It has been a while since I just sat and rambled on the keyboard. It's usually a sign that, although the year has started, the YAMster, perhaps, has not! Blog fodder is short in supply as winter keeps me confined to The Hutch. In all likelihood, I shall not be back on the road with The Grey until at least March, and as Grey is due his first MOT in April, it won't be for long or far - if, indeed, I go at all.
Meanwhile, I have to guard against too much pondering. This is the time when my mind turns to my beloved other country, Australia. It has now been twelve years since I departed its shores, but I had spent more of my life there than in any other place... I will have to live until I am 79 to equal the same number of years in Scotland as I spent in OZ. That may not seem like a big number to some, but this body has always been older than its apparent years, and to reach 79 would be a milestone for many reasons. Apart from one exception, on my mother's side of the family, 77 was the oldest. From my father's genes, there's a greater (though still slim) chance of reaching the 80s. The fact is, I am my maternal grandmother's double, and she popped her clogs in her sleep aged 68. I am working on the basis that, if I survive the next 18 months, I'll beat her record at least!
Aside from the chronic arthritis, asthma (mainly contained), and CFS/ME, my general health is pretty good. I don't have to rely on any regular medications, and although I can no longer take long hikes or contemplate any form of running, I do stretches every morning, have seat pedals to work the legs (and lungs), and do enjoy a wee jaunt with the Rolls-later when the weather permits.
I have noted that I seem to have acclimatised completely to Scottish weather. Apart from the raw, damp edge that can happen on some winter days, I mostly don't really feel the cold. Mainly because I am so happy to wrap up in all the stuff I keep producing with yarns and hooks! I have always loved layering. In OZ, there is no such thing as central heating, so one endured the cold winters (and despite what you may think, Sydney could quite often drop to low single figures centigrade, and we even had snow a couple of winters, which is unusual). I did have a little electric fire, which the J's always enjoyed. So I was able to layer up with my woollies of all types there, as well. One or two of you had noted that I appeared all wrapped up here at the Hutch; that is because, usually, I don't bother switching on the heating. This is not, as might be thought, a cost-cutting exercise, but simply that I do not like too much artificial heat. I learned to live without it, and it is one of the things that I really had to grit my teeth about in that year I spent nursing dad (2020...) He refused to wrap up in any way, even a knee blanket, and wanted the central heating on tropical.
Now, I am a tropical gal - when in the tropics. I have no problem at all dealing with the heat and humidity. However, the artificial heating here in the UK is mostly overwhelming. It has a lot to do with the fact that windows are tight shut - and if there is anything else the YAMster is, it's a fresh air gal! I got in such trouble for even cracking the kitchen window to try and breathe... ugh... flashbacks.
I have always been a beanie/toque gal. Even when I had a full head of hair (and I did have a LOT of hair until 'menopolyxinaemia' took its toll), I was always sensitive to cold on my crown. Now, after meno and with the additional hit of the balding gene (got that from father, at least!), I have very little hair on top, which is one of the reasons I took the shears to what was left of length. Now, full-time headgear is a must. So, expect to see yet more works of wool art in that department!
Anyway, that's my yarn for today. Oh yes, even after more than a decade away, I still have Aussie in my speech. You can take the girl out of, and all that... to yarn is to natter, have a chinwag in Aussie. (Unlike the pure English usage of 'are you spinning me one?') There are some things totally ingrained; I even still come out with dollars and cents at times. Hey ho...
There are lots of you who participate in the meme of Thankful Thursday - let me today say thank you for reading that blather and note that I am grateful to a life that has afforded me worldwide travel and experience. Many memories to serve however many years are left.
