Life goes on … frozen or not …

 So I've completed my self-prescribed rest period for my shoulder and it seems to have helped … I've entered phase 3 - the one where the pain subsides but the shoulder remains locked (frozen)- and sadly - I'm almost enjoying it!.  So now I'm starting the stretches again in an attempt to get it moving …

Still … life goes on …

The turning point (in the pain department) came after spending a lovely day with Pat & Alicia. We visited the most amazing display of art pieces  made from felt!! (silk and wool) some you could wear and some simply hang on the wall, but all of them stunningly beautiful. 

 Then  Alicia let me sit and watch her make a stew  - yep - I sat and did nothing while she worked in the kitchen for over an hour and then I sat some more while we ate the delicious stew and then I rested some more during the 1hr drive home because  Joseph had a few reds- ergo I had to drive! - but HE actually changed the gears for me! .  Yep - all the way home we argued;  I figured "up" was enough - HE wanted the number!!  "second, third etc. - how on earth can anybody be conscious of what gear they need to change to, WHILE THEY ARE DRIVING???!  Still, it seemed that after that lovely afternoon, the pain ever so slowly diminished - so I guess that's what friends are for eh?!!

Now that the pain is a little less I decided that I could do more physical activity!    A group of neighbours organized a Community Garden nearby with an old building on the site that had been neglected for quite a few years.

Not quite the real "before" pic - new siding has been added in this photo.

So Joseph helped by scraping and painting etc. 

and then the day before their first Open House there was nobody available to clean out the inside so I figured I could sweep!  

Cleaning the counter - using the sweeping motion!
(everything you see underneath was onto minutes before)

 It was pretty gross (and dusty) and it was the hardest I've worked in about two years, but I plugged away most of the day and the shoulder didn't freak out and at the end I was mortified to think that yikes!  - perhaps hard work might be the cure I'd been looking for!!??  Urgh! 

Well, you had to see the "before" to appreciate the "after" but I was pretty chuffed with how the room looked...

 Joseph managed to paint the front door and it was ready for the Open House the next day.  

It's not FLW red 

 It was a beautiful day for an Open House and to try and raise some $$s ...there was a  Sausage Sizzle!  (Canada = hot dogs + bun - Aus = sausage + slice of white bread)…

and we contributed some apples

 and right next to us on Dock One - the clipper City of Adelaide was celebrating 150 years with lots going on so that helped with passing traffic

That's the clipper there in the background - with the ferris wheel in front-of course!!
luckily the ferris wheel was just for a day - but the clipper remains!

and they even had Eric Bogle performing (he of The Band Played Waltzing Matilda fame)!!  I still find it amazing that right here in little 'ol Adelaide lives the man who wrote that amazing song (and a bunch of other great ones (Green Fields of France, Shelter etc.)
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
and some Ottawa friends might know that I'm wanton to stalk Eric whenever he performed within 300kms of Ottawa!  - and well now it's even easier -so I invited him and his wife over for a snag and tour and I was pretty excited but I'm about the only one who was!  

Still the crew were happy with their takings for the day and even some new members, and I won a competition in the local paper for a huge PLANTED crate, so the garden is on it's way and it's nice to be part of a "community".

There's still more happening in The Port...

A new Food Market opened down the other end of the dock and Kim

 the son of our apple-orchard friends (Graeme& Fiona) is there selling the best-organic-in-Australia apples  and the best fresh juice from those apples (that he presses right there)

This is the hand-press he uses to squeeze that "to-die-for" juice!

He sells the honey and beeswax candles from the bees he keeps and he cooks the apple crisp his (9-month-pregnant) girlfriend makes in the wood-fired pizza oven he brings along - oh yeah - and he made the counter (with sink and running water) and the tables and chairs by himself...

That's Fiona sitting (for once in her life) on Kim's tables&chairs he made from wine barrels (of course!)

and he works even harder than his parents (if that's possible) and so the least we can do is to help him and are happy to be working in "retail" again; Joseph  sells and takes the money (and tries hard to keep it sorted and neat and tidy in the drawer) and because there is no till to tell me how much change to give, well I wash the jars for the juice.  

Hard to see the counters Kim made- but there's another one behind where I wash!

 But for a few precious hours it's that special feeling talking to customers and making them happy and it makes me miss ONW sooo much!

We even have a playground next to the market!  yippee!

So with all that, we were pretty freaked when the owner of our rental decided to sell.  I just can't tell you how wonderful it is to live here. If we can't be in Canada anymore, then living here makes it so much easier to bear( bare?) 

View from roof top deck.

It's just a beautiful house (bigger than we need but …), with the most amazing view (well, at night you can't tell it's a cement factory), with (as it turns out) great neighbours (there's another blog right there!)

There's our neighbours - we are the one with the yellow roof and shade sail on the top level
- our bedroom window on the bottom level just behind the tree)

That's the clipper being moved to it's new spot.

 within walking distance of the stores (just a few good ones but they're trying!)

 I walk along the wharf to the shops (a few more minutes away)

5 mins (max) to all of my family and the only blip is Jasper (and his parents) are on the other side of town (40min drive) but  we must have done something right  somewhere along the way, because it turns out the new owners are happy to let us stay - for another year anyway.

… and just so you know - we would LOVE to have you come to visit and share all of this with you!

Couldn't miss having our favourite boy included!

Adhesive capsulitis …

Well I guess I gave one too many "cold shoulders" over the years and  I'm paying for it now…

  … I have Adhesive Capsulitis or "FROZEN SHOULDER" as it is "commonly" known!  I use quotation marks  because I had never (pretty sure ever) heard of it before - but am now quickly becoming obssessed with it.  

Firstly:

 I absolutely realize that my teeny-tiny infliction pales in comparison to what others are going through; my heart aches for Debra, Alex et al and my friend Wendy is still having major head operations years (7? 8?) after her catastrophic op to remove her brain tumour, and Jane (Keogh) losing Emily and urgh!  the list goes on …

Secondly:

To stop me labouring on like the cry-baby I am - here is  the link if you want to read about it  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesive_capsulitis_of_shoulder

But of course everything is relative and for me who has a rather nice life, where nothing much really "goes wrong" (sadly my blogs may give a different impression), who usually (always?) gets what she wants (and I want a lot) and is relegated to milking the slightest ache for all it's worth because I am hardly ever sick - it's proving to be a tad tricky to deal with!

The Problem

My shoulder was sore, achey with limited motion and so I did what I always do when I have the slightest ache or muscle soreness - I went to the chiropractor!  But - and this maybe the crucial bit -  I'm missing adorable Ken (Dr. Ken Dick), my favourite chiropractor in the whole world and #1 on my list of "The most important people in my life" (he used to be #2   - right after Ron (Dr. R. Rushworth) who was my most favourite doctor in the whole world (& Australian b.t.w.) ahead of God (#3), and Joseph and family etc. -  but then Ron retired so Ken moved up ) … and then we moved to Adelaide… and I think my body has gone into withdrawal.  I honestly think that Ken's magical hands were responsible for my well-being.

This is how high I can lift my arm on the side...
absolutely no possibility of "maintaining" the
underarm - goodness knows what is growing
in there!

The Eyes

Now I had to find a replacement chiropractor and off I went to see BRAD. 

Brad on the left - Justin on the right.
Get the idea?

BRAD took over from Jim who, amongst other things (like coaching the Australian basketball team) treated most of my family for a million years. BRAD is young enough to be my son and, most importantly,  has the most amazing eyes I have ever seen!  Ken was pretty yummy I might add but OMG these eyes!!    So while Hallelujah! plays in the background BRAD cracked and pulled and then suggested I have a scan that required a doctor's visit for a referral .  Back to BRAD with the scan results and he suggested a visit to the physiotherapist (part of their clinic) for DRY NEEDLES!!  (huh?).  I suggested to BRAD that I was thinking of something a little more enjoyable like a massage, but he explained that DRY NEEDLES work much better/faster etc.  … of course I would do anything those eyes told me to do ...

The Needles

So off I go to see JUSTIN for some DRY NEEDLES!!.  Justin is old enough to be my youngest son - his eyes are OK but nothing like BRAD's.  I chat away while JUSTIN inserts the (100?) needles into my shoulder … no pain, nothing … until … JUSTIN "touches" one of the needles that sends shooting pains up into my head and makes me moan (scream?) in agony, and JUSTIN says that means it is "working" and so "we" leave it in a while longer.  I start doing my childbirth breathing to deal with the pain and he takes out the other 99 needles and finally the painful one is gone as well.  JUSTIN rubs my shoulder (to erase the wounds?) and it is while he is rubbing that I start to pass out … the blood draining,  the blackness, the nausea etc. but I manage to stick my head between my knees and after a few attempts at getting up and going back down, and JUSTIN looking concerned (? me or he needed the bed for his next patient?)  I drag myself out into the waiting room with people staring at me as though they had never seen anything like it before and right there and then I declared I would never, ever have DRY NEEDLES stuck into me ever again!

The Miracle

 Well, I may have felt slightly better from the needles (but I don't think so), but a week later,  on Thursday night after babysitting Jasper all day and being forced a couple of time to reach around behind me (while driving) to give him his cup etc. that the miracle happened!!  There were a few "clicks"- et voilà - my shoulder was better!!! Not 100% but a million times better than it had been.  So no more chiros, physios, doctors I declared - I had healed myself!!  I was pretty excited about all of this until 2 weeks later, just before we set off on holiday in the van,  I was doing the usual body maintenance (legs, arms etc.) and as I maintaining my left underarm - a series of clicks and excruciating pain  - et voilà - my shoulder was back and now worse than before!

The Relapse

There was no time to do anything about it and besides, I'm done with drs, chiros, physios etc. and we are off on our three-week trip in the van where one would think my arm gets to rest, but actually becomes worse because its hard to find a comfortable spot sitting all day and even the slight vibration of the driving seems to annoy it, and our tiny, hard, raised bed seems impossible to find a comfortable spot on (turns out it's not the bed's fault) and by the time we arrive back home I'm ready to see anybody who will help!  One of them, B or J I can't remember, suggests I may have FROZEN SHOULDER (while, I might add, Hallelujah is playing in the background AGAIN!!) !  Huh?  So I start Googling and am dumbfounded to read that it is relatively common in WOMEN (!!!) over 40(!!!), and that people with diabetes(!!!) and thyroid problems(!!!) have a higher risk and that sometimes (SOMETIMES!!) after one shoulder heals they get the same thing in the other shoulder!!  What!!??!!  

This is how I wash my hair

This is how high I can lift my arm in front
(on a good day)

The Diagnosis

The description on Wikipedia describes my symptoms exactly so I am able to self-diagnose my condition and armed with my new-found knowledge after extensive 

research (2 nights, most of a day) I've decided it is a virus and that I'm in either stage one or two (three is easy to diagnose because by then the pain has gone and I know I'm not there yet) so I'm RESTING it - no prodding it, no exercises, no stretching it, just resting … and a massage to help me relax .   

The Massage

I "explain" to DAVID (m.t.)  what I think the problem is, what my plans are, what I'm doing, what I am not doing etc. and then he gives me a very nice 1/2hr massage concentrating on my shoulder area (including my throat??) and I am a lot more relaxed… but before he lets me out he goes on for ages telling me that I really shouldn't stop moving it completely - that I should move  it a little bit everyday. He obviously wasn't listening properly to my "explanation" - i'm pretty sure I didn't say that!!

David - who didn't listen to my "explanation"!!
…but gave a very good massage.

Anyway - here I am doing what I do best … 

resting and relaxing… 

and I can tell you that it's pretty hard trying to rest and relax more than usual these days

 … but I'll let you know how it progresses!

A bit further north (east) ...

We have a few extra days (thanks to Jane doing extra (extra) babysitting duty) so we keep on driving north and get as far as Nambucca Heads … 

and yet another amazing beach just over the sand dune in the caravan park (and again there were no mosquitoes!! ).  

He still loves the rocks!

An uneventful stay and  we leave the coast and head inland up through the mountains ...

-with water falls …

… and a rainforest with a (short) tree-top walk...

... and if you are travelling with a birdwatcher you also do the walk down into the forest and if he is a  good birdwatcher he will finally (even though he ends up with a leech on his tummy!!!)  find his devoted wife a Lyre Bird Yippee 

She's in there - very blurred with her tail pointed towards me
… they scratch around in the undergrowth
and my iPhone (&me) could do no better than this :(

  (I was a Lyre Bird in a school play when I was eight - hence my fascination!) 

… and if you are travelling with a birdwatcher who is also an astronomer-wannabe you then drive even further up (way up) the mountains to see the big microscope at the Observatory.  

The drive up was rather morbid because just a year earlier there had been terrible bush fires in the area, and even a couple of the buildings in the observatory complex were burned to the ground (they managed to save the telescope).  

 The only nice consequence (for us) of that horrible event  was the spectacular views that we wouldn't normally have because the trees had little or no leaves.

We drive out of the mountains and the scenery starts to get more like I'm used to...

We stay in Inverness where nothing happens because the free bus to the RSL only runs on Thursday and it's Wednesday! 

 Next day we are pretty excited because we are headed to Dubbo (in the middle of nowhere)  where we stayed 35 years ago and we are pretty excited because we are going to the open plains zoo just like we did back in '79!  No RSL bus tonight but we are in walking distance of the bowling club (these are huge concerns in NSW) - where the dining room is packed but the chook raffle isn't until Friday night and Joseph only wins $5 on the pokies!  Still we're up (fairly) bright and early for the zoo and are there right at opening time but alas! they no longer have the tandem bikes we rode 35 years ago and the bikes they do have are pretty crappy for $15 each so we decide to just drive through.  

We are still pretty excited until we arrive at the actual entrance and find out we should have bought our tickets before!  (Note: nowhere on the map does the word "ticket" appear) Joseph "explains" to the girl how poor the signage is, but she just tells us to "chuck a uwey"!  Joseph "explains" that we can't just "chuck a uwey" in this  van and asks if this happen often (that people arrive ticketless) and of course she has to admit it does so we create the most hugest coffuffle while we shunt back and forwards and make our way back to  …  the red building!  Urgh! Who knew? I confirm with others that it is almost impossible to find "the red building"  to buy the stupid tickets but we decide against "explaining" to the ticket agent what their problems are and off we go and we are now just a little bit excited!   

It seems that maybe our memories are a tad more spectacular than they should be (or perhaps the zoo has changed a bit since our last visit ?) because the herds of wildebeest just aren't sweeping majestically anymore 

Zebras - but no wildebeest

and although we enjoyed our visit ...

it turns out that the highlight (for us) was the copulating Galapagos Turtles!!

This trip down memory lane means we won't  make it to Broken Hill tonight and we won't be able to make the birdwatching stop Joseph had planned (sad face)  so we stay in Cobar - a town I had never heard of before.

Between Dubbo and Cobar - they are growing COTTON!!??

Nice! :(

  Woah - Cobar is a fairly major (for Australia) copper-mining town and how did I not hear of it before?  I learned all about Broken Hill in school  - but not Cobar - both of them way out in the middle of nowhere!  

The mine actually goes underground now
(waaay at the bottom)

Still no RSL bus but we have to eat our fruit and veg before Broken Hill (quarantine restrictions) so we sit inside the van while it pours outside and eat as many potatoes and onions as we can (these are the same onions a man gave us in Mildura because he couldn't take them into S.A.!).  

The road to Broken Hill reminds us of the Nullabor, and although the signs warn us about  "Kangaroos next 126kms" it's the GOATS that bother us!!.  They are everywhere - herds of them - and we think they should have a sign warning about them. But as it turns out the goats do actually run away when they hear the traffic, unlike the kangaroos who run alongside and then in front of you (or just bound across in front of you) .  Still we can't believe the numbers of goats and Joseph figures there's a business in selling goat meat and the manager at the caravan park in Broken Hill confirms that is already happening but they are so difficult to farm.  This area is usually ridiculously dry but they've had a bit of rain in the last few weeks so there's the slightest hint of green in the paddocks and we figure that will just mean more goats pretty soon.

(hmmmm - why didn't I photograph the goats!!???)

Broken Hill is the BH of BHP Billiton and it's a mining town from a million years ago in Australia.  It's still a mining town but as Joseph points out - the mines can be profitable but that doesn't necessarily mean the town is.  BH looks slightly jaded and even though it is Friday night there is no bus to the RSL because there is NO RSL !!! and no Bowling Club either!!!  So we settle for pizza and a tour of the statue park that is 11kms out of town.   They have paved roads to drive up to the statues so we can drive through country we can't usually access (no 4WD).  

Hello!

So it's a nice drive in the middle of kangaroos and some birds and when we arrive at the top of the hill some interesting statues carved out of rock.  (The site was started by a local Aboriginal man to honour an elder and now has overseas artist contributing)

Awwww - the van - again!

One more night in the slanting bed 

and then we make it through the quarantine inspection with the cabbage forgotten in the saucepan drawer (I honestly forgot about it) and the aubergine in the fridge (I figured the nice inspector probably didn't know what an aubergine was) and a few more hours driving through the typical outback scenery with fewer and fewer goats until we're in the hills and then home. 

 Good trip - nice to be back!