Pages

Saturday 27 September 2014

So Much To Say

Hello readers I have so much to tell you all. There have been a lot of changes here at Tilly Towers some for the best some out of necessity. Two major things have changed and effected all our lives here at Tilly Towers these are what have kept me away from my blogging for quite some time. Things are finally settling down here for us and we are getting used to the changes slowly so I am hoping I will be able to get back to my writing although the genre of this blog may be taking a little detour from frugal living and incorporating a few more subjects.

Let me start with my health. As my regular readers will know I suffer from 2 medical conditions one is Meniere's Disease the other is Gastritis. I have been suffering quite badly with the Gastritis of late and think the liver pain is somehow connected. Gastritis is when your stomach produces to much acid and when you have a flare up the pain is unimaginable [think labour pain but without the breaks in between]. About a week ago I had a major flare up and Ben had to call an ambulance for me. I usually fight my way through the pain until it subsides but this was pain on a whole new scale and there was no way I was going to be able to manage that sort of pain at home on paracetomol alone. When the ambulance crew arrived they put me straight on entonox [laughing gas] and it killed the pain immediately but every time I stopped taking the gas the pain would return after a few minutes so they decided it was best to take me in and get something stronger inside me and do some investigation. Once at the hospital I had an array of tests done and paracetomol was given directly through the vein. I am extremely sensitive to opiates and become very sick on them so I refused any of the very strong painkillers. Thankfully the paracetomol directly in to the vein worked and after 20 minutes the pain had subsided and I was able to stop the gas. The results of this hospital trip are as follows I have low potassium, high liver enzymes, and they think the gastritis may have developed into a stomach ulcer [not good]. I am being referred for a camera down the throat to confirm this diagnosis and have been given a higher dosage of omeprazole [a drug to protect the stomach lining] and antacids. I had a long chat with my doctor who asked about my eating habits and I explained to her truthfully that I don't eat breakfast or lunch will usually have a calorific evening meal and then pick on rubbish such as chocolate, cakes, biscuits, and crisps throughout the evening I was also completely honest and told her I drink a lot of fizzy cola. She informed me that this is what is causing the stomach acid and if I do not change my lifestyle then I am going to die.

This was a major wake up call for me and I am proud and pleased to say that for the last week I have drunk nothing but water and I have completely changed my eating habits and am now sticking to a healthy diet and avoiding all my trigger foods such as spices, seasonings, dairy, fat, chocolate, caffeine, tomato based products etc. etc. It has not been easy that's for sure but I am managing to maintain the healthy eating plan recommended to me. I am hoping that its not to late and I am able to reverse some of the damage I have done to myself but completely accept that this is something I have done to myself and I am the one who has to put it right.

My Meniere's Disease is being well managed and monitored at the moment. I had an appointment with my specialist on Thursday and he is happy that the new medications are keeping the severe vertigo attacks at bay and that the hearing aids have helped with the deafness. The 2 areas that do need addressing are my tinnitus and balance. He has referred me twice already to a specialist balance clinic that will help with these 2 issues but they are still to send me out an appointment so he has said he will contact them again and he will see me himself again in 3 months time.

The second big thing to happen here are Tilly Towers is I have deregistered Brandon from school and have started home schooling him. It has only been a few weeks but we are really starting to find our groove and I am amazed at just how clever he is. Brandon is Autistic and I have been promised since before he started school 2 years ago that he would be statemented and some one on one support would be put in place for him which still had not happened. There have been several occasions I have had to go into the school about something be it his behaviour or lack of support. Anyway after the summer holidays Brandon returned to school saying he hated it and he didn't want to go. He started lashing out at K my friend who did the school run for me and I was called into the school. Lee and myself sat with the head teacher to be spoon fed a load of drivel about how Brandon loves school and no such incidents had occurred despite K coming to my house in floods of tears asking me to go and get him out of school immediately. I asked the head why all the promises of support and statementing had not been honoured and she basically told me that in their opinion Brandon does not need to be statemented and does not need additional support so will not be getting it. I left that meeting that day furious and confident in my decision to remove him from school and educate him at home myself. I am able to offer him one on one support, I am able to tailor his learning in a way that suits him, I am able to discipline him when he does something wrong so he learns right from wrong [she also told me they do not tell him off when he does something wrong because he cant help it because of his autism]. I have never let Brad my eldest son use his autism as an excuse for anything and I am not about to let Brandon go down that road either. It has taken a while but we have a good routine going now. We do structured age appropriate book work for around 3 hours and we spend another hour learning Spanish, reading, and doing handwriting and spellings. On top of this we go to the library once a week, swimming lessons once a week, and a home education group once a week and there will also be the occasional day trips thrown in for good educational measure. On Friday I received a letter from the head teacher basically retracting all her previous comments stating she had arranged for an educational psychologist to come in and assess Brandon and they were going to start giving him one to one support in the mornings. I nearly fell off my chair and had to double check with Lee that I had actually been in that same meeting as she has done a complete 360 on her comments in the meeting. In spite of them now offering what I have been asking for for the last 2 years I have now lost all confidence in the school and feel I am able to do a better job of it at home. In the last few weeks there has been a marked improvement in Brandon both academically and behaviour wise so I am happy that we are on the right path and should remain on our home school journey and not return to state school.

So there you have it lots of changes going on here and as a result don't be surprised to find posts on home education and healthy living alongside the usual frugal living posts. Hope you will all bare with me whilst I get my head around all these changes and find my feet.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx 

Saturday 6 September 2014

President Obama And MD Strikes Again

Hello readers blooming MD is playing me up again hence no post last night and a very short one tonight. I have a really fuzzy head at the moment as well as not being able to walk in a straight line. I can feel an attack is brewing and I'm not sure if it's the change in weather that has brought it on or if I am coming down with a cold (a cold always sets my MD off).

We had a bit of excitement here yesterday president Obama whizzed through my little country town on his way to Stonehenge :)



Anyway off to snuggle and watch Dr who with the munchkins.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 4 September 2014

And So It Begins

Hello readers not much happening here at Tilly Towers today just a bit of housework and helping the boys with their homework. We have slipped back into our school routine like a comfy pair of old slippers and it's so nice to have a bit of structure back in the house. Everyone seems that little bit calmer and the boys are not squabbling quite as much which is always nice lol. I love doing things with the boys and getting out and about but I really love being at home with them playing board games and watching films. Not only is it cheaper to stay at home you also get to snuggle up in bed and eat homemade goodies whilst spending time with your babies. One of my favourite activities is snuggling up with a big bowl of homemade popcorn and a good film whether it be with the Mr or the munchkins. I recently read over at frugal queens blog about no spend/ spend less September. The basic idea is to have as many no spend days as possible and on the days you really do have to part with some cash keep it to a minimum. I think I'm going to join in with this one and have a no spend/ spend less September myself. Although it all depends on just how much the boys schools want out of me this month. I kid you not readers within 2 days of being back at school brad has brought a note home asking for £4 towards the cost of hot drinks and biscuits for the term and Ben has brought home a sponsor form asking for money. I thought I may have got a few weeks off of the constant letters home asking for money what with it being a new school year but no it has already started.

Today has been a spend day as I had to buy six pints of milk but I am aiming for a no spend day tomorrow.

Why not join in with no spend/ spend less September ? I would love to hear how you all get on.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Twitter And Facebook

Hello readers Frugal Living can now be found on both Twitter and Facebook why not pop on over and say hello xxx


 
 
 


 

 
 
 
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx
 

Wednesday 3 September 2014

How To Save On A Haircut

Hello readers I was treated today by the Mr to a frugal haircut. Usually in the salons where I live you can expect to pay anywhere upwards of £40 for a complete restyle which is why I only get my hair cut once every 18 months lol. I have been thinking about getting it cut again for a few weeks now and today the Mr offered to take me into town and treat me. It cost £16 for a complete restyle so a saving of at least £24. Here's some tips on how to save money on your next salon visit.

1 = Go to a barber's instead of a hairdressers. They are all trained hairdressers after all its just they have chosen to specialise in men's hairdressing. Barber shops are also a lot cheaper than the hairdressers.

2 = Wash your hair before you go. You can save a few pounds here by having a spray cut instead.

3 = Dont have your hair styled after the cut. Have it rough dried instead and style it yourself once you get home. This is where you will save the most money.


Before


After



How do you save on haircuts in your house ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx



Tuesday 2 September 2014

Back To School



     Hello readers try to imagine if you will an overweight woman with 2 hearing aids and a walking stick doing this lol. That was me this morning once the last of the 3 boys had got off to school. If any of my neighbours saw me through the front room window I can only apologise for my actions lol, although if anything you probably had a bloody good laugh at me lol. I love spending time with my boys and I find the 2 week end of term holidays to be just the right amount of time with them but in my opinion 6 weeks is way to long. With 2 of the boys being autistic after a while they get bored without their regular routine (autistic kids thrive on routine) and this is when they start to wind each other up and squabble amongst themselves which drives me nuts lol. I have to say they have been pretty good this summer holidays but that is more down to the fact that I had lots of activities and trips planned in advance for them to keep them busy and focused. So yes I am not ashamed to say that after the last munchkin left for school I did my little happy dance around the front room lol. Well they say Karma comes back and bites you on the bum and it did to me this morning. Five minutes after he left for school Brandon was back on the doorstep with my friend K looking very solemn. "Its not today we go back mum its tomorrow" "I didn't get to give my new teacher his apple". That's what happens when naughty mummy's get over excited about a day of peace and quiet after 6 weeks of bedlam lol.


 
Brandon ready for his first day back at school just before coming right back home again lol
 
 
 
Ben who's school was actually open today lol
 
 
 
Brad ready for his first day as a post 16 student (no more school uniform yay)
 
 
 
 
Did anyone else's munchkins go back today ? Did you secretly do a happy dance too ? Go on you can tell me I wont tell anyone else lol.
 
 
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx
 
 
 
 

Monday 1 September 2014

Frugal Living Can Now Be Found On Facebook

Hello readers well we bit the bullet and have landed on Facebook just twitter to conquer next lol. Come on over and join us it would be lovely to see and connect with my lovely readers from around the world. You can find us at https://www.facebook.com/claire.till.773


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Back To Normality

 

 
 
 
 
Hello readers look who I happened to find at Westbury train station today :)
 

They had a fab time at their Nanny in Wales and were spoilt rotten by the large amount of family they have there. It was so good to have them home though as I have missed them heaps. There was lots of cuddles and kisses and tales of what they have been up to this week. Time to get back into a normal routine now though boys. They have all had tea and showers, their new school and p.e bags are ready for the morning, and they will shortly be in bed no more late nights sorry boys lol.


 
Look who completed the summer reading challenge with the library. Well done Brandon :) He had to read six books of his choice and do a vocal book report on each book to the librarian over the summer holidays. We had great fun snuggling up and reading together and he chose some wonderful books to read. He is very proud of his medal and wants to take it into school tomorrow to show his new teacher.

 
I thought I would leave you with some affirmations I have on my living room walls tonight. Always good to have a little positivity around you and at £2.99 a canvas they don't break the bank.

 
This one is my favourite
 
 
 
Are you all ready for back to school tomorrow ? Are you looking forward to getting back into a routine again ?
 
 
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx