sunshine and lollipops

SPT 28th February - the 'me and him' edition, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

here's mr ebbandflo giving his wife a cuddle.

mr ebbandflo worked from home today so he could come with me to my ear specialist appointment. i am so glad he did - it wasn't great news as most of the hearing in my right ear is very damaged and may never return. until today i still held out a lot of hope but now, not so sure. the doc has put me on a course of steroids for 12 days to see if anything can be salvaged at this late stage.

(side note: the side effects of steroids can be euphoria - mr ebbandflo might be in for a fun night!!)

but anyways, my balance is much better - i can stand without swaying (too much), i don't fall over so much when i'm trapped in the garage without the light on (such fun) and the continual puking due to nausea of vertigo is a thing of the past (that was The worst). my wee guy now tells me where he is in the house, since i cannot tell what direction the noise is coming from (recently "ow! i hurt my leg! ow ow ow! " followed closely by "mummy - i'm in my bedroom"

and today i could hear the tuning fork hearing test in my right ear so maybe there is a slow improvement there anyway. i'm not going to give up on it!


medical note: labyrinthitis with both balance and hearing loss is very unusual. please please please, if anyone reading this suffers acute hearing loss like this, make sure the first medical person you see gives you a course of steroids to protect your hearing. in my case, it may have stopped me from becoming deaf

my beloved Griz

my beloved Griz
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

She's an odd cat, not very good at arranging herself gracefully at all, but full of her own brand of love.
She's not a demanding animal but will seek you out during the day on her own terms.
She loves The Wee Guy, even though he deosn't play fair with her. She's been my close companion on days when I can hardly move due to the vertigo and has firmly anchored me to the sofa under my woollen throw.
She's a rescue cat and somehow they always seem just little more grateful - Griz, it's a two-way street. We're glad we found you too.

whoops?

Life goes on uninterrupted in the Elysian Fields of Etsy. Another batch of sellers, including one of the top ones, has had their shops closed, reportedly without any alert or previous notification from high command. Hmmmm .............

And meanwhile, check out the title of the chat room at the bottom of the list on Etsy's Community pages ........... either funny or cruel depending on who set it up (it says 'created by Etsy') but it's very apt for today's events.

And PS: offsite activity eg. blogging, flickr is taken into consideration when accounts are muted, banned or terminated (listen to Policy here) - be aware; little bro is watching you!

where have i been hiding?

As the title says, "Where have I been hiding recently?"
Well for the last month I've mostly had my head in a bucket, but now I've begun walking upright once more I have made an awesome discovery - Amy Winehouse. Her voice is incredible, her delivery outstanding and her personal life addictive.
Browsing YouTube one dizzy afternoon, I realised I had never heard her sing. Two hours later I was head-over-heels in love!
This video is my favourite (do yourself a favour and click 'play').



Amy - take care of yourself girl!

Oh, and PS: don't forget the TransCanada Etsy Team sale going on until 24th!

post christmas sale time canadian style

glass i grew up with
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

The TransCanada Etsy Team (TCET) is having a sale this week!

You can see participating shops here:
the TransCanada Team blog

My sale contribution is a BOGO - buy one regular priced item and get the second one half price (excluding supplies and destash). Put "TransCanada" in the message to seller at checkout and either wait for a revised invoice or pay and get a refund.

... and visit me at ebb and flo

out and about

out and about
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

After a shaky couple of days coming off gravol it's nice to get out and about. We went for a very gentle walk along the Inlet Trail for an extremely short distance. The sun shone and it was gorgeous to be outside ...... but I was absolutely exhausted! I came home, The Man set upa sun lounger for me on the deck and I went to sleep under a blanket in the fresh air.

Once I woke up and shook off the vague nausea and dizziness that accompanies each change in position these days (a real drag) I managed to get some knitting done and also photographed some of this week's jewelry making. There's also an order of earwires whirling around in the tumbler this evening so I'm feeling at least a little bit productive. Maybe the housework tomorrow??

..... little steps!

tag! you're it!

I've been tagged (for the first time!) on my blog. Tagging courtesy of TheresaJ, who makes the most incredible jewelry for sale here BTW.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Have fun with it. - Theresa (thanks Theresa!)

OK, so I've completed no. 1 already. Phew!

Here are my seven random and/or weird facts about myself.

1. I have marched in front of a full Highland pipe band, dressed as a big fluffy yellow bird (Busby, from the old British Telecom ads - remember him?)

2. I can dance en pointe (though I may be a little rusty now as the last time I did it was about 20 years ago)

3. Currently, I'm deaf in my right ear. I'm hoping this is temporary following a nasty bout of viral labyrinthitis nearly 4 weeks ago ..... really hoping!

4. I'm an 'older' mother of one gorgeous little boy - becoming a mum is one of the best things I've ever done in life so I'm grateful I did something about it before my ovaries fried.

5. I'm not Canadian ..... yet!

6. I am a natural redhead.

7. My arms are just long enough to reach a cow's ovaries during a rectal exam of said cow.

There - that's me in a nutshell, and don't you feel that your life is enriched in oh so many ways!

Now who shall I tag? (Do I even know 7 people to tag?)

OK howabout my little sister, an australian dessert, a Fuse Muse, one of The Five, a knitty near neighbour, a sewing artist and lastly a jewelry belle?

day one off gravol

day one off gravol
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

geez! i am so tired! i didn't think that coming off constant gravol medication would be so exhausting but i am just so tired today. on the bright side, there's been no dizziness, vertigo or vomitting so i guess my balance systems must have compensated in the interim.

but i feel so sleepy today.

we didn't go out, i avoided driving cos i was worried that the vertigo would come back. the wee guy and i have hung around the house (it's raining heavily outside anyway) and baked cookies, made a new batch of playdough and watched Stuart Little 2.

i'm still deaf in my right ear though, and this is getting me down a lot.

but i seem to have made it off the gravol ........ little steps

a clutch of cufflinks

a clutch of cufflinks
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

at last i've been re-bitten by the creative spirit.
my ear is still deaf, my hands are a little shakey and my balance isn't back to normal but today i felt like making something

.... and these are what happened!

this 'ere's not working

this 'ere's not working
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

Currently these bits of me are not working - therefore my staggering is not a result of being drunk or stoned, but all down to a particularly nasty virus which is rampaging thru my right inner ear.


Not fun (and yes, I flew back with this little beauty all the way from Scotland).


illustration courtesy of Miller's Dissection of the Dog by Evans and de la Hunta