I heart Zurich

You have to laugh!

2012-01-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

I was just on the phone to Swiss about a flight we have booked with them. You should have heard the carry on- the man I was talking to was German and we both were getting really mixed up with German/English pronunciation of letters. it was really funny :0)

Making Mondays- yoghurt

2011-09-17T04:49:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be crazy busy on Monday, so I am posting now.

Do you see that luscious goodness? Do you see how it stays in its spooned perfection? That is my homemade vanilla sheep yoghurt. If anyone is having trouble with yoghurt that is just too runny, try the sheep milk. Absolute perfection. Particularly with roast damsons.

Hugh Fearlessly Makes it all.

2011-09-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

There is a new River Cottage book out: Veg. These are the Swede and Potato Pasties. I didn't have swede so used sweet potato. They are simply delicious.

Making the Most of Monday

2011-09-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

Knitting. Home made blueberry muffins. Coffee. Balcony. Flowers.

Making Monday, September 5th

2011-09-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

... except that I am posting this on the 4th!

Well, I am all tuckered out. Number Guy has been away in the US for 10 days and will be home on a few hours :0) I have missed him, but I have been busy. I had lots of social things to do, which is great. I have also been doing a huge amount of tidying. So that is really what making Monday this week is about....Making Things Tidy.

It all started with my laundry room. It isn't finished yet, but much of Mount Laundry has been put away and some of the floor has been Dysoned (remember what that would have been 'Hoovered'?). Then I started on My Stash. I am not sure if I should have taken a 'before' picture, it was..ahem...bad. Here is most of the yarn that lived in the living room:

That is plain scary. There is still some other yarn in the living room and I haven't touched what is upstairs. I 'had' to throw out some Rowan Calmer because I found a dead wasp in the bag. Yep, I know it was dead but the way I feel about wasps meant I would not have been able to use the yarn. Silly, but there we have it. As i photographed the yarn and added it to my Ravelry Stash page, I also noted which box it is in, that way when I want a yarn, I don't have to rummage.

I also sorted out the cupboard near the front door. I am sure everyone has one like this- you know, the one where you open, shove something in, then close the door as quickly as possible before all the crap falls out. Well, I haven't got oone of those any more :0)

I also made a bag yesterday. I was in the middle of a migraine- the pain had abated but my mind was not functioning properly. I am unhappy with the result, so 'don't sew with migraine' has been added to my list of 'must-nots'. It was frustrating at one point because I could not understand the instructions. I am fairly certain they were not written in Swahili, but my mind just refused to co-operate. I am posting a picture here and when I make the next bag (which WILL be up to scratch) I will post where I got the pattern from. I don't think this attempt does it justice:

It looks good like that, but believe me when I say I took it from the best side. This bag involved two firsts: The first time I used the walking foot in my sewing machine. It was a bit tricky to begin with, as the fabric really gets yanked in, but for sewing through several layers of fabric it is great. The second first: I used my new crafting/reading specs. What a difference. I could actually do the hand sewing required without looking under the lenses. Even when I finally give in and get varifocals I am going to keep a pair of specs specially for crafting.

Right-o. Enough blethering on, I have a just a little more tidying to do before Number Guy gets home.

Making Monday

2011-08-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today it is more about making time.

Making time for a new project Stripes to Keep Me Warm , the yarn shown in the picture below

Making time for a new book The Invisible Ones . I do believe I actually squealed out loud when I saw this book in the shop today. I loved The Tenderness of Wolves

I have also made Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup, but I don't have a picture of that.

Making Monday

2011-08-22T06:37:00.001-07:00

joining in with Natalie's Making Mondays theme.
OK, technically, this was Making Sunday...but well, let's not be too pedantic.

This is the Banana and pecan cake from Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly: Recipes from Southern Appalachia . The recipe is actually for a layer cake with cream cheese frosting. I added some sultanas, chucked it into a larger and a small loaf tin, gave the smaller away to one of my neighbours. It is totally delicious and about to be wrapped in slices and frozen for those times when emergency tea-and-cake is required. Like ...around 4 o'clock of any given day.

The view from my window

2011-08-22T03:37:00.001-07:00

I thought this was Bluebell, Daisy and Buttercup. Closer inspection revealed them to be Tom, Dick and Harry

Of things domestic

2011-08-21T01:39:00.001-07:00

Nothing much happening around here at the moment. For which I am thankful :0)
We are pottering about and enjoying the weather. Yesterday we went to Zürich for lunch and happend to see this:

If you click this link you'll get a video. For some reason every year crazy people in Zürich jump in the Limmat River and float down it with a rubber duck :0)

Mundane news the first:

More yoghurt being made- this time I sweetened the batch and added vanilla. That should be really good.

Mundane news the second. Armed with The Bean Book, , the famous little number from Rose Elliot, I aim to to eat my way through the stock of oldish beans in the cellar. If you don't know, dried beans which are beyond their 'best before date' are fine to use. They just need longer cooking. LIke three hours longer...

Mundane news the third:I continue to wrestle a corner of the garden into submission, and actually planted an anemone (try saying that after a few) to celebrate.

See: mundane. But in a good way :0)

There has been sone good 'stuff'

2011-08-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

Like these:

Fancy one with a cuppa?

Blueberry Muffins

well....part II

2011-08-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

I go to tell the manager that our ground floor room was broken into via the window. He seems totally unconcerned about us, the customers. I ask him to call the police. An officer comes and inspects the damage. The room was by no means small but the window was broken with such force that there was glass on the pillows, on the far side of the room. We discover that they had my husband's Nexus 1 and about £300.00 in cash. They had been through my handbag and had thankfully just tossed house keys and passports aside. The did not delve beneath the knitting in my rucksack- which was where my wallet with all of my 'plastic' and some other cash was.(Number Guy's was in his pocket.)

I go back to reception It is about 11.30pm by this point. I am not feeling at all well. They seemed totally bemused when I ask them to give us another room. Upon hearing that there was no other room I asked them to start phoning around hotels and finding us one. This seemed to be a totally unreasonable request. Suddenly there was another room available. About an hour later when we are finally finished with the police officer we take our suitcase, walk miles and miles (no offer of assistance from staff)...go up and down, up and down lots of steps- our room in in the old part of the hotel and the layout is bizarre to say the least. Not only is the room right above the disco, it has someone else's stuff in it. We trek back, up and down, up and down, back to reception. Only to be asked 'Are you sure?' by the receptionist. By this time I am feeling too unwell to say 'No, we are joking.' The manager appears and reassures us that there was a mistake, ours is the room next to that one and the disco will be off in 15 minutes.

We go back to the foyer. The manager joins us for a friendly chat. Finally thinks to ask if we might need something to drink. We ask for coffee and a soft drink and he then sits still for another half hour before finally going to organise it. In the meantime NUmber Guy had gone back to our room for something. He had a T-shirt with his employer's logo on it. As he came back I could hear someone being somewhat unpleasant about it. A scary-looking bloke then sits down with us and starts to pick NG's brains about search ratings :0( FFS- everyone now knows we have been burgled, it is after one in the morning and I look/feel like shit. But neither off us feels like telling this guy to take a hike. It was all very odd and we suspect quite strongly that he was the fucker who broke into our room...remember that NG had given our room number earlier in the evening when ordering a coffee. So this guy then starts going on about this online webshop of his friend blah blah blah. It is a sex toy shop (Oh, really? How uninteresting). We sit through as much of his stupid, inane burbling as we can manage until he offers to show me the site on my iPad. he makes a move to grab it but I get there first and just tell him 'No way!' He then starts getting very interested in whether it is the iPad 1 or 2....hmmm. But then he goes too far and makes a grab for Number Guy's laptop to show us the website on that. (what the fuck is wrong with this guy? I mean, how much more inappropriate could he get?). I've had enough by now.
'I don't mean to be rude,' says I. (For non-Brits that translates as 'I am being really rude, please fuck off and die.'). You can see we have had a bad night. I am ill and it is now after one in the morning. Goodnight.' He finally sods off. We drink our coffee/soft drink and go to bed.

We were supposed to fly back to Zürich later this same afternoon but I get worse and worse. After a really frustrating call to a doctor ('Did I need to be admitted?' Erm...wasn't that his job to decide?) I am finally admitted to hospital. Pyelonephritis is diagnosed and I am given IV antibiotics. I can't comment on other wards in the Countess of Chester Hospital but the two wards I was on were spotlessly clean and the staff had no problems with me self-medicating.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...the staff's attitude at the hotel, together with everything that had happened meant that NG did not feel happy staying there. He left and booked another hotel. We remain disgusted with both the standards in the hotel and with the very unhelpful attitude of the manager. We were burgled at his hotel yet he did not seem to think he needed to do anything to assist us.

Unfortunately...the new hotel is at the racetrack. It was Chester Race Day. The car park is shared by the hotel and the racetrack. NG can't get in until after 8.00pm....

My stay in hospital was largely uneventful, thankfully, but there was one funny incident. The morning that I was discharged I was in another ward and hadn't even said as much as 'Hello' to the other women, as I had been brought to that ward late the night before.The woman in the bed opposite me obviously didn't like the look of me- she was making mobile calls (that wasn't a problem on the wards at this hospital) with a disposable bed pan held up to her face. She was glaring at me over the top of the bedpan, holding the mobile in the bowl part of the pan and speaking into it in an obvious attempt to make sure I didn't hear what she was saying.It was SO funny. She kept glaring at me over the top, so I finally very ostentatiously put my ear buds in and turned my iTouch on...but kept laughing to myself....well, it was the only funny thing that had happened in a very long weekend.

So... discharged, get to the hotel. Grateful to see that there are two extra pillows in a clear case on top of the wardrobe. That meant I wouldn't have to ask for more.I take them out, arrange them on the bed, turn over...and put my face right into a pillow smelling of vomit. Well...that really was the imperfect end to an imperfect weekend

There has been knitting

2011-08-11T05:45:00.001-07:00

In amongst all the crap of late, I have been knitting.

This is the Sake sock from Cookie A's book Knit.Sock.Love

I also got some yarn from Knitivity....you will find him on Ravelry.
Excuse the quality of this shaky photo. The yarn is gorgeous, go have a look at his stuff :0)

Well....

2011-08-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

I am not sure where to start...this is a sorry tale, but I am going to share.

On the 29th of July we arrive in Chester at the end of a two week holiday/conference trip and check into the hotel. NUmber Guy had had reservations about this place but he was looking for somewhere that would be a treat for me while I stayed behind when he and his friends went walking ( This was my choice, as I really was not up to a ten mile hike). THis place had a spa...he said the hotel itself looked slightly shabby but the spa looked good. We didn't have much time to look, so we went with this one. When we were booking in a couple were complaining that their shower still was not working, despite having reported the problem in the morning.

We get our key and walk miles and miles of corridor to get to our room. Fair enough- we had asked for a quiet room. The key wouldn't work. We hiked back, miles and miles....'Are you sure?' asked the receptionist. 'No,'I said. 'we're joking'. Receptionist unimpressed, hikes back miles and miles with us and looks upon us in triumph as the new key opens the door.

The room is large, barren and cold. But very clean. Same with the bathroom. Number Guy had ordered some champagne and chocolates as a surprise. There they were- a big box of cheap chocolates, lukewarm bottle of champers sitting on the table. We go back to reception, are met with an astonished glance when we ask if a wine bucket with iced water could be provided for the champagne. We go into dinner. Complaints from diners are being fielded left, right and centre by the waiting staff. When our meal arrives it looks like someone had vomitted on Numer Guy's plate. No kidding. Mines was.... edible. We go back to the room. The champagne is in the water. We open the bottle and...clunk...the glasses together.

I was not feeling very confident about being left alone in the hotel so I decide to go out with everyone the next day. I go to bed and I slide under the covers plus extra blankets and several layers of clothes- it is cold and of course the heating doesn't work.

Breakfast next day- someone has taken the serving tongs for the eggs and burst all the yolks as the search for one which is just right. The woman in front of me sneezes all over the tomatoes. I go for some Weetabix.

We take all our valuables with us as the room has no safe. We have a lovely day with a fantastic lunch. My hip had been bothering me so D carried my rucksack (Number Guy had his) so that I could go for a walk around the lake at Delmere Forrest.

Half an hour before the end of the walk I started to feel vaguely unwell. It started in my leg muscles. I didn't say anything as my health is always a topic of conversation and even I am bored of it. By the time we finish I am feeling quite ill. It is happening so quickly I suspect flu. Number Guy has suggested finding a nice place for dinner, as we don't want to eat at the hotel. By the time we get back to Chester I am just not up to it. I suggest a supermarket visit for yoghurt and fruit. By the time we get to the supermarket (about an hour and a half after I started to feel ill) I have a fever. I go to buy a thermometer and some ibuprofen and Number Guy reluctantly levase me to get some yoghurt etc. By this time I have rigors (violent trembling/shaking associated with high temperatures). I am finding it hard to walk and I am shaking so much the store manage comes over and says I am vibrating with the shakes. I looked so ill he wanted to call an ambulance. My temperature is 38.5 (my normal temp is 36.5). I decline, Number Guy gets back and we get back to the hotel, leave most of our stuff in the room, take iPad and Laptop and go to foyer. Number Guy gets me a coffee, telling the bar staff (and incidentally other people in the bar/foyer area) our room number. I am on phone to NHS 24. After about an hour and 3 phone calls, a doctor says I need to be seen 'right now'. Because I was so unwell, we didn't go back to the room for our stuff.

I see the doctor, she says it is a urinary tract infection and told me to take the antibiotics but get back in touch if I get worse. We get back to the hotel to find our room had been burgled.

Next installment tomorrow...

Back on the horse

2011-07-15T09:08:00.001-07:00

I have had an overlocker for more than a year but was too 'timid' to use it. When I finally remembered how to thread the thing (no mean feat, even withdiagrams/instructions), it wouldn't work properly. Turns out the solution was very simple....I needed to be more 'brutal' in putting the thread into the tension discs. Not only have I made five project bags....well, I do have rather a lot of knitting on the go at once, I made a fantastic pair of linen trousers. Well....they were fantastic eventually. You would not believe the number of basic errors that I made. The final error involved the hem. I was rather disheartened...lots of sewing hours, no wearable result. Then I had an idea...some rather lovely Amy Butler fabric was just right for some cuffs, which solved the problem. Solved it so well that some random stranger in Zürich complimented me on them :0)

Something a bit weightier than sewing has been on my mind of late. Friendship....or rather, the end thereof. When does one stop flogging a dead horse? How can one determine if said steed is dead? This isn't 'all about me'..well, it is, but I don't mean it in ' I am the most important person in the universe' kind of way. Other people have lives, sometimes very hectic ones. Sometimes they have much more important things to do than contact me. That's fine. I usually try to keep in touch anyway, keep the link open. But what happens when they are in touch with what seems to be the whole world and not me? At what point are they thinking,'FFS, Twelfthknit, can you not take a hint? YOu have emailed me/messaged me/etc and I.have.Not.Replied. TAKE A HINT!!' !! What do I do? Do I keep trying, keep sending messages? How do I know when there is a hint to be taken? I don't want to be friends with someone who wishes I would fuck off, on the other hand, I don't want to be a 'fairweather friend'. Sigh. At the moment I have taken a few people off my mental 'friends' list. It makes me sad, but I am getting to the point where I feel a right silly arse contacting them .

On a cheerier note, we ar off to Cyprus for a family wedding tomorrow (so why am I blogging and not packing, I ask myself).

Writing group

2011-05-03T04:12:00.001-07:00

We have the very first meeting of our writing group tomorrow. The task was to write about a couple in a shop buying a bed. But what they are discussing isn't really the bed, it's about some issue in their relationship/some argument that they have been having. Of courese, I have left my offering to the last minute. Here is what I have written so far, in its raw state, no revision:

The Goldilocks Bed

The Goldilocks Bed

‘And how can I help you both on this bright, sunny day?’
‘Got a knife, so I can cut my throat?’ muttered Sally..
‘Erm..sorry, I didn’t quite catch that...’
‘Oh don’t mind my wife,’ said Hal in a jocular tone.’She’s just kidding,aren’t you darling?’

Sally smiled brightly, trying to ignore Hal’s hand clasped none-too lightly around her upper arm. There would be a bruise later, for sure.
‘What we’re after,’ said Hal, with that same forced jocularity, ‘Is, quite simply, a bed.’
‘^Darling, don’t you mean The Goldilocks Bed?’

Alan, 18, barely shaving, palms growing sticky and throat just a tad dry, glanced from one to the other.
‘I, I don’t think I follow you.’
‘Why young man, it’s perfectly simple. We want The Perfect Bed. Not too hard, not too soft, not too wide, not too narrow. Isn’t that right, darling? In fact, it must be Just. Right. We wouldn’t want it clashing with the carpet, it mustn’t look out of place amongst the...
‘Yes, yes, Sally. I think young....Alan, is it? Has the idea.’

Sally smiled sweetly again, although ‘young Alan’ thought he detected the slightest hint of, well, not malice, but something.....edgy.

‘...........and this is the same model, but King size...’
Sally smirked. Flicked at the side of her skirt. Clasped her hands neatly in front. Stole a glance at her watch. Gazed distractedly around the showroom.
‘I think you’ll find, young Alan, that you've shown us this before. Twice.’

Alan stumbled over an apology. Sally waved it away.
‘It’s OK,’ she said in a conspiratorial tone. ‘I expect that before this day is out, we will have seen all of the beds several times over. And what’s the betting that we end up with the first? If we’re lucky.......’

Orange Prize 2011. Grace Williams Says it Out Loud.

2011-04-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Orange Prize for Fiction Longlist was recently released, so I am hunkering down again in a bid to read my way through it.

I am finding this quite the challenge....the carbamazapine has really messed with my concentration and I find it really hard to actually absorb that which I have read. But...onwards and upwards.

Grace Williams....is a hard story to read. Or I found it so. I thought it was well-written and believable. Believable is why I found it so hard. Set in the middle part of the 20th Century, it recounts the story of Grace, sent to an asylum when she was 11 - a doctor having decided it was best, damaged as she was at birth and subsequently by polio. But Grace and her companions are not the dumb animals that the staff assume them to be and what follows is a rich, and frequently brutal, account of her life 'inside', in particular with a young man called Daniel. In many ways this reminds me of what I can recall of Skallagrig, which I read many years ago.

I am sure that some people may think that the brutalities and abuse handed out in the book were over-stating the case.I don't think so, not for one minute.

Reducing meds.

2011-04-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

On absolutely no advice from my doctor I have reduced my carbamazapine by 100mg daily. Last week the crazy itch that I have been having returned with enough ferocity to drive me tothe walk-in clinic at the station. Itching like that can be an indicator of liver problems, always a possibility with this drug. One of my results wasn't great but bilirubin levels were normal, and it is apparently bilirubin that causes the itch. That meant it was the drug itself driving me up the wall, not a side-effect. Anyway, a rash decided to join the itch. I am waiting to hear frommy doctor and hoping that this decrease does not leave me open to another seizure.

in the meantime I havebeen gently enjoying Salzburg. And by that I mean I have pottered about, eaten Sacher Torte, drunk coffee, had brunch and generally was not much of a tourist. The first couple of days were gorgeous and I pottered around the old town. The last two have been very, erm, Scottish in terms of wind and rain. I thought about doing a tour, visitng the 'must-see' places but other health issues were intruding so I just pulled back.

here are a few links to the Mirabell Gardens, which I spoke about above. They are from previous years.

Garden

Garden

Garden

Creative (?) writing

2011-03-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

A club I'm a member of is running a week of workshops- all sorts of things from singing to cooking to fire-work ceramics. One of them was Creative Writing, which I thought I would give a go. The class was very enjoyable. One of the exercises was to think of an object and write about it. Three things had to be accomplished within the writing - tell the reader: what the object was; what it could see;how old it was.

Here's my contribution:

Yeah, I know, everyone says babies' bottoms are cute. But look at it from my point of view, will ya? It's all I get to see, day in, day out. And I know some of y'all are into body piercing, and that's fine- if it's a matter of choice. Any idea how it feels, waiting for the stab of that pin? They say hard and fast gets it over with, but I shudder every time.

And that's not the worst. No, I don't mean that. I can cope with the pee and the shit. I can cope with going through it all with the third child, even though my looks are fading and I'm getting a bit worn. The real torture is the wash cycle. Apparently water boarding is illegal now. Try telling that to Jimmy's mum....

sigh

2011-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ich habe ein Stein in meinem Hertz. Am Morgen, faerht meinen Sohn zurück nach Schottland.

Lib Dems- you should be ashamed

2010-12-21T02:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a letter from me to the Membership Secretary of the Lib Dems

Dear Mr Seeker,

last year I was proud to be a member of the Liberal Democrats. This year I am appalled and ashamed. And angry.You have let the country down.

You have let X (I have removed details to protect identity here) down. They are not fat cat bankers. They have worked hard all of their life. Now their benefits have been cut
and I am not sure how they are going to keep living in the house which they have struggled to buy for many years. They are not fat cat bankers. They don't get a bonus each
year for failing to do their job. They simply struggle to make ends meet. I wonder how they will manage now?

Your party should be hanging its head in shame. I encouraged people to vote for the Lib Dems- I'm certainly hanging my head in shame.

I shall be cancelling my membership.

Hurrah. A non-diagnosis

2010-12-20T04:27:00.000-08:00

'So, doctor,if you were to sum up the last hour for me, to give me a one-line diagnosis that I could give my husband, what would you say the diagnosis is?'
At this point in time I have been awake for more than 24 hours, I've had a one-hour EEG and we have been shooting a lot of shit, so to speak. I need something my brain can get around....

'Well....I have no idea....'

Ok...that sounds like it was a bit of a waste of my life, so maybe I should really start at, well, if not the beginning, somewhere a tad closer to it.

As you will know, I had an 'incident' in the US last month. MRI scan and consultation in the US was followed by a visit to my migraine doctor. He was worried about epilepsy due to certain features of the 'incident', hence my appearance at the neurologist this morning.

The upshot is: I had a seizure but I don't have epilepsy. The incident that I had was very odd in that it had lots of different features of lots of different things, but no overall 'thing' won out. As the doctor said, and I am sure fellow sufferers will agree, migraine brains are odd. They behave differently from other brains. It is possible that I started out with a period of hypo-perfusion in the brain due to low blood pressure, it morphed into a seizure and ended up as a migraine.

Seizures in the brain can happen when the seizure-threshold is reached.In a non-epileptic brain This is usually due to a combination of things: lack of sleep; illness; alcohol; stress; fever; antibiotics. When the seizure happened I was already exhausted- we'd had an amazing, but utterly exhausting, week in Costa Rica. I was already on my knees due to 3 months very bad sleep. I arrived in the US with the mother and father of all sinus infections. At the time of the seizure I was on my third lot of antibiotics. I had drunk a little more than usual in Costa Rica but at the time of the seizure hadn't had anything alcoholic to drink for more than a week due to the particular antibiotic, but when you look at all the other factors it doesn't seem implausible that the threshold was breached.

In addition, the EEG showed some 'peculiarities' which are normally associated with elderly men (WTF???). It isn't unheard of in women or younger men, but if the doctor hadn't got my details he would have assumed the EEG was an elderly man's. Oh well.

. So, plan of attack. Step 1: Do everything I can to lower my risk factors. If I have a fever, take paracetamol or ibuprofen, If I am ill, sleep a lot (no need to tell me twice). Also, continue to work on sorting sleep issue (perhaps move onto Seroquel instead of melatonin). I can continue to drink in moderation. Step two: medication. Can you guess which anti-seizure medication he recommended? Yep, you got it. Topomax. I told him that I regarded Topomax as the work of the Devil and suggested he tried other options. Said options were not to make me: (more) stupid than the migraines were already making me; fat(er) than I am now; ugly. I then gave him the list of medications that I had downloaded from UK epilepsy charity and he went through them all, disregarding them either because they caused one of the above or they would not work in my case. That left carbamazapine.

I will be starting on a very low dose and titrating up to a low dose. There are some side effects but these are generally associated with high doses, which I won't need. Unlike some of the other medications, these side-effects resolve if the dose is reduced or the medication is stopped. I need to go back for another EEG in February when I will be on the full dose. He will also check the blood level of the drug and do a liver-function test. I am sincerely hoping that there won't be any issues there.

Regarding my safety and that of others', I am still not allowed to drive. In my situation if I am seizure-free for two months I can drive again. I am not allowed to go swimming. Very high risk of drowning....

To be honest, it is better than I hoped for. I was worried that even though it would (hopefully) not be epilepsy, that I would be left in a limbo, not knowing what had caused it, no treatment, just waiting for another seizure to happen along. As it is, although the doctor cannot but a 'label' on it, everything he says makes sense.

I can breathe a bit more easily again.

No, I don't have a mustard seed problem...

2010-12-15T09:42:00.001-08:00

Sure looks like it, though. But do not worry, I have not yet descended into madness. I decided to make a little culinary gift for two of my foodie friends. Most of what you see here was converted into honey mustard. To that I have added some oatcake type biscuits for cheese.

Don't let this limpid photo put you off. These biscuits are seriously delicious. They are made from wholewheat flour and porridge oats and flavoured with salt, dried mustard powder and black pepper. Not only are they going to be great with cheese, I think I have stumbled upon the perfect Digestive Biscuit recipe. If you are an ex-pat Brit, you will know what an amazing discovery this is. SOmetime this week I am going to knock up a batch without the mustard and pepper, dip them in melted chocolate and then sit down with a cup of tea and a good book. And eat the lot.

OK. I admit it...

2010-12-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

....I am completely dense....

I was on the bus home today when I realised I was missing something. An important something....a cashmere/wool neckwarmer which I had knitted for myself last winter. It was only one ball of yarn, probably about £10.00 worth. But I was fond of it. I knew where I had seen it last, sitting on the table at Globus while I ate my dinner. When I got home I called them up. No, they hadn't seen it but if I went to their Päckli service, I might find it there. My sorrow at losing it was slightly tempered by the warm glow that only speaking real German, and understanding the response, can bring.

I've just brought my hand up to my neck....guess what it found.....

Her maiden voyage

2010-12-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

Cherry came home with me yesterday. Isn't she gorgeous? The Kenwood Chef that had first belonged to my mum had been making some strange noises. Very strange noises. I decided that a full-blown bang-sizzle-flash-pop was more than my nerves could stand. So, Kenwood is sadly retired and will be recycled at some point in near future.

The first thing I made was these cookies:

Bear with me, they do look a bit ugly. Too much food colouring and applied with a bit of a slap-dash hand. But they taste great.

And you know what her best feature is? That plastic guard around the top. Now I don't have to remember to drape a teatowel over the mixer and bowl to stop the flour going everywhere. Result!

Recipe suggestion

2010-12-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Much as it saddens me to write this, the Kenwood Chef that was passed down to me by my mum, is no more. Well....it is...it hasn't been recycled yet, but it has been making lots of very.bad.noises. So come the New Year I will trudge with it into the local recycling centre so it can be eternally present in some other form...

But in the meantime I am the very happy owner of an early christmas present- a fire-engine red Kitchenaid stand mixer. Yippee!! So, my question is....what special recipe would you recommend for her maiden voyage? Oh, and she also needs a name' Any suggestions?

Swissness

2010-12-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Decorating my front door for the seasons makes me feel Swiss-ish. It isn't just winter decorations, spring/easter ones are popular, too. I bought this after a failed attempt to have coffee with some ex-pats this morning. You know that un-loved feeling you get when you turn up for something and no-one else does? Well, I didn't feel like that, since I haven't been for months, but I was a bit naffed off that I yanked myself out of bed at 7.45 this morning.

After a couple of cups of coffee I headed off to the Apotheke (pharmacy). They have a good system here- my doctor can write a repeat prescription which is good for a set period of time, and I just go back to the pharmacy to pick it up, no need to contact the doctor's surgery first. Once again, my German was trotted out. I bet the guy though 'Oh, not again!' when, in response to his 'Do you speak English?', I replied that I must try German first. There then followed a long and complicated discussion, in which I came to appreciate just how much of what we say is actually padding. Very long story short...after delving into his computer he agreed with me that the doctor had actually prescribed '1 to 2 tablets' of Melatonin. His first thought was that this could not possibly be correct and he looked really worried when I told him I had been taking two tablets at night since last Friday. Melatonin is the latest in recent attempts to sort my sleeping out. It occurs naturally in the body and is what sends us to sleep. You should have seen Dr L's face when I told him that the doctor in the US had offered me Ambien or benzodiazepines!! 'Oh, please don't do that!' he blurted out. Not to worry, a tranquiliser addiction is not what I need right now, so I had turned it down. In the UK it is very hard to get benzodiazapines on prescription. They are very useful in certain circumstances but their use is carefully monitored. So far the Melatonin seems to be helping.

We are supposed to be heading back to the UK on Friday to do our christmas shopping. Not sure if that'll be happening, given the weather in the UK at the moment. In the meantime, the snow looks very pretty from the comfort of my living room....I'm off to curl up on the sofa and read. Tchüüs.

still health

2010-11-22T08:11:00.001-08:00

I need to write about my trip to Costa Rica...it was amazing. Hopefully I can find my camera and rustle something up.

In the meantime, things are good here. I feel crappy but only in a jet-lag-why-can't-i-sleep-why-can't-I-stop-sleeping sort of way, so that's fine. I was delighted to find that 'my' migraine doctor is still at the clinic and have an appointment on Thursday to see him. I am trying to ignore the fact that I have to be at his clinic for 8.30 am....I even managed to sort it all out in German, so that's OK. From my brief conversation with the receptionist, I won't be the first person presenting with hemipleigc/basilar migraines which is both heartening and disheartening as you can imagine.

Tomorrow I am going to try to haul ass into Zurich and get a few things done...but then again I ma still be in bed at tea time!

Health update

2010-11-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well, first of all, it is good news. Thenfirst thing the doctor told me today was that there was definitely no bleed, new or old, in my brain. In fact, he was very unhappy with the way that the scans had been read...he said that the anomaly was clearly a blood vessel in my brain and that what had been reported was just so wrong. To add insult to Injury, the person doing the reporting completely contradicted themselves at the end of the report and didn't even notice. At the end of the consultation the doctor showed Number Guy and myself the actual scans and took a lot of time and trouble going through them to show us exactly why he thought that there was no indication of a stroke.

During the examination it became obvious that I do still have altered sensation in my right foot....this became very obvious as I was feeling rather blasé aboutnthe blunt pin that he was testing my foot with. he then used the same blunt pin on my fingers and I nearly shot off the examination table. He said thatbthis sort of numbness is very common with migraine, as is my word-finding issue. He thinks that I had a basilar or hemiplegic migraine. I have given a couple of URLs at the bottom of the post. To be honest they don't really explain theybtype of thing that can happen, possibly because it is pretty scary, I don't know. A quick Google will bring up lots of information should you wish to know more.

the doctor said that he has followed patients who have had very, very severe attacks of this sort. To the extent that they mimic a stroke even more than mine did. A lot of these patients never have another episode, so it really is a case of getting on with my life. He didn't categorize the attack as either the basilar or the hemiplegic as I think I was fortunate enough not to have enough symptoms to make the differential diagnosis but he is confident that it is 'that sort of thing'. He didn't want to do anything about my meds as he, quite rightly, felt that it had taken a lot of adjusting in the past to get to where I am now. I did, however, ask him if he could do anything about my sleep, which over the past few months has been very bad. Now that I know my brain isn't frying I felt that this was the single thing that would help the most. I was very hestitant about asking since in the UK there is still quite a stigma attatched to sleeping medication......woman+ sleeping tablets = neurotic. The doctor thought that it was a very reasonable request and apart from the huge relief at the diagnosis I am looking forward to what I hope will be the best night's sleep I have had in months.

apologies if theere are glaring typos in this post....I haven't worked outnhow to scroll up,through the text when I am typing on my iPad, so oncenit goes beyond the top limit I can't get back to it.

http://www.migraine.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=1254

http://www.migraine.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=210

Strokes are the new black

2010-11-15T16:47:00.000-08:00

As some you will be aware, a well-known blogger had a stroke earlier this year. It seems that I cannot let her have all the fuss and attention, so I had my own mini-strokes, or Transient Ischaemic Attack, this morning. You will have gathered, obviously, that the fact that I am typing away here some ten hours later means I am ok.

I woke up early this morning and was very confused about where I was. This in itself is not unusual since we have been travelling so much this year. But, I just could not work out where I was...it took me a while to realise that I was in the US with my husband....and I am not sure that I thought of him as Number Guy but on,y as 'husband'. I tried to get out of the bedroom, but I couldn't work out how to do it. I got to the bedroom door and couldn't figure out how to open it. This sort of thing sometimes happens when I am sleepwalking, but I was definitely awake. I got a bit upset at this point and am not sure what happened next. Somehow I managed to get out and I visited the bathroom and then went to speak to Number Guy, who was in the living room. Just as well I did. I remember asking him to 'hold me' and then I basically fell over. Luckily he grabbed me or I would have been face first into the table and then onto the floor. My right arm started to shake and spasm and my vision went completely black with yellow stars.

finding a hospital with an Emergency Room was a bit of a farce....however things were resolving a bit. By the time I was seen, which was very quickly after we found the right place, I had some ataxia on my rightnside and I still felt very odd. I have had an MRI scan and it has revealed an 'old bleed that they are not worried about'. Well, I am because my migraine doctor arranged an MRI scan earlier this year and he made a big point of telling me that it was all clear and to tell doctors that if any future scans show damage. So this old bleed is notmactive now but it has happened in the last year.

so as you can imagine, I am a bit shaken. We have delayed our return to Switzerland by a week.I need to have a follow-up,appointment with a neurologist and we need to leave enough time to make sure that this is not a precursor to a major stroke, although the hospital say that if they were concerned aboutnthat they would have admitted me.

That'll be $700.....

2010-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

so....second line antibiotics are not shifting sinus infection. ECG confirmed that although my QT interval is a bit long, it isn't so long that these new antibiotics are going to give me arrythmias (!). Howerver, both the antibiotics and the prednisolone can cause rutpured Achilles's tendon and other tendon issues (!!), so being on both means increased increased risk (!!!). So far, the total for the two visits plus medication is about
$700. (!!!!). So.....who is lucky to have health insurance, eh?

Other than continuing my medical Mystery Shopper job, I have just been chilling out here. We are going to spend the weekend lazing around, possibly going out for a bite or two to eat. Walking slowly. Watching those tendons....

Books....Billie Girl

2010-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

This novel by Vickie Weaver is desribed on the back as

Southern Gothic, dark humor and human sexuality, wrapped up in the theme of mercy killing :Billie Girl, b. 1900

I loved the start of the book, the description of how Billie, a baby who just won't stop crying, ends up being looked after by her two Moms. And then......well, it just didn't work for me. I am not always interested in the stories of the supporting cast, but in this novel there is something very unusual about Billie's adoptive parents. It is finally mentioned in the text and then, nothing. Now, it's pretty unusual and I am left with a WTF? feeling when there is absolutely no back story attatched. The book then meanders through Billie's life with a few rather odd bits thrown in, such as a graphic description of how to deal with menstrual cramps. Again, I was left somewhat bemused by this inclusion. OK, the blurb does mention human sexuality, but it doesn't feel like an exploration of said sexuality to me. Rather, it feels as if the author has suddenly remembered to put something of that ilk in and just rams the text wherever it (doesn't ) fit. I could ramble on, but I won't.

I feel like I have been very harsh about this book, and I wish I could have said lots of great things about it, but I can't. However, in this case it is probably down to personal taste, perhaps, rather than anything terminally wrong with the book. Unlike some prizewinners, I wouldn't be amazed if other people did enjoy this book. It held enough promise for me that I would have a go with another book by this author, if I get my hands on one.

Scores on the door...5 out of 10

Books

2010-10-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well.....I failed miserably with my Booker challenge and have run out of steam, I guess I might get round to the rest of the books one day. Visited a local bookshop and only came away with five books, not bad, eh?

we are having a quiet, jet-lagged sort of day.. Tomorrow we need to pack the stuff that we need for Costa Rica as we need to leave the house at some ungodly hour in the morning on Monday. It will be so early that it will almost still be Sunday. Oh well....

Well.........

2010-10-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

....that was some typhoon that I just came out the other side of......I'm still shaking the water out of my hair and looking for safe harbor.

I've had a lot of shit on the internet recently and have been trying to understand why. Long haul flights make good opportunity for reflection- the last one I spent much of the time deciding how to reorganize my kitchen and freezers - don't let anyone tell you that I don't have an amazing inner life!

so, why the shit? Well, I think there are a number of reasons, some of which I can lay at my own door, some I am going to attribute to others.

As Number Guy and I were blearily wandering around Whole Foods ( or Whole Pay Check as it is known in these parts), I was trying to explain how I felt. " It's as if I've been just stumbling around the world, not seeing it. I feel like I've just woken up and am examining if for the first time." He reckoned that was very much like it seemed to him. I have my sceptical specs on and am not afraid to use them.

and therein lies the problem, I think. 'Seeing' the world for the first time makes everything seem brand new and open to question. I have realized that some on-line groups are not the place for that. I wish that what now seems blindingly obvious had occurred to me earlier.So, lesson learned for me then.

But, all that aside, it stil leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

I understand, finally, that there are some places on the Internet which are like a local cafe, you pull up a chair, have a nice chat over tea and scones and if anything remotely 'difficult' crops up someone talks about the weather and another topic is found. Ok. I get that. there are some people who do not understand the difference between 'debate' and 'discuss'. And, even if they do, They do not want to have to get The Lancet out over their cup of Earl Grey. that's fine. But, when there is a thread set up called 'debate' and it is made explicitly clear that this is for....debate, don't get all huffy and pissed off because you were asked to back up your opinions.Don't start playing the 'everyone is equal' nonsense when what is meant is 'You may not express an opinion which is different from others.'. As I have said, i am not going to go into a thread which is called 'praise jesus' and then get all naffed off when that is what I find going on. Don't make comments that imply someone is making personal attacks and go all wide-eyed and innocent when challenged about it. Don't make personal attacks yourself and then refuse to come back to the person attacked and discuss the matter. Don't ask what someone thinks and then get pissed off when they say something that you don't like.

if you are offended or unsure, how about asking the person, instead of making snide comments?

so....I'll be thinking a bit more carefully where I post. I will be thinking. A bit more carefully about the people that I engage with. But if you think I am going to shut up and go way because YOU think I should, you'll need to think again.

Books: The Pesthouse

2010-09-21T03:14:00.000-07:00

OK, a little break from Booker madness

Oneof the things I like about visiting the US is the chance to buy books that I just can't get in Europe. OK, there is Amazon, but as book lovers know, you cannot browse and online the store in the the way you can a real book shop. A recent fined was The Pesthouse , Jim Grace. I don't usually 'do' dystopian novels, with the notable exceptions of Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood.

Although the books by these two authors are very different, what they both have in common is writing styles that make you want to keep reading, no matter how crappy life in the book is getting.

In a twist from the normal run of things today, in The Pesthouse America is not where people want to be. In fact, it is the last place on earth that they want to be. There has been a breakdown in society, the climate and soil no longer supporting the population. Exactly what led to this problem we are never told. The constant fear in this new era is an old one, bubonic plague. Whether that came on the back of the meltdown of American society or was the forerunner, we are never told and it doesn't seem particularly relevant. The plague itself is relevant to the two main characters in the novel, Margaret and Franklyn, who find themselves oddly united by the fact that they are both too ill to run away from the other. It remains relevant as they struggle to make their way to the coast, where, it is rumoured, there are ships that will take them to Europe. It remains relevant as an unlikely ally when danger threatens them.

I found myself drawn into the novel and while not being an action-packed thriller (!) it was nonetheless a page-turner. The ending was unexpected, but just right. Good writing, believeable characters, satisfying ending. Can't really ask for much more.

Scores on the door: 9 out of 10

Man Booker The Long Song

2010-08-31T09:20:00.001-07:00

So....was this another winner by Andrea Leavy.....?

But I'm ahead of myself...I'm blaming it on the raging virus that I have at the moment, not on any failure in my writing skills. Naturally.

The story itself is predictable- how could a tale about a slave in Jamaica be anything else? Young July, taken from her mother by the plantation owner's sister and re-named Marguerite, is trained as a lady's maid. A tale of brutality. A tale of humanity. That of the slaves, of course, not that of the owners...and yet...and yet....I hate to admit this but time again I found myself feeling sorry for Miss Caroline. She really was a fish out of water.

Widowed young herself, Caroline finds herself in the care of her soon-to-be-widowed brother. Even before grief overcomes him he is not overly solicitous of his sister's needs and feelings and she is left to fall upon her own (scant) resources as she attempts to be mistress of Amity, the plantation upon which she and July both must live out their years.In the tumultuous years that follow, as slavery is finally outlawed and in the years that come after, July and Caroline rub along as best they can, despite July being forced to give up a son in order to stop Caroline 'selling him away.' July runs rings around her (stupid)mistress to the point where at times there was something of characature going on in the text. Some of these years were not bad to July, in as far as one can say that about being a slave, and she consolidates her position to the point where it becomes clearer and clearer that Caroline is Mistress of Amity in name only.

I was by turns perplexed, horrified, sorrowful and greatly amused. The complete self-centredness and lack of empathy displayed by the white characters was astounding, yet at the same time quite believable. Whatever my feelings for the characters during the book, by the end of it Caroline and the other plantation owners are found to be simply loathsome.

And what of July? It is clear from the beginning of the novel that July survives and is no longer a slave. But I found the end of The Long Song both too long and too short (I like to be difficult). The end of the book concentrates on what happened to her son. I found I wasn't interested in that- well, to be precise, I wanted to know more about what had happened to July in these latter years and less about her son.

Apart from the last few chapters, this book had me gripped. As I said at the start, there aren't many surprises to be had in a story about slavery, yet this had 'Aha!' moments scattered thtoughout. I was really interested in what befell July and at times almost found myself chiding her, questioning her responses and actions

Scores on the doors- 8.5 out of 10

EDIt: After some mulling over, I'm reducing this to a 6 out of 10. I know it made the shortlist, but I really don't think it should've.

Man Booker What purpose a book?

2010-08-16T09:23:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about why I read, and about why other people read. What really is the purpose? I started out with entertainment and enjoyment and then went onto:

instruction

education

inspiration

moralising

escapism

experimentation

story-telling

propaganda

recording history

boundary-pushing

conscience-raising

I'm sure I'll add a few more to this list.

But in the meantime, why do I read? Is it 'simply' for pleasure? If it is, is that enough? Should I not want to be educated? Should I not want my conscience poked and prodded?

I'm gonna give that some thought and get back to y'all.

Man Booker What purpose a book?

2010-08-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'll add a few more to this list.

But in the meantime, why do I read? Is it 'simply' for pleasure? If it is, is that enough? Should I not want to be educated? Should I not want my conscience poked and prodded?

I'm gonna give that some though and get back to y'all.

Man Booker Room

2010-08-11T04:13:00.001-07:00

Ok, up next we have Room, by Emma Donoghue.

Loved this book.

I am really glad that I didn't read any of the reviews before I dived into this book. I find that some reviews just give far too much away- and I'm not talking about when 'spoilers' are highlighted, I mean simply in the body of the review itself. I probably go too far the other way and don't say enough. Ho hum.

So.....the narrator of the story is a 5 year old boy and for the first few pages I wasn't really sure what is going on- there is no back story, you are simply dropped into his day. As the beginning of the book unfolded I developed my own theory about what was going on, based partly on some 'clues' in the text. But all was not quite as I had thought. The 'clues' did indeed turn out to be hints to what was going on, but not quite the way I had expected. It was with growing horror and tension that I realised what the truth of the matter was. Now, was that sufficiently vague not to give the plot away and sufficiently pithy to hold your attention? I thought not, but I really don't want to give anything away about the plot.

About a third/ half way into the book the truth of the situation becomes apparent, yet despite this revelation the book remained a real page-turner. I think that says a lot about the strength of the writing and the believability of the characters. I stayed up into the wee small hours to finish this book.

I'm not going to say any more about the content as I don't want to give the game away.

Do I think it is a Booker winner? Who the heck knows? The fact that I loved it might be enough to blight it ;0).

Scores on the door: 10/10

Man Booker The Slap

2010-08-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

I am half-heartedly predicting that The Slap ,Christos Tsiolkas, will win the Man Booker. Because I think it is a great novel? Because it broke boundaries, charted new territory? Nope. Because I really, really really didn't like it. And as Number Guy pointed out, I have a history of not liking prize-winning novels.

The plot is simple: people at barbecue. Child behaving like spoiled brat. (child is spoiled brat.)Someone slaps child. General outrage. Examining aftershock through the different characters present At The Time.

The first couple of sections were OK and I was somewhat interested in the characters. But lordy, according to Tsiolkas, your average Australian male can't keep his mind away from his groin for more than about, oh, 5 seconds. I got pretty fed up, pretty fast, with the sex obsession.

Another issue for me was the Australian vernacular. It just didn't sit with me, it felt forced and unrealistic. I asked my Australian friend if 'wog' was really such a common word to be heard in the Antipodes these days. She choked on her wine, fell off her seat and had to be rushed to casualty. Well, ok, I made up the casualty bit (what, you couldn't tell?) but she was somewhat taken aback. No, as far as she is concerned, the 'w' word doesn't get many outings. Phew.

I has sympathy for only two of the characters in the book. Aish, related through marriage to the man who slaps the child, and her Greek father-in-law. As a result of the pressures of the aftermath of The Slap, and the bias and bigotry of her mother-in-law, this relationship crumbles. In fact, not only were these the only two characters that I liked, the examination of their relationship was the only part of the book that felt real and held any kind of fascination.

I tried to slog through to the end, but I lost interest in the characters, and was losing the will to live, about 2/3 of the way through. it is Unfinished.

Scores on the door: 1/10

Man Booker Skippy Dies

2010-08-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Number three from the list: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray.

Thoughts so far: Skippy is Everyteen.

More on that when I've had more/less beer and read more of the book.

OK....so now I have read more, but no more beer was drunk. In fact, I have read it all and still no more beer was drunk.

Very short summary- teenage boys in Catholic boarding school. Teenage boy falls hopelessly in love with girl from Catholic girls' school. Some dark thread running through story. Teenage boy dies.

I really liked this book. If you'd asked me about 2/3 of the way through I would have said that I loved it.....but for me it ran out of steam about 3/4 of the way through and I found myself repeatedly checking the progress bar on the Kindle app...not such a good sign. In my (very humble) opinion as a book critic, what really shone out was the characterisation. Skippy might have been a teenage boy, well, he was, no might have been about it, but I identified with him with every fibre of my once-teenage being. It wasn't Skippy falling in love with a girl he had never met, it was me falling in love with B, or A or....well....not quite the whole alphabet....but the sheer hopelessness of teenage love and angst is still seared on my soul and Skippy brought it all back...those of you who look back on your teenage years through a goldne glow may not recognise Skippy. He may not be Everyteen to you....but he certainly represents Twelfthknitteen to me.

The storyline kept me on my toes during the first half of the book. I kept having 'Aha' moments when I thought I knew just what this 'dark thread' was, only to have my assumptions shoved to the side within a couple of pages. The way the story was structured more-or-less guaranteed that the element of suspense was over while the book still had a fair way to go. In short, if about a quarter of the book had been hacked out of the middle, I would have liked it a lot more. I did wonder if my feeling about the book were influenced by the fact that it felt a bit like A Spot of Bother , and I couldn't forgive it for not being that book. But that wasn't it. It just needed a bit of pruning.....(I feel all audacious now....bit it is my blog, so I can be audacious if I want to... can't I ?)

Scores on the door: 6 out of 10

Man Booker; The Betrayal

2010-07-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

Having thoroughly enjoyed The Siege, in which Helen Dunmore tells the story of the siege of Leningrad through the eyes of one family, I was really looking forward to The Betrayal.

Like A thousand Autumns..., honesty, doing the right thing and being able to look yourself in the eye feature large in this book. In fact, it is the core of the story. Ten years after the siege Anna and her husband, Andrei, have built a life together with her much younger brother, Kolya. But it's a life amidst The Terror a life of looking over one's shoulder, guarded words and never-ending unease. A life of wondering when Stalin's hand will be felt upon one's shoulder. It is into this atmosphere that Kolkov's son is admitted to Andrei's hospital. In the rush to avoid the inevitable persecution which will be a result of failure, the child becomes irrelevant. He is to the doctors in the hospital simply the son of a rightly-feared man, simply Kolkov's son. But not to Andrei and another of his colleagues, who despite having the case thrust upon them, do their best to care for the child at the centre of all of this turmoil.

I enjoyed this book. I felt that Dunmore once again conveyed something of the atmosphere of living through The Terror. (I say 'something', because I'm fairly sure that any fiction about such events is only a mere shadow, no matter how adept the author.) With The Siege I was left wanting to know more, but felt that the book was in itself complete. This time I am left with a sense of dissatisfaction. The end indicates to me that there may well be a third book, but even allowing for that it still doesn't leave me satisfied.

Scores on the door: 7 out of 10

ETA: New scoring system

The Man Booker- A thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

2010-07-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

Here we go, book one of the long list.

But first, a disclaimer. I am not a book critic and I will be fumbling my way around here- normally my critique of a book is summed up by 'Loved it/hated it'....

And....I am hoping to get through the books before the award is announced and I will be deciding which one I would give the prize to. That doesn't mean that the book that I award most points to will be my 'winner', as I'll be thinking of the books in terms of what I think of as 'prizeworthiness'.

Jacob de Zoet is on a mission; a turn-of-the-18th century Dutchman, his only chance of earning enough to marry the woman he loves is to work as a trading company's clerk to Japan. There is but one problem- Jacob is an honest man and the theme of 'doing the right/honourable thing' is a thread that runs through this novel, causing him no end of problems. Falling in love with a Japanese woman, Orito, doesn't help matters much.

There is a lot of historical detail in this book. As someone who knows nothing of Japanese culture and history, it seemed accurate enough to me ;0) I really enjoyed the narrative and for the first time in a long, long time I had a book in my hands that I just didn't want to put down. There was just one wrong note for me- the 'device' (getting all scholarly here!!) that he uses to separate Jacob and Orito had me staring at he pages in perplexity and, frankly, annoyance. To me it seemed a contrivance that really spoiled the flow and 'believability' of the book. To say that I couldn't suspend my disbelief* is putting it mildly.

However, the rest of the book was so good that in time I manage d to forgive MItchell for this bum note.

Scores on the door- 9 out of 10

ETA: New scoring system

* I know, I know- the convention is 'suspending your belief', but for me it's always my disbelief that I have trouble suspending, and this is my blog ;0)

ETA: I haven't really given enough detail about the book I think, but I don't want to spoil it. IF there isn't enough detail for you, check out reviews on Amazon:0)

Man Booker

2010-07-28T08:19:00.001-07:00

My blog has been deathly quiet because I am trying not to use the computer so much on account of sore hands. However, I have decided to read the Man Booker longlist and will post my thoughts on each of them here. Be warned: I am no literary critic and will not be attempting any 'high faluting' stuff, just my humble thoughts on each one.

Out:

2010-07-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Out

No time at the moment for a lyrical post- if you want to give some aid to current disaster appeals, click on the big red square in my sidebar. Go on, you know you want to.

Be still my beating heart

2010-05-05T12:47:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you just gotta do
these things

I refuse to accept it.

2010-03-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

How can Gary Numan be 52 today????

the time traveller's wife

2010-03-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

OK. Who messed with the ending? The ending in the book was better. It was the right ending. Filmmaker- I'm not impressed!!

I officially declare these sausages a success.

2010-02-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. I think the rapture has arrived- the sausage rapture. I am in love with my sausages. Well, that might be taking it a bit far.....actually, no, when I think about it, that sounds just right!

Slightly spicy and full of fennel-y goodness. I am not sure if I'll ever want to make a different kind. Well, maybe I will, but each time I make sausages, half of them will have to be be Hot Italian.

Off to drool some more..

Sausages

2010-02-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

From this:

To this:

I used this Hot Italian Sausage Recipe, since it was seeing various recipes calling for same that finally promted me to get a mincer. Well, that and tales of delicious meaty goodness from my friend J. She kindly took me by the hand (I hate getting lost) and showed me this great butcher in Zürich where you can buy good quality meat and the sausage casings.

Handling the casings was a bit tricky- I managed to lose about 1/4 of it, since it got caught up in a knotty mess. This means that I am left with about 6 sausages-worth which I have just bagged up and will use in a Bolgnese-type sauce. Can't wait to try them, but it won't be tonight- all that raw meat handling has quenched my appetite!!

ETA: I followed the recipe pretty much as it was given, except I only put 3 tsp of salt in and no cayenne pepper as I didn't have any. I also added 100g of porridge oats to the mix, ground up quite fine in food processor beforehand as they were jumbo oats. When I make beef burgers I add oats as well (or you can use breadcrumbs) as I think it gives a better texture.

A wee laugh first thing in the morning...

2010-02-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

How does homeopathy work

Southern Cakes.

2010-02-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Number Guy has spent a very pleasant weekend in the company of three friends from the UK. I have also found it very pleasant, but I was cooking and baking as opposed to board-gaming and Dungeons & Dragonning.

Due to the, ahem, weight issue, I don't bake as much as I would like to. Having people to stay allows me to relax the rules a bit. This weekend I pulled out
Southern Cakes.. I had wanted to try out the Tomato Soup Cake (yes, really) but I had bought a can of the ordinary stuff, not the condensed as required. Never mind, the Banana Chocolate Layer Cake came to the rescue.

I have to say that this picture does not do justice to this light-as-air creation.

The butter and sugar are beaten together, and then the three eggs are added one-by-one. Once the eggs are incorporated the mixture is beaten for another few minutes before the other ingredients are folded in by hand. The resultant batter is a dreamy mousse-like creation that I could easily have eaten straight from the mixing bowl.

The finished cake I loved. The chocolate frosting I found a bit too much, but this cake is deserving of another outing, I'll just need to think about the frosting issue

In the kitchen

2010-02-20T02:43:00.000-08:00

I've had two new toys to play with recently.

The baker's Edge has been in my sights for quite some time, but the cost of shipping it from the US was out of the question. So you can imagine that I was rather pleased at having scored one on my recent trip to the US.

The whole point of this cake tin is that everyone gets two chewy edges on their piece of brownie, something I had come to understand was vital ;0)I've only tried one recipe so far- Katherine Hepburn Brownies in Dorrie Goldspan's book . The recipe didn't fill the tine, but boy, they were good.

Next up- my Fleishwolf, or meat grinder to you and me. Given the ferocity of this machine, I think flesh-wolf is a very apt name! I don't have casings yet, so decided to just make meatballs instead. I chose a 'breakfast sausage' recipe off the internet, and they were not bad at all for a first attempt.

The ingredients were pretty simple, as you can see:

I want to make some Sweet Italian Sausage, so if anyone has a favourite recipe, please drop me a line in the comments.

On a non-domestic front, I've just started German lessons again. We have a test on Monday and I am trying, and failing, to work up the enthusiasm to study for it.

All done

2010-02-18T06:56:00.001-08:00

It's over. I can confirm what other people have said- thanks to the wonders of sedation, the worst part is the preparation. What made it a bit harder was having to get up to take the second solution at 4.00am this morning. The original plan had been 6.00 am (bad enough) but after yesterday it became clear that if severe public embarrassment were to be avoided, 4.00am it needed to be.

I told Dr F' I'm never having this done again, so this is the only chance to do all the tests that you need. I think he took me at my word. We need to await the histology results to be certain, but it look as if I 'merely' have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I say 'merely' because it's fab news that it isn't something worse, but I'm not sure what else can be done to alleviate the symptoms. Oh well, I should find out at my follow-up appointment next week.

Now, where is the horse, because I could eat one.

I've been putting it off.

2010-02-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

I have That Test tomorrow. Sitting in the fridge are two bottles of 'stuff'. How do you find the motivation to drink something that you know will: A) Taste so bad you might end up vomiting; B)Cause you to spend all night in the bathroom; C)and to add insult to injury requires a 5am start tomorrow morning to do it all over again?

10 minutes later.

It was bad. But not that bad. I was finding it hard at first because my throat kept feeling like it was just going to close. ..I had a taste. It was awful. I quickly developed a technique- 4 teaspoons of the liquid, which was small enough to be 'downed in a one-er' as we say in my neck of the woods, to which a hefty squeeze of lemon juice was added. There was 90 mls. That was 90mls too much, but still. Now I just nee dto drink 2L of water and hang around the bathroom. Oh Joy.

The only problem I foresee at the minute is that I am feeling quite sick. It really
will add insult to injury if it all comes back up after I went to the effort of getting it down.

If you loved The Lord of the Rings

2010-02-12T07:36:00.001-08:00

Then you should check out Born of Hope

You might want to skip this.

2010-02-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

It isn't really gross, but still...

I had my lactose-intolerance test today. It seems that I'm not. Lactose-intolerant. All I can say is that there's a mighty amazing placebo effect going on when I take lactase. It'll take me a while to get my head round this.

Anyway, my GI consultant managed to amaze me today. He needed me to explain to him why I didn't really want to have a colonoscopy. Yes, really.

You know you're jet-lagged when...

2010-02-07T04:57:00.001-08:00

...you use 4 different bottles in an attempt to condition your hair, and each one turns out to be shampoo;0)

We got back from the States on Friday and I spent about 36 hours in bed. It meant we missed The Blue Man Group . I feel bad about that- it was Number Guy's birthday present but I just couldn't get out of bed.

One of our suitcases was searched on the way back- I obviously don't mind, but I would have appreciated it if the strap had been put back round it....oh well, if that's all I've got to moan about I better stop it!

Jet lag affects me differently going west, so the first weekend we went to Half Moon Bay. I went into a yarn shop and managed not to buy anything- I know, odd, isn't it? After that I needed some lunch, so we went to Sushi Main Street , which had been recommended by a fellow Spoogler, M. It was fantastic. We had so much food we could hardly move and it was less than $60 plus tip. We made up for that saving a week later, in The Lodge at Pebble Beach, 17 mile Drive . We had an amazing view of the ocean, plus brunch, for a total of $140, minus the tip. Oh well. It was good.

I met up with M, who recommended Sushi. She has a number of good suggestions up her sleeve, another one being
Sprinkles for cup cakes. We actually went to two cupcake shops that day (well, I was on holiday...) but I can't remember the name of the other one.

A few days after that, C took me into San Francisco to a armers market down on the waterfront. I had the best beef sandwich ever. And I didn't have the stress of driving into the city. Just as well- if I'd been in the driving seat we'd never have left the car park.

Well, I seem to be rambling on and on, so I'll stop here and try to find something else to do that'll stop me collapsing into bed at only 2 in the afternoon.

6 weeks

2010-01-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

That's about the length of time that my migraines have been under control. Yay :0) This is how it is for me and 'my migraines', that constant companion. I get ups and downs. The downs really suck- weeks on end of painkillers and making sure I have them and my other meds with me, chronic pain, constant fear of an acute attack. Then something magical happens- it all.just.stops. The past week or so have been a bit niggly, as I have a major stress coming up, but other than that I have had a reminder of what it has been like to be a normal person. :0)

Haiti- you can help

2010-01-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

If you want to help the people in the wake of the Haitian earthquake, here is a simple, easy way to do so.

The Disasters Emergency Committee have an appeal on their homepage. Just click on 'Donate Now'.

Look closely...

2010-01-08T13:04:00.001-08:00

...at the bottom left-hand side of this scarf and you will see 'I heart Z.' This fabulous scarf was knitted for me by my good friend
KEDKrafty as a special present when I moved to Switzerland. As soon as winter gets to be serious, out this scarf comes. It warms my neck and it warms my soul. It's great to have friends!

Slwo, slow, quick quick, slow.

2010-01-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

I was cooking at both ends of the time scale today- slow cooker and pressure cooker.

I have resisted the appeal of a pressure cooker for years. My mum confirmed that my memory of a pressure cooker exploding was a real one. However, having clarified things with her I now know it was a case of safety-valve-blowing-and-dinner-hitting-ceiling, not bits-of-shrapnel-flying-about scenario.

Then I was kicking myself. The Coop in Switzerland has a 'merkli' scheme,much like other supermarket reward schemes. In this case you collect the 'merkli' (stickers) and once you get 2 sheets you can get a variety of discounted goods. The reason for kicking myself? The current discount was on cookware. They were offering a whopping 70% off- you guessed it- pressure cookers. To add to the frustration, the collection finishes at the end of January and goods need to be collected by the end of February. All was not lost- one sticker per 10CHF spent, 60 stickers to collect. With 4 extra people to be fed it wasn't long before the pages were full and I came away with a Schnellkochtopf in my hot little hands.

I won't lie, I was ~~completely shitting myself~~ somewhat nervous the first time I used it, but as you can see the world did not end and now I have a deliscious lamb stew for tea. And the slow cooker made a grand job of 'risotto' for my son's girlfriend. Happy smiles all round :0)

First Baking 2010

2010-01-04T02:25:00.000-08:00

These cookies are the second thing I've made from Salty Sweets . When I tried one last night, my first reaction was 'Meh'. However, a reprise this morning has seen me change my opinion. I still don't think they're wonderful, but they are tasty enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed handing them round to visitors.

They're nowhere near good enough to nudge World Peace Cookies from pole position.

This makes me feel so sad.

2010-01-03T15:04:00.000-08:00

We sure are screwing up this wonderful planet. It's not too late , is it?

first knitting of 2010

2010-01-03T04:54:00.000-08:00

I ran up this little number with some baby alpaca and silk. It needs a little blocking to show it at its best, but I wanted to give it a trial run today- it's cold outside. I foresee another Cité before much longer.

ETA: What a difference a little TLC makes:

Yes, no, no, yes, maybe, possibly, who knows?

2009-12-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Baby Bear had a flight out of LUton yesterday. Flights to Zürich were cancelled. Today he had a flight from Gatwixk. Gatwick is fogged up and LUton is clear.

Fingers crossed, at the last minute it seems that his plane might take off. He is boarding now, but yesterday they were all checked in and then it was cancelled. SO until I see is tired(but hopefully happy face) I won't be taking it for granted.

A bad photo

2009-12-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

...of a great bread.

This is the Millet and Dried Fruit bread from Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. As you can see I had just started smearing butter on it when I remembered that I needed a pic. It is moist and delicious and will definitely be made again. After all, I do have approximately 12.499999 kg of gluten left...

Do you think I've got enough?

2009-12-05T05:32:00.001-08:00

It seems I did in fact understand what the baker was saying to me on the phone- I am now the proud owner of 12.5kg of wheat gluten. Given that about a quarter of a cup is needed to make 3 or 4 loaves, this is going to be around for some time. Fortunately I know some people who could make good use of it. In the meantime, I'm off to choose my first recipe from Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Swine Flu Vaccine Information

2009-12-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

If you have worries about the Swine Flu Vaccine, here is some great information.

Something for nothing? In Swtizerland?

2009-12-02T10:24:00.001-08:00

Yep, you read it here, folks. I had the Swine Flu vaccine yesterday. Free.Gratis.For nothing. That is so unusual I think I should have asked for two....

With the seasonal flu vaccine I had no side-effects whatsoever. Today I am feeling fairly crappy and am wondering if it is as a result of the Pig Flu vaccine. I know I haven't got the flu, it is a dead vaccine, after all, but I am feeling a bit 'flu-y', with attendent muscle aches etc. I wouldn't be bothered except I have an appointment tomorrow that I have to schlepp across town for at HALF-PAST SEVEN IN THE BLOODY MORNING. Doesn't anyone know that I'm not working so should NEVER have to see that time of day???

Well, I'm, erm, well, I was sure

2009-12-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

*What do you mean, you were ,sure?
#Exactly what I said. I was sure I left it right here.
* Well, what do you mean by 'Right here'?
#It was on the balcony, well, maybe be not exactly on the balcony....
* (Folds arms, starting to look smug) Ah, were getting to the bottom of it at last. Admit it, you aren't really sure where you left it here at all, are you.
* (Indignant) Now don't play games, I'm tellling you, I could see it from the balcony, and everything. It was right here. It was Thursday and I saw it, clear as day.
*(Shrugs, turns to shuffle back inside). Be that as it may, wherever you think you left Autumn on Thursday, we're back from the UK and it sure as heck looks like winter to me now!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!!!

2009-11-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

Number Guy and I are going to the UK this week- a combination of Christmas shopping and time for NG to meet up with some of his friends. (Well, they are now my friends, too, but you know what I mean!)An extra specially good thing is that Baby Bear will be joining us for the weekend, too.

Number Guy and his friends will be playing Dundgeons and Dragons- yes, it might seem a bit odd to the uninitiated, but they don't go to the pub and get pissed, they don't hang around football stadiums (stadia???) being obnoxious. This is their equivalent of going for a pint. It works for me :0) I did put my foot down on one issue, though. Number Guy might be quite happy lying on the floor in a sleeping bag, but I've decided that one advantage of my advancing years is that I can veto mad plans like that. We'll be in a hotel.

More bookish bemusement

2009-11-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

I ordered a cookery book from an online company. It arrived about a week later. So why did I just get another one.....?

Unexpected

2009-11-23T05:27:00.000-08:00

Something bookish arrived in the post for me today. Well, something more than bookish, it was indeed an actual book. One that I hadn't ordered. Hmmm. A bit of a puzzle. It is 'Last Night in Twisted River' by John Irving. I guess it could be a belated birthday present by someone who hasn't owned up. However, all that came with it was a 'Compliments of Bloomsbury' slip, so unless I hear otherwise I'll assume it's from them .

I'm still puzzled, but I'm not complaining. Thanks a lot for the book:0)

Weisenkleber

2009-11-16T02:20:00.000-08:00

I eagerly awaited Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day , so was very disappointed to see that every recipe was calling for Vital Wheat Gluten. I was fairly certain that getting my hands on some would be a long and painful process.

However, the internet is a wonderful place and someone on Ravelry pointed me at a particular blog post where a fellow 'ex-pat-in-Switzerland' had the same difficulty. She solved it very simply- she bought some from her local baker. In the UK this might be quite difficult, as there are not many local bakers left. Happily, that is not the case here. The next village along has a bakery with shop right on the main street. In fact, you can watch the bakers at work as you go past. I dropped in today and they were most helpful. They didn't have any on the premises but are going to order some for me. Result :0)

ETA: I Had a phone call from the baker. He was speaking Swiss German, I was (wo)manfully plodding on with German. I think it is now on order. All 12kg of it. Yep, they can't get a smaller pack.

PFO test

2009-11-15T03:16:00.000-08:00

I had the test done on Friday- Profolol you are my friend, I don't remember a damn thing about the procedure, which is just the way I like it. The good news is that I don't have a hole in my heart. The bad news is that there is nothing physical that can be done to stop the migraines. However, the very best bit of news as far as I am concerned is that my stroke risk is not any greater than it would be in any other 'average' woman.*

The only unpleasant thing that happened was trying to get the Venflon in. In the end it took FOUR people. The last person to try was a nurse from the anaesthetic department. He snuck up on the vein and then rammed it home so fast I thought it was going to come out of my elbow! But he got it in... My hands and arms look as if they've had a good beating.

So it's back to being appreciative of the good things in life and not letting the bad weeks get me down. Speaking of good things, I am listening to one of the CDs that Baby Bear gave me for my birthday. It is 'Y-Yo Ma plays Moricone.' Baby Bear and I both love the music to 'The Mission', so this was a very, very thoughtful gift, filled with beautiful music. It's on in the background as I drink my coffee, read a good book and generally enjoy life in Switzerland. Good things indeed.

* People who have migraine with aura have an increased risk of stroke. The cardiologist confirmed for me that this is directly as a result of PFO

Halle-%&*+°?=!!-luja

2009-11-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'm new to eBooks. I'm new to iTouch. I'm new to downloading eBooks to my PC and then transferring them to my iTouch.

Despite that, I somehow (not sure how) managed a major step in the proccess when I registered with Adobe Digital Editions. No big deal? Try doing it in a foreign language....

New personal best

2009-10-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

10km, 1 hour.

This health &v fitness thing sure is odd. I didn't get up until 1.00pm today because I had (another) bad migraine. Ye this evening I feel good enough to go on the crosstrainer.

What is even odder, and more frustrating, is that my weight stays resolutely the same. I am not eating between meals. I am not eating huge amounts of carbs. I am not drinking lots of milk. If my measurements were changing, then that would be great. But everything stays the same :0(

just in case

2009-10-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

Last winter we had trouble with the heating a couple of times. Well, it wasn't really trouble, since by the time I realised there was a problem the letting company were already on to it. But I do wonder what would happen if the heating failed at 5.00pm on a Friday. With this in mind I bought enough wood to last a few days. This is a pathetic fire to be sure, but it was only to check that there were no chimney problems.

Now, where did I put those chesnuts...

Fantastic

2009-10-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just finished Her Fearful Symmetry.. I needn't have worried, it was a great read.

Seize the moment

2009-10-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

(Hard to do when it took me a few moments to work out how to spell 'seize'- German is really screwing with my English.)

This week has been harder than normal. I am having lots of migraine problems. It's getting me down a bit.

However, one of the things about living with chronic pain is that you learn to make the most of the good times. And to be fair, I have had lots of good times with the current med regime. I had a couple of hours today where I felt not bad at all. I leapt at the chance to go on the crosstrainer. Well, okay, I admit that is putting a bit of a gloss on it. I dragged myself upstairs and did my first 60 minutes for a long time and clocked up just over 9.00km.

Feeling far too knackered to feel smug about it, I then sat down to do an hour of German, which wasn't too bad at all.

I also managed to chuck on some pumpkin and apple soup (my favourite) and slung some soda bread in the oven. I'm starting to feel really crappy again so it's off to the sofa for me and an hour or two of Star Treck- in German, natarulich ;0)

sulk

2009-10-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

I've had a migraine off and on for 3 days now. It hasn't got to the head-pounding stage but I am feeling a bit on the miserable side. Nauseous too. This is when I am very grateful that I am not trying to hold down a job, nor have to care for 3 children under 5.

Don't look back in anger

2009-10-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the suggestions on an earlier post, I am now tuned into Absolute Radio. Nothing like a bit of Oasis to take me back a few years....

Next step

2009-10-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

HAving had the appointment earlier this week regarding the possibility of a PFO, I had a long chat with one of the patients who has had the procedure.

I have decided to join the study. The first step will be to have the test to see if I have a hole in my heart. That will be sometime next week.

Speedy, huh?

Gasp

2009-10-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Just completed 50 min and 7.66km on the crosstrainer. Had to push hard for most of the was and those extra ten minutes at the end were bloody awful, but it has to be done if I am going to reach my goal of 1 hour every two days.

I am also trying very hard now with regards to what I am eating. A small amount of carbohydrate twice a day, protein at every meal and loads (and loads more)vegetables.

Smug

2009-10-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

Much as I hate to admit it to myself, never mind anyone else, when I was a skinny miss I was fairly smug about it. Until about 10 years ago, I weighed 7.5 stones. I wasn't on a diet, in fact I ate a ridiculous amount of cream cakes and chocolate bars. I only put on the regulation 1.5 St when I was pregnant and with no effort at all was back in my jeans when Baby Bear was 3 weeks old. Over the next decade I put on about half a stone ( about 3 kilos). I 'knew' that people who were overweight 'simply had to eat less and exercise more.'

Well I am paying for that smugness now. I use my crosstrainer every two days. I am eating much less....but I am not losing weight. Ha, the simple things in life are not so simple after all.

I have made some progress though. Having come off the pizotifen (which was responsible for the weight gain, but not for the weight staying put), I am now back to a more normal eating pattern. Thze current migraine med, a beta blocker, is not affecting my pulse which makes it easier for me to exercise. Today when I had my nutritionist appointment (well, don't all the best people have nutritionists?)I told him I wanted to move on..

Next goal- increase from 40 min to 1 hour every two days on the crosstrainer, one stone in weight lost. Both by Christmas.

So...

2009-10-06T01:46:00.000-07:00

....you know that feeling you get when you have changed your password on your email and then can't remember it.....?

Suggestions please

2009-10-05T11:40:00.001-07:00

When I was in the UK, I listened to Virgin Radio. For an oldtimer like me, it was perfect- some of the music from my youth (the 70s and 80s, in case you were wondering!!) and more modern 'stuff'. But none of that rap crap- I'm talking Cold Play, Snow Patrol, The Killers,Maroon 5, Greenday & C.

Any suggestion for a similar station that I can listen to on the Internet. I can see that Virgin is based in some other countries, but I am having problems streaming so can't tell if it is the same.

(polite)Suggestions welcome.

Research

2009-10-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Study title: Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in migraine with aura (PRIMA)- a randomized prospective study.

This article explains it quite nicely. If I decide to take part in the study the first step involves a procedure to discover whether or not I do have a hole in my heart. And guess what? It involves shoving something down my throat. I'm so over having that kind of thing done. Unlike the endoscopy that I had a month or so ago, I'll be wide awake for this one :0( I'm going to talk it over with Number Guy and make a decision about it this week.

It's here!

2009-10-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Thrifty cooking

2009-10-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've had a look at a few 'thrifty cookbooks' and some of them are ok. Some of them involve eating things that, quite frankly, turn my stomach. However, I think The Thrifty Cookbook is a winner.

The author gives some excellent advice on how to waste less food, basic techniques, what to shop for, storing things in fridge and freezer. Then she gets down to it with chapters such as- Soups, Stews and Curries, Bakes, Rice, Pasta and Things to do with Bread amongst others. Ingredients are cross-referenced in the index. Another handy section is 'What goes with what.'

I don't think anyone would feel hard done-by if they were served a meal made from one of these recipes. Baby Bear is often looking for recipe ideas and I think that one of these books is going to be finding its way into his Christmas stocking, as it's a great book for students, too.

Scared of a book

2009-10-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting so long for this that I can't quite bring myself to start it. What if it's, well, crap?

Take a look

2009-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Margaret and Helen . I mean it. Really

That time of year again.

2009-09-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

We waved Baby Bear off this morning. I managed not to cry but it was a bit of a close thing. We've been doing this for four years now, and although it does get easier, I am never going to 'get over it.' I'll always have a heavy heart when he goes.

But the good thing is that he is progressing in his studies- this time he will be working on his MSc, so he'll have a fairly intensive year.

I can hardly walk

2009-09-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight I upped my distance from 6.3km to 7.00km in 40 minutes.I'm really pleased but I am very stiff. After the exertions of the crosstrainer I do a variety of stretches. They were much needed tonight as I feel incredibly stiff- all the muscle fibres seem a bit shorter.

I'm a bit concerned that I am coming down with a virus that a friend has- now that I (think??)I can see some changes in my body I don't want to be cooling my heels while a virus does its worst.

Pickle/exercise update

2009-09-06T05:22:00.001-07:00

Tried the Olive Oil Pickles and some Pepper Pickles yesterday. The Pepper ones are nice, but no as ovewhelmingly scrumptious as the Gingery Pcikle Vegetables. The Olive Oil ones are disgusting- soft, slimy cucumber. They went in the bin- life is too short to eat nasty food.

I am grading each recipe that I try in my pickle book, so that in a couple of years I don't waste my time again.

I am now doing 6km in 40 min on the crosstrainer. I realise that this does not make me an athelete, but I think it is beginning to show in a slighter trimmer body. I'm not deluding myself - there's plenty of work still needed.

What makes a book prizeworthy?

2009-09-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

Because I would really like to know!

On Friday I hosted our book group meeting, since I had chosen the book. The upside was the company and all the baking I got to do. The downside was the book.
The Blind Side of the Heart won the Deutscher Buchpreis. Despite this fact, no-one in our group like it. It was full of tormented souls, none of whom one could feel any affection for. It wasn't as if it broaches life in pre-war/war torn Germany in some new, astounding fashion. I don't think it added anything to our understanding of how crappy some people/life is. IN short, we all found it mundane in the extreme and some could not bring themselves to finish it.

If you've read this novel and loved it, how about enlightening me?

Stick a fork in me

2009-09-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

I think I'm done with the pickling. Yep, that mad urge has finally come to an end- though I have no doubt that I will continue with it over the winter, just not so frantically.

These are two different types of cauliflower- one with ordinary pickling spices, the other with 'Indian inspired ones'- although I imagine that anyone who loves Indian pickles will find these not up to the mark. But wimps like me will probably love them.

Lunch

2009-08-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

Homemade: bread, hummus, Fennel and Orange pickle, Aubergine pickle. I could eat the Fennel pickle straight from the jar. So delicious. The Aubergine is 'ok'- a bit tart but I am sure I will get over that. The hummus was delicious, too, much to my surprise because it is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair with me.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper..

2009-08-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

...or in other words, more pickling. (I know, doesn't make sense but I do have pickling on the brain right now).

These pickles are Gingery Sweet Pickled Vegetables. They smelled so good as I was putting them in the jars that I am sure they are going to be delicious.

Here we have two jars of Honeyed Peppers. I have to say that unless they are completely spectacular I won't be making them again as they were a complete pain in the ass to do.

ETA: Rest assured, Davi, they do indeed have vinegar in them. The Ginergy one is supposed to be 100% rice wine vinegar, so I am not sure how topping it up with cider vinegar will go, but I'm hopeful.. The Honeyed Pickles have a wine vinegar and water mix.

I'm sure I have more pickling in me yet ;o)

Potted sunshine

2009-08-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Peppers with fennel seeds, bay leaf and garlic. I'm looking forward to eating these with homemade hummus and crusty bread.