Lots of hands giving thumbs up with gold confetti falling down. Title Reads WEGO Health Awards, ChronicallyHopeful

My 2020 WEGO Health Award Nomination – Advocating For Another

I’m so grateful and humbled to be nominated for another WEGO Health Award. This is the third year in a row which is just incredible to me. This year I’ve been nominated in the Advocating For Another category. In previous years I was nominated for my blog and for my Facebook advocacy, As patient advocates, just knowing that our efforts are recognised and appreciated is a big deal.  If you’d like to support my nomination, please endorse (vote for) me…

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3 pots with seedling vegetables growing in them. Title reads Growing crops in pots, follow my gardening adventure growing vegetables indoors

Crops In Pots, Indoor Gardening While Housebound

​This month my sister and I are taking on a new project: crops in pots! I have always been interested in gardening and have always had a dream of being self-sufficient, living off the land, ​so now we are going to have a go at growing some edibles in pots at home!  In this series, I will be documenting our progress and sharing any information or tips I discover. I hope you will find this helpful or interesting. Gardening indoors…

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A photo of a bookshelf with books and greeting cards. Title reads: Getting organised for the year ahead.

Getting Organised For The Year Ahead – Personal Update, Jan 2020

​I am so excited for the year that lies ahead; something about new beginnings just really ​makes me happy. For me, 2019 was quite a difficult year health wise. It started off really well and then I think I overdid things in May with my very ambitious ME awareness campaigns and it totally wiped me out for the rest of the year. So I will try hard not to make the same mistake again this year. ​Looking Back At December…

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Char outside in the garden wearing a sunhat and sunglasses, title reads: exploring the garden and our first BBQ in years. Personal update.

Exploring The Garden And Our First Family BBQ In Years

​Last year, at the end of Summer, we moved into this house that has a lovely little garden. It was the first time in years that I have had a private garden to explore and relax in – quite a treat when you’re housebound and severely ill! Last year we didn’t do much in the garden, the family focused ​their time and energy on the inside of the house and I focused on recovering from the move and the disability…

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September 2019 nomination for the Chronically Hopeful Award

Chronically Hopeful Award, September 2019

​​I am honoured to have been nominated for the Chronically Hopeful Award! ​​And no, I did not create this award, ​the name is just a happy coincedence, although I had actually been planning to create one for ​spoonie bloggers myself​. But as you can see, fellow chronic illness warrior, Pamela ​from There Is Always Hope, beat me to it! I am so glad there is now a peer-nominated award to recognise and acknowledge all the amazing chronically ill and disabled…

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Lots of hands giving thumbs up with gold confetti falling down. Title Reads WEGO Health Awards, ChronicallyHopeful

My 2019 WEGO Health Award Nomination – Best In Show: Facebook

​I’m so honoured and grateful to be nominated once again for the ​WEGO Health Award​s. Last year I was nominated for ​the Best In Show: Blog category, this year it’s for the Best In Show: ​Facebook category for all my ME/CFS advocacy​. ​Being an advocate is hard work, especially when you have a severe chronic illness like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Patients are putting their own health on the line during advocacy campaigns, pushing their limits, trying to be consistent, to be heard,…

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A beautiful red Lily. Title reads: Creating a retreat away from my own bedroom, personal update.

Creating A Retreat Away From My Own Bedroom

Look at ​that beautiful Lily! Everyday there seems to be something new in the garden. It’s constantly changing. I try to take a walk through the house daily, so I can look out the windows and see the different parts of our garden, it doesn’t always happen, but it’s a goal. ​And I’ve been careful to stay out of direct sunlight, shading my eyes better this week, after my sun-induced crash ​recently. Looking Back On The Past Week I’ve spent…

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Title reads, Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind, How can the church better serve the chronically ill? Picture of Shona Smith, she has short grey hair, wears glasses and is smiling. Guest post by Shona Smith. pin by Chronically Hopeful

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: How Can The Church Better Serve The Chronically Ill?

​Today I am sharing a guest post by Shona Smith. I must admit, I have mixed feelings about ​this topic, but it is an important issue and needs to be addressed. I​t is not just a few isolated cases, pastoral care in the church is something that is in desperate need of an overhaul. ​This shouldn’t be an issue, but sadly it is and Shona is working hard to find solutions.   ​I hope you do not relate to our…

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Title reads Health and fitness the week I fell ill with severe ME. Photo of Char and friends walking in a park wearing pink fluffy bunny ears and carrying green balloons. By Chronically Hopeful

Health And Fitness: A Week Before I Fell Ill With Severe Chronic Illness

​Ironically my life was super busy and active during the weeks and months ​before the onset of what lead to my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diagnosis. There seems to be the general belief that we are tired or lazy or that we have some sort of unhealthy aversion or fear of exercise, but nothing could be further from the truth! As we move towards ME Awareness Month (May), ​I wanted to share some of my health and fitness memories from the…

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Instagram logo on the left with title How To Create A Landing Page For Instagram, by ChronicallyHopeful

How To Create Your Own Instagram Landing Page, Step-By-Step

If you’re a blogger who uses Instagram to promote your content, then you will most likely be just as frustrated as I was about the one-link-only policy they have. Only the link in your profile is clickable and any links in your captions are completely static. For now. Hopefully they will change this in the future, but until then, I ​suggest using an Instagram landing page on ​your blog which will allow ​you to ​increase ​your ​active links on Instagram…

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