Oooooh, look at the muck in here :o)

I've been doing a bit of spring cleaning today, oh how flippin boring that was. I can't find any enthusiasm for these mundane tasks. I believe that some people actually like housework, goodness knows why. You sweep, dust, polish, vacume, wipe, and wash down, and bugger me, five years later it's all dirty again. I noticed that my front door and front porch was looking a bit shabby so I suppose it needed doing, after all, you never know who is going to step over your threshold.

So it was down with the net curtain, and into a sink full of hot soapy water it went. You should have seen the muck come out of it, I'm surprised that I managed to restore it to almost white again, thanks to a splash of bleach.  The home made shoe rack in the corner came out, boots and shoes were removed and it was wiped down with a wet cloth. All the nicknacks hanging on the wall were taken down. It took seven bowls of hot soapy water to wipe down the walls on two sides, the front door, and the glass at the front. I got fed up then and got the Dyson out to clean the carpet, and put everything back.

Well at least it now looks respectable for when people visit. You never know, the Queen might pop in to see me. Oh, I forgot, I am the Queen, ha ha.

My car insurance came up for renewal last week, pleased to say the cost is much lower than last year. That's because I have had a claim free couple of years, so it has gone back to what it was before I claimed. I also got it down a bit more by reducing my annual mileage, from 8,000 to 6,000. They told me that figure is not set in stone, and as long as I get it somewhere near I'll be alright. I don't seem to be doing many miles at the moment, I limit my short journeys and save up the miles for the longer trips.

My flippin knees are aching, I've got a big ginger cat sprawled right across them. Bugsy is going to have to move in a minute. My dinner tonight was steamed potatoes and cauliflower, with half a microwaved cauliflower cheese ready meal, with black eyed beans and garlic cream cheese added to it. Luverly jubberly.
Toodle pip.

A look into the future.

I looked at a piece of plastic and saw a face. I saw a robot, an alien, a strange creature from another planet. It had eyes, a mouth, and hands.  

Then I saw a spaceship, and it had windows. It's eyes have bionic vision, being able to see in all directions without moving. The flames glow red at the tips giving it the extra thrust it needs to leave the earths atmosphere and fly a million light years through the universe. 

There was a slash with jagged edges, it had been in a battle and was bleeding.

Looking out of the windows I saw ten little faces, miniature robots, not yet fully formed. They are waiting patiently for the right time to leave the parent robot.

I think it makes a nice centre piece above my fireplace.

And this is how it began, a piece of wrecked car.

What did I use to create this. Coloured vinyl, two flip tops from shampoo bottles, six curly electric cables, six pieces of  wire, hearing aid battery pack, the batteries replaced with beads, a pewter cat earring, a floppy disc, three silver discs from key rings, vinyl silk emulsion paint, and acrylic paint. It cost me virtually nothing.  I think it's turned out quite good, exactly how I imagined it. Toodle pip.

Blood but no guts :o)

Sorry, I haven't got much prepared for a post tonight, I've been getting on with the artyfarty stuff. I've finally got the blood sorted, had to look on the internet to see what a blood splat looked like. I was thinking I might do the whole design with coloured vinyl, but the blood had to be flowing over a curved area and it was too difficult to cut the right size shapes. I've ended up painting it on, needing several layers. Then I got another idea, there are ten small windows on it and I wanted something to be peering out of them. Suddenly it came to me, yes, that's it, that's what it needs. A lot of fiddly cutting and sticking of vinyl. I'm nearly there, just need some headlights on it, and a door. Might be ready tomorrow. It's looking pretty darn cool.

I took time out to go to town today, for a few things needed. I got chick peas from Home Bargains for 29p a tin, which I thought was a good price for saying they are about 70p in Tesco. Needed some Coffee Mate for £1.99, that usually lasts me three or four months. One spoon in one mug of coffee per day. Also got tinned tomatoes 4 tins for £1 at B & M, they are that price in Home Bargains as well. Eggs are 89p in B & M, and I got some of my favourite garlic cheese. Found some half price cooked ham for the cats, they love that for a treat. It looks like real ham, not the pretend made up stuff. I popped in Aldi so I could park there for free and walk into town. Picked up onions, cauliflower, and bananas. I don't need to go to Tesco now, with my top up shop I will have enough till the middle of next week.

Just a quickie tonight, my brain has gone to mush. Is it Friday again already, seems like only yesterday since I last said have a good weekend. Toodle pip.

Flippin heck, I must clean this screen, I have got a lot of full stops all over the place, where they shouldn't be.

Organising my cupboards

I thought I might go shopping tonight, but look at the time. I can't be bothered, besides I have plenty of food left here, I can last a few more days. Someone asked if I could post about my cupboards, now who was it? Frugalthingymabobwotsit, blimey what a long winded name. She wants to be nosey and see what I have in my store. Well here you are then. I did this once before but it was such a long time ago, the post has probably dropped down into the bowels of the blog, ha ha. 

I have oil, lemon juice, mustard, packets of spicey flavourings for stews, vinegar, tomato sauce, cuppa soups, stock cubes. This is all I need to add flavour to my food. There's a big bag of turmeric at the back which I use a lot of. I stocked up on the lemon juice while it was cheap.   

Various tins. Fruit, beans, tomatoes, rice pudding, spaghetti, sweetcorn, peas, and a jar of lemon curd. These basics do me fine. I might get some different beans next time I am in town, and I need some chick peas, will look in the Asian shop for them as that's where they are cheapest, although I have seen some in Home Bargains for 33p.

Sultanas, pasta, rice, cous cous, curry powder. I usually have some nuts and seeds in here, but I have run them down at the moment. Might get some more but they are very expensive now.

Cereals, five boxes of bran flakes, wheat biscuits, porridge. Someone gave me the instant cook in the microwave porridge, I am not too keen, prefer the proper stuff. Tesco Value has just gone up from 75p to 85p. Other supermarkets have put their up the same. Still a good buy though. Bran Flakes are 88p, no need to buy Kellogs.

Sixteen tins of evap milk, peanut butter, coffee, cocoa, fruit juices. I won't be buying that cocoa again, it's not very nice. Two tins of cider. I don't keep cider in all the time, I got a couple of packs for Christmas. I wait till I run out then buy another fourpack. Cider is a treat.

What's in the door of the fridge. Cream cheese, marmite, honey, garlic, peanut butter, lemon curd, fruit juice to dilute, lemon juice, and yogurt. The rest of the fridge is almost empty.  

I don't buy things that I might only use very occasionally. I don't like food hanging around for years, then getting chucked because I probably won't finish it. Just a few simple spices is fine by me, I am into simple cooking which requires basic ingredients, nothing too fancy for me.  

Today, breakfast was bran flakes. Lunch was a tub of home made curry with tagliatelle. Dinner was grilled salmon, steamed new potatoes, onion, runner beans, and sweetcorn, drizzled with toasted sesame seed oil. In between meals I ate some grapes and a banana, oh, and I pinched a bit if cheese. And by the way, I didn't tidy the cupboards just for the photographs, they are always like this. I like to see what I've got without scrambling through a lot of clutter.

Toodle pip.

Walk the 92 with Scott

Announcement.....this is a non food post, ha ha. Today I have been out for a little bimble, 14.08 miles to be precise. My walking companion for this trip was Scott. Let me introduce you to Scott, he lives in Portsmouth. So what is he doing up here in my neck of the woods? Scott is about halfway through a long distance walk, and I mean a really long distance, he is walking much further than my piddling 162 miles. He is walking the whole of England and Wales, with the intention of visiting all 92 football grounds. So how long is it going to take him? He started on the 19th of August, and the planned finishing date is the 7th of April. That's an amazing seven and a half months of walking. Here we are on the south bank of the Humber at South Ferriby, where I joined him this morning.  

So how did I get to know about Scott's challenging walk? He was on my favourite Radio Humberside show, Burnsy in the morning, on Friday, speaking from York. When he said he was heading in my direction I thought, aha, I think I will join him for a days walk. I got the bus and met up with him at 10am.

I wasn't sure of the route he had in mind, but I was able to take us away from a very busy and dangerous road full of heavy vehicles and no footpaths, onto a more quieter route of country lanes and paths. We turned up the side of the cement works and headed to Winterton.

In Winterton there is a lovely little community cafe, run entirely by volunteers. We had a very welcome break at The Cornerstone Cafe.  

From there we took minor roads through Thealby and Normanby, and made a short sandwich break at the lovely Normanby Hall. We were sticking to roads because of the heavy back pack that Scott was carrying, far easier for him to stride along on a solid tarmac surface. Coming into Scunthorpe we took a short diversion through Foxhills Industrial Estate, to cut a corner and to get on some quieter roads. The North Orbital road that leads down to the motorway is horrendously busy, so at the bottom of the hill when we ran out of footpath we diverted off to the left and found a safer route. 

Here we are at Glanford Park Football Ground. Scott is proudly showing his flag for the photo.  

After a drink and a rest in the pub nearby, I left Scott at 4.15pm to get the bus home. He had arranged for someone to come and pick him up and take him home for the night. Tomorrow morning he has a meeting at the Club for a tour round the ground and some more publicity shots, before he heads off in the direction of Doncaster. His next overnight will be at Thorne, about eighteen miles away.

Scott is doing this as a personal challenge, while raising money for a very worthy cause. Prostate Cancer UK is also the Football Leagues chosen charity for the 2012 - 2013 season. He has also applied to go into the Guiness Book of Records as the only person ever to have walked between all 92 football grounds in one continuous journey. All this from someone who has no previous experience of long distance walking.

So where's he heading next? Here is a brief rundown. Barnsley. Rotherham. Sheffield. Chesterfield. Derby. Burton on Trent. Nottingham. Leicester. Northampton. Milton Keynes. Stevenage. Peterborough. Norwich. Ipswich. Colchester. Southend. Dagenham. West Ham. Leyton Orient. Tottenham. Arsenall. Barnet. Watford. High Wycombe. Oxford. Reading. Aldershot. Brentford. QPR. Fulham. Chelsea. Wimbledon. Millwall. Crystal Palace. Charlton. Gillingham. Crawley. Brighton. Finish. 

Where can you get the full story of this epic adventure? 

 http://www.walkthe92.co.uk/

There are details on there on how to contact Scott, can anyone else meet up with him along the way and offer him some company. If you are a football fan all the better, though he can talk about other topics. There are photo's on the site of where he has walked so far, and if you wish to make a donation to Prostate Cancer UK, there is a Just Giving link on there.

I had a fantastic day with Scott, I have every admiration for him attempting this amazing walk, and I wish him every success with the rest of it. I am sure he will finish it.

Real food - v - instant food

Oh I am a silly B, I had a couple of pics of my meals yesterday, but it seems I have wiped them off the camera before I loaded them onto the computer. Oh well, never mind, I will tell you about them instead. Lunch yesterday was half a tin of baked beans spiced up a bit with minced garlic and turmeric. I plonked them on top of one and a half Staffordshire oatcakes, topped it with grated cheese, and back in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Lovely. 

Dinner yesterday was a delicious two egg omlette, shame I haven't got the picture, it looked scrummy. I filled it with mixed vegetables out of the freezer, plus the last two chopped up spring onions. When I make an omlette I cook the underside on the hob, then put it under the grill to cook the top. That way it stays in one piece. I am hopeless at flipping food over in the pan. It almost filled the plate, but I managed to nudge it over to one side and add potato salad, small tomatoes, pickled onions, and pickled beetroot. Very nice.

I've done a test drive today on one of these Mug Shot thingy's. Dried pasta in a cheese sauce, just add hot water. I don't usually buy things you mix in a mug, they are mostly horrible. I saw these in Poundland, three for £1, I thought worth a try. I have to say though that I didn't roll over in ecstasy. The sauce wasn't particularly flavoursome, and some of the pasta didn't soften up, despite me waiting the full five minutes, adding more water, and stirring constantly. No, these instant dried food type things are only handy to take on a camping trip. I'll save the other two packets to use when I am away from home.   

Here's another little teaser. I was struggling to make some flames for the artyfarty thing I'm making. This is what I have come up with, layered fabric. Not showing you any more. The eyes are done, now I need to add the blood, not sure what colour it should be though. Might change my mind and not do the blood, who knows what's going on in my mind, I certainly don't sometimes, ha ha.

More time taken up on the cat rescue today, another lady rang to say she wants to adopt a cat or two. She liked Garfield and Duchess, I had to disappoint her as they went yesterday to their new home. Not to worry, she can't take a cat untill next month, we might have some more by then. I am waiting for a text to go out and collect one shortly. It has been roaming for a month and despite putting posters up to find the owner, no one has come forward. We will take it in and keep looking. Eventually it will be rehomed if no one can be found.  

Organising my freezer

I keep reading about how food prices are going through the roof, mainly due to the poor weather affecting the growing season, which has a knock on effect to everything we eat. Livestock has to be fed to produce meat and dairy, so when the fields are swamped and crops lost, alternative feed must be sourced, usually from another part of our country, or from another country. Transport costs have to be paid for, which will be added to the price we pay at the checkout.

Some people complain that their favourite food item has gone up in price, me included, but if you break it down into individual ingredients, you can see where the extra costs come in all along the production line. I try and eat as much basic veg as I can, and try and keep away from the processed stuff. Apart from the fact that a lot of nasties can creep into food during factory processing, it's bound to cost more because of all the price increases of the ingredients. Even my basic veg is going up in price at the moment, so I have to think of ideas to stretch it out that bit further.

I thought I would show you the contents of my freezer, so you can see how I buy and organise my meals. I need to stretch every penny I spend, and make the best meals I can. I have three drawers, which gives ample space for me. I don't need to stockpile loads of food in a bottomless pit called a chest freezer. Families that feed lots of mouths might need one of those, I can only speak for me as a single person household. 

First, I have fourteen portions of salmon. I bought two bags of six a few weeks ago when Tesco had the double up promotion on vouchers. Then I had another voucher for £2.50 off, the salmon was already on offer at half price so I managed to get six for £2.50 plus voucher. So, there are fourteen meals there when added to veg, salad, rice, pasta, or bread.

I have one and a half loaves of reduced price wholemeal bread, and a single bun left from a pack of four. I know home made bread is better but it would not be cost effective for me to make it, given the price I pay for the yellow stickers. I don't want to spend more time in the kitchen than I have to, and I don't eat bread every day. It suits me to buy it cheap and freeze it.

Next I have half a bag of berry fruits. I'm not too keen on these as the pips annoy me. I shall put these in a smoothie and may not buy any more, except if the are on special offer, maybe. These is a pack of Staffordshire Oatcakes there. I like these as an alterative to bread. Make a filling and roll them up, or spread with a dab of marmite. They have a Christmas wrapper of so they were reduced.

The next drawer has nine portions of home made veg curry, stew, and soup, in different size pots. These can be eaten as a snack at lunch time, maybe with a slice of bread, or as a main meal with potatoes, pasta, or rice added. They cost very little to make, and are there as a convenient ready meal.

Third and last drawer. Three Value cauliflower cheese. I don't eat lots of these, I bought them as part of the double up Tesco voucher offer, so they basically cost me nothing. As I mentioned in a previous post, I cut these in half while they are still frozen, and add other veg to it, so six meals there. There is a big bag of Value mixed veg, to use as a standby when I have run out of fresh. Frozen is just as good as fresh, and it's convenient to dispense single portions as and when needed. I don't buy tinned veg, (except mushy peas), because a whole tin is too much for one meal.  Also in this pic is half a bag of sweetcorn, a portion of home grown runner beans, one cheese and broccoli bake, and one small smoothie. I bought the smoothie as a pack of four at a greatly reduced price. They are very nice frozen, like a tastier and healthier version of that nasty slush stuff you see in the shop dispensers. 

So you can see in my small freezer I have the basics for quite a lot of meals. My fresh veg is quite low at the moment, but I am not going to dash to the shops in a panic, I am going to eat some of what I already have.

When I was working full time I didn't have the time to be so well organised, I was too busy making enough money to live. Here's a thought, if you are running around like a headless chicken, trying to juggle family and work, and throwing anything willy nilly into a supermarket trolley, you are going to pay over the odds for your food. But if you can make time to sit down for an hour every night, and do a bit of forward thinking about what you are going to eat the next day, you could shave pounds off your food bill. A lot of people believe in meal planning, if it works for you then great. Personally I don't want to know what I am going to be eating next Thursday, I would find that quite boring. I like to eat what I fancy, so I buy cheap food which I really like, and which will keep a while. I keep a small stock in so I can dip in and out of it. Good luck with your meal planning and shopping. Investing a bit of thought and time into it is the only way to go.   

Cat rehoming and.......more food

Oooh look some new people have joined, I'm dead chuffed to see you here. Welcome, come on in, put your feet up and make yourself at home. This is the place where we talk about allsorts. At the moment it's a bit foodie because I have been asked what do I eat to stay the same weight. I've got to let you into a bit of a secret here, I weighed myself today for the first time in months, and I've put a few pounds on. Can't grumble though because I am still only 8.5 stone, so that will do fine. Don't know how it happened, probably because I am not doing a lot of walking during the winter, and I'm probably eating more carbs.

Anyway, let's kick off with breakfast. Porridge with sultanas and a fresh juicy peach.

I then got a bit busy and had things to do so I sort of missed lunch. Managed to grab some crackers and cheese to keep me going. I had a long phone conversation this morning, my two cat rescue friends were not available so I took the call. A lovely lady had lost her elderly cat just before Christmas. She wasn't going to get another one straight away, but the house seemed so empty since her old moggie died. She had seen our page on the CatChat web site and took a fancy to two eight year olds who are looking for a new home together. Her husband noticed the three legged cat we have on there, and immediately fell in love with it. These cats are not in our pens, we were full up and couldn't accommodate them so they stayed with their present owners untill a new home could be found.

Well to cut a long story short, we did the home check, they live in a big house up a private drive in a secluded position in a lovely village. An ideal situation. They are in their late fifties, have had cats all their lives, just perfect. Guess what, they rang back tonight and said they are going to take all three cats and will collect them tomorrow. I'm absolutely thrilled to bits for them.

I had to rush out then, to take my friend Graham's dog a walk, he went on an eight mile walk with his rambler friends. Lady is a lovely dog, a bit of a mixture, some alsation, some collie.

I had an early dinner when I got back. Steamed potatoes, onion, sweetcorn, and home grown runner beans, with a grilled cheese and spring onion bake. I drizzled some toasted sesame seed oil over it, lip smackin scrumptious.   

Looks like blogger still haven't sorted the problem of posting pics, there are a lot of posts from disgruntled bloggers on their forum. Now people are having problems posting with Firefox and Chrome. As you can see I have posted with HTML. This is how I do it.

I upload all my photo's first, to the size I want and position on the page I want. It helps that I always choose large size, position central. I get a vertical line of photo's down the centre of the page. Then I go back to Compose mode, put my curser at the bottom left of each photo, click once and it creates a gap to insert the text. Click twice if you want a bigger gap. Works for me.

Book review..... and more food.

I've just finish reading a smashing book, it's written by Chris Wadsworth. She moved from the south up to the Lake District with her husband Michael, and they opened an art gallery in the small town of Cockermouth. She set out to find artists, famous and infamous, lost and unknown, whose work would eventually make her gallery in little known Cockermouth not just a local but an international success.

The first chapter is about their search for the perfect place to open a gallery, and signing on the dotted line when they found it and decided to buy Castlegate House. There is very little about themselves after that, the rest of the book is taken up with short stories about the artists that Chris found to supply the gallery with paintings and sculptures. She found that art springs from the most unexpected sources.

Chris tells their stories and recounts the many unlikely incidents that make up life in a Cumbrian art gallery. There is Percy Kelly, a reclusive transvestite who didn't want to sell his paintings. Karen Wallbank the farmwers wife who painted on whatever came to hand. There are stories of L.S. Lowry, Sheila Fell, Mary Feddon, and Bill Peasgood. Each chapter is a short story of how Chris came to meet the artists in her search for paintings for the gallery.

I found myself drawn into the fascinating stories, and couldn't put it down untill I finished a chapter. As I was reading I realised that Chris is actually painting the words as if they are pictures, she has such an eloquent and entertaining way of writing. It has certainly given me an insight into the world of valuable artworks at the top end of the market. And at last I have found some art that I actually like, not that I could ever afford any. I googled the artists names and found more pictures of their works. I particularly like Percy Kelly and Karen Wallbank.

Here is a link to Castlegate House. Chris Wadsworth has now sold the gallery and is concentrating on her writing. I definately recommend this book. The jacket illustration is by Percy Kelly.

http://www.castlegatehouse.co.uk/

Here is a rundown of my food today. Breakfast was bran flakes and a banana. Lunch was beans on toast (half a tin), with Ravioli, three portions in a bag. Oh, and I had a nibble of some cheese while the fridge door was open.

Dinner was a big plate of  Tesco Tagliatelle, three portions in a bag, and a tub of home made veg curry. Very nice, I am stuffed. Nothing else needed.

That's all for now. Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.

Photo uploading for those using IE

Blogger know about the photo posting issue, here are some comments taken from Blogger Help. We have to be patient, but you can upload with HTML. Ilona

I cannot access my personal picture files to upload pictures onto my blog? I was able to do it for years, up until today and now it asks me to upload from several sources but none of them allow from my own pictures. What do I do? Another discussion addresses this topic:

Katney - Blogger Top Contributor Post reply2:48 AM (18 hours ago)

This is happening on IE-9 today. You can upload from the html mode. Once the pictures are uploaded, switch to Compose and you will see the pictures and the menu will be the same if you click the picture to size and position it.

The problem is not happening with Chrome or Firefox, so using one of those browsers will resolve the issue as well.

Please be patient. The problem has been reported to the engineers, but recognize that it is near the weekend of a holiday week and you should not expect an immediate resolution. Please use one of the workarounds until it is fixed. We hope that it will be addressed quickly.

Friday, January 04, 2013

The photo upload icon is not appearing for some users on Internet Explorer. We're investigating the issue and will update this post as soon as we have more information.

Love my food

Blogger is still acting up, I've upoladed these pics in the HTML mode. Not ideal as it involves more faffing. Anyway, to continue with my eating diary. I shall only be doing this for the next few days by the way, so if you are getting a bit bored with it hang on in there, there won't be much more.

Breakfast today was bran flakes and a banana with soya milk. Lunch was cream crackers, cheddar cheese, and soft cheese spread. Followed by two fresh peaches, a few grapes and evaporated milk. By the way, the grapes weren't on a yellow sticker, but they are on special offer at tesco at the moment. I wouldn't buy them at full price.

I went out this afternoon, and was very good I didn't buy anything to nibble. I was hungry when I got back though and pinched a spoonful of peanut butter while I was waiting for dinner to cook. The mush you see top left is a kind of a stir fry. It's four sprouts chopped very small, four spring onions chopped, and a handfull of frozen sweetcorn. I cooked it in toasted sesame seed oil on the hob, added a splash of lemon juice and a big teaspoonful of garlic. That's the last of the pasta salad, plus five baby tomatoes. My cobbled together stir fry was delicious. By the way, I find it a lot easier to chop spring onions with a pair of scissors.  

Thought I would just put this one in here. I like garlic but I don't like faffing around with fresh cloves. In the past I have used dried granules, and garlic paste in a tube, but this in a jar is very easy to use, and at only £1 from the continental food section at Tesco, I think that's very reasonable. It says on the jar that it should be used within one month of opening, which I think I will do. In case I don't I shall freeze some of it in an ice cube tray.

This next bit will tell you how to save £1,000. Here is my latest little gadget, a new hearing aid, and it was free from the National Health.

The nice man at the hospital programmed it in for me on the computer, and I must say, I noticed an improvement straight away. My hearing was starting to get muffled with the old one, I felt it wasn't doing it's job properly. My neighbour knocks on the wall because I have the volume up pretty loud while watching programmes on the computer, and I wasn't catching all the words while listening to the radio. Hopefully all will be hunky dory now. I just need to test the effectiveness of it in a public building which is fitted with a loop system, to see if there is any improvement there. I don't know why some people elect to pay for a hearing aid when all they have to do is get a referral from their doctor to the audiology department. I only hope they don't start charging for this service. 

That's all for now, Toodle pip.  

Designing fun

Thought I would give the pics a try this morning, still not uploading on Compose mode. I don't usually work on HTML mode, would rather see the pics appear on the screen instead of a load of letters and numbers. It's easier to separate the pics and insert text between them when you can actually see them. But hey ho, they are here now, we find a way round these things.

The pics are of the front cover of a monthly newsletter I used to publish. I composed the whole lot on my computer, usually 20 - 30 pages, then sent the master copy to a printer, easier that way. I got the loose leaves back and collated and stapled it all together. I really enjoyed doing this, it satisfied my creative leanings.

The pictures I lifted from an extensive clip art programme I had, then I played around with it and inserted speech and thought bubbles, and gave the characters a few words. It appealed to my silly sense of humour. The reference to Dianne on the first one is me, I didn't use my real name. I hope these give you a little titter.

I love the way you can use a computer for all sorts of things, it certainly opened up a whole new world for me. I love the way you can make posters and leaflets, play around with photo's, and design logo's. I remember it was not so long ago that I used to sit with a man who printed teeshirts, and a man who printed posters, while they played around with my proposed designs on their own computers, manipulating the pictures and text untill it was to my liking. Now I can bypass all that and sit here at home and do it all myself. Amazing, and such fun. 

Toodle pip.  

Just words, no pics

Well that's a bit of a hows your father isn't it! I'm all ready to upload a few pics, and the bloomin thing won't let me. Don't know what's going on, no little box to select a pic from file, bloomin daft blogger. I'm going to go off on a mardy now. Well alright, I'll jot a few words down while I'm here. Somebody is bound to want to know what I ate today.

Didn't take any pics of the food, so I'll describe it to you. Breakfast was porridge with a banana sliced up on top of it. Lunch was two slices of toast, two scrambled eggs, and some more tuna pasta salad. That filled me up so nothing more was needed until dinner, which was grilled salmon, and the rest of the pasta brocolli bake with extra sweetcorn added. Tonight I've had a few grapes. Oh, and I nibbled a couple of cream crackers while I was waiting for the salmon.

I had trouble dropping off to sleep last night, so I got up at quarter past midnight and warmed half a tin of rice pudding in the microwave, then carried on reading my book. Finally turned the light out at 1.30am. That's very unlike me, I am usually dead to the world from the moment my head hits the pillow, and I don't wake untill around 7am. No wonder I was falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon today.

Mind you I have been using my brain a lot today, I'm suffering from creativity overload. The new work of art is coming along, but I need to add some flames to it. No not real flames, I'm not going to set fire to it, some pretend flames. They've got to be orange and flickering, I'll work it out eventually. The little thingy I showed you yesterday has become one of five, no it wasn't a back scratcher. That bit has come together nicely, I'm pleased with it. It's the flames that's baffling me at the moment. Then I've got to add some dripping blood, and the windows aren't quite finished. I'll do a bit more tomorrow, that's before I go to the hospital to get my new hearing aid fitted. Pardon, what did you say :o)

I'll give the pic upload another try, just a minute. Nope still not working, no little box to find the file. I shall have to give it up as a bad job. Good night.

Eat cheap, eat well

I'm carrying on with the food theme today, as if we haven't seen enough of it this last week or so, ha ha. Ruth is curious as to what I eat, so here goes with yesterday and todays meals.

So, for breakfast yesterday I had bran flakes with soya milk and a blueberry yogurt on top. For lunch I had a spud in the microwave topped with some houmous. cold pasta salad with tuna topped with a chopped spring onion, and five baby tomatoes. The pasta cost 45p it was reduced, and will give me three portions.

In the afternoon I finished off the last of the trifle. This is my evening meal. More pasta salad, this time with prawns. I bought two of these salad tubs so a lot of pasta is being consumed at the moment, ha ha. Steamed new potatoes, sprouts, and a large onion.

Breakfast this morning was bran flakes with soya milk, topped with a banana. Today's lunch was three raw mushrooms, more pasta salad with a spring onion, five small pickled onions and five small tomatoes, and some pickled beetroot.

This afternoon I ate a small flapjack, 19p from B & M. Tonights meal was steamed new potatoes, five sprouts, (there are four left for tomorrow), and half a portion of cheese and broccoli pasta. This also had peas in it and cost 57p reduced from £2.30. To stretch the sauce a bit further I added a spoon of cream cheese with garlic, and stirred in a spoon of plain yogurt just before serving it up.

I always have a mug of coffee first thing in the morning, I have tried other drinks, but I do like just one mug to get me going. Throughout the day I have diluted fruit juice, which is mainly water with a taste of juice. Either carton juice or cordial out of a bottle.

At the moment I am eating from the fridge to use up the out of date food, when that is gone I shall have a few days where I eat out of the cupboard, tins and packets, and the freezer. I try and stretch my weekly shopping to ten days or more, sometimes two weeks. As I have mentioned many times before, I shop on price, try to get the best food I can for the least amount of money. I don't mind if I eat the same thing for several days, nothing gets wasted.

Right, moving on, here's a little teaser, what is this? Remember my 'wing thing' project, well this is part of it.

I struggled to get a good coverage with the yellow paint on top of the blue, it didn't look right, all a bit messy. So now I have gone in a different direction, instead of painting my design on it, I am using coloured vinyl. It gives a much bolder contrast. I can picture in my mind what I want it to be, I struggle a bit with how to piece it together, then I play around with bits and bobs, and suddenly, wow, that's a good idea. I think it's going to be dead cool. You'll have to wait a bit longer though to see the finished article.

Toodle pip.

Feeding my face

Good morning on the first day of this brand spanking new year. I've been up since 7am, how about you? Mind you, I went to bed at nine last night, read for an hour and couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I'm into another highly entertaining book, more about that later. So, I missed all the fireworks, I'm sure there must have been some, there usually is around here. I watched the fireworks from Australia, hello Australia, and an impressive display it was too. Later, when I put the big computer on I will watch our own firework display in London. But for now, I am back in bed with the little laptop on my knee.

Are you ready for the off? I've been reading all about your plans, your hopes and dreams for the coming year, now it's time to put it all into practice, no more dreaming, the rehearsal is over, this is it. I shall do my best as usual, and I am sure you all will. That's all we can do, our best.

Right, what to talk about first? There are a couple of questions which I will answer in this post. I don't mind if you ask me things, as long as it is not too personal, in which case I will tell you to mind your own business, ha ha.

The questions are about diet, what I eat. Hells Teeth (good name) asks for my recipe for veg curry. That's a difficult one, I don't have a recipe, I make it up as I go along. Not much help I know, but I like to experiment. As long as you have a few basic ingredients you can play around with food and adjust to your liking. So, get some veg, any veg you have, I used packets of prepared veg, ready chopped up. I wouldn't usually buy my veg like this but it was mega cheap, 15p a bag. Start it off boiling in a big pan, not too much water. Then I add turmeric, always turmeric into everything it is good for you, mixed dried herbs, and curry powder. Other things I might add are whole grain mustard, lemon juice, garlic puree, black pepper, veg stock cube, tomato puree, packet sauce mix, tin of beans, frozen peas and sweetcorn, and porridge oats. I add some of these not all of them. I keep tasting as I go along. And that's it basically. Don't get too hung up on proper recipes, if you haven't got some of the ingredients you don't need to rush out and buy them, don't be afraid to use whatever you have.

Next question, and this could drone on into several pages, what do I eat to keep slim, this is from Ruth. She asks if I can detail my meals over a few days. I could but you might find that quite boring. There are a lot of pictures of some of my meals in a link at the top of the page. There is also my food diary, the shopping lists of what I buy. I think the best thing I can do is give you an overall picture of my diet, then if you want more detail I can add that later.

My diet has become more refined as I have got older. I realise now that pigging out on stuff I like the taste of does me no good at all, and by that I mean sweet things that make me feel good. Comfort eating if you like. I went through a phase of chomping through endless chocolate bars, every day in fact. I was busy and didn't have time to get a proper meal, and the sugar kept me going. My weight went up to about 11 stone, my clothes were tight and uncomfortable, but I was pretty fit because I was doing a physically demanding job. Well I thought I was fit, but if I was that weight now I would be totally unfit.

I don't like the word 'diet' at all. If you need to lose weight, don't go on a diet, because the moment you do your mind is constantly focussed on food. Depriving yourself of food that gives you comfort is a sure fire way to make you depressed. It's a vicious circle, you get fed up so you eat, and eat all the wrong things because you want to get back to feeling good. But what happens, feeling good only lasts for ten minutes or so, then you feel like crap again. Thankfully I learnt how to eat properly, and now I eat for the long term.

Of course some of my thin-ness could be down to my genes. I take after my fathers side, he was small and thin though God knows why, he drank like a fish. I can't remember seeing anyone overweight on my fathers side though. My sister took after my mothers side and she always had a struggle to keep her weight down, especially after having two children. But she managed to lose it through sensible eating, and is able to maintain her ideal weight now.

I am going all around the houses here to answer a simple question, but I feel some clarification is needed into sensible eating habits, as it is the key to reaching and maintaining your ideal weight. I am of the mind that you can eat almost anything, in moderation, and it's the moderation bit that people have the biggest problem with, what exactly is moderation? What some people see as normal, other would see as extreme. I eat large amounts of vegetables, because luckily I like them, and it has been proven that they are good for you. People who say they hate vegetables are really depriving themselves of the most essential part of their diet. At this stage I must point out that I am not an expert on nutrition. I don't want a debate on here about the composition of food, the calories, fat content, carbs, protein, mono unsaturates, fibre, polyunsaturates, or what effect deprivation of any of these elements will do to my body. There are still a lot of people out there who believe you need to eat meat, again this has been proven not to be the case, so no debate on veg v carnivore.

So on a sliding scale, what do I eat? Probably more than 50% of my diet is vegetables and fruit, may even be up to 75%. I eat vegetables every day, and try and get a combination of green leaf and root. Vegetables go through pretty quickly, the goodness is absorbed into your body and the waste jettisoned at regular intervals. Meat and processed food hangs around much longer and gives a bloated feeling.

What next? I eat wholemeal bread not white, maybe a couple of slices a day, toast or a sandwich. I eat bran flakes or porridge for breakfast. Sometimes with fruit, banana, sultanas, stewed apples, tinned peaches.

I never fry food, always grill it. I never boil veg, always steam it, or make a stew or soup, or raw in a blender. I very rarely make sauces, can't be bothered to mess a pan up and I don't want to smother the taste of the food itself. I never make gravy, even the veggie kind. I never have a pudding after a meal. The meal fills me up, I don't need any more. I sometimes have a pudding, maybe creamed rice, tinned fruit, yogurt, in the middle of the day, for elevenses, or an afternoon snack, if I feel peckish.

I've gone off on a tangient here, what else do I eat? I eat a bit of fish, usually frozen salmon portions if they are on offer. If they are not on offer or reduced, I don't have them. Very ocassionally prawns, but only if reduced. I eat some dairy, cheese is my weakness and I have to be careful not to over indulge. I eat yogurts, but none of the sickly sweet puddings in small plastic pots.

I eat brown rice and wholemeal pasta, cous cous, different types of beans, tinned mainly. I buy the ocassional ready meal, but only if it is reduced or on offer, and keep it as a standby in case I am too busy to cook.

Right down at the bottom of the list is treats, and what one person's definition of a treat is, maybe not the same as another persons. I have treats, I won't deny it, but for me a treat is not to be eaten every day. I have to limit how many treats I buy, because my will power is not very good once I get them home. My will power kicks in at the supermarket, I bypass all the aisles where there are sweets, cakes, biscuits, crisps, and fizzy pop. In my mind these are not food. I've had a few treats over this holiday period, but now it's back to normal. I must say though that there has been some horrible rumblings coming from my stomach over the last few days, I know I should not have had that tub of fresh cream, or that tub of trifle. Nice at the time but they have done me no good at all. Yuk, I feel sick thinking about it. Time to get back to healthy eating, don't want my weight creeping back up again. I'm happy with my eight and a bit stone. I'll start posting a bit more about my eating habits, if anyone is interested. Lunch time. Toodle pip.  

PS. Before I go, thank you so much for your New Year good wishes. I feel chuffed that you choose to read my blog. Thank you for your comments.