Posted on 2 Comments

Roasted Stuffed Peppers with ONION, MUSHROOM AND CHEDDAR CHEESE, SERVED WITH QUAILS EGGS AND SALAD

Filling peppers is a very cheap and tasty way to fill bellies.  There is no limit to the amount of combinations that can be filled and roasted.  Add some lovely side salad and eggs, and the plate looks lovely.

Lesley Smith

Roasted Stuffed Peppers – Onion, Mushroom and Cheddar Cheese, Served with Quails Eggs and Salad

4 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Mains, Starter

Ingredients
  

  • 6 Whole Peppers Red, Green or Yellow (can be mixed)
  • 500 g Mushrooms Chopped
  • 2 Large Onions Chopped
  • 250 g Cheese Grated
  • 12 Quails Eggs
  • Salad
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Method
 

  1. Put your oven on to pre-heat at approximately 180 C.
  2. Slice the top of your peppers and put it to one side. I had to take slivers off the bottom of mine to make them stand up, otherwise they just toppled over. If you buy your peppers loose, you can look for the perfect peppers to do this with. Hollow out the peppers and remove the seeds.
  3. Fill the peppers with grated cheese, pop the lids back on and place them on a baking tray. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top, and drizzle olive oil over the top of the peppers.

  4. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the peppers are soft.
  5. Lightly fry the mushrooms and onions in a frying pan and put the Quails eggs on to boil. 4 minutes in boiling water only.
  6. When the peppers are cooked, place them on a bed of lettuce or salad leaves. Take off the top and fill with the onions and mushrooms, add sliced quails eggs and serve.

How to cook quail eggs.

Stuffed Peppers2

Posted on 11 Comments

Budget Versus Quality Food

Just by choosing to eat some cheap ingredients, it doesn’t mean that we have to eat tasteless and horribly boring food. Cheap ingredients mixed with slightly more expensive ones can make us some fantastically wonderful meal options if they are combined in the right proportions.

oatcakesprep

As a family, we tend to eat much of the same things quite often, with the differences being how it is cooked and what accompanies the meal.  Eating good food on a budget can be done if we shop around.

The cheapest ingredients we tend to think of are things like:

  • Pasta
  • Pulses
  • Grains
  • Eggs
  • Breads

bread1

Food can become tiresome to make when we’re short of ingredients, but more experienced cooks (and mums) tend to know that tasty food doesn’t stop with the actual ingredients.

So, what can we do to make it better?

Expensive Ingredients

Reuse

Using what’s left from a Sunday roast to make food for other days is the easiest way to spin out expensive meat enough to last for a few days.   Leftovers need to be put in the fridge as soon as possible after they are cooked to keep them at a safe temperature.

Cooking Methods

Buy cheaper cuts of good quality meat and cook it slowly.  Cuts such as pork belly and stewing steak will give great food for everyone when they are slow cooked.  Be warned that the taste and smell as your food cooks may well convert you forever.

Additives

  • Make your own burgers and mince with steak bought from a good butcher.
  • Mix oatmeal and vegetables with your meat to make it last longer.  It’s not just meatloaf that you can add things to.

Local Produce 

Eat local, eat seasonal.  If it’s in season, there will be more of it, and it will taste better.  Strawberries in January look fabulous, but the ones I buy tend to taste like raw neeps.

If you can get hold of an abundance of in season fruit and veg, make jams, chutneys and sauces for the rest of the year.

Wild Berries

At the bottom of our street, wild blackberries grow in bushes.  There used to be a few women who went and picked them every year, although I see them less and less.  A good tip is to pick from above waist height, as anything lower could well have been sprinkled on by the local dogs.

Raspberries570

Grains

As a family we find this hard to do.  We all like rice, but quinoa, bulgar wheat, cous cous and others don’t seem to go down well here.  I would wish that my family would eat more of them, but they rarely do.  I’ve given up with this family of foods as it wastes money buying it not to be eaten, but it is a very real and cheap addition to food.

Breadmaking

I love fresh bread and so do the family.  I bought a cheap breadmaker that was a disaster, but it made me realise that bread is really achievable.  I splashed out on a Panasonic a few years ago and have never looked back.  Pizza bases, softies for sandwiches, full loaves and more get made in mine.  Over the years, we’ve saved a fortune in buying bread.

breadmaker

 

Posted on 18 Comments

50 Things To Do Before you’re 11 ¾ – Easter is Coming

What’s 50 Things about?  The National Trust aims to get our pampered and cosseted kids out in the great outdoors.  We all know how important it is to get our kids outdoors but too many kids are still sitting inside when they could be out and about doing what kids should be doing.

When my kids were little, if there was any shouting in the house, the dog used to jump up and down, run herself ragged and race for her lead.  She had been conditioned to know that if the kids were playing up, we’d be heading outside for walkies or to the local park.

With the Easter Holidays coming up, we should maybe get our kids away from the front of their screens and outside to play more.

If it’s true that kids don’t get to go outside because their mums and dads won’t allow it, that’s sad.  Our worry about stranger danger shouldn’t stop our kids getting outside.  If you don’t want them to do it alone, go with them.  Think what fun you could have too.  Kids can join the website and get involved in the fun online.  That’s the best of both worlds.

family

It can be hard to get going if you’re not the outdoors type, so the National Trust set up 50 Things to do before you’re 11 ¾.

We’ve done a fair few as we are tin tenting fans, so I’ve marked up the ones we still have to do in red.   Camping in the wild isn’t terribly safe these days, so I suspect that is one we’ll never manage.

How many do your kids still have to do?

1. Climb a tree

2. Roll down a really big hill

outdoorkids3

3. Camp out in the wild – I guess our garden or a campsite just doesn’t count for this.

4. Build a den

5. Skim a stone

Country Kids Stone Skimming

6. Run around in the rain  

7. Fly a kite

 8. Catch a fish with a net – hoping a tiddler covers it.

 9. Eat an apple straight from a tree

 10. Play conkers

11. Throw some snow

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

outdoorkids1

13. Make a mud pie

14. Dam a stream

15. Go sledging

16. Bury someone in the sand

17. Set up a snail race

18. Balance on a fallen tree

19. Swing on a rope swing

20. Make a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild

22. Take a look inside a tree

23. Visit an island

24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

25. Make a grass trumpet

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

27. Watch the sun wake up

28. Climb a huge hill – hoping Bennachie counts for the kids.  I’ve done Lochnagar about 10 times.

 29. Get behind a waterfall

30. Feed a bird from your hand

31. Hunt for bugs

32. Find some frogspawn

outdoorkids4

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

34. Track Wild Animals

35. Discover what’s in a pond

36. Call an owl  (They live in the woods outside our house so this was easy)

outdoorkids2

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

38. Bring up a butterfly (I’m not sure what this actually means)

39. Catch a crab

40. Go on a nature walk at night

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

gardening4

42. Go wild swimming

43. Go rafting

44. Light a fire without matches

45. Find your way with a map and a compass

46. Try bouldering

47. Cook on a campfire (unless a barbecue counts)

48. Try abseiling

49. Find a geocache

50. Canoe down a river – I don’t think a boating lake would count.

Posted on 5 Comments

Man of the Match

Footballers 400

Littlest was proud as punch yesterday. Despite being in the school reject football team, and only being there for half the match, he managed to score the winning goal and be awarded the man of the match card.

The man of the match cards are a big thing for kids playing football. What made it so much better was that they actually won a game – and that is unheard of.  The team they played yesterday is about the same level as they are, and they have drawn against them twice before.

man of the match

His team is the team that wouldn’t usually get to play in the school leagues, but with their being so many children wanting to play football in his year, there are already two teams that have been cherry picked to be the best potential winners.

Their coaches know as much about football as I do, which isn’t a lot.  The kids get little to no help with how to play the game or learn skills at training.  They more or less just kick a ball about and the kids sometimes look at the coaches for some advice, only to find them gossiping and not looking at them.

Saying that, the coaches do turn up each week and the kids do get to have a game of football.  It is frustrating it is for some parents to watch them get almost zero help at all with it, but there’s also nothing that can be done about it.

It was nice to see them actually win for a change, and for littlest to actually get something AND score the winning goal is MASSIVE for him.

His little chest has been puffed out ever since, and he’s been walking with a little bit of a swagger.  He’s one of the kids who never wins anything, never gets to the top of the list, and never gets picked first.

School has not been terribly positive for him this past few weeks, so what a difference a teensy bit of self-esteen gives a child who spends a lot of his life living under the shadow and threat of his elder brothers disabilities.

I am thankful that he has had the experience of success and he has a light in his eyes that I’ve not seen for a couple of years.

I’d love for it to stay there.

Posted on 9 Comments

Tesco Charitable Mum of the Year 2013 – Ann Maxwell

Ann-Maxwell-Blog-hero-
Photo Credit “Tesco Magazine”.

As a parent of special needs children, I know just how tiring and demanding filling the needs of our children, earning some money, and doing a spot of volunteering here and there can be.

Ann Maxwell took that to an entirely new level.

Ann’s son, Muir, was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome which is a very rare form of epilepsy that causes profound learning difficulties, behaviour problems and severe developmental delay.

Muir was 10 before he was fully diagnosed and in special needs terms, that is late.  I can empathise with the difficulties of late diagnosis on the potential outcomes for children, but there is usually very little that we can do about it.

Instead of focussing on her own situation, Ann got out there and decided that she was going to help other families get the diagnosis and help that they needed.

Nothing was going to stop Ann, and she set up the Muir Maxwell Trust in 2003.   By using DNA testing with results run by the NHS, children are tested and diagnosed in 40 days.  No more waiting for years to get treatment.

Ann did all of this while also being diagnosed with bone cancer in her skull in 2006.  After several operations, she kept going with her work and up to now, the trust has raised an amazing £7 million.

I’ll let her describe what she’s done in her own words:

‘Every project that we’ve launched has been based on the experience of raising Muir. We’ve recognised where there is a need and launched a project to meet that need. Then we find someone to continue with the project so that it has a permanent place in terms of delivery but is not one that we have to fund indefinitely. We’ve found all sorts of partners, from the NHS and government to other charities. The point of the trust is to provide practical support to try and make the lives of families dealing with epilepsy better.’

I can understand how Ann feels when she talks about waving a magic wand that would allow Muir to be a normal child.  I think it’s something that most special needs parents wish and why we often go looking for ways we can make a difference to their lives.

The Tesco Mum of the Year awards celebrate women who have made a real difference to the lives of others.  As the winner or Charitable Mum of the Year 2013, Anne’s sheer determination to improve lives of other children in the UK while dealing with her own family issues is an inspiration, and makes her a very deserving winner for the official ceremony in March..

Find out more about Ann on the website, and make a note to nominate an extraordinary mum next year.

This year, for the first time, the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards Ceremony will be broadcast on Channel 5.   The Mum of the Year winners will be at the Savoy in London on the 3rd of March with many celebrity guests.  On Mother’s day, Sunday the 10th of March, we can all tune in to watch their stories.

Being asked to be an official blogger for the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2013 has been an honour and I hope they all have a wonderful time at the Awards Ceremony.  

 

Posted on 4 Comments

You’re a “gobby shite.”

With hindsight I could have avoided being the epic parental fail that comes from having too much confidence after one successful outing.

With middler in asentia on Tuesday, visiting a play frame went really well.  Being exceptionally cocky and suffering a mini brain impediment, I went back with a friend and our kids after after taking them for an unusually pleasant swim.

Still basking in the success of Tuesday, my brain conveniently forgot middler wasn’t there.  Mindful of the meddlers who keep telling me that I need to give middler a little bit of freedom and saying things like “aww, you’re really big enough do “this” or “that” on your own, I accepted the inevitable disapproval of the smothering mother brigade who think he is just overprotected and needs to get some freedom from adults, and threw caution to the wind.

BIG, BIG mistake.

Congratulating ourselves on possibly finally reaching the hallowed stage of play frame parents in absentia, we sat outside the play room at our table.  Freedom is one thing, but this 11 year old of mine still needed to be kept close.  It seemed to be going well, so I gritted my teeth, let them get on with it and we ordered lunch for the kids.

During pudding, a member of staff came over with an older woman whose jacket matched her flushed cheeks, and the two boys she was with.  Instantly eyeing up the kids at the table, I thought I knew who was in the firing line and was prepared to read the riot act and not allow mine back in.

She had the misfortune of going on the attack.

“Your kids, yada yada yada.”

The kids said she called them “gobby shites.”  She denied that at first, but had to back down and admit it when eldest backed up the two youngest in the spotlight for that.

Pointing the finger at a group of kids and then rattling off to them in front of me isn’t going to get my support either.

“You told me my mum must be proud of me.” said friends son.

“That’s right.” said angry woman.  “She must be really proud of you, your behaviour is terrible.”  It’s clear she thinks friends son is my son and I don’t bother saying he isn’t.  It’s clear she also thinks our kids are badly brought up hooligans.  Our wild air dried swimming pool hair, slap free faces and casual clothes do nothing to correct the impression that we are anything but minky tinks.

“Oh” says I,”you’re being sarcastic to them too then?”

She’s getting annoyed by this time, stuttering, shaking her head, voice cracking, pointing her fingers at the kids and arguing with them.

She pointed at friends fostered son with visible special needs and included him in it.

“He’s got special needs.”  She looked at his face and realised how disabled he was and backed down.

She then included middler.  I was bored of her by this point, so although I was quite sure middler was no innocent, I calmly tell her that he was disabled.

That left three possible culprits at the table.

Eldest held his hands up and said “don’t look at me, I didn’t get involved.”

Then she was left with 2 kids who had a falling out with her 2 kids.  All 4 kids seem about the same size.  It all really boiled down to boys having an argument.

I wasn’t prepared to rise to the bait or get into an argument as she came over spoiling for a fight and determined to prove to herself how badly raised our kids were.  I had no intention of getting into an argument but I did say that if she had wanted to talk calmly about it, I would have been prepared to listen.  She stormed off in a huff, still in high dudgeon and I would guess family at home will have been regaled by tales of horrific children with devil horns and forked tongues.

I’m always prepared to listen to someone (and act) if any of my kids have been OTT, but coming over ready to rumble isn’t going to get my sympathy.

On the way home, eldest decided to tell me the two boys  had been making fun of middlers hand actions when he gets excited.  Our two kids who got into a brawl with hers had been annoyed.  When middler is happy or excited, his hands go up to his face, he clenches his fists and he makes involuntary noises that sometimes embarrass him.  Apparently this woman had also been mimicking his hand actions when she was annoyed with him, instead of coming to get me.

I don’t know exactly what happened as I never saw any of it, so there is little I can really say.

If she’d come up calmly to talk to us, I could have dealt with it, removed kids and sorted things out.  I am actually quite reasonable and prepared to sort out kid disputes.  As it was, I couldn’t listen to someone so hyped up in anger that they just wanted to argue with a group of kids.  The whole point of behaviour modification is not getting angry with angry kids.  That gets nobody anywhere.  Since middler didn’t seem to be directly involved, I let them back to play.

Another BIG, BIG mistake.

Forgetting we were reaching the stage of medicine wearing off, I kept my fingers crossed while I enjoyed a chat and a soft drink.  Staff approached again.  This time it was middler himself.

A younger girl had thrown something which had landed on middler and he then went after the girl, completely inappropriately.  So much for giving him a bit of freedom.

It’s the first and very LAST time it will happen until he leaves my home.

AND, I am officially the shitty parent who let her kids run riot and am thoroughly disgusted with myself for even bothering to try it.

I tried to find the parents of the girl he went after to make him apologise, but I couldn’t find them.

I doubt we’ll be back to that play frame with middler, it’s just too much hassle.  Even if we stayed inside the room, most of the play frame is out of sight so you can’t see what they are doing anyway.

What on earth were we thinking to let two disabled kids go into a play frame with their brothers ??

 

Posted on 8 Comments

8×8 Project – A crafty piece of art to improve a child’s life after a brain tumour.

Charity seems to be the order of the week this week.  Following on from the bloggers visiting Ghana, I am asking if you could you do a small thing to support the recovery of Children with Brain Tumours.

eightAs part of the work done by Camilles Appeal, they have launched a Call to Artists programme to help donate a little to help a lot. The appeal works to support children aged 0-5 with brain tumours and their families.  In the UK, these children will have multiple treatments including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation which can make their lives very difficult.  The appeal aims to help those families live as close to a normal life as possible.

Rather than asking for your cash, project 8×8 is looking for a little of your time and creativity.  And if you can’t give that, what about your own blog post to help send it round the blogosphere.

How you can help:8x8

If you are a crafter, you are likely to make some fantastic pieces of handmade art which could be mounted on an 8″ x 8″ mount.   Suggestions and possibilities could be handmade dolls, papercraft, jewellery and much more.

Social Media
Spread the word and encourage submissions from artists to the project, give this post a tweet or a like, and pass it on.

Buy an 8 x 8 Picture
Get a fabulous work in return for supporting the project.

Donate a Piece of Art
As a group, we can always achieve more than people on their own.   You don’t have to be a formally recognised artist to take part.

The official CALL TO ARTISTS is as follows:

The eightbyeight Project are inviting donations of 8×8” sized work (or small 3D creations) to take pride of place in our exhibition in support of Camille’s Appeal, the children’s brain tumour charity.

We are seeking diverse and exciting donations from professional, non-professional and student artists, painters, printmakers, illustrators, photographers, digital artists, paper crafters, those working with yarn and textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery, small sculpture, etc inspired by the exhibition theme, ‘Childhood Explored’.

Through coming together as creatives, we hope to raise the profile, and improve the lives of young children with brain tumours and their families.

If you’re creative, why not “create and donate to 8 by 8.”

If you’re not, like me, give it a share so that artists can find it.

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on 6 Comments

#teamhonk #goodwork #Ghana #comicrelief

Red Nose Day began on the 5th Feb, 25 years ago.  To mark the anniversary, Comic Relief wanted to show the progress in Africa and the difference that money raised has made, both here and in Africa.

To raise the awareness, 3 bloggers from our community are visiting four projects in Ghana on the 4th and 5th of February to see the difference the UK Red Nose money has made.

They will tweet and blog through their stay, and everyone can follow their progress as they go.

The 3 bloggers are:

  • Annie from Mammasaurus
  • Tanya from Mummy Barrow
  • Penny from Alexander Residence

They will visit the:

Virtuous Womens Bakery
Skilling women to bake breads, cakes and pies and establish an industry around it.

African Outreach
Agbobloshie with many inhabitants faces issues around sanitation and housing.  With the project, the community is being skilled to help themselves.

Vaccination Clinic
This speaks for itself.

Basic Needs UK Trust
Mental health problems in Ghana being addressed and helped to improve their lives.

All in all, it sounds like it will be a packed programme of events, and if you want to follow the chat, simply watch the #teamhonk hashtag for more information and to keep up with what the ladies are doing.  Bloggers are becoming more and more involved in world events and charity programmes.

We need to support each other as we work through the charity connections.

Best wishes to all in #teamhonk and a safe journey to you all.

If you want to follow their progress, simply click on the badge picture and it will take you to the blog about the adventure ahead.

x

Posted on 8 Comments

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week – Why would women put their daughters off having the vaccine?

http://vimeo.com/10110907

Cervical Cancer Prevention week is: 20 – 26 January 2013

I really had to get involved with this one. I really had no right to let it go past.

I’m not going to go in detail with the symptoms of cervical cancer as this is prevention week, but if you want to find out more about what could indicate cervical cancer, please head on over to Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust.

Twenty years ago (yes, I am that old) I finally went for my first smear. I’d put it off as I had severe endometriosis and pain was often so incredible that I couldn’t touch my stomach from the outside, let alone have something shoved up my inside. I watched a programme which put the fear of death into me and decided I’d have a try.

Two nurses, a doctor, and yes, a lot of pain later, they finally got my smear. With the endometriosis damaging my cervix, they couldn’t even see it.

It came back with severe abnormal cells – Cin 3.

Another year and I probably wouldn’t have been here today. I was lucky.

After a few weeks nervous wait to see if it was confirmed, it was on to the laser treatment, which was not as bad as I thought it would be, but then again, I think they inject enough freeze into the cervix to stun an elephant. The injection to freeze is a little like the dentist freezing the roof of your mouth, but just a bit more stingy. Thankfully, after that, there was no pain. The burning smell is not too clever though, and does make you realise that they really are burning off the bad cells.

I really want to take the mothers who persuade their kids not to have the vaccination and shake their shoulders. How stupidly silly can they be? A simple vaccination and their daughters are protected.

Do they really want their daughters to go through the nightmare of results, re-smear, laser treatment and then the constant smears afterwards to make sure it hasn’t crept back?

Do they really want their daughters to risk cervical cancer?

Why are they not persuading their daughters to do it?

There’s nothing “seedy” about it.

I just don’t understand it.

Most cervical cancers are caused by a common virus – (HPV) human papilloma virus. Some women are susceptible to it, and others are not. Changes can show as abnormalities of the cells of the cervix and when they become severe, they can develop into cancer.

Jo's cervical cancer trust

Cervical screening detects early changes in cells, and although the vaccination for HPV can only prevent infection from two of the 20 highest risk strains, to me, it’s not worth the risk of not taking it.

Far too many girls and women are not getting screened when they are at the age to be screened. I wish they would screen every girl from the year she begins to become sexually active, but sadly, that is never going to be the case.

The UK scheme offers girls the vaccination programme from age 12 – 18. If I had girls, I’d be beating down the door of anywhere that they could get the vaccination done.

The choice for me would be simple – an injection into the arm to reduce the potential of having the stress of tests or nether regions burned by a laser, or even worse – living and fighting cervical cancer.

Vaccines are given by injection into the muscle, usually the upper arm. Three separate doses are needed. The second does is given one or two months and six months after the first dose. It’s not a guarantee, but it removes a high factor of the risk.

A lovely and very young lady who used to be on Twitter had advanced cervical cancer. She was pilloried, given a hard time and abused to the point of having to leave. Those of us who used to chat to her, miss her. She was hounded and treated like rubbish by other women. There is absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed of in having pre-cancerous cells or cervical cancer. The time between smears, and the age of screening means that at times, it may be too far advanced before abnormal cells get picked up, even if women have had all their smears.

Get your smears on time and get the vaccination if you are eligible for it. Your life may just depend on it.

Posted on 7 Comments

Did you drink alcohol when you were pregnant? Do your kids misbehave? Read on..

Pregnant and Alcohol

Ok, the Daily Mail isn’t my favourite newspaper and this is one topic that will always be close to my heart (and the blog).   That aside, a friend showed me an article from today on page 15.

In a nutshell, it is talking about the prevalence of children in our society who are affected at varying degrees by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder which is milder but still affects day-to-day living. They estimate about 1% of our children suffer from Foetal Alcohol to some extent, but that it really is the tip of the iceberg.  It’s a fairly responsible article and explains how drinking alcohol is pregnancy can have far more lasting effects than smoking.

Lets have a look at what to watch out for with some basic signs and symptoms in your kids if you drank at all while you were pregnant:

FAS or Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is the biggest cause of mental health problems and retardation in kids today.  Not all children with FAS will develop retardation, and many may show up as behavioural problems.  Those with the associated issues that are outside of the main FAS diagnosis tend to be missed or diagnosed with something else.

Some signs to look out for:

– Disruptive behaviour.

– Difficulty in understanding concepts.  May learn to read & write easily, but struggle with comprehension of what it is all about.

– Generalisations, ie thinking of things in terms of black and white and often taking what is said literally.

– Shot term memory problems, ie ability to learn, but forgets very quickly and has to keep being reminded how to do things.

– Schools may think these children are just being lazy.

– Sugar cravings.  Many parents of FASD children have noticed that their children seem to be addicted to sugary sweet foods.

– Conscience could be underdeveloped so may steal and lie without fear or consequence.

– Finds difficulty coping with new situations.

– May over-react to small changes in a daily routine.

– Seems more immature than their age in years.

– ADHD and ODD type behaviours which may not respond to traditional ADHD methods of management.

There’s nothing to be ashamed about in recognising what a child’s difficulties may have been caused by, so if you suspect it, get it checked.

It’s not easy to get diagnosed locally, and there are places to help.

Mencap NoFASUK – National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome UK

FAS Aware UK – Foetal Alcohol in Pregnancy & Forums

FASD Trust – For Parents and  Carers – Information

To finish, all I can say is, that for the sake of your future children, if you are pregnant, are trying to get pregnant, or think you might be, don’t drink alcohol – AT ALL.

It’s the only sure-fire way to ensure your children can have the best mental health start that they can, without the possibility of any Alcohol related brain damage.

Foetal Alcohol destroys lives.  Don’t let it get into your family.

Posted on Leave a comment

Christmas Delivery Dates Calendar

This is a thoughtful and helpful feature from Castle Cover.  They have built a delivery dates calendar for us all to use.

If you’re not sure when the Christmas Delivery Dates are, then just take a look at the interactive pages on their website and it will help you make the right decisions about those last-minute presents you are hoping to buy.

Clicking on the Delivery Calendar image takes you to their website, were you can check the last posting dates of different types of items and some high street stores.  Don’t waste any time as we are reaching the end of the road for buying our late goodies.

Castle Cover