Shoshiplatypus

Sorry to be AWOL for the past couple of weeks. We seem to have been very busy of late, and something had to go… I’ve been doing a great deal of preparation for the final two sessions of our Bible study group before we break till the New Year, and that has taken up a lot of my time, and of course there’s always the cooking, and we’ve had one or two outings.

Tudor Gown

Not a great deal has been happening on the creative front, but if you scroll down to my previous two posts, you will see an exciting new project I am involved in. My hubby and I are going to a Tudor banquet in Cornwall in mid-December and I have decided to dress the part! I am blogging about each stage of the making of my Tudor gown. I have made some more progress since the most recent post which only went up yesterday, but I haven’t had a chance to blog about that yet.

It’s being made mostly from recycled materials and stuff already in my stash. Making each element separately means that certain parts will be very much useable afterwards – a lovely warm long winter skirt, for instance! If I never get the chance to wear the outfit again, the materials can always be recycled into something else.

Here is a close-up of the fabric I am using for the majority of the gown.

It is from a pair of curtains from Ebay! I have completed the skirt, and am now working on the bodice.

These are the sketches I made for Tudor undergarments, done with Procreate on my iPad.

As there is a deadline on this project, I’ve had to set aside any work on the teabags. I’m not 100 percent convinced that the white acrylic paint is producing the effect I want – I really want the bleach to work! Still thinking about how to proceed on that one.

I’ve been watching a lot of Youtube videos on various papercrafting techniques recently, and am getting a real urge to get back in the studio and get covered in ink and glue again. At the rate things are going at present, I can’t actually see it happening before the New Year now. Perhaps 2020 will be more of an art and craft year, based in the studio… Lack of time and energy are always my enemy.

Kitties

With the weather being so cold, our two girlies like nothing better than to cuddle up together to keep warm. Ruby is usually on top, often with her arm round her sister. Lily is so soft, and makes a lovely bed for Ruby to lie on! Here are some photos taken recently.

Health Update

PIP

Yesterday I had a letter in a brown envelope marked “DWP” on the back, which increased my heart rate by about 500 percent!! However, it was just a letter saying that they had now got all the information they needed to make a decision on my PIP application, and I didn’t need to do anything and they would be in touch soon. Then I remembered reading someone’s post on the Benefits&Work website who had experienced the same thing – she said she didn’t know why they did that, as it only got people really worried!!

Bladder woes

I may be writing to them again before the decision comes through because I’ve been experiencing worse bladder symptoms recently. I suffered some nerve damage with my chemo which has made things rather unreliable in that department and it’s been getting worse over the past few weeks. My hubby has made a doctor’s appointment for me and he is supposed to be phoning me before Friday and we may be able to discuss it and resolve it over the phone. Unfortunately our surgery doesn’t have a continence nurse, so he may refer me elsewhere if he can’t help me. I did tell the DWP and the woman who did my PIP assessment about the problems I’ve been having and it may make a difference if I tell them it’s got worse lately. We shall just have to wait and see. From what the PIP assessment lady said, I wasn’t expecting to get a decision until the middle of December, or in about three weeks’ time. If they have already decided in my favour, the fact that the problem has got worse may not make any difference.

Headaches

Since I’ve been on the amitriptyline, I haven’t had any more headaches, but I’m not sure if this is because I was naturally going into a headache-free phase anyway. It’s good not to have them, at any rate. I have to try and remember to take them at about 9 p.m. because if I take them too late, I can’t wake up in the mornings. Taking them too early, and I’m zonked way before bedtime and then wake up far too early! My main problem is trying to remember to take them at all. My morning medication isn’t a problem because I just take it with my breakfast, but trying to remember to take a pill in the middle of the evening after we’ve eaten is proving very difficult! I tried setting up a reminder on my iPad and although it does flag up, it doesn’t sound any alarm so I miss it!!

Hernia

I have still heard nothing from the Exeter hospital. My CT scan was 3 months ago and I have been expecting a follow-up appointment with the surgeon to get his opinion on the best way forward for my parastomal hernia. There’s no point phoning the hospital because they can never tell you anything and you just get pushed from pillar to post. When the GP phones, I might ask him to see if he can find out what’s happening, and possibly expedite my appointment. I realise that my problem isn’t that urgent, and I think Exeter’s waiting list is a lot worse than Torbay’s. Still, having seen the Exeter surgeon back in April, and then having to wait 4 months for a scan, and still no follow-up, is getting a bit much.

Pants

It’s that time of year again, for getting new support pants. They’ve got a new lady to visit now, and she came a couple of weeks ago to measure me up for a new prescription. She was absolutely lovely, and I immediately warmed to her as soon as she came into the house and spotted Ruby and gasped in delight! She was then duly introduced to Lily as well and we spent ages talking cats!!! She said our kitties were absolutely stunning, which of course I agreed with! She was so friendly and kind, and seemed very efficient as far as the pants were concerned. I told her all the problems I’d had over the past couple of years, with them making them up all wrong, and she was appalled to hear that, and said she would make sure nothing like that happened again… We shall see, anyway! I had a phone call from my stoma equipment supplier yesterday to say that the prescription was all in hand and I should get the first pair next week. When they arrive I have to phone the lady and let her know that they are OK (or not, as the case may be!) and then she can put in the order for the other two pairs. Let’s hope there are no problems this year!

Food

I always end up with a lot of almond pulp after making nut milk every couple of days, so this week I’ve been making a few things to use it up. Our usual standby is Almond Hummus, which I always have in, to go with my sourdough starter crackers (which also now have almond pulp in them – I’ve completely revamped that recipe and each time I do it, I improve it a bit!). I decided to make a couple of sweet things with the almond pulp as well, this week, and tried Almond Pulp Chocolate Chip Bars, which I think would be improved with the addition of some cacao powder (or cocoa) – I thought they were a bit bland. Then I made some No-Bake Almond Pulp Energy Bites which were pretty good, but again, I thought needed more of the chocolate flavour. Here are the three things I made.

I’ve chosen the Almond Pulp Energy Bites for my Recipe of the Week this week.

Recipe of the Week

No-Bake Almond Pulp Energy Bites

Next time I make them I’m going to put in at least 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder instead of teaspoons. I rolled mine in dessicated coconut, and the overall flavour is coconut rather than chocolate. The consistency is lovely, though, nice and moist with the Medjool dates that I used, and I like the addition of a segment of orange. If you are not making almond milk and have no almond pulp, you can substitute a cup of pre-soaked and chopped almonds.

Back in August, my Recipe of the Week was Santa Fe Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, which I forgot to photograph once they were cooked. Yesterday I made them again, this time from regular peppers rather than the long sweet ones, and these proved a lot easier to handle. A really good result, served with a dollop of home-made natural yoghurt sprinkled with paprika, and some salad, all on a bed of brown rice. My hubby really enjoyed it – a nice kick from the spices too.

Yesterday’s veg prep after my grocery delivery.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a mushroom brush, which has really speeded up my mushroom cleaning! Before, I was wiping them with a small flour sack cloth, but with the brush it’s a lot more efficient. The brush comes with its own little protective stand, and it all works a treat.

Have a great week, everybody.