This morning I went out to Ace for more little white lights for the tree and then finished decorating it. So pretty. Let’s see if it works to link to a Mastodon post here: https://zirk.us/@Kayray/109496929461177090 . You should be able to click that link, click through my Content Warning and see my tree. I promise it’s just a Christmas tree! Nothing naughty! On Mastodon it’s polite to put anything sensitive or potentially triggering behind a Content Warning so people aren’t ambushed by politics, headlines, health issues, sensitive holidays, etc.
If you’re on an iPad or similar, you can tap the tree photo, then long press it to see the descriptive alt text, which we put on photos so that the visually disabled community can participate in conversations more easily. Mastodon is all about accessibility, community, and consideration for others. What a lovely place it is.
Finishing the tree used up a lot of energy so then for the rest of the day I knitted and played TrainStation2 and finished series 2 of Happy Valley. Made simple black bean soup for dinner and we watched an episode of Only Connect and one of Edwardian Farm and now it’s SLEEP TIME!
Oops almost went to sleep before my nightly Duolingo lesson and blog post! Weird night last night. My brain was buzzing like a beehive and I had insomnia, freaky dreams, and bad sweats. Return of the Withdrawal Symptoms, which is to be expected for some months. It’s cool, I had a good day anyway. Tidied up a bit, did some knitting, and put lights on the little tree! Dave should be home by the time I wake up, and maybe before I actually fall asleep. *heart eyes*
It’s funny, last Friday was a Totally Sleepy Day too. Went to bed at a reasonable time last night, slept till 9am, was just too sleepy to get up till the afternoon! I think I’m still in withdrawal mode. So I just went with it! Body says rest, so I rest. Only a little bit sweaty last night too.
I knitted and read Mastodon and listened to Chloe‘s new recordings of Little Town on the Prairie and finished the audiobook of “The Feast” by Margaret Kennedy which was FANTASTIC. So good, so good, so good. If you like family comedy and social satire and a mid-century English setting, you’ll love it too! Do not read reviews — there WILL be spoilers. I was very glad I read it knowing nothing. Scribd has only one more Margaret Kennedy novel and my libraries have none. So I’ll need to start seeking out used editions. If you absolutely must read a review, this is a good one: https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021/11/07/the-feast-by-margaret-kennedy/ but seriously, just read the book. Read the review when you’ve finished the book so you can revel in someone else loving it too.
Made good progress on Henry’s sleeves and also knit half a sock for Lulu. And I took a BATH and washed my hair today, yay! Dave will be home tomorrow night and I wanted to be a bit less smelly lol.
Why do the ants come marching into the bedroom all of a sudden? Ants, ants, ants, everywhere. Are they cold? Is the rain flooding their nests? I honestly don’t mind much except that when one crawls on me and I squish it, the stink is eye-wateringly bad. A horrible chemical smell. Formic acid, I guess, but jeeze, how can something so tiny smell so strongly?
Oh. Also. DAMN it’s dark in the winter in Portland. We’re still leading up to the shortest day and boy is it weird. It’s pitch-black night well before 5pm. I’ve never experienced such short daylight hours in my entire adult life. We moved here in mid January and the days were already much longer by then. This is really freaky. No wonder midwinter festivals are all about light and color and hoping the sun will return! And this is only PORTLAND, not even very far north. I’m totally gonna celebrate Midwinter’s Day — I think that’s when The Dark is Rising BBC radio play will start, too.
My SAD lamp arrived today and I look forward to waking up with some fake sunlight tomorrow morning.
Best day since hospital last Saturday. Slept pretty well. Had night sweats again but only medium-bad, where the night before they were AWFUL. Went back to sleep a few times after waking early, yay me! And then after I woke up and read my Mastodon feeds for a while I sat in bed and knitted for an hour which was a nice start to the day. Then I made a fried egg on an English muffin for breakfast. I was kinda worried I might start losing weight again ‘cause I’ve had a run of not-great days but I’m still 102, yay.
And then I FINISHED all the little kid Christmas sewing projects! Three pairs of snuggly pajamas for Lulu, Freyja, and their 3yo Uncle Mikey, and a pair of rainbow joggers for Em. Completely finished, size tags and all, ready to wrap and ship. I need to find some inexpensive Christmas print fabric to make more gift bags since I refuse to use wrapping paper.
Also took out the kitchen garbage (a very light bag) and discovered that the garbage crew hadn’t emptied our bins on Monday. Turns out Dave forgot to pay them. Oops. Lol. Also did the washing up, and ate a big salad for lunch. Now I’m sitting in the livingroom with a fire in the fireplace, watching Happy Valley series 1 (it’s as good as I remember) and winding five skeins of my favorite thick sock yarn into balls. Dave wants Sleeping Socks, and since I was already paying for shipping I bought some extra. It’s the best there is for thick, heavy slipper-socks! https://halcyonyarn.com/yarn/127/tuffy-canadian-sock-yarn
I haven’t felt well enough to get out of bed and sit in the living room for an extended period of time since last week. This is nice.
I realized yesterday that the beautiful gray winter gloom here in Portland might be affecting me. I absolutely CRAVE bright, yellow light. None of our lights seem bright enough, and I just want to go to bed by the late afternoon. I’m used to the strong, nearly constant California sunshine. I love the gloom here, but I think my body needs more sunlight, so I did some research and ordered a small but well-reviewed SAD light. Hope it will help me stay awake past 5pm and maybe feel more awake in the morning.
Ok I think my mashed potatoes are finished boiling!
Rough night last night, absolutely drenched in sweat all night. Really tired today. Got some knitting done. Brought little Christmas tree in from porch and assembled its little stand and put it on a little table in the window but that’s all I could do today.
It’s so amazing to have an appetite again. And I can just keep eating! Like, I’m sitting here in bed just knitting and snacking on hazelnuts even though I’m not technically hungry. Calories, baby! Nutrition! Woohoo!
This morning I started sewing right away before existence could exhaust me, and I got Lulu’s pajamas all sewn together. Now I have three little pairs of PJs plus Em’s rainbow pants that just need tags sewn in, yay!
I also made my first attempt at a traditional Christmas Pudding, following Townsends’s recipe, generally, but I made a TINY pudding using only 2 oz of each main ingredient instead of a pound. I figured my first try would be bad and I was right, lol. Horrible chemical aftertaste, and bland and soggy. Next try, I’ll use butter instead of vegetable suet, and add a lot more spice and maybe a bit of molasses, and I’ll steam the pudding instead of boiling it. And I’ll wrap it in white linen instead of an orange tea towel. And I’ll use just dried fruit instead of adding Dave’s glacé cherries.
Headache all day. It snowed and snowed and snowed! The snow mostly melted by the time it hit the ground but it was so beautiful coming down all fluffy. Toward the afternoon it stuck enough that the lawn turned white and there was a layer of snow on all the parked cars and rooftops.
Dave is out of town for work again so I really need to try to stay alive and out of the hospital.
Normal morning and then my heart went bananas at 10:30am. Just whammo, 168 BPM out of nowhere. Yesterday Dave had travelled to a friend’s birthday celebration a couple hours away and spent the night so I was alone. Managed to grab my go-bag, unlock front door, sut in the entry floor, and call ambulance after 20 minutes, when I was sure it wasn’t going to clear up.
EMTs arrived. They asked all the questions as usual, hooked me up for ekg, etc. I felt SO BAD, was pretty sure I was about to faint. They lifted me down the porch steps and onto a gurney and then I puked over the side. And then within 2 minutes, by the time they got me into the ambulance, I was fine. Boom. Puking does it every time. Stimulates the vagal nerve. I wanted them to let me just go back into the house, but my bp was still lower than my low-normal so I let them take me to OHSU. By the time we got there my bp was closer to my normal, and by the time the ER nurses took fresh readings it was good enough that I was ready to leave. Doc tried to make me stay but I’ve been through this so many times. There’s nothing else they can do except run tests, and the tests always say the same thing. So I checked out (against medical advice, but with common sense) and Henry fetched me home.
Now I’ll be extra-tired for a few days. No big deal.
Went to bed early last night, didn’t really wake up till ten this morning, napped all day long, ready for bedtime now and it’s only 7:30pm. Heh. Not an unpleasant day. I’ll just chalk it up to part of my withdrawal. Goodnight!
Oof tired. Less hungry today but I managed a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a big dish of lasagna for dinner.
Ran errands: bought a little Christmas tree, then went to Ace for a tree stand, extra pack of lights, bird food, and squirrel food.
Final episode of Taskmaster was tonight! So good. And then I watched the first episode of Alex’s new show, The Horne Section TV Show, which was just the kind of odd fun you’d expect from Alex.
