A New Month

The month of May was a bit of a wash out for me.  Despite finally seeing the arrival of my studio, I achieved very little of what I had intended to do.  My fibromyalgia decided that it was a good time to rear it's ugly head.  Chronic insomnia kept me from sleeping both during the day (always need a sleep during the day in order to be able to cope with the afternoon and evening) and at night.  I spent more time in the garden willing the dawn chorus to start than I did in my bed dreaming of hunky men whisking me away to a paradise island!  This extreme lack of sleep led to a total absence of energy and a massive jump in pain levels.  My hands shook so much that i could neither stitch nor knit.  My eyes bouncing in and out of focus left me unable to read or blog.  And of course with this led to mood swings, which for me is the worst of all.  I really hate this part of my fibro because it turns me into someone that I'm not.  One thing that I always make an effort to do is not to take out my pain on those close to me.  It is not their burden to carry, especially my kids.  I try to stay as positive and cheerful as possible and the fun and laughter that I share with those around me is enough to help me deal with the pain.  But unfortunately there are times when I have no control over my moods and this makes me the saddest of all, not for how it affects me but how it affects my family.

So as last weekend was a Bank Holiday here in Ireland, we decided to take the campervan out for it's first outing of the year.  A rest and a change of scenery was definitely required for all.

We packed up and headed for the Sligo coast on Friday afternoon.  The weather was warm and for once the sun was actually shining.  We decided to go the beach first and see where to go from there.  But the weather was so good, we never moved from the sea  except to do a little shopping on Saturday.

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning.  Such a glorious sight.  What a dream it would be to wake up to this every morning of your life.  The colours of the sea and sky were so vivid, they took my breath away.

We took many walks along the beach together seeking out fossils.  This area is very rich is fossils and they can be found at every turn.

We started each day searching in the rock pools for some little creatures.  The kids were so excited with all that we found.  There were sea anemones, periwinkles, muscles, limpets and of course this prize find, a star fish.

Molly had a ball too.  She spent a lot of time running in and out of the water after the kids or barking excitedly for stones to be thrown into the water for her.  The first day she got sick all over the campervan because she swallowed too much saltwater!  Poor Molly.  She learned her lesson though, the rest of the weekend she was content to chase the ball on the beach or bury stones in the sand.  And when she did go into the water she remembered to keep her mouth closed!  By the time we were leaving she was so wrecked that she couldn't even lift her head for a drink of water.  She has been really lazy and sleeping ever since.

I did brave the water myself and went for a VERY refreshing swim but I much preferred to be cowardly and watch from the shore while stitching my little butterflies.

All round it was a brilliant weekend.  The kids had loads of fun and myself and the Hubby relaxed no end.  Also on the plus side, the sea air seems to have knocked my sleep cycle back into it's proper rhythm and I have been sleeping like a baby since.

What a perfect way to start a new month!  I really hope that it stays like this and that the strain of May is well and truly behind us now.

Keeps your fingers crossed.