Stones and Butterflies and Drinking like a Fish.

January is over already! Where did it go? I am happy that I managed to keep out of hospital for the whole of the month- the first hospital admission free January since 2013! I will ( probably) be going in this month, maybe in the next week or so. A check up revealed I have yet another kidney stone, this time it's a pretty small 3mm and nothing like the huge 1.5 inch ones that caused all sorts of trouble back in 2007. Still, while the doctors are happy to leave it alone, I argued for a course of lipotripsy  ( a treatment that involves laying in water while shock waves try to blast up the stone) as I really, really don't want the stones to get larger and cause lots of trouble.So now I am just waiting for a bed and drinking tonnes of water just in case it can make the stone pass and I can avoid the blasting! Lithotripsy is normally done as a day procedure but we are arranging it so I can have my I.V's at the same time.  As usual I will be taking everything but the kitchen sink in with me including lots of wire as I'm really enjoying my experiments with wire weaving. Today, after many, many mistakes, I finally got the hang of the over over weave. Shame I didn't take any pictures, maybe tomorrow!

Yesterday, despite the absolutely rubbish weather, my boyfriend and a few mates went up to Williamson Park at Lancaster. It's a lovely park, even in the mist and fog, and has a lovely butterfly house which was so warm after the cold outside. To be honest there wasn't too many butterflies but there were lots of other animals to see.  I'd love to go back in Summer and enjoy more of the park.

Have a great week all!

Wire, Pigeons and Squirrels.

It's been a good but busy, few days. Yesterday I went along to clay pigeon shooting with my boyfriend and a group of his friends for a birthday celebration/ activity. Now, I could never shoot anything with a pulse, big meat eater that I am I know that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but I was looking forward to having a go and shooting the clays. However the weather was against me and we were blessed/ cursed with a thickish dusting of snow and freezing temperatures. I love snow and am like a big kid whenever we get any, but standing in a field for an hour or so left me absolutely frozen and I decided that shivering plus holding a gun probably wasn't the best idea. So I was in charge of the very important job of keeping score, It did look very good fun so hopefully, when the weather is warmer, it is something I can give a try. Afterwards we went to a pub/ restaurant and I ate lots of chips, pork and surprise birthday cake. All in all it was a great day even if I'm only just getting the feeling back in my frozen feet.

Today was a lazy one, I have been wanting to properly try wire wrapping  for aaaages and today I finally had some time to just sit down and mess about. It's always good fun trying something new and I have found out it is much, much more difficult than I imagined but at the same time I absolutely loved it. I have tonnes of ideas, especially using the glass cabochons that I love making. I need to start making some drawings and design ideas, something that doesn't come naturally as I'm more of a 'just do it now and see what happens'  kind of woman.

Here is a picture of today's make-

Lots of practice (and more planning!) needed I think.

Today while wire wrapping, I was distracted by two visitors to the garden. They were very, very cute.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to bake a birthday cake for my dad's birthday...this could go horribly wrong!

Have a great week :)

Flowers, Shiney's and Pretty things.

It has been a lovely, sunny day, here though I haven't been out to take advantage of it. Instead I have been sat in front of my laptop catching up with emails, networking and general buggering about on the internet! The postman has just delivered some craft wire which I can't wait to have a play with, I have been wanting to try wire wrapping for such a long time and have finally taken the plunge and treated myself to some tools and supplies. I am going to see what I can do with the millions of glass cabochons and pendants I have made ( I am obsessed with them as they are so shiny!) Talking of cabochons- I made these last year and have only just got round to listing them on ebay ( a 5 week wait for a hospital bed then a month stay made me forget about them) Finally I feel ready to get back into the swing of crafting and listing after a very tough year health wise, I added it up and last year with the flu, pneumonia, chest infection and pickled kidneys, I spent about 15 weeks as an inpatient- no wonder I lost my making mojo!

If you fancy a nosey, the link to the listing is here 

Apart from today, the weather has been a bit dull and cold. I'm never really keen on this time of year, it's that miserable bit after Christmas but before Spring, everything seems to be in a bit of limbo. So I was very happy to see that my folks had brought home some daffodils to cheer up the kitchen. Funny how something so small can make you all smiley.

 As well as finally getting back into making, I have come out from under my rock and started to participate in the promotion of my fellow crafties. There are some wonderful things out there, here are just a selection of them. All the photos are links and take you to the items shown.

Have a great rest of the week! 

2015.

Well, it's been a while since I blogged. In fact I can't believe I have only written two posts all year- I'm a bad, bad blogger! I will definitely try to blog a little more next year.

Here is a bit of a 2015 review, it's been a busy old year really, the downsides being very crappy health, I've spent much more time in hospital then normal for me with both the 'flu and pneumonia as well as my normal IV admissions. It's been a bit of a wake up call really, I definitely need to start tweaking my treatment regime a bit- what worked a few years ago isn't what's best for me now...hmmm, I think this will require a bit more thought.
On the flip side 2015 has been brilliant, I have done so much and been so happy. Here are a few of the highlights-


Spring.

The crocus flowers at the local church. Every spring the church yard is covered with hundreds of crocus flowers, I love sitting there and just soaking in the signs of Spring.

Shrewsbury.

Though it was a visit for a sad reason ( a funeral) it was still nice to go and visit somewhere I had spent very little time. The highlight was visiting the castle (have to say I have a love for castles, it's the 'oldness' and history of them. I wonder who the people who lived there were and what there lives where like. It's fascinating.  )

 Kite Festival.

Because kites = awesome.

Air shows 

I went to both Blackpool and Southport air shows this year with Southport just edging it as my favourite. I was disappointed that I didn't get to go to RIAT but never mind, one day I will get there and Farnborough. I got to see my absolute favourite aircraft, the Vulcan, which brought a bit of a tear to the eye knowing it would be the last time it would fly. I had a brilliant time and took about a million photographs.

Isle of Mann.

In September my boyfriend and I went to the Isle of Mann with the bike club that he belongs to. The trip was amazing, we got to ride the TT course and see the Laxey wheel. The weather was very kind to us, it was lovely and warm with clear skies and sunshine. My favourite part was seeing seals, I hadn't seen them in real life before and was surprised how big they were. It did make me wish for a bigger lens on my camera though..maybe next year!

I love the bike and have become a bit of a biker chick (haha!) It's so freeing on the back of the bike and it seems to be a good way to clear my chest. I do wonder if I can get a Triumph Bonneville prescribed as treatment...

 Sometimes, when the old lungs are playing up, the protective gear I have to wear can make it tough to breathe as it's so tight and heavy but it's a small price to pay to be able to zoom about all over the place, I get withdrawal symptoms when I haven't been out for a while.

Chester Zoo.

I had just escaped from hospital when I went to Chester zoo. It was the second time I had been out wearing oxygen and I have to say I was  a bit embarrassed at first, you can't help but think people are staring and it did make me feel self concious but, while I don't have to use it as much now, I have gotten used to it and don't care what people think. 

The zoo was awesome, its always been one of my favourite places and this visit didn't disappoint. The rhinos, elephants, butterfly house and bat cave were my highlights, I really hope I get to go back next year.

London.

My boyfriend and I went to London for a few days. I love London, I love how busy it is, how the big tourist attractions seem so familiar  because of how often they are on the telly. While there I got to meet my great niece who was born at the start of the year. She is gorgeous and I love her to bits already.

That's some of my highlights of 2015, there were lots of other things too including trips away with the bike club, a holiday with my parents and lots and lots of track days with my boyfriend and his beloved car. I hope 2016 is just as busy.

Shineys, Blues and Potatoes.

Well, its that time of year again, the nights are drawing in and I'm getting the urge to crochet something warm and blankety..still, today was fairly warm and sunny so I made the most of it and harvested my first (and only this year) crop of home grown produce.

I wasn't expecting much to be honest, with spending so much time in hospital this year I haven't been able to look after the garden as much as I like to plus the weather hasn't been great, so I was pleasantly surprised to get a decent amount of potatoes (6.6lb!)  There are a few decent sized ones in there but I think most will go into potato salad. Nom!

Yesterday I made some glass cabochons and random shapes, I'm pretty happy with how they have turned out though I'm not sure I have the patience to cut out so many squares! It takes forever and I only have a few hours while the kitchen table isn't in use, after that I have to clean everything away. So I always feel a bit rushed. One day I will have my own craft room where I can be as messy as I want... well a crafty woman can dream!  

These are what I made-

They are a little rough around the edges and I definitely need to get better with my firing schedules (I think they are a little over fired) but I think someone could use them for something, with that in mind I have stuck them on ebay to try my luck! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/111772669718?

I also did the very rare thing of making myself something. I had made a fused pendant earlier in the week which I used as the focal point in a necklace. It's been a while since I've made some jewellery and I was a bit rusty! So now I have a nice new necklace and nothing to wear it with..of course this is a pretty good excuse to go clothes shopping! I think I should have attached more beads to the chain on the left... perhaps that will be a job for the week!

And just because I feel like it, here is a random picture of some Crocuses that I took at the beginning of the year.  

Have a great week all!

28th April 2014

That's when I last blogged...

Well, I'm back. Its been a funny old few years. After breaking up with the ex things took a definite turn for the better social life wise. My friends were brilliant, we didn't stop, there were trips out, nights in the pub, laughing until I couldn't breathe (admittedly that isn't too hard what with the crappy lungs) and just generally enjoying myself. That year and a half was spent putting myself back together, I was happy and content.I came to realise I didn't deserve to be treated how I had been for nearly three years.

The only downside was my health, I had never really picked up properly since the virus I had Christmas 2013 and the constant "Go! Go! Go!" attitude I've developed wasn't helping things. It all came to a head June this year. I'd caught 'flu in January which gave my body a real battering, I was in hospital for three weeks and when I had the chance to go home I jumped at it. I hate being away from home and, while I knew I wasn't better, I thought I'd be ok... nope.

I had yet another admission in April then, in June, I was just sitting on the couch at home when I started with the most horrible pain in my left side. The thought of a collapsed lung crossed my mind so of course I did the completely wrong thing by taking a few paracetamol and dragging myself to bed. A few days later I admitted defeat and rang my hospital. They saw me in clinic that afternoon and wanted to admit me there and then but since I only had the clothes I was wearing (and no phone charger!) I managed to talk them round into admitting me the following day.

I wasn't too bad the first few days, I think I had been running on adrenalin for so long that it was masking things but once I had chance to just stop fighting and let myself relax I became pretty ill. I started throwing up every time I ate, I had temperatures of 102 with uncontrollable shaking, the nurses had to fight me to keep the fan on to cool me down, I kept turning the central heating up, turning off the fan and wrapping myself in blankets..this was the hottest day of the year but I was bloody freezing.
My oxygen levels were through the floor and I was on oxygen as much as possible. I was told I had pneumonia, something I had had before so I wasn't too worried (ok, I was a little bit) The only time the state of my lungs worried me was after a rubbish ward round, I had been told I was likely to be in for weeks and it wasn't something I wanted to hear. I'd already been in a while, I was missing home and everyone I loved. I needed to get off the ward on my own ( I had been taken walks to the ward door and back and always on oxygen and you never get 5 minutes to yourself) So I took my oxygen off because, by this point I was damn sick of it, and basically stomped off the ward. I made it to the main entrance which was about 5 minutes walk, sat down then I was stuck. I couldn't breathe,my chest was so tight and I just couldn't get any air in. I didn't have a hospital band on as I always take them off if they are loose enough and I was in my "civvies" because I don't do pj's on the ward unless I really have to. I had this mad thought that if I keeled over outside among the smokers then I'd probably get taken to casualty and poked with needles.I managed to get back to the ward eventually and from then on I almost always behaved myself!

I was in for 5 weeks which has been my longest admission. Not something I ever want to repeat, but my doctors are really pleased with how I've picked up since and I'm really looking after myself (not that I wasn't before, I think I just needed the epic rest)

So yeah, crappy health for the past year or so but something brilliant happened too. I met someone. We have been seeing each other for just over a year now and, while this is always a bit of a cliché, he is the best thing that's happened to me for along time. He makes me happy and not just in a superficial, going out and having adventures kind of way (and we have lots of adventures) but actual, just being with him and doing normal things, kind of way. It must be love.. plus I think he is gorgeous and I fancy the bones of him (yep, that does sound superficial)
I enjoy spending lots of time with him, I've always liked having my own space and time to myself and always find it difficult spending extended periods of time with people ( I think that's why I struggle so much in hospital, you never can get much time alone) but it's different with him, he's my best friend and it's so easy being in his company.
 Ahh! I've turned into one of those mushy types!