The Big party when she wasn't there

Yesterday  was an odd old day, a huge party for Lil when the one person who would have been it's life and soul was not there.

She really has gone now, of course our day was a normal one of complete manic 3 figure speed runs up the M4 to be there on time whilst dropping young people off all over the place.

Not to mention picking up  that blast from the past Victoria, one of our previous placements who has her life back on track. She insisted on being at the funeral, being back in our family after too long outside it.

A lot of last times, last time in the yacht club, last link to the town where she was born severed for the student.

To provide a complete contrast the afternoon was a social work crisis meeting for little D, someone seemed to have woken up, lots of the right people were there.  Decisions got made, shame it's so late, possibly too late, who knows?
      
 

Mow mow mow your field...

The winter here is a time of sort of quiet calm. Trips out to the woodshed aside and episodes of digging our way out aside it's quite quiet of a winter.

Now of course we go into out action phase, the Hayter Condor - superb machine has been fettled with lots of technical fiddling.

This meant our acre of party field which has been mowed regularly - got done over the weekend.

Then the rough orchard half an acre got done yesterday, then today the top field, about an acre of our woodland  got done today.

Now, bear in mind this has not been mowed for about ten years and it was manouvering the big old hayter round the young trees - it wasn't easy.

I was soo glad when it ran out of petrol.

Now we go off to social things around funerals and stuff

But you still  need to mow the lawn.

R 



   

All change

The students mum has gone - life has gone very complex as there is a family with a range of agendas.

The little D situation is further along, I think, than anyone realises, college have no intention of offering him a course next year, well, so I reckon, this means, leaving care will drop him also. He will get a minimal service.

His fostering allowances will stop which will be OK as we will not be expected to support him, meaning we can go out to work or do other things.

Trouble is without that support he will not manage at all, without us on the end of the phone to the Police or college it will fall to Social Services who will make sure they are not answering the phone or making decisions.

So things will fall apart for the lad, unless we step up to the mark which we will only be able to do if Social Services support us to do so.

We don't do it for the money but we can't afford to do it without the money.

I think their thinking is, if he is pulled back into county it will be easier, when things go wrong he will not have two seriously stroppy advocates to take them to task. That's very true, but actually we have a back up plan for ourselves and they might not be dealing with strong advocates but loose cannons.

The sad thing is that this has made the ending of the students  mums life so much more traumatic, D's behaviour, has simply not touched him in terms of what it means more than 5 minutes ahead. It has stopped the student having that space to reform.

Spelt out yesterday he was scared and horrified, but, sadly there are tipping points, the law they have ignored themselves says that post 16 he must......

They have totally failed to deliver what the law requires them to do but are pretty confident in what the law says that at this stage in his life they can stop doing. 

So it's one law for them and one law for him.

R