My life in crosses

It's always difficult to get across to people just how disruptive living with chronic migraine is - so I thought I'd share the last few years of my migraine diary. Basically crosses represent migraines and slashes represent headaches and all of the highlighted colours represent different medications.

I guess the best way of thinking about it is imaging on each of those days with a cross you had a raging hangover and the slashes - feeling like you are on the verge of getting the flu.

2011

 


2012



2013



Maybe to a non migraine sufferer the frequency might be shocking, but for me transferring everything onto my annual diary made me gasp at just how much medication I take.

Anyway - things have been particularly bad this year (as you can see from the image above!) and as I'd mentioned before I've had to cut my hours back to the equivalent of part time. It has bummed me out as my business is doing so, so well that it's frustrating that I can't be out there being the best me I can be. For now, I'm currently waiting to find out whether I can get botox on the NHS. There's no guarantees it'll work for me, but it's a really appealing treatment as the side effects are so minimal. To qualify to have botox you have to have at least 15 headache days a month and have had tried at least 3 different preventative medications. So I qualify, it's just whether my PCT approve it. Fingers crossed!

I haven't given up hope, but I won't lie - it's hard work living like this. I feel like I'm wasting so much potential and there are so many things I want to be out there doing. One thing migraine has taught me is to really appreciate the good days and to make the most of them rather than just squander them. I really hope to reduce my migraines and make sure I can start making the most of even more good days in the not so distant future.

A new craft magazine on the block

I’d heard there was a new craft magazine knocking around so when the people at Crafty got in touch and asked if I’d like to review issues 1 and 2 I was definitely interested in checking it out.

Even though there are quite a few craft magazines available – many are still quite outdated and twee in my opinion (this is slowly changing) and others – well they are just a bit too “I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pinterest” for my tastes. So I was pleasantly surprised that Crafty magazine is neither of these things – and actually manages to achieve the impossible – a good balance. The tone and style of the magazine reminds me of Australian magazine Frankie – which I adore!

What I like most about Crafty is the variety. It doesn’t just stick to a bit of knitting and a tutorial on how to make a bag – it really does explore all of the different crafts and makes it possible for Joe Public to do them at home. I really liked the upholstery feature in issue 1 using vintage tea towels – very cool. I know what I’ll be on the hunt for next time I’m at a car boot!



I feel like there has been a lot of planning that has gone into Crafty too – rather than just throwing together a load of pretty things. In Issue 2 for example there are projects that would take quite a long time but look great but also projects that would take no time at all such as the bottle garden. The mix of quick simple makes and more complex projects is a real winner.



Scout thoroughly approved of upcycling vintage stamps into jewellery!

More than anything I love that this magazine pushes the boundaries of craft. In issue 2 the feature on embroidered postcards is just perfection. Not only does it provide tips on how to achieve best results for doing this it also talks about why you should bother in the first place and this insight for me is exactly what craft is about. Exploring the lost art of letter writing, how technology has taken over our lives and how we need to slow down and just enjoy the moment. In fact I would have liked to have seen a lengthier piece on this with the craft complementing it. After all, craft isn’t just about making pretty things – it’s about the experience.

Crafty also has some very awesome regular columnists including Mr X Stitch and my buddy Sarah Corbett – founder of the Craftivist Collective. I was very happy to see a piece in issues 2 all about the #imapiececampaign that I’ve been involved with – and so will definitely look forward to reading more from Sarah and how she thinks craft can be used in politics and CAN make a real difference. (Also - I love the illustrations they use for all of the columnists!)

I’m really impressed with Crafty Magazine – I feel it’s really understood where crafting is at the moment and as a result produced a magazine that meets a need for keen crafters like myself. Issue 3 is out on Thursday and here’s a sneak peek of what to expect!

Never mind kids, I'm building this tepee for the kitties!!!

What to do when you’ve lost your motivational mojo

We all get them – those days where no matter how hard you try you can’t get motivated. That lack of motivation might be stopping you doing a piece of work, writing an essay, or even cooking the dinner! It’s very frustrating when it happens and as someone who loves feeling motivated – I hate hate hate days where I literally just want to lie down in one place and do nothing. This is nothing to do with mental health – it’s just some days – you just can’t be bothered.

So – having said that here are some of my tried and tested ways to help you get motivated.

Change your location

Sometimes a change of scenery can help. When I work from home this can be as simple as moving from my desk to the kitchen table downstairs. Changing your surroundings can sometimes help you change your mindset.

Offer yourself rewards

On the days where plugging away at a particular task is tough going – offer yourself rewards. Whether that be having a kit kat if you write 1000 words or even checking Twitter if you finish 5 items on your to do list.

Procrastinate efficiently

When you are working on a specific piece of work, you can sometimes find yourself staring into space unable to concentrate on the task in hand. It’s not the most efficient piece of advice, but if you’ve tried everything else to no avail then do something else – just make sure it’s useful! Wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, write a blog post, organise your knicker drawer. If something motivates you it can sometimes trip that motivational switch in your brain and allow you to get back to your original task.

Feel Inspired

Surround yourself with things that will inspire you. Whether that’s pretty postcards near your desk or nice art on your walls. In order to feel motivated you often need to feel good – and nice imagery can really help set the scene for you.

Give yourself some pressure

As a freelancer, I don’t have anyone other than myself telling me to get on with my work. On days where I really don’t feel motivated I find having someone else to put a bit of pressure on me can help massively. One of the things I do is a “check in” with one of my freelancer friends. We tell each other what we need to get done and what our target is within an hour/two hours. So for example I might say I’m working on an ebook and I plan to write 750 words. Then when the time is up we check in and see what we’ve achieved.

For me, just knowing that someone is monitoring me can be enough to give me that kick up the bum and get the work done. You could equally apply this method to lots of aspects in your life though!

What do you do when you can’t get motivated? I’d love to hear your tips and advice!

For the pick of 1984

I recently found these two beautifully illustrated mushroom books in a charity shop and just had to take them home. Tom and I do most of our mushrooming in Autumn although now is the perfect time to find morels and st georges.



I especially loved the smaller of the two books because of the inscription. I'm a firm believer that if you give a book as a gift it's the LAW that you write a message on the first page - it just makes it so much more special.



It reads "For the pick of 1984. Peace, Love Jim (see p.149)

So what was on page 149? (You can probably guess...)


Psilocybe - also known as magic mushrooms. Sounds like Jim had a good old time in 1984!

Picking up this book made me realise that I completely forgot to share on the blog some of the amazing mushrooms we found last Autumn. The most amazing was this earth star. My Dad was especially jealous as he'd never found one before!





One of the illustrations of an earth star:



Flicking through the book got me excited already for Autumn (after we've had a good Spring and Summer though!) because it reminded me how many amazing (and hilarious) mushrooms there are. Like this very phallic looking mushroom called (I kid you not) the stinkhorn. My Dad and brother found one of these last Autumn and sent me a photo - I could not stop laughing!



So until Autumn here are just a few more pictures of some of the mushrooms we found last year:

Best of Friends

These two are seriously becoming the best of friends - it's so cute and so I just had to share a couple of pictures....



I don't know why but these pictures of Rocky and Scout back to back just made me laugh! I think it just reminded me of the blues brothers - they definitely need sunglasses and trilbies!