Thumbs up

I give thanks for the absurd amount of pain I've been in again today because... well, you might as well be grateful as grumbling doesn't help! It's in my joints and muscles and tendons so I'm grateful I know it's nothing serious, just the usual things just being unusually insistent, and worst of all in my hands and wrists so it makes me aware of what useful appendages they are. I give particular thanks for opposable thumbs! Despite considerable opposition, mine have been performing those myriad little tasks we so easily take for granted such as squeezing toothpaste, turning taps and tops of bottles and jars, pulling up underwear and holding cutlery or a cup, albeit stiffly and creakily and with much squeaking and groaning from me.

I give thanks that pain can give you the opportunity to be more mindful and aware of your body and its processes and parts. And I give thanks for distractions including noisy couple of days in the neighbourhood with bikes revving, dogs barking, children screeching, gulls squealing, an argument over strimmers this afternoon and squawking women at a party across the road last night. Oh, and briefly this afternoon the drummer boy! I haven't heard him for ages and thought he might have moved but maybe he just went to Uni and is back to entertain us again.. I would be grateful for that, and it does sound like he needs some practice...

I'm grateful for getting a bit of sewing done - the pinning's hard but my knees aren't too bad today so the pedalling's OK. And a bit of cooking, including Potatoes Dauphinoise which are very decadent on a hyperkalemic diet but I boiled the spuds to within an inch of their lives in the largest pan of water, as well as the accompanying veg, so it's as saintly as a sin can be.