its a pain in the wrist!

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It's been hell week around here.

It all started last weekend with a sore wrist.

If you want to get technical, the sore wrist started over 20 years ago, but let's not get too carried away.

Week before I lifted a client's bag at work and something went PING in my wrist. I swear, the bag is heavier than the client. From now on, for OH&S reasons, I'll use the van hoist to lift the bag into the van.

But I digress... I was simply trying to set the scene. The wrist was already feeling a bit more fragile than normal, which is fragile enough.

Then I decided to groom the poodles. Ordinarily, not a big job. But on top of other things I'd had to do on the weekend and the long overdue-ness of the grooming, it really took it out of me.

Looking back now with what the Doc said, I can understand where a lot of my wrist issues come from. Yes, I gave in and went to the doctor. Again. Last time I simply got "It could be carpal tunnel, but we can't be sure. Just rest it."

However, the pain used to last a night then go away. Lately the time lag between being sore and feeling better seems to stretch out to days or weeks. It really gets me down. Not only am I sore but I have to put off things I need/want/am itching to do.

So off to the doctor I trekked. This time, not my regular doctor, agreed we test for rheumatoid arthritis given its hereditary and I've had pains in my other hand as well. But he said that the wrist problem was a separate issue. He seems to think its not carpal tunnel but de quervain's tenosynovitis - aka washer woman's syndrome or, more exotically, gamer's thumb.

I figure that having had RSI years ago which resulted in pain every time I over-used my right hand in any repetitive way, has somehow made that wrist weaker and more susceptible to this new and improved problem.

Whatever the cause, the only real treatment is rest.

Rest. What's that????

I hate resting. I have too much to do. If I rest my body then my brain just goes into overdrive and I can't sleep.

ugh.

So I've been rather down this week. Add to that a hellish week at work where everything that could go wrong did.... you get the picture.

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I look forward to the weekend, though this weekend is stuffed up as it starts with a full day of training at work.

Still, there are things to look forward to. After work today Wayne and I will visit the Art from Trash exhibition in Salamanca which I'm excited about. Then on Sunday I'll have time to work on some of my own projects.

There are so many of them and I'm really keen to get to them. Nothing too wrist/thumb intensive...

I'll leave you with some cheerful thoughts.

See ya soon.
z

DIY - the coffee table

This used to be Wayne's coffee table. It was boring and dark brown and I never gave it much though. Not, that is, till I started thinking of it in another colour, with a different handle... hm...

As usual, no before photos. What I can offer is an 'after the undercoat' photo. I found that they now sell Zinsser Stain Cover in Australia. I'd read about it on many DIY blogs and was eager to try it on something. Anything that saves me having to sand is a good thing!

After I'd done a really bad undercoat I painted the table with my own chalk paint. Thats just some white paint I already had which I mixed a bit of super fine grout into. I've decided I just love the texture that gives to the paint. So soft and satin to the touch.

I had to give the table 3 coats of paint before I felt it was finsihed. I did one coat of pale blue on the table top, then covered it over with white. I've also started doing something I'd never done before in my life: giving the paint a light sand between applications. It actually makes a difference, much as I hate to admit it.

I change my mind alot. I can't say I have any real 'set in stone' plans for my projects. They're kind of more 'go with the flow'...

Once the paint was dry I did some sanding with fine sandpaper by hand, and some with the electric sander, concentrating on the edges and spots which would normally get wear.

When the table was finished, I was ready to try another first for me - waxing. I did actually experiment with a some was on something small first, but then I went straight to it. I used a mix of antique black (translucent) wax and clear wax. I had to experiment a bit to get the result I wanted, but in the end the table looks and feels wonderful.

Lastly I put on the new antique knob I'd bought off ebay.

Of course it really doesn't suit my living room at all. As much as I love it, the colours in the living room are just not right for the table... sigh. I'm thinking I may sell it.

Or re-paint the living room, rip up the carpet, get a new couch...

Might be easier (not to mention cheaper) to sell the table!

So now I'm going to get some well deserved rest. I've been moving furniture, cleaning house, washing clothes and clipping dogs all weekend. I'm pretty tired.

z

making pretty - the spare room

Time for another wander through my house. This time its the spare room. Or the purple room as its generally known.

This room was my bedroom when I first moved to Fentonbury. At the time it was painted blue with a bad white sponged on effect. At the time I was in love with the texture of suede paints so I picked the dark purple for this room.

I actually loved it as a bedroom. It was a 'snuggly' room. Very relaxing. I felt safe in that room.

When I bought the house this room had a horrible carpet in it. I removed that and found some old lino, some old newspapers and a great timber floor! I used a hand sander to sand back any rough spots and then sealed it with polyurethane before moving my furniture in.

The room has an open fireplace which I never used, but it was nice to just have it. The fire surround was painted but I didn't like the colour so I repainted it white and purple to match the walls.

Yeah... I know, but at the time it really did work.

The curtains were the first curtains I ever made. I didn't know about full length curtains being the way to go and, since I was replacing old curtains, I just made mine the same size as the old ones.

This room has had many lives. It was my bedroom, then it was a guest room, then the dog's bedroom (yes, they even had their own TV) and an office. 

Since moving back, I'm using this as a spare room. I moved in my gorgeous old cast iron bed to use as a daybed, a small desk for my laptop and a few other items to make it cosy.

The daybed is so comfy its hard to do any work and not just curl up and spend the day reading.



An old ladder acts as a bedside table. A small clip light works perfectly as a reading lamp.

I think every single bed needs a teddy of its own.

The mantle just holds a collection of things. An old photo, some empty frames, 2 of the vases from my collection which didn't fit in the dining room.

A gorgeous nautical box acts a bookend. I got this a couple of weeks ago at a sale. I had planned to use it in the bathroom to hold cosmetics, but it said it wanted to live in the purple room.

In the other corner is the mosaic topped old school desk which I use as my laptop table. An old suitcase holds extra blankets.

All in all, a warm and cosy room I think. One I enjoy being in.

z

DIY - louvre door wall hanging

I'm not dead, lying in a ditch somewhere being eaten by tasmanian devils. I haven't been abducted by aliens and getting probed (cause we all know "the truth is up there")...

I've just been busy. And I haven't been very creative.

I did take photos of projects which have been finished to share so here is one of them - an old louvre door made into a wall hanging/card and letter holder.

 I found this little door somewhere in one of the tip shops somewhere along the line and held onto it. I knew I'd use it some day. It was grimy and white, which was fine, but I wanted a bit more colour on it. Like it had been painted a few times over the years.

After giving it a good clean I painted it a pale green which I had left over from another project, then did a topcoat with a creamy white. When that was dry I used the sander to distress it in places so the green showed through and even the timber in some areas.

This pic is the only 'before' photo I have. Sometimes I just get carried away in my eagerness to start a project and forget to actually take before pics. Here I used an old sale board as the backing. I used glue to fix it to the back of the door. I then put those little screw in eye thingies (the technical name for them) and some wire so it could be hung on the wall.

It now lives in my home in Fentonbury as wall art which has a practical use as well. I'd originally planned to put it in the actual kitchen, but this spot seemed best for it. The colours of the cabinet underneath match the louvre door.

One project down. Only a million and 5 left to go!

z