Little Cotton Rabbits

Back to the term time routine

Well, the children are back at school and all is quiet here. The school break was definitely helped by some decent spring weather. Much of our time was spent in the garden sowing seeds, planting out and enlarging the run for the chickens who were feeling a bit cooped up! It feels like the garden is coming together now with the raised linkaboard beds. They seem a great way to grow veggies and are made from recycled plastic.

The chicken run needs some plants to soften it off but the chickens now have tons of space. If anyone has any tips for chicken friendly plants I'd love to hear them. Now I've just got to cross my not-so-green-fingers that I can coax a few decent veggies from the seeds!

A wonderful development!

I've just received in the post a letter from the company I had contacted regarding copies of my Rosie Cosie! I'm thrilled to bits to get a response to my letter and to know that they are taking the matter seriously and looking into it.

Have a great weekend all!

A quiet thank you

I had no idea that things would escalate to such proportions when I wrote about my egg cosy problems earlier today. I need to sleep on the whole matter and consider some of the very valid points that have been raised. This is a matter for me and one that only affects me and my very little business. To see things snowballing from a small and personal matter is a little disconcerting, and the reason I've taken my post off-line for now.

Thanks for your understanding, and for the kind and supportive comments.

A week of fun

Well, that's the first week of the school Easter break all done and dusted. The children and I have arrived back relaxed and refreshed after staying with my Mum and Dad. We had a lovely time - Amy got to play with her cousins and go on easter egg hunts, Toby got to enjoy lots of trips to the park and I was pampered and very well looked after. The highlight of last week though was the bloggers picnic on Wednesday. Amy and I left Toby with my Mum and Dad and set off into the Oxfordshire countryside. We had a brilliant day, the weather was kind (although some of us were caught unawares and got a bit sunburnt!) and the company was fine indeed. Organised by the very lovely Lucy Locket and her big sis Ally, the attendees were Ali, Trashy, Moogsmum, Kitty, Eve, Jane, Penny, Julia, Kate along with our associated offspring. All the children had a wild time and made friends while us ladies sat and chatted. It was so nice to meet everyone in person and I truly felt among friends. There were goodies too - an Easter egg swap for the children and a handmade exchange between grown-ups. I was thrilled to bits with my beautifully wrapped package from Moogsmum which contained a gorgeous quilted basket, crocheted corsage in my favourite colours, chocolates and ribbon - thanks so much Lesley.

 

Huge thanks too Lucy Locket for getting it all organised - it really was a perfect day and I hope we can all do it again sometime.

Happy Easter

The school Easter break has started and in fine form too with sunshine and spring breezes. Activities with the children will make it hard for me to have much computer time over the next 2 weeks and so I will be shutting up shop over on Etsy shortly (patterns will remain available to download via Lulu, barring any problems their end). I am finishing off a few animals and cakes but unfortunately time has run out to get them listed before Easter, they'll be ready after and I'll email my mailing list with more details once they're ready.

Happy easter to you all - may the Easter Bunny bring you lots of chocolate and smiles x

World Autism Awareness Day

Today is World Autism Awareness day and people all over the world are trying to increase awareness in the hope of fostering better understanding, tolerance and inclusion for those with autism. My 7 year old son is severely autistic and despite living with this diagnosis for over 5 years we still struggle to cope with the enormity of it all and the impact his autism has had on our family. It's frightening to read that more children will be diagnosed with autism this year in the developed world than with diabetes, cancer, & AIDS combined.

Since starting my blog I've been very lucky to have had contact with many other parents of autistic children and the sharing of experiences and information has been invaluable. Having an autistic child is not something that you really learn to cope with or get over. You are torn in two because you adore your child and yet at the same dearly wish you could banish their autism. At the same time autism makes them who they are. You learn to live one day at a time and try not to fear the future. If you're interested and have 7 minutes to spare there is a video here made by mums of autistic children which gives a glimpse into some aspects of daily life.

I write about Toby's autism in the hope that sharing my experiences will help other parents in the same position and also with the aim of giving anyone with no personal experience of autism a little understanding of the condition. Understanding helps promote tolerance in the general community and hopefully means less judgement and hostility towards people who are different and more inclusion generally. We don't need to change autistic people, just our attitude towards them. As always I'm hugely grateful for the tolerance and understanding that always meets me here, but then you are an enlightened and big-hearted crowd and I love you for that. Thanks x

PS: I've added a new page with a little information on Autism here.