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52 Book Challenge

I used to love to read but over the last 4 years it became difficult to read for pleasure when I was studying for a degree with such a large reading list.  Now I’m graduated and engorged myself on literature for the summer I’d like to set myself the steadier pace of a book a week.

First on the list is Caitlin Moran’s How To Be A Woman - it was a gift from someone special as was number 2 Jonathan Coe’s The Close Circle (the sequel to The Rotter’s Club which was one of my favourite reads of 2011). 

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Rufus the Beekeeper!

Rufus the Beekeeper!

Bertie (7) Rufus (5) in the Coliseum, Rome, Italy.  August 2011

Bertie (7) Rufus (5) in the Coliseum, Rome, Italy.  August 2011

Review of the National Sealife Centre Birmingham (with child who has ASD)

Before we went I searched the internet for someone’s experience of the sealife centre with a child with ASD and couldn’t find anything so I vowed on my return to write up our experiences.

My 7yr old son Bertie has a diagnosis of ASD, more specifically aspergers syndrome.  He is passionate about animals and so the sealife centre seemed the perfect summer holiday activity for Bertie and his 5 yr old brother.

As the planning is all so important my first point of call was the National Sealife Centre Birmingham’s website however it contained no information about their facilities for those with additional needs.  Perhaps Legoland have increased my expectations but I couldn’t even find information about bringing along a carer.

What they do have on their website is a “plan your visit” page where you can download a map and plan your day around the feeding times.  We find that maps are a really useful tool for Bertie as he can “place” himself within a defined space.  The list of feeding times and talks enabled us to use our “out and about” timetable to loosely plan our day.

These things impacted positively upon our day and enabled us to have a wonderful day however there are some issues that arose throughout our visit. 

I advise getting there for 10am, it allowed Bertie to enter the centre whilst it was quiet and get used to it before it filled up with more people.  Despite their lack of information the standard access fees apply; usual fee for Bertie, his carer in free.  They were happy with his formal diagnosis letter from the council but did not require proof of identity.

The main issues we experienced were around lack of organisation on the part of the sealife centre. 

  • Feeding and creature talks are basically a free for all; the areas aren’t big enough for the numbers they attract (or the price they charge!).  There was lots of pushing and shoving (annoyingly by adults!) and Bertie just couldn’t cope and had to leave the area which was a shame.
  • The signs alongside the tanks do not list all of the creatures within them.  This was quite disturbing for Bertie as firstly he didn’t understand why the fish were in there if they weren’t listed but secondly he needed to know and I simply didn’t know.
  • There were a number of rooms that were stimulation hell and there was no way to bypass them.  Pitch black with UV lighting, white squidgy material hanging from the ceiling blocking the exit so that you have to walk through it, strange howling music playing and arcade games playing very loud music each one competing with each other in the eating area.
  • There’s a 4D cinema experience which the staff said was simply noisy with bumpy seats, they seemed to want to keep the spraying water, fans and bubble machine a surprise.  This was such a shame as Bertie wanted to try the cinema and was happy with ear defenders for the noise but was not prepared for the other experiences. 

Ending on a positive note; the staff were brilliant at answering the 101 questions and it was a brilliant day out.  Bertie’s little brother Rufus thoroughly enjoyed it and the additional free adult ticket enabled me to spend time facilitating his visit.

This post is a genuine review, we did not receive free tickets, goods or money in exchange for a review.  This is just me, my bit of rambling space and the big www!

Been made the most loveliest cake ever!!  (Taken with Instagram at The Red Lion)

Been made the most loveliest cake ever!! (Taken with Instagram at The Red Lion)

A plea for help - do you have these tracks?

If you do - could you get in touch pretty pretty please??

Cornershop – fatboyslim remix of brim full of asher

Animal magnet – welcome to the monkey house

Echo Belly – King of the kurb

Pearl Jam – Jeremy, Alive

Happy Mondays – step on

Charlatons – north country boy

The Farm – groovy train

James - laid

Ash – girl from mars

The only ones – another girl another planet

Buzzcocks – ever fallen in love with someone

Undertones – teenage kicks

Reef – place your hands

Inspiral Carpets – Saturn 5

The Boo Radleys – wake up boo

Space – female of the species

Dodgy – staying out for the summer, good enough

Beck – Looser

Prodigy – out of space

Joy division – love will tear us apart

Bjork- human behaviour

Avalanches – Frontier psychiatry

Spin Doctors – Two princes, little miss can’t do wrong

Placebo – Nancy boy

The Cure – boys don’t cry

The cardigans – love fool

The wanna dies – you and me song

The divine comedy – national express

Foo fighters – For all the cows

Radiohead – creep

The XX – heart skipped a beat

Bush - swallowed

Electrasy – morning after glow

Chilli Peppers – give it away now

Chemical brothers – another dimension, bloc rocking beats

Cyprus Hill – Insane in the membraine

Fat boy slim – rockerfeller skank

Utah Saints – something good

The Shaman – Ebenezer Good

Smashing pumpkins – bullet with butterfly wings

Ting Tings – that’s not my name

They might be giants – bird house in your soul

Bare naked ladies – one week

Stiltskin – Inside

Babylon Zoo – Space man

Betty Bo – Doing the Do

Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffanys

Suede – animal nitrate

Underworld – born slippy

Massive attack - teardrop

Blackgrape – name of the father

Catatonia – road rage

Moloko – bring it back

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – patio song

Manic Street Preachers – motor cycle emptiness

Stereophonics – bar tender and the thief

Mory Kante – yeke yeke

Tori amos – professional widow

I’m not sure why, but as mothers we don’t ever say how hard we find it.  We grit out teeth and collude with this myth that parenting is what we’ve been built for, that it’s the most worthy rewarding job we can have. 

I’m a million things to a bunch of different people but I never spend anytime for me.  So the other weekend I packed my camera up, grabbed my coat and met my wonderful friend at a service station and we drove to Chepstow.  We both got to say how hard it is to be mothers without anyone telling us that we were wrong.  We got to say how hard it is to be mothers of children with Aspergers without feeling guilty.  And we got to spend the day charging our batteries.

Life is hard enough without us all in on some great conspiracy to pretend other wise.  Next time someone says how hard they find parent hood just nod and listen.  Next time you’re finding it hard - tell someone.  Without sounding all cheesy and American - we can’t do this on our own, we need each other.

One last thing.  Helen.  You and I have known each other for many years and you are truly a wonderful wonderful person and I can’t thank you enough for being in my life.

Road trip!! (Taken with Instagram at Tintern Abbey)

Road trip!! (Taken with Instagram at Tintern Abbey)

Life messages from Starbucks!! (Taken with instagram)

Life messages from Starbucks!! (Taken with instagram)

Finally - the teeth fall out!! (Taken with instagram)

Finally - the teeth fall out!! (Taken with instagram)

All manner of odd at UoB today!! (Taken with instagram)

All manner of odd at UoB today!! (Taken with instagram)

All paws! (Taken with instagram)

All paws! (Taken with instagram)

Sleepy boy… (Taken with instagram)

Sleepy boy… (Taken with instagram)

“you’ll always find me in the kitchen at parties…”

I want to be a sociable person, I truly do.  I will sit and make surface connections with just about anybody but get too close and I’ll clam up like a shell - my mother used to say like a hedgehog.  This message has been reinforced thanks to my uncanny ability to choose the wrong people to open up to.

When other people have parties and birthdays I have an uncanny ability to find washing up to do, a chair on my own somewhere or a small child to sit and talk to.  It’s one of the things I like about smoking, smaller numbers outside, I find it much easier.  Ever since my eldest son was diagnosed with Aspergers I’ve wondered whether this is the aspie part of me?  Anyway… I’m digressing.

Birthdays prove a little difficult when you’re such a socially awkward person.  I’ve tried having meals out (found it really hard as I only got to speak to a few people), I’ve spent a quiet night in (a little pathetic and sad but at least I wasn’t being a social numptie!) and I’ve also cancelled my birthday all together, had cards hidden and refused to acknowledge it.  The latter has been my favorite option but I have discovered that it pisses people off.

So this year I turn thirty.  The big 3 0.  To prove I’ve been working hard in my therapy sessions I’ve agreed to have a party.  A big indi disco.  Those who follow me on twitter have been experiencing my panics over venues, my desire to find reasons to cancel… but I haven’t.  I’m sticking with it.  I shall go to the ball but I’m not too sure that the venue will let me hide in the kitchen!!

Anter keeping me company! (Taken with instagram)

Anter keeping me company! (Taken with instagram)

52 Book Challenge

I used to love to read but over the last 4 years it became difficult to read for pleasure when I was studying for a degree with such a large reading list.  Now I’m graduated and engorged myself on literature for the summer I’d like to set myself the steadier pace of a book a week.

First on the list is Caitlin Moran’s How To Be A Woman - it was a gift from someone special as was number 2 Jonathan Coe’s The Close Circle (the sequel to The Rotter’s Club which was one of my favourite reads of 2011). 

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Rufus the Beekeeper!

Rufus the Beekeeper!

Bertie (7) Rufus (5) in the Coliseum, Rome, Italy.  August 2011

Bertie (7) Rufus (5) in the Coliseum, Rome, Italy.  August 2011

Review of the National Sealife Centre Birmingham (with child who has ASD)

Before we went I searched the internet for someone’s experience of the sealife centre with a child with ASD and couldn’t find anything so I vowed on my return to write up our experiences.

My 7yr old son Bertie has a diagnosis of ASD, more specifically aspergers syndrome.  He is passionate about animals and so the sealife centre seemed the perfect summer holiday activity for Bertie and his 5 yr old brother.

As the planning is all so important my first point of call was the National Sealife Centre Birmingham’s website however it contained no information about their facilities for those with additional needs.  Perhaps Legoland have increased my expectations but I couldn’t even find information about bringing along a carer.

What they do have on their website is a “plan your visit” page where you can download a map and plan your day around the feeding times.  We find that maps are a really useful tool for Bertie as he can “place” himself within a defined space.  The list of feeding times and talks enabled us to use our “out and about” timetable to loosely plan our day.

These things impacted positively upon our day and enabled us to have a wonderful day however there are some issues that arose throughout our visit. 

I advise getting there for 10am, it allowed Bertie to enter the centre whilst it was quiet and get used to it before it filled up with more people.  Despite their lack of information the standard access fees apply; usual fee for Bertie, his carer in free.  They were happy with his formal diagnosis letter from the council but did not require proof of identity.

The main issues we experienced were around lack of organisation on the part of the sealife centre. 

  • Feeding and creature talks are basically a free for all; the areas aren’t big enough for the numbers they attract (or the price they charge!).  There was lots of pushing and shoving (annoyingly by adults!) and Bertie just couldn’t cope and had to leave the area which was a shame.
  • The signs alongside the tanks do not list all of the creatures within them.  This was quite disturbing for Bertie as firstly he didn’t understand why the fish were in there if they weren’t listed but secondly he needed to know and I simply didn’t know.
  • There were a number of rooms that were stimulation hell and there was no way to bypass them.  Pitch black with UV lighting, white squidgy material hanging from the ceiling blocking the exit so that you have to walk through it, strange howling music playing and arcade games playing very loud music each one competing with each other in the eating area.
  • There’s a 4D cinema experience which the staff said was simply noisy with bumpy seats, they seemed to want to keep the spraying water, fans and bubble machine a surprise.  This was such a shame as Bertie wanted to try the cinema and was happy with ear defenders for the noise but was not prepared for the other experiences. 

Ending on a positive note; the staff were brilliant at answering the 101 questions and it was a brilliant day out.  Bertie’s little brother Rufus thoroughly enjoyed it and the additional free adult ticket enabled me to spend time facilitating his visit.

This post is a genuine review, we did not receive free tickets, goods or money in exchange for a review.  This is just me, my bit of rambling space and the big www!

Been made the most loveliest cake ever!!  (Taken with Instagram at The Red Lion)

Been made the most loveliest cake ever!! (Taken with Instagram at The Red Lion)

A plea for help - do you have these tracks?

If you do - could you get in touch pretty pretty please??

Cornershop – fatboyslim remix of brim full of asher

Animal magnet – welcome to the monkey house

Echo Belly – King of the kurb

Pearl Jam – Jeremy, Alive

Happy Mondays – step on

Charlatons – north country boy

The Farm – groovy train

James - laid

Ash – girl from mars

The only ones – another girl another planet

Buzzcocks – ever fallen in love with someone

Undertones – teenage kicks

Reef – place your hands

Inspiral Carpets – Saturn 5

The Boo Radleys – wake up boo

Space – female of the species

Dodgy – staying out for the summer, good enough

Beck – Looser

Prodigy – out of space

Joy division – love will tear us apart

Bjork- human behaviour

Avalanches – Frontier psychiatry

Spin Doctors – Two princes, little miss can’t do wrong

Placebo – Nancy boy

The Cure – boys don’t cry

The cardigans – love fool

The wanna dies – you and me song

The divine comedy – national express

Foo fighters – For all the cows

Radiohead – creep

The XX – heart skipped a beat

Bush - swallowed

Electrasy – morning after glow

Chilli Peppers – give it away now

Chemical brothers – another dimension, bloc rocking beats

Cyprus Hill – Insane in the membraine

Fat boy slim – rockerfeller skank

Utah Saints – something good

The Shaman – Ebenezer Good

Smashing pumpkins – bullet with butterfly wings

Ting Tings – that’s not my name

They might be giants – bird house in your soul

Bare naked ladies – one week

Stiltskin – Inside

Babylon Zoo – Space man

Betty Bo – Doing the Do

Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffanys

Suede – animal nitrate

Underworld – born slippy

Massive attack - teardrop

Blackgrape – name of the father

Catatonia – road rage

Moloko – bring it back

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – patio song

Manic Street Preachers – motor cycle emptiness

Stereophonics – bar tender and the thief

Mory Kante – yeke yeke

Tori amos – professional widow

I’m not sure why, but as mothers we don’t ever say how hard we find it.  We grit out teeth and collude with this myth that parenting is what we’ve been built for, that it’s the most worthy rewarding job we can have. 

I’m a million things to a bunch of different people but I never spend anytime for me.  So the other weekend I packed my camera up, grabbed my coat and met my wonderful friend at a service station and we drove to Chepstow.  We both got to say how hard it is to be mothers without anyone telling us that we were wrong.  We got to say how hard it is to be mothers of children with Aspergers without feeling guilty.  And we got to spend the day charging our batteries.

Life is hard enough without us all in on some great conspiracy to pretend other wise.  Next time someone says how hard they find parent hood just nod and listen.  Next time you’re finding it hard - tell someone.  Without sounding all cheesy and American - we can’t do this on our own, we need each other.

One last thing.  Helen.  You and I have known each other for many years and you are truly a wonderful wonderful person and I can’t thank you enough for being in my life.

Road trip!! (Taken with Instagram at Tintern Abbey)

Road trip!! (Taken with Instagram at Tintern Abbey)

Life messages from Starbucks!! (Taken with instagram)

Life messages from Starbucks!! (Taken with instagram)

Finally - the teeth fall out!! (Taken with instagram)

Finally - the teeth fall out!! (Taken with instagram)

All manner of odd at UoB today!! (Taken with instagram)

All manner of odd at UoB today!! (Taken with instagram)

All paws! (Taken with instagram)

All paws! (Taken with instagram)

Sleepy boy… (Taken with instagram)

Sleepy boy… (Taken with instagram)

“you’ll always find me in the kitchen at parties…”

I want to be a sociable person, I truly do.  I will sit and make surface connections with just about anybody but get too close and I’ll clam up like a shell - my mother used to say like a hedgehog.  This message has been reinforced thanks to my uncanny ability to choose the wrong people to open up to.

When other people have parties and birthdays I have an uncanny ability to find washing up to do, a chair on my own somewhere or a small child to sit and talk to.  It’s one of the things I like about smoking, smaller numbers outside, I find it much easier.  Ever since my eldest son was diagnosed with Aspergers I’ve wondered whether this is the aspie part of me?  Anyway… I’m digressing.

Birthdays prove a little difficult when you’re such a socially awkward person.  I’ve tried having meals out (found it really hard as I only got to speak to a few people), I’ve spent a quiet night in (a little pathetic and sad but at least I wasn’t being a social numptie!) and I’ve also cancelled my birthday all together, had cards hidden and refused to acknowledge it.  The latter has been my favorite option but I have discovered that it pisses people off.

So this year I turn thirty.  The big 3 0.  To prove I’ve been working hard in my therapy sessions I’ve agreed to have a party.  A big indi disco.  Those who follow me on twitter have been experiencing my panics over venues, my desire to find reasons to cancel… but I haven’t.  I’m sticking with it.  I shall go to the ball but I’m not too sure that the venue will let me hide in the kitchen!!

Anter keeping me company! (Taken with instagram)

Anter keeping me company! (Taken with instagram)

52 Book Challenge
Review of the National Sealife Centre Birmingham (with child who has ASD)
A plea for help - do you have these tracks?
“you’ll always find me in the kitchen at parties…”

About:

The ramblings of a neurotic wife and mother and fair weather gardener. Tries hard to cook and not kill anyone with it. Loves to crochet, sew, paint and potter around. Attempts parenting!

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