Saturday, September 29, 2007

Evil Flare Up

As I wrote previously, I have Crohn's Disease. My first course of treatment was prednisone and Asacol to knock the inflammation down and keep it down. Well after finally being weaned from the prednisone and feeling like a million dollars after hovering around a penny for so long I started feeling the symptoms return and they returned with a vengeance.

I think it's a combination of not having the prednisone coursing through my system and a lack of firm diligence on my behalf towards keeping an eye on a proper diet. I have been avoiding preservatives, additives and such like the plague, but some things (chocolate, an occasional latte) started appearing on the scene too much and I'm now paying the price.

So now I have a wicked flare up of my Crohn's and I'm back on the prednisone until my new meds kick in. That will take a few months but they are supposed to have fewer nasty possible consequences that come from being on prednisone for too long of a time. This is something I'm going to be dealing with for the rest of my life and it is going to be a very difficult thing to maintain considering our culture of food. I love to cook so it's not a problem, the problem is planning ahead far enough to cover the bases if I'm out of the house too long. I've got some serious sorting out to do with this because I don't want the list of meds to continue to grow and I don't want a hospital stay and I don't want to be one of the many who end up having surgery as a result of this disease.

I also will have to take a calcium/Vitamin D supplement twice a day and have regular blood work done to make sure everything is balanced properly with the new med. And I do so love getting poked and having my blood drawn...NOT.

So expect the occasional rant about this. It's got to go somewhere...

My 10 Finish Challenge on The Wagon

Here's my list of items to finish for my challenge:

1. 12 Days of Christmas cloths
2. Bath Mitt
3. Ghost cloth
4. Bat cloth
5. Skull & Crossbones cloth
6. Weave in the ends, wash and block 8 finished cloths (separate from the above)
7. Pumpkin pin cushions (6)
8. Simplify cross stitch
9. Farm cross stitch
10. Eric's quilt (which is a little over due considering he's now 2 and I started it before he was born image)


Okay, so far I've been weaving in ends. I've been a bit under the weather and with that and all the other work around here it's been hectic, but it's nice to have a list to work from. I'll update as I finish them.

Monday, September 10, 2007

It only seems like forever

Since I made my last post, that is. The summer has flown by. Most of my time has been spent tending to the chickens and selling at the markets which is how I make my living, hence the title of my blog ChickMistress Crafts.

As the chickens (and lately turkeys) have been taking up the vast majority of my time, my crafting has suffered greatly. Lately I've been knitting dish cloths, two for a fellow vendor at one of the markets I sell at. She requested that I make her a set of frog dish cloths to match the ones I gave her at Christmas. I have 1/2 of the final one to make, then I weave in the ends, wash and block and hand them over.

It's not so much that I lack inspiration, it's just a matter of finding the time. Summer is our prime season so everything else pretty much goes on the back burner.

However, in an attempt to rectify that I have joined "The Wagon." The Wagon is a board for crafters that has various groups and challenges to keep help keep you on track with project challenges, etc. I'll be starting a 10 finish challenge as soon as I figure out what 10 items I'd like to complete soon. Shouldn't be too hard to figure them out, it's the doing part. But I'm hoping the site will make me focus more. The also have a group that promises to only work from their stashes. I'll try that one after the 10 finish challenge, or maybe I'll go to a 25 challenge then.

There are some brave souls on there who list 100 finish challenges. I get dizzy just thinking about it.

For now it's off to bed, tomorrow I'll figure out the 10 and list them here as well as The Wagon board.