Published on 12, July, 2020
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.
Hello and welcome to the community.
Your interest and passion for food shines
I love birds and have had budgies as pets in the past. They are great and I'd love to get another when I feel able to make that commitment. I used to give mine the freedom of the whole house most of the time, obviously making sure doors and windows were closed first.
My most recent venture with food was a chicken dish which was marinated in pineapple, rum, chile etc. I also made rice and beans which I had never made before, and added in a favourite side dish of red pepper, onion and pineapple stir fry. It went down well, quite a crowd pleaser.
I’m nervous about keeping birds although I dearly loved my little cockatiel. I’m not in the position to have pets at the moment apart from my house plants but I do find that I feel peaceful around birds and would like to bring some into my life. Letting them be free would be the ideal for me too but I would want to know how to train them so that I could keep them safe. Perhaps when the time comes you might be able to give me some pointers.
Oh dear, that’s a sad story. That’s the sort of thing I would worry about too. Our little cockatiel flew into a wall and winded himself which worried the life out of me. But I was very new to bird keeping at that point and completely inexperienced. As far as house plants go, there are so many good replicas on the market these days which are good if you fancy a little bit of greenery. Spider plants are fairly hardy. Most plants are ok as long as you don’t over water them. They can survive a bit of drought but there’s no stopping the deterioration if they get too wet and start to rot.
Sure I'd be happy to.
However I accidentally let my last budgie escape from his cage when in the garden. Within seconds a Sparrowhawk swooped and caught him in flight. I was powerless to stop it and have never forgiven myself
My track record on keeping house plants alive isn't great either.