Suppose I should do a real catch up especially as more time has passed since the rant I posted last week or the one before.

So in the last gazillions weeks a few things have happened.

The first is that we took a trip to one of my favouritest places in the whole wide world. More favouriter and funer than boring places like (****insert boring place of your choice****).

We went to the Haribo shop in Pontefract. If you know anything about me you know that I like Haribo. Like is a bit of an understatement but you get my drift.

Golden Bears are simply the best sweets on the face of the planet.

If you don’t agree with that statement I don’t think we can be friends anymore.

Unless your favourite is another kind of Haribo sweet then there may be some working room. If not you can go……..

Bye.

If you’re still reading I can take it that we are in agreement.

I’m just trying to think of other things I’ve been up to, and because it’s been so long since my last post I can’t remember anything.

Something more recent was I had my latest covid jab the other day. I think that’s 7 or 8 now or maybe more. I’ve lost count. Just like the rest of them I was really rough the day after and start getting better from there onwards. But I’d rather be rough for a day than run the risk of ending up in an ICU bed at hospital.

Onto crafty type things now.

So Sanntangle time. Sounds like the name of a song. That’s one for song writer musical type people. Yes I was in the school choir at one point but unless it involves auto tune you probably don’t want to hear me sing now. I’m not sure auto tune would work, it would probably pack up its back and go into retirement.

So here are the tiles I’ve done:

I’ve also done a few samples for Sandra of the last few weeks too. This is a sample I did for her when she launched Tiles, Tangles and Techniques Book 13.:

Here is another sample I did for Sandra for a new stencil that launched on Hobby Maker.

Those two samples were made into cards but I’ve made a few more cards too.

So that’s it for cards but I’ve been doing bits of other crafting too. I’ve made some plaques/wall signs:

And I’ve been making some books too:

I’ve done a little bit of vinyl work. You’ve seen some of the bits on the plaques/signs above but I’ve also made a label for a water bottle for Lucy.

It went through a couple of different iterations before deciding on a finished label. It started off by dad buying some bottles and Katie asking for a label on one so Lucy can take it to nursery.

As I call my favourite niece Lucifer it started with labels on the screen saying Lucy (fer) B.

Katie didn’t like that and said no fer. So the label then became:

From that Katie still wasn’t happy. But she picked the font she wanted the said “It needs to say Lucy Surname” so went with this:

She still wasn’t happy. But we got there in the end. And being boring just went with her name. The fun started again then trying to pick colours of the vinyl. I’ve got quite a few different colours to choose from:

That’s not all of them by any means but we narrowed it down and eventually came to the decision of the shiny rainbow on a black background. And you’ve seen the finished article above.

I’m going to make some more note books and some more plaques. I’ve sew together some more pages/book signatures and they are ready to be bound into another book. So I’ll get round to doing that soon too.

And I’m going to do some key rings. Maybe some small affirmation cards too. And there will be more birthday/anniversary cards in the pipeline as well.

You may have realised that from my rant post that I’m a bit worried about the disability benefit reforms the government were/are trying to push through. They have got it as far that some areas are now trialing this so this is starting to get even scarier. The other day some figures were released by the DWP that showed the fraud rate for people claiming PIP. You probably are shocked to find out that yet again the government are talking out of their arses (nothing new there) but the fraud rate for PIP claims in the years 2023 to 2024 is a whopping great 0%. And that fell from 0.2% the year before. So no one is really quite sure where the mass amount of fraud is coming if from. (A quick google search will confirm these figures)

I’m really sorry to bother you but I feel that this is something really important you need to be aware of. 

Figures released recently by the DWP are showing that the fraud rate for PIP and disability benefit in the year 2023/2024 claims is 0%. If this is the case why are the government still pushing these reforms if the will have no benefit especially as there is a lot more fraud  and plenty of sleaze happening withing  their own party.

But stressing about this can send me into a downward spiral mentally to the very dark place where I don’t want to be.

It’s a place that can be very hard to get out of, especially on your own.

It’s ok to not be ok.

If you ever find yourself in that place please please please talk to someone and ask for help.

Asking for help is not a bad thing or a sign of weakness. It’s actually a sign of strength and courage.

If need be call the Samaritans on 116 123

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Because of all of this I decided to send an email to a few people. I sent it to Keir Starmer and a local candidate for MP.

I wouldn’t mind I sent it to Keir Starmer on Wednesday morning and a few hours later a general election was called so there is now even less chance of him seeing it. But I sent it to him then and Thursday afternoon to the local guy.

This is the email I sent:

Dear Sir,

I’m Chris, I’m 40 from Greater Manchester and I have MS. I’m in pain most of the time and I have severe mental health issues (Because of MS and not helped by the benefits system).   

With all the talk about disability benefit reforms. I just wanted to let you know that I and other disabled people up and down the country are absolutely terrified. Living with a disability and everything that comes with it is hard enough as it is. But, seeing on the news, online and in other places that the government see you as a burden, do not care about you and do not believe you have the problems you do, is scary as hell. Some of us already feel as if we are a burden to our friends and family, but feeling you are a burden to the country adds a whole new weight to your shoulders (making mental health issues worse).

I am on benefits and it has taken some real courage for me to send this message. It is something I will continue to worry about. I’ll be stressing that I have done the wrong thing and made things worse. I live in constant fear of a brown envelope dropping through the door and everything changing. When anything from the DWP arrives I start panicking and worrying that the worst is happening. I normally need someone else to open it and then explain things to me. I can’t express the fear, panic and worry enough. I know I am not the only person that feels this way. It is a very common fear among people on PIP and other benefits.

Applying for PIP is one of the toughest things imaginable to go through. Having every little piece of you life scrutinised down to the finest detail is not only invasive but utterly humiliating and dehumanising. The PIP application process can cause its own set of mental health issues. Now finding out that the government do not care about mental health is worrying in itself. People with mental health issues can not just “get over it”. They need help and support, not ignoring and being made to feel worse. The mental health services in the UK have been so underfunded that waiting list to get help are out of control. 

Please could you reassure me and everyone else that you are doing everything you can to care for and protect all people with disabilities and the most vulnerable in our communities. 

 I put it in red so it didn’t get mixed in with the rest of this post.

But that’s the email I sent. If you feel the same as me and that this is outrageously stupid and care about disabled people I ask that you reach out and check if they are ok. And also contact your local MP or candidates and voice your concerns.

Remember

Silence Is Compliance

Einstein once said: “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

I’ll leave it there and let you think about things and make your own decisions.

Love and Light.

Chris