Nayu's Craft Tme #235 Medical Mayhem

 

Mikuru from Aikatsu! anime

Feeling sleepy today(nothing new)  so not quite in the mood to take pics of my latest craft projects so I will do that in the next post but wanted to do a little catch up. 

The other week I had a routine hospital appointment for my contact lenses. Upon arrival I was a bit a anxious as the waiting area for the covid screening was busy and almost everyone in front of me was given a pager to wait. Thankfully I wasn't. I was instructed to go to the purple waiting area. Usually it's the green area, so I double checked in green and yes they were full so it was purple. Off I went to the pretty coloured chairs in purple. I waited a while, nothing new there. My phone rang, I felt bad I had turned it off but it turned out that was a good thing: the caller was the hospital reception asking where I was as they were searching everyone for me. I had become a missing person!!! 

Madoka from Aikatsu looking horrified

It turns out there were two purple waiting areas in that section of the hospital. How stupid!!! I apologised, and all was fine they were just relieved I was ok as the doctor knows I'm super reliable and don't usually wander off without letting someone know. If i'm directed to a different coloured section I will double check I'm in the correct. 

Mizuki collapsed in Aikatsu 

 

 

The second medical drama was far less pleasant and partly my fault. I'm not naming the provider who I get my medication from, but the short version is due to the app not having an automated system to catch double orders I was without my opiate medication for almost a week. It was extremely unpleasant and I felt awful. I thought the situation was sorted, until the Saturday I got a message and of course it was a bank holiday weekend so I had to wait until the Tuesday to sort it out. I thankfully had a few tablets spare so simply halved them as half was better than nothing, although a quarter of my usual dose made an unpleasant few days. I have been recovering from that drama, medication arrived safely, and life is back to what counts as normal for me. Going to be playing a lot of the new Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom once it releases tomorrow but plan another post next week with craft updates so be sure to tune in then! 

Sora from Aikatsu

Nayu's Craft Time #299 The wonderful distractions of gaming

A random picture from online that I discovered on my laptop! I love silhouette pictures.

When this post goes live, I'll be in the middle of recovering from my mega strong medicine which I had Tuesday night. Staying horizontal, still, and quite is a must, so craft is out of the question. This is a post kind of more suited to my other blog, Nayu's Reading Corner, but I want to explain a bit more here, and the game I'll be playing the most is all about crafting items! I've recently found that gaming during recovery is a really good distraction. I have to be careful which game I play because playing the wrong game can make me feel worse which include: 

• any fast paced game (brain can't keep up) like Splatoon 2 (which I featured in my previous post because I found a cute keyring in Aldi) 

• any game with fancy loading screens that zoom in/out Animal Crossing (which seems an obvious slow game choice, but trust me it isn't) 

• any rhythm game because you have to concentrate (which are usually my 'go to' games of choice) 

• any game whose graphics can be a bit weird and wonderful 

Thankfully I have a few slow paced games which I can work on - yes they are on my Nintendo Switch, which is extremely handy at times like these They include: 

Cattails

Try and bring 3 warring cat colonies together: not for squeamish people as you do have to hunt and kill a lot of animals to survive. There's no blood or anything, but it's a large part of the game. There's lots of explore and collect, and it's a bit like the following game, Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley

Found the picture online

Not my picture but my stable is in a very similar place

A fun farming simulation game that I didn't think was for me for many months, but then I got kind of hooked on it. The simple graphics make it ideal for me.

The main game I'm now playing because it's out on 20th December in Japan (I have a Japanese account) is...

Dragon Quest Builders 2

This game is ideal because while there are monsters they are fairly simple to complete, the building is therapeutic and I'm sort of in control in what I see happen, the camera movement isn't too crazy and the repetitive music is soothing.

People build incredible structures, this one was including in the promo pics before the game launched

The first game in the series is my most favourite game of all time, and I know this will take it's place with the incredible new features that I'm eager to try! It's all I'll be playing for a while ^u^ Yes it's in Japanese, the English version should come out next year, but I couldn't wait, and can understand some Japanese so I'm going for it! It will be slow progress especially while recovering from my mega meds but totally worth it. 

Find out more about DQB2 in a post about my impressions of the demo here. 

Nayu's Craft Time #260 Finally back!

You will never catch me doing this - I hate heights, and don't have the physical strength to do it!

Feels like ages since I last blogged! My mega meds did their job, although I seemed to skip a day of wanting to climb walls (which is absolutely horrid and have no idea how drug addicts cope with that symptom) and instead have an extra 2 days of feeling bleh. It could just have been bad timing, as the weather was quite bad (go me for having a body as a weather vane), but I'll happily take it than constantly needing to do something due to constant restlessness. 

I had a day of two where I could game (yay!) which was mostly tablet games as anything else involved too many screen changes, or weird screen changes that I just can't cope with after my mega strong meds. I then hit the stage of being unable to stand anything with a screen, so I caught up on my review reading, which was fun. I did manage a tiny bit of work on this blanket, which I hope to finish soon, life depending of course! 

It's far bigger than this now, just having got an updated photo to hand

The next few months are quite busy with a secret project which I can reveal in January - it's not as exciting as it sounds, but is going to take a lot of my energy. There's also something super fun on my horizon, which isn't craft but it's gaming! 

A game I'm currently working my way through is Atelier Rorona, a Japanese role-playing game on the PS3 (the worst in the series as it's severely time restricted which I hate. Thankfully the others aren't so bad, according to reviews). 

It's alchemy based, so there are lots of recipes to create new items (once I've gathered the supplies from either the various locations to travel in or bought them in town), some monsters to slay, and people to chat with. All highly enjoyable...except the time limit to completing the mandatory tasks is severely limiting and makes it not the most enjoyable game in the world. Up until this morning I wasn't go to replay it, but I might now I've finally (at assignment 10 of 12) worked out thanks to the internet how to craft new weapons and defence clothing! It makes it heaps easier! 

I only persevered at the start because Rorona is adorable, and a character in later games.

However, later this week I'm getting a new console! I'm not saying which just yet, that'll be revealed (& hinted at) in a few days. ^u^ It feels like I've been breathing research about the console all week, which was needed to figure out which edition to get, but I made up my mind last night. So excited!

After pre-scheduling some book reviews this morning, it's almost lunch time! Time for anime after, then easy gaming & crochet. Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Nayu's Craft Time #234 Hospital visit

Most of these are happy!

I love how today's post is in numerical order ^o^ It's the small things that make me/us smile!

Anyway...thank you for being patient in waiting for a new post. Over the weekend & really until Thursday I was recovering from my mega meds which send me to Lala Land & then some, and Thursday was another annual trip to the hospital. 

I go here! Not for homeopathic treatment, the rooms get rented out to other hospital clinics (I think)

It wasn't until the afternoon, but I like being there in plenty of time, and my family like to go shopping (I like company for travelling as I can get a little confused when tired). My original plan was to wait in the cafe for a few hours then head up to where I needed to be and start waiting for my 3.30pm appointment. However the cafe chairs were rock hard, discouraging any prolonged stay (I need quite soft chairs). So I got busy with an audiobook and did all this while I waited for lunch time! 

It's a cute cross stitch kit, nice and colourful with, as you can see, lots of pink. Sewing is calming - I find these days I can never settle with a book while waiting for medical appointments. Gaming happened later. 

Anyway, so I went up 1.15. Got called in at 2pm which was super early (yay!)...but wasn't able to think about going home from London until 4pm. I was in with the doctor for about an hour, going through various stuff. I don't see the same doctor every time, but I don't mind because in the more specialised clinics I know for certain the doctors all speak to each other, so I feel safe and confident whoever I am with. 

 There's almost always someone else sitting in on the appointment - I do always get asked permission and I never mind. UCL is a teaching hospital, and my specialist clinic is one of a kind, the more people can learn the better. Thursday's extra body was the specialist physiotherapist. We did boring neurological tests (once you do them once you know what's coming at every appointment. Then my balance got tested. 

I couldn't stand on point in ballet - standing on 1 leg is tricky let alone on the tips of my toes!

I'm not that coordinated, and my balance is a bit to be desired (it's not like I need to be able to walk in a straight line heel to toe in my everyday life...) so the physio asked if I'd like a few exercises to help with that. I said yes, so after I finished with the consultant I went with the physio. She gave me the exercises which are fun on the early level, and a bit tricky on the harder level. Yes I'm not being sarcastic when I use the word fun - they are fun! Again, it's the small things that amuse me. 

I only had a few pieces of paper to fill in, thankfully!

After the physio, I was with a researcher who wanted to do a few tests too. These were predominantly mental rather than physical. It was late afternoon, I was tired, but I still believe in helping out where I can so I said yes to them. I aced the word test of saying 2 long lists of words out loud within 2 minutes! Not sure about all the rest, but it's not a pass/fail test, more a benchmark of where my abilities are. 

After that I had to go to a different hospital for the blood test (my clinic uses the Homeopathic Hospital as their base for appointments). My family thought I'd fainted because I took so long for it to be done: I'm not an easy person to get blood from, and the first person couldn't do it so handed over to a more senior colleague. They advised eating & drinking before I have blood taken - I hadn't known beforehand that I was going to have any taken, so maybe next time I'll remember. Once that was done I was free! However...

None of this!!!!

...Costa annoying sold out of ice at Waterloo station. That made me grumpy as I rely on their chocolate milkshake to keep me going on the train home, but I had a brainwave and managed to get chocolate milk from M&S. Then home & lots of rest until today. 

It's still really cold so I've slow body, taking it easy where I can. I did a bit of crochet which I don't have a picture of, ditto a pic of a present I'm getting closer to finishing! The recipients know which is why I can show you in another post - I couldn't finish in time for the deadline. No more London appointments until May which makes me happy as 2 in under 2 weeks isn't fun, as it takes several days to recover from them. But it's over, I did it & that's it until next year (when they will probably be close together again).

I genuinely somehow thought it was Monday, so this is for tomorrow!

Nayu's Craft Time #233 Slow week

Beautiful sunny day! Picture source

Hope you're all having a good day. Got blue cloudy sky with sunshine today! I'm almost over the side effects of my mega strong meds. Probably won't blog until the weekend as I've another hospital appointment in London on Thursday, so will be resting Weds & Fri. 

I've been gaming and reading a lot (no craft yet, maybe Friday), taking it easy with my cat occasionally keeping me company. Had to game the other day as she was on my lap so I couldn't switch to dvd watching! 

I'm a bit sad as a dear friend's son (late teens) died on Friday, only learnt by email today. I used to babysit for my friend a lot when her children were younger, so have known them over 10 years. Due to life I hadn't seen my friend recently (she'd moved abroad then came back last summer). I will be reviewing the book he wrote soon, as I read it on Sunday. It's not my genre but is really good, short but makes you think a lot. If you want to check it out it's The Ladder by L Kelly. He may not get to read my thoughts about it but you all can soon. 

Having lots of rest this week - hope you get a break no matter how short! 

This sums up how I feel today

Nayu's Craft Time #232 A week of medical stuff

I'm alive!

Happy Friday! I'd hoped to blog yesterday, but this week has been crazy busy and I needed the rest. Monday was my heart check up in London which went well. So long as my 24 hour heart monitor results are ok I don't need any meds to keep my uber fast heartrate down. There was a bit of miscommunication at the hospital so I've got to get that monitor done at my local one, so not sure how soon that'll happen. 

Tuesday some stuff came up that had me busier than planned, and I popped to the doctor as I was worried about a cough I had. I'll spare you the details but it's not a chest infection (whoohoo) and needed an xray just to make sure everything was okay. 

This obviously isn't me!

Wednesday I went to get the xray done (love the speed of xray service!) then did groceries which always wear me out. Given I hadn't really fully recovered from Monday's trip, rest was what I needed yesterday. 

So yesterday I did some crochet, nothing I'm ready to show you just yet as I want to finish it first. I caught up with TV: more accurately I caught up with BBC shows. Ages ago none of my tablets liked ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5, so I simply stuck with BBC. That hasn't changed, so it's all I watch excluding dvds. I'm happy enough with it! I then spent the afternoon gaming with Hatstune Miku 

This was kind of me yesterday, only I had my cat on me rather than Pusheen the Cat.

because my cat was on my lap. She looked too cute too move! Plus gaming for a few  hours is always fun ^o^ 

Today I'm off to see some friends at lunch, which will be fun as I haven't seen them since last year. After that definitely resting some more! Tomorrow, I'm hoping to do a bit of blog work in the morning, but will see how it goes. 

Whatever your plans for the weekend I hope it's a good one!

Nayu's Craft Time #199 Easing back in

I'm finishing unpacking today! I didn't take that much away with me, but haven't had the energy to sort non-essential bits.

Hello! I'm back from Devon, and slowly getting back to what counts as normality round here. Had an amazing time, did underestimate the exhaustion of it all though. Then had mega meds ketamine on Weds & yeah, it's been an interesting few days, full of an insane amount of DVDs, gaming, & a little reading (craft isn't an easy thing to do when lying down). 

Today I'm working through a week of emails, I'm out tomorrow, and hope to do a little blog work Weds. So it'll be a few more days until I'm back to normal online. Thank you for your patience! 

Nayu's Craft Time #I can't remember

I'd love this as my work space!!!

Very briefly saying hi, ended up having mega meds on Sunday so currently letting them zip through my body which takes about 4 or so days to adjust to. Hello mega fatigue, feeling hot & cold, & unable to do much except watch Netflix shows & do simple games. I am almost back to normal now (I started this post on Weds), managing a bit of online work today which is good! I drama binged Netflix (finished Mako Mermaids, and Good Witch (which is more herbal remedy than hocus pocus, is hilarious and such a great watch).

Fun family themed show about small town life

Nayu's Craft Time #178 I've got eggs!

Sadly I don't have my own chickens yet

Not cooking eggs, but bengalese finch eggs! It's so exciting, even though I am not breeding mine, and remove them from the nest soon after they are laid, it's sweet to see Ushio and Tanuki sit on them together. 

Example of zebra finch eggs: they are the size of a Cadbury's mini egg

I did wonder if they had some from their behaviour this morning: there was always one in the nest and I was suspicious. I genuinely wish I could breed them, but there's only room for 2 birds in the cage. One day I'll fulfil my dream and try and breed them! Or zebra finches. Still miss Zack, it is phenomenally quiet without him chirping at the top of his voice. Thankfully Youtube helps with cute videos of zebra finches to keep me happy with far quieter but still gorgeous bengalese finches. 

This squirrel needs to hibernate elsewhere! (It may have been taken in Spring, who knows as I got it online)

This week has been normal for autumn in so far as I want to hibernate. >_< I've rested lots though, because I need it & this weekend is a bit busy: I've a friend staying over on Saturday - she's the one moving down to Devon in November (several hours away so impractical for our hourly meet ups but will go for a longer stay when I can), then on Monday I'm doing craft with a friend. It's busier than I usually like, but with lots of rest before, during & after I should be fine. 

Plus it'll be time for my mega strong meds on Monday night, which I do get quite relaxed with for a short time (the climbing the wall stage is not fun, and I've no idea why people would take it for a recreational drug. Or any drugs.) So a sort of busy week in it's own way. Tomorrow I'll show you what I've made crochet wise! Or maybe Sunday, as I'll be resting tomorrow morning. Either way I hope you have a super weekend! 

Nayu's Craft Time #167 Free but not free

Does this clock tower look familiar to you?

A few days ago I thought I had a fairly free week, but I hadn't known then that I need to take my mega strong meds today, which need a good 4 days of nothing to recover from (I go a bit loopy, it's unwise for me to be online!), so what's a free week is now not a free week, as I need to rest and get through whatever symptoms my body likes to throw at me. It's either hyperactivity (in which I do want to climb the walls, but can't as I'd tire quickly & hate heights) or the need to stay horizontal and just not move much. >_< 

I am not moving!!! (Looks like but isn't my cat Belle)

I have no idea if I'll do any craft in the next 4 days, I hope so, but who knows! I know that I'll almost definitely be watching dvds to chill with, and I'm desperate to read. Beyond that, only God knows! I don't have any posts prescheduled (sorry) so I hope to be posting again by Sunday. I hope you have a great rest of the week and look forward to the weekend! 

Now you may recognise the clock tower  it's set in the fictional town of Storybrooke, part of the Once Upon A Time world which I'll be catching up on over the next few days!

Nayu's Craft Time #156 From flop to top!

Something's missing, and it's not the spoon...

This post is way later than I'd wanted, because the first half of this week was a flop. Tuesday I woke at 4am...not good since I had a 4pm hospital appointment (which predictably ran late) so wasn't home until 6pm, very over tired. Yesterday I woke not feeling great, then felt heaps worse & had to rest all day because I'd forgotten my breakfast meds. Lousy was an understatement, but thankfully I only miss meds 1-2 times a month, which is no joke when you're on opiates as your body wants to know why it's missing something so vital.

"Yikes!"

I am much better today, which is good as I have my annual stayover with a friend tomorrow! I'm super excited since we text over 20 times a day (not kidding), have similar health issues, both love reading. We borrow books & dvds which is so much fun! I stay over night because I have to drive there (it's too far for me to drive there & back the same day), and I'll be resting for a few days after to recover from the trip. Last night I thought I had to cancel, but thankfully I don't. Yay! 

I'd love a case like this Sanrio Twin Stars - I'd need more than one though for my trip!

With all that going on I honestly haven't done enough craft to show you this week. I can give you pictures of yummy fudge that I've made for my friend: 

& some chocolate chip cookies made from a packet which was just add water: much less tiring (& cheaper) for me than buying the individual ingredients. Cooked super fast & taste yummy (the cookie dough isn't all that great, but the cookies are more-ish.)

 

I'd love to hear if you've baked something recently (in the last month)! 

From scratch or from a packet, cookies are delicious!