Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

On my birthday last year, I was staring to emerge from the haze of unexpected side effects, including constant (instead of chronic) migraines, caused by a new CFS/ME medication I was trying. That was a fun three and a half months. That was during a year that included my first (hopefully only) ambulance ride and discovery of a (minor!) heart condition, falling off the back porch and narrowly avoiding braining myself, then tripping in a parking lot and acquiring of fantastic bruises.

On this birthday, I have just had my third round of botox for migraines and I am doing so much better. After the second round I even had TWO MONTHS without a single migraine or headache. I still have very little energy but I'm starting to feel like I'm living again not just existing. Bizarre to think that during a global pandemic my health might actually be improving … but it might be?

(I think I do need to go back to the physio again though. I strained a shoulder muscle cuddling the dog, FFS *sigh* This is after straining the same shoulder holding a friend's baby right after the first round of botox and getting very confused and painful signals from my neck. BUT I AM GETTING BETTER.)

And there was some very fancy cake for dessert.

( Money woes  )

It was stinking hot today, my sinuses are giving me hell and I'm blowing my nose much I look like I've been weeping.

Not a great day. And my GR just took over a dozen new greyhounds, they are crammed full and there are so many more they can't take. Trainers are shedding dogs after the live-baiting scandals - but they love their dogs, right? I desperately want another one but we can't even afford to foster a third right now. *sigh*

Here's a happy thing. I know the person who adopted this adorable boy after he'd been waiting for months, shipped around to different RSPCAs trying to find him a home. He has a lovely home now with a greyhound sister.

I left the house today for the first time in two and half weeks - excepting the two visits to the doctor for the cold-turned-bacterial infection, plus raging allergic reaction to the first lot of antibiotics. Fun! Mum's knee has been doing better so she was able to walk the dogs sometimes - when it wasn't raining. Poor hounds, they did get a bit bored. But we went to the market today, mostly buying things that don't require much cooking since I'm still wiped out. The hounds had many cuddles, both from new people and regular admirers. Then we stopped at a pet supply store on the way home and along with necessities, we bought two new squeaky toys - a fluffy pink and brown ... apatosaurus? for Miss Shadow and a glossy blue and orange triceratops for Mr Nosey. There were many happy squeakings this afternoon.

Books of May

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.

Non-fiction
The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia's History by Geoffrey Blainey

Australian Children Through 200 Years by Suzane Fabian

Australian Transport Through Two Hundred Years by Brian Carroll

The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander

In the Heart of the Sea: The Epic True Story That Inspired Moby-Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick

Hen Frigates: Wives Of Merchant Captains Under Sail by Joan Druett


Fiction
Bite Me (Pride, #9) by Shelly Laurenston

HONEY BADGERS!

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5) by Patricia Briggs

A Bite to Remember (Argeneau, #5) by Lynsay Sands

Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega rereads

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2)
Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)
Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4)
Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1)
Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, #2)
Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, #3)
Alpha & Omega short stories in On the Prowl and Strange Brew

I have been feeling like hell for the last ten days or so and I have no idea why. I was coping reasonably well with the heatwave but as soon as the temperature dropped, it was as though my body went, 'Oh, time to collapse.' Really not helpful.

Then on Saturday, it was the first farmer's market of the year (they usually don't hold any in January but due to how the dates worked out, there was only one in December.) I hadn't slept well and had a bit of a headache but we went along. I didn't have much money and it was a smaller market than usual so we didn't stay too long. The dogs had plenty of pats, we talked to a few people about greyhounds, bought two kinds of plums, some cherry truss tomatoes, milk and a chicken and peach bake for dinner. Then we came home, I fell into bed with a vicious headache, woke up with a headache, and I've basically been sleeping 8 hours, waking 8 hours (and not doing much because I'm so tired), sleeping 8 hours, since then.

I feel a bit better today, managed to take the dogs for a brief walk (Mum took them without me one day but they have been deprived they tell you, DEPRIVED, since Saturday.)

I would like to know what's going on here but there's probably nothing to know. *sigh*

*
At this point, I'm just going to post that Day 4 of Snowflake is done and that's that for the year. I'm glad I did some of it, at least.

Day 4

Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them. Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

It doesn't have to be anything complex - it can be feedback for a fanwork or discussing something you might have in common or even simply admiring their icon. The point is to reach out to someone you normally wouldn't and connect with them, even if it's only for the briefest moment.

I have realised that I haven't posted in over two months ... this was not on purpose. How are people? The last two and half months, briefly:

Horrendous post-exertion fatigue from Melbourne for a couple of weeks, started to recover, caught a vicious cold which knocked me out for another fortnight or so, then wretched PMS and period, started to improve, hit with first full-blown migraine of the year, more headaches, disrupted sleep cycle, brain fog, generally feeling like crap. But I think I'm starting to feel better overall.

Life has not been hugely exciting, apart from walking the dogs, going to the farmer's markets (with dogs) and various doctor's appointments (not with dogs.) I did go to see a performance of Hamlet (good performance but hard to enjoy since the migraine started during the play), saw another Opera Live in HD (Giulio Cesare, awesome, except for the post-movie headache) and went to SinpOzium (fucking awesome, except for eating something which disagreed with me, resulting in middle of the night vomiting and an uneasy stomach for two days.)

I currently have no computer and am sharing Mum's and our internet connection is being sporadically dodgy for no apparent reason. It feels like the computer is playing mind games with us.

Miss Shadow is fine and lovely and adorable and she just passed her Greenhounds assessment so as soon as her new green collar and tag arrive, she can go muzzle-free in public!

The Boyo ... is not so well. Didn't we just go through this with Lady Muck? Our last cattle dog lived to SEVENTEEN. The Boyo is only twelve and a half. It might be weeks or it might be days and I hate watching him and wondering if it's time yet. But he's been so happy and enjoying life so much since we adopted Miss Shadow and I'm so very glad for that.

A few days of cooler weather, being awake during daylight hours, a little bit of energy and I want to do All The Things! I keep getting up to do All The Things and have to to remind myself to sit down, rest, take it easy, because if I do All The Things today, I won't be able to do A Single Damned Thing tomorrow.

But I've still made major progress on my bedroom. Not just a quick dust and tidy up but a thorough clean out. Also started reading The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders, one of my other birthday books! Brain fog lifting slightly ...? I still want to do one more Snowflake post but not tonight I don't think.

Tomorrow's going to be on the unpleasantly warm side (though not scorching) so I won't expect Many Things but maybe a Few. I hope!

P.S. We might be adopting another dog. Who? When? Where? Not sure yet! 

But hey, no bushfires in the are so at least there was no smoke or worries about evacuation. I'll take that as a positive.

The cat was Not Impressed with us since we wouldn't let him outside to get heatstroke or a heat-induced asthma attack. He wandered around the house, wowling and yowling in complaint for quite some time. Mum did manage to shut him up for a while by retrieving the cat carrier from the garage and putting it by the back door. Cat took one look, retreated to the living room and stayed very quiet for a few hours.

The Boyo managed fairly well with his Polar collar. The cooling mat I'd bought for him earlier at not insignificant cost finally got some use as  cooling blanket. (Even with the mat being noticeably cooler and softer than the tiles, where does the dog lie? Yep.)

As for me, I stayed up as late as I could, so I could try to sleep through the worst of it. The house was hot and stuffy but bearable when I got up (and significantly cooler than outdoors) and I thought we were managing well - until the power went out around 10p.m.

Not very surprising but OMG. Seconds after the fans stopped moving the house went from 'uncomfortable' to 'stifling'. (Plus, I was distracting myself by reading a fic online and I was very annoyed to be cut off in the middle of it.) Even lighting candles felt like adding too much heat. Being able to retrieve two paper fans from my room was another reminder of why Putting Things Away is a good thing. I then took my cue from The Boyo's collar and soaked a hand towel in iced water and draped it around my neck and shoulders.

Mum gave up pretty quickly and went to bed but since I'd been asleep all day ... well, I was grateful for two things. Buying an ereader cover with a light and the ice Mum had bought. Yes, I did wind up taking an ice bath after all. I dumped the ice and melted ice in the bath, ran a bit of 'cold' water in (which was warm enough to melt the ice immediately so I couldn't use much) and then I had to sit on the edge of the bath and cool myself off in stages because if I'd tried to sit in the bath right away, I think I would have sent myself into temperature shock.

Eventually I lay down on my bed with a cold towel draped over me and passed out. It did not feel like sleeping. I came around about 1 or 2a.m. when the power came back on (a trill of bright chirps from the electronics and the blissful whirrs of the fans) then conked out again. At some point the dog needed to go out. But really, I was out of it. About 5a.m. I woke up, noticing the change had come through and got up to open windows, enjoy the cool and try to get my head to stop aching. Also finish the stories I'd had open in tabs.

And today I slept in lovely 27C weather. Tomorrow should be the same. And Friday and Saturday ... look to be like yesterday. Two days. In a row. *whimpers* It's not even mid-January. I don't know how I'm going to deal with this.

I WANNA MOVE TO THE MOUNTAINS.

P.S. I promise I won't spend all summer talking about the weather.

Roasted Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup.

That turned out well. I'm not usually a fan of creamy soups (the smoother they are, the less of them I can eat) but I didn't process it into oblivion, the bacon garnish was excellent and I almost finished my bowl. I used low-fat milk and a mix of cheddar and parmesan and it made for a very rich flavour. I cannot imagine using cream in this. Oof.

The bacon I used was a strip of the honey and port cured bacon we buy from the farmer's market. Oh yeah. It's a good trick - there's a stall that sells freshly cooked bacon and egg rolls using the bacon sold at another stall. First time Mum tried one of the rolls? We bought some of the bacon.

*
We were supposed to have dinner at Brother's place tonight. Actually we were supposed to have dinner there last Thursday but there was a big contract in the offing and when Mum saw him at Nephew #1's Christmas Concert, Brother was practically twitching with tension which is ... not like him. So Tuesday? Mum said that was fine but when she went to put it in her diary later she went, 'Er...' and called Brother to ask if he realised Tuesday was the 13th and thus his wedding anniversary.

When she called him again today, he said yes, he'd realised the same thing and how about this Thursday? Mum laughed and said didn't he feel like celebrating his anniversary with his Mum and sister? Brother said he thought he should probably take SiL out to dinner instead.

*snickers* Yes, just possibly.

*
Which mean I am going to be absolutely flattened by Friday. We're off into town tomorrow to see the allergist again. At least a two-hour round trip, mostly by bus this time since car and train were a hassle last time. Hopefully not as much time spent in testing this time. I am looking forward to seeing the city Christmas decorations. I can't remember the last time I was in town in December.

Thursday is the osteopath, another two-hour round trip and I'm usually exhausted and have a headache after an appointment.  Then dinner with Brother and family in the evening. At least with the kids it won't be too late.

I was hoping to see the girls this weekend. Maybe not. Sunday? Maybe. We'll see.

*
Pretty sure I posted this last year but it's still fabulous.

After a night of 'sleep' that largely involved being unable to sleep due to a nasty headache, I finally managed to get a few hours of rest before my alarm went off. I roused briefly then dozed off again - only to dream of being so exhausted that I couldn't manage to get out of bed, despite repeated efforts.

Then I actually woke up and hauled myself out of bed just to prove that I could. I didn't do much beyond sitting in a chair. But I did get out of bed.

I really hate dreams like that.