Tag Archives: loafing

Day 36

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As I was leaving the shop today, one of the customers asked me what I was going to do for the rest of the afternoon.

“Well,” I said,”at the moment I’m trying to decide between sitting and watching TV with the gas fire on, or sitting by the gas fire watching TV.”

In fact, I did neither. I fell asleep by the gas fire with the remote in my hand. Julia returned home, gave me tea and biscuits, and described the research she was doing in some old family letters. She has just been sent some by an aunt who is clearing out and they cover things like her grandfather’s WW1 service as a tank driver and his time in hospital after being injured on the night of 14/15 November 1940 in the Coventry Blitz, when he was an air-raid warden. I know I have photos somewhere but don’t seem to have used them on the blog.

I made coleslaw and cheesy nachos for tea, which were tasty additions to the main part of the meal, which I subcontracted out. Yes, another takeaway. It will last for at least two meals under our new frugal regime. The coleslaw was red cabbage, spring onions, celery, pumpkin seeds, mayonnaise and lime juice. In other words, it was what I had to hand. The celery was starting to droop a bit and the lime was looking wrinkly, so it all went in. In dietary terms it’s not quite an antidote to a pizza, but at least part of the meal was healthy.

A bit more snoozing in front of the fire and a little light computer work completed the day.

I hope the header picture wasn’t too alarming. It’s a bit of a contrast to the last one, even though it’s only about. . .

Actually it’s probably 15 years ago. If the loss of colour and vitality continues the one I take in 2037 may well feature a handful of dust . . .

Another 30 Minute Post

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Once again the evening has been squandered with tea and biscuits and curry and poor quality TV. I regret the waste of time, when I have so many things to do, and I hadn’t planned on such a relaxing evening, but it’s been pleasant enough. The only problem is that I have to write a post in 30 minutes before taking Number Two Son to work.

If that seems familiar I can only apologise. I tried to write earlier but couldn’t find the enthusiasm.

Plans for the coming week include finishing the book I’m reading about William Dampier, reviewing a couple of other books and sending some more haibun off. The theory is that if I keep sending them off I will be forced to keep writing and improving. It seems sensible, but time will tell.

I’m also preparing a section of my collection for sale on eBay. It’s the part of my collection that I accumulated because it was cheap or included in lots with things I actually wanted. As such I really ought to call it my “collection” or my accumulation. When I’ve sold it I’m going to use it to buy more things. That’s the nice thing about collecting – you get to buy things for yourself on a constant basis.

It’s the Numismatic Society meeting on Monday. It’s comforting to get out and meet people with the same sorts of personality defects I have. I say “people”, but I mean middle-aged men. There is only one female member that I know of, and very few people under fifty.

And that’s it. Time’s up. I will now fill out the “Categories and Tags” and post for today. Only three days to go…

 

 

 

 

 

A Walk in Wikipedia

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It all started with Derrick J Knight. The man is a bad influence, though probably not as bad as Wikipedia.

His mention of a Spong mincer set my mind back to a time when, in my early 20s, I was firmly based in the cookery traditions of my mother – Be-Ro cookbook, Spong mincer and pressure cooker.

I’ve just spent a happy couple of hours delving into various links and thinking about the cookery of my youth.

In those days we had savoury mince or Cottage Pie (which is not much of a stretch, just savoury mince with mashed potato on top). Spag Bol and chilli con carne were still some years off. If you wanted exotic food when I was a kid you had a Vesta meal or  prawn cocktail, and you had it with lettuce. Avocados ranked with Unicorns in those days. (I was going to say “hen’s teeth” but even as a kid I knew chicks were born with an egg tooth. It’s a throw-back to when they were dinosaurs). Not all my useless knowledge comes from Wikipedia.

I’ve also been looking into the Laws of Rugby in reply to a discussion on yesterday’s France  v Wales game. That’s not as relaxing as thinking about food.

I’m planning to look at poetry next, as I need some new titles and I should really give Gray’s Elegy a rest.

No photographs for now, I don’t have any relevant food photos and there’s no point photographing a pile of poetry books as I’ve just said I’m browsing poetry on the web.

Instead, I’ll leave you with this thought:

“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
― Bill Watterson