Of Weather Reports, A #Tortoise & #Dogs In The Yard, Home Organization Progress, #AmWriting & #Knitting & #Crochet Projects, And Medical Mutterings

The weather has continued to be mostly warm - sometimes hot - and alternating between sun and rain.  Sometimes in the same day.  Not being a big fan of heat - as you may already know - I've enjoyed the rainy times best, since it tends to be cooler when we're getting the rain.

 

The dogs - Logan especially - share my feelings.  Though I'm sure Mollie is the most grateful for the cooling rain of all of us, what with chinchillas dealing with heat even worse than I do.

~

Sunday was one of the rather hot days with no rain, so in the morning - before it got much above 20 degrees C, which it had already gone above by 10:00am - we took Artemis outside for her to soak up some natural sunlight, since we figured it would do her some good.

 

We couldn't do it where we lived before, since there was no way to sit outside with her, and even having her in my arms didn't guarantee her safety while we were out there.  And then it was much too cold, or too wet, or I had a broken hand and wasn't well... You know how it goes.  So this was her first time going outside, other than when she was being transported places, since there were obviously times when she was briefly outside in a box or carrier between exiting or entering various vehicles or buildings.  But this was her first time going outside just to go soak up some sun.  I think she enjoyed the experience, even if we weren't allowing her to roam as freely as she might have liked, since our yard isn't really tortoise-proof, and anyway the dogs were out there with us.  Here's a video and a couple of photos, so you can see her first time out in the yard for yourself:

Kelly - who was obviously behind the camera, since I had Artemis in my arms - also got a couple of photos of the dogs, as well as a video of Logan playing in the yard.  So here are those too:

 

Sorry about the noise in the background.  It's the fans for the refrigerator system for the shop around the corner, so you have to just put up with hearing those, since there's nothing we can do about them, and it's next to impossible to get the petkids to do what we want during the quiet parts of the fans' cycles... I mean, we can't even guarantee they'll do what we want when the camera is rolling if we don't worry about that.  As it is the heat meant Logan wasn't as playful as usual, so he's not bouncing and chasing things as much as he generally does (I decided to share what we got anyhow though).

*~*~*

 

We made some more progress with the home organization during this past week.

 

~

 

I really wish I could say we were done with both rooms now, but there are still a few boxes and bags of things to sort in both the craft room and computer room.  And, when we do finally get those last few sorted, we still have to deal with the living room yet.  Though I want to get Artemis’ bigger vivarium before I worry too much about that room.  I'm hoping to get that soon.

 

I know some would say we should have started with the living room.  I mean, it’s the room anyone who comes to the house is most likely to see.  Not that we’re known for having a lot of visitors, even when lockdown isn’t an issue.  But when we moved in all the boxes and bags of our stuff got deposited in there, and the same thing was happening when Dad was bringing over the stuff of Nan’s he was giving me, so it made sense to sort the other rooms first, so we could get the stuff that doesn’t belong in the living room moved elsewhere, and worry about the living room when it’s only the stuff we want in there left in there, if you know what I mean.

 

~

 

Of course, once we’re done sorting the unpacking, there’s still the proper organization of books on their respective shelves, since we’re taking the time to make sure the kinds of books we want on particular shelves are on the correct shelves, but they’re mostly not being put in any actual order at this moment in time; we’ve been separating them by subject, and – in the case of some, especially mine due to catering for Braille books and audiobooks – format, but that’s it.

 

We decided early on it would be best to get the boxes unpacked, and worry about the proper order of books later.  Not to mention, I need sighted assistance to help me go through not only some of my books – since a large number of my audiobooks aren’t labelled, and asking someone to read a title to me is easier than playing the first few minutes of every book without a label to see what it’s called - but also the paperwork I’ve been just putting on shelves as I’ve come across it from Nan’s stuff.  Until now, our goal has been to get the boxes and bags of things unpacked, and assign spots for things, and that’s still the case.  But we will, at some point, need to reorganize the books on their shelves properly, so we can actually find something when we want it.  Ideally I’d also like to get all those audiobooks labelled, but there are a lot of them, so we’ll see.  That might get done at an even later point in the future.

 

~

 

The various parts that make up Artemis' bigger vivarium are on the way, so she should have her new setup sorted by the end of June.  In theory anyhow.  It's all meant to be here by this time next week.

 

My brother, Wayne, is having her old vivarium, as well as any of her accessories she's outgrown, and I think plans to get another lizard to go in to it (he already has Gizmo the Leopard Gecko, though I don't think it's a Gecko he's getting this time around).  To help me out - and since the setup is fairly new, and still in perfect working order - he's buying it off me.  It works out he's getting a setup at what is a good discount for him, but the money will help me towards getting Artemis' new stuff.  So I got to see Wayne in person for a while yesterday when Dad brought him over to give me the money.  Even though he's part of my bubble, it was the first time I'd seen Wayne in person since his birthday, which was back in March.

 *~*~*

 

There's progress on various creative projects too.

 

~

 

As you may have noticed - or, maybe you didn't - the collections of the poems I've written over the past couple of years are now published as eBooks and paperbacks.  I'm hoping to start the ball rolling on audiobook production some time this week.  At the very least I'd like to have them up for audition by this time next week.  Hopefully, with the home organization so close to being completed, I'll soon have time to work on the stories I want to write.  Or, as is the case with a couple of them, finish writing.  I certainly plan on being firmer about carving out my writing time now anyhow.  I'd been letting it take a backseat in favour of other stuff, especially since the events of the past year have made writing difficult even when I have made time for it, but I want to make it more of a priority again.  I feel like it's time to do so.  Although, I have no intention of returning to the days of being able to publish a new title almost every month.  I would like to at least have one of these stories in progress either finished and almost ready to publish, or actually published, by the end of the year though.

 

~

 

I finished the knitted toy I was making.  It's a purple knitted dog, which is being sent to a friend of my Grandma.  Grandma knows about it, though the friend in question (whose name is Anne) doesn't.  However, I know for a fact that Anne won't see this post, and if my Grandma sees it I know she won't show it to her.  So, even though it has yet to reach its destination, here's a photo:

 

 

Yes, it does have red eyes and an orange nose.  I randomly picked some buttons I was 100% certain were matching ones for eyes, and a slightly different one for the nose, and that just happens to be the colours they were.  I'd already atatched them before Kelly told me what colour they were, because I figured it didn't matter, so didn't bother asking him before sewing them on.  Anne always loves anything I make that I send to my Grandma, so I thought I'd make her a little something.  I know she won't care what colour eyes and nose it has... She's one of those people who are a delight to make things for, since she's someone who you know will just be so grateful you thought of her that nothing else will matter.  Her favourite colour is purple though, and her favourite animal is a dog - I know because I asked Grandma - so it had to be a purple dog, regardless of what colour the eyes, nose, and ribbon might be.

~

I had hoped to have finished the crochet scarf in time to post it this week too, but it's not quite done.  Maybe I'll have it done in time for next week's post? In fact, there's a very good chance of that, especially since it's my monthly crafternoon session tomorrow, so I might even end up finishing it then.

*~*~*

 

As you may remember me mentioning last week, I went to one of the nearby hospitals for my blood test last Friday.  Well, as it turned out, thankfully, my veins were feeling co-operative again.  I'm relieved about this both because it's very unpleasant in general when they have to keep trying to get a working vein, and because the nurse who was doing it this time was one of those who stabs the needle in so firmly it feels more like I'm having a knife plunged in to my arm than a tiny needle.  Unpleasant wouldn't have covered what the experience would have been like if she'd had to do that more than once.  As it was my arm was very sore afterwards... Still is.

Anyway, I still have Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count).  My levels have increased, which is good.  But they're still not up to the normal range.  The doctor doesn't seem to think anything needs to be done about it though.  I just need to be aware that I've got a compramized immune system, so am prone to infections.  It also explains why I get cuts and bruises so easily, since apparently that's a symptom.

 

It's a good thing the freedom of choice to be able to decide for myself whether or not to go places is why I want lockdown to end, rather than being eager to actually mix with a lot of people, isn't it?

~

Speaking of medical stuff: Lilie and Logan are booked in for their anual checkups and jabs at the vet we've been using since we came back to Wales, on Monday June 28th, at 4:15pm and 4:30pm respectively.