Grateful and blessed

I am blessed to have a nice home. So many today are homeless, so even if your home is small and you truly don't love it, it would behoove us to be grateful for it regardless.

Home is the cradle of civilisation. It is the foundation of training, knowledge, shaping our early years and moulding us into the adult we will become.

Home's an oasis of calm in a world that's not. It is meant to be a peacable place, a sure dwelling and a quiet resting place. Peace. Safety. Nurture. Comfort.

I just love the imagery of this verse above and I love even more the promise that God makes to us who labour in our home. For we are wise if we do labour to show love and mercy and grace to each other and to make our habitation one of a sanctuary and place of worship through example.

May we not lose sight of the importance of home in the nurturing of ourselves and family. It is worth the effort and the results are guaranteed in the Word of God, for God blesses the habitation of the just. 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"The curse of the LORD [is] in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. " Proverbs 3:33

Help until He comes

Today was a busy day in that I was organising aged care help for Chris and I ... we arent coping all that well... lots of phone calls that had me on hold for at least an hour each 

After nearly a whole day on the phone, I am happy to report that we were approved for help. Our aged care home package will start in 3-4 weeks. It includes transport, home maintenance, podiatry, and grass cutting. Later on as we get older it will include meals on wheels... but as long as I can cook, we would prefer our own cuisine. 

I am hoping that God takes us Home soon. That is the best thing to dwell on. But meanwhile, while we wait, my house could do with a deep clean, our toenails are feral and we need them properly done. We cant take a bath and we help each other shower but a grip bar and telephone type shower have been promised to us under home maintenance, and that would stop the suffocation feeling of water pouring over our head when we can't breathe at the best of times.. 

We cant drive most times and we will need transport for a personal consultation with our doctor and the help they offer is needed now.  Nothing to do with lack of faith or not watching- but we have to be practical. 

Heart failure is a beast that stalks us both and is a progressive disease. Peripheral neuropathy in our feet and legs is a constant pain that stops sleep.  A physiotherapist may be able to help or offer exercises to alleviate it.. all things that need attention now. 

Including last but not least, changed bed linen that can be done without banging gnarled fingers and hands... and while we look with anticipation and longing to be Home, the daily necessities of life are calling. 

We rely on God to help us and are grateful that He has blessed us with the help we need...until He comes. Our life style is always if the LORD wills.... we consider ourselves blessed that we are eligible for the help that's come our way, until He comes! God willing, it will be soon. But if not, we will be accepting help to keep going until He comes.

 © Glenys Robyn Hicks

" So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom" Psalm 90:12

You just got to pass it on!

I ran our new irobot roomba vacuum last night. Xena hated it and ran under the bed. Roomba chased her under it and she came out like a scalded cat and bushy tailed. 

Don't worry, she got lots of cuddles afterwards, but it was the funniest thing that's happened in a long time. 

I highly recommend a roomba. It's very easy to operate and manages interchanging between carpets and tiled floors. It's really great when you have cats or dogs as it gets the fur vacuumed up easily. 

Last night ours kept bumping into things as my phone is too old to download the app to schedule and program it. It still did a great job. I am keen to see how much better it does when I update my phone.

We are just staying home this weekend as there's going to be a few days of physios and doctors for Dianne next week. Being oldies, we are bushed! But ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Fibro flare or not!

I am not getting paid for advertising roomba but when you find something that helps with fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses, you just have to pass it on! 

A nasty dictator

 

Yesterday was a very busy day and I am feeling the after effects now. My fibromyalgia is flaring and the pain is incredible. 

Dianne my daughter was not able to get the staples out from her total knee replacement because the doctors and nurse said a week out of surgery is too early to remove them- especially on a bending joint. We had to reschedule to next Thursday. 

Then I was not allowed to accompany her into physio because I am not vaxxed against covid. So I helped her return her hired crutches-(she has her own) and left. 

I accompanied her teen son into his counselling appointment, talked to the psychologist as he is a new patient, then left them to discuss things. 

It was so much walking and in and out of cars that my own knees were quivering. Di's pain level was off the charts as it is difficult to get in and out of our car- it is high. She begged me to not undergo knee surgery myself. (I have both knees with torn ligaments) She didn't have to beg much. I don't like pain.

Today I am just resting and making a stew in my slow cooker. That's the best I can do today. Fibromyalgia is a wicked task master and a nasty dictator. 

Stating your name and business

As you know, we have just moved and along with a new home, comes some new things to add to the decor.

Chris and I love this door mat. This verse is one of our favourites and when we saw it we wanted it. It can be personalised to add your family name.

It looks lovely at the front door. We still have pictures to be hung and some flat packs of furniture to make up. The unpacking itself is almost finished.

The plan is to gradually go through room to room and gradually declutter. But this will depend on my spoons. I have another fibromyalgia flare.

But we have been finding that even a concerted effort of 5 minutes at a time followed by a rest and a cup of tea has paid off. Pacing is critical with fibromyalgia and heart failure.

I am in the process of getting an i-Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner to help with the floors. This house is quite large and the passage alone is as long as a cricket pitch...

Neither Chris or I can vacuum these days and I am hoping that the i-Roomba will save on money to employ a helper to come clean the house for me. I will let you know how we go.

Happily, the robotic vac can manage both tiles and carpet without skipping a beat, so it will be able to keep our lovely door mat free of dust bunnies. 

Meant to be noticed, I don't want visitors to our home seeing the mat dirty- not when it's proclaiming our faith and intention of having a holy home. It's all about stating your name and business! 

More spoons to enjoy life.

We have just moved and we are both quite tired still. Although the house is functional, there's still a lot of unpacking to do.

This weekend, two of our grandchildren wanted to come see us and give us their verdict of the new house. Knowing that memories are all we will have once they are grown, we agreed to have them.

Although I am suffering from a bad fibromyalgia flare, I got dressed and stayed up in order to spend time with them.

We cooked lunch together and watched family videos of when they were first born and growing up. It was fun but it was also non taxing to my sore body. 

Today I am expecting a lady to come clean for a couple of hours. She did such a good job of cleaning our old house for our bond return, that I asked her if she would like to do a regular clean for us once a fortnight. She agreed.

With my poor daughter suffering from fibromyalgia as well and now living two minutes away, she also agreed to clean her house after ours each fortnight as well.

Both my daughter and I are finding just cooking, cleaning our kitchen, doing washing, grocery shopping, running errands like going to the chemist, planning finances and feeding our pets is enough of a job. We need some extra help.

There's very little help here for chronically ill people who can't do housework. What little we did get has been stopped since a new government has taken over the reins. So we have to pay privately.

I am grateful that I can save enough each fortnight to afford a cleaner's help. It not only keeps my home clean, but gives me more spoons to enjoy life.

 

It was a good day!

It's Monday afternoon here. I have cleaned my kitchen and done a load of washing. My step-son and his wife came and checked out the fifth wheeler we have sold. We can't even get up in it anymore.

She made the bed up again like in the photos and step-son vaccuumed the floor. It is so nice and the buyer is going to be getting a bargain. He plans to use it as a static van to live in on his property. He's been on the phone organising a transport company to get it for him. He's interstate. 

Hopefully, it will be gone by the end of the week and our bank account will look a lot healthier. Next we will be selling the tow vehicle and buying a new car and moving. So that's what I am doing this afternoon: looking at home rentals. 

I am cooking pork BBQ ribs for dinner. Yet with only a few things on my list of things to do, I am incredibly tired..thanks to fibromyalgia.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and Chris brought me a cup of tea this morning and said Happy Mother's Day. I said I aren't your mum and he replied but you mother me!  So cute. I giggled.

Each of my kids rang me so all in all, it was a good day! 

I am glad I have done this!

So I have been busy cooking those meals and freezing them as I mentioned in my last post. It has been quite an effort for me, but I think it's paid off.

I managed to get 30 meals cooked and in the freezer. I ran out of containers and room, so I had to place the food in plastic ziploc bags. No matter, because they will taste the same.

Last night I got a spaghetti bolognaise out, emptied it nicely thawed, onto a plate and nuked it for 3 minutes. It was great! I added shaved parmesan cheese and some salad and it was delicious! 

Yesterday my younger son turned 45 and we went to his place to wish him happy birthday. It's a 2 hour trip each way, so by the time we got home I was too exhausted to cook. So this came in handy. 

I have quite a few dishes to do today and I want to clean my kitchen well, so if I have enough spoons left, I want to cook four meals of chow mein with rice.

Sitting here talking to you, I feel like I am falling asleep and my muscles are aching badly. So I fear maybe another fibromyalgia flare is coming to pay me a visit. Just another reason I am glad I have done this! 

It's gonna be a PJ's day.

 

The rain is pouring down but it's not cold just pleasantly warm after the last few days of summer heat. Xena is still asleep on my bed.

Chris is watching TV and I have got the breakfast dishes soaking in hot soapy water. The house is tidy and cosy. Life is good.

I woke up early and left Chris to sleep. I heard the birds calling each other and watched as my beloved Kingfishers came down searching for some left over sausage among the rice dish I put out for them last night.

Carefully opening the sliding door that opens onto the decking where they congregate waiting for me to feed them, they sat only inches away from me. Gradually they are coming closer to feeding from my hand. 

The washing machine is churning away at the load of clothes I am washing. I try to do a load a day so as not to use up all my spoons in one hit, folding them and putting them away. 

People with fibromyalgia would understand the need to pace oneself in order to achieve some completion of household tasks. There's so much job satisfaction in even doing one load of washing and putting it away. 

I have some steak thawing for dinner tonight. I am planning on cooking a vegetable intensive beef stew.

With the cooler weather and rain, the menu begs for a stew...

I still haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 1pm but I don't really care. We aren't going anywhere and I am feeling pretty laid back and a tad achy. It's the change in weather.

It was a pretty slow but pleasant morning with Chris making me some breakfast and a cup of tea. The panadol is kicking in helping me with the aches and pains of fibromyalgia that's reacting to the weather change, but I am glad to report that it's not a fibro flare per se.

So in spite of aches and pains, I am feeling pretty good today, but even so, it's gonna be a PJ's day. 

A merry little Christmas

                                                

We are waiting for the real estate to carry out their 6 monthly house inspection for our rental. There won't be any problems. We love our home and have a lady come do some cleaning every two weeks. Just the stuff like vacuuming and mopping that we can't do anymore. 

I have washed all our bedding over the last few days and stored our doonas away because we are now in our summer. Next week I will wash our pillows.

I will be making some sugar cookies to try out my Christmas nativity rolling pin. The cookie cutters came yesterday. I want to get the dough right before I make them up for Christmas gifts. If  our little granddaughter is here before Christmas Day, I will let her help. She loves being in the kitchen and I let her cook or bake. 

Our doctor is going to do a phone consult for us this afternoon. It's mainly for prescriptions but I need some advice on meds for Chris's fluids. His feet are swollen like balloons. (He has heart failure) I could have gotten in to actually see the doctor this afternoon, but Chris won't go, so I settled on the phone consult.

I put our little Christmas tree up and hung a wreath on the door..

Just taking things quietly each day.  With another flare of fibromyalgia, it's enough. Like my 18" tree!  We are going to have a merry "little"  Christmas.