Lynne's Days

Wake up and Smell the Coffee

2011-11-19T21:40:00.001Z

Steven from Union Hand Roasted Coffee Smelling the Coffee...

Do you remember the short short story that I wrote for Vivia's Christmas Ghost Story a year ago?

Well, I am now delighted to let you know that this short story has been selected for publication by Ether Books as a mobile phone download, as part of their Flash Fiction selection. You can download the app at http://bit.ly/bpvC84 and find me either in the new author section, or you can find me by name, Lynne Clark. I hope you enjoy the download!.

A Poem for March

2011-03-19T18:10:00.000Z

Oh it is a while since I felt like writing other than about recipes and food.

But I was sitting in the car the other day, thinking about the #haikugame from Twitter, and tapping out syllables on the steering wheel. I love haiku, they have a strict structure and a lovely internal rhythm.

I thought, although haiku are just one verse, this is no longer the 17th century, we aren't writing these for a fiercely dogmatic court. This is just art...

So here is what came to me as I was driving along, on a bright March morning.

The break of the season

Living like winter.
Thick frozen grey emotions
clinging like hoarfrost

A crouched fearful soul,
not looking you in the eye:
I’m disconnected.

Yet this March day I know
I can unfold, standing straight
Backed as daffodil

Head high, eyes widened,
I’ll let the light in again.
I shall reconnect.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

2011-01-11T14:49:00.000Z

Update::

I am now delighted to let you know that this short story has been selected for publication by Ether Books as a mobile phone download, as part of their Flash Fiction selection. You can download the app at http://bit.ly/bpvC84 and find me either in the new author section, or you can find me by name, Lynne Clark. I hope you enjoy the download!.

-----

For the last couple of years Vivia at Grethic's Grethicia has had a fabulous 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge. I won last year's, and so have entered this years again in the spirit of returning champion.

All the challenges are interesting, some more devious than others. But my favourite from last year - the Ghost Story - put in an appearance again this year. I thought you might like to read my very short story as entered into the challenge. It was written quickly, and is unedited, so could certainly be tweeked and made better.

But do tell me what you think of it so far..

Wake up and Smell the Coffee

It’s a really odd feeling, being a ghost with a love of good food.

I mean, walking through walls and making people jump is ok in its own way, but I really would like to smell and taste coffee and chocolate again. It is unfair that your taste buds go ghostly at the same time as the rest of you.

So I like to sit in the corner of Annie’s Coffee Corner and imagine the tastes as I remember them. Annie has a wonderful huge old espresso machine, all retro pipes, and tubes and things to pull and it makes a fantastic hissy noise. Sometimes if someone sits on top of me on my chair, I make the hissy noise in their ear.

....

Want to read the rest? You'll have to go to Ether Books!

The sun shines at Capel Manor

2010-06-26T15:59:00.000+01:00

Isn’t it lovely that the sun has finally come out? I don’t like the weather too hot, but so long as I have a nice breeze, I am very happy that it is bright and dry.

So where to get a nice breeze? Well, obviously not in my office. Even with the window open. So we have been having little days out.

A couple of weeks ago was the first warm spell, and we decided on the spur of the moment to have a walk around Capel Manor, which is not that far from us.

Capel Manor is not just a set of lovely gardens, it is a horticultural college, so there are lot of interesting landscape projects, rebuilds of old gardens, and general changing about that make it worth going to on a fairly regular basis. (They have a good gallery of images at their website. Gives a good idea of what you will find.. but of course it changes all the time)
I have my favourite bits of course, but it is very relaxing to just wander around looking at what is in bloom, imagining how things might work or not in my own home, thinking what kind of garden I would have if money and space were no object…

The new Vincent Van Gogh garden is probably my favourite this year, pretty informal Provençal plantings around a deep yellow house, heavily influenced by Van Gogh’s paintings.

There is a row of ideas for front gardens that is quite exciting too, lots of hard planting here, the students have obviously been working hard.

The latest project is the Old Manor House garden, very new and bleak looking at the moment, but I guess it will age and mature and look as though it has been there for ever.

The lawns and the carp pool finished off the afternoon, and as it was a week day it was blissfully empty. The carp are terribly friendly, I presume they are fed all the time, as they come to nose and see what is happening if you stir the water.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have gardens outside the back door just like these…

Sunshine Superman

2010-04-03T18:36:00.001+01:00

Waaaaaay back when, on a very grey damp February morning, I woke up to find that Jaydubblah of Just Jotting Along had been very kind and awarded me a Sunshine Award with the proviso that I would blog more...

oops....

Well more is subject to personal view I suppose, so this is now my more.

Anyway.. I was delighted. The day was grey, I was feeling a bit despondent, and the thought of a Sunshine award was perfectly lovely. So thank you very much Janet, for the thought and for cheering me up that day.

There are rules attached to the Sunshine Award apparently...although they are pretty simple:

Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
Pass the award onto as other bloggers - as many as you think deserve it.
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

So now it is my turn and so I am passing this along to:

Whimsical Wife
The Barefoot Kitchen Witch
Meemalee's Kitchen
and
with Knife and Fork

Now I hope they won't think this too twee... but the thought is there. They - all of them - DO bring a bit of sunshine into my life, and I hope they take this award in the spirit it is given . Mwaah.

Catch up time...

2010-04-03T18:06:00.000+01:00

So that's April Fools Day over and done with.

I was going to report on my progress on Thursday but then I saw the date and knew you would think I was joking..

So let's see...

Writing:

Novels are static. Nil movement. Not being entered for Strictly Come Dancing this year.

This blog likewise. Oops. But at least I'm remedying that a bit today.

Foodie blog however has actually taken on quite a nice shape. Look Nice even though I do say so myself.
And I've added another wee mini blog on Posterous for the bits that just take my fancy but don't merit a full write up. Here it is... It's part of the Greedy Piglet family.

Move more:

Well I did have the first flamenco lesson and loved it. But as I said my lovely teacher Sandra was away on tour until March, and then managed to badly hurt her foot so she is still not up to teaching at the moment. So that has pretty much died a death at the moment. Maybe later in the year.

I can't get to grips with the idea of going to the gym instead, I went and looked around one local council run one (to take advantage of my Over 55 special rate) but to be honest it just wasn't as nice as it could be. Needs more thinking about I reckon.

Eat better:

Now this has been more successful. My Slimming World diet is suiting me admirably, and I have now lost the grand total of 1stone 7lb from my heaviest. It is really starting to notice. Another half a stone and I get to buy new clothes :)

So my resolutions for Quarter 2 of the Improvement Year?

Carry on blogging. No matter where or how, get some things in writing.
Try if at all possible to fit some creative writing in. It is FUN . It is good for a person to have fun.
Carry on losing weight. My joints are really thanking me for it, and even my balance is improving. Long long way to go but each little pound is a pound in the right direction.
Find a way somehow or other to get some movement in.

New Year Revolutions

2010-01-06T16:32:00.000Z

The world revolves, one year ends and another begins, life rolls on, and I would like to roll with it.

So here is my list of new year revolutions. Is that a typo you ask? No, they are not resolutions, they are revolutions for they roll around again every year, no bigger, no smaller than the year before.

Yet hope springs eternal in the human breast they say (personally, I think it is just heartburn, but there you go...)

so, with no further ado, I do hereby state my intentions to:

Write more. I enjoy writing, other people seem to enjoy my writing. So I will :

push through with the embryonic novels.
write more on this blog
write on my new Fantastic Food Blog A Greedy Piglet

Move more. I am a terrible couch potato. I don't approve of running about, but my joints are not thanking me for it. So what to do.. well, two thoughts here

My birthday tomorrow - I will be 55. This aged milestone will give me reduced cost membership at my local gym. Maybe the fact of the free sauna and the yoga and pilates lessons will wake me up to the joys of pounding a treadmill?
I have an urge to stomp up and down and get aggressive. So I have taken the plunge and booked my first flamenco lesson. I decided to go privately and I've found a terrific teacher locallly (well, not tooo far away) Sandra La Espuelita who is a professional flamenco dancer . Sadly (for me that is, not for her) she is away on tour until April, so it will be just the one lesson and then I will be stomping on the kitchen floor for a couple of months...

Eat better. I decided to rejoin Slimming World as I said in an earlier post, and it is lovely. Not only a good plan that seems to let me drop weight slowly but steadily, but a terrific bunch of people at the group I have joined.

So let's try shall we. Maybe this time for longer than it takes for the ink to dry on this page....

NaNoWriMo - Day 12 - Hard hard hard....

2009-11-12T13:47:00.001Z

Oof. It is very hard to just sit down and find the time to write. I find I need at least an hour to myself, even if I don't write all that time.

But it is creeping along. Over 5000 words now - could do better the stats say, but hopefully I will get a good kernel together by the end of the month. And maybe, just maybe I'll have a go at keeping on writing after the end of the month. We'll see.

Anyway. Another snippet for you to be going along with.

---------------------------------------

8 for 8.30 Anna said. It's 7.55 and I am parked up just down the road, Anna lives in a splendid pile in Cockfosters. Gated, carriage drive, big detached house. Not new, built in the first part of the 1900s i suppose, it has a very Arts & Crafts look to it, asymmetrical nooks and crannies. The outside is covered in wisteria and Virginia creeper, so its beautiful all year round. The wisteria is in bloom at the moment and it looks stunning.

I crunch up the gravel path. I am as nervous as a kitten. Ring ring. it's my mobile. It's Anna.

“where are you?”

“Just coming to the door… I’m a bit early. Why? Is there a problem?”

“You’re not early… you’re late! I moved it forward an hour… didn’t you get the message? I sent you an email”

“No, I haven’t been home yet. Some of us work on Saturdays as well you know? Well, I’m here now.”

And I ring off and ring the doorbell.

Anna opens the door. She is trilling..

“Hahaha! Here she is! The little Tardy One!”

What is wrong with her? She has that desperate fixed grin on her face that makes her look like Cherie Blair. She is beckoning me in. “Quick, quick..” she hisses and shushes me in front of her.

“Coat!” she hisses again. Shush, shush, almost a shove…I feel like a huskie. She will yell “Mush” in a moment.

“What is the matter…!” I hiss back.

“They've all been here for an hour... I was getting frantic. I called you at home but no reply. “ She is starting to sound bit calmer now. “I'm sorry, I don't know why I didn't try your mobile. It IS normally switched off”

She sounds sort of sheepish yet defiant. Whatever. Now is not the time to prove a point. I decide to make soothing noises instead. I give her a hug.

“Well, I'm here now. Come on then, let's see what you have lined up for my deeelectation”

Crisis averted. Anna is now looking me up and down.

She seems back to her acid best.

“ Well, I must say you've scrubbed up well tonight. Ok, off we go. Eyes and teeth, dahling, eyes and teeth..”

That's more like it, I give my best theatrical smile, and enter the fray.

It is only a dinner party, so why do I feel like saluting and shouting “We who are about to die salute Caesar!”?

-------------------------------------------------

The dining room is a picture. the lights are all turned down low, and the sideboard and table covered with creamy church candles of different sizes. The smell is like warm honey. It is a lovely mild night, and the French doors are open, I can see everyone gathered on the terrace outside.

Martin glances up and sees me.

“Asti! We were quite worried! What would you like to drink? Champers?”

“Just water for now please, Martin, I'm driving and I want to have a drink with dinner,”

“Righty-ho. Ice and a slice?”

“Please”

He squeezes my shoulder. “Won't be a tick then. You look scrummy tonight by the way”

I love Martin by the way. I know I take the mickey out of him, and tease Anna about his old fashioned ways, but he is a diamond really. He had worked his way up in the traditional way at the stockbrokers he worked for, from office boy to one of the partners, collecting Anna on his way up. They were now disgustingly, jealous makingly rich, but Martin seemed to have avoided being either Wide Boy flash or New Money pretentious. He was still just himself, which was a relief. It kept my envy at bay, to be honest.

Anna is tinkling a spoon on a glass.

“Hello everyone! This is what you have all been waiting for! She's here! This is ...” I wait for the drum roll

“Asti!”

Good god. I'm amazed she didn't introduce me with “Roll up, roll up...”

Please ground. Open up. Swallow me whole. You'll find I'm very tasty.

My smile is freezing on my face, and I can feel my teeth sticking to the underside of my lip. I need to move nd get shot of the adrenaline I can feel flooding me before i break out into a cold sweat.

I look around. So many people! How many has she invited? And there aren't many women either... oh God.

I'm going to have real trouble brazening this out. I wish I had never come. I really don't like a lot of people at one time, I prefer small cozy groups, maybe 6 or 7 max. This is like the opening of an exhibition.

Of course, I realise. it is an exhibition. And the star – in fact the only – exhibit, is me.

I turn round to fine an elegant tall waiter standing beside me, bearing a tray with a tall glass.

“Your water, madam”

“Thank you “

Good, something to sip and detach my teeth before I have to speak to anyone.

Good God, Good God. I have just realised. They've catered it! How can I live up to this? I want to run and hide somewhere. I can feel a panic attack on the way.

I need to calm down about this. OK, it is over the top, but what a lot of effort Anna has gone to just for me. I glance sideways at her. She is looking anxious and nervous.

I link arms with her. She is my bestest friend in the whole world, We have loved each other since we were 11, and there is no way she has anything but my best interests at heart. And it is the intention that is important, isn't it? Can I just go with the flow? I can but try.

Deep breath then. It feels like i have been panicking for ages, but it is only seconds really.

“Come on, you can't just announce me like the first course at dinner... introduce me properly!”

A tall blond man is walking up to us.

“Hi. I'm Adam. I work with Martin, I'm so glad to meet you. Isn't the news wonderful?”

“Hi Adam, lovely to meet you too. Umm, which news is that? “ I laugh lightly. Anna is making “I'll tell you later” faces. “There is always something happening with these two, I can't keep up...” She looks a bit happier.

“Martin's promotion to Partner? I think we're celebrating that?” He looks quizzically at Anna. She smiles and mutely nods encouragement to me.

“Ah, yes. I thought you were going to say Anna was pregnant for a moment there...”

Oh the daggers! My thick hide deflects them... ha! gotcha there then. babies are NOT on Anna's to Do list.

----------------------------

p.s. Please forgive the grotty typing.. I typed this on my little Eeee at about 6 this morning, and my fat fingers don't always hit the write buttons... sigh. And one of the rules of Nanowrimo is NO EDITING!! NO REVISING!!! JUST WRITE!! So I do.

NaNoWriMo - Day 4 - Bizzy Daze!

2009-11-04T18:24:00.001Z

Didn't get to write yesterday evening, Didn't get to write yet today (out since earrrrlllly this morning at auction buying up stuff for eBay). But I hope to Get To It later today after my slimming club meeting.. (yes, it is working this time it would seem for those who have backtracked and read of my weight angst. :( )

So I promised you a smidgeon of last year's novel-in-writing. So here is Chapter one of The Minx, which was a Young Adult Fantasy, rather different to this year's offering.

See what you think...

The children were lying on the grass in front of a stand of bamboo. The sun was warm and tickly, and Izzy was making spots on the insides of her eyes.

She opened and shut her eyes to make the spots change colour. Open. She looked at the reflection of the sun on the flickering bamboo leaves. If she moved her eyes slightly to the left, she could see dark spots… closed eyes, orange spots. Open dark blue spots… closed… a good sleepy game.

She glanced sideways at her little brother, asleep at the moment. He was a stocky strong little boy almost as big as she was even though he was 8 years younger. His black eyelashes made little shadows on his downy cheeks. His fists were tightly clenched in his sleep, and his dark winged eyebrows drawn down in a frown. Izzy thought he looked like he was about to burst. Her job today was to look after him, and it wasn’t often he was nice and quiet like this. Usually she had to manhandle him into some sort of submission. He was a little ball of energy. She smiled to herself. She had probably been the same at his age. But smaller.

Izzy would be 14 next birthday, she knew that things would soon change. She sat up and hugged her knees, thinking about what the future might bring her.

She wondered if she would grow any bigger. It would be good to be stronger, and not to be the tiniest person in any group. Small and delicate, she stood a smidgeon over 4 feet tall, and she got fed up with looking up at people, it gave her a crick in her neck.   Her pretty cat-like face was topped by a mass of dark russet hair which grew strong and thick from a peak on her forehead and waved down to her shoulders. It continued in a narrow ridge along the length of her spine, showing through the split in the back of her tunic. She wore her hair loose (and tangled at the moment) with fine plaits and tinkling bells woven into the sides and along her spine. She fiddled with the plaits around her ear. There was a catch on one of her long nails and she absentmindedly tugged one plait free. She came back from miles away, and looked at her nails. They were slender like her hands and feet, long and sharp, she could retract them like claws to keep them from breaking or snagging on things. She had been looking after them, her mother had promised that she could have them decorated as a birthday present this year.

“You are growing up nicely now, darling” Amma had said to her earlier in the year. “There are lots of lovely things you can look forward to now you are becoming a woman. We can have your nails gilded, and perhaps your first toothstone? Would you like that? “ Amma smiled widely so that Izzy could see the pretty gems that encrusted her two eye-teeth. “I had my first stones when I was about your age, the blue ones in the middle. Come and have a close look, I don’t suppose you have ever really seen my teeth up close, have you?”

Izzy was very curious. Her mother was right, she hadn’t seen her teeth close up. They were so beautiful. A line of tiny blue stones snaked down the centre of each long eye-tooth. Each side was intricately chased and inlaid in gold and platinum with rubies and diamonds catching the light. As she looked, Izzy could see that this wasn’t a random design, it was a little dragon on each side, each one facing the central S.

“Are they real rubies and diamonds?” she asked.

“Yes” Amma replied. “and the blue ones are lapis lazuli. I wanted sapphires but they were too expensive then. I suppose I could have them replaced now with more expensive stones, but really I like the fact that Grandma bought them for me. Your father gave me the dragons for our wedding, for luck.” She closed her mouth and wriggled her jaw

“Oof – keeping my mouth open makes my jaw ache! Just like when I had them done – it took hours you know, I had to take four breaks when they were doing the dragons.”

“Can I see your nails too?” asked Izzy.

Amma reached out and took Izzy’s hands. She stretched out her fingers , extended her nails and smiled.

“I love my nails” she said. “If I had to lose my tooth-stones I would be very unhappy, but if I lost my nails I would be heartbroken.”

She is right to love them, thought Izzy. I would give my eye-teeth (especially once they are jewelled) to have hands like my mother’s.

Amma’s hands were very long and narrow. The sides of the fingers were covered in tiny golden freckles, each one quite separate and distinct. Izzy’s spots clumped together in places so they were more like squiggles than freckles near the knuckles. I wish I were this elegant, she thought, with a little sigh. She gave herself a little shake, and ran her fingers down the length of her mother’s nails. So hard, so sharp, so beautiful.

Extended fully now for Izzy to look at, they were nearly half the length again of each finger. Each long nail tapered to a curved point, viciously sharp. Normally, they would be kept sheathed for safety. Izzy knew only too well how easy it was to puncture yourself with those needle sharp tips. If she forgot and fiddled with her plaits with her nails out a little bit, she ended up with a crisscross of little red lines under her ears. Inlaid into each nail was a curling design of gold. Red, white and pink gold, all seemingly tangled up into such an intricate pattern it was hard to see where it started and ended. It was highly polished and burnished so that it was just below the surface of the nail itself.

“How many nail sheddings will these last for?” she asked her mother.

“I have had them for 10 years now, the gold was very thick to start with. I have it reburnished whenever I shed a nail skin, but I don’t know if they will last much longer. They’ll need to be redone soon, I would think. Maybe we can have them done together?”

Izzy smiled at the memory. It was lovely being that close to her mother from time to time. But being treated as an equal and a growing woman , although it was delicious, was also very worrying. Her smile faded. Because it meant that she could expect to start changing any time soon…and nobody had really told her what that would mean. Her mother had told her just a little bit, but then she just said it was her own mystery and she would “know when the time came”. Most unsatisfactory. How could she possibly know when the “time” had come, if nobody would tell her what would happen when the “time came”!

------------------

Mickal had woken up and was feeling wicked. He curled his nose and made waving gestures with one hand, his bright blue eyes twinkling with glee as he pointed at his sister.

“Gahh …You stink!” He said.

He rolled up into a ball and started to giggle wildly, hugging his arms and rocking from side to side. He stamped his feet on the soft fine grass and crowed again. “Stinky stinky stinky… eeewwww ….   aaaaggghhhhh”   His gloating cries tailed off as Izzy got a firm grip on his jacket, flipped him over onto his stomach, sat on top of him and bounced up and down until he stopped shouting.

She settled herself comfortably and sat fiddling with her plaits. She felt mortified. Mickal was only 6 and her baby brother and she shouldn’t take what he said seriously, but even so.

“Aaaaaghhhh . Izzy!!! Get off! You’re squashing me!”

She bounced up and down again.

“Shut up. You’re a horrible child and you deserve to be squashed.”

She didn’t stink. She was sure of it. Wasn’t she?   She ticked off the possibilities in her head. She had showered that morning, her hair was clean. Clean clothes yesterday. Had she eaten anything, like garlicky or cheesy? No. It was warm, not too hot, so it wouldn’t be sweat stink…

A terrible thought came flying into her mind. Oh no. Not that. Please. Not yet.

She picked Mickal up under one arm and carted him back into the house. He was screeching in protest, but she tightened her grip and ignored him. Wretched imp.   Plopping his squirming body down inside the door, she went in search of her mother.

P.S. I was reading a bit more of last year's writing, and found this bit,which I really enjoyed writing. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Izzy hopped down from the bed and grabbed the kettle. She decided to make a cup of tea while thinking about what all this was about. The bathroom was over in the corner, and she walked in to get some water for her tea.

Oh! She had never ever in her entire life seen anything like this.

She had always thought that her bathroom at home was really nice. Her family was very educated and high class, and they had lots of nice things. In fact, her friends liked to stay over just so they could use the shower, as they always said it was much more powerful than any of them had.

But… this bathroom was amazing. The walls were covered in lustrous ceramic tiles, patterned with ferns and tropical flowers so that she seemed to be in a jungle. The bath was deep and sunken, more like a small swimming pool, the shower was even bigger than the one at home, and there was a separate drying cabinet. A drying cabinet! She had always wanted to try one of those.

She filled the kettle and padded back into the bedroom. Once she had made her tea, she decided to explore the wardrobe. If the room was anything to go by, the contents of that would be extra nice too.

She pulled open the double doors, and was startled to find that it only contained a simple blue tunic, made of quilted cotton, simply buttoned down the front, with no decoration at all, not even down the backslash. A matching pair of pull on trousers, and plain blue leather boots. A small empty rucksack was on the floor of the wardrobe. That was it.

Cantrain had mentioned something in the chest of drawers. Perhaps that was where the good stuff was. The chest was beautifully made to match the wardrobe, pale shining satinwood with twisted glass handles. She pulled open the top drawer. There was a small vanity bag, containing a toothbrush, some plain white soap and shampoo and some emery sticks for her nails. She opened the other drawers, but they were all empty.

How very odd, she thought. All this luxury in the furnishings, but the things I get to actually use are very plain. Well, never mind. Might as well take advantage of the luxurious bathroom at any rate.

Cup of tea in one hand and a shortbread biscuit in the other (she had found a little box of biscuits in the tea caddy – even more like a hotel!), she padded into the bathroom. She really wanted to try out that drying cabinet. But should she have a bath or a shower? Oh. Decisions, decisions. She laughed out loud. Why not have both?

The water running into the bath was a glorious emerald green, and scented with jasmine flowers. She wondered if this was full of essential oils and minerals, like you would expect to find in the most expensive spa. The bath was simply huge, and would take ages to fill, so she walked over to the shower whilst it was filling. She would have her shower whilst it was filling. Izzy wondered just how powerful it would be, it would be good to be massaged and pounded, and then to relax in the bath with her cup of tea.

She put her cup down on a little table next to the bath, and finished off the last crumbs of her biscuit. Maybe another one to go with her tea? Why not.. let’s make the most of this.

She had already kicked off her shoes, so now she stopped for a moment as she walked back into the bedroom to appreciate the softness of the carpet. Silk, she thought, as she wiggled her toes in sheer joy.

Back in the bathroom, biscuit (well, three actually) carefully perched next to her tea cup, she turned her attention to getting the shower to work. Two levers seemed to control the heat and one in the middle must be the amount of water? So what were the other controls?

She dropped her clothes in one corner, and stepped into the large marble floored cubicle, pulling the glass door shut behind her. She raised the central lever slightly to let a trickle of water through, adjusted the temperature, then raised it all the way. Whoooossh! The water hit her like a tropical storm, hot and steamy, streaming down her slender body. She luxuriated in the strength of the waterfall for a few minutes, and then turned the flow down a little bit, so that she could open her eyes. Now for the other two controls.

Unlike a normal lever, the control turned all the way around like a joystick. There was a big silver button in the middle of the joystick. She tentatively poked the button. The roof and walls of the shower cabinet slid back to reveal a network of tiny nozzles. She moved the joystick upwards, and shrieked as jets of water fountained up between her toes. Downwards and the water moved from the floor to the roof. She swivelled the joystick to one side and the water moved that way. Screaming with laughter, she swung the joystick from side to side, up and down, round and round, as the water swirled and thundered over her.

She turned the water off and leaned on the side wall. How exhilarating! How exhausting!

Time for her bath now. She opened the door and the scent of the jasmine immediately hit her. She loved jasmine. The bath had filled up nicely, so she stepped down into the soft green water and relaxed against the satin covered cushion that was attached to the edge of the bath. Her tea and biscuits were within easy reach, and the tea was still hot. How good did bliss get.

After playing with the Jacuzzi jets in the bath for a while, and discovering that there was underwater music (although getting water in her ears whilst she listened to tinkly piano music was perhaps less than exciting), Izzy decided she had had enough of water for one day. She stood up and reached for one of the towels on the rack overhead. Light as thistledown, she shook it loose and found it was a huge sheet that wrapped round her several times. Another smaller one around her head, and she decided to investigate the drying cabinet.

Her parents had been talking about these a while back, when they were renovating the bathroom, but it had turned out to be far too expensive so they hadn’t got one. But Izzy remembered the excitement in her mother’s face when she thought that they just might get one. So it must be something extra special.

She opened the glass door to the cabinet. Rather like the shower cabinet, it had lots of small round openings on the walls, roof and floor. A touch pad was inset into one wall, so this was obviously how it worked. Izzy dropped her towels in a soggy heap outside the door and stepped in. She peered at the touch pad, and clicked her tongue in irritation. Why were there just silly squiggles on the controls and not nice plain words that explained what everything did? She sighed. Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound – she pressed a button at random.

With a faint sigh, the cabinet vibrated slightly, and she felt herself enveloped in a fine mist – it smelt of fresh fruit and tropical flowers, and settled in a silky veil on her damp skin and hair. She felt the vibrations increase, and found the water was shaking off her skin in tiny droplets. Oh, how odd, she could feel her body quivering, the tremors reaching right into her stomach. She could actually see the water flying away from her like drops of fine drizzly rain. She extended her nails and combed through her hair, twisting around to groom the thick ridge along her spine. She always had tangles at the back, and usually needed to be careful in teasing out the knots without breaking her bells or undoing the plaits, but the mist seemed to have softened all the tangles and in minutes she had everything under control. Her hair smoothed back from her brow, and tumbled down her back in even ripples.

In a matter of minutes, her hair and skin were warm and dry, smooth and soft from the fine oils in the spray mist. She felt so pampered.

NaNoWriMo - Day 3

2009-11-03T10:55:00.000Z

As I said, I have decided to try NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)again this year. To write a novel, of any kind, no editing, just get the words down. 50,000 of them. By the end of November, no later.

Tough call for November, one of the busy months of the year. Birthdays, run up to Christmas, lots of eBay packing. Still it is ok to add to my pressure, and the fun of writing should carry me through.

So a week ago I started trying to think of a plot. Nothing would come. Like, nothing at all. You can't start to outline a book without any semblance of a plot.

Then suddenly, it was Sunday, it was November 1st and Nano was on me like a pile of wet snow. What to do? All Sunday I angst about it. I cooked a special birthday dinner, still angsting. In the end I decided to just sit down at the computer and let it run. Get some words down and see where it would lead.

I wrote:

"Most people seem to like to start at the beginning of a story. Me? I turn to the end, see what happens there, and then work my way through the book to find out what made it happen. "

So far so good. And then I thought... what about writing a book about me... not my life, not what is happening to me, but about me as a person, my thoughts and attitudes to life? And so to concoct a fairystory about me. So that is what my book is about. It is My Other Life.

Day three today, and I have realised that the first bit is rather sparse. Never mind, week three and four are for padding it out I reckon. This week is to write from the seat of my pants and get the semblance of a plot down. Three peaks, three troughs. A beginning, a middle, and an end. That is my aim for this week.

Fancy a bit more of My Other Life?

Here you are:

Most people seem to like to start at the beginning of a story. Me? I turn to the end, see what happens there, and then work my way through the book to find out what made it happen. I feel really twitchy if I don’t know how things are going to finish up.

I like to know what makes things tick.

I was the kind of kid who took clocks apart to see what made them tick. You know the type? The geeky one, who sat in the library reading books while everyone else was out in the sun playing kiss chase.

So I like my life to be nice and ordered. Neat and contained. All the edges defined.

Be good if it stayed that way for longer than six minutes.

Now don’t get me wrong. I like my life really. I have a great job, a pretty flat in a nice part of town, a tight bunch of friends I can call on for rest and relaxation. I have a cat. But..

What’s it all about? Oh, I know, Alfie didn’t know either. But I want to know… god damn it, I need to know. What am I going to end up being in this life? Can I rely on a career to take me interesting places and fill in the spaces of my life that way? Will I be a spinster with my cat by my side? Will I be an unruly madwoman when I get to my 80s?

I ask these questions because I am missing that one little segment in my happy orange.. I am unattached with no one in sight.

I was sitting in a bar the other night with my friend Anna.

“where are all the good men…” I droned

“what do you want a good man for? Get yourself a bad one! “

“where are all the bad men then…” I droned again

“over there where the grass is greener. Get a grip girl!”

I love Anna. But don’t go there for tea and sympathy.

“you’re all right.. you’ve got your man”

“yes. Havent I just..”

Smug little bitch. Anna is happily ensconced in a large garden flat in Islington with a suavely goodlooking capstan of industry. Needless to say the cheaps counter at Sainsbury’s is not on her daily check list.

“don’t be such a smart arse. Nobody loves a smart arse”

“Martin does.” She said in her smart arse voice.

“Martin can pay for the next round then…”

Two margaritas later, we decided that Martin could pay for a little snack too. Garlicky prawns. Mmm. Well I had no plans for kissing any one, so a bit of indulgence wasn’t going to go amiss.

“you know, there are plenty of good men around, Asti – you just aren’t looking very hard. Where are you looking?”

I sighed. I really didn’t feel that I should have to look very hard. Love was supposed to happen. Just like that. If you had to go looking it made for a desperation that was less than attractive in a person.

“work… around…oh, I don’t know. I don’t want to go out searching for lurve… you know what I mean?”

Anna gave me a waspish look.

“ well your knight in shining armour is not likely to come searching for you on the tube to Oxford Circus, is he?”

Now that wasn’t fair. She had after all met Martin the Wonder Dog at the fireworks counter at Sainsbury’s last Guy Fawkes night. She really had no right to tick me off about not joining every internet dating site on Google.

“How’s Martin’s Roman Candle these days then?” I said, haughtily.

Anna snickered.

“Damn fine, let me tell you….”

Blimey! Doesn't time fly!

2009-11-02T15:37:00.000Z

I can't believe it is about a year since I last posted on here...

It has been a pig of a year, but I think the worst is coming to a close now, so I can get back on a steady track again. Maybe I'll tell you all about it one day, but it is still a bit too painful for me yet. Save to say I now have certain things back in place:

I am now seeing a lovely psychotherapist who is helping enormously.

I am back with Slimming World (I say back, the last time was about 10 years ago, but it worked then and its working now) and losing steadily - one stone in just on 2 months. Not Speedy Gonzales, but hey! every little helps as the Tesco ads say.

I have just started National Novel Writing Month for the second year running.

So life doesn't have to be difficult any more, does it?

A round loaf is a thing of beauty

2008-10-15T18:20:00.003+01:00

Not been around lately, what with going on holiday for a few days (back to Menton if you wanted to ask), moving my Mum into sheltered housing and losing internet access...

My starters though managed quite happily through the mess of my life, calmly sitting in the fridge gently bubbling and smiling to themselves. Time for the White One to come to the fore again I thought. And it was so strong! I fed it up over two days, and it was bubbling like a little volcano. There is no doubt that as these two starters are getting older they are more and more reliable.

So, using Hamelman's trusty Pain de Campagne again as my base recipe, substituting 200g of rye flour for the same of plain, I decided to try out my newest acquisitions, 2 lovely cane bannetons bought from eBay for a very good sharp price...

The last couple of times I have baked, I have left the dough in the fridge overnight, but the timings didn't work for me this time, so this was made and baked in the one day. I think the flavour in the overnight is perhaps a little more rounded, and I think also that I like a little more rye than this had, but it is still a good bread.

Doesn't it look lovely? I did make two, but the other pictures didn't come out well (and this is a bit dodgy) but it does show the lovely break in the crust.

Now, I know that properly speaking, it is not supposed to do that, it should have been proofed a bit longer so it just opened out the slashes, and didn't actually make a break for the border, but I love the texture of these explosions, so I am not at all unhappy.

And the crumb is nice and not too big holey, just perfect for toast in the morning.

Because, even though holes are nice, your Marmite falling into your lap is perhaps less than desirable.

I think that is it for my basic Rye and Wheat Sourdough, I think my "journey" is played out, it is now a good staple, easy to do, no problem. Start on Thursday evening with first feeding, feed again on Friday evening, ferment and fold on Saturday, bake on Sunday. It sounds a lot of faffing about, but it is so easy and quick each time, just a question of minutes. Well worth it.

Next challenge is to find a recipe for a white loaf that will give me the same flavour I remember from when I was a child, and all bread was baked by small bakeries on the premises. I want a fat, luscious bloomer. All slashes and poppy seeds, and soft swirly crumb.

Any suggestions gratefully received...

Oatmill Loaf - or how to get your oats....

2008-09-14T17:11:00.003+01:00

Oooooh, this has come out nicely.

Very soft crumb, thin crust, should toast lovely.

When I built up the starter for the Pain de Campagne I made a bit too much, so decided to try out this new flour I found at Sainsbury's. It's probably been there for ages, I just haven't looked at it before. Oatmill by Allinson.

Recipe:

overnight starter:

50g ripe white starter (mine was 100% hydration)
50g wholemeal rye flour

mix to form a firm levain, cover tightly, leave at room temperature (about 68% at the moment here) overnight. In the morning it will be domed, and bubbly.

dough:

200g water
all the starter above broken into pieces

whisk a bit to soften the levain and start to dissolve into the water

Add:
200g Allinson Oatmill flour
50g White strong bread flour
1tsp salt
1 quarter tsp instant yeast.

Mix to a shaggy dough (I use my trusty dough whisk from Eric at Breadtopia) and autolyse for about 30 minutes.

turn out into oiled roasting tin and stretch and fold twice.
cover, bulk ferment for 2 hours folding twice more in that time.

After this dough should be puffy and more than doubled in size.

Degas and preshape, rest 15 minutes. Shape into batard. I didnt freebake this one, I thought it looked like it needed the help of a tin, so I popped the dough into a 1lb loaf tin, and left for another 45 mins or so until doubled again.

Meantime, preheat oven to gas mark 8.

When doubled spray with water, slash if you want to (I didn't - just forgot) I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top too, I thought they might go well with the oatmeal.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until internal temperature 200 degrees F. I think it could have been popped back into the oven out of the tin for another 5 minutes after that, the base has softened up quite a bit as it cooled.

I think it looks nice, what say you?

Pain de Campagne - two different ways

2008-09-14T16:08:00.009+01:00

I have been experimenting over the last couple of weeks with a recipe for Pain de Campagne posted on The Fresh Loaf .

You can find the recipe here:

Bread is lovely and open holey artisan type bread, made with a sourdough starter.

Last week I used my rye starter:

Nice loaf, but I made a mistake of making the rolls too small, so they were rather leathery, and not very nice toasted (which is how I eat most of my bread, for breakfast).

The crumb was lovely and open though. And the bread was very very tasty.

So I baked again today, but this time used my white starter, and added the rye in with the main flour.

Odd how just that small change can make such a difference in the bread.

David Snyder (whose recipe this is) also suggested that I bake a little longer, to get a crustier crust. So I did. Trouble is, my oven is hotter no one side than the other.

Peering through the door, I saw a lovely russety crust.

But when I took it out of the oven, I think dark brown may be tinged with ...

burnt.

Or at least it is in my book. But it IS crunchy!

The crumb is much lighter in colour than the last one, and much milder in flavour. It will be interesting to see how this toasts.

I have another loaf cooling at the moment - a completely different flour I found on the shelf at Sainsbury's. Allinsons Oatmill. Sounds interesting, so I'll report on that next when it is cool and cut open.

Update on the weight front...

2008-09-14T16:05:00.001+01:00

and round the back of course...

I am losing it all round luckily.

I'm due back to the doc next week, so I hope to have dropped a bit more, but I think I have lost about three quarters of a stone since I started. My clothes are noticeably looser especially around my waist (come on hips, keep up! ).

Reductil seems to work for me - I am not able to eat as much at a sitting, and so long as I have a smaller plate (so that visually I am still eating a full plateful) I am eating substantially less than before.

and no exercise yet ! Yay!

Bread Update

2008-08-03T16:17:00.004+01:00

I am pleased today...

I actually followed a recipe (Jeffrey Hamelman's Pain au Levain) without cutting corners and fiddling about with it. Well, that's not wholly true, I did keep a bit of flour back as my Dove Bread flour seems very absorbent.

My last attempts haven't made it up here as they have been ok (for which read edible) but nothing to write home about. Oh except for the last one that I managed to burn....

I have been adding a little bit of instant yeast in, and this has helped a bit, but the rise was still always sideways not upwards with no oven spring so it was obvious I was doing something wrong.

So here are today's offerings: One loaf (banana shaped, but it was bigger than expected so I had to curve it onto the baking sheet a bit) and some rolls.

I cut the rolls like Waitrose's Rustic rolls, or ciabatta, although the crumb will probably be tighter than ciabatta. I am being a good girl and not cutting until it is quite cold tonight.

The Sourdough is really lively now. The levain called for here was much stiffer than I had been making before, and I liked it much more. I think I will experiment a bit more with stiffer levains, and possibly poolish too.

It is such a relief to know I can do it. And the bread is made with no fat at all, and still tastes good with no butter so it is excellent for my low fat diet.

One worried doctor later

2008-08-03T12:00:00.002+01:00

Oh dear. I only went to the doctor to have my ankle checked out.

Not interested in that was he.. "Oh give it another month or so, if you are still concerned I can send you to chap in Homerton...now what are we going to do about your weight?"

oh dear. That is why I avoid doctors like the plague.

Weighed me. Up 2kg on last June when I had my last run of test. So my diet since May has done zilch basically.

I am now officially OBESE. and I have been put on Reductil. At least I was allowed to refuse Xenical. Catch me voluntarily having a leaky bottom... euch...

So I am back on track forcibly it would seem.

and will it stop me making bread??

Not on your nelly.

The Sourdough Saga - the disaster continues

2008-07-07T17:53:00.007+01:00

Oh woe is me...

The 2nd attempt has been nearly (not quite as the result is at least partly edible) as disastrous as the first.

However, for brick now read pancake.

I swear I followed the instructions - sort of.....

but I ran out of time, so I stuck the whole lot in the fridge overnight - see left how it came out. I thought it looked alright..

I knew that I had to let it warm up for a couple of hours in the morning so I did just that. Except it never really rose properly again after turning it and shaping it. I think I should have put it in the fridge much earlier on, instead of giving it pretty much the full rise time before it went in, as I think I exhausted my starter and shaping the bread just pushed all the oomph out and there was nothing left to carry on.

Nice crust, but soggy inside... tasted ok day one, but the nice air bubbles showing in the photo subsided like a soggy brick day two. Now binned like Take One....

Never mind.

Better luck next time.. maybe it will be third time lucky?

The Sourdough saga - day 2

2008-07-03T13:36:00.004+01:00

Bread hit the bin.

Interestingly, it was less sour yesterday after sitting overnight. But there was no doubt of its brickdom.

So... starters out of the fridge, sat overnight to warm up, fed 1:4:4 by weight this morning - rye, one white. Rye came out much doughier, white more liquid, obviously down to the absorbency of the flour.

That was at 9 am , now half one, and only small bubbles on both. So alive but not thriving. Will have to split and feed again this evening and keep my fingers crossed.

If I can get this up and running properly, I can test my idea that perhaps eating sourdough bread will be good for the system and fight any candida that might be affecting my weight loss (for which read lack of...)

Making Sourdough.... first trial.

2008-07-02T08:10:00.006+01:00

When we were in France recently, I was eating the gorgeous pain de seigle that is served everywhere. Lovely moist bread, slightly grey in colour, just a slight tang from the rye.

Could I find it here... no chance.

The nearest I could find was the pain levain that is on sale in most good supermarkets (we don't have a good artisan baker near here) but that was still not quite it.

Levain - that is sourdough. So I started my internet searches, found tons of info on sourdough starters, and started my own. That was a week ago, and yesterday, I reckoned my starter was lively enough to bake bread with. After wandering around, I decided on Susan's Favourite Sourdough at Wild Yeast

weeeeeeelllllllll.....

I don't think I got it right this time. The bread is rather dark and hard and very very sour. I might try cutting very thin slices and drying it to see if makes nice crispy melba toast things, but I don't think I want to eat it as bread.

I think I was generally impatient:

a) I think I didn't let the starter get quite lively enough before I started.
b) I don't think I proved it quite enough - or that it was taking too long because I hadn't done a)
c) No oven spring, so something wasn't right.
d) Over cooked so crust is hard not crackly.

So starter out of the fridge again and feed until I see much more vigorous growth and start again.

by which time my dough whisk and scrapers should have arrived from the USA. Amazingly it was cheaper to buy from there and have it sent, than to buy in the UK (assuming I ever found a dough whisk which I hadn't up to now.) I bought it from Breadtopia - a very informative site.

naughty lazy girl

2008-07-02T07:57:00.003+01:00

I am a naughty lazy girl.

This blog is for my own benefit. But if I don't keep on the straight and narrow I can't seem to bring myself to report myself here. How mad is that?

Are there secret judges in my heart?
Am I a multiple personality that is going to make me stay in detention if I don't eat right?

Or am I just lazy?

Perhaps a bit of all three...LOL

Well to report to myself en bref...

pasta, bread, sarnies, potatoes.

Does that say it all? I think it might do..

Weds June 25

2008-06-25T13:09:00.003+01:00

Deep breath. Start again.

Tap for cravings. Tap for self sabotage. Tap for despondency.

Life is good really. I have no idea where the greyness comes from.

Maybe if I just ignore it and pretend it will go away?

So back to porridgy breakfast.

Tapped away craving for chocolate. Tapped away craving for bread.

And it's 1 o' clock with no cheats yet....

ah so - why is life sometimes just so despondent?

2008-06-21T12:19:00.002+01:00

I don't know.... sometimes you wake up and although everything is the same as the day before, it is coated with a grey foggy silted wet mass...

Know that feeling at all?

Welcome to my world the last two days. Nothing wrong, but I can't raise a cheerful smile at anything.

Kicked myself into action and went out with girlfriends last night, and we were having a "why am I so unlucky" discussion. And I realised that I considered myself lucky, and that I had never had much terrible happen to me. And then we started the "but what about....." bit. Actually a lot of pretty iffy stuff has happened to me along the way.

Except that all the bad things in my life I have never really considered as major traumas. I have always just handled it and got on with the next thing.

So that should mean I have a positive attitude, yes?

Well, no, actually. But then, if I presume the worst and something happens that is less than the worst thing I anticipated, it is a welcome relief.

So....

Is that optimism or pessimism?

Or just an Eeyorish tendency?

Because I am Piglet really.

I give up....

wednesday June 18th

2008-06-18T16:09:00.001+01:00

Brekkie
porridge, yog and fruit

lunch
2 x toast and scrambled eggs
banana

dinner
stirfried veggies and chicken, basmati rice

Tuesday June 17

2008-06-18T12:40:00.002+01:00

All day out at auction, so NOT a diet day. I find it almost impossible to keep to any diet when I can't prepare my own food.

brekkie:

toast & marmite, 2 slices, still no yog...

at auction mid morning
coffee
bacon roll with ketchup
Twix

Home in the afternoon
slice of bread & marmite
2 lemon biscuits

dinner
spag bol with salad

Monday June 16

2008-06-16T21:29:00.001+01:00

Not a good diet day. Out very early (6.30) to auction viewing, so no mood for fancy brekkies. And I ran out of Yoghurt. And am so tired that I didn't get any for tomorrow either... grrrrr..

so

brekkie

2 toast and marmalade

geo bar with coffee at auction house

lunch

2 large sausage rolls
2 lemon thin biscuits

dinner

roast chicken (small leg) with green salad and small portion pasta in stir in tomato sauce.

Sunday June 15th

2008-06-15T09:34:00.003+01:00

brekkie
toast & marmite. yog fruit, tea

off to lunch at my stepdaughters, so it will be a roastie dinner of some description...

it was roast beef with roast potatoes, broccoli and cabbage. No pudding.

hungry when we got home so raided the freezer and had

6 little sausage rolls... tsk tsk...

Saturday June 14

2008-06-14T11:32:00.003+01:00

brekkie
porridge, yog fruit, tea

lunch
tuna sandwich - tuna tspn mayo cucumber celery no butter
one lemon thin biscuit

snack whilst preparing dinner
crust off new loaf with butter and marmite... ooopsss...

dinner
cold roast chicken, rice salad, green salad, half beef tomato
small glass red wine

Dinner on Friday 13th

2008-06-13T21:14:00.000+01:00

dinner

small portion cold roast pork, brussel sprouts, butter beans, 1tbs new potatoes. Shall I tell you this was the more boring stuff I have eaten in a long while...it needed lots of buttery stuff on the veg to make even slightly interesting.

followed by strawberries tossed in redcurrant jelly with vanilla icecream and three Lemon Thin shortbreads.

MUCH BETTER!!

and a glass of red vino.

AND I plan to have a nice scotch later on.....

what was that rhyme? Oh yes...

There was a little girl,
  Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
  When she was good,
  She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


NB for curl on forehead see pic of me on honeymoon :-)

getting fed up with dieting.....:(

2008-06-13T18:55:00.003+01:00

I am very fed up with dieting today.

I have lost about 3/4 stone I suppose since I started which is not to be sniffed at.

If you compare my purply picture with the picture of me from Menton, I think there is a definite improvement....

But I am fed up with thinking about what I can and can't eat .

So I am going to have a "eat what you want but not too much of it at any one time" weekend, and hope the damage isn't too much.

Everyone has to have a break sometime, doncha think?

Oh, and I found this pic --- this is what I looked like on my honeymoon - any chance of getting this back do you think? hahahhahahahaaaa

Friday 13 June

2008-06-13T11:41:00.004+01:00

Oh! It's Friday 13th ...

brekkie
a treat for me...

toast and marmite. 2 slcs.
yog and fruit
tea

lunch was NOT a diety lunch...

(2 sausage rolls, two slices bread & honey... num num but oh dear...)

Thurs June 12

2008-06-12T11:42:00.002+01:00

Blimey nearly half way through the month again.

brekkie

same old same old
porridge, yog fruit.. yawn yawn...

lunch

half triple sandwich from Sainsbury cheaps

dinner

spaghetti, stir in tomato & olive sauce, green salad
icecream with fresh cherry sauce

Weds June 11

2008-06-11T21:57:00.002+01:00

brekkie
porridge, yog and fruit
coffee

lunch
slice bread and marmite, smear butter
Geo bar

dinner
half portion fish in sauce for starter, 2 small slices soda bread
ham & stilton salad

Tuesday June 10

2008-06-10T11:47:00.004+01:00

what can I say other than hrmmph. Gained weight this morning putting me back to 16st 7.

So it would appear that even the slightly little treats will stop weight loss for me.

Ergo, no more sweet things, cut back on the small amount of dairy.

grrrrrrrrr

brekkie
porridge, yog fruit. tea

coffee

lunch
tuna and cucumber sandwich, one tsp mayo no butter

dinner
ham and hb egg salad, small portion potatoes in vinaigrette, green salad
small slice (to finish it up) strawb cheesecake.

said no to lovely pain au raisin sitting on worktop... made Bob eat it...

Monday June 9

2008-06-09T12:25:00.003+01:00

brekkie - porridge, yog fruit, tea

coffee

lunch - salad, saucisson sec, small piece cheese, one slice bread lightly buttered.
tea
Pain au raisins

( I can see sweet things creeping back in- have to be careful and not let them get out of hand.)

dinner
Young's salmon in white wine sauce, (30p from Sainsbury's cheaps counter...) carrots green beans
Marco Pierre White Strawberry Mousse (15p from Sainsbury's cheaps counter...)

Sunday 8th June

2008-06-08T10:57:00.002+01:00

Brekkie - 1 x toast with marmite, 1 x toast with marmalade. Yog and fruit. Tea.

lunch half chicken salad, half egg mayo and bacon sandwiches

dinner chicken breast poached in tomato chili sauce, broccoli, green beans, small portion new pots.
small slice strawberry cheesecake
small glass red wine.

Saturday June 7

2008-06-07T16:38:00.003+01:00

Derby Day!

brekkie - Porridge

lunch - cheese tom cucumber sandwich,

3.30 before the derby

coffee, small slice cheesecake

(lost the Derby.... boooo hisssss)

dinner
pasta with tomato sauce, parmesan. Green salad (well half of it as I had a coughing fit half way through... itchy salad and a cold don't mix it would seem!)

Friday 6th June

2008-06-06T23:04:00.002+01:00

brekkie

toast and marmite, yog fruit.

coffee and cherry frangipane tart

no lunch

afternoon snack - 2 slices parma ham
4 Dorita crackers with butter

dinner
lamb red pepper and onion kebabs
basmati rice
green salad, one tsp dressing

Thursday June 5

2008-06-05T22:01:00.002+01:00

Off to mums to take her out to lunch.

brekkie
two slices toast and marmite, yog and fruit

half a kitkat with coffee on route (ugh... M25 the pits today - 2.5 hour drive took 4.5 hours instead....)

lunch at the Museum Inn in Farnham Dorset

Chinese parcel with star anise broth to start

North Dorset chump of lamb with roasted mediterranean veggies, wilted spinach and roasted balsamic vinegar new potatoes

Lemon creme brulee with shortbread biscuits

coffee and a chocolate truffle

expensive but very worth it!

wednesday June 4th

2008-06-04T09:50:00.003+01:00

Ok, last two days I was abducted by aliens...

I ate all right, but too much bread as ever. and I couldn't find the energy to write it down.

So yesterday I came down with a heavy cold ,which probably explains the lack of energy.

But, can't let it slip too much, so back to business again today.

Brekkie 10.00

porridge, yog fruit (nearly out of fruit so not a lot of selection..)
two nurofen and a glug of cough mixture... ptooey...

rest of day - 4 cold chipolata sausages with salad, 2 small slices wheaten soda bread

dinner - cold chicken, cold ham, carrots and peas, tbs onion conserve

and the other half of sticky toffee pudding and icecream.... (glossed over by saying very quickly)

Sunday June 1st

2008-06-01T13:31:00.004+01:00

Wow June already - Looking forward to lovely warm days and salads and easy dieting... hahahahahahahaha... it's grey and cold and suitable for soup and stew out there...

brekkie 5.30 before boot fair

2 slices white toast scraping butter and marmalade, yog and fruit
tea

at boot fair
3 cups coffee
one choc chip digestive biscuit
home made ham and salad sandwich, scraping of butter only
banana

home 1.30
tea small slice bread no butter

snack 5.00
two slices bread - one with just butter, one with marmite no butter, 4 dried apricots
tea

dinner 7.15
soup - clear chicken and celery, ciabatta roll
beef and tomato stew, broccoli

too much bread today!!! disgraceful....

Saturday May 31

2008-05-31T13:59:00.003+01:00

Brekkie 7.30
porridge, yog fruit
tea

lunch (auction view) 13.00
home made stilton tomato and lettuce sandwich - only small amount of cheese, and scraping of butter
coffee

on returning home 14.00
tea
one square dark chocolate
bit later... another square dark chocolate

dinner 8 pm

ciabatta roll, bowl homemade celery and chicken soup
three cumberland Duchy sausages, roast tomatoes, roast butternut squash

Friday 30th May

2008-05-30T11:33:00.002+01:00

brekkie 9.30

porridge, yog fruit
tea

11.00 coffee 11.30 another coffee ...

lunch 3.00

two scrambled eggs, two slices rye toast no butter. Two raspberries.
Tea

dinner 8.00
chicken spezzatori (with vinegar garlic and anchovies) small portion new potatoes, salad. Small glass red wine.

Thursday May 28

2008-05-29T12:04:00.003+01:00

Brekkie 9.00
Proscuitto and melon, yog and fruit
tea

11.30 coffee

lunch 2.30
2 poached eggs, 2 slices rye toast, no butter
handful walnuts and for some inexplicable reason a small spoon of honey! (what???)

coffee

Out to dinner with the girls at Prezzo

quarter roast chicken, potato gratin, small caesar salad, coffee (4 chocolates with coffee...but no dessert...)

Wednesday May 28

2008-05-28T10:22:00.002+01:00

Brekkie 9.30
porridge, yog fruit
tea

coffee

lunch 2.00
sandwich - half ham and mustard, half chicken and salad. One mini pork pie, cucumber sticks.
Tea

snack handful walnuts

dinner 8.00

Fresh chargrilled tuna steak, french beans, small portion new potatoes , half pat of sun dried tomato butter that came with the tuna steaks.

summer pudding with icecream
one half square dark chocolate

Tuesday May 27

2008-05-27T11:30:00.002+01:00

Brekkie 9.30
porridge, yog fruit, tea
coffee

no lunch

snack
cherry tomatoes

one small square dark chocolate

dinner 8.00

two Duchy Originals sausages, colcannon (potatoes cabbage onion, no fat or milk), gravy from mix, no added fat.
1/4 of bought summer pudding, icecream
1 inch of red wine (!)

EFT

2008-05-27T09:16:00.002+01:00

I've been looking into EFT - lots of vids on You Tune, and a variety of websites, showing how it works. I like Gary Craig's original site: http://www.emofree.com/

I am trying to work on my hunger (linked to a sense of lack from a post war 1950s childhood I think) . It seems to be keeping any cravings at bay, but we will see.

Scales showing no loss today... I think I need to work on my need for them to keep going down!

Or buy new scales of course...

Monday May 26 (bank holiday)

2008-05-26T11:10:00.005+01:00

Well it has to be a bank holiday - it is teeming down.. :(

and cold and damp makes me hungry..

brekkie 9.30
porridge, yog and fruit

(Realised the last milk I picked up was semi rather than skimmed, so I have been having fattier porridge than I am used to . As I prefer it with skim, rather annoyed about the excess calories without any taste advantage.)

lunch 2.30
sandwich unbutttered bread, proscuitto , cucumber. Spray of vine cherry tomatoes. Still hungry so two small slices brown soda bread, no butter.

whilst making dinner
crust from loaf with marmite no butter

dinner 8.00
brussel sprouts, broccoli, small lamb steak, mint gravy. Roasted rhubarb with honey, small portion vanilla icecream.

small scotch and ice

Sunday 25th May

2008-05-25T11:22:00.002+01:00

brekkie 8.30

porridge, yog fruit, tea

11.00 coffee

no lunch

4.30 snack
two slices honey and yoghurt soda bread, no butter, tea

7.00 dinner
roast chicken breast topped with sausage and bacon, brussel sprouts, carrots

Sunday treat.... chocolate creme brulee (going cheap at Sainsbury's and I decided not to resist..!!)

Saturday May 24

2008-05-24T12:17:00.004+01:00

Feeling rather fed up this morning. Couldn't be bothered to eat much, so

brekkie 10.00
just porridge. Yog and fruit made, but not eaten. Probably have later.

coffee 11.30

lunch 3 pm

cold meats and cold sausage with green salad
orange juice
coffee

6.30 pm

yog and fruit from this morning, tea.

8.00 dinner

spaghetti (half normal size portion - 90g raw weight) with tablespoon of Stir in Aubergine and tomato sauce, sprinkling parmesan. Green salad with tablespoon vinaigrette, pine nuts and sprinkling parmesan.

Friday 23rd week

2008-05-23T10:49:00.004+01:00

start of week three...

coo... I normally only last two weeks.

scales say down - 16 3 now. That's a loss of over half a stone in two weeks. Hurray!

I will be brave today and not have any of the mini danish pastries Bob brought home for himself yesterday evening... I know they are only little, but it might be the start of the slippery slope.

HOWEVER If I try to fool myself I won't have a bacon sandwich with him at lunch time, I am onto a complete loser...

brekkie 9.30

porridge with demerara, yog fruit. Tea.

lunch 14.00

bacon sarnie, tom ketchup, no butter
tea

dinner 8.00

starter and main course tonight!

asparagus, radishes, two small sushi, 1tbs mayo

2 sausages, mushrooms, broccoli
one glass red wine.

Thursday May 22

2008-05-22T20:35:00.002+01:00

Well it all started well,

brekkie 7.30 early off to auction...
porridge, yog and fruit, tea

then on the motorway I stopped for coffee... but I didn't mean to have the pain au raisin, guv, 'onest... (I did force myself to only eat the outer two rings and leave the middle bit)

lunch 2 pm

sarnie time - just a basic prawn one so not too bad. And a geo bar.
coffee

dinner 7.30 pm

Well, I had entrusted dinner to Bob. So we got:

steak and kidney pie (top crust only, but buttery flakey pastry - Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, and you can! ) carrots and broccoli.

I refused the new potatoes but I et the pastry..

oh dear ... yum yum yum...

Wednesday May 21st

2008-05-21T10:36:00.004+01:00

I think that my weight is down another pound... but my scales are so dodgy each time I step on them I weigh something different.... !!

brekkie 10.00

parma ham and mortadella, sliced pear. Yog and fruit. Tea

lunch 1.30

two poached eggs, slice bread no butter.

still hungry today...
sliver of dark chocolate

I shall have to go and eat something else soon, I am feeling a bit queasy (eggy taste possibly...)

aaagggghhhhh

4 pm

made a cup of tea and stood in front of the open cupboard and stuffed into my gaping maw:

slice bread with marmite
handful pine nuts
handful walnuts
another handful pine nuts
another handful walnuts
another handful pine nuts
up ended the rest of the pack of walnuts..

oh dear.....

dinner 8.00

lamb kebabs with red peppers and onions, baked provencal tomatoes (English tomatoes this time, not ones brought back from France - what a HUGE difference in flavour...:( ) half portion rice and spelt salad (going cheap at Sainsbury's) and some watercress/spinach salad.

ooooofffffffffff.... I should have stopped about half way through. But I didn't . Now I am stuffed to the gills. Silly person.......>:(

Tuesday May 20

2008-05-20T09:59:00.003+01:00

10.30 brekkie

porridge, yog fruit
tea

11.30

coffee, half inch square dark plain chocolate.

15.00 lunch

sandwich - two small wholemeal slices, left over pork from last night, chicory leaves, mustard. No butter.
tea

dinner 8.00

three course meal tonight! two mains bought cheap and needed to be eaten straight away, so too much eaten really...

smoked haddock fishcake with rocket and cucumber salad
Alaskan wild salmon fillet with green beans
Fresh orange jelly with raspberries and blueberries
coffee.

oooffff I feel very full.....

Monday May 19

2008-05-19T10:28:00.007+01:00

brekkie 9.30

porridge, yog fruit. (abbrev details as I have porridge nearly every day)

I thought I'd add a useful reminder to myself today of Why I Am Losing Weight.

a) I don't want to break a bone next time I fall over
b) I don't want to keep falling over
c) I want to walk upstairs without running out of breath
d) I want my joints to stop aching
e) I don't want to look like this anymore... (taken in Menton, South of France recently)

11.30

coffee

lunch 3.30

sliced saucisson sec, celery sticks, two slices bread no butter

4.30

coffee

8.00 dinner

Portuguese roast pork with green beans, broccoli
home made orange jelly with raspberries and blueberries

just fancied something fresh after the pork, which is quite rich.
Some left over for lunch tomorrow.

Sunday 18th May

2008-05-18T12:08:00.004+01:00

Brekkie - late 10.30
porridge with 2 spoons dem sugar (tsk tsk), yog with fruit
tea

12.00
coffee

lunch 2 pm

saucisson sec, cucumber, radish, tomato, red pepper, one slice bread, no butter. Tea

dinner 7 pm

loads of BBQ chicken wings, 2 new potatoes, green salad

half past 10
sneaky scotch and ice.....!!!

Saturday May 17

2008-05-17T10:42:00.004+01:00

So scales this morning 16 6 I reckon that is about 5lb lighter than after holiday weight. ( I didn't weigh myself when I first came back, so maybe even a bit more). Happy with that, I haven't cut the carbs right out, so it isn't completely water weight either.

9.45 brekkie
porridge with coffee spn demerara, yog with fruit - got some fresh figs and fresh peaches cheapies at Sainsbury's yesterday, so interesting fruit combination today. Figs, peaches, raspberries and blueberries. Very tasty.
tea

coffee mid morning

2 30 pm lunch
two poached eggs, one slice poppy seed bloomer, no butter on either. banana.

still hungry but maybe it is just working its way into my brain.....
whatever...

5.00 succumbed to another piece of bread and marmite - but no butter. Good girl!

7.30 dinner

beef and kidney braise with tomatoes, carrots, celery and peppers with brussels and butter beans - cold weather food!

Friday 16th May

2008-05-16T13:32:00.004+01:00

Dropped a whole lb this morning. Not a lot, but Yay anyway...

breakfast 9.30

porridge with coffee spn demerara sugar, yog and fruit.
tea

coffee 11.30

1.00 pm
slice of unbuttered poppy bloomer (cheat - couldn't resist, but I didn't need it really, wasn't hungry, just found my hand moved it to my mouth and that was that...)

lunch 16.00
bowl of soup (other half of pumpkin from yesterday) 2 small slices bread no butter
small plate of salame and mortadella with cucumber.

dinner 8 pm

oh dear ate too much....

chinese style stir fry, with a roasted duck breast on top, sticky plum sauce (only half the pack) with one large tbs of rice.

I was full after about half way.. but it was delicious.

So, reader, I et it....

thursday May 15

2008-05-15T11:28:00.004+01:00

Goodness a whole week... and nary a cheat at all!

Just got a copy of Paul McKenna's book "I will make you thin" out of the library... let's see what a bit of head work might do. I usually self sabotage after two weeks, so I need to get this week out of the way, then I can feel I am really up and running.

breakfast 9.30
parma ham, mortadella, melon, pears. Yog with fresh fruit (banana, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry) . Tea.

11.00 coffee

15.30 lunch

bowl of pumpkin soup

8.30 dinner

small lamb steak, tablespoon new potatoes, green salad, fresh runner bean salad with radishes and onions, ridge cucumber, tablespoon vinaigrette

Wednesday May 14th

2008-05-14T13:01:00.004+01:00

Sigh. No change on the scales... but I suppose at least I should be happy that no increase - rice and probably sugar in the Indian on Monday can't have done any good.

Got a couple of new books from the library for more tips so I'll see what I can glean from those..

breakfast 9.30

porridge, coffee spn demerara, yog with fruit (pear, blueberry, blackberry, banana)
tea

1pm
coffee

3.30 pm lunch

2 small slices wholemeal, thin slices of saucisson sec, tomatoes, cucumber. no butter!

8.00 dinner

3 fresh garlicky grilled sardines, green salad (lemon juice for dressing) tabbouleh, tomatoes with basil and drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

this was delicious! I wish I had taken a picture... LOL

Tuesday May 13

2008-05-13T10:31:00.002+01:00

Feel sluggish this morning - probably the Indian last night...

so Breakfast 8.30
just yog and fruit
tea

coffee at about 10.30

lunch 2.30ish

two small slices wholemeal bread, three slices of mortadella , cucumber, no butter

coffee/tea/water

dinner 7.30

rest of bacon from Sunday, courgette frittata, green salad, half chicken thigh, no skin

Monday May 12

2008-05-12T23:25:00.001+01:00

Busy auction day.

breakfast 7.30
parma ham, pear. Yog and fruit
tea

break 11.00
coffee
geo bar

lunch 3.pm

two chicken thighs

dinner
out with friends for Wendy birthday

Indian restaurant

poppadums and salads
lamb shashlik, pilau rice, salad, channa masala. Mango lassi, water.

Sunday May 11th

2008-05-11T16:15:00.003+01:00

Scales still the same.... hmmmmmm.....

new resolution - drink more water

9.30 breakfast

Parma ham, mortadella, pear and melon
yoghurt & fruit
tea

coffee mid morning

glass water

3pm late lunch

two slices ham & cucumber sandwich in organic white bread, no butter. Hot horseradish instead of butter!

7.00 dinner

roast ham, green salad with one teaspoon vinaigrette, broccoli in salad, small portion jersey potatoes, no butter.

lots of water

saturday May 10

2008-05-10T15:23:00.004+01:00

Saturday. Early morning start for auction viewing.

7.30 breakfast

porridge, yog with fruit.

10.30 break

coffee with Kellogs Crunchy nut bar

2.00 lunch

tuna salad (can tuna in brine, tbs mayo, chopped celery and guerkin in little gem leaves)
coffee
half slice white bread no butter

8.00 dinner

grilled haddock, provencale tomatoes , courgettes and onions

Tired and rather hungry. Think I'll have an early night.

Friday 9 may

2008-05-09T11:14:00.008+01:00

Weight this morning on my dodgy scales 16 7

Felt really hungry last night, succumbed to another banana and a small glass of whisky!! Probably because I didn't have the bread I was going to with dinner?

Naughty, I am trying to keep off the alcohol.

Preparing breakfast, found myself about to sliver a bit of butter from the dish (hubby having toast) - wonder how many times I have done that without realising the excess fat going into my body?

10.30 late Breakfast today:

proscuitto and mortadella with melon and pear
yoghurt with fruit
tea

3.30 late lunch

two slices Yorkshire ham with watercress and horseradish sauce in two small slices wholemeal bread...

wasn't going to have wheat, but I was hungry and a bit nauseous, so hope no butter will still make it not too bad...

Not a good day. difficult to keep on the straight and very narrow.

7.30 dinner

Pork steak with breadcrumby topping (cheapy readymade - ditched the sauce) broccoli peas and spinach.

very boring - just food....

Thursday May 8 - brekkie and lunch

2008-05-08T18:37:00.002+01:00

9.30 ish

Porridge with one coffee spn demerara sugar

yoghurt with raspberries blackberries banana grapes
tea

coffee

around 3

banana

tea

6.39

dinner set to be chicken backed in the oven, provencal tomatoes with breadcrumbs garlic and parsley, roast courgettes and onions. Bread alongside (no butter)

I'm hungry!!

Thursday

2008-05-08T08:32:00.001+01:00

16 st 7 the scales say...

mind you the scales are pretty dodgy, but I came back from a short holiday to South of France the heaviest I have ever been at just under 17.

Trying out "Bob's" suggestions for diet...

smaller portions, no dairy except non-fat, no wheat.

Yesterday Weds:

B: prosciutto and mortadella, melon and pear: yoghurt with blueberries banana grapes.
L: crab sticks, melon and pear, handful of nuts, banana
D: two slices York ham, salad, tablespoon vinaigrette

Gonna be much more expensive than food bills before :(

oh well here we go again

2008-05-07T23:19:00.001+01:00

I've lost my old diet blog....

I don't know where it is, I can't remember my username or which email it used..

I am such a blerk.

so.... off we go again