Exhausting

Busy few days.

Miss Teen loved the room. She loved her new bed, the fairy lights, etc.  She's looking forward to sleeping in the bed.

I did dribs and drabs, and eventually got everything where it needed to be.  Even the machines are now sitting on the workbench,  but I've still got to put the rest of the worktop stuff out.

This morning, we cleared out everything from underneath our bed, and sent Roberto to clean the room.  He had to be rescued to have his bin emptied four times.    Most of the stuff has been found a new home,  or has been identified for selling/donating.   Some of it has already been collected.

We also had to do a load of stuff in the old fruit cage, including moving the two coops that live in there.  Our friend who does some gardening for us pruned the Jostaberry, so we could move stuff.     We also covered the cage with two separate clear tarps.    There wasn't enough to completely cover it, but the two coops are now under cover.

The cats came to investigate and help,  and DH left the door open so the Girls came to look too.  I shooed them out, as we're saving this space.

We also amassed a small pile of rubbish fomr the garden which needs to go to the tip.   I emptied some of the plant pots (we have so many!) into the Girls covered run, and they enjoyed a good rook.  I've got plenty more,  so I'll save them up and space out putting them in. 

I also topped up the dust bath with play sand and woodash.

I'm ready to move the A0 printer into the sewing room,  but I don't have the energy.  

Maybe tomorrow.

 

 

 

So close...

The Guest Rom/Sewing room is almost finished.  Miss Teen is coming over after school, and I wanted the room to be as done as possible, ready for her inspection. 

It looks good,  It looks empty and tidy.

Behind the wardrobe doors is organisation and tidiness.   I did not give in to the temptation of just stuffing everything in and sorting it out later, as later rarely turns up to the party.    Everything that has been put in the haberdashery has been scrutinised and reviewed before being allocated a home.

It's taken forever,  

The wardrobe doors came with some fantastic cardboard protective channelling round the edges.   That has been cut up and used for zip organisation, and my zips drawer looks accessible.

I've got one bankers box of stuff still to sort,  and I need to bring the machines back in and position them on the worktop.    I've got to ask DH to put some shelves in the Kallax for me for my sewing machine accessories, and we need to lug the A0 printer upstaurs to its new home.  That will herald a batch of sorting in the kitchen though, and I'm too tired for that,

The box room now has lots of empty storage stuff, empty boxes,  and some stuff which is not sewing related and needs to be found a new home.    That will take a while to sort out, so I'm not worrying about it.

I' also considering the underbed space, and wondering what I can move from under the bed in our room.... but, again, that will require sorting out and I need to top up my energy and enthusiasm reservoirs.

In the meantime, my plantar fasciitis (PF) has decided to return.  I need to go and get some slippers with arch support. I usually go barefooted, but it's getting too cold for that.  The inside shoes I have are OK for a bit of warmth, but they exacerbate the PF.    Wearing my outside boots helps my feet,  but I feel a bit "Little House on the Prairie", as I am continuing to wear long skirts instead of trousers.

I still  haven't tested the scanner, and I need to do that before the repair warranty runs out.  It's going to be next week now I imagine.

I t'll all be over by Christmas....

 

Now we are 7 (Goodnight, sweet Phyllis)

Phyllis died during the night,  She was 8 and a half years old. 

Phyllis, and her twin sister Dyllis,  were hatched in 2014 from one of the Welsh Black harem girls and our gorgeous boy Henry.    Unlike all the other black offspring,  they had flat ('normal') combs instead of pea combs.  She was, like her sister,  large, bolshy, inquisitive and friendly.  Always pecking for attention, always tripping us up for treats.   DH liked both of them very much, because they were happy o be picked up,  chatted to him, and were always trying to see what he was up to. 

Dyllis died in July 2018 aged 4 and a half, and back then I thought Phyllis would probably go a year or two later.

In April 2020, Phyllis  (along with all the other Allotment Girls) came to live in the garden,  just after the first Lockdown started -  and four hens (Blondie and Summer the leghorns, Pong the Dorking, and Sasha the Silver Appenzeller)  were stolen from our allotment. 

She was such a friendly girl, a big fat hen.  She had a fab couple of years here,  adapting easily to the new regime.  She continued to be nosy, interested, bolshy, funny and, most of all, friendly. She burbled away to us all the time.

Her age started to catch up with her a few months ago.  I noticed that she was a bit slower, she was standing apart in the scrum for treats, sand he was gettting pecked by some of the Girls that she used to dominate.   She lost some weight.

I took care to make sure I gave her extra treats,  and to make sure she had time to eat, keeping the others out of her way as necessary.

Just over a month ago, she had a sharp decline.  She lost a lot of weight and I thought we might have to intervene.    I started a regimen of preparing a special breakfast for her, and shutting her in to the run on her own so she had time to eat it in peace.

I started to buy mealworms, so she had something extra appealing.  I bought chick crumb for her, which was easier for her to eat. Then I moved on to giving her peas and sweetcorn as well.  Anything that might interest her.    She quickly learned the routine and would happily toddle over to wherever it was she was being shut in, of her own accord, waiting for me to open the door to let her in.,

Some days she looked quite well, others less so.  She ate, she was interested in the food, and while that was the case I was happy to carry on.  The writing was on the wall though, and it was obvious that she was 'on her way out'.   Some days, she didn't want to eat, despite my creativity,  and I thought I'd find her dead the next day.   She surprised me each time by being up and about, or waiting in the coop for me to get her.

As the weather turned colder, and she was getting stiffer,   I started to soak the food for her.  It made it easier for her to pick it up and swallow it.     We did the routine at least twice a day at this point, as I wanted to make sure she ate in the morning and had something in her crop overnight.

On some cold days, she wouldn't come out of the coop until I turned up with breakfast.  On other days, she'd be out in the garden waiting, or she'd be somewhere else nibbling the grass.    On the days when she wasn't out,  I'd go and look in the coop expecting to find her dead.  The relief I always felt on finding her sitting there, minding her own business, was immense.  

However she got up, she still joined the tussle to get the afternoon treats.  She held her own quite well. I always slipped her extras,  and stood hand feeding her treats until she'd had enough. 

She ate well yesterday.   

This morning, she wasn't out with the others.  I wasn't surprised as it was very cold. I called her name a few times as I walked round to the coop to collect her.    There was no burble of response, and I had the usual feeling of "is it today?" as I opened the coop up.  I had a look inside, and saw she was there.    When I opened the back of the coop, I could see that she had gone.

I cried, a lot.   

It was sadness.... but it was also relief, and an outpouring of built up tension as I've been expecting this for some time. In a funny way,  I was glad it was finally here.  I was glad that she'd had a happy last day.  I was glad that she'd lived such a long life.   I was glad that I'd spent the time I had, taking care of her.   I was glad that she hadn't had a dreadful last few days.   

I was glad we hadn't had to intervene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A-door-able

The doors for the extended fitted wardrobe have arrived!

I've now had to empty the room yet again so that work on fitting them can start tomorrow.  

More stuff in the bin,  more stuff to donate.   I went through 3 boxes of "I don't know what to do with this", and sorted it down to half a box.   I even cleared (mostly) the sewing desk.  

All the machines are out of the room.

I've tried to have some method in piling the stuff up to make it a little easier when it comes to putting it back.   

My DB is coming to help DH fit it the track and doors tomorrow.  

 

A Happy Little Accident.

I've been trimming DH's hair since the day before Lockdown commenced in 2020.

With Lockdown imminent, we bought some hair clippers so that I could do his hair for him. I'd never used clippers before.

It was a good decision, and a good investment.   When Lockdown eventually finished, he decided he was happy for me to continue to trim his hair every few weeks.    His hair isn't long, or short.  I use the biggest clipper blade, I think it's a number 8.  

Eventually I got more used to doing it, and I'd use the naked clipper to trim the hair at the back, and to remove the sideburn area bits. For over 2 and a half years I've done it. 

I suggested doing his hair the other day, and I started with the naked clipper.  It went well.

I hoiked the right- and left- ear comb things out of the box ready to use in a while, and then I got out the comb thing to do the main bit of his hair.

I started at the front, front to back.   I was surprised that there was quite a lot of hair coming off, his hair hadn't been trimmed that long ago.  And then I realised what I'd done.

I'd picked up the number 2 guard (1/4 inch), instead of the number 8 (35mm, 1 and 1/4 inches ish

I looked at his head, I looked at him.  I fessed up.

His buzz cut was really, really soft.  The hair was so very tactile.

He wasn't particularly interested in how soft and touchable his hair was.  He was concerned that his hair might be different lengths.

We discussed it, and I phoned my niece, a trained hairdresser,  to see if she could come and rescue the situation.  She didn't answer the phone. 

We then decided that I'd cut the rest of his head with the number 6 (and  afterwards we agreed to me using the number 4 clipper) and then we'd leave it until he'd washed it the following morning and decide what to do.

The next day, he decided he wanted me to use the Number 2 clipper all over, to even things up.

He's quite happy with how low maintenance it is.   I think it's surprisingly flattering (and I say that with sincerity).

I think it was a Bob Ross moment.  A Happy Little Accident.

I don't think I'll use a number 2 clipper on him again though, but I suspect it might be only as low as a number 4. 

Maybe I'll start with a number 6 and see where we go from there.

NightShift

I saw the Apnoea specialist consultant recently.

The detail of the sleep study is a great example of how misleading averages can be.

It transpires that, although my overall index is low,  that average index hides some interesting data.  I have no apnoea when I sleep on my side.  I do show signs of apnoea when I sleep on my back (supine),   I sleep on my back 50% of the time, so I need to do something about it. 

She recommended a CPAP machine,  and I may go down that route.  As my apnoea is positional, it may be manageable (or even trainable) with some positional therapy aids.

One aid she suggested was a Zzoma pillow.  This is a cushion which is worn like a rucksack.  It is shaped so that one cannot lie supine while wearing it.  I had trouble finding a proper one, although there were loads of lookee-likeys on Amazon.     I didn't get one in the end though, as I realised that I wouldn't be able to change sides (without having to sit up, and therefore wake up more) easily.

Instead, I decided to buy a NightShift Positional device.  I hummed and hawwed over this for several days.    There was a preloved one available on Ebay,  but they wanted quite a lot for it (their reserve was very high and I'd still have to buy a new strap) and I wondered if it had already been bought preloved.  If it had been cheap, it would have been worth a punt.  

I decided I'd probably be better off buying new, and I decided to buy from the Apnoea charity Hope2sleep.

It comes with a neck strap, so it's worn like a collar (connected by magnets, so it comes apart if it gets caught up) with the matchbox sized device located on the back of the neck.    It tracks how I sleep (what position I am in) and it detects snoring and movement.  If it detects that I am on my back (supine) then it vibrates, and the vibration increases until I shift position.     The idea is that it trains my body to not sleep on my back.

A chest strap is also available,  but  Google didn't give me any information relating to using a chest strap when you have boobs.  All the pictures, all the information, everything, showed men wearing the device. 

I emailed  Hope2Sleep for advice,  and they contacted the manufacturer for me. The manufacturers reply was  not very enlightening .  I wrote back Hope2Sleep and was quite explicit about my concerns,  and a lady at the charity said she will try the chest strap personally for me on Monday.  

I bought the device from them anyway, as I thought I'd try it with the neck strap and see how it went.   I had a bit of trouble pairing it to the App. Turns out that it really does have to be turned off to connect to the app, (It has to be turned on, then off,  and then you have to connect to the app within 15 minutes of turning the device off).

I tried it for the first time yesterday.   It wasn't uncomfortable at the back of my neck, which surprised me.   I lay on my back deliberately, so I could see what the vibrations were like.    It all worked as expected.    I turned on my side, and went to sleep.

I did have some trouble going to sleep.  It was odd wearing a collar like this, and I thought I probably had it a little tight.  A couple of times, I had trouble swallowing automatically, and had to make myself swallow (Actually, as Im standing here now thinking about it,  without a collar on, I find I can't swallow automatically, I have to think about it.  Yet when I'm not thinking about it, I don't have an issue).
 

It did its job a few times in the night.  Then it came off (a sure sign it had been a bit tight)  For some reason, in my sleep fuddled state,  Ididn't just leave it alone, nor did I  pick it up and put it on the bedside table.  No.  My sleep addled brain decided that I should hold it in my hand.  For the rest of the night. . It went off.  

I had to work out how to hold it so it didn't go off.  Yes,   My brain worked out how to hold it so it didn't trigger - but it didn't work out that I could just turn it off or put it out of the way.

I looked at the report this morning,  and it was interesting. I can see where I was on my right side, then my left, then my right, and I can see where the device was triggered.  Then I can see when the device came off (the "prone" section). What is really interesting for me is that the "snoring level" increased  significantly after the device came off (and I was probably on my back for a lot of that time which of course the device could not know). 

 I looked at the report for my O2 ring, and that shows a corresponding  drop in oxygen levels (to about 84%) at that time.

I'm interested to see what happens tonight.