A Stitch In Time

 So here were are, nearing the end of November. I'm finally over whatever I've had for the last 60+ days. I still have a cough now and then. My biggest problem is fatigue. Because I was waking up off and on during the night and coughing, my sleep patterns (always dicey) are skewed. I've tried for a week to get back on track but after a single night of great sleep, I woke at 5 a.m. with only five hrs sleep. I had to go back to bed by 9 a.m. and slept 3 hrs. or I would have passed out in the chair. 

I still haven't made it to my aunt's for a visit. The plans are still out there. Just not a definate date when I can go. It isn't a good idea to drive sleepy. I'd like to say by December 1st. 

Anyone ever find themselves not caring for food? I don't mean not hungry. No. I get hungry but I can't seem to find anything that I want to eat. I'm sort of looking forward to my sister and I going to Golden Corral for Thanksgiving. They have great food and lots of veggies. It sounds wonderful. We'll see if the appeal holds.

I had to get a new sewing machine. I was working on something and my old one just stopped. It is at least 10 yrs old and I've had problems with if for several  years. It reached the point that I had to have it serviced every year and that's just silly. The old machines, I could service myself. Twenty yrs ago you could even change your own belts. Now, it is all computers. I got a great deal on a Janome and this is the quietest machine I've ever used! I've used it for several days to do minor repairs. That's the easiest way to get familiar with a machine. No. They're not all alike. It's just like driving a car. If you've driven a truck for 10 yrs and now you get a Mercedes, you're going to find a lot of bells and whistles. You have to figure out where the keys go. LOL, for real!

Anyway, I like the machine. I just hope it holds up better than my last two Singers. I doubt I'll ever buy another Singer. I did check on the Brother machines but they were very cheaply made and when I compare reviews across several sites, I didn't want to take the risk. The machine I bought is a $900 machine but I got it for a third of that on a sale. So great deal. It's odd, actually. I've bought everyone of my the machines I've owned (4) on sale at good prices. All but one were good machines. 

By the way, were you aware you could buy sewing machines at Home Depot? Yeah. That's a thing. And no, that's now where I got the machine. When I was shopping for the machine, I Googled and that came up. They actually had some good prices. 

Now, I'm off to the shower. I need a hot one and to consider getting to bed earlier. Have a lovely Thanksgiving if you celebrate the holiday.

#ACraftyWench, #Janome, #Stitches, #Sewing 

Sniffling, Snuffling, and Snorting

 After three weeks of illness, I'm beginning to feel human again. For three days now, I've sweated like a miner. No idea why, except it may be my body cleaning itself of whatever made me sick. I suspect, but have no verification, that it may have been covid again. That would be my third bout, if so. Since I don't have fevers and the onset was very slow, I just don't know. I had similar symptoms: headaches, fatigue, and some foods tasted off. Last time I couldn't smell for a year but that doesn't seem to be a factor when cleaning the cat boxes.

I actually thought the B1 had stopped working and my fibro symptoms had started again. Turns out I might have been wrong. I'm thankful the worst seems to have abated and I'm feeling better, still somewhat tired but much better. I have a loose cough and am constantly blowing my nose to clear it out. Things are draining. 

I have plans to travel down to Georgia sometime in the coming week, and from there, I'm going to go to Alabama to visit the graves of my great-grandparents and put grave stones on their graves. They've never had stones, although my grandparents do. When the grands were buried, it was a big expense and the family was rather poor. Their vault covers are above ground and one has a crack in it. I wish I could get that fixed but can't afford it. The other is older, rounded top with metal loops that were used to lower the stone in place. It is sad when the graves get in such contition and there is very little family left to care for them even if they were interested. My siblings and I have tried to keep thing clean and in good shape on my grandparents and mother's grave. My brother is buried there now too. He doesn't have a stone either. Maybe later I can do something about that. 

While in Florida, I'm hoping I can visit other family but I'm on a time crunch and not sure how long I can stay. Mike and my sister, Phyllis are taking care of the cats while I'm away. I don't like leaving them so I guess I'm officially a cat lady. 

I've got the laundry done, the floors vacuumed, and the den curtains washed this week. Phyllis won't have to clean house and I have a long list that I need to take care of when I get home. 

I hope everyone else is well. I just read that October will end in a widespread cold snap, so be ready to bundle up.

48 Birthdays

 

I have a birthday this month, # 67. Recently, I thought about my Mama. She was only 64 when she went home to be with Jesus. I miss her more than just about anything. 

It occured to me that Mama has missed 48 of my birthdays. She never saw me finish high school. She never saw me marry. When I went to Europe, she was not there to see me off, not once but twice. Nor was she there to greet me when I came home.

When my children were born, Mama was not there, nor was she when my granddaughter was born. Mama never rocked my sons or granddaughter. Mama never told them stories about my childhood nor read them stories from books. She never sang Hobo Bill, The Railroad Bum to them, nor Rock-a-Bye-Baby. 

When I needed advice or was in pain, she wasn't there. When I needed prayer, she wasn't there. When my husband died, I wanted my Mama but she wasn't there. My aunt and uncle stepped into as surrogate parents when Mama died but there has always been a hole where she stood. 

Mama never saw me go to college. She never read my articles in the college paper, never read the writing I did in other areas. She never witnessed my graduating from college. The first of her descendants with a degree and she missed it. Magna Cum Laudy, Mama! Can you believe it? I have as brief image formed in my mind of her standing in the audience smiling broadly. It isn't real. She wasn't there. And there is an echo of her voice from a long time ago where she said, "My girl can do anything." 

48 birthdays, Mama. So long, so very long, Mama. 

A Little Light On the Subject

 

Today, I finally got the new solar light put on. It is on the post of my front porch facing south, which is along the front of the house. I also removed one of the older lights that doesn't work anymore and "fixed" one of the newer ones. 

I have two of these particular lights and they've been a problem staying functional. I usually turn them off and then back on and it works for a while. The nuisance is that I have to use a ladder. That requires a spotter to keep it steady.

At this point, my house has lighting on the east, south, and west. I can walk from the north east corner, along the west facing front, turn left at the south west corner and go toward the east, along the track side, then at the south east corner, turn left again and walk the entire length of the back of the house and lights will come on all the way. It's kind of nice. I'm never scared to go out by myself at night but I'm not stupid. It could be dangerous. Now, I feel better about it. And the lights cost nothing to run. I try and check them regularly by walking around the house after dark. 

 I have no light on the north end, the garage end, and it is difficult to get sun to charge a light there so solar doesn't work well. I may have to get a light that plugs in inside the garage. Not sure. I don't want to pay a bill but the garage side is a dark area at night. The south side of the house now how two solar lights that are very bright and motion detect. This was probably the darkest spot on the property because the railroad is there and a lot of trees and bushes on the siding. So, it could be a bit scary if I had to go out at night. My air condition is there and so is the breaker for it. I don't know why they put it there but they did. 

Tomorrow I'd like to get the other bird house up. I have one on the front and was going to put the other on the back but now I think I'll put them both on the front and get two more for the back. I'm trying to make my feathered friends welcome because the more birds you have around, the fewer mosquitos you have on your property. I want to put up my bat house too but haven't found a way to put it up. It needs to be high and obviously not attached to the house. And it needs to be not facing the north. I need a really tall pole. 

I've been feeling much better since I began taking the B1 supplement. If you don't know, B1 has been shown in at least 2 studies to help fibromyalgia. I decided to test it. I read the reports, bought the pills, and took the theraputic dose for two months. Virtually all my fibro symptoms stopped. Muscle pain dropped, my brain fog disappeared, and I'm not nearly as fatigued. In fact, some days I have a tremendous amount of energy. A very weird but positive side effect was all cravings for sweets disappeared. I've had that for most of my life but now, I have no trouble passing it up. There is also data for that. It actually helps your body process sugar. My doctor was so shocked she looked it up while I was sitting in her office. 

I haven't written much but I've started back at it. I've been making list. I think I mentioned this in a privious post. I have to jot down what needs doing because there is so much, I forget it before I can get to the next thing. I've become a lot more ADD than I used to be. I never thought I had ADD but now, I'm not so sure. 

So, that's Friday done. I hope that those who read my blog, enjoy it. I know it is pretty boring most of the time and others full of drama. But that's Life on the Ledge where I live. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. Be blessed and be kind. 

This Too Shall Pass

 And it did. I got nothing done today that was on my list. I didn't get to sleep until around 3 a.m., despite lying in bed with my CPap mask on. I almost go up but decided to just tough it out. I listened to a podcast until I was tired. I turned out the light at 3 a.m. Took a few minutes to get to sleep but I was up at 8 a.m.

I did a devotional and played some games. Then took the shopping trip. I got some groceries and went to Dollar General to get household supplies. So, that's taken care of for the next month. 

I also stopped at the Dollar Tree to get some marbles. I found them! Two bags for my project. I saw this on a video on line and realized I needed it. Two Dollar General baking pans. Two bags of Dollar Tree marbles. Put the marbles in the bottom pan. Put your spices in the top pan. The pan held two shelves of spices. Dollar Tree sells the baking pans cheaper, but they are much smaller. I may have to make a second one of these.

On my return, after I put away all the items and finished the project, I sat and listened to podcasts. I realized a few moments ago that Icouldn't stay up much longer so I'm headed off to the Land of Nod. Yes, that's a place and you can Google it if you want. My eyes feel crosed and I've made a hundred errors while typing this.