Sunday morning…

Mr A + Sophie Boo = BFF

Most of the time, anyway…

Catch ya…
K

Finally…

The alpacas have arrived. There was what I can only describe as an horrific turn on events at the last minute. The lovely little brown boy (and 7 of his herd-mates, including the main stud alpaca and a little grey male my dad had his heart set on) fell victim to a dog attack last week. Such an awful, distressing thing to happen to these gentle animals, and their caring, compassionate and equally as gentle owners.

So instead of a chocolate brown boy, we have a little grey boy. Meet Pedro.

Yes, that’s him, peeking out of a campervan.

And out he leaps, ready to join his big half brother Monkey George.

That’s Monkey George on the left.

Now I know it looks like we can’t count (1 plus 1 does not equal 5), but there are a couple of extras here to help Monkey and Pedro settle in. On the right is Coralea and her 6 month old boy, and with her back to camera is Minnie. Minnie is 18 and pregnant with her umpteenth baby. She’s a tough chick (and Pedro and Monkey’s mum).

They settled in straight away and are an absolute delight. Their gentle noises to each other, their curiosity and their calmness are a wonder to me. It’s so exciting getting to know not just 5 new animals, but a new species that I have only known and admired from a distance.

It’s been a long journey to get them here. 8 months of setbacks and delays, of fires and illness, but it is so good to see them here, and have them join our family.

Catch ya…
K

Spring Adventures…

We headed of for a short holiday last week, and most of us (ie. those of us who don’t have arthritis) had a blast. The rest of us (ie. me) took lots of neurofen+ and tried to keep up.

There was drizzly weather but gorgeous scenery.

 

 

 

There was mini golf on the most beautiful little course I’ve seen.

 

There were babies – lots of little babies everywhere!

And there was a train ride.

 

 

To say Mr A loved it would be an understatement. He loves Thomas the Tank and all things train, and his face, when he saw the train with steam coming out of it, was priceless.

The train ride also meant a lot to me, as I rode on the last train that ran on this line in 1976. To ride it again, with my little family, 33 years later, was fabulous.

Now school holidays are here, Spring is definitely in the air, and a couple of gorgeous alpacas will be making their way to my parents place in the next week, fingers crossed!

Catch ya…
K

Finding things out…

I’ve found out a few things in the last week. One important one is that Neurofen + rocks, takes away the pain, and lets me do things. Like this…

 

Organza flowers – so much fun to make.

 

Fingerless mittens. Made from the nicest alpaca yarn ever.

Pencil roll – quick and easy and a big hit.

 

Little lined bags, to put stuff in of course.

 

 

Finished my Shalom cardigan – I need to get a photo with it on now…

  

And finally, a needle roll for my new Knit Picks. Love them.

The reason I’m tanked up on Neurofen is that I’ve finally got answers to what has been happening to me in the past few months.

The short story is – I have psoriatic arthritis.

I have just started on the heavy meds to take the pain away, and prevent it going any further. It is currently in both hands, left foot and my neck, as well as the intense rash on my scalp. If I didn’t take the Neurofen at the moment, until the meds kick in, not only would I not be able to make these things above, I wouldn’t be able to move. As it is, when I get up in the morning, before I take the meds, I can barely move and need help dressing.

I am very lucky that I saw a doctor on Monday, who fought for me to see a specialist ASAP (I was booked in for November). I saw the specialist on Wednesday, and began the meds the next day. I cannot thank this doctor enough for helping me to get answers and to get me on the path to wellness.

I am also blessed with the most wonderful husband ever, who has cared for me, dressed me and let me cry from pain and frustration. I also have a couple of patient kids who know mum can’t do the things she used to do with the same ease, and a couple of parents who drop everything to look after my kids when I find myself off to the doctors on a moments notice. The specialist says I still have 4 to 6 weeks to go until I notice positive changes. I can’t wait.

So cross your fingers for me – I can’t cross them yet! – I hope to be back and charging on all cylinders by the end of the year!

Catch ya…
K

The last days of Winter…

It’s been a long, cold, dry winter here. Mr L was supposed to go with Cubs on a snow trip on Saturday, but there was no snow.

On Sunday, however…

We all went, and there was snow!

 

 

Mr L tried tobogganing on something other than grass… with kinda mixed results (no one was hurt, luckily)

 

Mr A decided that while snow was wonderful to look at, it was much nicer inside the cafe, with mum. He does really feel the cold at the best of times, and –2.5 was too cold for him!

So we had hot chocolate instead.

And looked out the window.

One of the best bits about going up there was that it was still snowing. Delightful.

 

We had an awesome time, and it’s less than 2 hours from home. If we head an hour in the other direction, we’re at the beach. Talk about spoilt.

This week sees doctors visits, specialist appointments, x-rays and hopefully the start of some kind of treatment for my hands (and my foot and my neck, who have also joined the party).

Catch ya…
K

No…

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

No.

Shamelessly taken from the Big W catalogue, and definitely not gracing my cupboard this spring.

Catch ya…
K

She really is…

the most patient, gentle kitty ever.

 

She’s never bitten him, no matter how rough he is. She purrs when she sees him and loves him to bits.

We love our Sophie Boo.

Catch ya…
K

Regrowth…

 

Some photos of the land coming back to life…

 

The dog, who is just coming off anti-depressants – he was very traumatized after the fires. The vet said he was the worst she’d seen, which was why he ran away. It’s a big step for him that he could come on the motorbike with me, and run through the bush.

So many trees have been cut down, especially by the creek. Apparently, they were posing a ‘danger’ to power supplies. Many of them predated European settlement in this area…

Some times it’s easy to forget it was like this.

 

And they still have no fences. It will be a happy day when they do.

Catch ya…
K