Autistic Bees

I’m a solitary bee rather than a honey bee 🙂 Seriously though this is another interesting post by Troy…

An Intense World

Yes, you read that title right. Researchers looking to prove the sociobiological theories of E. O. Wilson that social behaviors have a deep genetic source have found that socially unresponsive bees have genetic similarities to autistic human beings. Most notably, there were similarities in GABA receptors, voltage-gated ion channels, and heat-shock proteinsheat-shock proteins.

Variations in voltage-gated ion channels are going to affect the speed at which neurons work. This can result in hyperactivation (intense world) or hypoactivation, or even inactivation, if altered.

Heat-shock proteins specifically react to stressful conditions, and many are chaperone proteins (which help guide protein folding and, thus protein function). They are up-regulated during stressful conditions, and given their roles in gene regulation and protein stabilization, it’s not hard to imagine the kinds of detrimental effects changes in these proteins could cause.

The fact that similar differences in similar genes in bees and humans…

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Guest Post – Haddington Spinners and Weavers Retreat

This is such an interesting post. Please go over and visit and be sure to watch out for stained glass window effect felting piece. It’s stunning ❤

Felting and Fiber Studio

This is a guest post by one of our forum members Carole aka Craftywoman. Thanks Carole for this interesting and informative post. 

The Haddington Spinners and Weavers are a group of people who meet regularly and once a year head off into the Scottish Borders to Innerwick to enjoy time together, have fun and explore new creativity.

Our guests on this weekend were the Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh –  “Inverclyde Waulking Group”.

Waulking the tweed or the cloth is a term used to describe how women would collect together on the islands of Scotland including Skye and the Outer Hebrides to waulk the cloth after it had been woven. They would sing in Gaelic as they waulked the cloth (moved it around a table between them in a rhythmically thumping movement) to shrink it by about 6 inches and make it a firmer fabric for tweed clothing and so on.

Our…

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Crochet & Knit Christmas🎄 Giving 🎁

These are the items I’ve made thus far. Apart from the beanie I haven’t used a pattern. I definitely need to up my skills a level. I kind of got stuck in an autistic rut of producing one thing after another. It’s ok though and I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

I’ve happily been using my handspun which falls somewhere between 4 ply and double knit weight; it all depends on the fibre really. This means patterns often need tweaking.

The first picture is a few items using commercial yarn… two pairs of hand mitts and a dishcloth. I really dislike the dishcloth craft yarn with all its stringy little hangy bits. I gave up trying to crochet with it as I couldn’t see the stitches and resorted to knitting it. It’s also tough on my hands and wrists. I bought them when they were reduced in price but wish I hadn’t.

From here on all yarn is handspun. The next are a pair of leg warmers…

A beanie and matching mitts…

And several more pairs of mitts…

Hmm… I’m planning on gifting myself the leg warmers 😊

We have family visiting on Saturday. They are likely not able to visit again until well into the new year so I have plans to hang the Christmas tree and do a bit of decorating to excite the grandchildren 👷 👧

Wishing you a day of contentedness wherever you are and lots of love from me

💚💜💙💛❤💚💜💙💛❤💜💙💛💚❤💜💚💛💙❤💜💚💛💙

 

BLOG PARTY! 11/28-11/30

Shana is hosting a blog party. These parties are a great way of meeting new people and finding ‘new to us’ blogs. Do you want to go over there and join in? (WARNING if you have sensory processing disorder…there’s one of those flickery repeat picture things at the beginning)

Traveling Shana

I’m happy to be celebrating my growing blog with each and every one of you! Have a wonderful time getting to know one another, as this is a awesome opportunity to grow your blog while supporting others.

As a proper hostess, I of course will be providing a gift. I will be holding a drawing for one lucky winner to receive a $50.00 gift card the moment I reach my 1,000th follower! I encourage you to reblog and share this post all over your social media, inviting as many people to our party as possible. The quicker I reach 1,000 followers, the quicker we can have that drawing!

To Participate In The Party:

1. Please follow my blog if you haven’t already. In return, I will follow you back.
2. Reblog this post. (Sharing is caring)
3. In the comment section of this post, paste one link to your own blog with a…

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Four thing to ask yourself when your struggling with a mental health issues.

Have I made a difference in the world today? Yes, I do believe I have…. Next question…

Be Brave. Be KiNd. Be Curious.

Four things to ask yourself while recovering from a mental health disorder. While researching I found four thought provoking questions: each question helps you to strengthen your mental health, your morals and your happiness.

1.Were you a person others can respect today?

After someone has gone through a significant trauma the lines of right and wrong turn into a blurry grey. Some like myself, feel bouts of impulsivity. It’s an uncomfortable urging feeling of not knowing what you’re capable of. Heather A. Berlin, PhD, MPH and Eric Hollander, MDW writes “The concept of impulsivity has many different aspects and definitions, but in general it covers a wide range of “actions that are poorly conceived, prematurely expressed, unduly risky, or inappropriate to the situation and that often result in undesirable outcomes,” or more simply put, a tendency to act prematurely and without foresight. Moeller and colleagues defined impulsivity as “a predisposition…

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Return to Raft of Dunster

Things went so much better with my woven items as they ended up staying for the whole weekend. If you remember, they were only going to be exhibited for a couple of hours on Friday evening. I’m so pleased and grateful to Jen for the opportunity. Thanks lovely Jen 🌷💟😊💐💕🌺🌸🌼🌻

I popped in to collect the remainng items this afternoon and I actually remembered to take some photos (with my phone though, so not the best quality images, sorry).

There’s one of Jen modeling a wrap…

Here are some of the items on the shop’s ladder…

 

It’s a fab ladder don’t you think?

Someone wrapped each rung with tissue to protect the weave catching.

Some other views of the store…

 

Thank you so much to Jen and her lovely team for this opportunity. It’s just what I needed at this point in my life. I sold one item and there were some very nice remarks and much admiration for my makes.

Note: I would like to add I have not received payment of any kind to promote Raft Clothing. I have done so out of gratitude and a belief in supporting small local business.

My autistic senses: #1 sound

autspicious

An aspect of autism that I didn’t know until I first researched it was the sensory experience, and I imagine this is something that most people are unaware of. We see autism first and foremost as a social impairment with the sensory difficulties as a very occasional afterthought. Now however, I have realised the way I process the world around me is a lot more prescient than how I relate to other people. Since my diagnosis I’ve come to understand the way I move through the world, the physicality of being autistic, and, more importantly, I’ve been able to put in measures to help manage it. I don’t have an official diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder; it was intimated in my assessment and to get it on paper I’d have to go private. Besides, knowing that sensory things are an issue for me seems to be enough.

Having thought about…

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Positively Autistic: A List of (Positive) Autistic Traits

I love how this twists autistic traits into positives. This is how it should be viewed and thought about. An antidote to the depressive descriptions pinned on me/us 🙂

So Much Stranger, So Much Darker, So Much Madder, So Much Better

Sometimes it’s hard to feel positive about being autistic when so much of the presentation of autism focuses on our deficits. In a world that tells us all the ways we are “wrong”, I think it’s important to look at the many ways we are awesome.

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The history of Dunster Yarn Market

The following has been copied from Wikipedia…

Accessed 24/11/2017 from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_Market,_Dunster

Image source

Dunster Castle stands on a site which has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period, signifying the importance of the area.^[4] After the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, William de Mohun constructed a timber castle on the site as part of the pacification of Somerset.^[5]

A stone shell keep was built on the motte by the start of the 12th century, and the castle survived a siege during the early years of the Anarchy. At the end of the 14th century the de Mohuns sold the castle to the Luttrell family.^[6]

Dunster had become a centre for woollen and clothing production by the 13th century, with the market dating back to at least 1222, and a particular kind of kersey or broadcloth became known as ‘Dunsters’.^[4][7] The prosperity of Dunster was based on the wool trade, with profits helping to pay for the construction of the tower of the Priory Church of St George and provide other amenities. By the 15th century the importance of the town was declining particularly due to the silting up of the harbour.^[4] The Luttrell’s wanted to maintain the importance as a market and in 1609 George Luttrell, of the Luttrell family constructed the market to shelter traders and their wares from the rain and provide more security for their wares.^[4][8] The exact date of construction is debated and a variety of dates are given in different sources, however 1609 is considered the most likely.^[3][4]

A second market cross, known as the Butter Cross, which was built in the 15th century used to stand near the Yarn Market but was moved to the outskirts of the village in the 18th or 19th centuries.^[9][10][11] The Yarn Market is in the guardianship of English Heritage but is managed by the National Trust.^[12] In 1951 the Ministry of Works took over various properties including the Yarn Market from the Crown Estate. They carried out restoration works, however this was controversial as the shape of the roof was changed to more closely resemble the appearance of the original building, rather than that produced by subsequent revisions.^[13]

ArchitectureEdit

View of the supporting structure of the roof

The octagonal building, which is 9.4 metres (31 ft) in diameter, has a central stone pierwhich supports a heavy timber framework for the structure.^[14] The slate roof has a central wooden lantern topped by a weather vane.^[1] The roof is interrupted by a series of dormerwindows.^[15] Around the periphery is a low wall and vertical timber supports.^[2] Some of the sills are stone and others timber.^[3]

One of the roof beams has a hole in it, a result of cannon fire in the Civil War, when Dunster Castle was a besieged Royalist stronghold for five months under the command of Colonel Wyndham.^[16] Following the damage, it was restored in 1647 to its present condition by Francis Luttrell.^[3]

Please see quote source for references.

It shouldn’t happen to an Elf.

Ordinary Hopes

Alfie the Elf taken to his bed and will not even look up. He is devastated. He is embarrassed and doesn’t want to go out any more.

Alfie went to Sainsbury’s Superstore in Penzance, choosing it because it is a great store with wide aisles – nice and spacious for moving about in his wheelchair.

Shopping followed by a mince pie and a drink in the cafe seemed a great idea but elves are not good at limiting their intake of mince pies and drinks (possibly stemming from helping Santa on Christmas Eve) and, before long, Alfie needed to “go”.

No worries, he said, there are toilets upstairs and down in this particular supermarket – they understand the need for plenty of facilities for all.

Except, they didn’t have facilities for all.

Alfie the Elf is disabled and needs toilets with a hoist. He left the house fully prepared with his…

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