GinnyKnit

This oasis of calm is Michaels new school. A specialist autism school 5 minutes from our house. I think they built it with him in mind. His previous school was wonderful but it was decided he needed a special place more attuned to his needs. Jenni and Ant fought long and hard to get him a place and it turned out the education committee failed to notify them that there was a place in September. During a meeting about the boy a very embarrassed representative of the committee was put on the spot about it and he started part  time 2 days later. It was apparent after a week that he had found his niche and last week he finally went full time. The difference in him is amazing, he is trying new things everyday from foods to situations. He is making decisions that were previously impossible and the set in stone arrangements for him staying with us are now being changed by him. After 6 years I am now able to have weekends off and do those things that only occur on a Saturda...

I have a weekend off as Michael decided to change thins around and stayed last night instead of tonight. John dropped me at the chemist - which was shut!!- so I walked to the shops while he drove Jenni and the kids to the shops to meet her friend for coffee. 10 minutes later my phone rang - 'the clutch is playing up on the car - AA duly dispatched a very nice man and I walked back to Jennis in the pouring rain. Luckily I only had a little bit of shopping as I only got as far as the Asian supermarket. Half an hour later the nice AA man followed us home and we booked the car in for Monday, its nothing major...phew I am now spending my weekend off wrapped in a cosy blanket and practising 'Hygge'. Baked potatoes and chicken in the oven which will warm the house and dry my coat when it comes out of the washer. Picked up this big bag of Biriyani spices for £1.99. They need crushing in the pestle but will lasta long time. When you think a little bottle of spices at the s...

This is how Banjo and I feel at the moment! My arm is still very painful and not working particularly well  but am managing a little crafting. The boy is now enrolled in a special school where he is in a class of 7! He is calmer and much happier than ever before. Its an oasis of calm at the Grange which is perfect for him. Gone are the stresses and strains of regular school. Beth is coming on fast and saying lots of words now. She will literally eat anything you put in front of her so the cat keeps out of her way. We are so busy helping out with the children we are not getting much time for ourselves and when we do one or both of us is worn out and in pain but on Saturday we are going out for coffee and a whizz round the garden centre ( hopefully). Now I'm going to get on my soapbox. I watched a programme called ' A Plastic Tide' the other night and it has driven me to try and encourage everyone to be aware of the consequences of buying things in plastic wrapping....

These 2 are keeping me on my toes at the moment. Boo is the great adventurer now and carries the stool across the room to reach whatever she wants! She is besotted with the cat who sits patiently while she strokes his toes. Michael is on his best behaviour lately with us and finally sleeping better. No more 4 am's - phew. I am not doing so well myself as in the last 3 months have been diagnosed with more arthritis - in my lower back, carpal tunnel syndrome in my left wrist and worst of all either bursitis or inflamed ligament also in my left arm. This is seriously cramping my style I cant knit, crochet or sew for more than a few minutes and its painful and boring!!! So am making decorations for the tree and a few bits for gifts. I am hoping for a steroid injection asap which will help the arm and stop the pain a bit.

Tough month with little income means I need to polish my frugal skills. Luckily the pantry has 2 shelves full of various bits and bobs and the tin cupboard is still full. Muscle foods order is now getting to the end but I must say it was a worth while (and lucky) purchase. The chicken breast are amazing.  Due to the heat we had pasta salad and rice tonight with a boiled egg and a piece of pork pie. I actually  thought I had run out of pasta - nooooo - found several packs in the pantry ...phew... Sadly when the S*** hits the fan I always start making things to sell however there is no point to that as I cannot sell anything due to the stupid rules when benefits change - Dagnab it! One thing we will be able to rely on this year is soft fruit as   the garden is positively groaning with strawberries, raspberries and red currants. The strawberries are either from my dear friend Annie, posted from London a couple of years ago or from 2 bedraggled 50p half dead plants fro...

I started a tiny business in December and last week had to close it due to government ineptitude. They could not grasp that I was starting a business that only earned me £30 a week! I hoped to grow it slowly but surely and be able to support myself. Add to that Johns benefits changed as he had run out of contribution based ESA. So they left us with a little PIP and my carers allowance to live on. They even stopped the rent payments and expected me to pay them from £30 a week - un-bloody-believable. Oh and they stopped my tax credits due to the change of ESA. I see so many people with online business's and at craft fairs and just wonder how many of them have gone down the legitimate route? Anyway am filling in paperwork every day and crossing my fingers. Tomorrow we have a medical to see if Hubby is fit for work, I am guessing there are few jobs where you can take your wife to work, be able to have a shower and a nap but we will see. Mean while these two are keeping me...

Pickle and Boo now have a shop on Folksy! Its a small start but will be filling up soon. Here are 2 of the listings to start with. B for Boo and bears! Boo has fallen in love with just a few of my bear collection and looks for them every time she comes over. In fact today I couldn't part her from one and she dragged it into her car seat. Luckily he ended up in the car or he would have never been seen again. Pickle is still practising his pknitting, as he calls it. He has come along in leaps and bounds of late and is baffling his teachers as if you give him a date he will tell you what day of the week it is. Yesterday he asked if we were going on holiday next week because its the same week we went last year - amazing memory.