Oh my giddy aunt!

This afternoon I had an appointment with the Housing Allowance Department and to my utter shock, I will remain on full housing and council tax credit until April and then it will reduce every so slightly, after April.  Add on the child tax and working tax credits been a bit more than I was expecting and I'm feeling rich!
I am so happy though, it means I will be able to plan more outings with Rye, and of course, my little charge, I've already committed to the GP mama camp in May, and now I can also do HESFES with Rye in July.  I'm seriously considering going through the hassle of acquiring Rye and me a passport each so we can go across to France too.

It did cross my mind I could save for a wee car, but nah, not going to bother, while it would certainly make life a little easier, I have got use to being carless and simply from a health point of view, it is so much better for the both of us.  I haven't walked as much as I do these days, for years!  Instead, I think I will buy a pushbike, especially as I used the money from Rye's Granddad to buy him this;

Rye is convinced it's a motorbike, bless him.

The bike arrived yesterday, and this morning when he woke, the first thing he said, "Ohh, I want to play outside with my motorbike".  If how quickly he's become competent on the bike is any indicator; I'm guessing it won't be that long before he's riding a normal bike!  Gawd, I hope they do extra large seats for my backside!

And if anyone is interested, I bought the bike from here

After all that riding, Rye was hungry, so muffins - using, yes, the Tasajarra receipe, not bad at all - although they did rise a bit oddly;

Still, considering these are 100% wholemeal flour, they were suprisingly light and fluffy.

Both kids were very appreciative - certainly the muffins didn't last long.

Anyway, after my appointment at the council, I decided to walk into the towncentre with Rye, discovered a lovely little cookshop down a side street, oops can hear my wallet groaning already lol.  It was tiny though, so I didn't go in as Rye is at that stage where he simply cannot keep his hands to himself and the owner was clearly maximising space as much as possible, so the potential for breakage was immense.  I'll pop in next time Rye is with his dad.  Mind, I have to say I'm becoming increasingly fond of charity shops as the place to purchase bakeware.

After that a stop to pick up a belt for me - either these jeans are cut exceedingly generously or I've lost weight - either way a belt is needed to stop  the hoiking up, which is hardly ladylike or the potential embarassment of them falling down.  And then Boots for a nittygritty comb and I bought some lotion for me as its impossible to comb through my hair myself and my friend works most evenings.

And then I decided to pop into Merchant Chandler.  I love that shop, I don't go in usually because I can't justify the expense usually, I decided to treat myself.  I bought a seagrass rug for the kitchen - those stone tiles are freezing cold! And I couldn't resist these;

 

And Rye's eye's lit up and he ran over and cuddled this;

A fabric robot, almost as big as Rye half price, so I thought, "what the heck,"

It's been a fun day and I'm feeling exceedingly blessed at the moment :-)

The joys of waterbottles!

I've had a waterbottle forever - and forever forgot to use it.
Recently, I've been awaken to the toasty joyfulness of the water bottle.  That rather ugly malleable plastic bottle with, in my case, a simple red fleece cover; filled with deliciously hot water to keeps one's toes beautifully warm.  And as everyone knows, when one's feet are warm, the rest of the body feels warm too.

It has turned decidedly chilly - not freezing, no, that implies a dry, crisp cold, no this is the wet damp chill that penetrates to the bone and causes a house to feel unloved and whatever the oppostite of homely is.  During the day Rye and me are out mostly and once home, cooking tends to add some warmth to my little house, certainly enough until Rye goes to bed and I either retire to snuggle under my duvet or lounge on the sofa with blankets and that delightful invention, the waterbottle.   This little waterbottle, I reckon, is saving me a pretty penny, tonight I almost put the heating on, yet splash some hot water into the bottle, cover it up with the fleece, laze back on the sofa, feet up on the pouffe with a blanket over my legs and I feel very toasty indeed - ok, the whiskey laced coffee might have something to do with it too ;-)

Should I buy Rye one?  I'm not sure.  I have in mind a cuddly bear type waterbottle cover that Rye can snuggle up to and it's tummy raidating a delightful warmth.   I think it's something he would like, but is a waterbottle a good idea for a 3yr old - I worry he could get burned if I misjudge how hot the water should be, and burns on littleys are far more serious than on an adult, because littley's have less surface area of skin.  I wonder if there is an age limit, I will have to google in a moment.

HE Group

Woke up to a very blustery, wet morning.  Thankfully, the HE group had arranged to meet at Kids Planet at 11am.  So once we were up, washed, dressed and breakfasted, we donned our waterproof coats and set out.

Naturally, there was much jumping in leaves and splashing in puddles

I love the stocking cap - he looks so adorable in it :-)

Kids Planet was rather busy when we first arrived, by lunchtime it was virtually empty again, and we mums enjoyed drinking tea and chatting away while our little ones ran around, climbed, slid and generally had a fab time.

Rye was particularly taken with a "motor"bike ride on in a fabulously hot pink. 

We leave around 3pm so we avoid all the schoolchildren coming to the centre.  The walk home was blustery, thankfully dry, especially as Rye wanted to go in the mei tai and promptly fell asleep.

It can be expensive though - I spent a tenner today and it's just Rye and me - I shudder to think how much the place must cost the other mums with more kiddies.

Shattered now though - early to bed tonight I think.

Fiddlesticks!

Dragged my lazy ass out of bed this morning, got us both washed, dressed and fed and out the door by 9:30am to go to toddler group... only, it wasn't on.  Seems not all the kids are back in school this week, so I'm assuming it starts from next week.

On the upside the walk there and back, (2 miles in total) certainly took off the edge of Rye's bounciness.  I was suprised he didn't have a nap after lunch.  He did however fall asleep at 6pm on Sidney the Snail, so I woke him up and asked if he'd like to watch Tractor Tom.  He watched a little, it was obvious though he was struggling to keep his eyes open.  Took him up to bed without a murmur.

I've been playing with crocheting again too, after the mushroom and gnome, I decided to have a go at making a Gnome baby, loosely inspired by Waldorf dolls.  I'm really pleased with the results, popped him on GP to see if he sells.  So hard though to know what to charge though.  If no one wants to give him a new home he can stay, maybe a minded child will want to play with him (if I ever get a child to mind!)

 Which reminds me called the NCMA about being assigned a support childminder and the forms for the start up grant.  Turns out this happens once my details are on Kent County Council's children and families childcare site.  So called KCC to find out when my details will finally be online, apparently it could be up to 10 days because they are migrating to a new website.  :(  They do have all my details so any parents calling the service looking for childcare in this are will be passed my details - but at the moment they aren't showing on the website.  Blah.

Oh well, it will happen when it happens.  Hopefully though, I will get a child to mind this month it really is getting to make or break stage and I'm slowly and reluctantly wondering if I may need to look for a job and forget about childminding as I certainly can't keep on the way I've been I'm sick to death of being skint all the time.  I received my tax credits yesterday and after buying some food and paying bills that were due, it's all gone and I don't get any more money for nearly 2 weeks.

Sigh.

Busy, busy day!

A very satisfying day; but also incredibly busy.
The morning was reasonably leisurely, then come midday we went round to Q's for my first cup of coffee in about 10 days - bliss! I've been drinking black rooibus tea, which I enjoy but I have missed my coffee, however the milk ran out quickly and while I have dried skimmed milk I loathe it in coffee. (great for baking, yuck for hot drinks).

Then we took Q to Dover so she could to work, drove back dropped her DH's car off and we went down onto the highstreet. First to library to drop off some books. Then to the post office to post off the mei tai and a letter proving I moved out of the house in Maidstone in 2005 to get a Debt collecting agency off my back (the debt refers to 2008!). Then we caught the bus into town, and then walked to the council offices to fill out the council tax form. This has been ongoing for ages now, I received a bill back in May, I think, and immediately I called and asked why I was being asked to pay council tax when I'm on income support. They sent me a form to fill out, I never received it. They sent another, I filled it out and posted it back - they never received it.. thus a court summons letter. Called again, summons was stopped and they said they would send me another form out but this time would I bring it back to the office myself. Fine. That was back on 12th August, I think. Nothing. So, I trooped down with Rye and actually, it was great because the lady just used the details they already have for my housing benefit award and then gave me receipt proving the council have received it. Phew, so that is sorted.

Then down to my bank to pay in the last of the money I need to pay the rent, then walk further into town to Asda where I managed to get quite a bit for my £8! Pasta, dried milk, bread, potatoes (5kg!), squash, 2 bags of porriage oats, "oops" mini cheese rolls and "oops" scotch pancakes (Rye was hungry and they are handy as a quick snack to keep him going). Then bus back home, walk to Q's house, get the car keys and go and pick her up from work (with a quick pitstop to drop off my shopping.. very glad I didn't have to carry that bag of tatties home, rather heavy!)

After picking Q up Rye and me stayed for a bit, and bless Q she asked me to pop on some veggie burgers while she popped ot the corner shop for rolls.. and when she came back she'd bought chips too for us all :) Very nice indeed. Then eventually, it was time to leave, Rye, bless him, was starting to get that pale tired face with the slightly red rimmed eyes.

Busy, busy day. I am really quite shattered now.

But best of all.... about 20 minutes ago I transferred the rent payment to my landlady......phew! What a relief I don't have that to worry about anymore :)

Heart Attack!

I'm been well and truly tested at the mo.
Letter from Tax credits informing me the payments have been stopped because I have not confirmed payments. I have and yet another phonecall later it has all been sorted. But gawd that really did give me a panic. Another letter about some bill for the house I use to own, called again, and that's sorted (I don't owe anything, bill is from 2008 I moved in 2005).

I could do without any more shocks now thank you. At the moment I hate the postman delivering anything because it always seems to be bad news.

I rarely drink, but oh a stiff drink right now would be lovely.... I'll settle for a coffee though.

Blowing away the cobwebs.

The financial worries have been getting a bit on top of me the past few days, so I've been hibernating a bit and feeling sorry for myself. Poor Rye was going a bit stir crazy stuck inside with an apathetic mother, so I decided the day at the beach was required to blow the cobwebs away and its worked a treat.
















Rye, bless him, really found his bravery and went in the sea with his "Aunty" S. I was so suprised and proud. He started off letting splashing a little in the wave left as it starts to retreat, until he was running in and splashing, then running back out. He followed me in a ways too, he lost his balance a few times and after the briefest of panics, he was back in the water laughing. He insisted we took turns going in the sea with him.















He commandeered this large sand hole and his Aunty S made a channel for the incoming tide. Wow, he loved it, splashing and jumping in the sea.
































I heard the chair scraping on the floor and went to investigate and found Rye on the worktops trying to put together the magimix. Seems he already understands that it has have the bowel and lid on before the buttons will work. I am discouraging climbing onto the worktops because he could easily knock the kettle on and burn himself, or even crawl onto the hob. He understands hot but being an exploratory toddler what he knows often goes out the window when he's involved in adventure.















And, the day at the beach accomplished its goal. The cobwebs have been blown away and I'm feeling much more positive again. Plus, I am receiving some help in the interim for the rent (woohoo), and when we arrived home this evening, I discovered the forms from the County Council so I can put my details on the Children's Information Service website, so I'll get those filled out in the morning and then posted later when I take Rye down to the GPs. I've booked him an appointment because I need a referral to the hospital optician to check his eyes and I've noticed that one of his feet turns quite markedly inwards when he's walking, hence the constant falling down, he is quite literally, tripping over his own feet. Not sure what they can do for that but I can inquire.

Feeling hopeful.

Filled out the forms last night and realised in the process that actually my shortfall this month isn't as much as I initially feared especially as I realised I have an extra income support payment at the end of the month - just how it works out with them paying me fortnightly. I hadn't accounted for that and from the next income support payment I will be receiving the full allowance which is about an extra £28 a month - not a lot sure, but I can eek out that sort of money for almost a month of food shopping if I have to.
As for the discretionary housing payments, I will find out early next week whether I'll be getting any help for a few months.

The lady I saw, gave me the distinct impression that she thought I would get payments for a couple of months, she seemed to be suggesting that the powers that be would look very favourably on the fact I've set myself up as a childminder and it's just a case of a family or two wanting me to mind their kiddies for them. Although, of course she did caution me, that she couldn't promise anything because it wasn't up to her. She said a slightly odd thing too, she told me I had an angel looking out for me and that she thought I would be ok and the childminding would be successful. Hey, I'll take all the encouragement and good vibes I can get!

So not totally out of the woods yet, nonetheless, it's all looking a little more promising and I've learned some valuable lessons. Cos you know, I can whinge about how I was given misinformation by the NCMA, I can whinge at EDF faffing around which has caused me no end of financial headaches and so forth - but all this would have been avoided had I simply called Ofsted before I finished work and asked them if my current CRB check was acceptable, instead of taking the NCMA's assurance it was. I wouldn't have resigned my job and sure my role with the KDAAT was at risk, but working for the council means I would have had first pickings at other jobs within the council and I could have worked for them until my registration etc came through... and then no hassles. Ahhh hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Not going to worry about it anymore now, I've done all the mundane stuff I can, including making and printing some posters to advertise my business and with any luck the County Council will have recieved my registration details from Ofsted and will send out the forms so I can put my business on the Children's Information Service website (it is the first port of call for parent's looking for any type of childcare). So now I trust it will pay dividends and the Gods will give everything a little nudge for me :-)

Cardboard box beckons???

Not a great day really.
Went to the Housing department at the local council because the tax credit people have over the past four months slowly reduced the tax credits I receive by £70 per month. Seems every 6 weeks or so they send me another document telling me how actually I won't be receiving x anymore and it's been reduced to such and such. Anyway, I thought this reduction would mean I would qualify for more Housing Allowance - nope, turns out I already get the maximum amount they allow for a 2 bed house. It was all I could do not to burst into tears.
So I have another appointment with Housing tomorrow to see if I can qualify for the discretionary extra payments for Housing, which, if I qualify, will fingers crossed, mean I can make the rent this month (it's actually two months because two direct debits came off and I simply didn't have the money for one and the other I thought didn't come off until Aug... this means I am incurring £70 in charges from the bank for paying these items, and a further £28 for going over my overdraft - spoken to the bank explained the situation, their only advice was to move my money into another account and just wrack up a ton of bank charges or take out a loan with them.. except I won't qualify for a loan even if I did want to go down that dangerous and slippery slope - and the consequence of those direct debits and the subsequent charges is I didn't have rent available at the end of July. Landlady has agreed I can make both payments on the 30th Aug - if I don't then she will terminate the tenancy)

Beginning to wonder if I should ask the council for their cardboard box strategy (Yes, I kid you not, they do have one).

And I know it's not really a factor, but the weather isn't helping, its so hot down here; literally too hot to sit out in because it feels like my skin is being burned away and the few hours we did have to be out in it that heat, left me with a rollicking headache.

As I have no idea when I may get a call from aparent enquiring about me childminding for them; my only real hope, I can realistically see, is the discretionary payments, if I get turned down, I'm pretty screwed.

Amazing how an unexpected £100 waterbill could f*** one up so much! I could give my landlady the rent today that was expected at the end of July - trouble is if I do I will then incur masses of charges for all normal monthly direct debits that are yet to come off.

Ok, I really can't think about this anymore - I'm doing all I can to try and get something sorted, I just have to continue knowing that the gods won't let the worst happen, and something will fall into place so me and Rye have a home still come September.

Mellow Friday.

Well, for most of it anyway.
Began the day with getting the lounge and kitchen in some semblance of order. Remembered I'd bought some organic cereal so Rye had that for breakfast with organic milk.
A lady from freecycle dropped off some kilner jars for me which I'm dead chuffed with :) Not quite sure what I'll do with them all as I'm not a big pickle or jam maker but I@m sure I'll find a use for them.

I was also suppose to pick up a rotary washing line but I couldnt'f ind the street; I'll try again tomorrow as the washing pile is becoming truly frightening, plus I'm rapidally running out of underware and Rye hasn't any clean trousers - eek.

Its been lovely here, the wind as has been a little chilly, but for the most part lovely and sunny so most of the day has been spent in the garden. Rye is becoming rather adapt at kicking a ball now so many a hour spent throwing and kicking the various balls around with him, I even sneaked a bit of a read on the sun lounger in too. Came indoors around twenty to six as it was getting cold. Tea was rolls, banana and it would have been pineapple too 'cept the little man fell asleep. So I woke him up and took him upstairs for a length bath and the dread hair wash. Boy he squealed. I've noticed he's got a lot of dry skin on his scalp; very similar to when he was a newborn so I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get some baby shampoo so I can wash his hair properly (I just wet it now as its self cleaning) and then rub some olive oil in. After the bath, cleaned his teeth, which thankfully he's fine about now so no more running around the bedroom after him with a toothbrush and then a story and "booobs" and into dreamland. Ahhh bliss.

And now I'm going to read some more of Kath Reich's "Break no Bones" novel. I'm loving her style but it is taking some getting use to the novel Tempe over the tv series Tempe from "Bones", very different characters, so it's a little jarring. I'm glad I came to the books after seeing the series though; I think I might have been highly irritated with the changes otherwise; as it is I love "Bones" and find it hilarious. The books are great though, very absorbing.

The not so mellow bit was trying to get in touch wtih Medway Council again; their helpline is a joke, completely automated and impossible to get through to speak to an actual person. I had left a message the other day asking them to call me,, as I'd given up trying to work out how to get to speak to someone; today I couldnt' find the option that allowed me to do that. GRRR I'm just gonna pay the damn thing it's more hassle than it's worth.

And breath....

What a week. Called the NCMA about my childminding pack and liability insurance, which has been free up to now for the first year; only to be told the council has pulled funding for the time being. So yet more money that needs to be found as I can't childmind until I have the insurance in place and more and more bills were coming through the door; rent still to be paid I was getting exceedingly worried. Then an income support letter came and until yesterday they were only awarding me £6 per week because they took into account my last lot of working tax credits - I had expected full whack; so that was a huge shock. I really don't quite understand how a single person is expected to live on £60 odd quid a week, never mind a parent with a child! How on earth do people manage??? Still, now I have finally received the letter I have been able to go to Housing and hopefully that will be sorted quickly.

Today I received a letter from the Inland Revenue; I was so nervous opening it up wondering if it was yet another letter informing me I owed more money...nope they owe me and the amount almost covers my rent woohooooo. Finally, some good news so I feel like I can breath again.

Friday we are going to Scotland for Beltane with friends for a long weekend of camping. I am so very much looking forward to this trip and feeling a tad aprehensive too. It is a very long car journey for Rye; I've picked up some colouring books for him, I'll take his favourite books and some of his cars etc and we will be stopping reasonably regularly to stretch our legs and no doubt Aunty Queenie will keep him occupied singing to him. Thankfully, our hosts are lending me a tent so I didn't have to worry about buying one so all I've had to buy is an inflatable mattress and some batteries for my camping torch.

I did consider a sleeping bag; but as a plus size I feel very restricted in them so instead I'm taking my duvet and I have thick pjs and fleecy all in one for Rye I might take his winter tog "grobag" too just incase its really cold up there. Our hosts also have a very large hot tub...mmm I'm looking forward to that and Rye will probably love it too.... but OMG how expensive are swim nappies! I'm really quite shocked.

Writing of Rye, bless him, he's been very patient with me this week. I have been so distracted and a little short with him - ok a lot short with him. So, on our way into town I walked by the park and played with him in there for a bit, he loved it and ran off much energy. Then onto the postoffice etc and then bus into the town centre to pick up a few bits. On arriving he was obviously feeling tired so I popped him on my back in the Daisychain mei tai. Its a very comfy mei tai, my only irritation with it is it's not as wide as I'd like so I have to be very careful to make sure Rye iis properly seated in it ; otherwise it looks like he's half hanging out of one side. I think its because I pull the left side up first and then the right and its skewering the fabric. Hehehe, I was at the bus station with some lovely reflective windows so I could see what I was doing and 3 people run over to see if I needed a hand, bless. I am quite impressed the number of times people do stop and ask if I need help. Renews my faith a bit in common decency.

Today has been a good day and the guilts aren't nudging me about the lack of play and activities of late either. Feeling much more chilled and tomorrow will be a day of baking with Rye, packing (and repacking as he's bound to unpack the bags a couple of times) and just generally getting ready for the trip.

Thursday.

Yeah ok, I can't think of a title really.
Today started a tad frustrated because Medway Council have written to me, five months after moving to say I owe them £80 odd quid, which I just don't have at the moment. I'll have to call them tomorrow and sort something out and also check why I owe them that amount, as I'm sure I was up to date. Finances are stretched to the max at the moment and I'm feeling concerned.

Then the id for my CRB check wasn't enough so the Ofsted Inspector came round to see more, she wanted to see my birth certificate but I can't find it. So she's taken lots of other "secondary" id which hopefully will be enough. She's also said she will up the numbers I can have to 4, i.e. 3 minded children and Rye. So I can have 2 more under 5 and 1 over 5. I don't particularly want to do a school run (as I don't want to be tied down like that) so I'm thinking of keeping that extra space for school holidays and one offs for an extra bit of cash. Or if money does end up being tight then I do have the option of taking on a school aged child and doing the dreaded school run lol.

Anyway, I was feeling rather fed up and beginning to wonder if I'd made a huge mistake finishing work before everything was in place. So to cheer myself up I started baking. We made Nigella's flat breads, except I didn't have any yoghurt so instead I added some lemon juice and its worked lovely. And a girl has got to have chocolate when stressed, so I made 6 huge double chocolate muffins. Yum, yum. Bless Rye, he was eating the mixture almost as quickly as it was made. Then time to clean him up, he had so much fun splashing his hands in the washing up bowl, I filled it up with lukewarm water and popped it outside in the garden for him.

Oh and my ex has emailed to ask to see Rye tomorrow. Quite good timing really, I think I need a few hours to myself and it will give me chance to call Medway Council and talk to them about the bill and do a few other things - the lawns need mowing desperately. I do hope he turns up this time, I will be very annoyed if he texts me again to say he's not coming. Although, to be on the safe side I've not mentioned it to Rye, so it will be a nice suprise for him if his dad does turn up.

Oddly, I keep finding bees in the lounge. I woke up around 3am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I can down stairs for a drink and found a wee bumble bee on the floor, I gently swept it up and put it outside and this morning I found another on the floor. I've also had about 4 or 5 worker bees in the lounge and have to keep opening the window to let them out. I have no idea where they are coming from. Ok I do have the windows and door in the kitchen open; but one turned up after letting one out when the door to the kitchen was shut... I have a nasty suspicion, and hope I'm wrong - trouble is if there is a nest somewhere I have no idea where, as I can't see where they could possibly be coming from. Gawd, can you imagine if there is a nest and they swarm..eeek.

Gulp.

Finances are very very stretched and I've got bills coming through the door left, right and centre so feeling a tad nervous, especially as I was expecting a final tax credit payment today and its not gone into my bank account. So I called Inland Revenue, I am still getting it but they send it out as a cheque - blah.

I've received a call from Job Centre Plus too and they've requested I attend a "get back into work" interview on Friday, and if I don't they won't process the claim. I don't quite understand why when I've been very up front that I'm only claiming until my registration for childminding is complete and then I'll be doing that. Oh well, I suppose the establishment likes to make us leap through the hoops.

Also, I have been informed that maintenance people will be contacting me to discuss my rights and how to receive maintenance from Rye's dad. Nervous about this because Rye's dad is in financial straits and if they go after him he will do his nut - on the one hand I think it is about time he made some sort of financial contribution, (when I left I said I wouldn't chase maintenance and would give him time to sort himself out; I don't think he's even seen anyone to see if there is anything he can do and it has been over a year now), and on the other hand I'm not sure its worth the hassle I'd get off him. I'm conscious too that he struggles to find the petrol money to visit his son (so far hasn't been able to, so I use to take Rye up to Maidstone when I was working as it's closer to my ex's home) and I would rather he is at least able some times to come and see Rye then receive money off him and never see Rye. I've never had maintenance and I manage ok so its not like I miss the money; although saying that it would mean I could top up Rye's trust fund with it.

If Rye was doing without I wouldn't hesitate but he's not and I think its more important for him to have his dad in his life and at the end of the day this is about Rye not me or my dislike of the man.

On the up side, it is a nice warm day and most of it has been spent in the garden having fun with Rye. He's so funny; its flying ant season and they are attracted to the brightly colour soft play balls. So he keeps poking at them and laughing when they fly off. He is also pointing at the seagulls and saying "Burds" :) I wonder if he's having another growth spurt though because he's eating me out of house and home at the moment. Already he's had 4 or 5 bananas on top of breakfast and lunch and some breadsticks too, oh and a fromage frais.