An Anniversary of Sorts

Hello! Hard to believe, but it's been a year since I last posted here. I've intended to post something since Septmber-ish, but really couldn't think of anything with a semblance of substance. 

All year I did exactly one thing relating to weaving; I selected a few cones for the next project, in the colors a staff at the Suter Shop requested. Other than the week we had the hallway and stairway repainted, they've obligingly sat waiting in their regular station. 

After I finished the tied unit weave last year, I was infuriated at how I make everything complicated, (I still have the two fine tied unit projects and one clasped weft with three wefts on the three warped looms,) making weaving all work and no fun. I always intended to get back to it soonish, and these colors were going to go on the Ashford 8-shaft, but I couldn't come up with a pretty idea. And here we are. 

I still love needlepoint, but with no supplies available in Nelson, I felt "deprived" of my beloved hobby as some days I had such vivid recall of working on past projects I could see and feel them as if they were real. In May a light went on and I looked for sources online in New Zealand and found two. I've had this idea of an almost-door-sized hanging inside the front door in yellows forver, and I bought a large canvas and gazillion skeins of wool, but ordering colors online was hard, even with samples and color numbers of previous projects. I'm also so out of practice I've been working very slowly as I can't "see" the design on a blank canvas, and unenthusiastically as these shapes and colors don't sing to me like. I'm even taking out patches, something I've never done before.  

This one is a sample/practice run for the larger project, but it's still twice as wide as usual, and it's proven unwieldy, so I don't know if I'll go ahead with the door-sized version. Ben and I are wondering if it can be somehow secured it on to a rigid heddle minus the heddles, or if we can build a simple frame out of PVC pipes or something. We shall see.  

I've had three or four intense doodling periods without specific projects, and managed to finish a few sketchbooks. I love working on ones I make, usually A5 but some A4 or even A6, with a few pages of inexpensive drawing or watercolor papers. The subjects are usually Modligliani-like portraits, but not exclusively. One of the fun thing I've been trying it to look at photographs, of Modigliani and his friends as well as current real persons like Ben and AOC, to draw them in his style. And between now and the end of the year, I have plans to finish half a dozen tiny projects, lots of them collage. I've been working on them for years, and some are already finished, but I need to know I've done everything I needed/wanted to, and them put them to rest. We shall see.

* * * * * 

This year life was busier, and I noticed as I get older each of these "out of the ordinary" tasks take a great toll, i.e. they suck up my energy so quickly and completely, all that's left is the cartoonish sucking sounds echoing in my head. 

There were a couple of administrivia that followed Mom's passing, made worse by the fact I never use grown-up reading-and-writing Japanese any more; customs and processes changed in the 30 years since we left, especially after the earthquake and Covid, so I needed my siblings' help. Issues settled, with our both parents gone, for all intents and purposes we're more or less estranged from each other, both siblings busy with families and circles of their own. It's a sad situation, something Dad was adamant should not happen, having seen it in Mom's family. On reflection, though, my siblings were too young to remember the good days of that extended family, they may not have understood what Dad meant. 

* * * * * 

 

I had the good luck of meeting a builder who specializes in reworking old homes and a fabulously knowledgeable handydude early in the year. I contracted both to fix a non-serious but long-time roof leak and to extend the steps in front of the door, the builder to fix/build and the handydude to clean/paint the roof in the aftermath. These two appeared to have been fairly casual about coming and going as it suited them, (or, they had firm plans in their heads, and just weren't telling me,) and it having been in the dead of the winter when it rains a lot, for six months off and on, I wasn't sure who was going to pop around when. But the jobs got done, and we are very happy with the results. Good blokes, both. 

You'd never believe it, but because of the builder's scheduling changes and the weather, I scrubbed/sanded/stained the wood charcoal over two or three weeks in June-ish, with the help of a scaffold the handydude loaned me. I could only work 1-3PM each afternoon because of the moisture/temperature/light, but it was an interesting and rewarding experience. Gosh, you can really tell the difference in the season from the pics. 

There are more to be done by us this summer; the wood for the entrance steps was very green, so we had to wait until summer to oil/stain, in natural pine-y color probably. Ben will build a narrow side-table like thing to go under the bay window since the corners of that thing are really sharp and normal-height people could easily hurt their faces/heads, (although I fit right under it.) We don't want folks to walk too close to it. More than half the flower pots still sit in another part of the garden since late April, and they need prettying up and arranged. As for the rest of the garden, they were completely neglected until very late spring; we've been working on some patches, but we have a long way to go to bring the whole place up to our normal-messy standard.  

* * * * * 

The biggest issue of 2025, though, was aging, both cognitively and physically. Cognitively I'm doing what I hated when my mom did; speaking without thinking first but with irritatingly firm conviction. It drives me mad, but I can't tell when I'm doing this and only realize afterwards. I repeat myself more than before. Writing has become onerous, which surprised me, but most days I just can't be bothered. And then there is technology of all sorts I'm not even interested in but are required to lead a normal life these days. 

By far the biggest issue of the year was osteoarthritis, especially on my left hip. After contemplating for a long time, I finally switched to a new GP, who promptly sent me to get X-rays, but then declared I didn't have arthritis, only to rescind it that judgement. I have "moderate to severe" cases on both hips. I still like her and, for now, trust her. 

For at least half the year, I was hurting and couldn't sleep most nights while the hip throbbed all night. I slithered inside the house, and crawled on and off that scaffold like a snail. I never had someone else's arthritis so I can't tell you if I'm exaggerating, but I got in the habit of wondering what the heck I was doing with my life. 

Came September, after months of what felt like a life of an invalid, I started taking joint health remedies, often ignoring dosage recommendations, all day every day. Be they psychological or not, (some of them I think are not,) they have worked and the last three months I have not stayed up all night but rather woken up later after I've been in the same position for a while. These remedies don't cure arthritis nor or work forever, and already I'm increasing intake of powder collagen, but at least I'm moving some of the time, and getting some things done. And my GP is monitoring. 

Arthritis prevents me from exercising, though, even from walking descent distances, and, I had two long-awaited dental implants, (made possible by pension,) so I can chew properly now. Tough my weight in numbers haven't increased much, I swear my mass is massive and ever expanding! Ben and I will eat better and walk this summer, and if long walks is not possible, I may start looking at gadgets we can help me at home. And speaking of Ben, he now has a chronic back problem, but that's another story. 

* * * * * 

Aren't we all exhausted by politics? New Zealand, because of the size of the country, has turned so far Right so rapidly it's making my head spin. Among the issues that disgusts us on the Left is our current regime is trying to cancel the Treaty of Waitangi. I can't tell you what a big deal that is. And we're looking at another election in a year's time but the Left has gone all purple and not doing itself any favours to try to win my vote. I've been a consistent Left-leaning voter all my voting life, and I really don't understand how we got here.    

* * * * * 

What's for 2026? For me at the top of the list is arthritis: my GP's plan is to try physiotherapy for practical purposes, (because they can't "cure" arthritis,) and then see if, (or I say "when",) I need to be seen by a specialist. New Zealand's health care is OK in general, great in emergencies, I hear, but involves a lot of waiting, and I've been waiting to be seen by a physiotherapist, although they did get in touch with me to tell me the wait is long, but can they send me written stuff in the meantime? 

If we can wing it, we would like a trip to Japan before my movement is further restricted. We'll see family, but Ben hasn't been home since 2018 for Mom's 88th, and a last? meaningful trip in Japan to see somewhere interesting will involve a lot of train and bus rides, which require stamina, so the longer we wait, the less practical it feels. So this is on the wish list.  

I would like to get back to weaving. It sounds so strange to see it written down, but now this has become a goal, yet not an unachievable one. The big loom's mechanism and speed is still a problem, but we need to spend some time thinking about a remedy. Table looms, on the other hand, are so versatile and handy, they are becoming my favourites. Four-shaft Jack is also superb in making sturdy quick pieces. And I still have the RH. Something will happen soon enough. It's just prioritizing, since any task takes so much longer these days, and between drawing, needlepoint, the house, the garden... well, I've honestly haven't got time to stay an invalid! 

Lastly but not the least, with life being sucky in general, I've noticed a lot of little kindness of strangers of late. Perhaps I was careless to have missed them in my younger days. Perhaps folks are taking pity on this fat little limping woman. I don't know. but I appreciate them, and the fact I notice them. 

I hope you'll hear from me once more before the end of 2025, but even if not, do have a lovely end of this year and a easy start of the next, with your loved ones, filled with laughter and good food. 

See you soon.