Saturday-6pm

This is what I've been doing little by little since Gracie left. Can you tell my birds always had a lot of toys rotated in their cages? This is years of accumulation--and most of the really big parrot toys are stored in the garage!! The plastic container that Karma is lolling in was filled with toys and was kept on the shelf under the playpen. I moved all those toys into a banker's box. All the toys from the playpen and the cage pretty much filled another box. Now I have a nice empty plastic storage box--a large one, too. I can always use storage boxes--hehe!

The playpen in the bedroom--stripped down for cleaning.

Assotment of things drying in the sink will add a little more to the toy boxes..

The big cage stripped down for cleaning.

That is as far as I got by yesterday. Next I have to take a bucket of soapy water and sit and clean all the bars and all the nooks and crannies on the cage and the playpen--clean off all the various trays and grates (which are waiting for me propped up in the hallway by the door)--and then I can roll them all the way down to the garage. Maybe Monday I'll start scrubbing them down...kind of did a lot the last couple days...for me.

I am thinking I might actually put up my easel in that spot! I have never had a place for it to be up permanently before. I'll have to see how it looks and if Miss Karma will leave paintings alone while they dry--hehe!

I just remembered--I have Caroline coming to clean on Tuesday. If I have everything cleaned and ready to go, she could help me push them down to the garage! Dagan and Leah have been so busy lately. It's just a harder thing to do basically one-handed. My weak arm just isn't good at gripping, pushing, pulling, or carrying. Can do things for brief little periods of time, but if I over do it I can put it out--and then it's in a sling for days and the pain gets so sharp I can't sleep. I watch it pretty carefully and haven't pushed it to that point for a long time. When the wrist starts to burn (like it does now half way to my elbow from all the puttering with the cages for two days)--just have to basically stop using it.

This is how my life goes--hehe! I need to rest my arm today--and the shoulders/back/etc from the fibro, too, need a break for a couple of days. If I am cleaning the cage (big project for me these days--used to be a no-brainer--never gave it a thought--cages, tanks, whatever) then I can't paint or draw or do much of anything while my body readjusts and calms down inbetween the cleaning sessions. And I have to pay attention to the arm pain so I don't go over the limit and to the fibro pain, too. But in this case--the arm pain has top priority.

If I can get them cleaned by Tuesday--fine. If the body doesn't cooperate--fine. I'll just wait until Dagan and/or Leah can come and help me push them to the garage. Or give my arm a good long break for a week or so and bring the cage down one day and wait and wheel the playpen down a day or so later. I can do them myself. It just takes so much longer. My impatience. It is frustrating to deal with. You'd think I was as old as my dad (86). He'd do better than I would with these projects! Sad, eh?

This is my "normal" life.

So, with all my props and aides (so that I avoid using my left arm) I am able to sit in my lounger and read or hand write letters a little at a time--but that will be about it for the weekend. I am typing very slowly--one-handed right now. My shoulders are buring. I may not be blogging tomorrow, but you'll know why--just resting my touchy body--hehe! I'm fine, tho. TTYL........ :)