well I finally had a meeting with the two senior fostering managers.
They came to my home at 6pm one evening, my manager (a man!!) was 20 mins late and the first thing he said was that he'd be leaving at 7.30 to pick his daughter up from the train station! That set us off to a good start don't you think? The previous night, they'd been to a meeting with a parent until 10pm but I obviously wasn't going to get that amount of time!
I introduced them to Jack, who, bless him, was having a real good thrash around on his bed/playpen. He really showed them how mobile and energetic he was lol . Then we sat down and I geared myself up for a good fight to get what I wanted. What a let down !! He said yes to every thing with out an argument !! lol
He said that there was no way I would be expected to be means tested for the down payment on the motorbility car, as Jack wasn't my child and it was their responsibility to provide every thing I need to make looking after Jack easier ........ so why were the social workers not saying the same thing to me???
He said yes to the nursing care once a week, with the option of it increasing as time goes by .
He said yes to them providing the £500 for a special wheelchair swing for in the garden.
I felt really rather deflated!! I'd geared my self up to having a right good argument and it didn't happen lol
Mind you, it's been a couple of weeks since the meeting and nothing has come of these promises yet, so I don't know why I felt happier? I might still have a fight on my hands.
The lady from the private fostering agency came the night before this meeting so I had a good idea of my worth :) She was very positive about my experience and said she would recommend me for their agency. I just have to wait for their managing team to finalise it and then I can decide finally, which way I'll go.
On the stitching front, I haven't done any thing really, but I did get around to doing the making up on this little ornament, I really love this one. It was going to go to my friend Kathy in Aus, with the santa's, but I've decided to keep it myself lol
Jack has had a trip to the doctors with a 'rattly' chest this week, but it's not any thing to worry about, no infection, so he got his flu jab while he was there.
I've had another gum infection and am on more antibiotics from the dentist. I don't know what's happening with my gums lately. I clean my teeth twice a day use inter dental brushes and use mouth wash too, so I don't know where it's coming from. I've a feeling I'll end up with having a couple of teeth out if it carries on ! It's been an on going problem for the past 15 yrs, with teeth working loose then having to be taken out with no decease or infection, it's so frustrating!
My sister's daughter had her babies on Wednesday. She had Twins, a boy, Thomas (after my dad) weighing in at 7lbs 3oz and a girl, Rose at 5lbs 13oz .... good weights for twins!!! ..... and so the next generation is starting!
I bought myself a couple of miniature roses a couple of weeks ago, they were red and pink. The pink one was a lovely colour, but when the new buds came through, they turned out orange! How strange is that? I had four flowers two pink and two orange on the same bush! rofl
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I've finally managed to get some photo's to down load on to blogger, so here are the pictures I was trying to show in my last post.
The lovely card and owl from Karan, along side just some of my owl ornaments.
Dillon, Janine's new horse is next, I didn't manage to take the photo directly side on, so he looks a bit small on the back end, but he isn't IRL , honest lol. In this photo, Janine had been riding him and the girdle got a bit loose, so she stopped to adjust it and Dillon went straight in to 'relax' mode with his back hoof raised and resting. He's such a sweet natured lad :-).
Just to give you an idea of his height, I'm 5'7" and when I'm standing next to him, my face is level with his mouth !! Needless to say, I don't get too close unless he's the other side of the stable door rofl
This final picture is of the Mill Hill Beads Kits, called Santa's Wardrobe. I have just finished doing the boots. These are for my friend Kathy in Sth Australia. She does some fabulous beaded ornaments and doilies, so I thought I'd try these for her as a change from the usual stitching I do They are lovely and bright IRL.
On the fostering front:- I've contacted a national private fostering agency, and they are sending one of their workers out to see me next week, for a good chat and to see if they can offer me a better support package ...... well, lets face it, any thing they offer will be better than what I'm getting now !!! So as the saying goes ....... "watch this space" !
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I just don't know where the time has gone this last month!
I haven't felt like blogging this last month as it's been quite a stressful month, and my mam always said "If you've nothing good to say, then don't say anything" and I've definitely not had any thing good to say for the last few weeks!
No! ... I tell a lie, I have some thing nice to tell you about lol . I had a tidy up in my craft corner, (well, it's supposed to be a corner, but it had spilled out into half the room, hence the tidy up lol ) anyway, I ended up with some things that I thought were too good/useful to throw away but I didn't want them, mostly card making things, which I'm not doing so much of this last year. I sent them to Karan hoping she could use them. Thankfully, she liked them, and she very kindly sent me a thank you card .... hand made of course .. and a really cute little stitched owl because we both share a love of these gorgeous birds.
I'VE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO ADD A PHOTO OF THEM AND DILLON BUT BLOGGER WON'T LET ME!
The second 'nice' thing is that Janine has got herself another horse. She decided to plunge straight back into it and is now the proud owner of Dillon, a 6.2hh Irish Draft/Draught ... I'm not sure which spelling it is rofl . He is such a sweetie, and gives Janine kisses :-). He is however, quite strong, and this week, he poked his head out of the stables and lifted the frame off it's hinges, when he lifted his head up!!! Janine is going to put some mesh over the open bit, so he can't stick his head through again lol
The third 'nice thing' is that it was Cindy's 22nd birthday on the 22nd of this month, and we managed to get a nurse and carer in to look after Jack for 3 hrs so we could go out for a family meal. We had a lovely time, very relaxed and happy, then the girls went off in to town to meet up with friends and continue with the night, while I went home to relieve the ladies. The ex and I went half's on a reconditioned lap top for Cindy, which is the only thing she wanted, so she was a very happy little bunny :)
The reason I'm 'ticked off' is STILL the same ... lack of support and understanding from the fostering department!!
I've been asking for some nursing/carer help for a couple of years now and nothing is happening. It's all about who has to pay for it!! Also since Feb, I've been wanting to get a different wheel chair accessible car, because the VW Transporter's steep ramp is getting too hard to use now Jack's getting bigger and I'm getting older! Rather than buy a second hand one for £7000 +, I'm prepared to go down the Motorbility route and lose the £40 + per week part of the DLA that Jack receives. but because the car would need to be adapted for a wheelchair, they require a non refundable down payment of £4, 475, which I can't afford to pay obviously. I have already paid out to buy the VW in the first place because I was told they would't pay any thing and I desperately needed it to take Jack to his hosp appointments etc. As Jack is looked after by the local authority I think it is down to them to pay the deposit, after all he is 'their' child, but they're insisting that I apply for a grant and be means tested so they will only have to pay the £200 min contribution! I'm really not happy about that. I'm waiting for the two service managers to come and visit as a result of the letter I wrote last month, (it will be 9 weeks by the time they come.. prompt don't you think?) I tried 3 times phoning my head manager to ask him about this motorbility grant situation and left 2 messages, but he only got his under manager to ring me and as I'd named her in my letter of complaint, she was not accommodating and said if I didn't like her decision to talk to the manager ..... which is who I was trying to talk to in the first place !!!!!!!!!!!!
This is just one part of a long list of 'moans' I have about their treatment of me, and not only does it effect me emotionally, it's having an adverse effect on my whole life, because of the constant phone calls etc. If I didn't love Jack so much, I'd tell them to stuff every thing and they'd have to put him in to residential care which would cost over £4000 a week instead of the measly £177 they pay me for Jack's care !!!
and ... to top it all off, I didn't receive my exchange in the Mail Art exchange that I took part in on the Stitch and Stash Forum :(. Every one else receive a beautifully made envelope, but me, I'm just so disappointed :(. I thought about taking part in the christmas one, hoping that I'd get one back, but I've so much to get through before Christmas, I know I won't have time to stitch one.
As you can imagine, with all this going on, there is no stitching getting done, so I don't have any thing to share with you on the stitching front unfortunately :(.
Jack has had a trip to the doctors with a 'rattly' chest this week, but it's not any thing to worry about, no infection, so he got his flu jab while he was there.
