Friday 31 October 2008

One new brain needed

I'm rapidly beginning to come to the conclusion that I need a new brain. My present one is becoming a sieve!

I realised I hadn't quite felt myself of late. Yesterday I discovered the cause. After starting the day tealess on Tuesday, I'd totally forgotten to take my other breakfast pill. I forgot it again on Wednesday. I'm back on it now & feeling better for it.

Whilst in France this time, French hadn't come as trippingly to my ear as usual, making it difficult to follow news programmes etc on the TV. Yesterday, I sat in the Pub. Phil, the Wizardman, & the Fox were discussing computers, various programs, different equipment, etc. Little B (who's in his 70s & has only just got his first computer, a laptop which he's having difficulty even switching on) & I looked at each other. They might have been talking a different language as far as we were concerned.

Now I sit down to write my blog & suddenly remember I put the washing machine on earlier & have completely forgotten to nudge it on. It's certainly not going to dry, sitting in a pool of water in the machine. I've hastily nudged it on and the washing is now hanging on the rails above the boiler in the laundry room.

What next, I wonder.

Thursday 30 October 2008

Gone fishing

I leave a note for the Fox. "Gone fishing" it reads. I'm off in my Mean Machine, my electric scooter, to the fish shop. I go along the promenade. The views across Morecambe Bay are spectacular. The Lakeland fells have got their snowy white caps on. The wind blowing from them along the Bay can tell you that. I'm glad I've taken my gloves - their first outing this season. At one point I pass a great St Bernard dog, sat on top of the gatepost of his house, looking for all the world like the sort of stone lion you often see on gateposts. I give it a greeting & he slowly turns his head to give me a friendly glance. At the shop I buy a couple of trout. And what better to go with trout than a sauce containing some of the small brown shrimps for which the Bay is famous. I also can't resist some a couple of pots of potted shrimps, a speciality of the area, just as a tasty snack for us some time.

And now I'm off to fillet the fish, ready to cook this evening.

An early Christmas

We go along to the Pub. It's quite busy today. Den & Fran, two of the regulars, have brought along 4 of their friends. And a riotous time, full of laughter, is had by all. As we leave, Jimmy comes over to wish us happy Christmas. A bit early we thought, but Jimmy points out the caravan site they're staying on closes for winter at the end of the month so they won't have chance to see us again until March '09. I think this is quite the earliest I've ever been wished happy Christmas!

We turn into our road. As we turn the last corner, a worrying light flashes. We have to wait as the ambulance turns round & heads off. What now? We see one of our neighbours in the street & stop to ask what has happened. It turns out the ambulance has come for her husband. He'd had a heart attack on Friday, & now he's had another. Jeff, her husband, is only in his fifties. He's had multiple heart bypasses, yet he still seems to have heart attacks every few years. He's really too young to have all these problems, & it must be very worrying for his wife. I remember how anxious I was when, last year, it was thought that the Fox might have a heart problem & his problems were nowhere near as serious as Jeff's. Our good spirits after our afternoon at Geriatrics' Corner evaporated rapidly into a more sombre mood. I just hope Jeff is around & back at home for Christmas.

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Need for spice

I'm suffering from spice deprivation at the moment, as you will know if you've already read the Fox's blog. The cause is two-fold. The first is that we've only recently returned from our holidays in France; the second is the bitter cold here at the moment.

In France it seems to be virtually impossible to get good spicy food, unless you cook your own. What cooking we do if we're self-catering, as this time, tends to be pretty basic & quick. On holiday I need my energies for exploring the region we're staying in, not cooking. The French will happily add some of the sweeter spices such as cinnamon - a reflection of their having ex-colonies in North Africa. Ginger they are dubious about but you do see it occasionally in more eastern ethnic food. But hot spice is very difficult. The only area of France where we've found the use of chillies has been in the Basque country, just north of the Pyrenees on the Atlantic coast. I find this surprising. The British discovered their love of hot spicy food in India & Malaysia, their ex-colonies, why didn't the French ex-colonies of Vietnam & Laos equally inspire the French?

We have some French friends. Their son came & stayed with us for a while one year. We introduced him to the delights of our local Indian restaurant. He was smitten. The next time we stayed with them, I was asked to make a curry. Earlier in the visit, Marie, his mother, had made something "au curry", i.e. she'd added a pinch of curry powder. I'd stared in disbelief. The time came for me to make the bhoona gosht for 6. Her jaw dropped as she watched me put 9 teaspoonfuls of curry powder in. Her disbelief was compounded when I then reached for the chilli powder to add a further teaspoon of that. It was with great trepidation, having watched me cook the meal, that she sat down to that meal & began to eat. She was surprised to find it wasn't nearly as bad as she feared.

This time we left France after a week, basking in temperatures in the thirties. The second week was cooler, but even so it never got much below 20C. When we arrived at Manchester airport we were told the external temperature was a glorious 8C. Since then it's just got steadily colder. On Monday, after our meal out, the Fox had to scrape the ice off the windscreen before we could come home. Even mid-morning the temperature just hovered over freezing point. Yesterday we were told it was to be -8C that night. When we'd got home, around 5pm, we looked at the thermometer on our garden shed. It already read -8C, & you could feel it was still getting colder. This morning, when I got up around 8.30am, it was still -3C. These temperatures are way below the norm for this area at this time of year. It looks as though we're going to have a very cold winter ahead of us.

All of this left me yearning for hot spice. Which is why, on Saturday, when we came home, we went for out for a meal at the local Indian restaurant. On Sunday, the Fox made us his special Spicy Spag Bol. Yesterday it became chicken fajitas. And today I've prepared a chicken curry for this evening. Oh for some heat!!!!

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Tealess

I wake up this morning. The first thing my eyes fall upon is a full glass of water. Oh dear! Last night was supposed to have been the first night of taking a pill in the middle of the night. Every 3 months I have 2 weeks when I have to go through this phase with my medication. It isn't essential to take it at night, but for two hours before & two hours after, I can only eat or drink water. I usually find it easier to find the 4 hour with just water easier during the night. I normally wake up at regular intervals throughout the night anyhow. After our festivities of last night, for the first time in months, I actually slept through the night without waking once. The Fox, too, must have forgotten, as he usually checks I've taken my pill when he joins me in bed a little later on. Hence the full glass of water. I hastily take my pill but now I must wait the two hours before my morning cup of tea & my caffeine fix to kick start me into the day. It's already seems long & I've barely been up half an hour!

In that time I've discovered our birds are back. Before we went away, I filled the feeders for them. I was surprised to see they still had seed in when we arrived home. However, I soon realised our birds seemed to have disappeared. I thought nothing of it. They usually disappear for a day or two because they've emptied the feeders & go & search for food elsewhere. Once they realise we're home & food will be plentiful once more, they all fly back. I also know at this season there is plenty of seed growing naturally in the garden. Yesterday I eventually waded across the paddling pool known as the patio area of the garden to the feeders. I'd realised it had rained a lot in our absence by the lakes in our garden - there's not meant to be so much as a pond in the garden though it does flood so frequently that Al, our gardener, has often suggested we try growing rice! I then discovered why there was food in the feeders. They'd got so wet, the seed had sprouted. Indeed the feeders were clogged up with greenery. I weeded it out. I wish our birds would learn how to do this for themselves, but they're a lazy bunch. This morning I was greeted for my endeavours by the sight of the coal tits once more happily perching on the trellis flitting from time to time to the feeders. They're happy we're back!

Monday 27 October 2008

About myself

Hello there. I'm not the greatest computer whizz kid so forgive me as I feel my way into this new blog space. I was finally getting to grips with the blog site on AOL but as they are closing that down so I'm moving here, following the footsteps of The Oxcliffe Fox, my husband.

I suppose I'd better introduce myself as I expect some of you will be new to me as a writer. I'm in my 50s. I'm disabled, being at present a part-time wheelchair user. I also have some mental health problems as I have periods of severe depression.

Long ago, or so it seems now, I got a law degree, which even now I still find useful as I take on battles against bureaucracy & injustice. Apart from that, I love life, love my garden, its plants & wildlife, love cooking, regularly experimenting & trying new things. I love the area we live in, being on Morecambe Bay overlooking the Lakeland fells. I spend a lot of time jigsawing & doing crosswords & other puzzles. They keep me quiet & stop me doing more than I can really cope with.

Most days the Fox & I venture to the Pub, where a regular group of us meet for a chat. We call ourselves Geriatrics' Corner, as most of us are either retired or younger but disabled, unable to work. Once a month we get together in the evening to go out for a meal. So it is that tonight we're off out for a meal with the gang. We're trying a pub which has recently re-opened after years of neglect & a total revamp.

I love travel too. We've just come back from 2 weeks holiday near Perpignan in France, but more of that & our adventures another time. I'm hoping one day to get to Brunei, land of my birth. We were hoping to go next year, but with the way the finanacial world seems to be at the moment I'm not sure if that won't have to wait.

I love reading. I read just about anything, including the back of sauce bottles! On holiday I got through Kate Mosse's "Labyrinth" (a novel set in the South of France, largely in the 12th century & the time of the Cathars) & Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" (a novel set in Afghanistan).

I enjoy going to the occasional art exhibition. I was really wowed by Emily Carr who's work we discovered on a trip to Canada in May this year. On that trip I was also impressed by the photographs of Mary Schaffer Warren.

That should give you some idea of me & my life. for more you'll just have to read the blogs as I write them. I hope you enjoy them, and maybe occastionally have pause for thought or a laugh.