Keeping Busy

MarkInSussex · 19. Apr 2023, 15:24

Living with RA is hard enough, and being medically housebound because of it doesn't help either, but that will change once i've had my knees done (currently bone on bone in both), so to keep my myself and particularly my limbs and mind moving i like to whittle, yup im a born and bred country boy and ive always had a pocket knife by my side because its a tool not a weapon.

So having family members grab small sticks and twigs from the garden i keep myself and the old grey matter working by making stuff, its even more of a challenge as i have deformed hands also, so i really have to think each motion through before making it, cos if you get it wrong, it hurts and the red sap flows, but whittling is good exercise for the hands due to the number of different grips you have to make on the tool and the wood and its good for your mental wellbeing too, as you just lose yourself in your thoughts and day to day worries just melt away for a couple of hours, its incredibly peaceful and it can be done by anyone.

Today i've been carving wooden beads so i could make a necklace, the cordage is hand spun hemp, then i made made some wooden mushrooms and coloured them red, white and blue with permanent markers (not the white one, thats natural wood) for the Coronation before mounting on a piece of Oak bark so they stand as a group and then made a couple of flowers mounted on stems of Cherry Plum.

The mushshrooms and flowers will go outside on the garden fence or grass verge for people to take, the necklace, i'll probably gift that at some point, not today though.

All made with a Swiss Army Knife from thin Hazel sticks that came out of the garden, now my fingers, elbows, shoulders and back are sore and it's time for a cuppa and some ginger nuts.