Hello hello

Hello. It’s my 1st day on this site and I’m very pleased to be here. I was recommended this site by my assessor and it is so far proving to be very useful

i shall post a few details of myself.

I am a 62 year old female who was given my diagnosis of autism in January of this year.  I live in the north of England now but originally hailed from Hampshire. I spent my childhood in South Wales and some of my adult life in West Wales which is my hearts home. If I could live anywhere I wanted it would be within view of the sea.

I have 2 adult children.

I would like to say I have hobbies and interests but unfortunately health problems and life have taken over somewhat and I don’t engage much in them any more. The main thing I do try and keep my hand in with is cooking and I am trying to cook a new recipe about once every 3 months. My speciality is cakes and I have made all sorts from intricately decorated cakes to the humble fairy cake. I am happy to talk about food if anyone else is into food and cooking. Other things I have been fairly good at are drawing, particularly portraits, writing short stories and poems, featuring a lot of humour. Reading, all sorts, anything fro light weight to heavy going. And then I get those passions which can last for unspecified lengths of time and I research them and talk about them, you know the drill. 
Health problems are the usual anxiety, depression. Also ME and fibromyalgia and a few other weird and wonderful mental health things just to mix it up a bit.

My favourite food has to be mashed potato and I do really like vegetables. I have taught myself over the years to accept almost anything I’m offered but I still can’t stomach mussels, although I don’t mind muscles, they can be useful! My favourite sweet dish is ice cream and i beg forgiveness to all those Ben and Jerrys fans out there but I prefer the soft, fluffy type of ice cream ( I can’t remember, is mentioning brand names against the rules? Apologies in advance.)   I’m also a big fan of toast and marmalade, crumpets with butter and rich tea biscuits in hot milk instead of breakfast cereal. Ooops, I’m rambling on about food again.

As far as the autism is concerned I was  led to seek diagnosis because I realised that I struggled with anger and frustration and had done all my life. I have always found it easy to tune into people who are having problems but excitement, happiness, joy etc are all emotions I struggle to connect with. Loneliness has been a constant feature of my life, even when technically I haven’t been alone. Close connections have always required a lot of work and generally feel technical. There’s loads more but I’m not going to dwell too much on that in my intro.

I don’t currently have any pets but over the years have had Guinea pigs, tried my hand at birds which I would like to do again, fish, cats and dogs. The trouble is that I have had the perfect dog who was my companion during some very hard years in my life and no other dog has matched up since or even come close. I do really fancy some budgies though so if there are any tips and tricks out there then please let me know. My current pets are my house plants of which I am fiercely protective.

Ok, I think that will do for now.

im pleased to be here and look forward to being a useful member of this community.