Yesterday was a ropey day. All the previous night I'd been having stomach pains. I'd had to get up several times in the hope that a trip to the loo would settle things. But it didn't.
I'm not quite sure whether I'd eaten something nasty on Thursday. I will admit the prawns in the jacket potato I had out for lunch that day didn't taste as fresh a they could be.
Maybe I'm once more reacting against pills, I've noticed I've started a tendency to once more get cramps in my feet on a regular basis. Last time those cramps progressed to my stomach. The solution was to change one lot of pills. Maybe it's the same again.
Either way I ended up feeling very tired & sore yesterday morning.
I nearly went straight back to bed again. That, in fact, is what I did do around midday. I got up again a couple of hours later feeling much better. My stomach still felt bruised, but not positively aching. I was still tired but more refreshed than I had been.
It was just as well as we had agreed to go along to the Pub in the afternoon. It turned out a good session with more people than usual turning up. The conversation was lively, friendships reaffirmed.
I was also pleased when I got home that I had persevered with preparing the Finnan Pie in the morning. It turned out delicious. Readers of the Fox's last blog will realise how much he appreciated it. I was anxious that it might be dry with pastry top & bottom, but no, the cheese sauce made it wonderfully moist. The saltiness of the smoked haddock & the cheese sauce was broken by the blandness of the raw egg I had put in the pie. Great.
Needless to say, last night was an early night for me. But I'm glad to say today I'm feeling much more myself. A little residual bruising but that's it. Now I'm just hoping there'll not be a recurrence.
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
3oz of cooked guinea fowl
The talk has been much on food. I suppose it started when a couple of clues in the crossword were "Large white radish" & "Japanese mushroom" - the latter stumped us, shiitake being the only Japanese mushrooms we know. Then Mr P, the music teacher, came in, still finessing his meal for Thursday. His mains are a choice of braised pheasant with red cabbage, beetroot & apple cooked in port or steak & kidney pudding, steamed for 6 hours, served with roasted seasonal vegetables. As that topic seemed to be waning, I suddenly piped up with my dilemma.
"I've got three ounces of cooked guinea fowl to use up tomorrow. Any ideas of what I could do?"
Apart from the usual, ie that's not enough to feed a mouse let alone two grown adults, our friends turned their minds to the concept. PD was keen to suggest a risotto - plenty of rice, some mushrooms... At this point I had to interrupt & point out I didn't have any mushrooms in & the whole idea was to avoid doing any shopping just yet.
Heads were scratched once more.
"How about a stir fry?" was PD's next suggestion.
Now this had more appeal. We have a recipe which we usually do just before we go on holiday as it's such a good user up of vegetables. For two people it basically requires 12oz of vegetables & 2-4oz of prawns, plus a few basics like rice or noodles, oil etc. I have tried it successfully using cooked chicken instead of prawns. Why not try it with cooked guinea fowl? So that is what the Fox is doing in his trust wok for dinner tonight.
This means I have nothing much to prepare for dinner today. Later on I will just decide what veg to add, then take the meat & any supplementary frozen veg out of the freezer to thaw. I will also get some cheese out of the freezer to get to room temperature in time to have as dessert. Nice & simple.
I wonder what they will come up with if I tell them that tomorrow we'll be using up 2oz of minced pork.
"I've got three ounces of cooked guinea fowl to use up tomorrow. Any ideas of what I could do?"
Apart from the usual, ie that's not enough to feed a mouse let alone two grown adults, our friends turned their minds to the concept. PD was keen to suggest a risotto - plenty of rice, some mushrooms... At this point I had to interrupt & point out I didn't have any mushrooms in & the whole idea was to avoid doing any shopping just yet.
Heads were scratched once more.
"How about a stir fry?" was PD's next suggestion.
Now this had more appeal. We have a recipe which we usually do just before we go on holiday as it's such a good user up of vegetables. For two people it basically requires 12oz of vegetables & 2-4oz of prawns, plus a few basics like rice or noodles, oil etc. I have tried it successfully using cooked chicken instead of prawns. Why not try it with cooked guinea fowl? So that is what the Fox is doing in his trust wok for dinner tonight.
This means I have nothing much to prepare for dinner today. Later on I will just decide what veg to add, then take the meat & any supplementary frozen veg out of the freezer to thaw. I will also get some cheese out of the freezer to get to room temperature in time to have as dessert. Nice & simple.
I wonder what they will come up with if I tell them that tomorrow we'll be using up 2oz of minced pork.
Friday, 6 August 2010
Friends
Thank goodness for friends. And thanks to those of my friends who have sent their support & good wishes on-line.
Yesterday we went to the Pub, more because Al, our gardener had called on Wednesday & we hadn't paid him, rather than because we, in particular I, felt like going. En route we picked up PD. The Pub as so often these days was virtually empty.
By the time PD had regaled us with his adventures to the gym in the morning - the lift had broken down so he'd had to climb up all the steep steps to the fifth floor, wheezing madly with his asthma - we were all weeping with laughter & some of the tension was broken.
He'd then gone on about his enthusiasm for the work of Magritte & his urge to see some Dali originals, & we'd remembered the Magritte we'd seen in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh on a memorable visit in the company of another very dear friend, & reader, Malcolm.
By this time life was getting more into perspective. I can't say I've entirely recovered from the experience but I am a lot better & able to contemplate once more the possibility of doing things, like cooking (Caesar salad tonight), of continuing to persevere despite the likes of that "doctor".
I sometimes feel I've written harshly about PD. He can be selfish, self-centred, cantankerous, demanding, but he can also be a true friend & this time he proved to be just that. I supposed I half-guessed that when he asked on the phone how it had gone. I'd replied "Terrible," & his instant reaction was "But you can't walk!" Oh he's seen me walk a few steps but he doesn't regard that as normal walking & he has no doubt that I'm not just putting it on. His disbelief at what some of my "medical" involved was tangible.
All in all, God bless friends. They are beyond price. Thank you to you all.
Yesterday we went to the Pub, more because Al, our gardener had called on Wednesday & we hadn't paid him, rather than because we, in particular I, felt like going. En route we picked up PD. The Pub as so often these days was virtually empty.
By the time PD had regaled us with his adventures to the gym in the morning - the lift had broken down so he'd had to climb up all the steep steps to the fifth floor, wheezing madly with his asthma - we were all weeping with laughter & some of the tension was broken.
He'd then gone on about his enthusiasm for the work of Magritte & his urge to see some Dali originals, & we'd remembered the Magritte we'd seen in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh on a memorable visit in the company of another very dear friend, & reader, Malcolm.
By this time life was getting more into perspective. I can't say I've entirely recovered from the experience but I am a lot better & able to contemplate once more the possibility of doing things, like cooking (Caesar salad tonight), of continuing to persevere despite the likes of that "doctor".
I sometimes feel I've written harshly about PD. He can be selfish, self-centred, cantankerous, demanding, but he can also be a true friend & this time he proved to be just that. I supposed I half-guessed that when he asked on the phone how it had gone. I'd replied "Terrible," & his instant reaction was "But you can't walk!" Oh he's seen me walk a few steps but he doesn't regard that as normal walking & he has no doubt that I'm not just putting it on. His disbelief at what some of my "medical" involved was tangible.
All in all, God bless friends. They are beyond price. Thank you to you all.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Growing anxiety
Yesterday was a bad day for my anxieties. It started when I found a message from the Fox indicating there were some messages for me on the answerphone. I duly listened. It was a friend I hadn't heard from for some time. She sounded distressed so I hastily rang her.
She, too, suffers mental health problems although in her case she suffers from paranoia. She'd had another breakdown. Although she reckoned she was now a lot better, she was trying to put together what events of the last week or so were real. In her own mind things really happened but she is aware that during such episodes her reality is not the same as other people's. She's been left feeling persecuted & terrified. Was a neighbour actually taunting her, or had what happened been a series of odd coincidences? She'd turned to me in the hope that I would a) believe that these things had happened, were real to her & they weren't just a figment of her imagination to be poo-poohed, b) be able to suggest some sort of more probable & more logical explanation of what happened, & c) be able to give her some reassurance that she wasn't somehow being manipulated by some evil person to react in the way she had & which was beyond her control. I did my best. She went away happier & feeling she had something more reasonable & sensible to consider as a solution to recent events.
Thinking about her mental health problems reminded me about my present anxieties over the renewal of my Disability Living Allowance. In the post later in the morning a letter duly arrived about the benefit. They advised me they'd come to no immediate decision & would be writing to my GP. My GP has always asked to be forewarned about any such queries. So I duly rang the surgery to let him know, only to discover he had retired earlier this year & I had been automatically allocated to another doctor at the practice. Great! That means that the GP who gets the letter won't have even seen me, will probably not have any idea who I am or the problems I have beyond any that are recorded on my medical files.
Unfortunately my diagnosis is one that, in most case, does not result in such severe consequences as it does in my case. Most people to do not end up in permanent pain & becoming wheelchair users. For all I know this new GP may be someone who will happily write I have no difficulty cooking, for example, as I have no upper part difficulties as one GP did once. I have yet to work out how you cook without walking to the kitchen, going from cooker to sink to work surfaces to fridge, possibly moving heavy pans full of hot food at the same time, without using your knees & legs.
All I could do was indicate that I would be more than happy to see my new GP before they reply to the letter he/she will receive to answer any questions they may have concerning my abilities or otherwise. In the meanwhile my anxieties mount. I'm not sure I could cope with yet another dispute & possible tribunal over my benefits.
When life goes quietly, & the Fox helps me as much as he does, I can cope reasonably well, but I am aware I don't cope well with extra stress. Thoughts of suicide quickly come to the forefront of my mind. I know that sounds melodramatic but it is a reflection that depression is never far away & I'm not confident that I would be able to continue to resist such urges.
She, too, suffers mental health problems although in her case she suffers from paranoia. She'd had another breakdown. Although she reckoned she was now a lot better, she was trying to put together what events of the last week or so were real. In her own mind things really happened but she is aware that during such episodes her reality is not the same as other people's. She's been left feeling persecuted & terrified. Was a neighbour actually taunting her, or had what happened been a series of odd coincidences? She'd turned to me in the hope that I would a) believe that these things had happened, were real to her & they weren't just a figment of her imagination to be poo-poohed, b) be able to suggest some sort of more probable & more logical explanation of what happened, & c) be able to give her some reassurance that she wasn't somehow being manipulated by some evil person to react in the way she had & which was beyond her control. I did my best. She went away happier & feeling she had something more reasonable & sensible to consider as a solution to recent events.
Thinking about her mental health problems reminded me about my present anxieties over the renewal of my Disability Living Allowance. In the post later in the morning a letter duly arrived about the benefit. They advised me they'd come to no immediate decision & would be writing to my GP. My GP has always asked to be forewarned about any such queries. So I duly rang the surgery to let him know, only to discover he had retired earlier this year & I had been automatically allocated to another doctor at the practice. Great! That means that the GP who gets the letter won't have even seen me, will probably not have any idea who I am or the problems I have beyond any that are recorded on my medical files.
Unfortunately my diagnosis is one that, in most case, does not result in such severe consequences as it does in my case. Most people to do not end up in permanent pain & becoming wheelchair users. For all I know this new GP may be someone who will happily write I have no difficulty cooking, for example, as I have no upper part difficulties as one GP did once. I have yet to work out how you cook without walking to the kitchen, going from cooker to sink to work surfaces to fridge, possibly moving heavy pans full of hot food at the same time, without using your knees & legs.
All I could do was indicate that I would be more than happy to see my new GP before they reply to the letter he/she will receive to answer any questions they may have concerning my abilities or otherwise. In the meanwhile my anxieties mount. I'm not sure I could cope with yet another dispute & possible tribunal over my benefits.
When life goes quietly, & the Fox helps me as much as he does, I can cope reasonably well, but I am aware I don't cope well with extra stress. Thoughts of suicide quickly come to the forefront of my mind. I know that sounds melodramatic but it is a reflection that depression is never far away & I'm not confident that I would be able to continue to resist such urges.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
A flash of gold
I was just in the midst of a telephone call giving PD a friendly telling off for not telling us that Fran, our mutual friend, had had an accident while we were away, when my eyes were caught by a flash of gold at the bird feeders. What's this? I wondered. I'm sure it's not a greenfinch, but what is it?
Earlier this morning, I'd dug out our binoculars as we were bemused by an unusual bird we'd seen over dinner last night. It looked not unlike an oversized robin. But it was so oversized it had to be a member of the thrush family, possibly a female blackbird. It certainly seemed friendly with the other blackbirds in the garden, yet it had this very rosy breast. Our only conclusion was it had to be an adolescent female. Nonetheless, the binoculars were out ready this morning, in the hope of getting a closer look at this phenomenon.
Instead I trained the binoculars on the two mystery birds on the feeders. Sure enough they were goldfinches. We've lived here nearly 10 years now & only once before has a goldfinch visited. Neighbours have all said they've heard them from our direction, but as I don't know their song that hasn't helped much.
This pair have discovered our feeders at last. I hope they become regular feeders. Their red faces & bright yellow wing flashes are a welcome bit of colour in our garden.
By the way, the birds that featured much on our French holidays were jays & a blackcap. The blackcap was the regular garden visitor once he discovered our food offerings that I mentioned in my blog a few days ago.
Jays seemed to abound in all the nearby woods. I've only seen them a couple of times in my life in this country, but we saw a couple most days in Provence. Their russet colouring, fluffy crests & bright blue wing flashes were a source of joy to me.
Oh, and by the way, after a quick visit to A&E, it was discovered that Fran has severely sprained her ankle. There's massive internal bleeding but nothing actually broken. She's spent most of this week resting it up, so it's dubious if she & Den will make it to the meal on Monday. i hope she does. It's not as though there's much walking involved & she is a very gregarious person who thrives in company.
Earlier this morning, I'd dug out our binoculars as we were bemused by an unusual bird we'd seen over dinner last night. It looked not unlike an oversized robin. But it was so oversized it had to be a member of the thrush family, possibly a female blackbird. It certainly seemed friendly with the other blackbirds in the garden, yet it had this very rosy breast. Our only conclusion was it had to be an adolescent female. Nonetheless, the binoculars were out ready this morning, in the hope of getting a closer look at this phenomenon.
Instead I trained the binoculars on the two mystery birds on the feeders. Sure enough they were goldfinches. We've lived here nearly 10 years now & only once before has a goldfinch visited. Neighbours have all said they've heard them from our direction, but as I don't know their song that hasn't helped much.
This pair have discovered our feeders at last. I hope they become regular feeders. Their red faces & bright yellow wing flashes are a welcome bit of colour in our garden.
By the way, the birds that featured much on our French holidays were jays & a blackcap. The blackcap was the regular garden visitor once he discovered our food offerings that I mentioned in my blog a few days ago.
Jays seemed to abound in all the nearby woods. I've only seen them a couple of times in my life in this country, but we saw a couple most days in Provence. Their russet colouring, fluffy crests & bright blue wing flashes were a source of joy to me.
Oh, and by the way, after a quick visit to A&E, it was discovered that Fran has severely sprained her ankle. There's massive internal bleeding but nothing actually broken. She's spent most of this week resting it up, so it's dubious if she & Den will make it to the meal on Monday. i hope she does. It's not as though there's much walking involved & she is a very gregarious person who thrives in company.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)