three in a row

Day three!

Yesterday was another great day, with perhaps a bit less energy than Thursday, but still pretty decent. I wasn't quite as busy but still puttered around getting a few minor things accomplished. I'd had a really lousy sleep going into Friday so had to scale back to keep within my energy envelope. At the end of the day, I still had energy left and had no ‘hungover’ feeling!

Today was more of the same :-) It's the end of the day and I still feel good!

I'm feeling pretty optimistic!

There's not much on the internet about recovery programs for me/cfs so I guess I'm lucky to have stumbled on something that seems like it might work. And no pills or devices… Hopefully it’s legit, but the person who created the program is just ‘some guy’ who spent 4 years of his youth with cfs. He has no credentials other than anecdotal. I'm not a scientist but it seems plausible that his program might work. I've read in multiple places that pushing through the fatigue creates a cycle of crashes that slowly lower your baseline until you are basically bedbound… I think I nipped it in the bud (fingers crossed).

I have no idea how possible this is when life actually happens… Tuesday will be a test as I have to take the dogs to the vet by myself which will involve 45 minutes of driving - actual driving, not just being a passenger - and then wrangling the dogs in the vet office. They are not well behaved out of the house!

Yesterday I made two jars of basil/scape salt - it's pretty easy to do: harvest basil, chop scapes, whizz scapes & basil in a food processor until finely chopped, add salt, pulse a few times to mix, then dehydrate! Today I made ‘Tropical Bromance’ salt from one of Olaf's new hot sauces. I love the ‘Tears of Agnes’ purple salt so figured I'd try another flavour. 

I'd not checked the zucchini patch for a few days… yikes! Carm picked 7 (yes SEVEN) big yellow ones this morning… I've just finished roasting a big green one that I picked a few days ago and I have another big green one to roast later in the weekend…  now 7 more… I took a ‘stroll’ through the freezer and saw that I have grated zucchini leftover from last year so obviously not the best way to preserve. I did use all the packages of roasted zucchini - I like tossing it in with pasta!

The airfryer will be doing extra duty this weekend!

I know I've been repetitive but I'm trying to drill into my head that I have to slow down to get better! If I say it over and over, maybe it will sink in! Being patient does not come naturally to me!

Awesome!

“feeling okay for 3 full days!”

“swim before lunch”

“watching Grace play on her bong”

out of the pit

Today I finally climbed out of the pit that I dug myself last week… one full week to recover from a busy day… I woke up feeling pretty good and still do now (7pm), after a slightly busy day although I have made sure to have lots of rest periods between activities. I'll know tomorrow if it was too much for one day.

I've started noting all activities that I do so that I can start to figure out my baseline… I've also watched the video and listened to the chapter in the book about recovery again (and again!). I'll get this figured out but expect that it might be a bit of trial and error.

It's hard to scale back activity and tasks when I feel energy though!

Carm helped get the last batch of tomato sauce made - leaving a platter of ripe tomatoes on the counter - hopefully enough for a few more nights of tomato sandwiches. The garden is more or less bare of the juicy red fruit… This year we only got 6 containers of sauce… I'll have to use it carefully over the winter. But it's also good not to have a giant task hanging over our heads.

I'm pretty sure that last year we had tomatoes on the counter until November! Not so lucky this year :-(

Speaking of tasks though… zucchini continues to crowd the kitchen counter. I made some scarpaccia this morning, but it didn't turn out very well. Maybe I'll roast a bunch to have in the freezer - it's nice to toss in a tomato sauce or soup mid winter.

The beauty of the day mirrored my mood - a beautiful day with a mix of sun and cloud… but no rain… today… last night we had 1.5 inches (42mm). Today we had a short break from flying intruders though! We bathed the dogs without being attacked by mossies, and I was able to sit outside for a while - perhaps there was a bit of wind keeping them at bay? They did eventually drive me back into the house though…  We took advantage of the sunshine to get the dogs bathed, and of course to dip our toes in the cool (cold!) water. I can't remember when I'd last swam!

I had my last appointment (touch wood!) with the oncologist yesterday - she gave me a clean bill of health! Hurrah! On the same day, my friend had a full masectomy… she'll have a much harder road than I did - yet again, I was lucky and I am grateful.

Awesome!

“feeling okay for a full day!”

“dancing in the water in the grass”

“finding new music (Cassandra Wilson)”

“a break from the mosquitos”

“feeling okay after an active day”

“making a proper supper after a week of no cooking”

salty

How many days ago was it that I last wrote? Ah, almost a week. What have I done all week? As it turns out, quite a lot! But not too much!

Last Sunday afternoon we piled into the car for the trip to the viletta. We departed in the rain but luckily it dried up when we got there so we could take the dogs out for a short walk with Basel. The cousins were excited to see each other again - but this time Lupa and Basel played for a bit - she was intense but not aggressive - I was happy that it went so well. Eventually they got distracted by coyote smells by the pear tree.

I'd brought focaccia and tomatoes from the garden for a simple supper (I made the focaccia earlier in the week and stashed it in the freezer). It wasn't a late night though - I was beat by 8:30 with just enough energy left to walk the dogs down the road.

Monday morning the RV repair guy came to evaluate the damage from the lightning strike July 1st. We've got a plan and are now waiting for parts and availability. Kirsten and I (and Basel) drove into town to the pet store and our annual Skor Blizzard! Yum. I'm pretty sure my illness is just a sugar deficiency ;-) For supper Kirsten made sweet potato tacos 😀

We came home Tuesday morning after a coffee with Kirsten (and Basel). I managed 2 days at the trailer without a big PEM crash afterwards, although I did spend a lot of time on the sofa feeling not exactly awesome the next day! But it was better than I'd hoped for. In fact, Wednesday I pulled it together enough to have Kari and Kirsten over for lunch (tomato sandwiches again)... Again, I didn't have a big crash.

The dogs got more time to bond while we had lunch! Lupa wasn't feeling well though so she skipped out on playing…

Thursday I made 2 trays of focaccia, tomato sauce, cooked potatoes, and prepped some stuff for supper. There was also a trip to the groomers with the dogs. By the time Pat arrived, I was done for and starting to feel pretty sick. There were a few moments when I thought I'd collapse onto the floor, but powered through. When we sat at the table I wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat, but somehow managed to scarf down a big steak and some of Carm's too! Pat had brought a cake for dessert (yum!). I crashed in bed while they caught up on the ‘Reacher’ series!

It was too much to do in one day. Carm is a great help but I feel bad asking him to do more and more. He already carries the biggest load around the house! But, as I am learning more about recovery, it seems that getting more help now will eventually lead to needing none!

Friday I had a bit of a crash day which has lasted into today, but again, not as hard as a few weeks ago. I'm exhausted and weak but not nauseous or feeling hungover. I haven't done more than the bare essentials, and I did slice a giant zucchini with the mandolin (which left my arms feeling like rubber!) but I think I've found a baseline… no treadmill yet, but an hour of kitchen time interspersed through the day, plus a 10 minute walk in the field with the dogs and butterflies, a bit more time in the kitchen, and some light puttering around the house seems to be good. I'll try to stick with that for another week, then I'll reevaluate if I can add 10 minutes on the treadmill.

Go slow to go fast!

This morning I made some ‘Tears of Agnes’ finishing salt from one of Olaf's hot sauces. It turned out good and was awesome on a hard-boiled egg and later on a tomato… I'll try it on popcorn tomorrow night! I mixed 5 tablespoons of kosher salt with one tablespoon of hot sauce and dehydrated it - next time I'll just use 4 tablespoons of salt to intensify the heat a bit more!

Oh, and the mosquitos are on a whole other level this year. I haven't been on the deck for 2 weeks except for lunch with Kirsten and Kari, but were driven back into the house when we tried to sit on the sofa… just stepping out the door is a bloodbath. I've been wearing a hoodie to take the dogs out - I can pull the hood up and at least protect the back of my head and my ears. My arms flail trying to keep them biting the rest of me.

And the rain! Still the rain! Today we are having sunshine for a change.

Awesome!

“hot sauce salt”

“no rain today”

“the field is a riot of wildflowers and butterflies”