More jewellery to bore you all with LOL

Just a quickie of more pics...Numptie here went and posted my eldest nieces without photographing first DUH!!!!...I did a set similar to the amethyst one but i used rock crystal chips and aquamarine swarovski crystals instead...That was sent late as i only managed to post it off today and her birthday was last saturday...Usually we don't bother with presents after they are 16 except for special birthdays but hey she's my oldest niece and she's female and i wanted to make her some jewellery...My younger sisters eldest is 15 this saturday so more aquamarine ARGHHH...No offence to those reading but i am so fed up of using aquamarine coloured swarovski's these last few weeks...TOO many march birthdays LOL...The pics are for saturdays pressie and i will post that tomorrow...I thought using the sterling silver cubes gave a more young, funky feel!!!!!

The whole set

Close up of the necklace

Close up of the bracelet...I shortened the chain length and the length of the crystal/cube section...Mainly because the length of the crystal/cube section on the necklace is too long for going round the wrist

Close up of earrings

As you can see they are a take on the necklace and earrings i made for K last month...Am really going to have to sort out backgrounds for photos...Think i will try some brilliant white card and if that doesn't work then some actual colour instead or white material...I saw some lovely soft velvet velour today in a gorgeous blue...Not navy but not royal blue, kind of inbetween...Also saw some nice white with gems/sparkles that would be lovely to hang up on back of a stall...The velour will look nice with the silver netting over it on the actual table, along with the mirrors for some displays...Just need to try and join local craft group and go sell at their fairs LOL

Toodle pip tc

aoljpictureUpload, aoljpictureUpload_4

This n that

My physio was cruel yesterday , he really was...After walking down in the snow and FREEZING cold temperature he made me hold a 1kg weight in my right hand...Ok i know it's only a bag of sugar but it's still too heavy for me to lift with that arm...Plus the freezing temperatures are making the whole of my shoulder ache like hell...Not just the bit i hurt but down the back of it, down the front of it, down my right arm and up my neck...Cruel man but he did say i have to start with a tin of beans as it's lighter...So why could he give me one of them to lift instead grrrr...Today we were supposed to have no snow but when me and M got up for him to go to day respite (than goodness he is still being funded for now) it was a winter wonderland...Areas the sun was shining on had melted or were melting but our street was dodgy...Lucky for me the car was parked around the corner where the sun was shining.

There has been a spate of serious road crashes across the north east of scotland over the weekend :o( Not all due to adverse weather either...One of the accidents involved one of mums neighbours...19 years old and now gone :o(  His parents who i know are devestated...Like many young lads he liked to drive fast but whether that was a factor in the head on collision no-one knows yet...Silly lad and his ex girlfriend had a baby when they were only about 15...Suppose in a way at least there is a granddaughter left behind but she's left without a dad as he did still see her a lot...In another of the accidents another young lad was killed and his older brother was killed a couple of years ago at almost the same spot...And that young lad who died has left behind a 5 months pregnant girlfriend...See we don't have loads of speed cameras up this way but those we have are in the wrong places...They're on dual carriageways and long stretches of road...They should be on the small, winding country roads to try and actually prevent people from speeding and to take care and not placed somewhere just to generate cash...Ok as yet no-one knows if either of those 2 accidents were caused due to excess speed but it is the usual cause up this way...Wasn't just the two fatal accidents either but a spate of other non fatal crashes as well...Maybe it was holiday madness...My older sis went in with mum yesterday to visit the young lads parents...Mum didn't want to go on her own as she was lost for words as 19 is so young...Ok they have another lad who is 16 but i know if anything was to happen to either of my 3 my life would be forever ruined.

G came out with something interesting in the car today after he'd been to the doctors...He said he definitely doesn't want to move on to the 18+ 'fun' club after the summer but he might fancy volunteering at the tues club...Or being a link worker or volunteer on some other scheme or club...Not sure if it may be too close to home or if he'd make a good job of it...He certainly as experience LOL...And there is a massive shortage of male outreach workers or befrienders...Something to mull over and discuss with the people who do the Triple A team i think...Don't think he would have considered something like this before but in 5th year and this year at school he has volunteered as an assistant in a younger class in one of his subjects...And he has enjoyed it, despite the being called Sir bit, and the teachers he's been with have highly praised him...He popped in with me when i picked up M...And his fave team leader was on duty...She's so chuffed about his uni acceptance...And as she pointed out, outwith his hearing, the course he is doing should enable him to get a very good, highly paid job...So he could maybe end up having enough of a wage to employ someone to do the social, everyday things he can't do...Which is true LOL...I'd still like it if he could manage to tie his shoelaces himself and do housework and manage to go shopping not just for food but clothing...That he could learn to remember to take his meds and to actually wash himself etc.

The council are under fire again today in the local evening paper LOL...One of the lads at M's school who has multiple disabilities was already highlighted a few weeks back...His funding for going to playscheme was stopped because he required one to one care...Well now the disability sports club he goes to is being stopped because they have cut the amount of sports officers they have...So hey ho disabled sports gets clobbered on the head even though they paid to go to it...One letter in the paper from someone has said that instead of cutting social care why don't they look within themselves and cut back on PR stunts and bureauocracy instead...Anyways with half a brain cell could see that if there is a huge overspend in the social care budget then it points to a NEED...We get PR stunts galore not least of which was last may when the current council came to power...When they CREATED a deputy lord provost post and gave it to a 19 year old NEWLY elected councillor...And he gets paid a wage for his post...A wage that would be better spent on someone to run the disabled sports club they have just closed down....Hmmm how do you run for being a councillor if you don't belong to any political party...How would you make yourself known to the people and get them to vote for you...This march on April 5th is looking more appealing as trying to become a councillor i think would be too problematic and expensive as an independent.

My tiara bands arrived today and they look like the ones i want :o) I won't be trying to make up any for a while though as am still working on birthdays...Oh and i've found out that the Scottish Society for Autism are supposed to be opening a centre in the city...Need to look into that to see if i can tap into it...When we were at the doctors iG had me go in with him...I asked our lovely GP why he wasn't at the Talent show as i know his sons go to that school...I also knew that one of his sons had taken part as he has a pic of him up on his office wall...His son had told him parents weren't allowed along ROFL...Heating is on and am still perishing so going to go before my fingers cease up

Toodle pip tc xx

Read before you make a post LOL

Okies i should have read my hotmail before i did the previous post...The seller did get back to me and the P&P is free :o)  Also had an email from the other seller and my purchases are being posted out today :o)

Entry 2 of 2 for today

Well i went and did a silly thing last night...Well maybe silly but am determined it's not going to lead to silliness...I so don't like ebay as it scares me stupid but there are a couple of the ebay shops i wanted some things from...Mainly because they were cheaper than anywhere else i have found...So because i couldn't get a hold of my bestest friend who does have paypal and is registered with ebay i went and signed up EEEKS...Yes i now have paypal and i have registered on ebay and i had to link my paypal to my ebay...And it all gave me a headache to be honest...You'd think making purchases would be simple but it wasn't...The first ebay shop i bought from has charged me for P&P just now...So i've asked ebay to get in touch with the seller and ask for a final total...See UK orders over £25 are supposed to get free P&P and i haven't...Ok the P&P has been heavily discounted so the actual charge is only around £2 but that is not the point...The shop states quite clearly FREE P&P on orders over £25 so i want my free P&P...I've ordered about 10 different types of semi precious chip beads...One is turquoise cube shapes....The others are amethyst, rock crystal, rose quartz, lapis lazuli, red aventurine, snowflake obsidian, natural topaz, garnet, peridot and carnelian...Those ones are all on a string that has around 300 chip beads on them...The black onyx and honey amber i order only have about 150 on the string but are bogof so i'll get two strings of each :o) ...Not a lot cost wise for each string either hence me wanting them :o) Doesn't mean i will make price cheap because i can't guarantee i can always get from a place that doesn't charge me much...The other shop i didn't have a problem with paying that order as i do have to pay P&P to them...There is another ebay shop that sells tiara bands in more bulk but they say silver coloured metal and gilt metal...This other place says silver plated and gold plated...Gonna see what they look like then order maybe just 1 or a small amount from the silver coloured metal place and compare...See which looks best and use whichever looks nicest.

G is off to his friends for the afternoon/evening...We're both going to get up early tomorrow morning to watch the grand prix...Last weekend we stayed up all night LOL...I have physio on mon and on tues i need to try get G an appointment with the GP...It is bitterly cold but snow we don't really have...There have been flutters of it but nowt to write home about and defo none left in place on the ground...My should is giving me gip with the drop in temperature :o(  Am back having to does myself on the painkillers on highst possible does 4 times a day just now and it's pissing me off...Looks like am gonna be left with a nasty weather ache in it <sigh>  No club for the boys over the hols or triple A team either...M does have jigsaw though on both of the tuesdays...Their first wed back after the hols they have someone talking to them at the Triple A team that i want to arrange to see...She is the person who organises support through the NAS for university students...G will forget to tell me stuff and i want to know what will happen so i can keep myself right and him right LOL

Have a nice Easter weekend everyone and don't eat too many choccy eggs LOL

Toodle pip tc xx

Entry 1 of 2 for today

Well there has been demonstrations and more planned...A meeting organised by the opposition in our council and another organised by a local paper...And our council is being investigated by the audit commission for Scotland about the cuts and the bad spending LOL...BTW Labour ain't been in power on our council for a few years it wasn't just a change at last years elections...To be honest it would appear that the fault in our council being deeply in debt lies at the feet of the lib dems...And one prominent lib dem councillor who used to be in charge of finance i think has stated today in a local paper he should have made cuts in SOCIAL CARE a few years back!!!!...Yes it would have been unpopular he says but it was needed....Well maybe if he ever has the misfortune to have to care for an in poor health elderly relative or a disabled family member he'd realise even without the cuts the provision is CRAP to say the least...Since when were the lib dems about hurting the elderly and disabled in our communitities???? Yes social work has massive overspends but surely that should be POINTING at a NEED rather than wasteful expenditure!!!!! NINE years ago there were proposals started to close 2 out of the 4 stand alone special needs schools here...Now 1 of those schools was for SEVERELY disabled who couldn't even cope in a 'normal' SEN school...Well guess what it's NOT CLOSED as it is NEEDED...Out of the other 3 the one that M was at originally was earmarked for closure and as i said last week it is now being demolished...BUT it has NOT closed...It has been moved temporarily into a primary school that was closed a couple of years ago...They had to start taking in P1 pupils 2 years ago due to lack of places in the other 2 SEN schools and the SEN bases being full or unsuitable...So where it was they are now building a mainstream school with a SEN school also in the same grounds...So that kind of points out that we have a heck of a lot of youngsters in the city who have some kind of SEN who also require respite of some description....I also still haven't been informed of anything that is supposed to now happen to G about being moved to adult services as he is now 18...So cutbacks in social care are essential YEAH RIGHT I DON'T THINK SO MR COUNCILLOR...A LACK of respite provision could be considered a form of abuse according to the conference i was at on thurs...I really can see our council being taken to court over a lot of this...Cut the actual councillors fecking wages, cut their expenses payments and don't keep picking on the disadvantaged...Oh and whilst they're at it why are drug addicts and alcoholics  still going to get their provision, they're not being cutback nearly as much!!!!!...WTF am sorry i do have an auntie who is an alcoholic but it is self inflicted...NO-ONE ASKS to have some kind of disability or serious long term illness...They should come FIRST and the onus of care shouldn't fall completely back onto the families like our council now want...My sons both have a lifelong disability and ok yes they are becoming more capable than i ever dreamt off... Yes G is going to university in sept and am extremely proud of that achievement....But he still can't tie his shoelaces, remember to feed himself, remember to take his meds, remember to wash himself or do everyday taken for granted tasks without having to be reminded or reshown every few weeks how to do them...Also i am fully aware of the fact that no matter how much the progress they can regress equally as quickly at any point in time.

And my wee rant above takes me nicely into the conference i was at on thurs :o) ...And perhaps some of our councillors should have been invited along free of charge to see exactly what was said at the conference...The conference was organised by the North East of Scotland Child Protection Committee...It was called 'Securing a Protective Enviroment for Children and Young People with Disabilities'. And funnily enough autism seemed to wander into both the opening address and the keynote speech as well as 2 of the workshops being about those with ASD...Our Chief Constable doesn't like the mosquito BTW so is in favour with the Children Commissioner for Scotland at the mo LOL...She did the opening address...And she mentioned that and also said that she had been working with a young woman with cerebral palsy recently...The mosquito device sent her bananas and she didn't understand why she felt so ill for so long...But the people who make it allegedly contacted disability groups for their opinion...Specifically some autism groups...I know for a fact that it would send M nuts and G would go bananas but G wouldn't say he was 'ill' he'd just muddle on <sigh> Anyways i digress as usual LOL...This conference wasn't just about what people normally think of when they think of child protection and abuse...Abuse doesn't just have to mean physical abuse or sexual abuse...Those with disabilities abuse can be in many forms...A lack of the proper education methods that many of them need is abuse...A lack of respite care for the families is ause not just to the families but to the disabled child...A lack of facilities and adaptations is abuse...Am not a great lover of all the human rights acts as such mainly because they seem to be abused all the time by those who commit a crime or do bad things in our society...But there are laws in place about rights of the child and that doesn't mean that children can't be punished or let free to roam the streets and damage property and people...There are rights in law for disabled children and they are constantly being broken...Sometimes unwittingly being broken due to over officious health & safety legislation...Like how bluddy stupid is it that a teacher or helper in a school can't take a child with a disability to say the toilet because they're not allowed to touch a child under H&S rules...Or they can't help a disabled child in a wheelchair down say 3 steps because of same rules!!!!...So a parent has to be called into school to do it instead...Which then embarasses the child or teenager...Carers coming into the home can't do X,Y or Z because of same over officious legislation which makes the whole point of having a paid carer totally useless...Actually i could fill this journal for the next month in things that were pointed out and brought up at the conference but i won't...We had to go to 2 workshops and funnily enough 2 out of the 6 were about autism so guess which ones i went to LOL...Another parent from M's school was also at the conference and she got a heck of a lot out of the morning workshop...So much so that she went and spoke to M's head teacher who was also there and she is going to liaise with that other place and get things put in place for her daughter :o) ...M's school does do these things to an extent but not as in depth as that place and his school are more than willing to do whatever is needed :o) That first workshop we were at concerned in the main something called person centred planning and transitions...If transitions aren't done specifically catering towards the childs actual needs then that really is a type of abuse...After all just because you have a disability doesn't mean that you have no rights...It doesn't mean that your opinion, however old you may be, shouldn't be considered...It doesn't mean that professionals who think they know better should make ALL the decisions...It also doesn't mean that so called professionals shouldn't take into account the parent and family members opinions...Too often both parents and the childs opinions are dismissed wholesale by the professionals...The workshop in the afternoon was about risks and protective factors for children with ASD...One very interesting point made by the person running the workshop was about children like G...Children who are highly intelligent academically who then get dismissed because it is PRESUMED they will know what abuse is and if it is happening...And that they are capable of TELLING someone they are being abused...But that is not so...Just because they are highly intelligent and capable academically doesn't mean they have social awareness...This is what can and does confuse people about many with ASD...It is a highly complex and wide ranging disability that confuses 'normal' people a heck of a lot...High academic ability doesn't equate to social ability in those with ASD like it does with 'normal' people...Am afraid i kept making ironic laughing noises throughout her discussion and i did speak up as well...When she said that a lack of respite can be a form of abuse or lead to abuse i piped up that i have never had overnight respite at all...I also pointed out that the last time i had a real break was when i was in hospital having my gall bladder out...And that although social work put in a carer for a couple of hours every evening that it was mainly left to K to look after them...Now that was abuse and she said that...K was only 17 at the time and social work didn't put anyone in in the morning to help her get them ready for school or even anyone in to help her get them to go to bed nor did they put them into somewhere overnight...Unfortunately many of the pointer signs of physical or sexual abuse are normal autistic traits so it can be extremely hard to know if they are being abused...I remember too well G being bullied at school...Now much of his behaviour was normal for him but in a regular child it would have pointed to some problem...You also have the added factor that many with ASD because THEY KNOW something is happening they PRESUME that everyone else knows as well without having to be told...As am sure i;ve said before on here if i had just 1p for each time i have said to my lads just because they know doesn't mean i know what they know i would be a very rich woman...After the workshops there was a Q&A session with the professor who did the keynote speech, the childrens commissoner and the workshop facilitators...But only 2 questions were asked....One being very pertinent and am hoping that she writes to the childrens commissoner and gets her to investigate as well...She asked that with our council cutbacks in respite and social care that could lead to inadvertant abuse by parents and is there anything that the government can do about it under the rights of the child...See if more and more onus is put on the families to care for the disabled child then family members will get worn out and tired...Which could lead to them snapping...The person that asked that her child has multiple disabilities and with the cutbacks could end up with no-where to go once she finishes school (which is soon) with no respite for her parents and her mother having to give up her job to be with her...This girl CANNOT be left alone...Her care hours have been cut so she is going to end up unable to go to clubs she has started to try and integrate with others...DLA only goes so far in paying for care...She's a teenager and wants to do regular teenage stuff...She loves having her hair coloured all different colours and wants to go shopping with someone who is closer in age to her and not her mum...Or go to discos without her mum in tow...The childrens commissoner took note of what was said and seemed rather perturbed at what these cutbacks are doing here...She did say we need to lobby to get changes done but we are lobbying and it's not working...It does need people higher up to stop this happening...Oh i introduced myself to the childrens commissoner as she has met K a few times...And she did know who i was on about when i said i believed she knew my daughter LOL...Yes K from the youth parliament has some good ideas and is very articulate at getting her poitn across according to the children commissoner LOL...It was one of the best and most informative conferences i have ever been to...But parents weren't actually asked along at first...It had to be pointed out to the organisers that parents needed a voice at the conference too and not just professionals...See therein lies a problem...All these conferences are organised by professionals for professionals and they always forget parents...The keynote speech i will talk about another day as it was very interesting but quite complex and really we all wondered how he was going to link it to the theme but he did kind of :o)

 

Wee rant

You know the other week i moaned on here about our council and their ridiculous cutbacks in services due to them having no dosh...Well today one of our local MP's has sent our council a lovely letter saying they are more than likely breaking disability laws by deciding to close down one of the respite day centres they wish to close in June...Our other MP i believe has become involved too and she should know as she happens to be disabled herself...Both our MP's are Labour and our council is SNP/Lib Dem...As it happens Alex Salmond (who i dislike rather a lot) was in the city today and has stated on the local news that this letter from the MP is political points scoring...Well i really hope that someone puts Mr Salmond right as any consituent has a right to ask their MP to get involved with something if they so wish...I did myself this time last year and although am no lover of New Labour my Frank Doran did get inlvoved for me and got my problem with the DLA eejits sorted out...The council have NOT consulted the users of the respite day centre or their carers on the impact the closure will have on their lives...I've been to two conferences about these cutbacks and the effect they will have on disabled and elderly in the city...The first of those conferences was organised at less than a weeks notice by the local carers centre back in dec...And all of us who went along came to the conclusion that all decisions were already cut and dried and going ahead regardless...Oh they made noises and such like and they took note of our opinions but they didn't count IMO and many others opinion...One of my friends is an accountant for the council and i know they are in deep finanical dog poo...BUT that is beside the point INSTEAD of cutting VITAL services they could cut their own wages and expenses at the TOP of the tree...They could stop spending money on jaunts abroad, on paying expensive consultation firms to come up with idiotic ideas for improving the city that are NEVER implemented...And there are plenty other areas of wastage as well they could cut back on....But no they have decided instead to cut leisure activities, to cut services to the elderly, cut services for children and young people and to cut services for the disabled and their carers...They WANT more people to be cared for in their own home by the FAMILY and provide no respite for those families...There were users of the day centre they have decided to close at both of those conferences i went to...And they were NOT consulted at all...All they got was a letter saying the place was being closed and no alternative provision was being put in it's place...It almost pains me with how rubbish NL have been to say that i do believe that Frank Doran is right and our council are breaking the law...Alex Salmond is WRONG with what he said on tv today and if he'd been at those conferences i was at he'd know he was bluddy well wrong with his statement today...This is something i pray gets resolved to the staisfaction of the USERS and FAMILIES of the day centre and SOD what the council want...Other SNP MSP's and Lib Dem MP's are also trying to say it is LAbour trying to score points...But hey if you have an issue and write to your MP then it doesn't matter what party that MP represents they should do something about it for you as a constituent and that is all that our MP is trying to do...Story in the link below...And my opinion of our council and these cuts is services for disabled i better not write here or i will get thrown off AOL for good LOL...Now am off to iron M's shirt and get him ready to go to the talent show.

Press & Journal - Home Page

 

 

Pics of Mrs Moos pressie and other jewellery

I was going to do an entry yesterday but pics were down...Worked out fine as the Wobbly ones pressie arrived today...I've met the Wobbly one a few times and she is mad as a hatter and a fab person to boot...And she was 40 on monday so deserved something pretty i decided...I dunno how she gets through all the stuff she has to cope with and she deserves something nice for that as well don't you think???  Mind you i won't be selling her set cheap LOL...Would you believe that for some of the silver components am cheaper or just as cheap buying in John Lewis as from online!!!! Only problem is with John Lewis it's small packets and i want to buy in bulk LOL...All the earrings the beads are threaded on sterling silver wire and all the findings are sterling silver...Am thinking i should do photos during the daytime and not at night LOL...They may work out better...Using the supermacro setting on my wee compact is ideal for taking pics of earrings but no good for whole views of bracelets or necklaces...Am gonna ask my bestest pal if i can borrow her camera to try doing pics on it instead...She has a better zoom than me so might get better pics of the necklaces with it...Anyways for website i want pics of the pieces being worn as well as taken in a more exciting manner than just plonked on a bit of white paper LOL...Hmmm black might be a better background as that would show up the silver nicer.

G's rings have arrived so we need to go down tomorrow and see which one fits him and take it away...Also i want to ask that jewellery chain about a rough idea on price for a specially designed and made item for K...Am going to research a few and see who is cheapest...Making this simple bead jewellery has reignited my desire to do more...By more i mean buying some sheets of silver and say cutting out my own shapes to go between the crystals...Nothing over complex that needs loads of soldering like still nice, simple but effective stuff...For now i'll just experiment with wire shapes and at some point you will get to see the results of that...See i have never been able to afford to set up doing what i enjoyed the most when i studied at art school doing jewellery...That was casting in silver and enamelling...The costs are big and i don't have the premises...Not unless i win the lottery and buy a bit of land and build a house with a workshop in the grounds LOLOL...Oh to dream of having my own grand designed house and have Kevin McCloud come along and follow the build <g> ...G's pressie from america still hasn't arrived <sigh> and his card from his gran didn't arrive either...She's not happy and was going to her post office to complain as it wasn't just a card :o(   Apart from that it's just been another week with time flying by quick as it seems to do when you get older...M's old school is finally being demolished and he was a bit upset about it...Dunno why as he hated the place LOL...Oh his mainstream secondary he goes to for standard grade maths has a talent show on monday night...M found out last tues so guess who's taking part in it...Trying to find a karaoke disc with Robbie on it at short notice has proved impossible...I live in a city where only HMV actually stock such CD's and the ones they have are dire to say the least...So he's going to sing Take That - Shine as he has that on a karaoke CD that came with a compilation one he got at christmas time.

Toodle pip tc xx