop going to my favourite yarn shop!

Family are well. The boys and their families are happy. Amy is nearly 20 weeks pregnant with Sally's baby sister. Exciting times. 

Time for another cuppa and to work on my nearly finished jumper. 

A bit grumpy

Today is the last day of Summer. Although we may still have some hot days to come at least I know that the worst is behind us - to be fair, though, we haven't had a really hot summer so I can't complain. Autumn is my favourite time of year. Warm, still, clear sunny days with chilly nights. Bliss.

We decided Jinx needs a playmate so I have arranged for a long haired boy from Queensland. Hopefully with all the Covid shit we will be able to get him shipped down on the 10th April when he is 8 weeks old.

Weight loss is still on track. My blood pressure was plummeting so my GP has dropped my meds which is fantastic.

On the down side I have had a horrid run of migraines. We cannot work out what could be triggering them other than a very stiff neck so if heat rub and heat packs don't help I shall try a professional massage (as opposed the local Chinese ones in the shopping arcades) and see if that helps. It's a damn nuisance cos I lose my vision and don't want to be driving when one hits - not to mention the awful headache after my vision clears. I take meds which help reduce the severity but not the frequency. Add that to the cough from hell and I am a miserable cow at the moment. It's not Covid - I get this once every couple of years and it's almost like asthma so I try ventolin and if that doesn't work I'll trot on back to my GP and she can try antibiotics and steroids. 

On that less than cheerful note I shall go and plan my meals for the week and write my shopping list. 

Ticking along

 

I nicked the saying but it pretty much describes life at the moment. I used to get slightly irritated with my parents and other retirees who ALWAYS shopped on a certain day, cleaned their house on a certain day, did the washing etc etc. Now I realise it was a way of knowing what day of the week it was!

Whilst I call myself retired, thanks to the powers that are Centrelink, I have to look for work to qualify for benefits for another 2 years until I reach the age where I qualify for the age pension. Himself was eligible when he turned 65 in 2014. I have to wait until I'm 66 and 6 months. So I dutifully check the job sites and apply for the ones I could do but hopefully won't get. So far so good. I did get a call back for one which sounded exactly like the wife from hell of the pain specialist I used to work for. Just hearing her voice sent me into a massive anxiety attack so that was a no. And I also applied for a position that I applied for 3 years ago and didn't get (didn't really look at the ad properly) and got an email saying they would interview. I had a procedure at this place late 2019 and if the way they treat their patients is anything to go by it explains why they advertise for staff on a very regular basis - so another no. In the meantime I continue with my english tutoring and donate plasma every fortnight so don't feel I'm not doing anything for the community in return for the not terribly generous allowance from the government. 

A friend lost a lot of weight (yes that old chestnut) on the Fast800 program. Seeing as I was about the heaviest I have ever been (again) I thought I'd give it a go. Win win. I started with the Time Restricted Eating (TRE) and initally lost a couple of kilos then started the actual 800 calories a day last Sunday. The weight is still coming off, cms have gone from the middle (I can't call it a waist) and I feel great. My joints ache less and I generally feel much better in myself. Apart from sleep which happens to me every so often so I took a sleeping tablet last night and will again tonight and that should get me back into a better routine.

Alcohol has always been my downfall. High in calories and completely removes all self control as well as giving me the munchies. But I really enjoy a G&T and a glass of wine or few of an evening. I discovered SansDrinks, an online business devoted to selling alcohol free spirits, beer and wine that don't taste disgusting. And they are very low in sugar/calories. I love the gin and the italian spritz with a sugar free tonic. The spritz is also lovely with an AF sparkling wine. The wines are OK. Definitely not the same as the alcohol version but more than palatable. The sparkling is my favourite as I really can't tell the difference. There is also a rose out there that, served chilled, is very quaffable. I took a couple of bottles to One's place for a family bbq and didn't miss the boozy version at all. I am looking forward to going to other friends' places and taking my bottles. Not to say I won't have a drink ever again but at the moment I am enjoying the feeling of not missing out and not stalling the weight loss. And waking up with a clear head - THAT is a feeling worth bottling!!