THE LAST BASTION OF PREJUDICE

Would you ridicule a black person because of what they looked like?
Would you make fun of an Asian person because of their intelligence level?
Would you make jokes about somebody from the middle east because of the way they they spoke?

Having been bullied and isolated all the way through my childhood because of the way that I looked I know that it would be totally unacceptable. I wouldn't do it because it is just wrong.
But there are 2 groups of people that it is OK to ridicule. To make fun of, tell jokes about and generally be unkind to and generally bully because it is bullying and it is prejudice.
I think it is time for the bullying to stop and no matter how 'funny' you might think it is it isn't funny. The last bastions....................having red hair and also being a 'chav'.
I give you time to laugh, calm down and listen to what I have to say.

So what is a 'chav'?
Well here is the test for you to find out.
I have bought food in Iceland,used a pay-you-go phone, worn jewellery from Argos, eaten a pot noodle(really), bought flowers from a petrol station, used second class stamps, eaten own brand baked beans, called my sofa a settee, think Jordan is intelligent(what business acumen that woman has), relieved a hotel room of its freebies,called pudding sweet,called the loo a toilet, bought a garden ornament from B&Q(Beauty loves them, I have a Gnome in a Welsh Rugby shirt and a Snow White),I can name a character from footballers wives, I have eaten at a Little Chef,cut and used coupons from a magazine, call my evening meal Tea and my education was paid for by the tax payer which according to the quiz makes me 44% chav. And I am happy with that, I may be 44% chav now but when I was growing up I was too poor to be a chav, see even an underclass has an underclass.
According to an online dictionary





a chav is the lower class; uneducated and ignorant people


Oh well, that's my fate sealed.
But what we chavs look like is surely most important.
Sadly I have never owned Burberry, anything Reebok or owned white trainers.
But I do have a daughter who loves certain chav clothes, she also loves certain emo clothes as well so she calls herself a chavemo.
Obviously there are are chavs who get ASBOs, and get drunk in the streets and steal and behave very badly but that isn't the issue. The issue is the wholesale lumping together of a certain group of people that another group of people don't think are as good as them and that is the whole point of the prejudice.Criticise the chavs who are badly behaved but Tony Blair's son was found drunk in the street on a couple of occasions, are the Blair's chavs?
I have had to contend with youngsters who fit the description of chavs, they damaged my car and they tried to break into my house and they wear Burberry. But 'bloody chav's' isn't the first thing that pops into my mind when they do the things they do.

I have 4 girls with red hair and I also have red hair, red hair jokes are just nasty. I once heard Wales described as the 'red-haired step-child of the UK', the reference to Wales didn't upset me at all but the insinuation that being red-haired was bad upset me.
Perhaps growing up poor with red hair makes me able to appreciate how wrong the ridiculing of people who are a different group is. It might be a funny joke but whatever class of person you are I'm sure you have feelings.

Last night I read on the internet about ASDA having problems with a campaign they were trying to run. They want customers to return excess packaging to their stores , so ASDA can return the packaging to manufacturers to show that customers are not happy with the environmental impact of all the excess packaging. However the punters didn't bring back enough packaging and the thread of the conversation was there was not much interest from the ASDA punters because only CHAV's shop at ASDA so what can you expect! Another person wrote that they had the same kind of shopper in their country, they all shopped in WALMART and were merely 'lazy, bottom feeders'.
What more can I say on wholesale prejudice?
Signed
The lazy, bottom feeder.

NOT BORED!

These are my latest creations, I find it difficult to sit and relax without doing some sort of craft work. So if I get the chance to watch TV in the evening then I sew at the same time.

MR T
(I have already received orders to make more)

KITTY

MATRIOSHKA-ISH!

HERE KITTY

CUTEY

MUSHROOM

GUITAR

OWL

APPLE

HEARTS AND FLOWERS

ARACHNOPHOBIA

I AM THE SPIDER CATCHER!
In our house anyway.For the last 11 years , 90% of the time we have been an all female household, and as leader of said house all unwanted tasks have been left to me. I am pretty good at painting, drain cleaning and especially spider catching.SnoWhites young man friend is especially nimble on his feet when spiders are seen,well he is a wrestler!
I am very good at picking up Daddy Long Legs with my hands, no problem,skinny legs and small body are fine. Even large furry spiders are OK when I am hunting them with a glass and a piece of card, hey I am in control. However, even though I am greatly attracted to Buddhism and I cannot kill a spider(under normal circumstances), I have no problem killing flies and wasps and bees(though when I kill a wasp or a bee I am always afraid their family will come and get me,sad moo!) so that is Buddhism out the window for me. I insist that the girls do not stamp on spiders or insects and I insist that they leave it to me to get rid of them. BUT last night in total fear I 'killed' a spider. Hey I saw the film ARACHNOPHOBIA and the spider was running straight towards me, I was scared. BUT it wasn't really a spider.
A few years ago I had our downstairs toilet enlarged and made into a shower/splash room and boy does Beauty love to splash in it. The hall carpet outside the door is forever ruined due to constant flooding by Beauty and so the carpet is slowly falling to pieces. Also the pull light switch in the shower room is broken again, it is broken more than it is fixed............funnily enough the toilet handle is constantly broken and so is the shower holder! Perhaps the room is haunted ,perhaps it is built on an ancient Indian burial ground-like in Two Pints of Lager and the Amityville horror(or maybe not).
Right back to the spider story(sorry).
Last night I went to the toilet and I took a candle with me, a candle has better overall light than a torch(or so I thought). Whilst sitting in the bathroom a 'spider' hurtled towards me from the space under the door and I was up and out of there in a nano second and I am afraid that I killed the 'spider'(on purpose) in my escape.AND now do I feel guilty!
I killed a TUFT OF CARPET but if it had been a spider I would still have killed it in my fear. What if reincarnation is true, I discount very little, I could come back as a rat or a pig or a cat. a cat would be worst, they lick their bits..........sorry but that is more that my brain can deal with.
I told Anastasia and she was totally supportive. SnoWhite is arachnophobic in a BIG way and she said that the tuft of carpet would have frightened her too and her screams would have woken Beauty.
Give me a glass and card and I become SPIDER HUNTER, brave and fearless(well almost) but something less that the size of a penny scurrying towards me turns me into a quivering wreck.
What a wimp!
My biggest fear though is that should Beauty come into contact with an insect she would treat it just like a daisy..........and eat it!I'm sorry but that would be a vision forever seared on my memory! I pray she never does it.

SAY GOODNIGHT!

Well today just seemed to run away with itself and it all started with reading a story on the internet about cement manufacturing plants and heavy metal poisoning, I never quite got round to writing anything earlier.Sorry.
Brilliant progress with Beauty today, she came to me and said I AM HUNGRY and I was so pleased because it is the first time she has verbally requested something. I made her some food and gave it to her and she pushed the food away and said DRINK, believe it or not I was just as pleased. She didn't know how to say I AM THIRSTY but she was able to say what she did know and still communicate her needs.
Life is very quiet with Anastasia and Dimitri back in Vienna, though Ariel is at the house so though she is just one person the noise level can be significantly increased to seem like more.
I really feel that I must have done something terribly wrong in a previous existence,at present Elmo, Dora the Explorer and Barney are on constantly in our house and the noise is just getting to me. I have had a headache for days, I think it is linked to the viral infection that I've had. My girls are the sort to have music on constantly, even when they are on the computer they have music blasting out.Music for me is something that you sit down and listen to, I have a collection of LP's, a lot of classical music as well as 60's and 70's music.
Elmo is sad because tomorrow his Mommy has to go to work! So to make up for it they are making cupcakes................OH Well nearly bedtime,
Good Night Barney
Good Night Elmo
Good Night Dora(and don't forget the Map!)
Good Night Beauty

IT'S OFFICIAL................

I'M THE WORST MOTHER!
Today was Anastasia's and Dimitri's last day with us before they go home to Vienna so we went out for a meal AND we took Beauty! And Beauty behaved beautifully and how did I achieve that I hear you asking. I asked the waitress to give her ice cream as a main meal and a dessert , it kept her occupied and well behaved all through the meal and I feel no guilt.
Anastasia and Dimitri are spending Christmas in Geneva with the family there this year so we shall have to visit Austria sometime between now and Christmas,Beauty will love it. I shall also have to take her to Geneva, Christmas market time would be good.

CATCHING UP TIME

Yesterday was a day of weddings and I am exhausted and I didn't ACTUALLY go to either of the weddings.
Wedding number one was in church and was the wedding of a friend who I grew up with and she also worked as a youth worker with my older girls so they wanted to go. Beauty being Beauty, we couldn't go inside as Beauty loves to sing the Neighbours theme tune when she gets inside a church but I saw a lot and heard a lot through the glass doors. I managed to occupy Beauty by giving her a pot of Pringles which she now calls Mingoes. When Beauty made too much noise we went through to the hall where the reception was to be held, without the threat of going into church Beauty was really well behaved and I helped put out the reception food. Also helping was the son of a friend, this young man had come to Anastasia's first birthday party and given her a birthday kiss.........and given her Measles(he happily reminded me!) When he started putting the Pringles on the table he walked straight up to Beauty and ask her if she wanted more Pringles for her box to which she replied, 'I AM HUNGRY', there was a lot of emphasis in her reply which was said in a YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL. Well I was amazed! Where did that come from? She says nothing for years and then these random ,perfectly formed sentences escape from her little world.Autism is such a strange thing.
Wedding number 2 was in Caerphilly, I didn't go as I am an out-law in that family(ex-husband number 1) but Anastasia, Dimitri, SnoWhite, Ariel and Fiona went. I stayed at wedding number one for as long as I could(or as long as Beauty would let me!), obviously taking a few photographs. My best friend from my mid-teens was there(her brother had played the music at 2 of my weddings and he probably played yesterday but I couldn't see), I sometimes wonder if the wedding is really for the bride and groom or for the friends and relatives to catch up. Catching up is good. When Beauty would suffer it no longer we were forced to leave, definitely not enough catching up time with Beauty around!

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

WE MAY BE GETTING BETTER

Well I think that my sore throat may just be getting better. It didn't feel like it at 3am and 7am when my throat was so sore that I had to get up and drink a warm drink to make it feel better. But now Ariel seems to have started a sore throat. Oh dear, as long as everyone is ok for the wedding tomorrow.
Beauty has an inset day so she is happily watching her BBC2 idents!
Fiona is painting her bedroom..................PINK!
Ariel is sleeping-recovering from her final day at school-EVER.
And Dimitri and Anastasia are happily shopping in town-AGAIN.
I have spent the day resting, apart from feeding the dishwasher and the washing machine!
Fiona will take my camera to the wedding so there will be lots of photos to see on Photobucket tomorrow night Belle.Love to Beau and Woody. Did you get the Woody picture?
I will write again soon.

WHITSUN WEDDINGS

I feel such a wimp! If my other illnesses were as bad as this,100% of the time , then coping with my other illnesses would be impossible. After 2 days Fiona's throat was hardly painful whilst my throat feels like it is lined with broken glass. It seems I can only eat soup and salad, even my beloved bread is off the menu. I have taken my morning medication and I am steadily drinking my way though a large mug of warm blackcurrant juice, not as effective as soup but I can't persuade myself to drink soup at 5am, it seems too weird.

Fiona was discussing fame the other day, the pointlessness of famous children of famous parents. I really think that the sooner they find their own way in the world the better. Fiona didn't ' mention her but I instantly thought of Paris Hilton who has the capacity to do so much good but does so little. I am tired of hearing about who Paris had had a fight with or who she is now friends with, I stopped worrying about that kind of thing when my girls left school.Perhaps that is why the general public have little sympathy for Paris at the moment.
And people who laud their good works for the public also p*ss me off, Sorry Madonna and Angelina but you come across as cold and publicity seeking.
Well that was a sickness agitated rant ..............sorry guys!
What about the Parable of the Widow's mite?
I may not be a Christian but that is definitely a good story with a moral for this day and age.

Anastasia arrived home yesterday with Dimitri, the first thing that Beauty said to Anastasia was HELLO ANASTASIA. Well we were all impressed but Anastasia was in raptures she was so pleased.Belle and Anastasia always worry that because they do not live at home that Beauty will not remeber them but sorry girls, no such luck. Beauty has a memory like an elephant and loves you to bits.The next thing that Beauty did was to take a box of Pringles to Anastasia and ask Anastasia to open them for her! You've just got to love the kid.

Next week is the Whitsun holidays so if Beauty is ill with this sore throat then she will not miss any school, Beauty seems to have missed so much school in the last few years because of coughs and colds and her infected hands.
Whenever I hear the word Whitsun ,I always think of the poem Whitsum Weddings by Philip Larkin, one of my favourite poems.

The Whitsun Weddings

That Whitsun, I was late getting away:
Not till about
One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday
Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out,
All windows down, all cushions hot, all sense
Of being in a hurry gone. We ran
Behind the backs of houses, crossed a street
Of blinding windscreens, smelt the fish-dock; thence
The river's level drifting breadth began,
Where sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.

All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles island,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
Wide farms went by, short-shadowed cattle, and
Canals with floatings of industrial froth;
A hothouse flashed uniquely: hedges dipped
And rose: and now and then a smell of grass
Displace the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth
Until the next town, new and nondescript,
Approached with acres of dismantled cars.

At first, I didn't notice what a noise
The weddings made
Each station that we stopped at: sun destroys
The interest of what's happening in the shade,
And down the long cool platforms whoops and skirls
I took for porters larking with the mails,
And went on reading. Once we started, though,
We passed them, grinning and pomaded, girls
In parodies of fashion, heels and veils,
All posed irresolutely, watching us go,

As if out on the end of an event
Waving goodbye
To something that survived it. Struck, I leant
More promptly out next time, more curiously,
And saw it all again in different terms:
The fathers with broad belts under their suits
And seamy foreheads; mothers loud and fat;
An uncle shouting smut; and then the perms,
The nylon gloves and jewelry-substitutes,
The lemons, mauves, and olive-ochers that

Marked off the girls unreally from the rest.
Yes, from cafes
And banquet-halls up yards, and bunting-dressed
Coach-party annexes, the wedding-days
Were coming to an end. All down the line
Fresh couples climbed abroad: the rest stood round;
The last confetti and advice were thrown,
And, as we moved, each face seemed to define
Just what it saw departing: children frowned
At something dull; fathers had never known

Success so huge and wholly farcical;
The women shared
The secret like a happy funeral;
While girls, gripping their handbags tighter, stared
At a religious wounding. Free at last,
And loaded with the sum of all they saw,
We hurried towards London, shuffling gouts of steam.
Now fields were building-plots. and poplars cast
Long shadows over major roads, and for
Some fifty minutes, that in time would seem

Just long enough to settle hats and say
I nearly died,
A dozen marriages got under way.
They watched the landscape, sitting side by side
-An Odeon went past, a cooling tower,
And someone running up to bowl -and none
Thought of the others they would never meet
Or how their lives would all contain this hour.
I thought of London spread out in the sun,
Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat:

There we were aimed. And as we raced across
Bright knots of rail
Past standing Pullmans, walls of blackened moss
Came close, and it was nearly done, this frail
Traveling coincidence; and what it held
Stood ready to be loosed with all the power
That being changed can give. We slowed again,
And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower
Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

LAID LOW

What ever it is it has hit bad.Sore throat , swollen glands and painful joints.
I have spent a lot of today in bed.I am so looking forward to Beauty going to sleep tonight, WOW I am sure feeling old.Hopefully better tomorrow.

THE THING OF DREAMS

The reason for yesterdays tiredness has hit.......... a huge sore throat! I have been really cold for the last few days( and no I don't think there have been any ghosts around-I watched MEDIUM this week) and last night I was so cold that I went to bed wearing a dressing gown.Let's hope this passes quickly as infections like this always seem to make my joints worse.
The infection seems to have given me weirder dreams than usual, last nights dreams were packed with SOAP show actors! Grant and Phil Mitchel from Eastenders were the main characters in my dreams. At one point Phil was assessing my art work for me and at another point we sat there whilst Phil opened his Christmas presents-from what I can remember they were the more normal parts of my dreams!Let's hope that Beauty has already had this bug(sometimes it is difficult to tell with her), however if she does get it badly she lets you know by voluntarily taking to her bed.

HICKORY DICKORY DOCK

In story time today Beauty showed how well she can tell the time, her teacher was very pleased but Beauty has been able to tell the time for about a year now and her other teacher knew but she is off sick after having an operation. I think her teacher was really disappointed when I said that I knew that Beauty could tell the time.Beauty has learned an awful lot academically at home and for me a lot of what Beauty learns in school is to do with life skills and social skills and I am really grateful for that. Beauty also watered the plants today AND herself, she got absolutely soaked!
Anastasia and Dimitri will be flying in from Austria on Tuesday night for Anastasia's cousin's wedding on Saturday. Busy, Busy Busy with the house cleaning.
Sorry this entry is so short but I'm so tired today.

GOOD NEWS

Remember what I said about Mars bars and Maltesers earlier in the week

Mars bars get veggie status back

The move affected Masterfoods' chocolate and ice cream bars

Mars has abandoned plans to use animal products in its chocolate, and has apologised to "upset" vegetarians.

The firm had said it would change the whey used in some of its products from a vegetarian source to one with traces of the animal enzyme, rennet.
The Vegetarian Society organised a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to parent company Masterfoods.
Mars said it became "very clear, very quickly" that it had made a mistake.
In just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands, with phone and e-mail complaints.
Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition.

BRILLIANT!

A BASKET CASE

Looking back over my blog for the last year I realised that the builders started work 7 months ago-the work was meant to be urgent safety work! Imagine how long non-urgent work must take.Oh well , time to sort out the house now they have gone.

I HAVE AN ADDICTION...............(no not the bread addiction)

BASKETS

These are the new baskets that I bought yesterday from WHAT! Eat your heart out Anthea Turner, do you have as many baskets as me Anthea?...............probably but these are MY baskets! Yep, I'm a sad woman

Obviously a news free Sunday because I have decided to share with you SOME of my basket collection!

Basket number one bought in The Pier in 1991 containing hair stuff

Also from The Pier containing washing detergents

The Range-Letters

The Range-Light bulbs

Dunelms-Shopping Basket

The Range- Table Cloths

IKEA-Yellow Pages(Beauty loves them!)

The Pier-Blocks

The Range-Linen

Charity Shops-Sewing Baskets

The Ranfge-Fabrics

The Range-Beauty Shoes

The Range - More Beauty Shoes

IKEA - Bread

The Range - Kitchen Appliances

Laura Ashley - Papers

There is reasoning behind this apparent madness-apart from one built in cupboard my kitchen is totally free standing so storage space is limited which means that my baskets are my main form of storage.

MY NEWEST FORM OF STORAGE
FROM THE RANGE

HERE I STORE SCRAP BOOKING THINGS

WHAT CAN I SAY?

BACK GARDEN

HOLA

Wow was yesterday exhausting and it has not been helped by Beauty deciding that whether or not it is a Saturday, she is still going to get up early and she is going to play with Dora The Explorer.
Hola Dora! Beauty is now learning to count in Spanish, she can already count in English and Welsh.
Beauty's conversational skills maybe limited but she seems to be picking up words rapidly, words which she can use with understanding.
The other night we were watching Katie and Peter on their reality TV show, I love that show.Those two are so well suited and they are so good with their son Harvey, Peter is such a good Dad to Harvey. Harvey reminds me in so many ways of Beauty as far as behaviour is concerned , obviously Harvey has his sight and growth problems as well but they do such a great job with their son. Peter took Harvey and Junior out for a walk to a Farm Shop and Harvey got upset for apparently no reason the way Beauty used to (thankfully Beauty hasn't had an episode in at least a year) and Peter took Harvey home and nothing seemed to pacify Harvey........except for a nappy change! With Beauty it was a sleep. When Beauty was really small she was assessed at home by a psychologist and when the psychologist left Beauty cried constantly for over 2 hours and nothing would pacify her.It is so sad to see Beauty like that as you just feel so helpless when she just will not stop crying. The night terrors are similar but in the night terrors Beauty is very afraid of something but in the crying episodes she is just very, very sad.
I will be back later with pictures of the back garden.

FINISHED-AT LAST!

Yes Anastasia I am still alive and well and sorry for not blogging earlier but I have been very busy putting every thing back and sorting out the gardens. Back garden photos tomorrow.



BEFORE

THE PROBLEM WITH LIVING IN A TERRACED HOUSE-BEAUTY'S HOUSE BEING
WALKED AROUND THE HOUSES
THANK YOU ARIEL AND FIONA

COMING OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

AFTER

NEW PLAY SPACE

NOTICE EVERYTHING IS TIED DOWN

EVEN THE SANDPIT!

FROM INSIDE

STILL SOME PAINTING TO DO BUT SOMETHING TO KEEP RUNNINGMAN BUSY!

BIRTHDAY WISHES
TO
ALAN JOHNSTON

I'M OFFICIALLY CONFUSED

It is morning..........early morning!
Beauty has been awake since approximately 4:15 am and is now busily listening to the story of the very grumpy bug!I personally know how the grumpy bug must have felt, perhaps the grumpy bugs baby bug got up early and wouldn't go back to sleep, now that would make you grumpy.
I spoke too soon and we are now on to the ever cheerful Dora the Explorer, I think I am more suited to The Grumpy Bug than Dora first thing in the morning, that Dora has way too much energy,I am exhausted just listening to her. I really do not know how I am going to cope with the return of the builders this morning, I can see that as Fiona's designated job this morning..........she watches the builders whilst I find somewhere to hide and catch up on my sleep. I am so too old for this.Those women who go through medical treatment in their 50's and 60's to have children do not know what they are letting themselves in for, as you get older the mind may be willing but the body sure gets weaker.
I definitely have to get more sleep, the less sleep I get the weirder my dreams. Last night I dreamt that I was in a lift with Chunk from the Goonies.I so have to get more sleep! Chunk was afraid of heights and was rolling around on the floor afraid to look out of the glass sides of the lift.
Why couldn't I have had a nice normal dream like a date with George Clooney?

I have been reading the blog No Impact Man and whilst many people seem to be critical of the intentions of the project that No Impact Man is doing it personally makes me want to give up living a greener life as it makes me feel totally inadequate.

The No Impact Experiment

For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets…

I give up now!

Think about what would happen if everyone stopped using elevators,the subway, clothes shopping( also part of the experiment), no products in packaging, no plastics, no air con, no TV, no buying new books( also part of the experiment)...........really think about it.
Economic meltdown!
Surely the answer is to make things environmentally acceptable(neutral) rather than everyone living without them?
Yep- I'm officially confused.

Dr Who(or maybe even Torchwood) are filming again at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary.We passed last night as huge lights were trained on the building but I'm afraid nothing to be seen, they were also filming off Broadway whilst I was on holiday, on SnoWhites friend's road.

RAIN, RAIN STAY AWAY!

Well the weather forecast for the next 3 days says nothing about rain so lets see if the builders actually show up! I so can't wait to put Beauty's garden toys into the front garden and set about cleaning the back garden. Calling it a garden makes it sound like Kew or Hampton Court but the similarities end with the word garden. I don't think that Kew would have plastic flamingos and not even a cat could get lost in our garden(Hampton Court Maze), but it's home and somewhere to sit on a sunny day (they'll be back I'm sure)!
I am going to buy a few roles of screening to put on the front fences as I don't want people staring in at Beauty as if she is an exhibit in a zoo but they work so you can still see out. In our area the front gardens are rarely used so the children will be attracted to what is going on, none of Beauty's toys are new but the big things I shall attach with bicycle chains and I am going to buy a small shed to lock the rest in at night. What a sad world that we live in that you have to tie everything down. In Greece and Spain I have seen many things left out over night and they are not stolen or vandalised. I have been in Spain a number of times over the last day of November when the shops put up their decorations and they decorate the outside of the shops with beautiful lights and baubles and nobody touches them. Why are we as a nation like this? I taught my children not to litter and to respect other peoples possessions and as far as I know they have never littered or willfully caused damage to property, I think that they are convinced that I would bat them round the head if they did!

EATING HER CURDS AND WHEY

Now what did I say about bugs?

Many 'ignore basic home hygiene'
Many people do not wash their hands
More two thirds of people do not comply with basic hygiene principles - and men are the worst culprits, research shows.
The Hygiene Council found many people fail to wash their hands after using the toilet, before preparing food or after coughing and sneezing.
As a result people are more likely to encounter germs in their homes than in public places.
Public toilets are often cleaner than home kitchen surfaces, according to the report.

How Clean Is Your home?
Well mine is bogging. I always thought WELL AT LEAST MY LIVING ROOM IS CLEAN until today when I pulled all the furniture out so the builders could come in and put in a new door and window.Behind my large wooden furniture there is so much dust that I just can't imagine where it comes from,though I know perfectly well where the half sucked Maltesers come from!(Thank you Beauty
YUK!

And talking about Maltesers

Mars starts using animal products
Masterfoods' brands are household names
Some of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, such as Mars and Twix, will no longer be suitable for vegetarians.Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.
Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.
The Vegetarian Society said the company's move was "incomprehensible".
Masterfoods said it had started using rennet from 1 May and non-affected products had a "best before date" up to 1 October.
Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step say the
Vegetarian Society
Rennet, a chemical sourced from calves' stomachs, is used in the production of whey.
It will now also be found in Bounty, Minstrels and Milky Way products, and the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods' bars.
"If the customer is an extremely strict vegetarian, then we are sorry the products are no longer suitable, but a less strict vegetarian should enjoy our chocolate," said Paul Goalby, corporate affairs manager for Masterfoods.
The Vegetarian Society said it was "extremely disappointed".
"At a time when more and more consumers are concerned about the provenance of their food, Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step," it said in a statement.
"Mars products are very popular with young people and many will be shocked to discover that their manufacture now relies on the extraction of rennet from the stomach lining of young calves," it added.

Well thanks a lot Masterfoods

So are you listening now Welsh Assembly?

Autistic teen family 'must' move
Mr Evans sometimes has to restrain his son
A family from Torfaen say they will have to move out of Wales to get specialist care for their autistic son.Jordan Evans, 14, from Pontypool, has violent outbursts which his parents say they cannot control.Phillip and Joy Evans want specialist residential care for their son, but say it is not available in Wales.The Welsh Assembly Government said it had provided an extra £1.7m this year to meet the special educational needs of children with autism.
The developmental disability affects the way a person communicates and interacts with other people.Most parents are going to be batting their heads against a brick wall to get any help whatsoever
Last week, six police officers were at the family home for five hours helping Mr and Mrs Evans to control Jordan, who is 6ft 2in and weighs 20 stone (127kg).

The lack of adequate provision seems to be wide spread in Wales.
Here's your first assignment Rhodri Morgan-FIND OUT HOW WIDESPREAD


Why do they do it to their families?

Bikers 'ignoring safety warnings'

Footage captured by the North Wales Police helicopter crew

Shock tactics and campaigns by police are having little effect on the death toll of motorcyclists on Welsh roads, a BBC investigation has revealed.Twelve bikers have been killed in Wales this year so far, including four in one week during Easter.One rider who was banned for dangerous driving told BBC TV's Week In Week Out that he would do the same again once he gets his licence back.Police have said too many riders are using the roads like a racetrack.Bikers Ross Hallam and Leroy Osowiecki were filmed by a North Wales Police helicopter crew riding at speed, weaving between the traffic and undertaking on the hard shoulder while driving home to Stoke-on-Trent from Llandudno."It was dreadful and, of all the years I've been policing, it's the worst motorcycle driving I have ever seen," said Pc Dafydd Hedd Evans, who was in the helicopter.

I have known 2 people die in motorcycle accidents, 2 people too many. One left a wife and 2 children.
OK they may love the thrill of it but being left a widow with children is not a thrilling thing.

FUND RAISING IDEA

An idea for raising funds for schools to use on trees and shrubs.
Donate money or trees and shrubs to your local school to benefit local children after going on holiday as a way to reduce your carbon footprint.
Take a look at this carbon footprint calculator

GOOGLE ALERTS

I have set Google Alerts to my email that cover a number of issues, mostly to do with green issues and autism and I never cease to be amazed at how the same problems seem to occur over and over again ALL over the world.

For the green issues it seems that we all want
*Less, no or bio-degradable packaging
*The ability to recycle everything easily
*Guidance and advice and help on how to lessen our eco-footprint
Now does that sound too much to ask?

For the issues regarding autism we also seem to want the same thing
*Equality of educational and social care provision for our children
*Acceptance and no discrimination
*Better education about autism and educational and social provision
I am sure that the list is endless for what other parents feel that they would need.

So why is everything so difficult?

My theory has always been that if you do not like the way that something is being done then don't bitch about it but actively do something to solve the problem. But even the most active and capable and intelligent person it seems can only do so much before they have an intense desire to hit their head against a brick wall.

And what do the majority of people from my Google Alerts seem to think the biggest problem is?
MONEY......................MONEY..........................MONEY..........................
CLEAR AND SIMPLE!

For green issues
*bio-degradable packaging costs more money
*The ability to recycle everything easily costs more money
*Guidance and advice and help on how to lessen our eco-footprint-effort and costs more money
BUT surely these COST issues are shortsighted and will cost much, much more in the long term?

And for the issues regarding autism
*Equality of educational and social care provision for our children costs more money
*Acceptance and no discrimination - lack of acceptance and discrimination can happen because of lack of equality in educational and social care provision which happens because of the failure to invest enough money into these areas
*Better education about autism and educational and social provision-are you going to be educated on what you are entitled to if they don't have the money to give it to you?

It seems ethically wrong to deny a child full provision of social and educational care if their parents have spent their whole adult life working and contributing through taxes for the provisions they are entitled to.
It seems ethically wrong to deny a child full provision of social and educational care if their parents have been unable to contribute to taxes due to ill health
t seems ethically wrong to deny a child full provision of social and educational care if their parents have been unable to contribute to taxes if their parents are long term unemployed which is not the fault of the child.
I have to say that the civil servants who allocate the SEN funding in my area are totally unbiased as to your circumstances as described above-they treat you all the same and make you all grovel and make you all feel like you are scroungers who are not entitled to anything.
I once told one of these individuals that if it were their child they would work the system and not rest until they got everything for their child,the individual said she was offended that I should say that and it was not true. I told her that I didn't care if she were offended and It was true and if she surveyed all the local parents of children with SEN's the would feel exactly the same.
You can guess how popular I am with the local council!


And as for the green issues, well we all know the results of what is happening there .