Monthly Archives: February 2019

Just a Quick Post

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Time for another swift post I think.

Having been distracted by TV and the internet I’m starting a little later than planned and have to take Number Two Son to work in an hour.

I also have a haiku to re-write, which is more difficult than it sounds, considering that it only has three lines. I’m told that two of the lines say almost the same thing, which makes for a weak haiku. My plan was to rewrite one line. It seemed logical. It seemed a quick and easy fix.

It’s taken me 24 hours now and it’s not going well. Fortunately I told the editor it would take me a couple  of days, so I’m safe for now. It will be another 24 hours before he finds out he’s dealing with an idiot.

Sorry, I drifted off into haikuland there and spent 20 minutes rewriting, checked my emails, read some posts by other people and then realised I was meant to be posting.

I’ll do better tomorrow…

 

 

Easy as a Monday Morning

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On Friday I experienced an uneasy feeling, which grew through Saturday as I realised that I probably had a blood test this morning. I say “probably” as I had neglected to make a note in my diary and I had mislaid the letter giving me the next date.

Eventually I found the letter (which also counted towards my decluttering quota) and confirmed that I did indeed have a blood test this morning.

In the manner of these things, the plan suffered a set-back. I woke at 6.15, summoned by my bladder and then went back to my nice warm bed bed. That meant that instead of leaping into action at 6.30 I hauled myself out at 6.45 and the whole day started slower and later than intended.

There wasn’t much of a queue and the phlebotomist hit the vein first time. I bled well after they removed the needle and I’ve had no panicky phone calls so I’m presuming all has gone well.

As I left the hospital I noticed that the day was much lighter than it had been three weeks ago for my last test. Spring is definitely on the way.

I’ll leave out the boring bits – parcels, swearing at other drivers, TV – the normal stuff that makes up my life.

Tonight we had the beef stew I’d meant to cook last night. (We ended up with frozen veggie burgers due to time constraints). It turned out reasonably well despite my normal cooking technique of chucking stuff in and seeing what happens. I keep meaning to learn how to cook properly, but I never get round to it.

It’s cottage pie tomorrow. I made it while I was doing the stew. It’s good to be a day ahead.

That’s about it for today. Nothing interesting happened and I have 23 minutes left to post.

 

The Plans Slot into Place

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The plans were –

  • Publish the post I meant to do last night
  • Sleep
  • Write
  • Shop
  • Pick Julia up from work

It’s actually difficult for that to go wrong.

Tonight I will do some decluttering and some cooking.Not much, just enough to say I have carried out the last two elements on my list.

Nobody needs to know I intended to clear the dining room table or cook four meals in advance. A carrier bag of books will suffice, as will a simple beef stew. It was going to be venison (it’s healthier and everybody likes Bambi) but they didn’t have any in the supermarket. They had some last week, which is what gave me the idea. Typical.

Cookery isn’t so bad when you think of the alternative – watching the depressing news on TV, watching equally depressing non-news or watching poor quality repeats.

Ah well, where are those onions…

Crocus at Nottingham
Snowdrops at Ruddington

Some Spring photos, hopefully the first of many.

Writer’s Log Jam

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The last few days have been crowded with subjects to write about. The trouble is that there is just too much, I am feeling quite tetchy about a lot of it and it’s hard to write a post in those circumstances. It’s the opposite of writer’s block in many ways – plenty to write about, plenty of words coming through, but just so much to say I can’t process it all.

I went to the random subject generator to help me concentrate, and this is what it came back with –

Write about your relationship with food.

You know it isn’t your day when even the random subject generator is having a pop at you.

I carry, as you may have gathered over the years, a few extra pounds. I say “a few” – it might be a bit more than that. In fact I could probably do with losing weight equivalent to the bodyweight of an average jockey.

However, this is supposed to be about my relationship with food, not my relationship with small people who ride horses. I like jockeys, but  couldn’t eat a whole one…

I don’t really have much of a relationship with food; it’s never around long enough for me to get to know it.

When I gave up smoking I did so by telling myself how disgusting it was every time I smelt cigarette smoke. It seems to have worked as, twenty years later, I am still off cigarettes.

I’m not sure it would work as well with food. I’m worried that if I made myself think of food as disgusting I might end up with an eating disorder. To be fair, it would take a few years before the weight loss became a problem, but you have to be careful about these things.

To avoid buying new clothes I could buy braces to keep my trousers up, which is something I’ve been considering anyway – it’s a middle-aged man thing. (That’s suspenders to you Americans, though suspenders are something different to us.) Very different.

I do love the way English differs from one side of the Atlantic to the other. The mental picture of middle-aged American men wearing suspenders is both amusing and horrifying.

I think I’ll leave it there and add some pictures of food.

Oatcakes – Stoke on TrentOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Cheese Scone at the Barn Garden Centre
Scones and Jam – John Lewis

 

Between writing “pictures of food” and actually posting the pictures I managed to fall asleep and wake up just after midnight to find I’d missed a day posting. Just as I thought I was doing so well…

Photographs from the Museum

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Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington
Snowdrops at Ruddington
Crocus at Nottingham

There are actually four cottages in the block you see – one at each end and L-shaped back to backs in the middle. Victorians knew how to cram them in. Water came via the pump you can see in the middle of the photo. The toilets are behind me and the wash house is in the end of the left hand building. No indoor facilities then, unless you count guzundas.

The Pit
Privy – Framework Knitters Museum
Toilet block – Framework Knitters Museum
Urinals – Framework Knitters Museum

These are the toilets – there were approximately 100 people on site so the provision is hardly generous. They also appear to be unisex. Not sure if women worked there, but if they did it’s hardly the Victorian approach I’d have expected.

The effluent falls down the privy and emerges through the arches in the side of the pit. With 100 people using it, you’d think they’d need something a bit deeper.

Kitchen – manager’s cottage
Manager’s parlour – Framework Knitters Museum
Framework Knitters Museum – Manager’s Bedroom
Knitter’s Parlour – Framework Knitters Museum

The cottages are very well fitted out, though I’m not sure they have the smell right. I’m sure that with candles, crowds, open cesspits and and a lack of washing facilities the smell must have been well to the forefront of your life in those days. They have smell sprays at Jorvik to give you more of an idea. I didn’t think they were terribly convincing twenty years ago, but they may have improved.

Sorry about the low tone of this post, but like any man, there’s a small boy lurking just under the surface, and small boys are fascinated by toilets.

 

The Scone Chronicles – the 6th visit (the one with No Scones)

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We went to the Framework Knitters Museum yesterday and are now Friends of the Framework Knitters Museum. It didn’t actually cost any more than paying to visit the museum and we can now visit for the rest of the year without further payment, get a discount on refreshments and go to special events. I’m going to be quite an expert by the end of the year.

Regarding refreshments, this might not be as good as it sounds.

After going round the museum and being well and truly demonstrated too by keen and knowledgeable volunteers, we went to the tea room. We had a nice cup of tea served by the lady who had signed us up as Friends (clearly a paragon amongst multi-tasking volunteers). The tea room was traditional, and the china was fine. The tea came with a packet of biscuits.

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Chintzy china with reflected light fitting

So, you ask, what about the scones? Even if you don’t ask I’m going to tell you. They were absent. There was no evidence of scones. In fact, the only comestibles in evidence were muffins in bags.

I’m hoping this might be temporary.

But deep in my heart I fear it may not be a simple short supply situation, but a full-blown serious scone shortage.

That’s a sad summer scenario.

Random Subject – Swimming

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I thought I’d try a random subject today, and the subject of swimming came up.

Unfortunately I know nothing about swimming, but if I ignore the prompt there’s no point in generating it.

I haven’t been swimming for around forty years, and unless I find myself on a sinking ship I have no intention of swimming again. It’s like skydiving – unless the aeroplane is on fire I’m not going to jump out of it.

I’ve probably forgotten how to swim by now anyway.

Even if I haven’t forgotten how to swim, and assuming I wanted some gentle exercise, I’m not going to expose myself to ridicule and the possibility of an attempted rescue by Greenpeace.

It’s also time to remove most of the swimming from the Olympics. In 2020 there will be 35 swimming events in the pool. If you are good at swimming you can easily end up with half a dozen medals. If you are good at riding a bike it will take a couple of Olympics to get that many. And if you are a rower it will take 16 years to get five medals.

Somehow it doesn’t seem fair.

Sir Steve Redgrave has five golds for rowing in five consecutive Olympics, and is only our fourth most successful Olympian – beaten by Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Sir Bradley Wiggins. He had to win one every four years, and couldn’t have a bad day. The last three are all cyclists, in case you didn’t know. They won multiple medals for pedalling quickly round a track on something my mother used to use for going shopping on.

I’d be more impressed if they did their events with a basket on the and a load of shopping piled up in it. Rowers could also take a fishing rod.

So, to summarise. Swimming. Too many Olympic events. Cut them all back so athletes are operating on a level playing field. Redesign the cycling and rowing events, and introduce a pursuit category to the swimming.

It would be like a normal swimming event but just after the swimmers dive in…

…you release the shark.

 

Day 102!

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After failing in my challenge to write 100 posts in 100 days I decided to keep quiet about my new challenge, which was to write 100 posts in 100 days.

I’m consistent, if nothing else.

I’m also better at writing than I am at counting. When I checked to see if it was 100 days yet, I found it was actually 102 days since the first post of the run.

It doesn’t really matter – I’ve managed 100 consecutive days. Now I can relax.

To celebrate I’m going to have a nice cup of tea and chuck in a gratuitous robin picture.

We had the talk on framework knitters last night, the one I nearly went to last week. I’m going to visit within the coming month, and check out the tea room, so watch this space!

 

Spring is Coming

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You don’t have to take my word for it – look at the birds.

The Black-headed Gulls are regaining their black heads.

Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent
Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent
Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent

The idiots are also out in force. This prime example spotted the perfect spot to stand and ruin my shot. Then he moved a few feet away before coming back for another go.

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Idiotus Domesticus

Robins were singing in the dogwood hedges (Cynical note to self – Robins are always good for attracting likes).

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Robin and dogwood

And the ducks are looking in fine fettle for breeding.

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Finely fettled ducks

And finally – it’s clear what is on this pigeon’s mind, even if the object of his desire isn’t interested.

 

The Scone Chronicles – Number 5

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The last scone report was a bit of a cheat because it featured oatcakes rather than scones.  However, it seemed a bit of a waste not to mention oatcakes as we were in Stoke. This one, also from Wednesday, does feature scones.

After the various trials of the day we ended up at Westport Lake. It’s not very impressive at first sight – muddy surroundings, idiots with bread and lots of domestic geese.

Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent
Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent
Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent
Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent
Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent

It was actually quite pleasant once you started looking at the birds. I don’t need rarities, I can amuse myself with common birds, and the sight of tame geese chasing toddlers for food never loses its appeal.

The cafe is in the visitor centre, which is a wooden building that looks a bit like an ark and is mainly balanced on legs over an artificial pond. I’m not quite sure why they built it on legs, but it’s quite interesting. We ordered scones and tea and sat on the balcony. The seats are a bit tight for a man of ample posterior.

Visitor Centre, Westport Lake
Visitor Centre, Westport Lake
Visitor Centre, Westport Lake
Visitor Centre, Westport Lake
Visitor Centre, Westport Lake

The scones were too dry and crumbly for my taste, but once buttered and jammed looked OK, though one pat of butter isn’t really enough for a large scone.

The first half of my scone had a slight, though not unpleasant, tang of baking soda.  Julia confirmed that hers did too, though she thought it was a bit off-putting. By the end of my second half I was beginning to agree with her. Early in my scone baking days I made a batch where I failed to mix the baking soda in properly so I do sympathise, though it should be easy enough for a professional baker to avoid the problem.

Scones in Stoke on Trent
Scones in Stoke on Trent
Steelite in Stoke on Trent
Scones in Stoke on Trent
Scones in Stoke on Trent

I think we’ll be back – it’s a pleasant place to spend time and they have oatcakes in the cafe too.