Day 341 of 365

After much cajoling and encouragement (and harassing) by me, Pajama Boy finally went to work.

A full day at home by myself. Finally, a full day of doing whatever I wanted. Hitting the sewing room for most of the day was the plan. After the way I woke up this morning I was tempted to stay away, though.

When I do repetitive tasks, it's not my muscles that bother me. It's the joints. The swelling in the joints puts pressure on the nerves, which in turns makes body parts numb and tingly. With all the ironing and rotary cutting I've been doing lately, my right shoulder has been getting quite the workout. All through the night my right shoulder was bothering me and by the time morning came around, the shoulder/elbow/wrist/hand joints were so swollen my arm and hand were completely numb. Completely numb and not willing to return to normal. It took quite some time to get feeling back.

But I couldn't give up the sewing. I had to do it.

I did it almost up until that 3:15 run to pick hubby up from school.

When I came home I caught someone napping in my bed.

Day 340 of 365

I feel like I have caffeine in my system or something. I spent yet another day in the sewing room and I again started not long after the sun came up.

While I haven't had any caffeine, I feel like something has gotten me in gear. My mornings are still icky, but starting off the day sewing seems to be helping. Being surrounded by gorgeous fabrics is helping.  I'm sure the sunshine is helping. And probably looking out my sewing room window to see my empty vegetable garden plot is helping, too.

Looking out the window has made me think about spring and planting time. Last year I thought we were going to try raised beds, but we didn't. Then I thought about replacing the landscape timbers in the rose garden and using the old ones to outline the vegetable garden. Now that I'm thinking spring again, I've scrapped the landscape timber idea and want those raised beds.

This entire school year I've felt like I've managed to be able to work without taxing my body too much. I've been able to take my time getting up in the mornings. I wear arthritis gloves to keep down the pain in the hands. I've worked my year around pain and pretty much know what I can and can't do. I know what aggravates my body and how to best relieve it, or at least manage it.

Those raised beds will help. They'll help make my surroundings meet my needs. I remember the difficulty I had last summer pulling weeds, picking tomatoes and peppers, digging potatoes. I'll be hiring some cheap labor - my daughter and her boyfriend - to follow some free plans I found on Sunset.com.

My mind is also spinning with quilt ideas, especially after sewing all those blocks on Day 325. I've been busy matching up fabrics with the blocks and designing some quilt tops. Here's the first one I have put together. Next step is quilting it.