Pendant-Heaven

Fluffy Baked Eggs

2014-10-14T19:58:00.001+01:00

I have heard of baked eggs but never seen a recipe or ever tried to make them before so not sure if I make them the correct way or not - if there is a correct way.

So this was my first attempt and what I will call Fluffy Baked Eggs.

This is so easy and would probably be a good way for children to like eggs as they could probably make different shapes with them.

The longest bit is waiting for the oven to heat up!

I will tell you what I did this time but it is an 'Eggs in Process' to see which way I prefer after trying out various options.

They do look good and interesting though and hubby was impressed!

OK, so I just whisked the egg whites, dolloped them in a pile on the tray, made a dip in the centre and dropped the yolk in and baked them in the oven at 180 degrees for about 8 minutes until they started to go brown.

They taste very light and airy so unlike any other version of cooking eggs.

I think I will also try putting them in a cooler oven and let the whites cook for a few minutes before I add the yolks in the centre which may make a crispier alternative with a runnier yolk.

But I think you could make these into interesting shapes for the kids and get them involved with cooking them.

Happy baking and experimenting :)

Where have I been?

2014-10-14T19:39:00.001+01:00

I have neglected my Blog for so long because I now post everything on G+. You can always find me on there but I will try to be better and post more on here too.

I've been debating whether to keep it running because I didn't think anyone ever read it but when I came one here today I was totally shocked as to how many people read it.

Of course you are all probably new people who haven't met me on G+ or haven't got sick of reading my blog yet :)

But I should probably post on here more often and it is definitely a good place to put the odd recipe I make up so I can find it again, which brings me to the reason I came on here today.

I often (well most of the time really) make up recipes as I go along and 99% of the time they turn out great which makes me feel extremely lucky as some people have many failures even with recipes from a book.

I tend to just add things on the spur of the moment and so often my meals / cakes etc. are either very or slightly different from before.

If a particular dish turns out really tasty I often try to jot down what I put in it on a piece of paper when I have finished eating it so I can make it again.

That's not easy though as I as I don't measure anything and just add a sprinkle of this or shake of that and a dollop of something else.

But it would be a good idea if I got myself in gear and not just write these things on scraps of paper I can never find again but on my blog.

My psychic dog

2013-08-04T17:39:00.000+01:00

Incredible! How psychic is my dog!!!

A couple of times over the last week she hasn't wanted to go for a walk even though our other dog has gone quite happily.

Yesterday she came up and jumped on my lap at the computer and was physically shaking as much as she did with the fireworks last year and yet there were no storms around, no loud noises or anything to be worried about.

After a few minutes I heard OH downstairs and called and asked him if there was anything for her to be frightened of and he said nothing he could think of. He said he was just about to take them for a walk over the fields.

Both dogs and OH went downstairs but as he got her lead she came back up again and jumped on my lap. In the end she could be persuaded to go.

They went for a long walk but on the way back they had to cross a bridge over a deep ditch between 2 fields with hedges both sides so you can't really see what's over the bridge in the next field.

Our little dogs were off lead and just going over the bridge when they suddenly met 3 huge dogs coming the other way, also off-lead (young dogs and not vicious or anything, but boisterous and totally overwhelming to our little ones - OH recognised one as a Newfoundland and he said the others were almost as big).

Anyway it frightened our dogs so much that one turned tail and ran for home but the other one got trapped by the big dogs on the bridge and fell off - 8 feet down into a couple of inches of water but the ditch is totally overgrown all round.

OH and the man with the other dogs couldn't see her or find a way to get down at first, although finally managed it and luckily she was more or less where she fell rather than trying to follow the ditch.

So was that the reason she was so frightened before she even left the house and why she didn't really want to go?

Why Oh Why!

2013-04-12T18:46:00.000+01:00

These things always happen to me!

I'm tired and just on my way to bed, so at the last minute want to put some hand cream on.

But the tube is almost empty and no matter how much I squeeze nothing will come out.

So I squeeze from the bottom as if I am milking a cow (well I imagine, as I've never actually done that of course). Still nothing comes out.

Next I try folding the bottom over to try and make it come up like in a toothpaste tube - but no, they make the tubes so that they wont fold over.
Now this is definitely so you don't get the full amount clearly labelled on the tube to use at all!

Now I should at this point go and get the scissors to cut through the tube 2/3 of the way down to get at the cream inside and use the top 2/3 as the lid - but can I be bothered to go and get the scissors - oh no!

So I give it a few sharp shakes downwards to hopefully throw the cream down to the opening - it works a bit and a tiny amount comes out - sooo I shake it down some more, open the end and give it a big squeeze.

Yep, you've got it - I get a whole dollop out - way too much!!!

No amount of rubbing gets it to absorb that much into my hands, so up go the sleeves and I try rubbing the surplus into my arms too - still way too much.

So down come the pyjama trousers and I now have enough cream left to moisturise my legs too!

Now if only I had just made the effort to get those scissors I would have been in bed much quicker and had enough hand cream left for another 3 weeks!

So what is the point of having a burglar alarm!!!!

2013-03-12T18:19:00.000+00:00

As you know I am an owl – I go to bed late and often get involved online so end up going to bed really late…..!!!

Well last night at 3.30 the house alarm went off over the road. As my computer room is upstairs at the front of the house, I looked out straight away to see if I could see a van or anything suspicious.

OK I didn’t have my distance glasses on as I was on the computer but I could see the house and the road pretty clearly even though it was dark although the bushes in the garden next door slightly hampered my vision at ground level.

There was no movement, no van parked outside or even in the part of the driveway that I could see, although I couldn’t see all their front garden because of bushes and I couldn’t see the driveway up the other side of the house. But no figures hurrying away either.

I kept watching presuming that something had triggered the alarm inside and the owners would turn it off in a minute but no, ten minutes later it was still going.

By now I thought I really should do something about it and as it wasn’t an emergency I rang 101. The lady on the other end took my details (which seemed more important than what was going on over the road for some reason!) and I told her what I knew.

While I was speaking to her the alarm stopped, although that was probably because it was set to stop after 15 minutes.

Anyway, she told me that the police don’t investigate when house alarms go off - even though it was 3.30 a.m. and it seemed that the owners couldn’t be there or they would have turned it off.

She just told me that if I saw anyone running away or a vehicle drive off to ring “the 9’s”.

Well unless I had night vision binoculars to hand and could tell them the make and registration of the vehicle, then I rather think that would be a waste of time too as by the time they got here the burglars would be well away.

I kept an eye on the house and about 5 minutes after the alarm had stopped, a light came on in a downstairs room which was on for a good five minutes or so and by the time I went to bed ten minutes or so later the light had gone out but the security light round the side was on. But still no fleeing burglars to be seen, so I can only presume the owners had finally been woken by their alarm.

So…… what I have learned from last night’s episode is that burglar alarms are a complete waste of time and if you are a burglar and you set an alarm off, then just sit tight and carry on with ransacking the house, as the police wont bother you. Then, by the time you leave, the alarm will have stopped and even on the off-chance that it had woken a neighbour, they will be tucked up back in their beds and be well asleep again by the time you leave. No worries about turning lights on in the house either to make your job easier, as it is even more likely to make neighbours think that the alarm had woken the owners.

I decided a well-lit outside of the house, possibly nice crunchy gravel, and of course dogs, are much more of a deterrent than a burglar alarm.

What a blood bath!

2012-12-02T22:59:00.001+00:00

Well that was a dramatic awakening this morning. I obviously watch too many crime dramas and subconsciously wanted to replicate arterial spray at a murder scene.

I couldn't believe how much blood there could be and how far it went from a nose bleed when you aren't awake to plug it.

If I had had a spare hand I would have taken a photo J It must have looked hilarious and I know that I looked a complete bloody mess!

I can only imagine how much blood there would be at a crime scene if my simple nose bleed was anything to go by!

It’s not the first one I have had while asleep but I guess I normally wake up a lot sooner. A vampire would have been really handy at the time.

I woke up to a strange sensation of wetness trickling down my neck and as I moved I realised it was a nose bleed and just the effort of trying to get up and reach for some tissues sent it spurting even more.

It had obviously been bleeding for a while too as my face looked like I had been in a fight with Rambo!

The only part of my face that wasn’t covered with blood was my forehead. I must have been restless because gravity hadn’t just let it trickle in one direction.

I suppose that’s why I didn’t wake up sooner as it didn’t run down in one spot to make me feel wet. I had just gradually got damper all over.

My blood had also managed to go own my chin and neck too so the quilt cover was covered as well as the pillow.

A passing thought went through my head as to how much worse it was than once before when I had a nose bleed in bed on holiday once and how embarrassing that would have been if it had been as bad as this.

Honestly it would have made a great comedy film to see me trying to stem the nose bleed while trying to get the pillowcase and quilt cover off before the blood went any deeper.

Obviously my heartbeat got even faster at the whole affair as the blood was pumping out faster than my tissues could hold it.

I know the best thing for the nosebleed would have been to sit quietly with it but I’m a woman and I knew how much harder it would be to get the blood out of the quilt and pillow if I didn’t get the covers off the bed quickly.

Maybe I’m lazy but it seemed more important to me to get them off than to sit quietly at that moment in time. Deal with the mess and then worry about the bleeding.

I can tell you – trying to keep some tissue plugging your nose when it is pumping to that extent with one hand while trying to strip the bed with the other is no mean feat.

I am on Aspirin and I can tell you that blood was pumping out at every fast heartbeat more than I could possibly stem at the time.

I have decided that they probably don’t show murder scenes on television as they would really look in real life as even my simple nose bleed caused a total blood bath.

My hand looked as bad as my face and it was trickling down my chest and down my arm from the hand that held the bundled up tissue paper to my nose.

I didn’t even attempt to tackle my pyjama top until I was sure the bleeding had finally stopped. So I am signing off now as I have a machine load of washing to put out and a bed to make.

Oh and my head still hurts…from the blood loss or from the pressure….who knows!

I only wish I hadn’t been home alone as it would have made some hilarious photos.

Dogs are like elephants

2012-11-30T18:03:00.000+00:00

Well not exactly of course.

But you know the way they teach elephants not to run away by tying a rope round their leg attached to a post when they are young and when they get older as long as they have a piece of rope round their leg it doesn’t have to be tied to anything because they think they can’t escape anyway.

Funny thing the brain and association!

Well our two little dogs will be 3 yrs old in February and they have a similar quirk.

Our back garden (yard to my American friends) is safe and secure because we had a dog before which we sadly lost to liver disease. But when we first brought our two little urchins home it was OK during the day but the first evening we realised that we could not see the black one when she was out of the range of the patio light, so we couldn’t keep an eye on her the same as we could the little cream one.

So the next day we did a major construction on the lawn with bamboo canes and chicken wire folded in half lengthways so that it was about 2’ high and we could still step over it but it would keep the pups in a smaller area of the lawn and patio which was lit by the patio light.

We did have to make major changes a month or so later when one of them kept managing to climb up the fence and over. So we unrolled all the wire again and tried to flatten it out again as best we could to its full 4’ height so that she could not climb over it. Of course this meant that we had to build a make-shift gate to get through as we could no longer get over the fence either.

Well this fence stayed up for the rest of that summer and all of the next too but early this year we took it down as we now felt it would be safe for them to roam the garden and not eat everything in sight.

Now here’s the fun bit – they still go round the outside circle of where the fence used to be.

It’s not that they ever went outside the fence so never really took that route as they were always inside it. But now they have the whole garden they still seem to go round the imaginary fence. The do go “through” the imaginary fence but not before they have run round the outside to get to the back of the garden and then they walk on to what was “their” area. But then they go back out of “their” area to run back round the imaginary fence again to come back indoors.

It is so funny to watch. OK the grass is a lot better round the outside part of the lawn as it hasn’t been used as a female dog toilet or been dug up by playful puppies but it is not so noticeable for them to go round the outside. At first they even made a pathway in the lawn just around the outside of the old enclosure but now they don’t necessarily go quite so close to the imaginary fence so the “path” is not quite so noticeable.

Dogs always seem to get used to a routine if you have one but our dogs seem to be really bad at having a definite routine, as they know our habits I suppose. When I have been alone in the house upstairs on the computer they have been scratching at the lounge door in the evening because they know they are usually in there by that time even though there is no-one in there.

Also they are used to me taking them down last thing at night to go to bed in the kitchen and the only times that I haven’t been the one to take them down they just wouldn’t settle and kept scratching the door to come back upstairs again as they couldn’t believe it was bedtime if I didn’t take them down.

If they hear a word that sounds remotely like “brush” their heads whip round as they think a treat is in store because they usually get one after their brush. There are many little habits / expectations like this too.

And like all dogs of course, they always try to tell us when it is walk time, dinner time and treat time.

How ridiculous! Littlewoods Catalogue needs to get their act together!

2012-11-14T19:01:00.000+00:00

This is not the first time I have had problems with Littlewoods but as I like to buy my clothes from catalogues rather than dragging round the clothing shops in and out of tiny smelly changing rooms I persevere with them.

I hadn’t bought any new clothes for a while but wanted to get some for the winter so I chose some items and checked my emails in the offers file I keep to see if any offers were still in date.

Yes I found one with 15% off clothing and 10% off home and electrical – great I thought. OK it’s been sitting there a while as it was sent last November but the expiry date was 28 October 2012 and seeing as it was now only 6 October I was well within the expiry date.

Would the code work – no it wouldn’t!

So I placed the order anyway and immediately sent an email to Littlewoods to explain that it wouldn’t accept the code and could they please add it to my order so that I would receive the 15% discount.

I received their acknowledgement of my email which said they would get back to me. This was followed a day or so later with an email saying it was going to be dealt with by the appropriate department.

This same scenario carried on for over a month – me chasing, them sending the same type of emails.

I received my monthly statement – no discount.

Now I hadn’t ordered from them for quite a few months so you would think they would be only too pleased that I had chosen to order with them again and would honour the discount without pause.

No – just pass-the-buck emails. Presumably the idea is that you are expected to just give up and pay the full price.

But I ordered more than I would have because of the discount.

I rang their customer service department and after putting me on hold for ages the person came back and gave me an address to send a hard copy of the email to so they could see it.

I had already sent a copy of the email as an attachment on one email and copied it on to the email another time.

So in this modern computer age where I received the offer online and I ordered online, I am expected to print a copy of their email to me and post it off to them by snail mail, only for them to still possibly ignore that 15% discount.

I feel I should take this to some trading standards thing or somewhere as this is ridiculous.

I have their email as proof of their offer and the date had not expired when I placed the order. What more do they want from a customer who has been with them for decades.

I do buy from other catalogues as well as I like to have a wide choice but Littlewoods are the only ones I seem to have problems with (well apart from La Redoute who never seem to send you the gift they have on offer at the time and send you a replacement crappy gift – but I wont go into that).

I will see what transpires with my Littlewoods discount!

Super Easy Mushroom Soup Recipe

2012-11-12T18:36:00.000+00:00

Here is another of my so-easy-anyone-can-do-it recipes that a few of you have asked for.

The herbs and spices can be adjusted to taste so I have just listed the ones I use.

Large box Mushrooms

3 cloves Garlic

2 Vegetable Stock Cubes (made up with water)

Glass Wine

Fresh Basil

Fresh Chives

Mixed Herbs

Red & Black Pepper

Ginger

All in pressure cooker, up to pressure, turn down for 10 mins, then off.

Liquidise if you like smoother soup.

You can keep some in the fridge and freeze the rest J

Before serving you can also add a knob of butter and/or some grated cheese – stir to melt.

Or you can stir in some milk or cream for a Cream of Mushroom soup.

NB. I just made some yesterday and as I hadn't got any fresh herbs in stock I just sprinkled in some spices from my spice rack and it was still lovely.

I always tend to add Mixed Herbs and some Black & Red Pepper from my spice rack to most soups.

The main ingredients (mushrooms in this case) and the Stock Cubes are the only important ingredients really.

Surely life doesn’t have to end this way! My own views on the Liverpool Care Pathway.

2012-11-10T16:29:00.000+00:00

It has been a while since my last blog as I have been wanting to post this one but must have changed it a hundred times as I don’t want to antagonise anyone – anti euthanasia, pro the Liverpool Care Pathway etc. or upset anyone who has lost someone on the so-called CARE pathway.

But if I don’t post it soon I will never post it.

There seems to coincidentally be an awful lot about it in the newspapers at the moment too.

But I just feel I need to write this and get it off my chest as I have been agonising over this for nearly 4 years now.

THIS IS ENTIRELY MY OWN OPINION FROM THE EXPERIENCE I HAVE HAD WITH MY OWN MOTHER

If you were marooned on a desert island with no food or water, what would happen – your body would die!

So if you are lying in a hospital bed and you were given no food or water, then what would happen – your body would die!

If you are lying in a hospital bed and you are given a lethal injection, what would happen – yes, you’ve got it – your body would die!

I KNOW WHICH I WOULD PREFER!

The decision is made to end the life of your body at the point they put you on the Liverpool Care Pathway so at that point it is euthanasia – just slow euthanasia.

Due to some very outdated laws and oaths doctors can now put you on a slow death route as they are DOING NO HARM but they are not allowed to give you a lethal injection.

So instead of the nice painless quick ending that we would be kind enough to give our pets, they can only subject the body to die on its own through lack of the vital sustenance it needs to survive.

If we did it to a child, elderly person or even a pet AT HOME we would be charged with neglect. But do it in a hospital or care home and they put the name CARE into a form of euthanasia.

I am not against the Liverpool Care Pathway as such because it can save a person from living in a state that they would never be happy in again and may save them a long time in pain.

What I am against is not changing the law to enable doctors to sign the papers for a fast instant injection instead of signing the papers to withdraw all nutrition and fluids, when it gets to that point in a person’s life.

SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG HERE in this day and age.

It is a cruel way to end the life of a body.

I will never stop feeling “guilty” as I sat day after day at my own mother’s bedside and looking into her eyes knowing that her body was slowly being put to death, while she was muttering that no-one was feeding her and that she was thirsty.

Don’t get me wrong, she was 92 years old and had not really had much of a life for the last couple of years and she was in hospital because she had had a stroke.

After 3 weeks she could still hardly move and would have absolutely hated to have been in that state for the rest of her days but she was conscious and talking as best she could although it was hard for her to get the words out and sometimes she wasn't making any sense and her hand seemed to be writing what she wanted to say at the same time. But she did know they were not feeding her and kept telling me, even if she only knew subconsciously.

I had been unable to visit her on the Sunday and when I came in on the Monday they didn’t say anything but when I spoke to the nursing staff they mentioned that her feeding tube had FALLEN OUT on Saturday. I thought they stitched those tubes in!

They said that as no doctors were around over the weekend the tube had not been put back in. Then they gave me a leaflet on the Liverpool Care Pathway which I guess was supposed to answer most of my questions before I saw the doctor as his time is precious. They said I could make an appointment to see the doctor the next day if I wanted.

So by the time I could see the doctor and complain / approve their decision 3 days had already passed and her organs were already damaged, probably past the point of no return.

I was told she would not last more than a day or so in her weakened state as she was effectively already into day 3 of the Pathway. She actually lasted 5 more days after that.

I don’t know how awful that felt for her to not be given nutrition and fluids, and more importantly I have no idea how horrible it must have felt for her to have her organs shrivel up and die slowly inside.

But I do know how awful I felt knowing that it was 100% certain that her body was about to die and there was nothing I could do to end it quickly for her.

We don’t do this cruel thing to our pets and we shouldn’t have to do it to our loved ones either. It is cruel to them and it is cruel to us.

The current newspaper articles are about whether people are put on the LCP unnecessarily or without permission from the relatives.

But having been through this, my point is that if it is clear the patient will not get through the illness or will have no quality of life left in their last remaining days, then surely we can save them having to go through this awful process and end it in a more humane way for them. It is not dignified to put them through this ordeal when there is a simple way out.

In circumstances like this it is time to change the law!

Yellow Mint Sauce Indian Restaurant Style Recipe

2012-10-19T20:40:00.001+01:00

Do you love that orangey/yellow sauce in one of the pots they put on the table with the poppadoms while you are waiting for your Indian meal to be served?

I love it and could happily eat a whole pot myself. So I asked my favourite Indian restaurant for their recipe and this is it.

Yellow Mint Sauce

Natural Yogurt + Milk to thin

Green Chilli to taste (approx. 2 small)

Coriander

Garden Mint

2-3 dessertspoons Sugar

Mango Chutney

Salt

Blend the extra ingredients, then add to Yogurt

These are the basic ingredients but this is one of those dishes that you can add as much or as little as you like to get the taste you like best, as some like it stronger than others.

I haven't got a photo to show you but will add one next time I make it, or visit the Indian restaurant which gave me the recipe.

Ooh dear – thought they were cheap!

2012-10-15T17:52:00.001+01:00

We have been putting up some sheds at the side of the house to hopefully empty the garage so that we can turn it into a room.

We had to buy cheap sheds as they are the only ones we could find that were narrow enough. With sheds you obviously get what you pay for! They came with lots of bits to assemble, which were far from perfect shapes and they don’t fit together very well.

We bought those ones that you don’t actually go inside – they are more like outdoor wardrobes or cupboards with double doors that open right out. We needed them narrow to fit down the side of the house as the back garden isn’t very big.

If they were more expensive we wouldn’t have been able to buy 5 of them so we can’t really complain about the workmanship of them.

Down at the allotment quite a few people have been getting sheds, which normally arrive in about 6 pieces and go up in about half an hour.

Hmm and then there are our sheds! Our sheds arrived in about 20 pieces (plus all the fittings) and take most of the day to put up each one. 2 days for the one that would just not sort itself out and was all twisted.

The bits are warped, not quite the right size, knots in places you need to put a screw, the tongue and groove doors have gaps – you name it, these have it. Even the floor has an extra strip that you have to put on as the original floor is not long enough (they provide the strip for you).

Never mind, they are all up now, we now just have to put some form of shelving in them and we can start emptying the garage.

It is so good that we are both very easy-going patient people as others I know would have smashed them to smithereens by now and used them for firewood – they probably wouldn’t even burn but that is all they are really good for!

They do look a bit like a row of lockers but at least they don’t take up as much space as walk-in sheds and all the space inside is usable. I doubt anyone will see them down the side of the house besides us anyway.

We’ve just got to empty the contents of the large (nearly double) garage into 5 incy wincy little sheds now J

Easy Coffee and Walnut Sponge Cake

2012-10-09T22:09:00.001+01:00

As requested here is my very easy fool-proof recipe:

Sponge

8 oz Soft Butter

8 oz Caster Sugar

8 oz Self Raising Flour

4 Eggs

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Instant Coffee (enough boiling water to dissolve – leave to cool)

½ packet (approx. 4 oz Chopped Walnuts)- keep aside some to add in the middle of the sponge and large pieces or halves to decorate

Coffee and walnut butter icing (amount to individual taste) for middle

1 teaspoon dissolved Instant Coffee

Butter

Walnut pieces

Coffee icing for top and side

1 teaspoon dissolved Instant Coffee

Water

Turn oven on to 170 degrees.

Make coffee for the sponge (if you don’t mind the extra washing up, make 3 coffee mixtures ready to use).

Line 2 sponge tins with non-stick baking paper (or grease the tins well).

If the butter is still a bit hard, put it in the microwave just above defrost temperature for about 30 seconds until just soft as it makes it easier to mix.

Put all the ingredients (apart from the walnuts) into a large bowl and stir well (you can cream the sugar into the soft butter first if you want, but I find it isn’t essential).

When it is all mixed in you can stir in the walnut pieces (I break mine up quite small – each half into about 6 pieces).

Divide the mixture into the 2 sponge tins.

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes (until they feel springy on top – but don’t test until about the 30 minutes or they will sink in the middle).

Take them out and cool on a rack (tip - keep the one with the best rounded top upwards and the other one with the top downwards on the rack, so the 2 flat parts are in the middle of the cake to ice).

Make another coffee mixture with as little hot water as possible and when cool add it to butter and icing sugar – make as much as you like for the middle of the cake.

Make and cool the last coffee mixture so it is cool to make the setting icing for the top.

When the sponges are cool, put the bottom sponge on the serving dish and spread with the butter icing and push some walnut pieces into the icing (or you can add them to the butter icing before spreading it if you prefer).

Put the other sponge on top.

Make up the icing with the last coffee mixture and add the icing sugar, adding a little bit more water to get the amount of icing you want.

Spread it over the top of the cake (and round the sides if you want).

In my photo I made the icing a little thinner plus more than normal and let it run down the sides and on to the serving plate (spoon up over the bits it missed on the sides until all covered).

Decorate the cake with the walnut pieces (tip – don’t put them too close to the edge if the icing is still runny as they will fall off).

If you want just the basic reminder instructions, here they are:

Put all sponge ingredients in a bowl, stir, divide into 2 tins.

Pop in the oven 170 for 30 mins, then cool.

Butter ice the middle, setting icing the top. Walnuts to decorate.

Oops –shouldn’t have done that!

2012-09-25T14:58:00.000+01:00

I say that, but if I knew what caused it I certainly wouldn’t have done it.

One or other of the discs in my back is playing up again which is why it has been a while since my last blog I am afraid.

You may laugh if you saw me as this time I just can’t sit down. Sitting down seems to push the disc on to the nerve so I have spent 2 weeks now either standing up or walking about.

Wow – is that boring , or what!

I haven’t even been able to get online as I only have a desktop pc. It is definitely one of those times that I wish I had a tablet or a phone that has internet access.

I have been baking as it is something I can do standing up so hubby has been happy. Talking of which, I had my first ever disaster when baking a Ginger and Marmalade Cake the other day. Hubby wasn’t quite so pleased about that as he had to clean the oven afterwards!

The tubs I buy of Baking Powder and Bicarbonate of Soda are exactly the same apart from the name and, of course, I mixed them up and put the wrong one in the cake.

You should have seen the mess. You know how it is, you pop the cake in the oven and then forget about it until it is nearly time to get it out.

Well, when I looked through the oven door (as best I could as I can’t bend down) I couldn’t believe it. The cake was bubbling, not only at the top of the high cake tin, which I never expected it to reach when it rose, but it was bubbling all down the side and all over the oven floor.

Plus, of course, as luck would have it, I had 2 cakes in the oven and had put this one close to the front so I could get it out first – so what happens – it had gone all over the door as well as down between which meant it had also made a mess of the bottom oven underneath as well.

It’s a real good job that the other cake turned out fine which redeemed me in hubby’s eyes for all the cleaning up, as the disaster cake went in the bin. It tasted like neat Bicarbonate of Soda.

Logically it should have been good for the tum as it had Bicarbonate of Soda and Ginger in it. But definitely not to be! Obviously somehow Bicarb does not work with either butter or with eggs!

I regularly make Date Loaf and indeed the Fruit and Nut Loaf (that survived in the back of the oven) with Bicarbonate of Soda but there is water in the recipe and no butter or eggs. Flour and sugar is obviously ok as they are in both recipes.

So note to self: Always check the labels before adding!

I don’t know if helping to erect a shed had anything to do with my disc going out (I have 3 bulging discs according to the MRI and my consultant) but I was really only passing things (screws etc.) an holding things in place, leaning on them while he screwed them together and nothing strenuous as I was being careful.

So whether it was getting in different positions to normal or whether it was “just the straw that broke the camel’s back” I just don’t know. The pain came on when I was supermarket shopping (no I wasn’t pushing the trolley) and if I had been at home I may have been ok as I normally put my moist heat pad on my back and sit down at any sign of my back going normally.

I am very happy though that the nerve isn’t trapped or the disc leaning on it all the time, as that is what happened the 3 previous times. Standing up all day is something I can easily put up with – it is just that I get bored. It is surprising how many things we normally do sitting down!

I gave up waiting for it to ease off and stacked some big books under my keyboard and mouse but it still means the monitor is low (as the leads wont allow me to put that up any higher. So after a few days of trying to type at arms length and my neck leaning forward to see the screen, I got neck ache and had to stop doing that as well for more than a few minutes at a time.

Thank goodness for gadgets. One of my most used is my “picker-upper-thingy” – a long handled grabber (like a long gun with pincers on the end). I have learnt to pick up everything with it, from cat fluff to shampoo bottles, even some cake ingredients out of a low cupboard when I was on my own the other day.

It would be so funny to watch me I am sure, but I have got it down to a fine art now which is a good thing because why is it that you keep dropping things when you can’t pick them up?! It’s like when you cut your finger – everything you seem to do catches on it.

Anyway, although I am not better yet, I have managed to do this blog in short spurts so I will post it and hopefully be back to normal service soon J

Do we eat anything natural any more?

2012-09-06T17:30:00.001+01:00

Vegetables are not what they were a couple of decades or so ago. We now only have neat-shaped fruit and vegetables that have been grown in artificial conditions.

They have to be the right shape and colour. They are treated and sprayed so that they can travel thousands of miles to get to our shops and still be in good condition. They are grown in artificial environments so that we can eat every type of fruit and vegetable throughout the year instead of just when that item is in season.

Even "organic" ones are contaminated in some way by the chemicals in the wind, rain and underground water supplies, even if they aren't sprayed and fertilised.

We live in a very artificial world.

We have just got an allotment this year but the produce will still not be "natural" or "organic" as such because we have to:

Buy the seeds which have probably been changed in some way.

The land used to be farmland so has probably been treated with numerous chemicals.

The water is from an underground well which all the water from the fields nearby drain into after the farmers have sprayed their crops.

The chemical spray from the nearby fields probably blows over in the wind and rain.

If we did use any fertiliser, even from the nearby horses instead of in fertiliser bags, we don't know what they have been eating in their feed.

We now have chickens so our eggs are as free range as they can be but we still have to buy layers mash to feed them on so don't really know how they treat that.

We will never be able to get back to natural truly organic food as we have done too much damage to our soil and water but I wonder how far they will go in producing perfectly shaped and coloured fruit and vegetables for us to buy – will they all be identical in the racks in the shops so there is no real choice at all – it’s getting that way now. And what happens to the ones that don’t conform to that shape and size – they get thrown away or ploughed back into the fields!

Banana and Brazil Nut Cake Recipe - my own recipe

2012-08-29T17:57:00.000+01:00

I had some bananas that were going a bit squidgy again and so thought I would make a cake with them.

I decided to try making up a different recipe using brazil nuts and a few other things I had to hand.

It made a lovely cake which was totally consumed in 24 hours, mainly by my husband as I only managed to eat 4 small slices before it all disappeared – and it makes a big cake.

I was debating on icing it but never really had chance before the first chunk disappeared. So as it was really nice just as an undecorated cake, we were happy.

So here is my recipe:

Banana and Brazil Nut Cake

This recipe is extremely easy.

Turn the oven on to 150 degrees (electric fan oven) – low/medium heat.

Into a large mixing bowl add the following, mixing after each ingredient is added:

4 large Soft Bananas, mashed

4 oz softened Butter

8 oz Caster Sugar

12 oz Self Raising Flour

1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

4 XL Eggs (or 5 medium eggs)

4 oz Chopped Brazil Nuts

6 oz Seedless Raisings

1 tablespoon soft Honey

1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon Mixed Spice powder

Stir well to mix all the ingredients.

Pour into a large greased circle tin (with the hole in the middle) or a large cake tin.

(It would probably work in sponge tins if you cooked for only approx.. 30 minutes or bun cases for 15 minutes).

Cook for approx. 70 minutes (until a knife comes out clean).

Best to cover with foil for the last 15 minutes to stop the top burning.

The cake can then be either left as it is or iced, whichever your preference.

Enjoy J

(I have some more recipes on my blog – just look for Recipes down the right hand side).

Finally finished importing the CD's!

2012-08-14T22:36:00.001+01:00

I have finally finished putting all the important CD’s on the computer and have 26,172 songs and 180.49GB of them.

There are a few more - well OK a couple of hundred more - that aren’t as important so I haven’t put on yet – some time, maybe.

I hate to say it but this may be because they are hubbies CD's that I don't like, so I figure I have done more than my share and if he wants to put them on he is quite welcome to do so.

I realised I hadn't posted this last episode yet so thought I would give you a final update.

I seriously underestimated how many CD’s I have because I thought my turning CD holders contained 125 but I realised it was 125 per side so they really held 250 CD’s each and I had forgotten another place we stored them so there are actually over 2000 CD’s.

Now, of course, I have the even longer problem of selling some of them either on eBay, which is time consuming and costly to keep relisting, or on Amazon.

Of course I hadn’t really thought that I would need a dock for the iPod but I am sure we can make do until I can get one of those as well.

I may have to wait until I get some money from selling some of the CD’s to be able to buy one. Until then it is earphones only.

Adding so many at once, it was fraught with problems though!

Quite a few CD’s wouldn’t load on to the laptops and I had to do them on the PC. Some responded with a wipe but most of the awkward ones would only work on the pc.

I had such a problem with some of the CD’s not having any track names, only track numbers, even though they seemed to have track names showing when we put them in to copy. But when I imported the songs from the laptops on to the main PC I had to check daily to make sure there weren’t any missing the track names.

If any of them were loaded by mistake without the track names I had to check back through all of the CD’s loaded that day to find the right ones and either put them on the PC (which for some reason found the track names even though the laptop hadn’t) or manually put them in. Very time consuming!

But there would be nothing worse than having a whole load of track numbers with no names of songs, artists, album or even genre.

The first day we got caught out with it as there were 10 Track 01’s etc. and it took me a whole morning to figure out which CD’s hadn’t loaded the names properly.

The 2^nd day we had another 5 but as we had only deleted the ones with track numbers from the PC, which didn’t delete them from the laptop, we were left with 15 Track 01’s!!! So after that we were more careful and made sure before we imported anything from the laptops to the PC.

Oh boy, did it take me some time to find out something simple like how to add the track names manually! The instructions said I would need to add them manually if they were not picked up automatically, but what it didn’t say was HOW to add them manually.

I searched online for the instructions and watched a couple of useless YouTube videos but in the end found some online instructions from an internet site. It was very easy, once you knew how, like most other things.

What was weird was that some really obscure albums showed the track names and some you would have expected to have had them didn’t! I put all the ones to be added manually to one side to be added at the end of importing, so we could get the bulk done first.

How could anything that seemed so simple be so hard? Although I dare say that if there weren’t so many to do at one time, if I’d had a smaller collection or if I already had more on the Windows Media Player beforehand, then it would have been an awful lot easier!

And the latest problem – we realised that the iPod can’t play on any of the computers because it just tries to sync the songs from that computer and overwrite the ones already on there.

So that knocks out the portable laptops, and the only other devices we have for playing music don’t have any input sockets so we have got to buy a dock if we want to listed without earphones!

It’s a good job I hadn’t realised how much it would cost in time and money beforehand just to put the music on a computer so we can get rid of the CD’s to gain some space in the house or I would never have done it.

One for the Ladies – Really!!! What do they expect?

2012-08-02T16:20:00.000+01:00

Why is it that some men seem to think that on social media sites they can pick up women by saying something stupid like “I like you – we get together”? You know all the stupid in your face comments that someone you have never ever spoken to before say on your posts.

I have forgotten most of the comments but there are so many messages like this! And for the sake of keeping this blog “clean” I wont even repeat some of the messages.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean ALL men are like this and men from Western countries would know never to act like this, but there is a whole group of men from Eastern countries that seem to think it is the right way to start a conversation with a woman – even in the middle of a thread sometimes.

Do they walk up to women in the street where they live and say the same thing? If so, do they really expect a good response? Or do they think we are different and will be overwhelmed by their attention?

Men’s chat-up lines have always been a bit of a joke – “Do you come here often”, “I haven’t seen you here before”, “What’s a nice looking girl like you doing here on your own” etc., but men never used to be quite so direct as the Eastern men are on social media sites.

Do they really expect us ladies to respond and start chatting to them online? What’s more, what do they expect to achieve from it anyway. They live half way across the world for heaven’s sake.

Do they think we will pay for them to come over to see us and marry them so they can get out of their country? Do they think we are any better than their own women? What is the fascination with trying to chat up women so far away anyway?

Surely they should realise that the softly softly get to know her approach would be the better option as their direct approach is an automatic turn-off and block.

The Unexpected Turnaround

2012-07-17T22:25:00.000+01:00

This is my very first short story.

She opened the curtains very gently, just letting the bright sunlight trickle in a little at a time, as she was feeling oh so delicate this morning. Gingerly Jane leant over to open the window and let some air waft through the musty room, careful not to move her fragile head too fast. What can she remember from last night – oh it is coming back to her now in too much dramatic detail! There is nothing like a muzzy head to create the illusion that all is well when really she should be embarrassed beyond belief. She moved over to the crumpled bed and lay back down on the creamy peach duvet. Some things needed to be clear in her head before she dare open the bedroom door and venture across the landing to the bathroom, just in case she met any of them on the way.

Yesterday things had seemed so simple when she had first arrived. Just a meeting up of some old friends in a small village where they all grew up. Pop along to the local bar for a few drinks and a nice quiet meal to catch up. Then stay the night before the long trek home again the next day. What really did happen was never on the cards. She would never have seen it coming or she would not have left home yesterday morning. This whole weekend had turned into a nightmare!

They all had a bit of a shock when they met as they had all changed so much since their last get-together several years ago. Of course they had chatted on the phone and online but none of them were keen to post photos of themselves, so the changes in their appearance now they were more mature had highlighted their age. Going bald had never been on the cards for the dynamic Daniel, Mick’s paunch was probably to be expected but not to that extent, Roxanne had two children now which probably accounted for the drastic change in her appearance and Jane, well Jane had even started to go grey but with her stubborn reluctance to ever be anything but natural, she probably showed her age more than any of the others.

Mick and Roxanne had invited them to stay at their old cottage where they lived with their two little girls aged four and six. They had arranged a babysitter for the evening so that the group could all go out to chat in peace. The cottage was rather dark and crumbly looking from the outside with a little path winding round from the gate to the main door, through a slightly wild and neglected garden. But it was surprisingly spacious inside, although rather odd and spooky Jane decided, especially in some of the old parts of the house. The back part of the cottage had been extended and the new kitchen was ultra modern and very distinctly different from the other rooms in the house. But everyone to their own Jane thought. The kitchen was extremely light and bright with huge windows overlooking the lawn. She could see kiddies toys littered around and the usual climbing frame with swings and a slide plus a trampoline further down. In the kitchen the granite tops and shiny doors of the units glistened in the bright light. Personally Jane would have chosen something more in keeping with the rest of the cottage but Roxanne obviously loved both modern and old, so had used both styles. The front of the cottage was more or less the original with small damp rooms that seemed to have hidden depths to every corner. There seemed to be very little light coming in the small low windows which seemed very deeply set in the walls. The ceilings were beamed and so low that Jane almost felt she should duck her head, just as she had when she came in the main door. The beams made the rooms appear to be even smaller and darker which made Jane feel very uneasy and uncomfortable in there.

That was part of the problem. That and the news Jane had just found out. She never did see signs or realise what was going on unless anyone pointed them out to her. She should have realised a long time ago but it is always easier in hindsight. When they were at the bar she should have picked up on the small gestures and looks that Daniel was giving her. They had always been close, this small group, more so since Mick and Roxanne started dating in the last year of university. It was no surprise when they announced they were going to move in together, even Jane knew that one was coming. But she just hadn’t reckoned on what was going to happen over the weekend.

They were half way through their main course when Daniel brought up the subject of his parents chalet by the beautiful lake being available next month and if Mick and Roxanne could get a babysitter for the night then they could all go there, as it was place they had all loved to visit all those years ago when they were away at University. Not to the chalet of course, as his parents had only bought it recently, but to the lake where they had all spent many blissful days sitting laughing on the shore or swimming in the cool clear water on warm balmy days. Sometimes they used to just take a picnic and a game to play if they took Daniels younger brother with them. He sometimes had to look after his brother when his mum was away for work. It never interfered with the groups fun though as they were all easy-going and adaptable. In fact they used to love the chance to indulge in a game.

Roxanne said she would see if they could manage to get away for the weekend, but while she was talking Jane went suddenly quiet as she realised there were only 2 bedrooms at his parent’s chalet. That was probably the first inkling she had of how she thought Daniel felt about her. That and remembering the times he had touched her as he gently guided her in the door and to her seat. The meaningful glances, the touches, the gestures were all gradually falling into place. He had kissed her on the cheek before but she hadn’t thought of it as more than a friendly gesture. Until now, that is! She really liked Daniel as a friend, a great friend, but she had never really thought of him as anything but a friend.

She had looked at him then in that sudden illuminating moment and wondered if she could think of him as anything other than a friend. Did she fancy him at all? He had this great rugged appearance and was definitely good looking although in a more mature way now that his face had filled out and he was losing his hair at the temples. But then she herself had probably aged more than him – at least his hair was still dark. Neither of them had been married or in a really serious relationship, or not that he had let on during their conversations over the years. She became increasingly concerned about what would happen at the chalet if they did go. Should she make a lame excuse as to why she couldn’t go?

When the dessert came the subject was put on hold as they all loved their sticky desserts and they had their priorities after all! No more was said about it, as nothing could even possibly be confirmed until Mick and Roxanne checked with their parents or Mick’s sister to see if anyone could have the girls overnight. Jane forgot about it as well while they were telling each other all about their current ups and downs, hilarious episodes, disappointing ones, and trying to fill in all the gaps between them about their other friends.

They all had plenty to drink as they had booked a taxi to take them back afterwards and they were all rather surprised that they had just finished their fourth bottle of wine. They thought maybe that was enough and ordered coffee to round off a really great meal. After paying the larger than expected bill for the evening, they waited in the bar for their taxi which was due any minute. Daniel sidled up to Jane and whispered in her ear that he had something to tell her later. This made her both excited but also very wary as she still didn’t know how she felt about changing their relationship to a romantic one. It was fine how it was really – why does he have to change all that. But on the other hand she knew him so well that it may lead to a very pleasant relationship, instead of all the falseness of dating anyone new and having to try and be someone she wasn’t, which is what happened on any other dates she ever tried.

As they meandered up the dark path to the cottage Jane could have sworn she saw someone watching in the dark corner of the garden but when she mentioned it to the others they just looked over there casually and then laughed saying it was the last glass of wine talking and not to be silly. Once the babysitter’s father had picked her up they all sat down in the easy chairs in the dark lounge. It seemed that however many lights were on in there it still seemed creepy to Jane. So when they dimmed the lights for easier chatting she was rather uneasy and kept seeing things in the shadows. A few times she mentioned it to the others but they just said there was nothing there.

Jane really felt it was creepy in there and her eyes kept darting round the room whenever she could during the conversation. No-one else seemed to take any notice of the flickering shadows and all sat totally relaxed, the men with their legs resting on the coffee table and Roxanne with her legs curled up under her on the leather sofa. Jane felt too jittery to relax and sat on the edge of her seat. Why did the others not feel anything strange? Admittedly she had felt like this a few times before when she had visited older places and even in quite a new flat that a friend had moved into recently. Was she becoming paranoid about ghostly encounters?

After a while she began to relax and after her third Baileys she had crossed her legs, leant back in the chair and had forgotten her fears, well almost. They all chatted on for a good couple of hours until they all finally started yawning, one after the other as always happens. Laughing about it being so catching, they gave in and decided it was time for bed. They all put their glasses in the kitchen and climbed the rickety stairs to the bedrooms. Jane noticed that the stairs creaked on nearly every step. The children had been put to sleep in their parents room so that Daniel could have their room and Jane had the guest bedroom in the front of the house.

When Jane left the bathroom, which was part of the new extension in the back of the cottage, she had to go down the corridor past the room Daniel was using and then the main bedroom, across the landing into the original part of the house. She had put her bag in there earlier when she had arrived but as she entered her room again now in the dark she was becoming unreasonably nervous. She tried to pull herself together but she felt like she was being watched as she got undressed. She checked the curtains again as she knew there was a tree not far from the window but it was totally stupid to think that anyone would be up the tree and watching her. They were too far from the road to be seen from there. So why did she have this unrational fear, she thought.

She kept looking round and was so concerned that she even did a whole tour round the room, checking in the wardrobe and under the bed. That didn’t do her any good though, as standing up again made her feel really giddy and she nearly fell over. She steadied herself against the old dresser, noting that this room was at least in keeping with the old cottage feel as there was nothing modern in it. She did wonder where the furniture would have come from as it almost felt like it had been here all the time. Did it come with the house perhaps? Unlikely she thought but also couldn’t actually see her friends going out to buy things this old.

She started getting undressed but when she came to taking off her underclothes she again felt like someone was watching her intently, and although she felt silly doing it she tried her best to get into her pyjamas without showing her naked body. She even wrapped the towel round herself so that she could drop her panties and pull on her pyjama trousers before unwrapping the towel. This was incredibly stupid she kept telling herself, but just couldn’t help it. She felt she needed to protect herself from view.

She finally pulled back the duvet and slipped into the bed. It was only then that she realised she would need to put the light out before getting into bed. The drink was really having an effect now and she staggered slightly to the door and turned out the light, after making sure she would know the way back into bed without crashing into the dresser or stubbing her toe, in case she woke up the children. The bed was very cool as she slid under the duvet and she was glad she had brought her warmer pyjamas with her. The whole room felt really chilly to Jane, creepy, damp and cold.

Jane would normally have gone straight to sleep after having that much to drink but she lay there listening to the noise of the others coming out of the bathroom and going into their bedrooms. It was once it had gone quiet that she noticed the shadow in the corner. It seemed just like the shape of an old lady hunched over, a frail looking old lady with her hair swept back into a tight bun. Jane froze and closed her eyes. She didn’t think she could open them to look again but she opened first one and then the other as she could not see the willowy shape any more. Yet again she told herself she was just being silly and she curled up under the duvet with it pulled right up under her chin.

She lay there for what seemed like an hour but was probably only ten minutes, and was finally just feeling relaxed enough to start dropping off to sleep when, thump, there was a noise very close to the bed. The adrenalin kicked in and she was suddenly wide awake again. What did she hear, where did the noise come from? She kept totally quiet, frozen in fear, listening for the slightest movement. Nothing! Just as she was finally giving in to sleep again there was a swishing noise at the bottom of the bed as if someone had pulled off an item of clothing. This was getting too much to bear and she was really wishing she had just left the light on. It would have been easier to sleep in the light than worry herself silly like this. There was no chance of that now though as the light switch was over by the door and that meant getting out of the safety of the duvet.

This time Jane took a long time to relax and she heard every creak of the joints in the cottage, every whisper of wind outside the window and could even hear the slight rumblings of someone snoring which she presumed must be Mick as their bedroom was the nearest to hers. She kept her eyes tightly closed so as to not see any shadows and tried to take her mind off the noises by thinking of the topics they had been discussing during the evening. What was Daniel going to say to her? It had been forgotten about later so he would probably tell her in the morning. The worrying thing was that she was almost certain that he would want to take their relationship to another level and she didn’t want to risk this great friendship they all had, if things didn’t work out. If she hadn’t fancied him before, would she be able to see that side of him now.

She was so pleased that he hadn’t ruined the evening by saying anything yet. What if he had tried to kiss her properly or touched her intimately? She certainly wasn’t ready for anything like that yet to change their relationship. Just then there was a gentle knock at her bedroom door. She nearly jumped out of her skin. Oh no, it must be Daniel! She really didn’t want him to come in so she thought she would pretend to be asleep. There was another knock, louder this time. No I am not coming to the door she thought. Just go away Daniel and let me think about this. It went quiet for a little while and Jane was relieved as she realised her nerves were jangled and she felt totally on edge.

Suddenly there was a couple of really loud thuds on the door. She almost leapt out of bed, not to open the door, but in fright. She could hardly feign sleep through those loud knocks. How could he do that, surely he would know that the others may well wake up as well. Two more loud bangs and she was beginning to get really annoyed now that he could be so rude as to keep on banging when she obviously wasn’t going to answer. When the next two bangs came even louder, so loud the others would definitely have heard, she called out for Daniel to go away and she would see him in the morning.

What happened next was the most embarrassing part. The banging on the door started again but didn’t stop at two bangs this time, in fact it didn’t stop at all. The bangs were louder and continuous and she felt like the door would be moving with the weight of the fists hitting the other side of the door. That was it, she flipped and screamed out for Daniel to go away and leave her alone as she didn’t want to sleep with him yet. She stormed over to the door, ready to give him a piece of her mind. She flung open the door only to find Mick and Roxanne coming out of their room to see what all the commotion was about. One of the girls started crying and Roxanne turned back into their room to comfort her and a sleepy Daniel came along the corridor from his room to see what was going on and why his name was being shouted.

Jane could have curled up into a ball she felt so embarrassed. So if it wasn’t Daniel then who had been banging on her bedroom door. Mick put his arms round her and asked if she had been having a nightmare but she knew she hadn’t. She knew she had really heard it. She couldn’t stop crying and told Mick what had happened, although she knew he would still say that it was only a nightmare. At that moment Roxanne came back out of their room and overheard. They looked at each other with a knowing look and said maybe it would be best if Jane slept in the main bedroom with Roxanne and the two girls.

Jane hated to feel like she was kicking Mick out of his own bedroom but she knew there was no way she wanted to go back to that room. What she didn’t realise was that Mick went down and slept on the sofa instead of sleeping in the room she had just vacated. She settled down in the big king size bed next to Roxanne and nothing was discussed further because of fear of waking the girls in the camp beds on the floor. With the comfort of three other people in the room and the lateness of the hour after the long journey here, together with all the alcohol in her system, Jane finally fell asleep.

She didn’t know how but when she finally woke up in the morning she was alone. She couldn’t believe that Roxanne and the two girls had left without her even waking up. She must have been in a very deep sleep and they must have crept out so quietly. But that made it all the worse somehow because here she was on her own and at some point she was going to have to brave it and go downstairs to see everyone. She knew they would be laughing about her screaming in the night that she thought Daniel wanted to get into her room. How awful, how utterly embarrassing this was! Oh she really didn’t want to leave the room yet! What is more, her clothes were in the room that frightened her so much. Could she perhaps dive along there, grab her bag and stuff as quickly as she could and get dressed in here or the bathroom. She certainly couldn’t face getting dressed in that awful room. She knew it would be a lot less frightening in the daytime, the same as when she saw it yesterday, but that was before! Before the shadows and before she heard the noises.

The chattering and laughing downstairs was keeping her back but in the end the lure of the smell of bacon and sausages cooking tempted her to hurry up and get dressed. She must face them sometime so best to get it over with and it would be a lot worse if she didn’t get down in time for breakfast. Reluctantly she opened the door a crack and was engulfed in the scintillating smell of the bacon even more. She could really eat some of that now to calm her churning stomach. Along the corridor and across the landing she scurried, eager to get it over with as quickly as possible and she almost made it into the dreaded bedroom but faltered at the door, hardly daring to open it. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open hard. There was nothing unusual in there, nothing out of place and she could see the bed just as she had left it, which surprised her because she thought that Mick would have either made it or left it all crumpled and slept in. As it was, the duvet was just pulled back as if someone had got out of bed but hadn’t slept in it as the sheet looked too smooth. Oh well, perhaps Mick was just a light sleeper who hardly moved about in his sleep. The curtains were still closed but she felt a reluctance to walk all the way round the bed to open them so she just grabbed her overnight bag, snatched her clothes from the chair and dived back out to the safety of the landing, quickly closing the door behind her.

Scurrying along back to her room she heard more laughter from downstairs and was sure they must be laughing about her night time antics. Back in Mick and Roxanne’s bedroom she pulled on her jeans and t-shirt, quickly brushed her hair and headed off to the bathroom for a quick freshen up before heading downstairs. She knew she should just get on with it because the more she lingered the worse it felt. Three minutes later she was creaking her way down the old stairs. She could see the girls playing in the lounge and she waved and smiled at them as she hurried towards the kitchen.

As she walked in the door the chattering and laughter stopped immediately which hit her like a stone wall. They were talking and laughing about her! A second passed and then Roxanne said she was just in time for breakfast and the men carried on chatting again. She went over to help with the dishes and Mick asked if she was alright now and had managed to get some sleep. They were all looking at her now. What could she say, she felt so stupid. Jane tried to dodge the remark by saying that Mick must be a light sleeper as the bed hardly looked slept in. It was at this point that Mick admitted he had slept on the sofa. Now Jane felt really bad but asked him why he hadn’t slept in her room. Mick looked at Roxanne and she gulped hard before saying that they think the house must be haunted. They have never seen or heard anything since they had lived there but the girls had been allocated that room when they had first moved in and there had been so many problems with them having nightmares and not sleeping that they had moved them to the other room where Daniel had slept last night.

Another friend had been to stay who had seen and heard things in that room too but was too petrified to come out until it got light. She had told them she never ever wanted to go in that room again but also found the rest of the old part of the cottage spooky too. In actual fact that friend had never set foot in the cottage since. Micks mate from work had come round one night and had a bit too much to drink so they offered him the room for the night. He had gone up to bed first and had only been in there ten minutes before he came rushing out and said that he thought it would be better to get home and had promptly called for a taxi. Mick did quiz him about it the next day and after a while he reluctantly admitted that he had found the room weirdly uncomfortable and just felt he had to leave.

They asked Jane to describe everything she had seen and felt in the room. Then they told her that they had investigated what they could about the past of the house. Apparently an elderly couple lived there once and the man often used to get drunk which made him violent. The lady used to sleep in that front bedroom and he slept in what is now the main bedroom. When the man came home drunk he often used to bang on his wife’s door to let him in. According to the information they found, one night he must have forced his way into the room and he killed her. By this time Jane had her hand to her mouth, realising that the little hunched over old lady in the corner that she had seen was probably the spirit of the old lady who had been murdered, and the banging on the door was the old man trying to get in. Jane sat down quickly while trying to take all this in. Mick said that obviously some people were more sensitive and could pick up on these things, whereas they hadn’t noticed a thing and the girls had seemed quite happy again now they were in the other bedroom.

By now Roxanne had finished dishing up the big English breakfast and they started tucking in. Jane was having a job to swallow the first few bites even though she felt ravenous. The others started chatting about whether they could get away for the weekend by the lake and suddenly Jane remembered her other problem. No-one had mentioned what she had yelled out last night when she thought it was Daniel outside her door and she just hoped they had forgotten all about her words in the commotion. While they were discussing details Jane was quiet and then suddenly she could hold it no longer and she interjected by almost shouting that there are only two bedrooms in the chalet! They all looked at her knowingly she thought, but then realised their expression was something else that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Daniel broke the tension by saying there was a sofa bed in the lounge and he would be sleeping there. The tension fell off her like melted wax. She could not be more relieved, although she still thought there might be more to this weekend at the lake than she was prepared to accept. She liked things the way they were in the group and didn’t want that to change.

Then Daniel said that he had never got round to having his quiet word with her last night, so he may as well tell her now. She was really surprised that he was going to say anything in front of the others and thought he must be rather sure of himself if he was going to ask her out with the others present. Then he totally shocked her by saying that the others had already guessed but he had realised that she didn’t know. Didn’t know what, she thought! He said he had no idea how to tell her because he didn’t want their relationship to change. She gasped because she thought this is the moment. He is going to say he wants more from her, a loving relationship maybe. He was trying to get it out but with her nervous reaction he was taken aback. The silence was like a long dark tunnel, waiting to see the light at the other end. At last he finally came out with it and told her he really hoped it wouldn’t change anything about them all being friends but he needed her to know that he was gay. Jane didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but in the end she almost choked. Daniel sat back tentatively in his chair to wait for the reaction. Then Jane spluttered and laughed and told him that she thought he had been coming on to her so she couldn’t be more relieved at the news because it wouldn’t change a thing! He was just the lovely caring thoughtful Daniel that she had always known.

A Variety of Scrambled Egg Recipes

2012-07-11T18:02:00.000+01:00

I often have scrambled eggs for breakfast or lunch and friends have said to me “Don’t you find them a bit bland?” or “You had scrambled eggs yesterday – don’t you get bored with them?”.

Well to be honest – I rarely have them the same way twice (or certainly not in the same week).

I make them with lots of different ingredients with the eggs just being the basic ingredient really. Scrambled eggs are a bit like having an omelette. You can put all sorts of different things in them to make them taste totally different every time.

I usually use 2 large or extra large eggs.

Sometimes I add a little milk but not always. Milk makes it softer but if you like a firmer omelette consistency then leave the milk out or adjust it accordingly.

I melt a little bit of butter in the bottom of the saucepan first (or you can use oil).

Put the saucepan on a low heat.

Then I add all the rest of the ingredients as well as the eggs and just give it a really good stir and then keep stirring once they start to set.

For best results take them off the heat just as they are starting to set as they continue setting on their own.

So if you don’t like them soft then just leave them on for a bit longer.

I like mine set but nice and soft still.

Have them on their own, on or beside buttered toast or I sometimes have mine with buttered Ryvita (crispbread) on the side.

Of course you can have them alongside all sorts of other things too – bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. or as part of a full English breakfast.

The extra ingredients I have often used for mine are:

½ teaspoon Marmite

½ tsp Whole Grain Mustard

1 tsp Cheese Spread – lots of flavours in these alone

1 tsp Tomato Sauce

1 tsp Brown Sauce

1 tsp Tabasco Sauce

½ tsp Soy Sauce

½ tsp Sweet Chilli Sauce

½ tsp Oyster Sauce

½ tsp Worcester Sauce

½ tsp any of your favourite pastes

½ tsp any dry herb in your collection, turmeric, basil etc.

As much cheese as you like – grated or cut into small pieces to melt quickly

Diced cooked bacon

Diced ham or any cooked meat

Mashed tinned tuna, salmon, or any favourite fish

Mushrooms - chopped small (cook in the pan slightly before you add the eggs)

Peppers - chopped small (cook in the pan until soft before adding the eggs)

Spring Onions – chopped small (cook in the pan until soft before adding the eggs)

Of course you can add more than one of any of these ingredients for even more choices.

I am sure there are many more savoury things you can think to add to your scrambled eggs to make them different each day. I have probably forgotten some even in writing this.

Let me know if you have a particular favourite that I have not mentioned here.

You can also make them look interesting and appetising by adding a swirl of cream on top, a sprinkle of herbs or chopped meat or vegetables.

They make a great Starter for a dinner party if decorated. Try popping them into vol au vent or other pastry cases. They also make a great alternative to anything you would normally use hard boiled eggs for, if you leave them to cool first.

Of course you can also mash quite a few of these ingredients into a hard boiled egg mixture but some mix a lot better when cooked as scrambled eggs as they incorporate right into the mixture.

My current favourite scrambled eggs are Marmite and Chilli Cheese Spread with buttered Ryvita on the side.

My favourite hard boiled eggs mix is with blue cheese salad dressing and cress.

So next time you have scrambled eggs try adding something extra rather than just having plain scrambled eggs, which are a bit boring. You will find them much more interesting and tasty.

LOL – my photo is just a quick snap of some scrambled eggs made with Marmite on a slice of toast one day as a post on Google Plus, so rather a basic untouched, without frills, photo I am afraid J

But I am sure you know what a plate of scrambled eggs look like without me tarting it up to look like a restaurant delicacy for a photo J

I hope you enjoy your experimenting and don’t forget to let me know if you already have anything different or come up with some other ideas.

Will She Come? A poem by me.

2012-07-02T17:49:00.001+01:00

I have never written a poem before and hated doing this type of thing in school but the other day I felt inspired to write one for some reason.

I just started typing and let it flow - I had no idea where it was going when I started but just ran with it as it went along. It is not about my personal experience or anyone I know.

I know it is very basic but it is a start and who knows I may well be inspired to write some more, which can only get better.

Will She Come?

I was waiting there for ever

Just hoping she would show

I guess I had my answer

But I really needed to know

She seemed a tad dubious

When we spoke on the phone

But I was hoping I had it wrong

As I didn’t want to be alone

It seemed we had the right connections

Both liking the same things

Now it seems I would never know

Just what our togetherness brings

I looked at my watch

Just one last time

If I could turn it back

Then it could be fine

No it’s way too late now

Time to give up and go

There’s no way now

That she’s going to show

I turn away to go home

My head bent in sorrow

Perhaps I’ll go to the pub

And save the tears for tomorrow

I hear my name called

Think - I’m hearing things now

I turn just to see

And there she is – wow!

She runs through the crowd

Said she’s so sorry she was late

She thought I’d be gone

Couldn’t believe I would wait

She told me she’d left early

In plenty of time for our date

But there was a hold up on the tube

Which had made her so late

To cut a long story short

And we laugh about it still

How our first real date

Nearly went down the hill

We have been together now

For thirty four happy years

At first I was so nervous

But she quelled all those fears

We fit like a glove

Our feelings were right

We are perfect together

Ever since that first night

What happened to the handy local shops?

2012-06-28T19:59:00.000+01:00

I know all the reasons why they don’t exist in small towns any more – but it is just not on when I want something and would have to travel a long way to buy it! J

Someone had a photo of their tarot reading set-up and had a really lovely soft velvet blue cloth on a small square table and I thought it would be excellent to get one.

I want a really sumptuously soft royal blue or purple fringed one and have been searching online for hours checking out scarves, square shawls, tablecloths etc. trying to find one, or even the material so that I can possibly make one - although that would mean having to dig the dreaded sewing machine out of hibernation in the loft to add the fringing.

But I have had no joy whatsoever - I think I really need to check out car boot sales etc. although I would never be up in time to go to one. We used to have haberdashery type shops or stores around to buy material but they all seem to be long gone.

I suppose I could check out local markets or go to a big town and try a department store. But do I want one that much???!!! Especially as they may not even have what I want when I get there.

I have found some heavy velvet/velour material on eBay for curtains or dressmaking but I am not sure that will actually be the thick soft plush velvet I am thinking of, although they probably don’t even make that type of fabric any more as it is too expensive and everyone wants the thinner stretchy velour type material now.

I just hate sewing at the best of times so would much prefer to buy it already made especially as my sewing machine has this nasty habit of chugging nicely along, teasing me into thinking all is well, and then it suddenly jams and totally annialates the fabric by bunching it all up and getting the cotton all knotted up in a huge bundle.

This then takes me an hour to unpick, then check the machine that always seems to look all innocent with nothing wrong, and then having to try it again with fingers and toes crossed just hoping it will get to the end without ruining it any more.

I don’t even know why I am that bothered about getting some velvet material as I already have some perfectly good black velour material that has silvery white specks on it that I use (no fringing though) that looks really good with the tarot cards.

I originally bought this from my belly dancing teacher with the idea of making a hip scarf with it for doing my belly dancing, but it just sat in the drawer for ages as I bought a couple of ready-made satin ones with coins on to jiggle and shimmer nicely instead. I do love the material and it is perfect, but it would be lovely to have the sumptuous velvet fringed one as an alternative.

I do wonder though if they even still make what I have in mind without it costing an arm and a leg plus only being available in very elite stores.

Importing CD’s to the Computer (Update)

2012-06-20T20:54:00.000+01:00

I thought I would give you an update on my putting music on the computer saga!

Well the CD importing came to an abrupt stop for quite a while as I ran out of space to put them on the 2 laptops and the main PC! Not something I had expected at all.

I had obviously realised early on that I couldn’t put much on the 144GB main computer but as the laptops didn’t really have anything stored on them I thought they would be OK. No such luck.

Oh what a state I got myself into – I was having to juggle it all around to get the ones I wanted most on the iPod, some of which I haven’t even managed to import yet. So I was having to transfer imported music from one laptop to the other, a few at a time back and forth, to get what I wanted on just one laptop to copy to be able to sync the iPod.

I had presumed I could just add the music from EACH of the laptops and the PC but realised belatedly that you can only “sync” it from one device. If you plug it into any of the others it syncs everything from that one and overwrites what I have already put in from the first one.

You would think there would be a way of adding rather than overwriting but hey isn’t that just too obvious a requirement for the designers. There could be an overwrite choice or an add choice. Surely that wouldn’t be too hard, after all iTunes let’s you add up to 5 computers to the network so why can’t you add music from each of those? Makes sense to me.

So anyway you can only sync from one computer, although you can add things manually from that computer so you don’t have to add everything. It is frightening though as I had to sync them all again once and then when you go to add some more songs manually it comes up with the little warning box that it will overwrite them which you have to click to confirm. But then you can add them manually. So why have the warning box come up at all when the manual box is ticked???!!! Who designs these things!

Sooo – it was either buy an external hard drive to add all the music to or buy a new computer that we had been putting off for so long.

After many, many hours of talking about it and checking prices online we finally decided we may as well put the money towards a better computer so we wouldn’t need an external hard drive. Or not yet anyway, as we would feel safe in that everything is stored on Carbonite. I will just try to convince myself of how much I have saved rather than how much I have spent.

As soon as my new computer arrived I have spent the requisite number of hours pulling my hair out trying to get it running and all the data transferred before I could get the final third of my CD’s imported and transfer all the others from the laptops so they have memory space to do things again. Of course this will mean syncing the iPod yet again, with the new computer this time.

I should think in about 3 months time I will finally emerge from IT computer world, Carbonite will have finally backed it all up, and I can get back to doing normal things! J

My Recent Experiences with Private Health Care Appointments

2012-06-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

Well how is this for private health care (in England)! I am seriously wondering if it is worth trying to keep up my private healthcare payment now I am not working full time.

Problem 1

I had an appointment a few weeks ago for an eye problem - I drove half an hour to get there and when I got in to see him he said he doesn't do those procedures now and said he would refer me to someone who does.

Seeing as the letter from my optician and doctor must have clearly stated the problem then he or his secretary should have informed me of this instead of making the appointment.

Problem 2

I drove half an hour to the same private hospital for an appointment about my back. On arrival the receptionist looked baffled and then said she would get someone to come and see me as the consultant had no clinic there that morning.

A lady came out and said that although my letter clearly stated the time and hospital, they had booked me in at a hospital miles away at that time instead. However he did have a clinic at this hospital that evening and they could book me into that if I would like to come back.

I did go back later and all the consultant said was "did you not fancy a trip over to the other hospital" - I refrained from saying that unless I could be teleported it would have taken me a further hour to get there so would obviously not be in time for the appointment, as I was at the correct place on the letter at the correct time.

He then just casually mentioned that this happens all the time. WHAT - this is private and even the NHS doesn't get it that wrong!!!

Not one word of apology!!!

If I had taken time off work I would have been even more infuriated as it would have cost me wages as well as fuel.

Plus he asked me if I had the doctor’s referral letter as he hadn't - I replied that I hadn't but he should have, otherwise how would I have received an appointment in the post without ever having contacted him.

He also said he couldn't find my MRI scan and would have to try and track it down. To that I said, “I have a copy of the disc in my handbag if you would like to borrow it”. That was £10 well spent in getting my own copy!

I am even wondering who I could possibly complain to about any of this as he obviously wasn't bothered - the hospital? (they only book the rooms not the clients I presume), the secretaries? (like they are likely to bother any more than him), the insurance provider? (it didn't cost them any more and it wasn't their fault).

I can only see that he is to blame because he is expected to take responsibility for his secretaries but he didn't seem to think it a problem at all - why one earth not as it must waste his time as well as his clients time.
I does make you wonder, doesn't it..........

Money Saving Tips for Beauty Products

2012-05-17T20:29:00.001+01:00

I have recently started getting a lot more use out of some of my beauty products and it works on many other things too.

You know how so many things now come in those plastic tubes that stand up on their lids? It gives the impression that when you get to the end and have squeezed the last bit out that you have used all the product. After all, it is standing up so everything will have drained down, right? Wrong! As the product is usually quite thick it just clings to the sides of the container.

I have found you can get an awful lot more out after that. Just cut the tube right across from side to side about half way down so you have 2 halves of the tube and you will find there is loads of product still left inside.

The top half will fit nicely as a lid over the bottom part to keep the product in good condition and it wont dry up.

I have done this with my shower gel, face wash and my moisturiser. You can afford to pay for the expensive products when you realise how long they can last. I have still not finished the face wash and I have been using it daily since I cut it in half for over 3 weeks now so I think I will get another months use out of it from what I would have originally thought.

It is quite annoying to think of all those tubes I have thrown away thinking they are empty when really there is still lots of product just stuck to the sides. They may say 250ml or something on the outside because that is the amount that went into the tube but probably 30-50ml just sticks to the inside of the tube.

It will work with toothpaste as well if your toothpaste comes in those types of tube. Mine comes in a metal tube that you can keep folding up to make sure you get the most of the product (the same as tomato puree tubes).

So think twice before you throw away a tube that you presume is empty and check how much is still inside just clinging to the sides of the tube - you can possible get a whole months more use out of it which will save your pennies, or pounds / dollars in the case of the expensive beauty products.