Laura Rumble - Crafter

  I've been away for a while (bar the previous post) and have been really struggling for a while.  Well, a few years really.  I recently felt moved to share and write an 'essay' for M.E. Awareness which is coming up next month.  As it has been shared already I thought I'd add it here too.  I know my blog doesn't get hits galore but I look at more like a record for me and this needs to go on my record.   “ME/CFS Awareness Day, May 12, is fast approaching, and I am inviting all ME/CFS sufferers to participate in a collective creative action that we will share with the greater community!   Simply create a beautiful sign/image in your own artistic style/chosen medium with a simple statement to the question "what’s the first or most important thing you would do if you were well again today?" - then take a photo of you holding it.”   Simply?   Simply.   Simply say what I would do first, if I was well.   I don’t know.   ...

I've been fighting with depression lately.  I've been ill for 19 years now, it's very isolating and I'm really struggling.  I'm fully aware that I'm struggling and along with all of this my brain likes to catastrophise things.  Let's just say the last six weeks haven't been fun.  Along the way, I've written a few things down and scrapped a few feelings out and I'm sharing some of that here today. "7 th February I'm having a really rough time lately. My physical pains are always worse in winter - the cold gets into my joints and my muscles are easily tweaked. Also, February is the anniversary of me falling ill. It will be 19 years next week. Sigh! I try not to dwell on it but it does affect me. It seems all of the things try and create are just not coming off. I'm losing photos, getting spelling wrong, smudging ink. I thought I'd do some fussy cutting and caught my trousers in the scissors. So I took to praying... P...

This post is as much for me to read and remember as it is for you guys to read!  I just want this waffle recorded so I remember... I took a complete break from Facebook for 10 days.  I'm just going to share a few thoughts about my facebook fast... I didn't miss it at all for the first three days. Then I only missed a couple of specific groups (scrapbooking of course!) and seeing posts from my brother, SIL, nephew and cousins. Then, a few days further on, I realised I was missing one other page. (I follow Dyfi Osprey Project and was missing the updates on nesting, mating and egg laying.) I noticed I had more time on my hands. I also noticed that it had no effect on my energy levels or night time sleeping patterns. I did sleep more in the daytime but I'm not convinced that was facebook/screen time related, rather that my 'doing' habits altered for other reasons. I also watched no TV - something I am keen to cut back on.  Did I miss it?  Well, yes and no....