Tag Archives: online groceries

Day 92

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It’s cold again. By our standards anyway. So, when confronted by a menu choice featuring either root vegetables or salad, we went for the roots. We’ll be going that way again tomorrow. After that I’m hoping that the weather will improve as I have quite a lot of salad ingredients to use, and the difference between salad and green slime is only a few days in some cases. I will use the spinach for greens and the rocket in sandwiches and the lettuce probably has a few more days in it, so it will all end well. That’s why I prefer coleslaw to green salad. A cabbage does not, in my experience, become green slime. It may become fossilised, but it takes a long time and you get plenty of chance to eat it.

Looking at the weather charts I’m planning roasted veg with sausages and onion sauce tomorrow, pasties and roasted veg for Monday and probably vegetable stew for Tuesday. The leftover stew will make soup for Wednesday lunch and we can use the pizza bases to make pizza and coleslaw for the evening. Thursday? Well that’s quite a long time in the future. I don’t plan so far ahead these days. Possibly pasta or curry. We have the ingredients, we just need the motivation.

I’m trying to lose more weight and you can probably tell that from the length at which I talk about it.

Recently we have generally had good deliveries, with most of the stuff I order being delivered. Where I haven’t been as successful is in being able to order everything I want. There are still gaps, including loose parsnips. It’ not a problem, as bagged parsnips taste just the same. The only difference is that the plastic bags are killing the planet and I am trying to cut down on them.

The Benefits of Looking Closely

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From the point of view of my diet, today was a bit of a disaster. Julia brought Danish pastries when she returned from work, and while she was buying them, she bought sausage rolls that were on special offer. We ate them, then I opened a parcel from my sister and had a piece of Grasmere Gingerbread. Only one, as a quality check. It was excellent. It seems she had been buying some by post for birthday gifts and decided to treat us too. It’s delicious, and she is very kind, and nobody held me down and forced me to eat it…

I had a small meal for tea. I only had room for a small meal.

Meanwhile, after a classic senior moment, I am taking delivery of two sets of internet groceries tonight. I thought I’d cancelled TESCO after ordering from ASDA. It seems I didn’t. By the time I realised (when I saw their text at bedtime) it was too late. Normally their text comes in at around 10,00 am, which gives plenty of time for cancellation. Yesterday it came in after 5.00 pm, by which time my phone was charging in another room. Unlike many young people today, I am able to go for hours, sometimes all day, without checking my phone. I went for seven hours without checking my phone (anyone who really wants me is quite capable of ringing me) and I missed the text. As a result I have paid for delivery, and  a small order surcharge, to have a load of bread and vegetables delivered. We will be giving some bread away later tonight and vegetable soup is going to be on the menu several times in the next week.

Getting old is no fun.

We looked at a box of stuff in the shop today. A lady brought it in, with no great expectations. After an initial look we lowered her expectations even more. Then I had a look at the box of costume jewellery she had brought in. It’s not our sort of stuff, but we always try to help if we can. The “costume” jewellery included a cameo in a gold mount, a Victorian gold brooch with turquoises, a gold cravat pin and two gold tie pins. It’s not the sort of stuff we deal in, but I told her where to take it for a friendly reception and a decent offer. We did, however, give her the best part of £300 for two gold coins that had been made into cufflinks. That was a pleasant surprise for all concerned.

The morals from today – don’t throw anything away until you have taken advice, have a good look at everything and sort your stuff out before you die so you don’t lumber your kids with it.

British West Africa 1/10th of a Penny

A Better Day

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I’m glad to say that things have improved a lot from yesterday and my hands continued to improve during the day.

I think I may have identified the cause of the problem. I have been adjusting the day I take the pills on and have probably stretched things to breaking point. The pharmacist was late with my prescription last time, which moved things on a few days, then I had to move them on a bit to return the pill day to Saturday night. It has to be then in case the stomach trouble, which can be a feature of taking Methotrexate, cuts in. It’s much better taking the pills on Saturday night and being uncomfortable on Sunday.  Taking them during the week and being poorly on a working day is not convenient, and being ill on our joint day off on Wednesday is a definite no-no.

As usual, the cause of the problem is down to me. I am hoping that ordering the pills earlier will cut out most of the problem. However, as yesterday’s post shows, I can still have problems even when I don’t order pills that I don’t need.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day, I cancelled the online grocery order because we only need a few things to top up, and have plenty of all the staples. That’s what happens with online shopping. I could get them to bring as smaller order but it’s £4.50 to select and deliver and another £4 if I don’t make the £40 minimum order. That’s too much just for the convenience of getting up in the middle of the evening to accept groceries, and substitutions. We will shop for bread and  a few bits and pieces this week but don’t need much.

We had the second part of last night’s Chinese takeaway and i didn’t really enjoy it. I think we may have broken the cycle of ordering takeaways, and our palates may have changed for the better too.  At least some good will have come out of the lockdown.

The picture is the owl sculpture from Harlow Carr gardens – was it really only two years ago? I was able to walk a lot better, and I still had a decent WP editor which allowed plenty of pictures and video clips. If only I’d realised how lucky I was…

 

Tuesday Evening

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I picked Julia up from work, watched Pointless, made tea (fried rice with plenty of veg and some odds and ends of meat), watched TV, bickered and finally started to write this.

My emails tell me I missed a necklace on eBay that I had been watching for Julia’s birthday.  It’s a nervy time of year, as I have to buy her a present for our wedding anniversary, her birthday and Christmas, all within the space of a couple of months. Even if I was inspired it would be tricky, but as I’m not, and as she’s no help at all, I struggle.

It was nice, though she really has enough necklaces, and I set up a bid using a sniper to place the bid three seconds before the end. I din’t bid enough.

More thought needed.

There’s always more thought needed. Last Christmas was fine, as she new what she wanted and we went out and bought it just before Christmas, but it’s more normal for me to be left a week before Christmas with every idea turned down and nowhere left to go. She is, unfortunately one of those people who can tell you what she doesn’t want, but not what she does want.

I asked her what she wanted on the menu for next week, as I need to start getting the shopping list knocked into shape for tomorrow night and it’s the same again – doesn’t want anything I suggest but can’t come up with any ideas of what she does want.

It’s very easy to slip into bad habits and lack of variety when you are ordering online (just order the same as last week, says the little voice in my head) but it’s also hard to keep coming up with menus. To be honest, with being back at work almost full time I have become a lot less interested in cooking. I might have to order some of those spice packs just to kick-start my interest again.

Meanwhile, in the world of Covid, UK infection rates are rising and a local school has had to close because several teachers have tested positive.  I spoke to the husband of a teacher today, they have been back less than a week and they have sent 15 of their 250 pupils for tests after they started showing symptoms.

It could be a tricky winter.

 

Wednesday 8th July Part IV

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Poppy and chamomile

The day is passing faster and faster.

Julia is on the phone to one of her needier clients. Again, I cannot describe the conversation due to issues of confidentiality, but it is circular. And long. And, as it is on something modern like an app or a zoom, it is loud and intrusive too. She might be working from home but technically this is a day off for me, even if I am treating it as a work day. Obviously in this context “work” is an expression of hope rather than fact.

I have researched a number of magazines as recipients for the articles I wish to write. I have read several of the magazines more deeply than necessary and I have made a list of possible articles. My plan is at the stage known as “getting there”. In other words it is a rag-bag of elements which don’t amount to much.

It is more of an intention or an outline. Time for some more work, but this time I will do it in front of the TV whilst watching Pointless. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Ironically that’s a very dull saying. Equally ironically, I haven’t done much work.

Back again…

Having watched Pointless and failed in a few rounds – notably the modern music and the football questions – I meant to get back to work. Instead, I watched Eggheads. It is one of the dullest quizzes around, but we had tea and biscuits and I can never resist temptation to sit and drink tea, with or without biscuits. As a late lunch we had corn on the cob (Julia went out for a walk and, as usual, nipped into a shop to buy something. She can’t break the habit. Today she bought corn on the cob.)

I am quite hungry now and have just put the vegetables into the oven to roast. Carrots, parsnips, leeks and potatoes. I will put sprouts in when I put the pasties in. It’s a meal we have nearly every week but I never get fed up of it. Apart from being year round comfort food, it’s healthy and easy to make.

It’s been eleven hours since I started “work” and I have not managed to complete anything yet, apart from some TV viewing and three blog posts.

As I started this one I noticed my total was 2,000 which means I missed the chance to write a post about reaching my 2,000th post. I may have to plough on to 2,020 before marking the occasion.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

I’m now going to put the pasties in and about 25 minutes after that will make the gravy. It’s only made with gravy granules, so is nothing exciting. Then I had better get the shopping ordered. I only have until midnight and it can be a slow process. I also get distracted easily.

I have already done the shopping list relating to the spice kits – we will be having linguine with prawns and rocket. I’m not sure why, because we make that anyway.

We are also having Iranian Vegetable Stew, which apparently takes its inspiration from Persia and North Africa. This tends to suggest it isn’t really Iranian or a proper recipe, just some vegetables to soak up some spices they wanted to get rid of. Pardon my cynicism. I keep meaning to give ras-el-hanout a try, so this is my chance.

Finally we will be having nasi goreng. I’ve wanted to try it since I read about it as a teenager reading my dad’s Somerset Maugham books. It’s typical that I’ve always steered clear of cooking it in case it didn’t live up to my expectations. Next week will be an interesting time.

I will try to take photographs before I eat everything.

Photos are recycled from here.

Eleven Photos and the Benefits of Blogging

Mint Moth

Wednesday 8th July Part I

Wednesday 8th July Part II

Wednesday 8th July Part III

Wednesday 8th July Part IV

Wednesday 8th July Part V