Tag Archives: cheese sauce

Trousers, Typing and Tongue Twisters

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I slept well last night and woke just before nine. It’s not exactly industrious, but it will do for me. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, so 9.00 is as good a time as any. I managed to dress without industry and decided I could dispense with trousers today as I was not intending to go out. Slipper socks and a good long flannel shirt will do to preserve my modesty, though I will be keeping the blinds partially drawn after yesterday’s events. It wouldn’t do for the neighbours to know too much about the informality of my dress habits.

The lack of trousers means there was no trouble with trapping my foot in a twisted leg, or tripping whilst hopping around muttering things about tricky trouser designs.  If only I had tartan trews that last line would have  had potential as a tongue twister. The world needs a tricky tongue-twister about tripping with two trapped feet in your twisted tartan trews. Well, my world does . . .

I thought I’d make a quick start on the typing today, before the pain in my wrist catches up with me. Rest, a hot water bottle and patience have seen the pain disappear from my right arm, shoulders and left elbow. Only the pain in my left wrist remains, and that is where I had trouble with carpal tunnel before. I have ordered a wrist splint and set myself a target of resting and being patient for the next few weeks. With luck it will go without further intervention. In the meantime I will alter my typing position to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

My previous typing set-up may have looked chaotic, with things set at different levels using boxes and books, but it worked well and I had no problems from aches and pains (or RSI and carpal tunnel to give them their modern names).

We had vegetables for tea last night. With a bigger oven I feel that my roasted veg should be better, but I’m not sure they are. This is slightly disappointing, but I will get over it. I even pre-heated the oven and the roasting tins last night, even though my prudent side is much perturbed by the idea of heating an empty oven.

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We had cauliflower with mustard cheese sauce, with potato wedges, carrots, leeks and brussels. I read a recipe that says if you leave the cut brussels face down for the complete cooking time it traps the steam inside and gives you sweet, tender brussels. It seems to work, though buying decent brussels also helps. I will have to buy some tough monster brussels to really see if it works. We seem to have been eating better since we moved and altered our routines.

Ah well, 10am now and time to prod my sleeping wife into action with a cup of tea and a suggestion that it is her turn to make breakfast. If you don’t hear from me again you can take it that the suggestion went down badly.

Old photos again. I really must do better.

So far it has been . . .

 

 

Tales from Lockdown

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“Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.” – Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980

Julia has had a lecture from Number One Son. She let something slip about her trip to hospital and he wanted to know why she hadn’t told him. I’m beginning to know what my grandparents felt like when my parents told them off for various misdemeanours (like the time we called on my grandmother and found her standing in the kitchen sink to replace a light bulb).

I have a fairly hands-off approach to the care of the elderly and, as with my child rearing, feel that they turned out well despite my neglect.

Anyway, Number One Son and his partner sent Julia flowers. That is what is in the picture. I’m not actually sure whether partner is accurate, because nobody ever tells me anything. I’m considered to be “tactless”. However, he’s been hanging round with her for several years now and she hasn’t applied for a restraining order so I deduce that they may be an item.

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We bought the curtains at a car boot about 15 years ago

Then it was my turn, as he texted me to make sure we had enough food in.

Ha! Do I look like I’m going to let myself starve? I read a quote recently – you can see it at the top of the post. It applies to many other things too. The fight against coronavirus shows how important it is to have the right equipment. The food shortages show how important it is to have strong supply chains.

Anyway – I have enough food to eat well for the next two weeks. After that I will run out of bread and milk, so will have to have black tea and make porridge with water (yes, I know that’s the proper way, but I do like milk). After that I have food for two more weeks eating out of cans and packets – including Spam and canned haggis. I’m pretty sure there are enough odds and ends for a few days beyond that too, but they really don’t bear thinking about.

At the moment I still can’t get a food delivery for this month, so I’m going shopping on Wednesday morning. TESCO has a Wednesday morning slot for the elderly and infirm. If it cuts down on queuing I have no pride.

The top two pictures show the flowers and, regrettably, the Car Boot curtains we bought about 15 years ago. Garish, dated, but functional and cheap.

The other shows roasted veg (carrot, parsnip, leek and broccoli) with cauliflower and cheese sauce. I made the sauce like Welsh Rarebit, hence the yellow colouring – it’s from the mustard.

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My tea tonight