Amanda Shortman - she/her

Sniv is great. Draws all sorts of cool stuff, big-hearted, likes trains and dinosaurs and loads of awesome things, and has a brilliant sense of humour just like mine. Therefore his brother must be pretty damn great too: let's see what we can do for him :D

Labours of Stone by EM Harding book cover Ephra and ron walking through London's italian gardens as a pink fog rolls in from Ephra's side

Review quote: A book of surprises, beautifully written, and very clever. I loved it for all these things, but mostly for its compassionate humour. Something which stretches my brain and also makes me smile will always be a worthy five stars. Goodreads

Gentle reminder that Labours of Stone is the book I pitched to reviewers as "like if Douglas Adams tried to write a queer romance and then got bored part way through." 😌

Should that pique your interest 👀:

rxe.me/LBQVQC

#booksky #writingcommunity

OMG 😭 The Endo & Adeno cramps just hit with a bloody vengeance 😭

No wonder I have had an awful migraine since last night. Hormones are hormoning 😫

So now my head hurts, I'm dizzy, I have the worst cramps in my pelvis and lower back, and my legs feel like I ran up 2 flights of stairs!

I'm very unlucky with my health, and it is a constant battle to survive. But I'm also incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so many reminders of the people, stories, and support that keep me going. Especially on these particularly bad days.

#40DaysOfGratitude

- I'm listening to the last hour of @nordqvistbooks.bsky.social "It's All In Your Head" - it's wonderful to read such amazing disability & chronic illness rep in a romance novel

- I'm able to chat with friends on WhatsApp and Discord, this has enabled me to build strong friendships over the years

- my drink is in a Heartstopper mug @arvbooks sent me for Christmas

- there are plants and flowers @lady_thea21 set up for me, so I can enjoy nature even from my bed

- the wall next to my bed is filled with artwork from things I love, including a GMM jigsaw, bookish related items from @aliceoseman.bsky.social, @chaoticauthor.online, @katheroony.bsky.social, @iliibra.bsky.social, @rorymichaelson.com, and @amweald.com, and postcards a friend sent me

- 5 years ago I was just starting to come out of severe ME/CFS back into moderate ME/CFS. For all my ups and downs, I am so grateful to no longer be in that severe category. I still have many days in bed. But I'm not stuck here almost constantly anymore.

And it reminded me just how much I have to be grateful for:

- 6 years ago we were living somewhere far less suitable for our needs. Now we live in an old family bungalow that allows me my own room to rest and so much security. After years of privately renting, I will never take that for granted.

Two small shelves hung on a wall - one holds a white mug with a stack of books and the Heartstopper comic characters on it, a pink Vaseline tin, and some Pernaton gel, the other has a bottle of Gaviscon and two bottles of water on it. The wall has several postcards and art prints hung on it, some framed and some not.

Day 16

Today is a really rough day. I've had an epic migraine since last night and I am staying as horizontal as possible (which for me includes a raised head due to dizziness). So my world is, once again, reduced to what I can see from my bed.

Thank you ❤️

Well that's a relief... I feel quite self conscious about it.

It's so weird, it just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and seems to be getting gradually more pronounced.

The radiographer said usually 1-2 weeks.

I was surprised they sent me for a scan tbh. I expected the GP to be like, "it's just aesthetic, you're fine".

So now I'm like, "I hope it gives an answer... but I hope it isn't anything horrible!" You know?

The original injury was really bad, so 😧

Amanda, a middle aged white woman with long, dark auburn hair and dark brown eyes is laying on a pillow looking up at the camera. She has big bags under her eyes and there is a visible dent in her forehead.

Day 14

Today I'm grateful for the NHS. As a chronically ill person, I rely on the NHS a lot.

Today I had a CT scan, to see if we can figure out why a dent has appeared above a 30+ year old scar on my forehead. Can you see it in the photo?

#40DaysOfGratitude

Amanda, a white woman with long, dark auburn hair is sitting wrapped up in a burnt orange winter coat, with a red and white keffiyeh wrapped around her neck, ans a yellow blanket over her lap. She is wearing sunglasses. There are some plant pots behind her.

Day 12

Today I'm grateful I managed a quick roll down the road to catch Pokémon with my family.

My fatigue is high. It wasn't a wise decision physically.

But I *needed* to do this for my mental health. I've been looking forward to this weekend for weeks.

#40DaysOfGratitude

Screenshot from the Garmin Connect app which shows 527 intensity minutes for the past 7 days. The weekly target is automatically set at 150, so this is 3x as much as the target. There is a graphic that shows the target was met on the second day of the week.

People who believe ME/CFS is psychosomatic despite all the evidence 🙄: "you're just deconditioned and afraid of exercise!"

My body: wildly exceeds the weekly target for intensity minutes set by my Garmin simply by existing!

This was a relatively quiet week for me too, with a LOT of resting.

I used to spend hours walking in the woods, now I spend hours looking out the window or sitting in the garden. It's my sanctuary 🥰

And this magazine is reminding me to keep hold of my dream of a garden full of life all year round, with wildlife visiting too. One day... 💭

#40DaysOfGratitude

I just about manage to add a few bits each year, and then get way behind and the weeds take over 🤦‍♀️

But I'm still immensely grateful for the outdoor space. As someone who is mostly housebound, my garden allows me to still connect with nature and the wheel of the year as the seasons come and go 😊

We've been here since Summer 2020, and trying to make both front and back gardens as accessible, low maintenance, and beautiful as possible with next to no energy and very limited finances feels like a Sisyphean task 😫

Do I wish Alan Titchmarsh and co would surprise me one day with a garden makeover? Oh yes 😂 Because with all my health issues, it is really hard to make my dream come true.

The March 2026 edition of Gardener's World Magazine that has a photo of Monty Don behind some tulips and a free packet of Zinnia seeds on the front.

40 Days of Gratitude | Day 11

Today I am grateful I was able to treat myself to a gardening magazine 🥰 which reminds me just why I am working so hard to make @ourgardengetaway.bsky.social the best it can be.

It's Pokèmon Go Tour Day!!! I am soooooo excited 😂

The inside of a greenhouse which has potting and growing benches around each side. There are several large pots on the floor filled with compost with multiple tiny lavender plants in each one.

40 Days of Gratitude | Day 10

Today I am grateful for our greenhouse. It meant that we could pot the lavender plug plants I ordered even though it was raining. Again.

These will all hopefully grow and merge into each other to create solid plants for popping in spaces we have around the garden.

I have a wicked migraine today - this usually happens after a meltdown. But nothing is gonna stop me spending some time catching Pokemon with my boy ☺️

#40DaysOfGratitude

So knowing we have this to look forward to again tonight to help reset and have fun together is helping me a lot. Because you know I am ruminating on this, right? Autism truly sucks sometimes.

The reason I am particularly grateful for this today is because last night was hard. O had a meltdown, I tried to help, inadvertently made things worse, and ended up having my own meltdown. It was rough!

And for the main event this weekend, we decided to treat ourselves to the full pass, so we can enjoy every second of it. My wheelchair battery will be charged and we will be heading out around the village. O will even be able to add some extra steps to his @oscarscharityextravaganza challenge 😉

This week there's an event, so we've been setting up a party each evening, so we can complete some field research and defeat some 5 star raids (of which there have been plenty). We only just discovered how to do that with just the 3 of us, and it is such a thrill to catch those big ones!

A screenshot of the Pokemon Go app showing 3 characters standing across the road from a blue gym and a yellow gym. There is a Stonjourner, a Littleo, and a Torchic waiting to be caught. One of the characters is a female with long hair, a red scarf, black puffy vest over a white tshirt, and jeans. Another character is a male wearing a black tshirt, black short trousers, a blue sleeping cap, and green glasses. The third character is wearing a white hoodie and jeans.

40 Days of Gratitude | Day 9

Today I'm grateful that I can play Pokemon Go with my family, even from my bed!!

As you can see, there are 2 gyms right across the road from our house, plus 2 pokestops, and plenty of pokemon to catch. So even on my bad days, I can still join in the fun with Thea and O

They trust me to know what is and isn't normal for me. This should be the norm, but sadly isn't. And the impact it has had on my quality of life (QoL) is huge.

#40DaysOfGratitude