Desert Roses

I am trying to catch up on all the sites I have neglected since I have been unwell. I have had three trips to hospital between January and June. I am hoping there isn't any more this year. I have a life to live once I have finished cleaning out what I don't need in the house. I have sent a lot of to a charity. I also donated about eight crocheted rugs to the oldies at a home. I made them from wool left over from family projects.

I have started to revive some of my pot plants that I neglected while I was either in hospital, or unable to water them. Not too safe to try to water when using crutches. And I wasn't able to bend in certain directions. I had a knee reconstruction. Followed by a Kidney stone blockage, which cause a lot of toxins to build up in the body. I am slowly recovering. I do some work then sit at the computer. Or crochet.

These are some of the Desert Roses which have flowered this year.

Gee! The photos loaded fast. Usually they take a long time. I made a few changes to my camera. The photos may have been too large for the site to handle. Ah! Well. Never too old to learn something knew.

I had better go to pot some seedlings into bigger pots. I have had them growing in water on a piece of cotton wool.

Happy

Real happy.

Having a replacement hip has helped.

I have less pain and worry. I didn't know what to expect when I had to have the operation.

I made the house ready for when I returned home. Filled the cupboards and freezers full with food so I wouldn't have to bother family and friends to help.

I now know what to expect when the next operation comes. Not sure if it will be a knee or the other hip.

I have just been to visit my GP to check my blood pressure. It was too low after the OP. Then high. I was put back on my medication. I was told I have the pressure of a twenty year old.

I have started back to my writing. I waited until the clouds cleared out of my head. While I have been resting, I searched for a publisher for my novels. I found one that sounds interesting. I made some inquiries. Sent one piece to see what I head back.

I have been clearing the weeds from the garden in between work, crocheting, writing and resting. I have only been back driving for a couple of weeks so life is slow. I am trying not to over book where people want me to go.

Its rest time. I'm going to have a little catnap.

Trip photos

These are some of the photos I took when I went on a bus trip a week ago. The day was suppose to be different in destination but the area we were to go to had rain. Roads were dirt and deemed unsafe to take a bus to the area we planned to see. We plan to have another attempt in another few weeks if the weather stays fine.

Or I don't get a call up to go to the hospital. I have moved up the ladder a bit. Last week I went to visit the surgeon so I am now on the operating list. Well. Three lists over the next year. Right hip. Left hip. Left knee. I may have to go through a lot of pain but at least I won't have to live with daily pain like I do now. I keep describing the pain in the knee to severe tooth ache.

I have been slowly working my way through what I should do before I can't do work. In my spell time I am either working to finish the novel; crocheting and computer work. And have food cooked and in the freezer for when I come home from hospital.

I had a rough night and am feeling tired. I did mow the last few strips of the back lawn which I didn't finish yesterday. The mower ran out of petrol. And I run out of energy. The sky is clouding over so I might have just finished in time.

A friend gave me a beautiful pineapple yesterday. The smell was ambrosia. Really sweet and juicy. I peeled it and had a slice with my meal. It was so tasty I could have polished off the lot. I hid it in the spare fridge out of sight to make it last. I have to be careful when selecting a pineapple because some have too much acid for me to eat.

Winter bug struck

The winter bug caught up with me. I thought I was going to be free on a cold. When I have the flu needle, I'm usually sick all the time until it wear out of the system. A few weeks ago I went down. I blame all the nightly wee walks. Getting out of a warm bed to go to the toilet.

But some good came out of this problem. Not being well enough to do too much work, I sat to do some crocheting. And writing. I placed the notebook on the table. The wool on the other side. I found doing a boring pattern where I don't have to concentrate, the words flowed.

The top rug I only had to join the squares together. Another member of the group made them. I did the last couple of rows to join them to make the rug.

The next four I did from scratch. I just mixed the colors together. Everyone was surprised I'd finished all this work over three weeks. The lady gave me more wool. This time I have a variety of colors. I have to start building the squares. I don't know how much I'll get done over the next couple of weeks because I have to catch up on my house work. Gardening. If it isn't chilly or wet. I have to find all my clothes and medical records, to pack, because I have to go away to visit the heart specialist.

I also wrote close to 10,000 words to move my novel along. I wrote by hand then transferred it to my computer.

Latest Rug

This is the latest rug I have completed. I took it over to the lady who sends them to different charities. She gives me the wool. Some is donated. Other money is raised by raffling off one of the rugs. There was some discussion on whether to raffle it because the design might bring in more money for wool.

I have started making more squares to join together to make more rugs. I have about four stacks of different sizes. When the right size has been reached I'll join them to make the rug. I might do another one of the same shape once I have finished what I'm working on. It is an easy pattern once you get started. And read the instructions. Properly.

I have been out trying to catch up on the weeds but the back and muscles began to ache. At least I got some done. I will try again tomorrow, or later today, if the clouds forming don't send down rain. In the mean time I will do writing and crocheting.

Rugs

These are a few of the rugs I have been crocheting to be given to those in need. I am with a group who do this. I don't go to the place where they get together. I work at my own pace at home in between doing my work and writing.

My lounge and kitchen, is usually the place where I work. I have rugs at different stages. I have a notebook beside me to work on my stories. I find crocheting clears the mind and helps me to think. Especially if I don't have to concentrate on the pattern. I stop crocheting when I need to add more to the story. At least, I seem to get more done in a day that way. I also break this with doing my housework. Which means. The sheets should be dry for me to go make up the bed.

With a bit of action I might be able to warm up the body.

Ah. My aching back

I' been out putting my Desert Roses into bigger pots. Putting seedling into the smaller ones. I was pleased when the bags of potting mix were empty. Some plants were becoming root bound. I still have a few more to do.

I had planned to try to catch up on some other jobs but the sun has gone under making the day cloudy and cool. Plus the aching back put an end to more work. My body had reached the pain level telling me to quit.

Following are a few photos I took at Pelican Waters over Easter. I took about 300 over five days. I have been busy uploading them to where they have to go. And writing my stories for the month.

I will have past stories to complete shortly. I finally found someone to retrieve lost work from the mother board of the computer which died a couple of years ago.