{7/26}...streaming

This past week was a wash. Most of it was spent on the sofa, alternately sleeping, watching Call the Midwife...again...and working a little bit on a new rosary for the shop. I really like the way the colors came together, especially since I didn't buy them together. I love when that happens.

I got hit by a cold early in the week, and then the test results came back from the doctor that I had a UTI. And then I realized, on Friday, after a week of suffering and not being able to to put two and two together, that I cut back on my gabapentin too fast again and was having the symptoms of withdrawal again. How many times will this happen before I figure out what it is? No idea. I looked up symptoms of Neurontin withdrawal (the brand name) and found this webpage. Of the symptoms listed I had: anxiety, appetite changes, nausea, crying spells (no wonder I sobbed at the scene where Chummy has the baby -- oh my goodness), fatigue, irritability, and sleep disturbances. Thursday night I woke up at least 50 times through the night with that sort of jolt that you sometimes get. My knotted rosary went from bed to sofa to bed and more than fifty Hail Marys were at least started through the night. I begged God for sleep. I begged Mary and St. Anne for sleep. I just begged. I finally, late Friday morning, realized that I had cut back more on my Neurontin three days earlier and the worst of the withdrawal had hit. I have written before that it seems so unfair to have to go through withdrawal from a drug that gave me no benefit while I was on it (I was on it for the nerve pain in my leg), but let this be a warning to you: don't go on brain drugs unless you absolutely have to. Apparently my brain really likes gabapentin and doesn't want to give it up. I went to the doctor (and told her what was wrong) and she told me she would have me wean much more slowly. I was on it for two years, and it will take months to go off of it. Sigh. I added some back to my doses yesterday and, thank you God, Mary and St. Anne, slept like a baby last night.


On top of everything else going on -- the kids all coming home at once, being sick, being crazy and exhausted -- the dryer broke. The repairman will come next week. So we're hanging the laundry, which, though I still feel weak as a kitten, forces me to go out and breathe fresh air. And it's not too hot, and it's nice and breezy.

what I like to call laundry therapy

I wound a ball of yarn today for a new project, which took me about 30 minutes, after which I was exhausted. It's a Christmas gift, and the yarn was very dear, so I hope it turns out as beautifully as I imagine. I think I'll start it tonight. Hopefully I won't need another color for a little while (I haven't read the directions yet) because without a swift and a winder, I can only do one skein a day.

the wound ball is "Blue Hawaii"

next to that is "Wild Berry" and then "Storm"

I have visions of sitting in the backyard in a shaded chair with my knitting for many cool evenings this summer, and afternoons in the fall. I think this project will take just about that long. Unfortunately as the recipient might be checking in here, I won't be showing any pictures or linking to any patterns.

And in the garden:

a sweet little fern frond, which unfurled completely this morning

coleus, butter-colored petunias and the first ripe tomato

day lily in one of my Mary gardens