Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

If you haven't crochet'ed in a while and you want to make some afghans, it would be a good idea to start now. I found I had to limit myself to only an hour a day at first, because my wrists weren't used to the excercise (would have thought all the typing here would help, but apparently uses different muscles?)

We got our woodstove installed on Friday, YAY! On the downside, I have to move furniture so I can move the rug a foot as it overlaps the hearth. I also need to trim a couple of inches off the bookshelves as they are just a teensy bit too close for comfort. Then we'll finally be able to light a fire in it. We ran into town yesterday because we realized we didn't have any of the accoutrements- ash can, wood holder, poker, shovel, tongs... plus we went ahead and sprung for the heat shields which were not absolutely required, but I will feel better with that little bit of insurance.

Yesterday I had volunteered to help with a community project to get people to eat healthier food- they set up demonstrations and give out samples at a local grocery store every Sunday this month. I came home with half a pan of Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas in Green Sauce that was left over. Yummy lunch! Last week I came home with about a pint of Cowboy Salad and several dozen carrot cookies.

DS has been sick since Thursday; coughing, sore throat, vomiting... the works. He reports feeling marginally better today. It sucked because he wasn't able to help me clear space for the installation of the stove, but I feel so sorry for him; he's hardly ever sick, so he just doesn't know how to deal with it.

It also sucked having to do all that work on Thursday because I have a pinched nerve in my shoulder, with the pain zapping me all the way down to the fingers. It's been keeping me from getting a good night's sleep as well. I'm waiting for my VA prescription of heavy duty anti-inflammatory meds to come; in the meantime I'm making do with Ibuprofen and a little Tylenol in between to help with the pain (Ibuprofen doesn't do as good a job with pain for me as Tylenol). In the meantime, my knitting is on hold.

 

[Denim Deb]

Ouch! Hope you feel better.

One thing you may want to buy for cleaning ashes out of your wood stove is a masonry trowel. I use one of those more than the shovel. It gets into the corners so much better. Plus, it's easier to handle since it's so much shorter.

 

[Britesea]

Thanks, @Denim Deb I will remember that. We got the heat shields installed yesterday, and then had to move furniture so that we could pull the rug just 1 foot further to one end so it wasn't trying to climb into the stove. I decided that while we were moving it, we might as well turn it 180 degrees so that the part that has been protected by being under the couch the last 15 years would be exposed, while the main pathway would get put under the couch. More work, but this way the wear on the rug will be more even. And of course I had to vacuum underneath because no matter how much you vacuum, some dirt gets underneath and stays underneath.

My job today will be to remove the books from the two bottom shelves so we can trim them by just a couple of inches; they are just a bit too close to the stove for my peace of mind. I plan to make a bookcase instead of open shelves, and I will make it a little smaller than the current setup; but for now I will just trim those 2 shelves.

By the time we had finished all the moving and changing, I didn't feel like making anything fancy for dinner. I had some yogurt, chicken, and spice mix, so we had Chicken Tandoori with dilled carrots and green beans. But now I'm out of yogurt. I want to try making my own- never done that before. I just have to decide if I want to use my dehydrator on the lowest setting, or my new Wonder Bag, or just put the jars in a pre-warmed ice cooler... all 3 methods have been recommended.

 

[Denim Deb]

Why is it that your plain dinners always sound fancy to me?

 

[hqueen13]

LOL, no kidding Deb!! I'd kill to have food that nice any day of the week!
Glad you got it installed! Bummer that you are wrestling with the pinched nerve. That makes life so hard to try to keep getting the stuff done that must get done. Hope DH is feeling better! I seem to have found a mild cold, and I'm trying to nurse myself along so it doesn't turn into a full blown one!

 

[hqueen13]

Hope you're ok since we haven't heard from you in a week!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

x2

 

[Britesea]

I'm BACK!

My pinched nerve just kept getting worse until I couldn't do anything but sit in a chair and whimper. The VA doctor gave me some pain pills that were supposed to be good for nerve pain, but I apparently got a reaction to them. I kept trying to get by with Tylenol and Advil, but it eventually got so bad I ended up in the emergency room. The doctor there decided I had a sprained muscle and told me to keep heat on it and continue with the OTC meds (excuse me, but I KNOW what a pinched nerve feels like). Things had gotten to the point that I couldn't even lie down (I was propped up with pillows and blankets in that chair, and would eventually fall asleep for a few hours out of sheer exhaustion) I used some of our precious savings to go to a chiropractor a few times. He told me my neck was badly out of alignment, which was pinching the nerve. 3 sessions with him got things to where I could lie down to sleep again, though on one side only (I would have cried with relief except I fell asleep too fast).
At last, the VA authorized 12 sessions of physical therapy. That was 2 weeks ago; I'm no longer on any pain pills, and starting to do some housework and such. A bit angry that it took so long for the VA to help me. The chiropractor took 2 months of savings to pay off because he took 2 Xrays-- the first person to do so successfully; I was too twisted up with pain when I went to the emergency room.
Now I need to take good care of my stomach and liver. I'd been taking 1000mg of Tylenol, followed 2 hours later with 800mg of Advil... round the clock except when I actually fell asleep, for weeks. Lord only knows what my insides look like.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh my goodness! So glad to hear you're better and so sorry you had to go through all of that. My dad stopped going to the VA because of the reasons you mentioned. Hope you continue to do well!

 

[Mini Horses]

I say, thankfully you are among the living...been wondering what was wrong at your place since you've been absent for a while. Glad you got some relief! Sorry for all the pain.

You have been missed.