Monday, June 22, 2009

Monday 22nd - 72F (phew!) - No wind

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Picture 1 is of my Father's Day cards and although there isn't one from John he did ring, all the way from Lyons and it was great to hear him.

The cards were all 'thoughtful' because, as Tracy reports, it is nigh impossible to obtain cards which are neither twee, nor rubbish. I guess I must be a difficult father to please !

I was pleased they all succeeded as well as they did.

Our trip to Burton Joyce for the Barbeque was good and we were lucky the weather held. Y doesn't like 'children pictures' on the blog but they all looked great.

Hannah is rapidly becoming a very nice-looking young lady - why can't they just stop as little girls I wonder?

The garden looked good - which is mostly due to Alex's ministrations.

Unfortunately my tummy played-up again and I had to go indoors for a sit-down. I'm beginning to think quantity is as responsible as any particular foodstuff.

However, for lunch today, I cooked. My portion was one sausage, 1½ small potatoes, 2 broccoli florets, and 4 small chestnut mushrooms. No gravy. For pudding I had a small portion of mandarin orange flan which Hannah had made, with two spoonsful of Greek Yoghurt. And I kept it all down - even though I needed a rest.

In response to a query, Helen C forwarded a full and explanatory email from one of her choir colleagues. She thinks he is trying to persuade her to go from 'vegetarian' to full 'vegan' but there was loads of interesting material . And live links to sources, which is handy.

On the left is a picture of Lactofree from Morrisons - (Debra's recommendation).

Although still cow's milk, the enzyme which causes digestion problems has been filtered out. I can't tell the difference from ordinary semi-skimmed milk - honestly ! - and it certainly seems the answer.

According to the packet, the same firm produce yoghurts, cheeses and creams. The world is my oyster !

Mainly though, for me, the answer seems minuscule portions of things. Obesity Clinic - here I come again ! A Mies van de Rohe "less is more" approach to diet !

For tea today I had a slice of bread & butter (well - Bertolli olive-oil spread) and a dish of fresh fruit salad which Y had made. Delicious it is too. I could breakfast, lunch, and dine on it, which she says is a good because the recipe yielded a medium-sized pyrex full.

The tennis has started. Wimbledon fortnight has always been a highlight for Yvonne and she used to plan her holidays around it. Unfortunately our 15yr old star Laura Robson lost her match but put up a very creditable performance. We shall hear more of her in the future.

A good feature of our Virgin media is around 9 matches being broadcast simultaneously and the click of a button takes you from one to the other. Anything to avoid the 'grunting'. Apparently a referee can now warn a player under a 'match hindrance' rule. Lets just hope it happens because for many people. certainly Y and I, it renders a match unwatchable.

This morning I took Y to the Hayley Leisure Centre and got her officially registered. We have neglected to do it for several days. She learnt lots of things she can do - classes etc., some of which sounded interesting even though her main reason for joining is the recreational and fitness inducing swimming. You never know - she might start pumping iron, and sessions on the rowing machines, kick-boxing ????? ..... where will it end?

Alex has spent a full day in our garden today and has shifted an incredible amount of work. Several years' worth if I'd have tried to do it. Not that I could have done all of it anyway. Some was far to heavy

My responses to your previous comments

Bob .... You make an excellent point about freezing cooked chickpeas instead of the hummus itself. I have already bought the chickpeas but forgot the Tahini. Anyway I need really to look in my handwritten kitchen book for the proper recipe !

The main reason is that I found Morrison's own version far too bland. It needed another 4 cloves of garlic...... At least !

The other point is that, apparently, cooked chickpeas are a good 'staple' in other dishes too.

Jill .... Very witty about 'can't wait to get to 80'. Personally I think I'll just let it arrive. I'm not in a rush.

Yvonne .... Thanks for the 'blog-holder' comment.

As you suggest, within the next couple of days I must introduce you to the intricacies of my 'blogger-dashboard' and then you could act as a fully qualified deputy-editor.

You've gained so much confidence and expertise since acquiring you own laptop haven't you. By the way, at BJ, Hannah said she would like to come over again for a sleep-over and show you even more 'tricks of the trade'.

Tilly .... We did indeed enjoy our barbeque. And for pudding at lunchtime today, we had your orange flan. Super - very happy to have it again. We had greek yoghurt with ours instead of cream. But you need to be a greek yoghurt fan because it conveys a lovely sharp flavour.

Sorry !!! The parasol- squishing was entirely my fault ! Should have looked where I was going.

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Quotation slot .....

"No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office"

George Bernard Shaw

I've linked you to his Nobel Laureate page. He deserved it.




and finally - one of Ray's - in his spaceship


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4 comments:

bob said...

Your current diet sounds pretty unexciting but you’re probably being sensible.
Bland is beautiful?

I’m sure you will be as sceptical as I am about veganism but we all make our own choices.

Must tell Sandra about Lactofree, especially cheeses and creams.

If you really WANT to watch a ‘grunting’ match, there’s always the mute button!

Got my new telly set up today. Tuned itself in automatically.
No hitches.

My pet Dryad’s Saddle seems to be growing by 25% to 30% compound a day..

Jill:
Can’t wait till I’m over 80 – p’raps I’ll get one of my novels-in-progress published!

Good for Ro,
We attended a Sunday afternoon Jazz Recital in a marquee at Wellow House School - in aid of Village Hall funds.
A competent 6 piece combo of rhythm, bass and very good female lead guitar/vocalist plus alto? sax, drums and male vocalist played suitably eclectic mix from 30s to 60s (Beatles, Georgie Fame).
There was a bar with Fuller’s Bitter but no water. And a barbecue; but we didn’t know that so took salmon & cucumber sandwiches which I prefer anyway.
Lurch danced with Mrs Overall - and several dads-at-weddings also took the floor.
All good fun.

Jill said...

Pleased to see you have recovered enough to blog. Have you thought about including boiled rice in your main meal? That is supposed to be very good for your condition....

I had never heard of Lactofree, seems a very good idea.

Have not seen a recipe for fruit salad - I just put together what is to hand. Is there some special ingredient in Y's?

Tennis, I am all set for next two weeks, no planned outings after 1.00 p.m., special simple knitting started, and Campari and lemonade ready - my drink of the moment, I may go on to Pimms if Andy M. does well..... I loved Matt in the DTel. today, it's like that here! I cooked a chicken and gammon joint Sunday, we shall be eating that cold and all sorts of ways rest of week....

Rob said...

Bonjour everyone

We are in Amboise, in the Loire Valley where the weather is hot and sunny, more when we get back as the keyboard in this internet cafe is very ropey!

Rob

Unknown said...

Jill: I neeeded a recipe for fruit salad because in the past I used to make a wonderful one called 'Carse of Gowrie Fruit Salad' which involved both red wine and sherry! Since Graham no longer drinks I wanted to find a substitute with a bit of bite! Delia Smith, as always, turned up trumps.

What a wonderful tennis match with Murray and Kendrick. Kept me on the edge of my seat.