Hi there…

 Wow! Hello.

It’s been a long time since I last updated this blog.

In fact life is very different to when I started writing about our days.

For a start, my son is now an adult! I’m still trying to get my head around that.

DS now lives in supported living not too far away and DD is about to celebrate another birthday. 

These kids are growing up far too fast! 

Although DS no longer lives with me I’m very much still involved within his care. 

He comes home regularly for visits and we also visit him. 

I do a lot of what I call ‘behind the scenes’ stuff for him such as arranging appointments, managing his financial affairs - that sort of thing. 

I am currently in the process of applying for deputyship for him to the Court of Protection which I’m finding is a very complex and very long winded process!! 

DS is a very tall, athletic build and handsome young man. 

I’m so very proud of him. 

My days as his carer (just in a different way now) are busy and full on. It’s still rare that I get much time to myself.

Also I’m at that age of ‘Sandwich Carers’. 

Sandwich Carers is a term used to describe someone caring for an elderly or/and frail relative such as a parent or grandparent as well as looking after their own young children, 

As people are living longer and families are having children later in life, Sandwich Carers are on the rise. 

Life seems to all be about changes. It just seems these changes have come across sooner than I realised. 

Wishing us all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2026.

Xx 

Checking in…

So I wanted to see where I was up to with my challenge list just a few months in …..I’m doing better than expected to be honest.

I’ll keep checking back….

 1. Build raised beds and prep for growing some veggies 🥕 🥦 *In progress, raised beds were built up this week*

2. Successfully grow at least 2 vegetables and harvest them before the slugs get to them! These will be organic so will be healthier and earth friendly. *On Track. Lettuce and strawberries coming along nicely*

3. Have at least 2 beach days * One fab beach day under our belt*

4. Climb Snowdon. Great workout! 

5. Do at least 2 local walks/hikes

6. Walk/exercise for the NHS recommendation of 150 mins a week.

7. Cut down on fizzy drinks and up water intake. 

8. Make our own cards with the craft materials we already have. Will be a lovely creative activity for DD and I as well as saving money.

9. Make my first ever new candle from leftover beeswax wax. Great money saver especially as my favourite candle at the moment is £20! 🕯️

10. Make own skincare products using organic natural oils. Better for my skin, body as well as the planet 🌎 Money saving, too! *On Track*

11. Make a Bug Hotel for the garden. DD is very excited about this project! 🐞🕷️🐛🪱

12. Make my own cordial ideally from free picked or own grown produce.

13. Make good use of Blackberry season such as pies and maybe make own Blackberry Gin? 🍸

14. Keep up free Reflexology sessions at the local centre. *On Track*

15. Have a proper picnic in the sunshine ☀️ 

16. Track how much I spend a month on shopping - including any little top up trips to the shop!🥑🍞🥔🍎🧈🧀

17. Take advantage of free events at the local centre.🧵🪡🧶 🎨 

18. Relook at my overall budget to ensure that it’s still effective and is still working for me as it should. Tweak if necessary 💷 *Done*

19. Visit Call the Midwife tour. My absolute fave TV programme 📺 

20. Continue to make my own cleaning products. Again, better for the planet and cheaper. 🪣🧼 *On Track. Really enjoying making them too!*

21. Visit the Refill shop for as much as possible to keep single use plastic as low as possible. Healthier for the planet 🌎 ♻️

22. Lose at least a stone by the end of the year 💪🏻

23. Try to eat as seasonally as I can. Better health-wise, cheaper and better for the earth 🌏 

24. Decorate my Mum’s bedroom. *Done*

25. Book DD’s Mermaid party for her 5th birthday🧜‍♀️ 🐟

26. Create a Pinterest board for Mermaid party and pin some ideas📌 

27. Celebrate DS’s 16th birthday and have a successful weekend. 🎂🎈🎁🎉 *Done*

28. Do all I can to prepare DD for a smooth transition into reception and full time school! 👔

29. Start a new tradition of celebrating every end of half term with a special little treat of DD’s choice such as ice cream farm or Dessert Diner etc 🍨

30. Aim to do 2 sessions of gentle yoga per week 🧘‍♀️

31. Start looking at some college courses of interest 📚

I’m really enjoying doing these 😊

Challenge Anneka…!

Okay so it’s not really that much of a challenge and my name isn’t Anneka of course but still I’m calling them my list of challenges all the same. 

I’m finding that weeks come and go so very quickly. Honestly I wake up on a Monday, blink and it’s Friday! 

Weeks turn into months and the months turn into years.

For example in a few weeks we will be celebrating my son turning 16 years old!!!!! 16!? 

Surely I’m not old enough to have a strapping handsome 16 year old?! 

And my daughter starts school this year! It seems like she was only born around 2 years ish ago! 

So with that in mind, I’m going to set myself some challenges of things I want to do and hopefully manage to do before I get too old. A little dramatic? Maybe but I’m finding it so freakin’ scary how fast time is zooming by! 

So without further ado here are my challenges for the year:

1. Build raised beds and prep for growing some veggies 🥕 🥦 

2. Successfully grow at least 2 vegetables and harvest them before the slugs get to them! These will be organic so will be healthier and earth friendly.

3. Have at least 2 beach days

4. Climb Snowdon. Great workout! 

5. Do at least 2 local walks/hikes

6. Walk/exercise for the NHS recommendation of 150 mins a week.

7. Cut down on fizzy drinks and up water intake. 

8. Make our own cards with the craft materials we already have. Will be a lovely creative activity for DD and I as well as saving money.

9. Make my first ever new candle from leftover beeswax wax. Great money saver especially as my favourite candle at the moment is £20! 🕯️

10. Make own skincare products using organic natural oils. Better for my skin, body as well as the planet 🌎 Money saving, too!

11. Make a Bug Hotel for the garden. DD is very excited about this project! 🐞🕷️🐛🪱

12. Make my own cordial ideally from free picked or own grown produce.

13. Make good use of Blackberry season such as pies and maybe make own Blackberry Gin? 🍸

14. Keep up free Reflexology sessions at the local centre. 

15. Have a proper picnic in the sunshine ☀️ 

16. Track how much I spend a month on shopping - including any little top up trips to the shop!🥑🍞🥔🍎🧈🧀

17. Take advantage of free events at the local centre.🧵🪡🧶 🎨 

18. Relook at my overall budget to ensure that it’s still effective and is still working for me as it should. Tweak if necessary 💷

19. Visit Call the Midwife tour. My absolute fave TV programme 📺 

20. Continue to make my own cleaning products. Again, better for the planet and cheaper. 🪣🧼

21. Visit the Refill shop for as much as possible to keep single use plastic as low as possible. Healthier for the planet 🌎 ♻️

22. Lose at least a stone by the end of the year 💪🏻

23. Try to eat as seasonally as I can. Better health-wise, cheaper and better for the earth 🌏 

24. Decorate my Mum’s bedroom.

25. Book DD’s Mermaid party for her 5th birthday🧜‍♀️ 🐟

26. Create a Pinterest board for Mermaid party and pin some ideas📌 

27. Celebrate DS’s 16th birthday and have a successful weekend. 🎂🎈🎁🎉

28. Do all I can to prepare DD for a smooth transition into reception and full time school! 👔

29. Start a new tradition of celebrating every end of half term with a special little treat of DD’s choice such as ice cream farm or Dessert Diner etc 🍨

30. Aim to do 2 sessions of gentle yoga per week 🧘‍♀️

31. Start looking at some college courses of interest 📚

I’m giving myself until the end of the year to complete each one which I’ll tick off as I go. 

I may add the odd extra challenge as we go along if I think of something that I really want to do.

I like working with a list as I’m very much a list person 😊

Of course, I will update how I’m getting on from time to time. 

Wish me luck! 

Love A x

Christmas Crafts...

I have been busy doing more Christmas crafts over here.

Since my last post of the handmade advent calendar I have been crafting away a few more Christmassy things.

It all started when I was Christmas shopping and whilst in a large department store, I spotted a beautiful rustic style twig star. It was a star shape made from twigs. Simple but very pretty. I was pretty shocked at the £15 price tag! I thought "Whoa! £15!! I could make that for pennies". 

So I did.

Just a few days later, I found myself trudging through snow in some local woods in search of the perfect size and shape fallen branches. I had lots to choose from again thanks to the recent Storm Arwen.

I took a bundle of sticks home and dried them off using an old tatty towel.

I then got to work with tying the twigs together with string and wrapping some battery lights around them which cost around £4 from Aldi.

Without feeling too smug I have to say that I think my star looks more rustic and natural than the one in the shop.

The only cost were the lights as I already had the string.

£15! Pah! 

Still having the itch to craft, I took myself and DD off to one of our favourite (and cheap!) charity shops.

I was deeeeeelighted to find an old style Scrabble set for £3. I pounced on it and that afternoon I was gluing the letters together! 

I also put some (dodgy!) fake snow on them (cotton wool) and attached string.

I also did my children's names with these too. 

They look pretty cool on the tree with the rest of the decorations.

I dread to think what this sort of thing would cost from somewhere like Notonthehighstreet.

Again my five hanging decorations cost £3 and that was just for the Scrabble set - I still have more letters left which I'm sure I'll use for another craft in the future.

In case I don't get a chance to write another post before Christmas, I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas in whatever way you celebrate it.

Take care,

A x 

Handmade Christmas...

The Christmas that I was expecting my daughter, I set about making her an advent calendar.

I sourced the fabric from charity shops in the form of men's shirts. I knew I wanted a red tartan fabric along with a few others and luckily I managed to nab exactly the sort of thing that I was looking for.

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I absorbed myself into measuring, cutting and hand stitching. I really enjoyed the process of putting it together.

It took me some weeks to complete the 25 little pockets but when I did I was quite pleased with the result. Definitely not perfect but imperfectly perfect to me.

This week whilst scrolling online I came across this picture......

It's definitely an eye opener isn't it? :( 

As a family who have drastically reduced our use of single use plastic over the last few years I knew that I wouldn't be buying my children a supermarket chocolate advent calendar.

I am not preaching to anyone here but this was just something that I personally chose not to buy.

So whilst DD was in nursery, I got to work with putting my handmade version together.

Luckily, I managed to find the perfect size branches in my garden thanks to Storm Arwen!

I then rummaged in one of my craft boxes for some string and started to glue gun the string to the pockets.

I will pop treats in each pocket which will NOT include any plastic tat but will be useful and purposeful.

I hoped that my daughter would love it as much as me and I'm pleased to say she does!

This cost pennies to make and something that I can bring out year after year. Bonus is that there is no plastic involved so a success in my books :)

Pizza Making...

It's become a tradition in our house to cook up a healthy fakeaway on Fridays and Saturdays.

I've done it for years now and really look forward to cooking them.

They started after my stark realisation of just how salt and fat were added into our favourite takeaway meals. I found that I could cook them myself much healthier and save myself a wad of cash at the same time.

 It's worked really well for us and has definitely saved lots of money that I would have forked out for weekly takeaways!

We cook and eat various fakeaway dishes from Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian and American dishes to name a few. 

This weekend I decided to make a nutritious veggie pizza. I thought DD would like to help me make it which she certainly did. We made the dough for the base which DD was fantastic at helping with. Whilst DD was taking care of the dough, I made up the tomato sauce and left it on a low simmer on the hob.

DD had some extra fun by cutting pieces of the dough with the cookie cutters but we managed to knead and roll it back to a pizza base again.

I then popped the tomato sauce on with some mozzerella and lots of veggies! Into the oven it went.

It was really tasty and worked out just over £2 for the whole pizza.

To be honest, that's quite expensive for our meals as our fakeaways tend to work out around £1.50 or less!

Nevertheless, DD had a great sensory and baking activity doing this. I am going to try doing this with DS to see if he enjoys it, too :)

Keep safe,

Amanda xx

More Messy Sensory Play & Day Out...

It's utter madness that we are now in July and I am constantly cold! Anyone else feel like the weather is more Autumnal than Summer?!
I am living in hope that the weather warms up a bit to resemble something more like Summer!? and when/if it does than I want to be ready to hit the beach so I have ordered a little beach tent.
The day it was delivered, DD and I set to work straight away erecting it in the garden and she was very happy with it :) It blocks out harmful UV rays, provides shade and I thought it would also be useful to breastfeed in whilst we're at the beach. I cant wait to use it properly :)

Despite the chilly weather, the children and I have been keeping busy with more messy sensory play  - DS just loves this and we've been getting out in the garden as much as we can.
Recently, we played with coloured spaghetti which was really fun for me to prepare not to mention all the fun and amazing feedback DS got out of playing, swirling, dropping and squelching the pasta. I will definitely have to make this one again as it was such a hit!

DS and I also planned on doing some baking. DS just loves the feel of soft flour and he really enjoys pouring and slopping ingredients into a bowl and stirring and feeling with his fingers.
After scrupulous handwashing, we set to work with our ingredients. Unfortunately, our mixture never quite made it to the oven but that really didn't matter as DS had an absolute ball playing and feeling with the mixture. He loved tipping in things like extra icing sugar, flour and even a couple of eggs constantly changing the consistency which interested him.
The end result was a messy one but no regrets here as it was so enjoyable for him :)

Speaking of baking, DD and I had our first ever baking sessions together. We made shortbread biscuits and weirdly enough, DD kinda knew what to do. She stirred the mixture with a spoon (as well as taking it out and putting it in other nearby bowls!) - I swear that this child has been here before!

DD did an amazing job - they were delicious! :)

This week, we had our first day out since March and it was wonderful!
It was lovely to drive further than the local supermarket (which is the furthest I have been since March!)
We visited a safari park as DD loves animals and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
After the safari drive, we went on the little funfair which DD liked and we had our first ride on a beautiful carousel :) It was such a lovely day :)

This week, I have started scribbling in a journal. I have never used a journal before but was keen to try one. I ordered a gratitude journal as I feel that would be the most beneficial to me right now. The basic concept of this is that everyday you write three things that you are grateful for that day - they can be little things or big things. After a short period of time, you will automatically start to notice gratitude moments which in turn will make you think more positively therefore making you a more positive and happier person. I think with the world being fairly scary and unpredictable right now for most people then something like making an effort to notice more moments of gratitude is no bad thing.

I'm day 6 into my gratitude journal and am loving it! I complete it everyday and can definitely see me ordering another one once this one is completed.

Hope you are all well and staying safe,

speak soon..

xx

Messy Sensory Activities and Edible Sand...

Whilst restrictions have eased a little and the weather has been glorious, we've been out in the garden a lot.
DS has enjoyed some awesome messy sensory play with gloop. We always make the gloop up together which he enjoys adding the ingredients and stirring. We tend to add food colouring to our gloop just to give it a pop of colour. When I ask DS to choose a colour, nine times out of ten he will choose red.
Our gloop is cornflour, water and food colouring so its completely edible and safe. DS has a little tendency to taste everything he works or plays with so I always try to make stuff safe and edible as much as possible.

DS has also enjoyed some sunny days out with his wonderful staff. He's become partial to enjoying some chips whilst sitting on the promenade looking out to sea. I love doing exactly the same thing so he must take after me! :)

DD has been enjoying some baby sensory play activities too.
I have recently discovered how to make edible sand! DD can be a little monkey when playing in the sand pit as she often eat the sand.
Pinterest has some fantastic ideas and recipes for safe baby sensory play ideas and I think that's where I nicked my edible sand recipe from.
I say 'recipe' but it isn't really, it's simply a box of Cheerios breakfast cereal blended into fine sand like crumbs. DD seemed very impressed and yes she did eat some of it too! :)

Water is a terrific sensory play activity for both children. DD has enjoyed lots of days in her paddling pool with cups, jugs and such and DS has a cool tray on a stand which he can access.
Water is always a massive hit with kids!

I've been trawling Pinterest just lately looking for activities that can entertain both children as I think cabin fever coupled with boredom is close to hitting them.
DS hasn't the routine of school anymore and DD is missing out on her baby classes so I've been trying to keep them stimulated and engaged as much as I can.

I have had some amazing news this week! I am now the proud owner of an hair appointment! lol
Oh yes, I have a much needed hair appointment in my usual and favourite salon and I really cannot wait! :)

I have been very busy decorating my Mum's house. I've been stripping wallpaper, painting and wallpapering and I have just completed the second room in her house - only 4 more rooms to go *groans* but it does look very lovely though.
Mum says there's no rush so I will just plod leisurely on room by room :)

Now restrictions have eased a little, I have excitedly planned a day out! I have booked and paid for tickets and will tell all once we have been - more on that next time :)

Hope you are all doing well, take care..

xx

He's a Teenager...!

Yes that's right, DS is now a teenager!
This month, we celebrated DS turning a whopping 13 years old!
Absolutely crazy!
DS's Dad and I couldn't possibly be anymore prouder of him. He's a Superstar in his own right.

DS is a good few inches taller than me now and has the strength of an Ox. He's becoming a lovely young man.

We celebrated his birthday out in the garden in the glorious sunshine with balloons, birthday cake and laughter - it was a lovely day despite what's happening worldwide.

Today has been a scorcher of a day in the UK.
I have been extremely busy. I stripped the most stubborn wallpaper in the world off the walls today with gritted teeth, then I sanded the wall and then I washed said wall down. That took most of the day but my lovely Mum did cook me a delicious Sunday roast.

I then noticed that the weeds and nettles on the other side of my fence are starting to obstruct my beautiful view of the farm next door so I decided that I was going to strim them down.
This meant removing one of the fence panels and then climbing over to strim.
It's hard work and keeping my balance is extra hard as the ground is so uneven and slopes quite steeply.

I managed it and then went to the front garden to trim a bush that is getting a bit out of hand.
I then collected all the trimmings and put them into the garden waste. The heat was beating down on me and I was getting really hot and sweating.
When I came back into the house, my face was red and I was a hot, sweaty and shattered mess plus I was shaking. I downed a couple of glasses of water and started to run a very cool bath.

I popped one of my bath bombs in and climbed in. The water was so lovely and cooling on my hot skin and I just lay there for ages soaking my limbs.
I had to drag myself out eventually but at least I was much cooler now.

I'll make sure tomorrow is a more relaxing day as I am feeling so exhausted.

The weekly Zoom sessions with my closest friends are still happening and we always enjoy them.
Last week, one of my friends suggested that we have a 'night out' via Zoom of course :)
So I popped on a set of lashes, poured myself a glass of wine and jumped on :) I sat in the garden in the evening sun for it and we all chatted away :)

I'm loving the evenings at the moment and am really savouring having a quiet moment watching the sun go down with a cup of tea, there's just something so peaceful and relaxing about it.
Anyway I best go and take my weary body to bed.

Hope you are all well, take care

xx

Lockdown Post

I realise that I haven't posted on this blog in a long time but I am hopeful that you will forgive me as time has just whizzed by!

DD's first year just whooshed by though I remember DS's first year happened exactly the same  - there seems to be nothing in a year after having a baby!

Of course now were in the middle of lockdown and have been for 6 weeks now.
I'll be the first to admit that it's hard being so cut off from loved ones and some days I really struggle with it.
Of course, I realise why we have to do it and I'm adhering to the goverment's rules but that doesn't make it any less hard and isolating.

I'm certainly kept busy with the kiddos but they are getting fed up now, I know DD is really missing her weekly classes and activities and I am too.

Several fab things have come from these strange times though and one of those happens every Friday evening :)
Friday evenings are reserved for 'Zoomin' with my bestest and oldest friends. We always have a glass of wine and are usually in our py-jamas. It's so lovely to chat away and catch up with each other - I really love it.

The weather has been glorious so far during lockdown which has made it much easier to stay home.
My DD has really enjoyed playing in the garden in the treehouse and slide. She has taken a shine to the tractor working on the farm at the back of our house which she really enjoys watching :)

Whilst she enjoys a post-lunch nap, I have been taking the opportunity to indulge in some pampering and self care love :)

I have followed YouTube tutorials on beauty treatments such as manicures, pedicure, facials and even cutting your own hair!!!! That was a nervous one to do but I didn't do a bad job :)

All in all, we've been doing okay so far and of course things like cutting my own hair is irrelevant compared to all the souls that have lost their lives to this virus.
If I have to cut my own hair for the foreesable future in order to protect lives and our wonderful NHS then I thinks that's a very small price to pay.

I hope you are all keeping well,

Much love,

Amanda xx

Well hello...

I really really can't believe that it was nearly twelve months ago since my last post!
Life with a baby and as a Mum of two has been really full on which has left me with next to no time at all to update this blog which I have missed doing.

Life has been full on and although this year has been truly magical in welcoming my second-born into the family at the same time it's been a heartbreaking and gut wrenching year in terms of having to make decisions in relation to DS. I will talk about this in another post but first I thought I would update you on whats been happening since my last post.

Well easily the most excitable thing to happen since my last post is the birth of our beautiful daughter! The baby bump was a little girl! Her birth was completely different to DS's birth but at the same time labour and giving birth to her was very familiar :)

DS acknowledged his little sister during the first few weeks but that was it. As predicted, it has taken some getting used to having to share my attention with his sibling and I have been sensitive to that.
I was confident that if I gave him the space, reassurance and love that he would come round to her and the massive change in his own time and he did :)
It's only in the last month or so that he's taken more of an interest in her and he's just starting to display love and affection towards her in his own way which is heartwarming to watch as their Mum :)

As for her, she absolutely adores her brother! She forever stares at him, smiles and giggles with excitement when he is nearby, crawls after him and reaches her little arms up to him. She has so much love for her handsome brother :)

Life with two children, one with autism and additional needs and the other a newborn has been full on, tough at times attempting to juggle the very different needs of them both and absolutely exhausting with cluster feeding throughout the night. I've somehow managed it though and at 11 months old my daughter still breastfeeds which in a way forces me to stop, sit/lie down and have a rest whilst she suckles usually to sleep. It's such a peaceful experience.

I will refer to my daughter as DD (Dearest Daughter) for blog purposes going forward.

We celebrated DD's Baptism on a glorious and sunny Summer's day in July. Her Daddy and I were so proud to show her off to all our friends and family.

I'm not sure yet whether to try and carry on blogging in between the piles of washing, breastfeeds, cooking, baby groups etc or to maybe change direction with the blog and concentrate on other areas, I haven't decided yet but I do have lots of ideas so we'll see and of course I will keep you guys informed on my plans :)

Thank you for reading after sooooo long :)

Much love,

Amanda xxx

Pregnancy and Life Update...

Howdy!

I thought I would do a mini update with what has happened since my last post and where we are up to with everything.

First of all, I am very excitedly 38 weeks pregnant this week and I am huuuuggee! I was sure that my bump is much bigger with this pregnancy than DS's but comparing these two pics at exactly 37 weeks with pregnancy with DS on the left and current pregnancy on the right, I think I was bigger the first time round.

So I am now full term which means that baby can make his/her arrival into the world anytime now :)

Christmas events are now well underway. We have been to a few children's Christmas parties with DS and last weekend, we went on a Santa steam train in Llangollen complete with dancing and singing elves up and down the carriages and of course a visit from Father Christmas with a present.
It was a great afternoon and we all enjoyed it :)

Christmas is all sorted as I have made a conscious effort to be extra organised this year with not knowing when baby is going to make their entrance :) so Christmas cake is made, presents all wrapped and Christmas Eve boxes packed and wrapped!

I have been enjoying a vegan friendly homemade Cacao hot chocolate in the evening - I think I may be a little bit addicted to it as it's soooo yummy!

I'm running out of room in the car so hoping that baby doesn't keep us waiting too long :D

This week is DS's last week in school and possibly my last week as a Mum of 1! So after a very busy year, I have planned some nice treats for myself before I embark on those sleepless nights.

I have booked a pregnancy pamper spa day with 'Yummy Mummy' treatments and massages and a healthy lunch - I can't wait!

I have also booked a hair appointment as well as a manicure and pedicure this week :)
I am looking forward to slowing down a bit and relaxing before baby arrives.
Also it will be good to show my body and skin some love after the amazing things it has done this year with growing a healthy baby - it will be like a little thank you :)

I'll always be amazed at just how super dupa women's bodies are!

I also had a maternity photoshoot a few weeks ago and am really pleased with the pictures.
I wanted some nice shots of my baby bump to look back on in years to come and I certainly got them :)

Love Amanda xx