The days are filling up fast....

This morning I went to Desley, my Bowen Therapist, for my 'monthly overhaul'! My neck, shoulders, forearms, wrists and fingers have been sore recently which makes any crafts' work quite uncomfortable. Hopefully in the next few days I'll feel the benefit of the session.

This afternoon I went to my first session of 'Sisters of Stitch' at the Chermside library. (Why do other suburbs have better public libraries than my local area???) This is a group of ladies who enjoy a diverse range of crafts who meet twice a month to share ideas and to work on craft projects brought from home. There is a table which had magazines and fabrics for the taking, as well tea and coffee and a show and tell session. At my table people were hand quilting, embroidering, doing hardanger, knitting and working on large tapestries. I took some knitting today as it was already organised from when I was in the day hospital last Thursday. I'm still working on my 'quadrilateral' shapes' project which I mentioned here but in tandem with that I have been working on a project using up my scraps of mohair yarn. I'm making a throw which consists of squares but I knit a 'scarf' length of squares all joined together as I knit. Saves so much tiresome sewing at the completion of the project.


Some of my 'scarves'

I have knitted plain squares and in order to use up really little amounts of left-over yarn, I've interspersed the plain ones with patterned squares. It can be a bit of a challenge using just the left-overs and odd balls but I enjoy 'making something out of virtually nothing'.

I use favourite slipstitch patterns. they are so easy as only one colour is used in each row. When I work on a project like this, I always try to find and use some slipstitch patterns I haven't used before. The Harmony books of knitting stitches that I own are old but serve me well!

In this photo, I have tacked 4 rows together at the junction of each new square. The strip still on the needles is now completed and last night I started a 6th strip and that's the one I took this afternoon.

I was thrilled to meet someone I knew there this afternoon but made sure I also chatted with other ladies so that I can get to know them. This is a group who endeavours to help others. Some of the ladies make 'Blankets of love' for the stillborn babies at the hospitals, others are making and/or collecting items needed by those who were made homeless by the floods and cyclones.
Yes I think I can say that I'm really getting into this retirement thing. I enjoyed myself at the 'Sisters of Sew'.
Today I got a payslip which, because I'm taking pay at half rate for my LSL, reflects what I will draw from my super later this year. Even though it seems a big cut I know I can manage quite well. The 'old Maria' always worried that there would not be enough money in retirement but I know it will be fine and I will have enough for my needs and more besides so I can continue to help others.

On my mind...exercise!

The exercise bike with the iPod draped over the handlebars.



On my mind today is the issue of exercising. When people have asked me what I plan to do now that I've started pre-retirement leave, as well as the obvious hobbies, I've also mentioned that I wanted to work on my fitness. Years ago I used to walk for about 40 minutes each day to keep fit. In recent years I haven't been doing that due to a few things...laziness, tiredness caused by severe anaemia as well as hip and knee pain the legacy of a fall in 2002. (I decided to relive my childhood and started to scramble over rocks on the beach at Caloundra...they were slimey weren't they? and I fell heavily didn't I?)

We replaced my old exercise bike a few years ago when the tension went. The bike is a good alternative to walking for me as it does not aggravate the hip and knee. A few times things got so painful when I tried to walk on the paths near the creek etc, that I would have to ring DH on my mobile to come and rescue me. I have iron infusions for my anaemia but there is always that amount of time between infusions where I get very fatigued but I have to wait until all the new tests are done and a hospital booking made to get some iron. Over the last 2 years, I was extremely tired after work each day so after making dinner, I had no energy for anything else so very little exercise was done...well actually , none!

So since Christmas, I have been building up my time on the exercise bike and can now do 25 minutes straight, with the tension turned up for at least 15 minutes . You see I HAVE to do something as a blood test in November showed my glucose levels had gone from 5 to 7.5! Actually I was quite indignant, because for 3 months before the test, I had stopped drinking wine with my meals. So even though, my waist measurement trimmed down, my sugar levels went up...the lack of exercise...and maybe too many choccies????

I do plan to try walking on the bike paths as well though to see how I go. I have a Bowen therapy treatment once a month and it's amazing how the pain levels have gone right down. You might say...why don't you get on a 'real bike' and ride on the bike paths??? I have a confession...I can't ride a bike...didn't have a bike as a kid, tried to learn to ride a friend's bike when I was about 11 but crashed into fences etc and gave up!