I've been feeling increasingly miserable about my physical health in recent months, because I seem to have been stuck in an exhausting downward spiral from which there is no escape. Each morning starts with stiffness and pain in my hips and lower back which gets progressively worse throughout the day until I crawl into bed for yet another night of discomfort and disturbed sleep. My job is mostly sedentary, I'm constantly tired, it hurts to do anything so I've been doing less, and my weight has been gradually creeping up, all of which just compounds the problem. I'm only in my mid-fifties and the thought of feeling like this for the rest of my life is frankly unbearable.
A friend recommended a physiotherapist who has really helped him with various issues over the years, so I went to see him on Friday and came away feeling a little more optimistic. He thinks I'm a bit like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz - my joints have metaphorically rusted and seized up, so I need to 'oil' them by getting them moving again, even if it really hurts to begin with. I've been given some exercises to do over the next couple of weeks - my only other option apparently being to "follow the yellow brick road and look for the Wizard!" Aside from the fact that I liked the literary reference, I also felt reassured to hear there's still a way out of my current predicament, so I'm going to give it my best shot.
Apropos of this, yesterday we had a lovely walk at the park in the bright Spring sunshine. Oh my goodness, such an abundance of unfurling buds and shoots! I think this really is my favourite season of the year - the days are getting longer, everything is renewed, refreshed and reinvigorated. Definitely what I need to help me on the road to recovery.
A selection of spring blossoms we spied along the way: wood anemones, daffodils, primroses and forget-me-nots. Gorgeous!
Most exciting of all, I'm hoping to have some pincushion flowers in the garden this year! I fell in love with them when I saw them at the park last summer (see below) and went back to collect some of the seed heads after the flowers had faded. Last week I reused the little plastic seedling container that came with my tomato plants, popped a couple of pincushion flower seeds into each section and crossed my fingers. It has only been on the kitchen windowsill for a couple of days...
...and now look what is happening! Two lovely little green shoots have appeared as if by magic - which means there should be at least half a dozen more to come. Fingers and toes now crossed for this eventuality.
On the knitting front, I've recently embarked on a bit of a foolhardy project - mainly because I just can't bear to not be knitting - so after the most cursory attempt at swatching, using cheap and cheerful bargain-basement yarn from Aldi I'm having a go at this pattern - Fine Sand by Heidi Kirrmaier.
It's a lovely pattern, but the project is almost certainly doomed to failure because even though it's quite a nice dusty Red Clover colour the yarn really is more cheap than cheerful - but then again, if it ever actually becomes a finished garment at least it won't shrink!
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