Charred Sweetcorn , mushroom, chard, courgette noodle thingy

Thanks to my neighbour giving me some goodies from his allotment for mowing the grass verge outside his house.It was easier than I thought to actually get the corn off the cob and I shall be doing it more often. So all these enabled me to do a noddle thingy.

Ingredients 

Sweetcorn

Mushrooms 

Chopped chard

Chopped courgette 

Prawns 

Sweet chilli sauce 

Noddles ( for quickness I used ready to go noddles ) 

Method 

Heat the oil it the wok then add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar let it go caramel ish . Then go onto to stir fry the mushrooms , peppers and Sweetcorn for 3 mins until they start to blister. Stir in some curry paste then add the prawns ,chard , courgette and mushroom stir fry for a few minutes then add the ready made noodles and heat through / serve immediately 

Helping your parents to be financially prepared for retirement and beyond

Helping your parents to be financially prepared for retirement and beyond

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Seeing your parents getting older and needing help can be tough, especially because you may have always seen them as the ones who looked after you and made sure that you were okay. 

But chances are, at some stage, you are going to have to give some extra care and assistance to ensuring that your parents are safe, protected and financially stable. 

If your parents are at the age when they are beginning to consider retirement, or perhaps they have just retired, then it might be worth sitting down with them to go over a few topics that could really help them in the future.

Here are a few ways that you could help them out…  

Talk openly about money 

It might not be an easy topic to venture into for many of us,but having an informal chat with your mum or dad about their finances could help them to consider certain things that they might not have thought about previously. 

Chatting about different savings solutions, pension plans and monthly budgeting options could open their eyes to opportunities they might not have even been aware of. There are so many financial apps available that make budgeting and money management much easier nowadays, so spend a bit of time helping your parents find the best apps to suit them and give them a handy demo of how to use them. 

Make sure they are living in the right place 

Your parents may have been living in the same family home for many years, with spare rooms (just in case you ever needed to move back home!), but now’s the time to assess whether their home is right for their current and future needs. 

If their home is in the middle of nowhere, might it be better for them to re-locate to a town centre where they can walk out to stock up on groceries without needing the car? Do they really need a four-bed house, or could they move into a modern two-bed apartment, which would be easier to upkeep and much cheaper to own? 

Assess their monthly outgoings and subscriptions 

Just like many of us, your parents may have ongoing monthly payments leaving their account that they set up many moons ago. But occasionally, it’s a good idea to sit down with them and work out if all their outgoings are still necessary. 

They may still want to pay for Sky Sports — especially now that they may be spending a bit more time at home — but perhaps they no longer need their landline (in favour of a mobile only), their work-related magazine subscription or their monthly Oyster travel pass. Sit down with the last three months’ worth of bank statements and highlight payments that might no longer be relevant. 

 

 

Don’t let them fall for scams 

It’s a sad truth, but many fraudsters and con artists prey on the elderly, who they deem as being vulnerable and more likely to fall for their lies and scams. Therefore, it’s your job to be there for advice and to ensure that this doesn’t happen to your parents. 

Warn your parents about bogus callers and tell them never to give away any financial or personal details over the phone.Also advise them about unsolicited emails from organisations that appear to be their bank or insurance provider, but who turn out to be scandalous thieves. Perhaps suggest that if they see an interesting deal or email offer that they send it over to you first to research and inspect, so that you can investigate whether it’s genuine or not. 

 

However healthy, happy and in-control your parents may seem at present, there is no harm in helping them to plan for an even happier and healthier retirement. Now is the time to step in and offer your best assistance. 

 

 

Slowness of Life

Slowness in life isn't a bad thing it really isn't and I like being slow it enables me to breathe and see everything in  detail.I do amazing things and they aren't always documented I don't always say , they are secret without being secret it is just part of my fabric of life.

I wake up and let my mind pull itself together after it has scattered itself to the four corners of the world during the night and it knits itself back together.

I take my day slowly doing what I need to do and sometimes it is thinking about what I need to do , that is how I work , it is like putting on show but without having a script and that is life it isn't scripted.

My slowness is a kindness to myself while others are beaming year to ear or stressing over how much they've packed into their day or will have to I take it slow.And my slowness of how I go about my day is part of me part of my character and part of my being.

And no one but no one tells me how to be I simply won't allow it , it is my slowness my being my world.Being autistic sometimes throws up its problems it is like in social situations you have a forcefield that won't let others include you and that is hard but the slowness of life helps you recover from those tricky times in life.And I do get on with those tricky situations in life.

I am happy in my slow and slow in my happy.

My speech therapist sees that stutter though mild has impacted me hugely and how I describe myself is a protection to myself and I have to say speech therapy has helped me greatly in my slowness where ironically I rush in my speech to get what I have to say out he way.I think this is so I can get back to the slowness of life and just wanting to be one with the world on my terms.

People don't expect me to be autistic I do get you never would have guessed , I mean I am not Paddington Bear where I have a label attached explaining who I am.I strive to be how I am what I am each and every day.I admire myself and also punish myself at times I am my own critic at the best of times but I am trying not to do this.

My slowness is brilliant it fits me just like a well fitting bobble hat and I like it , I don't work now I did so for many years in the fast based world of being a teaching assistant and some of that was as a special needs teaching assistant. I have tried here and there to volunteer at places but let me tell you trying to actually get people to take notice of you trying to help is an issue.

People make promises to me and they say yes we will meet up but life gets up in the way and they don't go for that walk with me and don't have the coffee , it is a promise in the win and the more sure of a promise is at the best of times to myself.It is a slow resilience to protecting myself and resilience is good though sometimes it is a sudden resilience out of the blue.

I breathe slowly.

I let the day unfurl I wait and watch while I wash up at the kitchen sink I don't take stock of the time and a leaf fulls.

I like the slowness of life.

Bonkers Wedding Gifts

I’ve researching my families ancestry and it’s fascinating it is throwing up all manner of strange and weird things.Amongest this is a a wedding gift to my Great Grandparents on my dads side.The bonkers wedding gift in 1897 was a tortoise and this is the very tortoise that I knew in my grandparents garden in Ramsgate Kent.Now I knew the tortoise as George which I think came from my Great Grandma s maiden name of George.It would seem that the tortoises real name was Billy and lived to the great old age of 120 dying in 2011.No one expects to find information about a tortoise on their family tree but there you have it, I do on mine !

George the tortoise

I expect in 1897 a tortoise was a very exotic gift and no one would dream of doing that nowadays as tortoises need quite specialist care.I have seen through searching on the internet that people have had tortoises as ring beaters I have no idea if George the tortoise was a ring bearer at a Victorian wedding.I have seen people in the news have cats and dogs as a ring bearer even a bird of prey but never would I have though of someone having a tortoise that is one slow walk towards the alter !

Halloween Activities to Do with the Whole Family

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Halloween Activities to Do with the Whole Family

Halloween is just around the corner. The celebration is a great opportunity to get kids and parents together to collaborate on spooky activities and creative projects. Over the years, hundreds of these activities have been devised, so you’ll have no shortage of inspiration when it comes to your household’s Halloween celebrations. Probably the best-known activity for kids at this time of year is trick-or-treating – but this is falling out of fashion, thanks to concerned parents and annoyed residents who don’t want to have to keep a massive bag of sweets by the door. So what are the alternatives?

Costumes

Halloween just wouldn’t be Halloween if we didn’t dress up for the occasion. Grown-up costumes tend to be increasingly grim and gory, and informed by villains from film and television. Kid’s costumes aren’t quite as grisly, but they’re still a great opportunity to dress up as a favourite character from the world of cinema (or literature). If you’re willing to pay for it, you might find a brilliant costume online, but it’s usually more fun to make your own. Older children can help out with the design and the ideas, and parents can pitch in with any sewing. 

Pumpkin-Carving

Here’s another chance to get creative with the most famous of all Halloween decorations: the carved pumpkin. You needn’t limit yourself to the traditional grinning face, here: modern jack-o-lanterns can carry just about any image or message you like – provided that you can carve it into the vegetable. If you get a few kids sitting side-by-side on a suitable bench, you can set up a neat little pumpkin production-line.

Other home-made Halloween decorations, like slime, stringy-cobwebs and fake blood, can be just as fun to make. Just make sure that you supervise your children’s efforts, as you don’t want them to come up with anything that will stain your walls or carpet.

Witch’s Cauldron

Particular mention should go to the witch’s cauldron, which makes a great centrepiece for Halloween parties. If you put another bowl inside the cauldron, you can fill it with an actual drink, and serve a grisly treat to all of your guests. As well as looking the part, this will let you teach the kids (and yourself) some basic chemistry. Just make sure you handle the dry ice yourself, as it can burn the skin if handled directly. Make sure you don’t put any in the drink directly, either, as you don’t want to swallow it!

Cooking

Why stop at your punch? If you want to involve the whole family, then get them to chip in by making some Halloween-inspired treats for the occasion. You can put all of that leftover pumpkin into a few dozen snack-sized pies, for a start. This approach will allow you to skip those mass-produced chocolates, and provide your kids with the skills they need to stay healthy when they need to fend for themselves. What better way to celebrate Halloween could there be?