Onwards and, well, onwards!

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Thank you, you're all lovely :morelove:
I was very happy that this crochet project went so well. It's been a while since I crocheted anything, but it was very relaxing!

February 6
Neck Mobility
10 Squats & Push-ups
Body Mobility
5m total
1 Minute Plank Challenge day 19
One Minute Yoga Challenge, Iron Arms Challenge, Epic Abs Challenge day 6


I did not have energy left for the big workouts, but I did the little ones throughout the day whenever I felt like I had some energy.
But I got some more cooking done (more soup is in progress!), and did enough sewing that I have to take my machine apart again to realign it :')
Although it still works for straight lines, so I could postpone it for just a little :amused:
 

WolfDreamer

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"respawinning"
It's been a while since I crocheted anything, but it was very relaxing!

I remember learning about New York Giants and LA Rams defensive-tackle Rosey Grier, who did needle point. He even wrote a book titled Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men. He said it calmed him and was a stark contrast to the high stress energy of the football field. Literally everyone should pick up a hobby that relaxes them and gives them a break from their otherwise stressful lifestyle.

Well done on staying active.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 7
Neck Mobility
10 Squats & Push-ups
Body Mobility
3m total
1 Minute Plank Challenge day 20
One Minute Yoga Challenge, Iron Arms Challenge, Epic Abs Challenge day 7
Walking 30m

Went to a concert!
Leprous were amazing :applause:
I am so tired now, but it was so worth it :lovely:
Going to gave to take it easy on exercise for a few days to recover, but this is okay, I will get there:bigyes:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
@WolfDreamer making stuff by hand is very good for our brains, seeing the progress is satisfying, and having the finished objects around you as well. And a lot of yarn crafts are very meditative once you've grasped the basics, and provided you choose the right patterns.

I highly encourage everyone of any gender to find a 'making things' hobby! And thank for that information, a tough guy doing needlepoint to relax just warms my heart :morelove:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Been a few days since posting again as I was too tired!

February 8-12
Neck Mobility
10 Squats & Push-ups
Body Mobility
5-10min a day
1 Minute Plank Challenge day 21-25
One Minute Yoga Challenge, Iron Arms Challenge, Epic Abs Challenge day 8-12

Did a little dancing in the kitchen while cooking ^^

I am making an outfit for a valentine's event on Friday evening.
Unfortunately I can't work on it tomorrow, so I've been working hard for a few days in a row and am not sure I will be able to finish the shirt :')
But I am having a good time with it nonetheless. Pink!
I built on an old WiP skirt to make a fabulous one that I can even wear my petticoats under (yay warm legs)!
And I made my first Swiss Waist out of my waistcoat pattern =D

It's a lot more sitting behind the sewing machine than my back likes.
But doing the mobility stuff really does help!
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
@MadamMeow Thank you! I had made a skirt with mum's help when I was younger, but I didn't really get into sewing until the Great Panini of 2020.
Basically I started watching a lot of historically inspired sewists on youtube, and after a while thought "you know, I might be able to do that".
It really helps when your entertainment is looking at people making stuff, you learn so much before you even have your first attempt ^^
And it's never too late! If you're into loose-fit styles, it can actually be quite easy to make your first garment.
I dove headfirst into 1890s so I had and still have to do a loooooot of fitting and adjusting :tears:

Thank you @Laura Rainbow Dragon , I think so too! I don't have any pink shirts yet, but I hopefully have at least one white or cream one that will fit :chuckle:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Sooooooo I sometimes forget that I'm disabled and do way too much and then crash :amused:

I did get my outfit finished enough to wear to the party, and even though there was no competition, I still kinda won best dressed :tears:
I am very happy with what I managed to make, I just should have made it over the course of a month and not, uhm, 12 days.

So yeah, CRASH :tears:
I had been pushing through my limits for so long I didn't notice them, and my brain just went MOREMOREMORE
So on Sunday I went for a walk, tried to make some food, cut my finger open, and then my brain was still going DO MORE DO MORE DO MORE
In the evening I was finally able to break that cycle.
I put on the heating blanket and sat IN my bed do I couldn't try to do sewing stuff xD
I've been doing this a lot over the past week, just sitting and knitting in my bed, getting up from time to time to stretch, do a little movement, get some food =)

Yesterday was a delightful and unexpected sunny 16C, so I went for a longer walk. Which means I now need to rest a lot again, but it was so worth it to be out there!

I need to tally up today where I stand with all of the exercise things.
I didn't keep track too closely because I didn't want to risk my brain guilting me into doing more than I ought to.
But every day I did my 10 squats and push-ups
I completed the 1 Minute Plank Challenge at some point:completed:
I did mobility work most days, sometimes a little dancing or stretching, lunges or even a few jumping jacks ^^

So I am happy to report that despite the dire crash, I still exercised =D
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
1740261085726.png
Don't mind the mess, I live here :LOL:
I am super proud of what I made and felt glorious!

Urgh, with all the stress going on worldwide and so many people spreading hateful messages, my brain is super primed for anxiety.
Today I basically got jumpscared by a wikipedia article and had a few hours of medical anxiety. After waking up from an anxiety and feeling ill all day.

It's extra frustrating because I shouldn't have to be doing this.
Trawling through the internet every now and again trying to find a diagnosis that fits so perfectly it will convince governments that I am actually as disabled as I am.
But with the increasingly ableist rhetoric coming from overseas, governments removing assistance for disabled people to just live their lives, even getting angry about sign language...
It just feels more and more like I have to retraumatise myself and have perfect knowledge to be able to defend myself as a 'worthy poor.'
And I should not have to do that, we have plenty of resources on this planet!
Disability is the one minority status you could gain in five seconds of misfortune.
In fact, the only way to avoid becoming disabled is to die young.
So be kind.
Be kind to disabled people.
Be kind to older people.
Be kind to those less fortunate than you.
And guess what? You can't always tell who those people are!
So be kind to everyone unless they have actively proven to be undeserving of your kindness.
You will be in their shoes some day.
 

Laura Rainbow Dragon

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"Striving to be the change."
@Maegaranthelas that outfit is absolutely gorgeous!
Well done, you!
:heartsit:

And for all the shit you are having to deal with: :hug:
I am sorry all I can offer, at least in this moment, is a virtual hug.

I'm trying to do more.
But it's hard.
I'm a temporarily able-bodied and mentally-healthy person. And it's still hard.
I struggle every day not to fall victim to the despair of feeling powerless against all of the evil being vomited out of the White House these days.

It's hard to keep fighting the good fight when people in power are actively and deliberately causing harm.
It's hard to keep fighting the good fight when other people in power, who KNOW that the people at the top are actively and deliberately causing harm lack the backbones to say so (or to use the power they themselves have to do anything about it).

But I have promised myself that, as long as I still draw breath, I will do what I can.

So for you: a virtual hug, and HUGE KUDOS for being so strong in the face of the unfair and exhausting battles you face every day -- and especially kudos and all my best wishes for continued strength to face the totally unnecessary ones.

You rock!
And yes: be kind. (Now to figure out how to convince our leaders to be!)
 

Syrius

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"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
Gorgeous outfit!! :lovelots:

Sorry for your crash, I hope you feel better soon. :love:

Congrats on 1-minute Plank!! :support:

It's extra frustrating because I shouldn't have to be doing this.
Trawling through the internet every now and again trying to find a diagnosis that fits so perfectly it will convince governments that I am actually as disabled as I am.
:hug: This is utterly unreasonable. I am so sorry that the burden of proof is so heavily upon you.

And I should not have to do that, we have plenty of resources on this planet!
Disability is the one minority status you could gain in five seconds of misfortune.
Exactly, and I have had it happen to fortunately very few people in my life. But I saw them scrape, scramble, and fight to protect themselves and I am in awe by the fortitude that it requires of them, of you.

So be kind.
Be kind to disabled people.
Be kind to older people.
Be kind to those less fortunate than you.
We need more of this. Just because we all should be better people. Better friends to people we don't know, and even better friends to the people we do.

And guess what? You can't always tell who those people are!
So be kind to everyone unless they have actively proven to be undeserving of your kindness.
You will be in their shoes some day.
This is so true. Hidden disabilities are worse simply because they can't be seen.

Many hugs to you, my friend. :hereforyou:
 

JCU

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Your outfit is gorgeous!

I am so sorry for everything you're going through. I entirely understand wishing there was one glowing diagnosis that anyone could look at and go, "yes, that describes you perfectly."

I sincerely hope your anxiety settles and you can take a deep breath soon. ♥️
 

TopNotch

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"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Congrats on the plank challenge!
Congrats on the outfit!
Diagnosis via internet is... not advisable. Sometimes I think you've just got to be lucky and find someone who looks at you and says, "you know, that sounds like..." After diagnoses that didn't quite fit, that's what happened to me.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
So, turns out, I wasn't just massively overdoing it, I was also actually ill :muahaha:
And yes it took me five days to go "wait a minute, I am coughing a bit, I am a bit feverish, I have little appetite... Oh!"
The fun bit about chronic illness is it can take you forever to realise when you have a regular kind of illness :amused:

But I spent a few days mostly sitting in my bed knitting, with many breaks for stretching and light exercise :standby:
My appetite came back yesterday, so I think we're getting back to normal. Well, my normal :chuckle:
Baked some fresh bread, and am actually somewhat motivated to cook again :carbs:

Thank you all for all the lovely compliments :lovely:
I realised I do often post about crafting here, but don't usually share the finished results with you.
I should do that more often, as you might also enjoy looking at my fun/weird creations!

On the medical front: I was told I probably have two separate conditions that make it very difficult (in this country at least) to diagnose me fully.
We knew the general shape of the first kind of condition, and now with my googling I seem to have found the second.
I'm just going to assume it's not the one that gave me a jumpscare though :tears:

Unfortunately @TopNotch waiting for a doc to tell me what I have would probably mean I were diagnosed with only depression (which I didn't/don't have).
My former GP said I couldn't possibly have dislocated my hip "because that would have hurt more." I was in pain for three months, but sure...
We don't have a doctor House being an arsehole but actually caring to find out what's going on. Just the arseholes who don't care or the ones who care but have no time.
I have to research my concerns and track my symptoms, and if I can find something that adds up, my current GP is happy to evaluate it with me.
This is how we discovered I had a B12 deficiency despite perfect blood-levels of B12.
The symptoms added up to the description, we tried the treatment, the symptoms went away/decreased. We tried a different treatment, the symptoms came back.

So yeah, I do have to occasionally trawl through wikipedia and beyond researching conditions that could explain *gestures vaguely at self*
Though don't worry, I usually take any excuse to consider conditions ruled out :bigyes:
 

NightWolf714

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"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. ~Carl Rogers"
Please do share your crafting thingies. I love seeing that sorta thing.

And ahhhh, fresh bread. The mate and I did that a lot a few years ago (so much that we burnt out on it, haha). We're thinking of picking that back up. Any special types of bread you make or just a basic one?

I'm glad you are starting to feel better. All the medical stuff sounds incredibly frustrating.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Any special types of bread you make or just a basic one?
I make regular bread and sundried tomato bread, which is one of the tastiest things in the world!
I I actually wrote out the recipe in my thread somewhere for people before xD
If you love the fresh bread but don't want to knead it by hand, I love my bread machine.
For the regular bread I can just fill it in the evening and set it to be ready around the time I want to be up.
And then you wake up to the scent of fresh bread :carbs:
 

NightWolf714

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"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. ~Carl Rogers"
The bread machine is nice~ We would often use it for the dough and then bake in the oven so it's a more typical size. (Especially since most of the bread is gonna go in the toaster as a I have a slight toast addiction, lol.)
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Of course @Laura Rainbow Dragon :heartsit:
I use a bread machine so I can't tell you anything about the actual preparation of the bread (my joints say no to kneading), but here are my ingredients:
100gr wholemeal wheat flour
400gr fine wheat flour
8gr salt
8gr sugar
30gr grated parmesan
0,5 teaspoon of chili (but of course if you like heat you could add more! Or even experiment with various chili pastes. I think Sambal Manis bread would be epic.)
40 gr chopped sundried tomatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil (could be replaced by a different oil or butter, but maybe not plant-butter because that stuff sticks to everything when baking)
115ml milk
190 ml water
1 teaspoon of dried yeast.

I use sun-dried tomatoes in oil that come in a jar,
50gr scooped out roughly ends up being 40gr tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of oil.
Since I use a machine, I squish the excess oil out of the tomatoes with a fork, add the oil to the mixture in the bowl before turning it on, and add the finely chopped tomatoes after an hour when the dough has been formed to a ball and my machine beeps at me to DO SOMETHING.

Bread recipes can of course be tinkered with a lot, but this is what I've been using (more or less) and it's delish ^^

Also I wish everybody could just walk to the local mill on Saturday and buy some freshly ground flour... it's a joy and I am spoiled xD
There, found the right post =D
 

FlowersandPetals

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I totally get the chronic illness thing. I have one that causes sudden allergic reactions and near fainting episodes. But it’s a fairly new discovered thing so I was “diagnosed” by my daughter’s POTS specialist (a cardioelectrophycist- that took me a minute to spell out! :hehehe: ) I hope you get some good, solid answers for your health issues. :hug:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Now, throwing liquorice into your bread dough - that's something! :yes:
I'm going to assume someone in Finland tried it already. Rye bread with liquorice :muahaha:

Love my bread machine too (gluten intolerant so now that saves me quite a good deal ; and buckwheat bread is yummy!). Now, you make me want to try the sundried tomatoes addition...
Ooooh yes I hope you do try it and let me know if it's good! Maybe I can make a buckwheat and tomato loaf for a friend of mine :carbs:

I have one that causes sudden allergic reactions and near fainting episodes.
Is it like MCAS? I know you mentioned potential EDS in your family, and they often run together.
Cardioelectrophysicist sure is a mouthfull xD Almost as bad as POTS said in full (no I do not have the energy to spell the entire thing :tears: )
It's so rude though. We are born and some of our bodies go "YOU HAVE SELECTED NIGHTMARE MODE" for no reason :giveup:
 
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