Author: Scottish Mum

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Review: Niermann-Standby Beetle Table Light, sold by Wayfair UK

We were happily sent the Niermann- Standby Beetle Table Light from Wayfair’s range of lamps for children to review.

A delighted middler opened the box with glee.  I was slightly surprised that the lamp had come from Germany, but it did arrive very quickly, so I wouldn’t say that it was a problem at all.

Having a near teen who has special needs is often overlooked by many people.  He wants to be seen to keep up with his brothers and be “cool” and like the same things as them, but I know deep down that he really likes to watch “Big Cook Little Cook,” eat Smilie Potatoes and have toys for much younger children when other people aren’t around.

His bedroom is his private space so the things he really appreciates can live there.  The light in his eyes at opening this box was incredible.  I knew he was likely to be keen on it, but I was surprised to see the jumping up and down that came after the realisation of what he had been sent.

Lets get to the nitty gritty.

Price

At over £57 the lamp isn’t cheap and nor is it big, with dimensions of 10cm H x 20cm W x 20cm D and only 1.5kg in weight.

Brightness

For such a small bulb, this lamp packs a mighty punch.

Quality

I am impressed, I have to say.  The lamp is good quality and solid.   The cord has a slide switch on it to allow little fingers to switch the light on and off for themselves without having to go to a wall socket.  For what seems like a light lamp on paper, it certainly feels solid enough with it’s wood base.

Room for Improvement

With the build quality I have no suggestions as it really is a lovely lamp that any child would be delighted with, but I do have a couple of suggestions for the future.

1 – After realising it was sent from Germany, I was surprised to see there was only external packaging with the lamp.  The box was misshapen and had been battered a bit on the way to Scotland, but the lamp stood up to the rough treatment very well as there was no sign of damage.  To go such a distance, it might be better to have a box within a box for a little added protection.

2 – There is a large transformer attached to the lamp, which is to help overcome the problem of the difference in electrical systems.  It works fine and is a petty point, but I do feel it would have been a nicer touch to have had a UK plug fitted to go to a UK customer.

Overall Opinion

We love it.  Yes, it’s expensive, but when you see it, it looks and feels expensive. It is prized possession of a little boy who delights going to his bed every night with his Beetle for company.  Here is his lamp, in pride of place on the bedside cabinet, and it is not allowed to share it’s space with anything else.

Disclaimer
Wayfair.co.uk sent us the Niermann Standby Beetle Table Light and allowed us to choose whether to review.

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We’re jinxed…. Just send us the bill….

You could be forgiven for thinking I’ve thrown in the towel and decided to be Miss Misery Guts this week.

Looking back on it, it’s not going to be all plain sailing to fix, but hey, we’re all alive, and I can afford to put food on the table for my kids.  So – why on earth have I been finding myself almost biting my nails and nervously chewing my hair with appliance breakdowns?

Answer me this, just who invented the full moon phase?   Whoever that was must have been a wizard of epic proportions to be able to smite us down with such a wave of an electric wand.

I’m not in the slightest bit paranoid for thinking that the lunar phase of the mood is responsible for the breaking down of electrical currents, and the shortening of the lives of our favoured and prized household machinery gadgets.

Starting slowly, the trouble brewed gently.  A fridge that doesn’t keep food cold is no use in a home where you need a week worth of school dinner ingredients on those hallowed cool shelves.  Buying fruit on Friday and having it go rotten by Monday really hits home about how we depend on our American Style Fridge Freezer.

After three weeks of looking for a side by side American style fridge I could afford, I admitted defeat and signed on the dotted line for an early delivery on Thursday this week of a regular American style fridge freezer.

The dishwasher chronicles have gone on for a while, so it was no stranger that it decided to give up the ghost and join the old fridge freezer in the graveyard for electrical appliances.

That would be enough for most people, wouldn’t it?

Not for us apparently.

With a rare blast of sunshine on Thursday, kidlets went out into the garden to play a little footie, as you do when you’re an adolescent boy wanting to show off your newly found testosterone injected strength.

Good neighbours are hard to find and we’ve got two.  Thankfully neighbour across the fence next door understands the problems with middler, even if we rarely ever see or speak to them.  Middler had decided to start bullying them, which ended in two broken windows in their newly (expensively) built extension,as he decided to use their window as target practice for the chuckies around our patio.

Profuse apologies and embarrassed conversations led to taking measurements to get the toughened glass window units replaced.  Thankfully we have contacts who have given us the units at cost, and we can also fit them for zero labour charge.

If we’d had to pay labour, we’d likely have been into the thousand bracket instead of the hundreds to fix.  Middler is now grounded for the rest of his natural born existence.

Friday morning came and went in a flurry of activity and under breath muttering as I blamed the man, completely unfairly, of switching off the boiler before he departed for money making activities.

Getting the kids ready for school with chattering teeth and cold showers really made the start to my day complete.  With massive foresight, I refused to go for a combi boiler when we installed our last one and insisted on the dual, so we still have the gas fire in the lounge and electric for hot water.

The engineer has been and he’s not sure if the fan has gone, or if it is just the transformer so another 3 day wait for a teeny transformer.  If that doesn’t work, there’s no point in getting the fan as it costs about half the price of a new boiler.  What’s worse is that the boiler is only about 7 years old, and I’m gutted at the cost implications, especially as the one I grew up with chugged along for over 20 years.

Tuesday came and I decided to vacuüm the lounge.  This proved to be an exercise that needed much wrestling with tube, hose and uncoupled couplings care of Dyson jigsaw puzzle hoovers.

Determined not to get to appliance 4, and disaster 5 of the week, a pair of sugar tongs managed to shift the contents of the last hoover user, a 12 year old whose top drawer is likely to have been vacuumed, as it is the hiding place he stuffs empty sweetie wrappers he has illicitly procured from the kitchen.

What more can possibly go wrong?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spaghetti Bolognese Scotty Brand Carrots

My two favourite produce providers are the reason for the fabulously speedy wolfing down of Spaghetti Bolognese for our evening meal.  It’s amazing how much difference the taste of good meat and vegetables makes to the enjoyment of what we eat.

The same Scotty Brand carrots used to make the Carrot and Orange Soup, added a lovely sweetness.  Combined with the gorgeously tasting steak mince from Andrew Gordon Butchery and Fine Foods in Aberdeen, the two ingredients made for a fantastic meal.

Feel free to use half portions.  I had three adults and four children to feed with these proportions.

Ingredients

  • 1kg Steak Mince
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 5 Large Carrots
  • Teaspoon Turmeric
  • Teaspoon Cinnamon or Nutmeg
  • 500g Carton of Passata
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Rapeseed Oil
  • 500g Spaghetti
  • 50g Butter (Optional)

Method

  1. Brown mince in a thick bottomed pan, or a good frying pan on a low heat.  I added a couple of tablespoons of Rapeseed Oil to help it along.
  2. Chop onions finely and add to the browning mince.
  3. Slice carrots and add to the  pan.
  4. Boil the kettle and add a pint of water to the mix.  Leave to simmer for 25 minutes, and top up the water if necessary.
  5. Salt and Pepper to taste.
  6. Put the pasta on to cook.
  7. Once the mince has simmered, add the tub of passata, turmeric and either cinnamon or nutmeg.
  8. Simmer the passata and mince mix for 5 minutes.
  9. Drain the pasta and use boiled water to rinse the spaghetti until it runs clear.
  10. Add the butter to the pasta if you like the taste, and mix it through.
  11. Serve immediately.
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Guest Recipe : Meatball and Okra Casserole

This guest recipe comes to you from Leila of @persianliving on Twitter.  Her blog is worth a visit as it grows with lovely Iranian style cooking.  You can find her recipes at: persianliving.co.uk

Meatball and Okra Casserole

My favourite vegetable of late is the flavourful and aromatic Okra, otherwise known in the West as Ladies Fingers or Gumbo.

In Iran, we call it Bamiyeh and in Pakistan/India it is known as Bhindi.

You can fry them up with garlic and tomato and eat with flat breads soaking up the juice, or cook in a casserole with chunks of lamb or beef ,flavour up with ginger and cinnamon and just for good measure add a few pieces of apple or simply stir fry. The easiest way and as I have found, the best way to get them eaten by my children, is to add them to a saucy meatball casserole because you can mash it up a little and they would never know the difference!

Okra, which is rich in calcium, can be found in most supermarkets usually somewhere obscure where all the fresh herbs and exotic vegetables are in little packets or already potted. I get mine from my favourite Asian store in Manchester where fruits, vegetables and herbs such as okra, baby aubergines, quince, coconuts, methi (fenugreek) and much more can be found in abundance. Here is my recipe for a deliciously spicy meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 400g lean minced beef or minced lamb shoulder
  • medium onion, grated
  • 175g okra
  • 1 tin chopped tomato
  • 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 heaped tbsp fine white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  • Add the grated onion, breadcrumbs,, turmeric, salt and pepper to the minced meat and mix thoroughly.
  • Roll the meat into little balls about the size of a gobstopper or smaller.
  • Heat oil in a medium sized lidded pan and fry the meatballs until they have firmed up and have turned a brown colour.
  • To avoid *sticking*, whilst the meatballs are still soft, instead of using a spoon, pick up the pan and shake occasionally to make sure all the meatballs have been allowed to fry.
  • Once the meatballs are thoroughly browned all over, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste and cover with water.
  • Bring the casserole to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • After 30 minutes, add the okra. Mix into the casserole as gently as possible using your spoon to bring up sauce from the bottom and pouring it over the okra.
  • Leave to cook for a further 20 minutes repeating the same method with the sauce in order to soak the okra.
  • Serve with fluffy white rice and a crisp crunchy salad!

*Tip: Okra can be slightly *sticky* if split open. This is due to the seeds being gelatinous. To avoid this, don’t cut them or split open whilst stirring the casserole.

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EU Cookie Directive – New Law Affects Websites and Blogs – 26th May 2012 – Possible £500,000 Fine for Non-Compliance. Do you know what it’s all about?

If all you know about cookies is vanilla cream, chocolate chip or maple syrup, you may be in trouble if you have a website or blog.

The Guardian asks the question.  “How will the new law on cookies affect internet browsing?”  I think it’s a topic we need to make ourselves aware of.

Cookies surround us whether we like it or not in our everyday Internet life.   I can bet that any one of us would come up with a sizable number of cookies if we were to check our Temporary Browsing folders.  The most annoying ones are those that seem to persistently refuse to leave our expensive gadgetry, no matter how often we delete them.

Webmasters tend to like cookies.  From putting one on our computer, they can check what we visit, and get information that we really don’t want just anyone to know about.  Think of the information that someone could have access to if they knew EVERY website and page that you EVER visited.  How targeted could the adverts and information be that show up as you browse the Internet?

I don’t mind saying that I regularly get freaked out with a capital F when I visit somewhere and get pop up adverts for Aberdeen and shoes I looked at the week before.  I won’t be sad to see the back of some cookies, and I’ll delete all affiliates from my websites.  Deleting affiliates and adding a direct link instead, means I stop any potential third-party cookies being put on my readers computers.

As Internet users, we could set our computers to not accept cookies, but then we’d lose the benefit of the cookies we want to keep.  We all like to keep some logins recognised, or even the items we put into online shopping baskets.  Ok, they might not know it’s ME, but I like to know when a cookie is being put on my machine.  I am in favour of the change of legislation to make the use of cookies more clear, but how to get it to work on small websites is another matter.

What is happening with cookies and why?

Last year, legislation was passed that means we have to adhere to the new cookie laws.  The UK was given a year of grace to get it’s websites to comply.  On the 26th May 2012 our year is up, and every website will have to inform its visitors that they use cookies.  Every visitor must be asked to consent to their use.

When you think about it, this could actually be quite challenging for small websites and bloggers, as I would guess that most webmasters have absolutely no idea if their sites use cookies or not.  A cookie testing tool is probably a good idea for all of us.

I’ve found a test tool at Attacat, which could help small website owners find out which cookies their websites are putting onto their visitor computers.  I am not endorsing the website, so you use it at your own risk.  Although it worked fine for me, it may not work the same way for you.  Make your own decision as to whether you should download it or not.

Websites and blogging software by default tends to set cookies for logins and stats.  Find out which ones your site is using, and if you come across any really fabulous tools that don’t cost a fortune to do it, let us know so that we can pass them on to webmasters with small budgets.

Aboutcookies.org gives an overview of what is needed, but I think many are going to struggle.  Given that the possibility of a fine is up to £500,000.00 for websites that don’t comply, I don’t think we can sit on our laurels and hope it goes away, even if we do get a warning first.

How can we ask users for consent?

At first glance this fills me with fears of dread.  I am not looking forward to the possibility of instant pop ups when we visit every site asking for us to agree to the terms and conditions of cookies.  It could also mean that our current privacy policies need an overhaul to ensure we are legally compliant, but will that be enough?

Websites will need to let their visitors know why they want the information and explain which parts of the website use them, and why.  As bloggers, our use of cookies is minimal as we don’t tend to use that method of gaining advertising revenue, but as small websites, the potential is there to cause us problems.  Informed consent technically means tick a box to agree consent.

What are the big websites doing?

The Guardian explained that some sites are indeed using the nightmare scenario of tick box on entry to a site to agree to cookies.  It may well cut the numbers of users accepting tracking, but I’d be irritated at a website asking me to tick a box when I don’t yet trust them.  I would be likely to just click away from their site.  New blogs, websites and businesses would struggle with this approach I suspect, but the big ones can afford to ride the wave.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for people.  They’ve chosen to deal with it by adding the box at the top of their page, but again is assuming that everyone with a website has the ability and knowledge to make this happen.

BT has put a notice on the bottom right of their website.  It takes the opposite view.  If you haven’t clicked it, you are agreeing to cookies.  I’m not sure that’s what the legislation is asking for, as it’s quite clear that people have to give informed consent.

With the BT approach, it looks like the box could easily be missed and cookies still downloaded without people agreeing.  I’m not completely comfortable with that.  I don’t have £500,000 I could risk by trying that approach out.  I hope their method proves sound as it’s the way I’d like to go when I know that there is no risk involved in it.

What about small websites and blogs?

Many don’t seem to have done anything yet, and are possibly waiting to see how everyone else is going to do it.

We are NOT exempt.  Although the directive could be implemented differently in our Country, in reality, we still have to get informed consent.  We really are all going to have to make some effort to find out if our websites are storing cookies.

I’d say this could also have some impact on affiliate campaigns, PPC and our stats and analytics packages.  The Directive does give some leeway to have cookies ie for logging in and shopping cart and deems those necessary.

Our advertising cookies, or analytics and other bells and whistles cookies that make our websites look fantastic are not covered under essential cookies.  Simply put, it really means that if your website could function without something, you have to get people to specifically agree to download the cookies that make it work.

I have absolutely no idea how I am going to react to this one yet, and I watch the news with interest on it.  I am likely to remove affiliate adverts, although I don’t take many, and I don’t do pay per click, so it’s just plugin and stats cookies that I will really have to check.

What about you?

I am testing a few different ways of getting informed consent and my favourite WordPress.org plugin at the moment is Cookie Control, which is now installed on my blog as a trial.  I don’t think it’s too intrusive and although is reported to be a bit sticky on Google Stats, it seems to be working fine with the other cookies.  It looks like the developers are working on it quickly.

I would expect a premium application will come out to cover this fairly quickly.  I’m guessing there will be thousands of non compliant websites on 26th May, but I’d like to to find my way forward for the future.

Yes, there will be problems, and allowing visitors to withhold cookies means that our stats could divebomb.  If they have to tick a box before we get to record the fact they’ve visited us, then we’re really going to struggle to know how many people visit.  I suspect this is the reason for the BT stance.  Initial indications show that stats could drop up to 90% in our dashboards even though the visitors are still there, so the BT model looks very attractive.

Maybe this new cookie law is what we need as bloggers and website owners.  It could be the final push to get us to take stats, throw them out of the window for good, and rely on interaction via social media as a bolt on to our websites.

If you have a developer or webmaster and haven’t had anything done about this, it could be time to get your skates on and find out more.  The rules seem a bit fuzzy and open to interpretation.  I suspect the chances of being prosecuted are probably very slim, but I’d rather take a little action now so that I have been seen to take it seriously in finding a way to meet my legal obligations.

It’s going to be interesting to see how far my stats fall this week with the plugin activated.

Would be interesting to know if anyone else is doing anything about it.

 

 

 

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Strawberry, Peach & Pear Smoothie

We can  make this all fresh, or all tinned, or a mixture of both.  The boys wanted some fruity smoothie and I didn’t have enough of any one thing to made a dedicated smoothie, so we experimented with the left over strawberries that we had, and a tub of peaches and pears in juice from the cupboard.

Smoothies are really easy peasy and gets some fruit into our bodies.

Ingredients

  • Just under half the blender of crushed ice.
  • Strawberries – I used a 400g tub
  • Tub or tins of peaches and pears – 400g, including the juice.
Method
  1. Add all ingredients to blender.
  2. Stir to mix ice and fruit
  3. Switch on blender and let run for a few minutes.  Stir a little if the ice stops crunching up.
  4. Serve immediately.

 

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Coco Mango Chicken Recipe

 

For my lovely meal, six of us ate from the recipe, and I have three strapping lads to feed, as well as a man who likes a good bit of animal protein.

Ingredients

  • 800 – 900g chicken breast / fillet.
  • 6 heaped tablespoons mango chutney (I buy Premium Mango Chutney in huge jars from Costco).
  • Rapeseed oil.
  • 1 clove of garlic crushed or chopped, or a teaspoon of garlic from a jar.
  • 1/2 tin of coconut milk (mix well in the tin before adding).
  • Salad, vegetables and fruit to serve.
  • Pitta bread or wraps.

Method

  1. Cut chicken into pieces.
  2. Shallow fry the chicken in the minimum of rapeseed oil.  Use a large frying pan, wok, or even a thick bottomed saucepan on low – medium heat.  Turn the chicken often to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  3. Add the 6 tablespoons of mango chutney and the garlic.
  4. Stir often to make sure the chicken and mango chutney don’t burn.  Turn down the heat, and let the mixture bubble away for a few minutes.
  5. Mix in the coconut milk a little bit at a time on a low heat at the end or it will separate.

To serve, simply warm pitta bread or wraps, choose vegetables, salad or fruit, and serve in large dishes for sharing.

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Carrot and Orange Soup Challenge by Scotty Brand

As a Scotty Brand Blogger, I am loving the boxes of goodies arriving with instructions on how to make something that I haven’t made before.  This week, the challenge was to make Carrot and Orange soup, which I managed quite easily.  I had a couple of packs of carrots torn open and being chopped within about 10 minutes of them arriving at my door.

I didn’t read the recipe properly and thought that it only needed 600ml stock and so quadrupled the contents as my boys eat huge portions of food.  Don’t make the same mistake as I did, as I then had to up the milk quantity by four times as well – AND transfer my soup into a much bigger pot.  I’ll give you the Scotty Brand quantities and not mine, as we ended up with an obscene amount of soup which is now stored in the freezer for other cold days to come.

I also made the cardinal mistake of doing kids homework while I put the soup ingredients together, and I had put the butter in the microwave to melt.  It was after the soup was eaten that I discovered I hadn’t put it in the pot.  I have to say, the soup without the butter was delicious, so I’d say it was an optional ingredient and all in all, the recipe is fabulous and can cope well with some modifications.

Ingredients

  • 450g Scotty Brand carrots sliced
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 65g butter
  • 65g plain flour
  • 600ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 600ml milk
  • 1 orange (juice and rind)
  • Salt and finely ground pepper
  • 5ml nutmeg
  • 5ml parsley

Method

  1. Melt butter and add onions and carrots  (I just added the onions and carrots to the pot with the stock and flour).
  2. Cook gently, and stir in the flour and cook for a further 1/2 mins (oops, I missed this step).
  3. Add milk.
  4. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  5. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then simmer for 20/30 minutes  (you really have to stir frequently because of the milk).
  6. Liquidise before adding orange juice and shredded rind (I left out the rind as one of my boys doesn’t do bits in soup).
  7. Serve sprinkled with parsley and, if you like, a dollop of fresh cream or plain yogurt.

Enjoy
Scottish Mum Blog

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Guest Recipe: Sloppy Joes Burger by Claire T

This Guest Recipe from Claire, aka ninjakillercat.blogspot.com/ and @needaphone on Twitter sounds amazing.

Sadly Claire didn’t manage to take a photograph, so that means that I will just have to go and make it so that I can get one.  I’m sure my boys will love giving it a try.

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The trick to this recipe is to brown the meat well, on high heat. Don’t crowd the pan , work in batches and don’t stir the meat until it is well browned on one side. It helps to use a large cast iron pan, or an anodised pan, as these pans can handle the heat and are relatively stick-free.

Ingredients

  • 1Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup minced carrots or sweet pepper
  • 1 cup chopped onion ( about 1 medium onion)
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 gloves garlic,minced
  • Salt
  • 1 1/4lb ground beef
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce ( or 1 15 once can whole tomatoes, pureed)
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • Pinch ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • 2 turns of freshly ground pepper
  • 4 hamburger buns

Method

  •  Heat love oil in a large saute pan on medium high heat. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. ( If you are using peppers instead of carrots, add those at the same time as the onions).
  • Add the chopped onion and celery.
  • Cook. stirring occasionally until onions are translucent, about 5 more minutes.
  • Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. remove from heat. remove vegetables from the pan to a medium-sized bowl, set aside.
  • Using the same pan ( or you can cook the meat at the same time as the vegetables in a separate pan to save time), generously salt the bottom of the pan ( about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon).
  • Heat the pan on high. Crumble the ground beef into the pan. You likely need to do this in two batches, otherwise you will crowd the pan and the beef won’t easily brown. Do not stir the ground beef, just let it cook until it is well browned on one side. Then flip the pieces over and brown the second side.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove the ground beef from the pan ( can add to the set- aside vegetables), salt the pan again and repeat with the rest of the ground beef.
  • If you are using extra lean beef you will likely not have any excess fat in the pan, if you are using 16% or higher, you may have excess fat. Strain of all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
  • Return the cooked ground beef and vegetables to the pan.
  • Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and brown sugar to the pan. Stir to mix well.
  • Add ground cloves. thyme, and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat to medium low and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Adjust seasoning to taste.
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Undercover Elder Care on Panorama – Abuse of our Elderly – Rant Corner

I’ve just finished watching the Panorama programme about Elder Care, where a woman tells her story of how her mother with Alzheimers was abused by the very people who should have cared for her.

Suspicious about bruises that had appeared on her mother’s body, she recorded video footage from a hidden camera which showed her mum being more or less thrown into her bed at 5.30 pm by two carers from the Philipines.  They talk in their native language and manhandle her poor arthritic body disgracefully.

Several carers come and go and don’t really speak to her.  The TV is switched on and off for the carers benefit and in the morning, she is bathed by the same carers who saw her last 13 hours earlier, slapping her hands away when she protested in pain.

One carer complained about the low wage at about £6.50, so what we have is a culture of angry people taking care of difficult patients that the carers really can’t be bothered with.

The breakfast carer ignores Maria, and she is speed force-fed by a carer who doesn’t speak to her.  The carer puts on the TV to watch it for herself, and switches it off again when she leaves.  Maria is left to stare at the ceiling for most of every day.  They treat Maria as no human should be treated.

Maria’s daughter said that she had lived in that environment for a year.

Although against company policy to have a male carer alone with a Client, a single male carer treats her roughly, twists her arm, hits her and swears at her.  There is no compassion, no care, and no help from the people she needed to help her.

He lifted her by her head and when she cried out, he slapped her in the face.  He hit her 6 times in while he gave her a wash in the morning.  Recruited from overseas to work as a nurse, he was trusted, and failed the woman he was paid to care for.  Maria, unable to shout for help, in permanent pain from her arthritis, and a victim of sustained and deliberate abuse, was a helpless victim and an easy target.

By the end of that programme, I found myself crying for the predicament Maria (and the hidden sufferers) find themselves in.

I’ve touched on abuse in homes before, when I blogged about the Castlebeck Affair, and I recognised that it is likely this type of thing goes on in care homes up and down the country, but Castlebeck had warning signs that people ignored.

This is from a home that had a good reputation.

Why did the home allow this to happen?

Ash Court responded that the abuse Maria suffered was an isolated incident.  Well, I’m not going to apologise for saying that an answer like that really doesn’t give me any confidence that our kids, elders and disabled are really being protected from abuse when the Companies are employing cheap labour who can hardly speak the language, let alone have proper training to care.

The CQC report doesn’t seem particularly helpful either, and this is where I struggle.  Those of us whose relatives need residential care need to know our people are being cared for.  It’s inexcusable to say that if they had found abuse they would have taken action.  The majority of hopefully isolated bullies carry out their abuse when nobody else is looking.  Where this gets worrying, is that it was 5 different carers in 2 days carrying out the abuse.

I do strongly believe that all carers involved in looking after any of our people should be paid a fair wage to attract good quality carers.  They should also be able to speak the language of the people they care for, to a good enough level to be able to communicate with the people they are looking after.  The last stipulation should be that they have a minimum specified amount of training on how to treat vulnerable people.

When I was much younger, I once walked past a care home and an elderly man was banging on the window and shouting help from a second floor room.  Instead of acting, I walked past as I saw a carer enter his room, thinking that he would be properly cared for by the staff.  I want to kick myself for that now, as the care home had a bad report a short while later.  I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

I am glad that my grandparents were both cared for at home.   My mother drives me batty at times, but I would struggle to let her stay anywhere that I think she might not be looked after.  I also know that for every bad care home, there are probably dozens of fabulous ones, but we don’t know what is going to happen when we put them under someone else’s care, do we?

As a teen, I did some work in an old people’s home for my Duke of Edinburgh Award.  Yes, I hated most of it.  I was very young, and in a place that stank of wee and poo, and with old men and women ordering me around.  I wasn’t disrespectful, even when an old woman called me her servant, although I tried with all my might to avoid helping out in her room.

I did enjoy the common rooms and talking to the residents when they had lucid moments, and reliving some of their lives with them.  I regularly helped an almost bed ridden cancer patient get his illicit baccy supply, and I’d get him up into his chair and wheel him out for some fresh air while he puffed his lungs black.  It was a sad day when I turned up for my shift and he was gone.

For many vulnerable inmates and residents, there is nobody to care.   For goodness sake, even our prisoners get treated better than lots of our vulnerable citizens.

Controversial, yes, truthful, yes.  I am not ashamed of that.  There must be valid reasons for the human rights of our care home residents to be treated with respect, and have their time filled and occupied by people who actually know what a heart is.

The concerns in my Castlebeck Panorama blog post haven’t changed, and every story like this just puts the notch of anxiety just that little bit higher on the top list of things to worry about for special needs children through their lives.

People are so cruel, but others are so kind.  I don’t believe in the retribution from God things, or all things happen for a reason.

The only things I believe people have to fear from in this world are :

1 – Other People

2 – Other People

3 – Other People

4 – Natural Disasters & Unforeseen Circumstances

I don’t actually blame all the carers who find themselves in this vicious cycle as they’ve generally been failed too.  They are often put into situations they have no idea of how to act in, and often work unsupervised, untrained and very understaffed.

I do completely blame the stupid money grabbing greed of the corporate investment and capital finance world who insist on making care a business with huge profit margins to make.

If the corporate big wigs took less profit, carers could have more training, go through more rigorous recruitment schedules and see care as a “career” and not just as a temporary stop gap that they fully resent until something better comes along.

I also appreciate the wonderful carers who do exist out there, and for whom people who act like those in Ash Croft and Castlebeck give a bad name.  How must they feel to see what goes on in the no hope homes?

Yours disgustedly at seeing more evidence of senseless abuse.

Scottish Mum Blog

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Guest Recipe: Seafood Broth from Graeme Taylor

Guest Recipe from Graeme Taylor of Scots Larder, and also found on Twitter as @scotslarder

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I love seafood, you can’t beat it for freshness, flavour and for sheer enjoyment of experimentation and it goes so well with so many ingredients, it complements chorizo, and the fresh herbs and white wine make it zing. It’s also great to watch everyone get messy as they wrestle with heads, tails, claws and shells!

I threw this soup together with what I found available in the fishmonger and supermarket but really it’s all about experimenting with what’s available and in season.

I made my own stock using the bones from the gurnard with stock vegetables but you could use a cube if heads and bones offend you or even a shop bought pot of stock, many fishmongers do excellent ones. I just don’t like to see flavour going in the bin so made my own.

This will serve 4

Ingredients

1 Gurnard filleted and chopped into bitesize chunks
100g clams
100g squid chopped into rings
Dozen mussels
150g king prawns
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin cannellini beans
50g chorizo piccante finely chopped
2 shallots finely chopped
Splash white wine (just a splash, not a sploosh, there’s a big difference!)
Tiny splash sherry vinegar (maybe 1tsp)
Dessertspoon finely chopped dill
2 small ladels fish stock

Method

  1. In a medium pot sweat the chorizo in a little olive oil until it begins to give up it’s colour then add the shallots and cook slowly until soft.
  2. Add the gurnard and coat in the orangey oil to brown a little and then add the tomatoes.
  3. Add the sherry vinegar and beans and bring to a slow simmer.
  4. Meanwhile clean and de-beard the mussels and clams making sure you discard any dead ones. The end of this recipe is all about timing, nobody wants cold or overcooked seafood.
  5. When you’re happy with the flavour and consistency of the soup, probably around 15 minutes, put a little olive oil in the bottom of a hot pan and then add the mussels, clams and white wine, cover and set timer for 4 minutes.
  6. Add the prawns to the soup and give the shellfish pot a shake but don’t take off the lid or the cooking steam will all be lost.
  7. When the buzzer goes drain the shellfish pot into the soup to get all the flavour the clams and mussels have given up along with the white wine.
  8. At this point put the squid into the soup as any more than two minutes will render it elastic band like!
  9. Take the mussels and clams from their shells except a couple for decoration (not essential unless you’d like to impress somebody!) and add to the soup.
  10. Take off the heat, stir through the dill, correct for seasoning and serve in warmed bowls with a huge chunk of Guinness soda bread.