Benefit Porn

Im still here folks a little lackluster and jaded im afraid, but still here . Easter holidays being over I can look back at the dreadful weather , the fact that me and the munchkin managed to get the first broad beans put in on the one good weather day and feeding the five thousand over the weekend .
Not a single crafty pursuit im afraid , painful thumbs disorder , ive even struggled to peel the endless mounds of potatoes required on the bleedin hell we're skint diet plan..lol
Young Baldrick , still no progress , though he does seem to be settling in at his new place quite well , despite the character assassination of some of the other residents by one interfering relative ..lol..
Its an assisted living programme , they all have problems of one sort or another , Young Baldrick may be Special Needs but hes lived rough in Birmingham hes as much a skank as the others there .
This is the problem we are having with his mother and other relatives , hes 20 , yes he does have Special Needs , but hes not going to turn back into a beige specky four eyed kid just because they think he should . Hes had that bit of freedom and hes morphed into an embarrassing skanky mess , complete with manky piercings and they just cant handle it . He looks like the drugged up member of an eighties hair band , its hilarious when he traps his dangling hip scarves in electric doors . Im sorry folks but his mental health problems are far more important than his appearance .
We managed the trip to the GPS that took 5 weeks for an appointment , it took all of 5 minutes , to get a request for a keyworker, and his mandatory two requests for referral , psychology and opthomology , he cant go to another clinic because of the two that have now been put in , he still has a badly healed broken wrist , but that will have to wait . Got to love our GPS they couldnt get him out of the door fast enough , the fact that hes mentally all over the place doesnt mean anything hes still in for a long wait for the psychology report we need to progress his long term care plan .
Still no bank account we have to chase that up today , as that is stalling him receiving benefits , though he has been accepted for housing benefit so we dont have to keep finding his rent , which is a good thing as we have to keep finding food parcels for him . He eats twice as much if hes not here, so we are more than skint at the moment , once again im expecting a summons for court to pin on the fridge door .
Normal service will be resumed eventually i'm sure , work and endless benefit scumbag chores are keeping me so busy i just have tea and nod off in the chair at the moment , i need to catch up with everything im afraid ..byeeeee

Dolly Horrors

We have progress finally on the Young Baldrick Front , hes been rehoused into an assisted group  living programme...TOMORROW

 So now we have to run round on a budget of zilch to get him everything he needs for his new home AAARRGGGHHH.

We even had a phonecall from the bank hopefully progressing his bank account , they sent a letter asking for his ID again but they already had it , it was all photocopied and sent from the bank branch, theyre off to look for it . 

Because he isnt in receipt of any benefits we have had to find his first 2 weeks rent , in other words we have borrowed it from my daughter , its not very likely he will pay anyone back for what we have had to get him . We have also supplied his bedding and a huge food parcel , just got to pop and get pans and a tin opener . 

He had the interview for this place last week and despite all his problems they didnt seem phased at all , he was told it might be a couple of months before they had a place but they rang on Friday and said someone had dropped out who was due to move in this week , if we could raise the rent he could have the place .

Its about 10 miles away in a small market town , theres not a lot to do there ,but that nots a bad thing .

It has been made very clear to him that this is his last chance, if  this  doesnt work out he is on his own. 

We still have the doctors to tackle with him on Wednesday , then the assisted living programme will take over these things . It will give me a break at last which is no bad thing as i am working full time in theory at the moment . 

Sue heres my Horror dolly selection from the box of strange , I remember these from the 60s  

Thrifty Horrors

You know how i need a little retail therapy to keep me happy , well i went and sat in Trevs saleroom the other day just to get away from the house of horrors and i wasted a whole £5 on a box of strange . Really couldnt afford to do it , so i guess im pretty stressed at the moment .

So what did i buy you ask , well errrr in a fit of insanity I bought a very large box of what he said were dolls . Turns out it isnt just dolls , there was something really scary lurking in the box, 15 clowns , weird china headed clowns at that, the sort of thing that murders you in your sleep!!! Next question. does anyone know anything about clowns, not a field i know anything about , theres a couple of boxed ones that may sell when I get the ebay shop up and running and find a friendly post office..lol 

But underneath the clowns was a little box of Spanish senoritas from the 60s and 70s , dolls im more familiar with , they are all little ones which is unusual , so once again they will eventually end up on ebay . More dollies to come as the week goes on , its a very big box and i needed to get away from reality and post about something i love for a change , i feel as if life is just one big gripe and moan at the moment 

Automatic Update

Sorry ive not been around , the real world has been eating my time , I have a new work stream that is a bit of a time eater , I can understand why nobody has volunteered for this stuff...lol...just wish it payed more . Once again im working for pennies , they threw me £20 for fuel the other day ,better than nothing ,but it doesnt go far in rural Lincolnshire .
On the Young Baldrick front theres still no progress, one more week till his doctors appointment . Though he has excelled himself this week , im not taking bets on his survival , death by sibling is looking more and more likely , plus my evil mother has been putting the boot in , her suggestion was to leave him in the woods and forget the trail of breadcrumbs . Meanwhile Mr Bah Humbug is just getting more and more depressed by the situation , we really cant afford to keep him . Plus he is very much a cuckoo in our nest he doesnt live to the standards that we expect etc etc , the constant swearing is driving me mad and the munchkin keeps letting words slip out that he thinks its big and clever to use copied from his uncle, he doesnt think its so clever when i get out the bottle of liquid soap and chase him round the house  Its got to the stage where we have to be careful what we watch on the TV because that just encourages Young Baldrick to start cheering the violence on and laughing at crude and cruel behavior . The look of horror when I popped a Christian Evangelical Freeview Channel on the other night was so worth it , 2 hours later i'd frightened everybody into an early night , I enjoyed the peace and the programme was quite good in a very American Christian way... he he he
Then theres Grandad who lives down the road hes Mr Bah Humbugs ex father in law and his other son lodges there because he can have a big bedroom and quietly keep an eye on Grandad . Grandad has been terminally ill for 2 years , he refused treatment , went off and got on with it , they always seem to be surprised that hes still turning up for his hospital appointments . Hes been a bit poorly , so its affecting my stepson quite badly , he needs out help and support as well . The question of where he will go once anything happens to grandad is a big one . Mr Bah Humbug has always remained good friends with him , so thats more pressure .
So thats enough of human misery for now, heres my sole little crafty effort for the week , cake plates take a 99p clock movement so well ,she  just needs a hanger and i have a crinoline lady clock .

PS ...in theory I have now got the comments problem fixed, please comment and we shall see, I can only apologise on googles behalf for all my comments mysteriously vanishing .

Escape Plan Needed

Sometimes you bite off far more than you can chew and im afraid the Young Baldrick situation is turning into one of those situations , another week passes and not an inch further have we moved . No progress whatsoever, another 2 weeks till his doctors appointment .
His behavior has been appalling, he admits hes been doing lots of weed and legal highs , I think hes used them to self medicate  and stay calm . We have told his mother on numerous occasions over the last couple of years that he needed psychiatric help , this last week has been spent waiting for the police to  knock on the door , or rather hoping.
He no longer has either of his phones , his dad took them off him . we were informed he has been phoning another autistic teen and showing her him self harming and getting her to join in , then threatening her when she wouldnt and wanting to watch her kill herself !!  The girl has serious issues with self harm and he was well aware of this .We asked her mother to go to the police , but im not sure she wanted to .  He wasnt to pleased when his dad made him strip then laughed at his few pathetic scratches , we have had enough serious psychiatric issues in this family over the years to know real self harm . He then had a meltdown telling us that he hears voices telling him to do these things , mmm not so sure , hes a compulsive liar and will say anything to get away with stuff . His dad has kept his phones with all the messages on to show to the doctor . His lack of concern over what he has done is amazing but its a feature of his condition . Hes also threatened to harm anyone who gets in his way , i had the long lecture yesterday about how good at martial arts he is and how he knows how to kill people , then theres his knife fixation .
I did phone the GPs and explained , they gave us a helpline number but it wasnt much help . Everything seems to be geared towards making excuses for what he does , but the fact is that he is now an adult and hes not had the proper care and help he should have had growing up because his mother blocked it whenever she could, this means we  have to face the fact that he is a danger to himself and other people. But due to the wonderful systems in place and a lack of funding until something bad happens he is our responsibility ...Rant over ....gin needed

Ever Decreasing Circles

Knitting this red tape jumper is hard work..lol
So have i achieved anything on behalf of Young Baldrick?  sadly I think not , lots of things set in motion , but moved forward not an inch .
Yesterday first meeting with a very nice lady at Housing Needs , lots of form filling but nothing can move on till he gets a second proof of ID , we worked through the long list of things that can be accepted and we are awaiting his medical card from the PCT as he hasn't got a gun license or driving license or anything from a professional body . Kind of hard to get these when your partially sighted .
Same thing for opening a bank account and he cant apply for any financial help without his own bank account . AAAARRGGHHH .
Finding out about his benefits is hard work because he cant remember the answers to his security questions , they dont allow for him being special needs unless his Statement of needs is in place and because we cant be his helpers with this without the Assessment of Needs being in place .....we are getting nowhere.
Adult Social Care wont accept anything but a NHS psychological report for his assessment , this is the report they took great glee in telling me will take at least 6 months !!
So in effect he ended up hungry and homeless for a reason , hes been unable to claim any benefits , unable to cope with finding anything out and because hes been flagging up at so many different locations within the aid systems and didnt give permission for them to share information . Nobody has done a thing to help him !! Data Protection Law at his best !!

Positivity Post..Honest

Im trying to come up with a little positivity today , Mr Bah Humbug has man flu , he is not a good patient . got a whole £3 in my purse to last till friday  when i hope to get paid my pittance , once again not what im owed .
The Jumble sale at Tattershall had to be the worst ive ever attended , everything was either holey or stained and the prices were truly bizzare. Only got a Mario Cart dressing gown for the munchkin it went down to 50p once i pointed out the pocket was hanging off and a pure wool denim blue guernsey jumper for a £1 , not sure if i like it , i may disassemble it for the wool when the weathers better, theres a lot of wool in it its huge .
On the Baldrick front whatever chemicals he had in his system seem to be wearing off and were starting to get some of the unpleasantness we know and love , he swears like hes got tourettes and with the seven year old this isnt acceptable , sullen when hes asked to do anything , blanking us all .
He even told one of his brothers that hes got what he wanted moving here and that hes not leaving , his sister can get out and take her screaming brat with her. Really......dont pick a war you wont win little boy !!
From what we can find out his mother hasnt accepted any help when offered for years and now that hes an adult that help is very few and far between . But if help isnt available from somewhere , this could go badly wrong , he doesnt understand other peoples facial expressions or there emotional feelings because he has none himself , he is good at faking emotions he can cry to order and do poor me very well but can get very aggressive if hes caught out . He has actually said to me that i wont like it if he gets angry , the munchkin pointed out that granny doesnt do angry .
I think the house rules are driving him mad
Yes we are early risers but we are busy people
Meals are dished up for you because it has to stretch and you will take all the meat etc and leave nothing for others
No we will not give you money to buy fags ( disgusting habit that we dont sponsor)
There is no money for phone credit for you because we have no money .
We do not buy squash , pop , crisps etc because we have no money and they are not necessary
Do not argue with your older bigger brothers they will tolerate more from you than most , but if you push your luck to far , i will not intervene .
Do not steal from other members of the family , unless you have a death wish .
Yes we peel potatoes , this is now part of you helping , i dont care how long it takes you , your dad however after an hour and 7 potatoes done will have a paddy with you .
Yes you are going to learn to cook clean and budget before we help you get accomodation , this is not negotiable in any shape or form ......see positivity , I knew it was here somewhere ...lol