Love

A few weeks ago I helped the local NHS hospital by altering some surgical masks for them that had come in but the elastic ear loops were too big. This led to a few of my friends asking if I would be making face masks or would I make them some face masks for them or their friends and family. I know the jury is out on the use of face masks. This post isn’t about that, there are research papers that are for and against the use of face masks by the general population. I think we can all agree that “home made” face masks when worn provide protection to other people more than the wearer – which is why many countries have adopted the wearing of face masks so that they can all protect each other from Covid-19 and other nasties.

Initially I was very much in the camp of home made masks are bad. That they provided a false sense of security and that by having poor mask etiquette that they could cause more harm than good – if someone continually touches the front of the mask when wearing it and doesn’t wash their hands after they are capable of spreading their germs far and wide on every surface they touch. Since then there have been articles in The Guardian, The New York Times that have shown even home made masks when constructed from the right materials can offer a level of protection that hadn’t been anticipated. Add in a filter to those masks – made of an unwoven material or a special mask filter ( you can buy at various oulets) they can provide as much protection as the surgical masks I was altering the other day. A link to the New York Times article can be found here. The Daily Mail did an article –here The Guardians Article can be found here. So I am now very much of the opinion that yes we should all be wearing face masks of some description when out in public to help protect each other.

So for the last 20 days when physically able I have been making masks for friends and family to wear. All I have asked for is the cost of materials, being on a tight budget I can’t afford to be giving away material, elastic and pipe cleaners etc as much as I may wish too. With Mr Myasthenia kid at home, he has been able to keep Dembe entertained and do the chores I would normally push myself to do that would wipe out my energy reserves. Even with him doing that I have had a couple of days in that 3 week period where I have crashed hard just due to pushing myself too hard for too long in an effort to keep people supplied with masks and not letting anyone down. I am on an enforced break now as I have run out of elastic – I thought I had ordered enough but apparently not! I am awaiting fresh supplies.

To be honest I am quite glad for the break, I am so tired mentally and physically it hasn’t been until I have stopped that I have realised how far past my reserves I have got. I always find it amazing how knackered I can be doing nothing ( but obviously I am not doing nothing as I am taking care of myself. I just judge myself way too harshly and think I should be as active as the next person even when in reality I know that is an impossibility ). There have been evenings when I have been so tired that I am unable to form a coherent sentence or stand up straight. The rest was long over due.

For my mask pattern I used this Youtube tutorial

Mr Myasthenia Kid has been helping me with cutting, pressing , folding pipe cleaners for the nose bands, going to the post office etc All the things that can take me more time than an able bodied person and things that I can’t do such as a post office run. Without his help and support I would never have been able to make the number of masks I have.

I have been running on adrenaline for days, I knew I had. Last weekend I was supposed to be taking some time off for sewing but instead I started several other projects. Today (Tuesday 21st April ) is the first time I have sat and just done nothing. Everything is hurting and I feel zombie tired. Which is why I tend to keep pushing and pushing because I know how incapacitating the crash will be. I have always been a boom and bust merchant. Plus keeping busy stops me worrying about Covid-19 and what would happen if either of us got it.

So due to my lack of elastic I have had to have a day off and it feels strange. I’m so tired though it was very clear that I needed it. I did manage to get Jay to help me highlight my hair as I am having real problems lifting my arms above my head. Within seconds of doing it I am getting awful pain in my shoulder joints. Normally I would battle on through but it is just too sore for that and I am having to put my arms down. He has done a good job and now my roots look far less obvious than they did previously.

I did have a lovely surprise this morning finding out that Natasha McCarty from Natasha Makes was sending me a gift after hearing about my run in with a pin cushion on Saturday!

On Saturday when I was busy making a baby bib for a friends new baby, I didn’t notice that I had knocked my pin cushion onto the floor. It had gone pin head side down leaving the sharp ends pointing up but hidden by the pin cushion. I use this particular pin cushion as it has sentimental value to me. It was my late paternal grandmothers and I use a lot of her old sewing stuff on a daily basis. It was only when I got up from my sewing machine and I removed my foot from the pedal, that I placed my foot on top of the pin cushion ( I was wearing socks only) and put all my weight through that foot to stand up. To say the air was blue would be an understatement! It took me ages to get all the pins out of my foot as there were around 20 or so on the cushion. I yelped and cried, there was blood and tears. Later when I looked at my sock I realised that the blood had come right through . 3 days on and the sole of my foot is still a little sore, not something I ever want to repeat, especially as a long time ago I stood on a darning needle and had to go to the local minor injuries unit to get it removed whilst using gas and air! I will be making the pin cushion as soon as it arrives and I can’t thank Natasha enough for that.

Dembe modelling my creations from last weekend!

So for now I am putting my feet up and allowing myself to chill out for a few days!

I am sure many of you are at the point where you just need a break from the C word ( Covid-19), some light relief as it were. The situation has everyone at breaking point, even those who don’t suffer from anxiety are starting to suffer with insomnia or anxiety. So this week I thought I would show you some of the upcycling projects hubby and I have been doing since he started his 12 weeks working from home. We are using these projects to keep busy and to stop the anxiety getting out of control.

The first project we tackled was his chest of drawers. We bought these from Facebook Market place around two years ago. They were a disgusting beige colour and had been upcycled quite poorly by the person selling them. The top of the chest of drawers hadn’t been waxed or varnished and nor had the handles. We decided to continue the blue theme of his room and do them in Vintro Paints Northern star. It is such a beautifully pigmented paint, the colour is just so deep. I really am in love with them. We decided to dark wax the top and the handles which really makes the blue of the unit PoP! Sadly I have no before photos.

Spurred on by the success of this chest of drawer unit, we decided to start on my bedside cabinets. I bought these from the Devon Air Ambulance shop around a year possibly two years ago with the intention of upcycling them. Life got in the way as usual and they stayed a horrid orange pine for longer than intended.

We decided to sand the top and stain it with the dark wax. We then used Vintro Paint in the no seal chalk paint range, the colour was Beau Blue, then it was sealed using Vintro’s Extreme Matt Lacquer.

We had two of these to do and I really can’t get over the difference, from orange and dated to a thing of beauty. I also took the opportunity to wax the runners of the drawers. The drawers have wooden runners that were a little stiff, I remembered years ago reading about how to ensure they run smoothly by running a candle over them. I had an old candle knocking about so gave both units a good run over and the drawers come out so smoothly now I am in danger of whipping them out of the unit completely!

The next thing we tackled was the huge pine book case from the lounge. For this one we used Frenchic Furniture Paint in Duckling from the Alfresco range and used the Frenchic Browning wax on the shelves. Whilst Jay did that, I did a small pine unit that sits behind the front door. On these items we decided to use a gloss paint foam mini roller to give the items a smoother finish. Although the paint is self levelling (both the Vintro and the Frenchic ) if applied too thickly you can end up with brush marks. By using a roller it eliminates these, you just have to be careful that you don’t get a build up of paint on the edges of the furniture. By using a brush you can remove these quite easily.

We had a break for a few days before starting the Tv unit. I wanted that unit done so that when I looked down that end of the lounge all that furniture was completed. I have hated this TV unit for so long I ca’t remember a time when I actually liked it! Now thanks to its transformation I love it again.

Then I did a little tiny project all by myself, a cheap Amazon pine table that was at least 5 years old. That was desperately needing some love. This one had the top sanded, then one coat of clear wax, followed by a coat of dark wax ( Frenchic ) followed by another coat of clear wax ( by Rustoleum ). I then painted it in Frenchic Furniture paint ( Lazy Range ) in Wolf Whistle. I have fallen in love with this colour!

All the furniture has been given a final coat of Vintro’s Extreme Matt Lacquer to ensure it can stand up to normal life in The Myasthenia Kid household.

We still have lots of furniture to paint / upcycle and these pieces have been done over the last 3 weeks, with lots of rest days in between. Neither of us can believe how good these pieces of furniture look now that they have had a bit of TLC. I had an inkling a lockdown maybe coming so bought all the paint in the weeks before so that should it happen we would have all our supplies here.

Just for clarification I have purchased all these products and none have been gifted to me. We really aren’t that lucky! There are lots of other brands of paint out there these are just the two I like to use for our projects.

Having the furniture to paint has helped give Mr Myasthenia Kid a much needed routine and hasn’t allowed for anxiety to kick in. We have had a wobble over the weekend where he talked about going back to work. I quickly convinced him that it wouldn’t be happening!

Dembe has been brilliant whilst we have been working out in the back garden. He just sits on his chair and goes to sleep.