A Wonderful Weekend

Well we had a wonderful weekend on Saturday I got some housework done before heading over to Lee's for the night. We all went in to town together as I needed to pick up a few bits and bobs and then on the way back we took Brandon to play in the park for a little while. Lee and I watched a film whilst Brandon played on cbeebies on the computer and then we went to bed. Today has been another lovely day we decided to take a walk down to the pet shop so Brandon could see all the lovely animals plus I needed to get some cat food for baby. I got 2 x 12 pouches for £4 so saving me £1.20 on what I usually pay. Here are some pictures of our walk and the animals

Brandon modelling a postbox lol

Two of my favorite men

Brandon taking a rest by a patch of forget me knots

The cute bunny rabbits 

This giant rabbit was £75

Pretty fish

They are so relaxing to watch

Degu

Degu taking a rest from his exercise 

Hamster fast asleep

Bearded dragon

Ok stop taking my picture now lol

 We also popped in to Mcdonalds for lunch as a little treat for Brandon. He has not been there for many months now so he was really happy that we took him today. We also got a voucher with his happy meal to buy him an epic book from WHsmith for £1 so the next time we are in town we will go pick one up for him it is supposed to cost £4.99 so a saving of £3.99 not bad. I have a bald spot on my carpet where Kindy the rabbit chewed it and have been meaning to get a rug to cover it but me being frugal (or tight as some of my family would call me lol) did not really want to pay the prices most rugs are charged at so I waited till I found a good deal which was today. They had a lovely rug in B&M which matches my decor perfectly it was priced at £29.99 but there was a label on the shelf saying £9.99 so I asked an assistant to price check it for me and it was in fact £9.99 so I grabbed it.

Bald patch nibbled by our rabbit Kindy

Bald patch hidden thanks to my nice new bargain rug

I picked up this lovely vintage knitting bag for £3.99 from a charity shop the other week but kept forgetting to post a picture of it. I have wanted a proper knitting bag for some time but again was not willing to pay the prices charged so when I saw this I snapped it up and the colours are stunning.

And this is what we arrived home to its a hard life being a cat lol

Hope you all had a good weekend to.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

And It All Started So Well

Well any hopes I had for another productive day were dashed at lunch time when I came down with an awful headache. Despite taking paracetamol and ibuprofen every 4 hours since it started I have been unable to shift the blooming thing. It is making me feel rather sick to so not very nice. After this post is written I shall tuck myself up in bed for a good sleep and hopefully it will have shifted by morning. Things started off so well too. I was up early with lots of energy after having a good nights sleep and was raring to go. I got the boys all ready and packed them off to school and then got all my basic housework done. I sat down for a bit of lunch while the repair man fixed my shower (finally) and bam on came the headache. For lunch I continued with my theme of using up what I have in the house before doing my next food shop by digging out a couple of steak slices I had in the freezer. They were a yellow sticker reduction bought last month reduced from £1.69 to 65p. I took some pain killers and waited for the headache to go so I could get on with the other things I had planned for today alas 9 hours later and I still have the blooming thing.

I had planned to get out in the garden today I wanted to plant my tomato seeds and get my potato tubers set up for sprouting. I also wanted to get the patio swept and washed and the side of the shed washed down. If I had any time left after that I was going to take a look at my jewellery supplies and come up with a few designs to make and go in my etsy shop. I am lucky enough to have a very talented photographer as a friend (well in fact I have 2 and both are artists also) she has offered to take the photos for me as I am no David Bailey when it comes to cameras and I want the pictures to really show off the pieces in their best light. Hey ho this will all have to wait till Monday now as Brad and Ben are off to their dad's tomorrow for the night and Brandon and I are heading over to see the Mr for the night. Lee has been working all week and only has a couple of days off between shifts so not enough time to come stay with us so we are going to him for a change. It will only be 24 hours but after not seeing him for a week and shifts starting again Monday morning it will be nice to spend some time with him.

Anyway off to bed now
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

My Autistic Angels

As some of you may know 2 of my 3 children are autistic. They have it at various degrees one is at the top end of the spectrum meaning he has it quite severely and one is in the middle of the spectrum meaning he does not have it quite as badly as his big brother. Although autism has been made a lot more public in the last few years we still encounter a lot of prejudice from ill educated people. I wanted to do a post on autism in the hope of better educating people and if my words have an effect on just one person then it has been worth my time. Firstly let me share my qualifications which enable me to speak on this subject I have 2 autistic children one is 14 and one is 5 I have also worked in special needs settings over the years where a lot of the children were autistic. I feel that being the mum of autistic children makes me more qualified to talk about the subject than any doctor out there. I live with this condition daily and have done for the last 14 and a half years I have experience in this subject that you wont find in any text book or medical journal. Let me start by giving you a brief explanation of what exactly autism is.

Autism is a social communication disorder which affects the sufferers ability to communicate effectively with the people around them. It also affects the way in which the sufferer see's the world and interprets things. It causes strange behavior patterns and irrational fears in the sufferer. To give us a rough idea of how affected our child is doctors will conduct something called a 3DI interview (may be under a different name in the US). We are asked 100 different questions over the space of 2 hours and have to choose a multiple choice answer. Based on the answers given you are awarded a score and this tells you where roughly your child falls on the spectrum. Now 2 children may fall around the same place on the spectrum but I assure you no 2 autistic children are the same. They each have their own individual rituals and personalities if you are willing to put the time and the patience in to get to know them.

The main thing I wish to talk about today is the behavior problems the sufferer goes through and the stress on the parent dealing with the behavior. Autistic children are prone to both physical and emotional outbursts this can be anywhere at any time at home or out in public. They do not understand social rules and therefore don't understand the impact there behavior can have on others around them. Many a time I have had to tackle my son to the ground and restrain him in a busy shopping center. Not easy with everyone staring and making ignorant judgments that he is just a tearaway and if he were their son they would give him a good smack (and yes I have actually had this said to me). Brad has been called all the names under the sun, he has been mugged, he has been threatened by adults people who should know better, he has been exposed at, and has been physically challenged all of which does nothing to help his behavior and it is the parent who is left to pick up the pieces.

The slightest little thing can trigger an outburst but I have found that the worst outbursts have come from other peoples reactions to him. He hates being different to everyone else he has said things such as can I have a brain transplant, I wish I was dead, get a gun and kill me, I am going to kill myself. To hear these things as his mother breaks my heart but it also makes me very very angry that someone who is obviously an ill educated bigot could have this effect on my beautiful boy who can not help the way he is, who did not ask for this condition, and who has so much to contend with in his life already without the nasty comments and judgement from others.

I guess what I am really trying to say is the next time you see a child misbehaving in public rather than making a snap judgement ask yourself could that child have a hidden disability. Ask the parent if there is anything you can do to help such as watching the other children or holding her bags while she calms the other child down. Believe me when I tell you we would appreciate this a lot more than nasty words and evil looks.

Just food for thought

My Autistic Angels

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Feeling Good

I am feeling really good today no dizzies, no ear pressure, and no head pressure. I have also had an abundance of energy from somewhere so decided to act on it before it disappears again lol. I have been busy I tidied the house top to bottom, ran the hoover round, got 2 lots of washing put away, another one done and dried, and have just finished washing the bedding to go out on the line in the morning (weather permitting), I gave the animals a good clean out, cleaned up my email account (over 1000 emails to sort through whoops), and took care of some correspondence, done homework with the boys, read to the boys, done dinner, got the boys to bed, and tidied up the house again ready to start it all again tomorrow. After writing this post I intend to chill out on the sofa with a bit of CSI and then head to bed for an early night. So nothing exciting to report but it has been a very productive day and I love days like today it almost makes me feel normal and I forget I have MD for a few hours.

Dinner tonight was a cumberland pie (ready meal I am afraid) with carrots and was yummy. The cumberland pie was a yellow sticker reduction marked down from £4 to £1.80 plus a tin and a half of carrots 30p so £2.10 in total and served 4 so 53p per person. I am trying to use up everything I have in the house before doing my next food shop.

Hope you all had a productive day and here's to more of the same tomorrow (fingers crossed)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Meow Meow

Today started off rather rubbish the garden items I ordered arrived (Asda not Tesco as I previously stated). Both the compost bin and water butt were missing their lids. I called customer services and was given a number of options 1= A partial refund and keep the items (no good to me what use is a water butt with no lid and 3 children in the house). 2= Take the items back to the store for a full refund (how the hell am I meant to get on the bus with a 220L compost bin and a 210L water butt). 3= Arrange collection by courier but have to wait for my full refund until they have received the items back and processed it (I went for this option). I did ask why I could not exchange the items or they could not just send out the lids to the 2 items but apparently they had run out of stock. So they have both been parceled back up and await collection. Once I have received my refund I shall look elsewhere. At least I have my compost so I can start my potato and tomato plants off. Which reminds me I must check my mushrooms on Thursday. They are tucked up in a dark cupboard at the moment and when I pull them out on Thursday they should have a white substance across the top of the soil.

The day did improve however when I was invited to the opening night of my friends art exhibition. The subject is physical and mental pain and is largely a collection of photographs blown up and put on to canvas. A very apt subject for an MD sufferer. It is on the 24th and I look forward to attending (if I can find a babysitter). The Mr has been invited also however he is working nights on that day so I shall be going solo.
I was also given a black bag full of clothes for Brandon my youngest son. There was 2 coats one is a 6 year old and one is a 7 year old so will do him for the next 2 winters. There was also several pairs of jeans and a couple of tops most of which will be put away for next year as they are a little big for him right now.

Baby has really found her voice today meowing at the window on and off all day. She is desperate to get out there and I feel so mean keeping her in but until she has been spaded and micro chipped I am not willing to risk it. She has an appointment for the 22nd and she will be allowed out and about once she has recovered fully from the operation. Anyway off for a meow meow chat with baby while she feels inclined to talk.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

No post tonight

No post tonight I am afraid as I have 3 poorly boys to tend to. They have all come down with  a bug and had to have the day off of school. They seem much better this evening so hopefully normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Did you miss me

Well hello I am back online a little later than expected but I am back none the less. Well what have we been up to here at Tilly towers. You may remember Ben and I spent the weekend at Lee's last weekend. We took a lovely walk from the bus stop to his house and ran in to this fine family on our way.

Yummy dinner is served

Mummy, Daddy, and Baby

Daddy seemed a little protective so we did not stroke them but we did stop and watch them for a while and had a chat with them so very beautiful and so nice to see the whole family out for dinner together.

 I have decided to try my hand at growing some veg again. I gave it a miss last year as I had been disheartened by my attempts over the previous 2 years but have decided to have a go. I've done my research this time around and am starting off small. I am attempting potatoes, tomatoes, and mushrooms this year and if all goes well I will add a couple more to my selection next year. I have worked out where the sun rises and falls in my garden so I know the best spot for growing and I have got myself some new gardening gear all ready. I got 3 bags of compost and a compost bin, a water butt, some secateurs, hedge trimmer, seeds, mushroom growing kit. Now I don't want you all worrying that I have spent a fortune because I have not. 3x 70l bags of compost from Tesco for £10, a composter from Tesco £20, a water butt from Tesco £20, secateurs from Tesco £2, hedge trimmer from Tesco £30, seeds from poundland £1, a mushroom growing kit from poundland £1. Tesco also have a sale on at the moment 25% off all gardening items so what should have cost £82 cost me £61.50 plus I got clubcard points which works out as 61p and cashback at 6% which works out at £3.69 through quidco so a saving of 24.80. Plus I used the £30 I got paid from money supermarket for my post 30 ways to save £1. So my actual out of pocket expenses works out at £27.20 so not nearly as bad as it sounded at the beginning. I will let you all know how I get on and blog my progress along the way.

I have also been doing lots of knitting and reading and have finished the first book in the 50 shades trilogy and am half way through the second book. The xmas scarf is almost finished and when it is I will start on a second probably the one for Lee in his favorite colour Black. I was given a lovely selection of cheese cakes by one of my neighbors the other day and the banana was my favorite so I will be attempting this myself sometime in the week once I have the recipe. Her daughter has been making cheese cakes as part of her school work over the last few weeks and they were sick of the sight of them and wondered if myself and the boys would like a few which was very kind of them.

Today has been lovely not to hot but not cold either. The sun has been shinning so we decided to get out the house. We took all 3 boys to the park for a little bit and then took a nice walk up to splodges where the younger 2 boys played for a few hours whilst Brad went and did a bit of train spotting. Splodges is a local soft play center where we live it is a short walk from our house and if you time your visit right you will often find you are the only people there giving the kids the place to themselves. It is also reasonably priced at £3.50 each and there is no time limit like you get at some places so its a nice little treat for the boys and it does not break the bank.

I love the way they walk hand in hand it is so very cute. Check out the scary van VOODOO lol.

The short walk home

Smile for the camera boys

Hope everyone else had as nice a bank holiday Monday as we did

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx