Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

My mother had the Be Ro book..... I have always liked Delia but the more I read of old cooking the more I like to try out their little ideas. Dorothy Hartley is the favourite at the moment.
Main job this today is making myself acceptable to the ladies who will be taking my clothes off later.....

[LizG]

Quite right Ian. My recipe is for a smaller amount.

So you don't have to look Maz.

1kg cucumbers, 2 large onions, 1/2 cup salt, 2.5 cups of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup each white and brown sugar (I've reduced this by half of the original recipe), 2 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp mustard seeds.

I always soak the sliced cucumbers and onions overnight in 1/2 cup of salt and enough water to cover. Bring all the other ingredients to the boil. Add the drained cucumbers and onions, bring back to the boil then bottle.

I've finished them off today and it made 6 jars.

BTW I still have my copy of my Grandmas, very well used, BeRo book.

[Sue]

My mother had the Be Ro book..... I have always liked Delia but the more I read of old cooking the more I like to try out their little ideas. Dorothy Hartley is the favourite at the moment.
Main job this today is making myself acceptable to the ladies who will be taking my clothes off later.....

I have a 1922 copy of the Burnley Womens Institute ( I think that is it without going to look) cookery book, that belonged to my great aunt.

Today is yoga, a bit of sewing and pilates this evening. Bob fancies looking at new televisions this afternoon.

[Marilyn]

Another rainy day, though it is not cold. Started another painting ( well...it is a stretch to say that, as I have mainly painted the edges and put a few blobby sections of colour here and there but I had fun!)
My art apron is starting to look like I do seriou painting though. Getting quite a bit of paint on it now.

[Stanley]

Having a quiet day after yesterday's excitement. Slept like a log so in good fettle this morning. A bit of quiet work in the shed I think for light entertainment!

[Marilyn]

More painting ( more blobby bits of colour) but it is transforming nicely and becoming clearer.
Wet and windy today after a storm raged all night, so a good day to paint. Have heard there was a lot of damage done by the storm. Although we have leaf litter all over the garden, we can't see any damage from our windows. I doubt I will be able to get hubby out for a walk today to see further. ( he doesn't do wet and windy! )

[Stanley]

We have a good frost so I shall be keeping warm, usual walks and an hour in the shed. No cooking, I am cooked up!

[Sue]

Waiting for a phone call from my GP after the results of my second blood test.

This afternoon it is creative writing and we have a visiting writer who will run a 2 hour workshop on writing. This evening is yoga, and the end to this weeks physical activities. Yesterday we did a shortish 4 mile walk around the local packhorse trails. They were rather wet and slippery with leaves but at least we got out and about before we met ‘old’ work friends for an extended lunch

[Stanley]

I hope you get a satisfactory report Sue.



It's shopping day today, always busy but I want to get an hour in the shed. I finished yesterday on an optimistic note as I had a finished engine ready to run, only a couple of small matters to deal with. But then I noticed last night that the valve eccentric is slipping on the shaft, can't believe I missed that! Not a biggie, but it means I have to time and adjust the valve again. No big problem and a nice little puzzle to pass the time.

[Sue]

Stanley my sugar was down slightly but not much, cholesterol down but ratio up...thats what happens when you reduce the fruit to control the sugar level . Having had the diet advice and having read the sheet from the surgery last week I was able to say that the diabetic nurse said there was nothing wrong with my diet, lifestyle or weight and it was just one of those things. I explained to my GP how stressed this had all made me which was stupid as I hadn’t felt as well in years. Being able to say I had seen the diabetic nurse did the trick. The following discussion was less by the book and more about me. I was reassured that nothing may change and they will just keep an eye on things with annual blood tests. However he has given me a prescription for statins at a low dose for the cholesterol. I was asked if either condition is in the family, but they are not. Another blood test in 6 weeks, then he changed it to February to allow for post Christmas recovery his final comment was please don’t worry and carry on doing exactly what you are doing.

Craft today and lunch out with Bob as our friends have gone to Grenada to see their grandaughter who is on a year out at a Spanish university.

[Marilyn]

Feeling tired today due to lack of decent sleep. It is "schoolies" weekend down here again - the town inundated with teenagers. The music from their concert was deafening and went late. Tonight will be worse, I think. Many of the local traders simply shut shop for the duration. I don't blame them. Having huge groups of high spirited teenagers descend on your shop en mass is worrying from a security point of view. We don't even go to the fish and chip shop during schoolies, because the line is out the door and down the street. There are about 500 vetted carers to keep an eye on them, and on the whole it works pretty well. The odd problems with alcohol and drugs. A huge medical facility ( in a truck) is in a central location and there are many paramedics and ambulances parked everywhere. The kids roam the streets in groups...the worst bit is that they park their rubbish anywhere rather than find a bin. We all breathe a sigh of relief when the little darlings head home to the city in free buses and cars.

[Stanley]

Sounds like a sensible doctor Sue and I am glad you have put his mind at rest. Similar situation with me and my doctors, I have to keep dragging them back to look at reality, in other words how well I am for my age and away from an understandably slightly blinkered approach in which your conformation with the mythical 'average' is all. I have to keep arguing that I am not average! Like you, my diet and exercise regime are far better than average. Besides, why should my bloods be compared with those of a 16 year old? The message is keep doing what you usually do and let them do the worrying!
I shall be in the shed for an hour. I am finding basic faults with Newton's cylinder and chasing them down. As I said yesterday, he would be laughing at me. No wonder he scrapped it! It may be that it is never a runner, just an interesting large paper weight.

[Wendyf]

Seems like the moment to post this link again.

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2013/10/how- ... at-a-time/

[Big Kev]

Seems like the moment to post this link again.

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2013/10/how- ... at-a-time/

[Stanley]

I agree with Kev.....



I shall be having a rest from the shed. I declared the Newton engine finished yesterday..... I think I might write an article or two for 2019.

[Wendyf]

Walking the 5k Skipton Santa Fun with some friends and watching the last F1 race of the season when I get home.

[Sue]

Seems like the moment to post this link again.

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2013/10/how- ... at-a-time/

I know what you are saying and I know all about the role of cholesterol gaving taught it for longer than I care to remember but I am prepared to give it a go. These are a new ‘breed’ of statins. Evidence also shows statins saves lives. I trust my GP.

[Marilyn]

The problem for me is that my gut cannot tolerate even the lowest dose of cholesterol medication....and I suffer aches and pains in my muscles on the lowest dose. Living with that, how can you believe the pills are doing one any good?

[plaques]

I'm like you Marilyn. Totally allergic with really adverse reactions. But now I've reached my sell by date and the Cholesterol making cells are dying of their own accord I don't need the statins to kill them off. The underlying logic is that even though I'm slowly decaying away I'm now healthier and farther away from immediate death than I've ever been. At least not from excess cholesterol. If that makes sense!

[Stanley]

Maz, how are you at taking Cod Liver Oil? Have a furtle into the effects of the imbalance of Long Chain Omega3 against Omega6 fats. (I underline that because too many supplements don't distinguish between Long Chain and bog standard Omega3 and it's a con trick.) Lots of good evidence that this imbalance is at the root of so called Cholesterol problems.
I know exactly what you are saying P. One of my beefs is that the parameters on which any diagnosis is based is an average over all age groups and of course this includes the ever growing number of young especially in the latest diabetes stats. You and I are NOT AVERAGE and yes I am shouting.
I have been pondering on this of late.... Let's take a hypothetical case. Suppose a scan of an over 80 year old reveals some 'abnormal cells'. I have questions....

• How many clear scans are there in this age group?

• How long have they been present?
  • And last, what speed are they developing?
    Relatively young doctors may have smarts but they don't have the experience to see it from our point of view, almost everyone our age has some sort of flaw buried inside us but we will die with it not of it.
    
    Yesterday I wrote two articles instead of shed matters, I am up to January 11th now......

[Sue]

....... almost everyone our age has some sort of flaw buried inside us but we will die with it not of it......


I read an article once that said for every 10 years of your life over the age of 35 most people would suffer from a significant medical problem.

Woken up late this moning, these dark mornings yuk! We may not get our swim in before 9.30 unless we det a move on. Nothing else planned today.

[PanBiker]

Being chief cook and bottle washer until Wednesday. Sally has gone down to visit our Ruby as a belated birthday visit, she was 10 last month (where does time go) but I was only 5 days post op over in Leeds at the time. Oh and I am being used by our Jack as an address of convenience for delivery of items he has ordered online.

[Sue]

Yes it does Ian. My eldest grand daughter Eve is 10 in April. I didn’t realise Ruby and Eve were about the same age

[Stanley]

The bad news is that it goes faster as you age!
Look at shed matters.... I shall be proving to myself that I have not cured my engine!
Never mind, I can give myself some time for washing and creative cooking!

[Sue]

Usual Tuesday today, yoga then help at the hospice shop followed by pilates. We are out for a pre Christmas meal this evening with my friend Kath who usually pops round for a natter on Tuesday evening.

We did get to swimming yesterday, unusually there were only three of us in the pool . It is usually busy until 9.30 when there is a schools swimming lesson followed by an aquafit class. I made a dress for New Years Eve after we returned, finishing it as the sun went down. Its a simple but effective style in emerald green lurex fabric.