Double Whammy

Hello, friends!

Well, it's certainly been a long time since I wrote anything, hasn't it?  Unfortunately, there isn't very much to say. The weather has been absolutely appalling. Okay, I'll admit it could have been worse. We haven't had the usual constantly high winds above 40 mile an hour. Most days have been in the 20s, which is enough with the odd few gales thrown in.

The fall I told you about back in February has seriously shaken my confidence. I am afraid now to go out. Between being very unsteady my feet, the sudden gusts of strong wind that we get, and the pain in my legs, I am frightened beyond of having another fall and becoming injured.

The pain and lack of mobility persists. Several hospital, physio, and doctor appointments later I have been told that whilst I do have arthritis and wear and tear, both of these are minor. Thankfully. However, this now leaves nerve damage as the possible cause of my pain and immobility, and I am now being referred to the CMAT team. Don't ask me what that is exactly, I believe it is a spinal injury unit. I have looked it up online, Clinical Muscularskeletal Assessment Testing.  Apparently they will order more tests and scans, then discuss my options.  I have no idea how long the waiting list is for this. 

I have bought a riser recliner for myself. My old chairs were getting very tatty. They were nearly 30 years old. I could only sit on them supported by many cushions, which is not good for my posture and not helping my pain in anyway at all.  I like it very much. It came from our local department store. It is a petite. I didn't know chairs came in petite, small, large and extra large. Did you?  It means that my legs and back are properly supported while I am sitting.  It was on sale for a very good price. And being disabled, I didn't have to pay the VAT on it, so I decided to treat myself to the matching little two seater sofa which is very nicely sized for my small living room.  It was also included on the sale.

In the mean time, my Parkinson's progresses, and it is starting to interfere with my day-to-day tasks.

The chap who comes to mow the lawn has already been once this year. Garden Waste Bin Collection has commenced, and somehow despite all my aches and pains and immobility, I have managed to put it down twice.  Meanwhile, I have applied to the local Council for what they call a doorstep collection for my rubbish bins. This means my bins will be collected from my front door, rather than me having to walk them all the way down to the collection point and risk falling.

I continue to enjoy doing my art. You must forgive me for that is all I really have to share for you today. Oh wait, I may have a few photos of flowers I took yesterday in the garden. Just a few spots of colour. Because as you can imagine, the garden is a bit of a mess now. That is an understatement!

The cards are all made using stamps from Hobby Art stamps.  I have a Tim Holtz stamp platform. It is an absolute Godsend for me now because it helps me to stamp images that with my tremors I could otherwise not create.

The church one is a single stamp. All the others are created using several stamps that I have put together to create my own unique images.

You can see from the several different images of the Robin wreath above how the Tim Holtz stamping platform helps me make identical images that I can then hand colour in differently.  It is a great tool for the crafter. It enables you to make perfectly crisp, clear stamped images. Time after time. And you can make repeat images. So it's really useful if you need to make things like invitations where continuity is important.

Well, that's about all I can manage for now. I'm so thankful I've got a dictaphone on this laptop. It might not be perfect, but it certainly has its uses.

Until next time.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Debbie. xo