First I will tell
you about the hospital trip. My appointment was for 3.45pm. I set off for the 4
miles or so to the hospital at around 2.30pm. It seems early for such a short
distance yet experience has told us to always allow a minimum of an hour for
the trip in daylight, a bit extra on a Friday.
It was just as well. The Satnav
said we would be there before 4pm when we set off. We were soon in the queue,
at a standstill. Since the M6 extension to Heysham began to be built a couple
of years ago, closing the Heysham bypass, traffic has been chaotic. Soon the
Satnav was suggesting 4.15pm was nearer the time. It was not much after that
when we arrived. We were lucky with the parking, the other nightmare we’d
allowed time for. We stopped at the WRVS café for a quick drink before going to
the nearby Maxillofacial Unit.
We then waited for
nearly an hour before finally getting in. After 5 minutes I was told I had a
perfectly healthy tongue. As I am
already having regular check-ups at Gastroenterology for pancreatic cancer they
didn’t see any point in doing a biopsy. If there was cancer that department was
more likely to pick up on it. We left relieved. Really it was no more than I
expected. It all seemed a waste of time & a stress we hadn’t needed. Still
at least we now know. At this point in time, all is well. Tomorrow who knows.
We then set off for
the leg of pork. It seems impossible in this area to buy a leg joint. The
butchers all reckon it’s too big a joint for people to buy. The pigs are so much
bigger these days. I can’t help
wondering what happens to the legs when the animals get slaughtered. Presumably
the pigs do still have legs. Are they all turned into gammon? I always think
the leg is the best joint for roasting. The shoulder & belly, I find a bit
fatty – excellent for slow roasting or casseroling. The loin is rather pricy
though very nice & sweet. Is it that
these days people don’t know what to do with leftover meat so don’t want a
larger joint? We always regard the leftovers as the best bit of a joint. I
prefer a bigger joint. In my opinion the effects of shrinkage from the cooking
is less & there’s all those meals from leftovers that make the original
big joint good value. I thought that even in days when money was very short.
The number of meals from one joint justified the initial financial layout. And
these days most people have freezers so they don’t even have to have the same
meat every day for a week or so.
I was bemused to see,
on the shelf in a plastic carton, two legs, each boned & rolled weighing
about 500g, much smaller than I had wanted. In the end I had a choice. I could
order a 1.5kg boned & rolled leg specially, but then I would have to cross
Lancaster again to collect it, or opt for a different joint. In the end I opted
for a shoulder joint of an appropriate size. Last night it went into a
marinade, ready to cook this afternoon for this evening.
We did go on to have
a meal out. It made a very pleasant change. I was rather distracted by the two
people at the next table. They were clearly student & lecturer from the
university. At first I thought they were father & daughter then I noticed
the coy way the man kept letting his fingers caress her hand. She was glowing
with intellectual excitement, flattered to be asked out for a meal by him, but
his mind was clearly more impressed by her youthful glow & lust than
anything she had to say. Even she was beginning to notice she was being plied
with rather more red wine than he was drinking. I felt like screaming that this
was a fine example of a predatory male, interested only in your body, to be
avoided as much as possible. I told myself it was not my part to intervene.
After all, she was an adult & I may have misinterpreted the situation. But
it left a bad taste in my mouth.
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PS. I've just noticed a note from Google saying that from Feb 11th, people without a Google account will not be able to access this blog. If you want to continue to read this blog you will need to open such an account. I personally think this is ridiculous but I thought I'd best pass this news on to you. It may just be necessary if you want to comment on the blog. The notice isn't clear on that. Personally I think you should be able to use whatever method you want rather than be railroaded into opening a Google account.
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