Hi, I just thought I would share with you what I am planning to do to occupy myself during the long days of winter, especially if I'm holed up in my memory foam igloo with loads of zeb's fluffies, come to think of it maybe they could be of use........
I am going to try and do wet felt making and also some needle felting which I've done previously. I am just thinking we could all do a little something if we are up to it and share it here...... No obligation at all, just a thought. I am going to start this afternoon with felting the ring you see in the picture, it's just a case of pricking the wool into the polystyrene, I saw one a friend had done and it looked fabulous.
If you have any hobbies that help take your mind off your pain do please share, I'd love to learn what other people out there come up with
Foggy x
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I'd love to take up knitting again, very therapeutic but I'm not very good at it
Maybe i could just knit, unravel, knit, unravel.....etc. you get the idea
You already know mine Foggy but I'll share for everyone else. I shall be trying to take photographs of red squirrels in the next month and a half in the hope that by mid-October I shall have enough quality photos to produce a calendar. I've been taking them throughout the year Photography is one of the last hobbies left that I feel able to do to a good standard and maybe.., who knows.., in the future it may be a way to make a teeny bit of money.
This year the calendars will be going on eBay over Nov and Dec (I sold a few last year and was approached by a buyer to do another for this year) and those not sold will be Christmas presents for family and friends. Mind you, those that got them last year are assuming they're getting another, so maybe I won't want to sell too many
Your felting equipment looks the business Foggy. I look forward to seeing what you make
i HAVE QUITE A FEW HOBBIES ON THE GO i MAKE LANDSCAPE PICTURES AND ABSTRACT with needle felting also santas and animals it is a brilliant medium I actually use many sorts of wool but working with mohair and alpaca is wonderful. You can start and put is down and go back to it
,paint
I was a florist so I do alsorts I sketch, scribble paint even fold paper into trees.
Wow..! My mum does lots of different things like knitting, quilting, cross stitching, etc. She's made me some lovely pieces, and only a few months ago having taken it up again after a break of over 20 years, knitted me an amazing jumper. Apparently the pattern I picked wasn't that simple I recall lots of pulling out to start with (poor mm) The end product was amazing. I love art and crafts, but never had the patience for needlework or knitting. Hats off to you xx
Pip you should try felt needling it is marvelous all you need are a piece of felt a special needle which has a barbed end wool and a baking bit of foam (so you dont hurt yourself) you decide on the pattern (Picture) tease out some wool and then you go up and down like a sowing machine with your hand and the needle goes though catching fibers in place , brilliant easier than I though poss
Ah Gins... sadly my hands hurt when I do certain repetitive movements, eg. I can't draw, paint or write for too long before its agony. Cooking is equally difficult - peeling, stirring, whisking. I'm not sure if I'd be able to do the sewing part of it. Sounds good though. Maybe I'll introduce my mum to it xx
I, like you pip cannot manage repetitive movements for the same reasons, gosh we are very alike hun I could have written your reply LOLOL my problem is that I'm creative through and through and will torture myself to have a go
I know what you mean. Since being unable to work I've either given photography prints or done paintings for my family (their choice) at Christmas as it's cheaper for me and also I think my stuff is pretty good I'm a bit of a perfectionist Sometimes I'll be painting and almost unable to continue due to the pain. Do I stop? No, I give myself a minute or swap hands (if left-handed is do-able), and carry on. What are we like xx
I hope she gets up and about soon. It's essential that she does ice packs on her knee every hour or so, it made such a difference to a friend of mine who had one, she hadn't done so with the first and was amazed by the difference icing it made.....
Pips I know how your hands are mine are the same arthritis strikes again. horrid and the bent fingers too sometimes I DO NOTHING so this one is easy on the hands believe me. My Oh does all the kitchen tasks for me but your Mum will love it especially when you do it with out a kit. There is lots of info on line xx
I make silver and gemstone jewellery, when I say make, I mean used to make, I havent been able to make much recently for several reasons, I cant sit up for very long nowadays because of my back, 15/20 mins sat in my work chair is about all I can manage before I have to get up! Also I havent got a lot of strength in my hands now, I used to do a lot of wire wrapping with silver wire now I struggle with it! Grrrr! I never say never again though, I have still got all my tools and gemstones and semi-precious beads galore, and Im hoping I wont always be be the weed I am at the moment!
I loved it! I was really successful at it at one time too! I used to design and make it and my sister-in-law would sell it at shows, I would love to get back into it, I need someone to invent a chair that I can sit in that doesnt cause backache, and perhaps give me something to stop my hands from hurting so much! I usually start making items around about now for my friend to sell in her shop, she works for a charity and I make jewellery and donate it normally for her to sell at christmas, sadly, I doubt there will be much this year, she is a good friend though and very understanding.
Good luck with your calenders Pip, I would love to buy one when you put them on sale, I love squirrels. xxxx
I have a fab chair, although it was funded by my university when I was doing my PhD and not cheap (around £500). It is really comfortable, fully adjustable and enables me to stay on the computer much, much longer than your average swivel, office chair (which has me in agony in minutes). It might be worth finding out if you have any specialist shops in your area and see if there's a chair suitable (and affordable) that will enable you to continue to do your jewellery I've been lucky enough to be able to buy photographic equipment to enable me to continue, eg lightweight d-slr camera, lightweight tripods, etc. I also have my OH, aka "my packhorse", for the stuff I can't carry xx
Thanks for that Pip, I will have to keep an eye open, you wouldnt imagine that a chair would make such a huge difference would you? But it does, I dont actually have a single chair in my house that I'm comfortable sitting in for much longer than 10/15 mins at a time at the moment, I spend more time lying down than anything else, and its not easy trying to make a piece of wire wrapped jewellery while I'm lying down! I know, I have tried!
Thanks again xxx
p.s make sure you look after that packhorse of yours
Fluffies are not for knitting or felting Foggy! how is the memory foam igloo coming along?
I am so into crafts and love the idea of this, if we pop down south to visit you..........'thinking bubble'........... you could give us a masterclass
I can't manage ceramics anymore its too physically demanding however, transference of skills to the kitchen means I can bake very nice things, if I'm careful and have someone to help with the heavy stuff
I'm hoping to get back into that
Pip your calendar sounds rather tempting...............ok more than tempting..........good luck hun
Oh zeb, what a fab idea, and we can do loads of craft things with gins showing us felting and we can send pip off down the river to photograph kingfishers and otters and I can give you all cookery classes, it would be-blast. Think of it a fibro fellowship workshop....... What could be better ???? Goes off to make some sensible enquiries, well as sensible as Foggy ever is.....and that is very questionable.
All sounding marvellous to me I can do a group photo too! Lots of gluten free cakes and scones for me please Foggy Don't worry we can get them from a local supermarket xx
Got that one sorted already pip, I've trialled spelt scones and they are good too, and the gluten free choccy cake is scrumdiddlyumptious according to one out of 8 cats (whoops) people who tried it......made with lots of ground almonds instead of flour, being squirrely that ofcourse won't be a problem to you.
It is idyllic down here zeb, seriously, people come here and never want to leave. Wouldn't it be fun if we could all meet up though and chatter away 50 to the dozen.....maybe we could organise a FibroAction away day ? Any takers ?
You would love my cottage in the winter zeb I have a woodburner in my inglenook and it's like a nuclear reactor, it's just toasty toasty, which I know you would love
Ooooohhhhh no you won't find them, they are SO SO cunningly disguised and hidden, I will give you a prize to end all prizes if you found even the merest evidence of them here .........goes off sniggering to herself. ....... in a particularly sinister way
I'm very small but can send super spy fluffies in to look for them they wear invisibility cloaks ha! ................ didn't see that one coming did ya
Just thought would say thanks been sat reading the whole convo and I have a massive smile on my face just cheered me up and now I'm considering maybe returning to baking tomorrow and making some yummy cakes. Energy permitting lol !!
Thanks again so glad I signed up to this, defiantly helping with the posotive thinking the doctors keep saying about !!
Sadly didn't have the energy today but I'm hoping I will have tomorrow as had lots of sleeps today and then I may temp you all a post my creations hehehe
Hopefully you'll get some rest today and will be up to baking tomorrow... or another day... you can only do it when you're up to it I'll keep my fingers crossed for you xx
Rats, I'd just written a long reply to you Racket then my iPad ate it....... So here I go again I'm just soo pleased that you've enjoyed reading our post, and you have made my day by saying what you have
I'm pleased to hear you think you might bake again, do pace yourself though - what is your favourite cake to bake ? In a previous life I had a tearoom and had to produce many and very diverse cakes to keep people interested ....hehehe
I agree with your doctor positive thinking is good, not always easy, but good when you can do it.
Please do feel free to join in with our posts, you will be more than welcome and we do have such fun, I look forward to seeing you posting again
Ha my iPad also enjoys eating my posts, gready thingy lol !!
Positive thinking is hard but defiantly getting to terms with it. Not started the baking yet but will defiantly go slow.
Favourite thing to bake is shaped sponge cakes, butterflies, teddies bears and hearts usually and sometimes if adventurous I make fairies. What do you like baking foggy ?
Oh that's so kind, we do like people to feel welcome here, which you are.
I bake almost anything, from bread, to cakes in jars, scones of varying sorts, muffins, crumpets, you name it, in my time I've probably done it. When i turned my place at Oxford down my father made me go to a local cordon bleu college, Tante Marie in Woking .....so I trained there and had my own tea rooms for nine years. It grew too big really and I had to give up cos I couldn't cope anymore with the amount of hours I was having to put in, and of course I had fibro then too, which I just thought was muscle pain that would go away....nah...it didn't hey ho. Your baking sounds lovely, we will have to swap recipes and have a virtual cookery demonstration We have a lot of coffee morning on here, with all sorts of virtual things arriving.......good thing it's not real , we would all be over faced by it all
I really look forward to having you around, and I'm sure everyone here joins me in that
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but I'll share for everyone else. I shall be trying to take photographs of red squirrels in the next month and a half in the hope that by mid-October I shall have enough quality photos to produce a calendar. I've been taking them throughout the year 
I could have written your reply LOLOL my problem is that I'm creative through and through and will torture myself to have a go 
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