Well, it’s been two weeks since I posted anything here – I had hoped to be able to write a post or two from Cornwall, but unfortunately my plans for being able to access the internet down there didn’t work out!
My family originally came from Cornwall and it is a county that is very dear to me – I may be biased, but I think it’s the most beautiful county in England! I try and spend a couple of weeks down there each year and, apart from being a wonderful break and a chance to see some relatives, it allows me to visit my favourite bead shop – GJ Beads! Last year I taught my first class at GJ Beads and this year I went back to teach a second class – Chocolate Chip Cookies. I had a fabulous time and it was lovely to see some of the people I met last year and also to make new friends, so hello to Jill, Jenny, Bev and Karen. I have an invite to teach another class when I’m down there next year…French Beading – I’m looking forward to it already!
It has been a bit of a mixed fortnight, with highs and lows in equal measure. The bead class, the opportunity to buy some more beads (how can I resist the temptation?!), the hours I spent beading, the sunshine (yes, we had quite a lot of that which seems amazing given the summer we’ve been having here in the UK) and the wonderful scenery were definitely all highs.
Unfortunately I experienced a bit of a low at the start of the second week: the first ME relapse I’ve had for about six months. On the one hand, I’m incredibly grateful to have had so much energy recently and to have been able to live a normal life without experiencing the exhaustion and other symptoms that I’ve had for the past decade. However, it’s not great to realise that I’ve still got a way to go on the road to recovery. This is such a frustrating illness on so many levels: I have no idea what caused the relapse – often there is a good reason (usually I’ve been forgetting to pace myself), but unless it resulted from too many ice creams, I really don’t know what happened! On the plus side, two days of complete rest got me back to a level where I could go out and enjoy the rest of the holiday, but I’m still lacking in energy relative to where I was a month ago, so it’s back to religiously doing all the things that seem to help: yoga for relaxation and gentle exercise, a strict diet that avoids sugar, dairy, gluten, yeast, citrus and msg (yes, there are still quite a few things I can eat!) and trying to pace myself so that I get in the right mix of doing things and resting. I find the last the hardest to do: I’m not naturally good at doing nothing and it’s been a really hard lesson to learn not to push myself – it’s totally alien to my character. This is going to be particularly hard at the moment because I have returned from Cornwall bursting with ideas for new projects which I just want to get on and bead.
So I’m going to be strict with myself and keep remembering that resting is a positive thing that will bring long term benefits – I’ve been here before and seen the truth of that for myself. I’m also happy to have heard about a piece of pending research that is investigating the possibility of Mitochondrial malfunction being at the root of the illness. It’s early days and it might well be another red herring. Even if the theory proves to have merit, it will be a very long time before anyone dares to talk about treatments and cures, but any little spark of hope is a good thing. Meanwhile, I’ve also come home to a garden full of tasty home-grown vegetables, so all that green goodness should help me – if anyone has any recipes for dealing with a glut of courgettes, do please share them…!
