Draped

Heard the scrub jays, so I put out peanuts.



Before D left for work, Moby insisted on a lap, mine in this case. I stroked his draped-over-my-knee body for half an hour, until he decided thanks-that's-enough and got on the chair.



My eyes have been sensitive, and the lashes minimal, though helpfully present.



A January thaw, weirdly warm, no snow in the offing. Wednesday idling.

Shining

Groceries this morning, first thing. Then I dug in the front garden, got in one iris and a row of crocus. More to come, but digging always draws me in, as I want to go just a little deeper, get one more rock out. Allium and onions on the north side, where the bugges or snails plague the greenery. Moved some of the dying sunflower stalks. Keeping a decent stand out there, since the birds seem to love it, at least until first snowfall. So much to do, and so little energy to do it with.

Adapted the drawer so it will fit in front of the drainage, more towels, reveling in the color and shininess. In time, I will refinish the surface of that as well. For now, I have several lists of jobs to do, that need to be seen to first.



We really are insufferably chuffed about this.

The eyelashes are actually visible now. And I can tell my eyes are less dry and irritated, even with this meagre fringe.



I figured it around Halloween, when I could be sure if it were working, or not as they case may be. So, I may get a bit more growth yet. It's as small a thing as I can imagine, but it helps.

Racoon

Yup, real, if tiny lashes. My eyes have been less blurry and irritated as the process progresses. This may well be as long and visible as they will get. I'm good with just this much. Any more growth is simply bonus. I'm calling this a win. Just wish I could get a photo as good as the first try, and that I'd done a baseline photo. Looking over these, there really doesn't seem any difference. No objective measurement. Still, feels better.

Woken by thunder in the wee hours. Woken a bit earlier by Eleanor kneading my ribcage as I lay on my side. Painfully, and not because of claws. When I turned, she laid on my sternum, shoved her nose under my chin and kneaded my throat. Not terribly comfortable, either. She moved off, I fell back asleep, until the storm whipped through. She woke me again in the same manner about 6, with the addition of kneading at my breast, like a suckling kitten. Pretty obvious this is what she's doing, so I tolerate the discomfort for a while and curl around her. Friends do what they can.

Once up, sat on the sofa to browse here, drink tea and eat a muffin, and Moby needed attention and affection. Cats feeling in need of reassurance, apparently. All that water out there, makes 'em jumpy. Ok, now both beside me. I am sandwiched by cats. One snoring. As I watch the scrub jays deciding which peanut to take first. Not sure why they bother testing several before flying off, they always take them all in the end. Finches on the sunflowers, arguing.

Dug some of the mud and weeds out of the gutter, nice dirty job. More than I could finish, but made a significant improvement. Pulled other weeds, easier to uproot them when they are well soaked. And poured boiling water on a recalcitrant patch in the driveway. A method, that, with the 20% vinegar, has proved remarkably effective in the areas I've treated two or three times conscientiously.

Prowling the intertubes for Guardians of the Galaxy clips. Looking forward to watching it at home, since the spectacularity of it was not the appeal for me. I'm all about the characters, Rocket and Groot in particular. For me, real funny is not fluffy, but rooted in the deadly serious. This movie oozed with authentic humor, flip and fey and furious. So often it's easier to deal with the more dire emotions at the remove of a fantastic being. Puppets and talking animals, ents and aliens, experimental story telling, isolating the variable for clarity.


Fun seeing it full screen at full volume, once. Probably the last time I intend to go to a theater for a film. I like being able to move, keep the volume moderate, avoid pre-views and ads, get a mug of tea or run to the bathroom. I've grown more fussy and impatient with sitting still and being fed a tale.

Finished The Attenbury Emeralds, Jill Paton Walsh, last night. I find her writing to be very much like Sayers, and the characters believable older versions of the originals. Credible extensions of the Whimsey universe, with a quality all her own as well.

Skewed

Yes, I do have a left eye as well. I realized this morning that if I wanted to be really scientific about this, I would have just treated one eye and not the other. With very good results, could have looked more than a little odd. As it is, I'll have to tolerate a bit of potential data skewing, if not visual lopsidedness. Not really possible to get a good double blind, anyway.

The best information I could find online (yeah, see where I'm starting from?) cautions a three month wait for definitive results. Which puts me at about Halloween. Even if I don't get more growth, I'm getting marked relief from morning crusty eye. Less itching, at least. So, even if there isn't a return of lashes, I'm pleased enough with the results.

Taking eye photos is proving less reliable than I expected. Got lucky on the first few, not so much with subsequent efforts. Hard to focus, since I'm mostly guessing. Very instructive.

Snip

I can feel them. And there is perceptible color. If I'm fooling myself, I'm doing a damn fine job of it.

More snail removals this morning.

Woke very early, before the chime would go off. Took me a great deal of calculation to decide this is my day off. In that state of mind, of tired semi-sleep, this is very difficult. "Um, one... . Um. Monday was, yeah, and then there. One... oh, yeah yesterday was Tuesday... right? So. One... two... ."

Eventually I got to Wednesday, and assured myself I could sleep a bit longer. Although by then I had to get up to stagger to the bathroom. Laid down a while longer, and napped because Eleanor had to sit on my throat.

This is not Eleanor, but Sebastian, eating the catnip on our porch.



Not a huge surprize.

Slurp

Several years ago, I had a bad summer flu, markedly itchy eyes. After that, my eyelashes never grew back. This may simply have co-incided with onset of rosacea, or some other factor, but it's when I first noticed. Also, became much more sensitive to light, more easily irritated. I considered eyelash growing crap, but on further research, it has to be used constantly, not just until the peeper hairs return, and it ain't cheap. Likewise considered cosmetic tattooing, but I'm not convinced it could be done subtly enough for my taste. I used to wear mascara, but D has always preferred my unadorned face, which is a compliment that I've always taken very seriously.

When I got the face cream, the PA mentioned doing eyelid cleaning. Couldn't imagine how I could do more than shove my face in the shower, so I put it far back in my brain.

But a couple of weeks ago I found this, see bottom panel that says "Strengthen eyelashes."


And thought, well, castor oil has to be pretty cheap, so why not try? Not as easy to find as I'd have expected, still, got a good size bottle. Applied it like mascara morning and night, which also helped with minor itchiness and hard crustiness. And, well, I may well be imagining it, so I'm documenting it here, I think the lashes are returning. Not expecting lush and thick and long and dark, since they never were that even when I was young. Something, anything, would help.

I sincerely hope I'm not fooling myself on this.



Found four of these glasses at the yard sale this morning.


Moby snoring on the chair by the window. Scrub jays gathering peanuts.