Lots of really interesting replies there. I don't agree with the control thing at all, my torts are my guilty pleasure, until a couple of years ago I used to spend every spare penny I had on my kids, until I realised I was creating 2 spoilt brats
Now they have to earn their pocket money and save for things they want. My family encouraged me to spend some money on myself, though now I think they are horrified I have so many torts
My kids are at school, and I don't feel so lost now I have the torts. I take care of them while the kids are out, I love walking the dog to get weeds and taking care of my million plants that I grow in my garden for them. I really am obsessed with them, and learning more. My Mum had a tort in the 60s named Toby and painted her address on his shell in nail polish as he was a persistent escape artist. Strangers used to knock the door and hand him in from wherever they had found him wandering. He went walk about just before they moved, and was not handed in, and my Aunt tells me they always thought one of the neighbours had kept him. My Nan successfully hibernated him for 5 years in the coal shed. Apparently my Mum was gutted that they never got Toby back. I never knew this story until My Aunt told me just before I got our first
It kind of warms my heart that I have the same passion as my Mum did all those years ago
And often wonder what ever became of Toby....who knows he could still be pottering around someones garden......
