Life?

One of my beautiful and highly intelligent nieces posted on facebook a wee while ago something about life always being one thing or another.   Well yes, that's what it is.  One day you are up, the next down, nothing runs smoothly for long, this she needed to remember, is how it is.

Life here has been slow, but smooth in a way.  Yesterday I was fed by the neighbour, she gave me a roast dinner!  I gave them a bottle of wine and that pleased him, I'm not sure how much she got...

A couple of nights ago she knocked on my door with a question regarding the young lass in the other flat.  This ended with a promise of a dinner, which she brought up to me, after 6 pm.  I had been expecting this at 2 or 3 pm but there you go.  I had eaten by the time it arrived and forced this down.  It was fabulous!  I have eaten little today. This is all well and good.  I had been seeking a chance to meet them more.

On the other hand, when my friend decided to die last year she left me money in her will.  I expected a few hundred but she gave me a huge sum!  Stunned as I am I managed to let it happen.  Now I wonder what to do with it?  Naturally, this means informing the Council regarding the Housing Benefit, which will now stop.  I canny mind if I need to tell the pension people, but I'm sure I must.  So, here I am now with a bit in the bank awaiting news of the changes ahead.  I will survive, bills will be paid, changes will occur.  Easy come, easy go it appears.  1st world problems.  

However, my weight, at 15 stone, has increased today by 2 pounds.  As there was no need to eat today. I also exercised in an attempt to reduce things more.  Crossing to the council office, then around the town to Tesco to save me rising early in the morning, obtaining a couple of needy things and nothing else I hobbled home.   What with checking paperwork, online info, printing things, letter writing, and so on, I have filled the day well.  Tomorrow I may even do something useful!  

You will note I scribbled this in a hurry...

Fragrant Grass

I sit here with the sweet fragrance of newly cut grass filling the air.  Across the road the council gardeners are driving large tractors over the acreage of greenery.  They do a fine job of keeping it under control, the sweet aroma of cut grass always lifts the spirits in us all.

My own version of grass today will be 'Lambs Lettuce,' whatever that is, as I am attempting to stuff more greenery down my throat.  I have some in a plastic bowl at the moment, and I have lots of plastic bowls and containers in the house.  One of my nieces is adamant I should throw them out, but does not inform me as to an alternative, as she claims these things are poisoning us.  Well, she is of course correct, my nieces always are, and the re-use of so many plastic bottles, containers and the like does imply we will suffer an intake of plastic, or whatever it is made off, into our systems.  However, what is the alternative?  Tins?  Any alternative for storage will have problems also.  That said it is clear we are taking in vast quantities of plastic and no-one appears to care.

Plastic is so useful, it gives us drainpipes, cables, containers, bags, and is what almost all tech items are made from these days.  What would we do without it?  However, what do we do with the reject plastic?  Most of it cannot be recycled, what can, is often dumped on third world nations for the natives to rummage amongst to find a life!  Some local 'Tesco' bags were found in one dump in the Philippines not that long ago.  Vast amounts cover the oceans, killing aquatic life, filling the fish we eat, as does mercury and other items, and enters ourselves thus killing us.  I doubt this present government either understands this or indeed cares.   

A more natural diet is required, we know so much of our food is full of muck to make it more desirable, but while it tastes good it fills us with sugar, or worse.  A balanced diet can avoid trouble but who has this 'balanced diet?'  We just get fat.

Natural foods sound good, but how much fertiliser, and what is the fertiliser that is used, has gone into it.  What is sprayed across the 'natural' foodstuffs?  What has been done to it over the years, I understand wheat is now shorter for industrial purposes, for instance, why?  The grass I have comes in wee bags full of some thing, hydrogen I think, to keep it fresh and turn it into black lumps within two days.  I wonder how healthy this really is?  Tinned veg is healthier, but what have they put on it?

I would go and make lunch but now I am too scared to eat.  At least I will lose weight...

And now, some culture...

     

    

A Wander in the Sunshine

In a vain effort to find life again I took off quite early for Tesco.  Saturday morning among the masses is often invigorating.  It was however, like the misty glinting sunshine, quite peaceful and the healthy ingredients sought were soon found.  Healthy, that is those rumoured to stimulate the brain, Bluberries and very dark chocolate for instance, were joined by Flax, Chia seeds and Hemp, the latter for one of my nieces husband's Christmas's, he will probably think it will get him high.  He is one of those convinced cannabis is the answer to all problems, from cancer to covid.  This, he attempts to prove but he so far has not been successful.

The rest is for my latest health trend, and having paid through the nose for these goods, along with my other calorie controlled foodstuffs, I should look like Charles Atlas by Christmas.

This may not however, be the case.

 

I had to look twice at these balls hanging on the trees.  These trees were only planted a few years ago, 10 maybe, and I do not remember any fruit on them last year, though I could be mistaken.  'Conkers,' all around, at least the outer shells, as it appears some kids have been having a go at them already.  The more mature trees all around have certainly passed their fruit onto the public as the mess around their feet reveals.  Many a child, and not a few adults, will now be enjoying themselves with such on pieces of string.  Entertainment is easy, computers or no.

 

 

Having walked home from Tesco carrying a heavy but healthy bag it is almost a delight to walk without any weight attached.  Having lost a stone and a half I rather hoped walking would ease, it looks like another stone must go.  At least once that stone has gone my old shirts may fit once again.  

A sun drenched public garden, with a bit of early haze, is a delightful thing.  All were happy apart from at least once screaming child, the fruit of the children's play area at the top end.   
 

The last of the roses blossomed happily in the sun.  A large bush, almost a tree, once full now with only this lot left in any decent condition.  The volunteers who help the gardners do a great job of keeping these plants going.  

 

The idea was to walk round and energise the bulk, instead I felt my knees objecting.  Naturally, this park is on a slope, and to go homewards meant going uphill.  I await my lottery win so I can employ a servant to drive me uphill when my knees tire.  This however, may be an unfulfilled dream.

I wandered about, as always getting strange looks from women with kids, clearly women who read 'those stories' and listen to 'old women's tales,' and most of them appear neurotic as a result.  Even young dad's look sheepish, though that might be because they are not used to doing such work as watching kids.  

 

As I headed towards the gate I saw this man stiing low down and apparently unaware I was approaching.  Moving slowly along the path I got two decent shots of him before he felt he had posed enough and disappeared under the bush.   Usually Robins are very wary, quickly flitting out of distance and hiding in the tree.  This one may have been asking himself what life was all about, or where has the wife gone, or wondering what football was on today.  He appeared preoccupied but once he moved he did not show up again to ponder.

I don't think much of this fountain myself, it's all a bit weird I say.  There is a rumour it represents a kid who drowned in the river.  I don't blame him if he thought they would do this to him!

I kept going when common snense told me to return home, eat and sleep.  Common sense is as you know in short supply these days and it failed to appear with me also.  Instead I continued up the slope, across the town, passed all the workers still attempting to finish refurbishing the High Street, and noticed the old church had a door open.  I peeked in, something was going on, so I entered and enquired off the two young ladies on guard what was amiss?  "It's a Ladies Day," they said grinning.

I made my excuses and left!

I wandered into 'Clintons' Card shop and glanced at the horrendous Christmas stock on display, almost none of which was suitable for my needs.  However, I purchased three £25 Amazon cards towards the Christmas present stock and was picked up off the floor by the helpful young woman working the till after I fainted when I realised just how much I was paying for this.  She grinned as I explained the vast number of women I had to serve in the family and how I was failing to remember the pin number I have used for almost 30 years.  A very helpful young woman, not unsual around here I must say.

Heading home I met a young man from the Kirk and we put the church world to rights, OK I mean we grumbled a lot, and then were joined in our grumbling by one of his old workmates, so our grumbling widened to include much of the local world.  In all, this was a very enjoyable imitation of a group of gossipping old women.  I then headed home much to my knees relief and now await the Scotland football team playing Israel for the (I think) ninth time in 3 years!  The draw for competitions must be changed I say.  

Healthy Eating with Alec

 

I came across this on Facebook this morning and identified with it immediately.  I suspect none of my readers will share my reaction, all of you being so young that is.  However, I understood all of this.  What memories returned, childhood, games played, fears, the wireless and malnutrition.  All the good things we remember from the 'good old days' when everything was better!

Pasta we never had, though we might have occasionally had spaghetti, not something parents enjoyed dealing with when kids are around, and curry was something dad talked of connected to his two years service in Poona in the days of long ago.  Pizza was of course unknown.

'Smiths Crisps,' sometimes a whole big box full of them, came supplied with wee blue bags of salt, to sprinkle among the contents, several wee blue bags in the big box.   

Indeed, rice pudding and hardly ever real white rice.  Not that this would feed us mind.  Potato soup, bread to dunk, and spam fritters or fish and home cooked chips were mainstays.

'Camp Coffee,' I always liked that.  It was the only coffee we had, very pricey, and unusual but kept for company when they arrived.  There used to be an army officer with bright tartan braid on the front being served by an Indian servant.  This was changed and the servant became an Indian Officer about 30 years ago!  Never see it now.

'Heinz Beans,' though I remember 'Crosse & Blackwell' also existed.  Yoghurt however did not until I was well into secondry school, so about 1965 I would say.  I had one, rotten it was, and never had another for 25 years.

I do not know who wrote that but I understand it well.  They missed out gray ex-army blankets stamped WD, on the bed with your overcoat on top to help the warmth.  Jack Frost on the windows and pound, shilling and pence in your pocket.  Too many and you leant to one side.

 

Daily Record

   

The SNP struggle continues.  Having established his right to use information at his hearing Alec Salmond has now learned the Crown Office (friends with whom?) wishes some evidence to be withheld.  This is intriguing as this has already been published somewhere.  The games people play.  Who is behind this move, who benefits, who wins?  Find out in next weeks (or days) exciting chapter...

My Fat & me...

Early this morning before the sun decided to break through the dullness I stood on the weighing machine and found four pounds had gone from me.  My fat belly rejoiced, even though it made it difficult for me to actually see the reading on the far off machine at my feet.  Moving off the machine amidst much creaking, my bones not the weighing machine, I rejoiced and swiftly breakfasted on two hunks of bread.  Something did not appear right here.  Once again I must pretend I am eating better, once again I must choose more fruit and veg and less of the Christmas leftovers (see above) and once again I suspect this will last for a few days only until bad habits once more reappear.  
er, actually having looked in the fridge it appears bad habits will be feeding me again tonight!  The only things to eat are about to go off, reduced price specials, and I must stuff them down now before they go that awful green colour again...
My downstairs neighbour has been hiding away since new year with his girlfriend, clearly the reason he no longer lives with his children's mother, and has I suspect enjoyed himself a great deal.  This does mean however that I cannot exercise as I would like, the shaking floor unfair on those below, and so what exercise I did today was slow and not sufficient to encourage more fat to go away.  Nevertheless I will persist, I will be out for a short while on the bike, cold weather permitting, also next week he will have to work once more and I will fill the morning with grunting and grumbling.
I may well reward myself with a piece of cake!
Cake reminds me of the book I am reading, one of the Christmas gifts, this concerns an officer in the Cameronian's, a regiment who like all Scots regiments were famous for their cakes.  In his letters home (the book is based on his letters) he constantly refers to the cakes, fish, fruit socks and various other items his wife sends out.  Visiting officers rejoiced in visiting such men at the front.  
Having just finished rather rapidly the 'Black Bun' that arrived it might become a requirement of my sister to send me cakes more often, as a treat after exercise I mean.  I doubt she would comply outside of Christmas!  

Eating Well & Donald Trump

I tried this eating well business again yesterday.  Lots of green stuff, lots of healthy ingredients, lots and lots.  Today I have been rough because I did not eat enough carbohydrate, that's chips to you!  The body needs a plate of chips with everything, at least mine does.  I was choosing carefully yesterday all the right things, I forgot we need some chips to go with it. 
Today as I struggled to comprehend the words on the laptop it struck me the reason was feeding myself badly.  All this health nonsense is just nonsense if you don't have the right balance, I had no balance whatsoever yesterday, although lots of green things must be good for me.
I've had none today.
If my limited mind is to work tomorrow I had better eat something more filling and full of brain energy.  Home made curry and chips.  No wonder I'm unhealthy!

CC Cleaner

Now here's a thing, using CC Cleaner to clean the slow laptop I note it tells me Internet Explorer has thousands of temp files upon it, this surprised me as I never use the thing!  Is Bill Gates using it for me I wonder?  Can Microsoft be trusted? 

Anyway the brute is still slow, all that can be removed is or will be removed, everything that can be run to clean and search has been bar a boot scan, and still it's slow.

Maybe of course it is just me that is slow and the machine has come down to my speed.  

 

BI

Well Donald Trump has guaranteed success with the arrival of one Sarah Palin!  As I awoke this morning I heard her screeching voice yelling out to the world that Trump would be the next President of the United States.  I fear I let out a rude word and not just because her screeching was doing my head in either.

Goodness gracious the woman who wanted to do something about South Korea, like invade or nuke it, is now working for Trump.

Had this happened in the UK or Australia or Germany we would all laugh and ignore them.  However this is the USA, these are Republicans, these are not normal people.  I keep thinking of MacArthur.  This general was responsible for much in the past, intellectual understanding was not one of the things however.  During the Korean war he was informed China did not want an American army on its doorstep he quickly found a solution - 'Drop and atom bomb on Peking and Shanghai.' 

Truman sacked him instead.

Back home he attempted to become president, he had trained for this by ruling Japan like a King for long enough, and he received much support from the ancestors of Trumps followers. However he lost out and disappeared into obscurity.

We must hope that sufficient Republicans vote for one of the other losers and that if Trump wins the nomination sufficient Democrats and Republicans vote for Hilary.  She may not be great but she is not Trump.

Just remember the UK voted for Cameron, anything can happen in politics.

 

British Taste in Food & the US.

One of our attractive young ladies wondered if indeed Curry was Britain's favourite food.  To my knowledge this was the case however I did a quick look around and found a surprising result. 
  
According to the 'About Food' website whoever they are, they investigated a survey in the best things about Britain and listed the ten most popular foods.  These were:-

 The Top 10 Foods and Drinks

    Bacon sandwiches
    Roast dinners
    A Cup of Tea
    Fish and Chips
    Yorkshire Pudding
    Full English Breakfast
    Cornish pasties
    Strawberries and cream
    Teatime Treat, Crumpets
    Beer

However according to PAPA The Pizza, Pasta  & Italian Food Association their research indicates that PIZZA is the most popular foodstuff.  No1 in most restaurants, No2 in supermarkets and No 4 in takeaways. Hmmm.  Britons spending over £4 billion on Pizza each year.  By the way did you know we are one of the fattest nations in the world ?

Now I didn't notice any date on those two but over at Pocket Cultures a 2009 item offered their top ten favourite foods, with pictures!   They were honest enough to indicate that UK versions of foreign foods have little in common with foreign food found in foreign countries.

Top Ten:-

Spag Bol 
Roast Beef dinner
Chili Corne Carne
Lasagne
Sheperds Pie
Meat/fish Stir Fry
Beef Casserole
Macaroni Cheese
Toad in the Hole
Beef/Fish/veg Curry

Hmmm recently  The Daily Mail, that august representative of all that is good honest journalism ("snigger") tells of a survey done by 'Discover Cornwall Food & Drink Guide,' Cornwall being the county down in the south west of Englandshire.
They offer a top forty, and Fish & Chips, popular in seaside towns, comes first.  No curry, lasagne or the like seen in this UK tourist survey, hmmm...

Top Forty

1. Fish and chips
2. Roast dinner with Yorkshire pudding
3. Full English breakfast
4. Bacon butties
5. Apple crumble
6. Strawberries and cream
7. Bangers and mash
8. Cream tea
9. Shepherd's pie
10. Crumpets
11. Ham, egg and chips
12. Sausage rolls
13. Cornish ice cream
14. Baked beans
15. Victoria sponge
16. Toad in the hole
17. Sticky toffee pudding and custard
18. Cornish pasty
19. Steak and kidney pie
20. Pork pie
21. Bakewell tart
22. Ploughman’s lunch
23. Chips and gravy
24. Rhubarb and custard
25. Scampi
26. Prawn cocktail
27. Mushy peas
28. Marmite
29. Cheese and pickle on crackers
30. Scotch eggs
31. Cornish fudge
32. Spotted Dick
33. Irish stew and dumplings
34. Chelsea buns
35. Eccles cakes
36. Pea and ham soup
37. Cucumber sandwiches
38. Haggis and tatties
39. Cockles and mussels
40. Jellied eels

The blatantly racist 'She Knows' in 2013 offers a list of 'England's' favourite foods yet calls itself 'She knows UK!'  Imperialism dies hard.

Top Ten:-

Fish & Chips
Pizza
Chinese Stir Fry
Chicken Tikka Masalla
Spag Bol
Thai Green Curry
Roast Dinner
Bangers & Mash
Sweet & Sour Chicken 
Shepherds Pie

It soon becomes clear that some surveys find what they wish to find, and others find that foreign muck of various sorts is now part and parcel of the British diet.  Takeaways used by well of rich people, not that I am jealous in any way just because the 'Balti Night' is probably the best curry house in the world, rich people by Fish & Chips, Curry, Chinese, Pizza and Kebabs from takeaways more than any other foodstuff.  Not that any other come to mind as Burgers are not really food are they?  What do Britons eat, anything and far too much thereof the greedy fat gits! 

Oh this is interesting, this site is intended to help foreign students understand Britain and this lists the typical British foodstuffs.  very instructive and less biased than others.  Kaplan

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Today the Free World celebrates the loss of the American Colonies.  Where once England thought it owned North America just like it thinks it owns Scotland the US broke free and became a mixed up nation all by itself.  However the people walked away from imprisonment to an uncaring Westminster and we can all learn from this.
May the good Americans enjoy the day and may the English immigrants avoid saying what they think even though it is very tempting!  

Curry

Cook Yourself Thin

I have been listening to Mark Steels in Town tonight, a programme where he visits places and laughs at the people.  This edition finds him in Southall, once a boring a suburb in south west London, now known as 'Little India.'   Here masses of 'Asians,' have settled and filled the hall to here themselves ridiculed. This series is a good one, Steel visits many out of the way places and brings some attention to them.
It was the talk of curry that got me thinking.  In the days of long ago when I was a sweet, blonde haired, skinny child, yes that long ago, we had never heard of curry!  It may well be we in fact had, dad served two years in Poona so must have mentioned it, but we never ate it.  The diet, cooked by mum as we had little money, used a slot of corned beef, mince, spam fritters, home cooked chips, far too many sweets, potatoes and lots of salad stuff in summer.  Dads hobby was the garden and he grew a great deal of veg for us, his potatoes were indeed the best we ever had. Mum made potato soup that kept us alive, brilliant stuff, so good she was forced to continue making this until she died for the younger ones!  Sticks of rhubarb and a wee jar of sugar were used to keep us on the run, and fish came from the wee van that arrived from Port Seton regularly, fish straight from the North Sea!  The cat enjoyed this van more than anyone. Sadly an outbreak of Typhus in Aberdeen in the early sixties was traced back to Fray Bentos in Uruguay if I remember correctly, this resulted in a massive clean up back at base and corned beef, the 'bully beef' beloved of the troops, suddenly rose sharply in price and was soon out of our league.  

One day a new exciting foreign food was made available for us, 'Vesta Curry!' We took absurd delight in the arrival of such exotic foreign foods!  This was the early sixties remember!  We got excited by a lemon in those days, that was alien enough for us.  Only the 'best' shops had anything other than oranges and apples, bananas and grapes in those days, Edinburgh people would not see a 'pepper' on show until the Asians arrived in the 70's!  How we lived then, no wonder folks considered 'chips' to be 'salad!'  Today such foreign delights once found only in the shops frequented by the rich are daily obtained in Tesco's, where dates were once seen only at Christmas they lie, overpriced, next to mango's and yams.  Potatoes however take up much more space, rhubarb is found only in tins.  
The influx of immigrants has been so powerful that many probably believe that curry, Britain's favourite dish, was actually a home grown meal.  Not that I suspect the UK population to be that stupid in reality......hold on!  In the eighties I delivered around Southall with a typical English driver.  Long past any desire to work while retirement approached we drove slowly through the streets while he muttered about the immigrants.  I mentioned my mate was supposed to bring me down to Southall for a proper curry but the promise had not borne fruit so far.  
"Grnnn, I had an Indian once," he growled, "I was sick for days."  
"What did you have," I asked innocently.
"Chilli con carne," he said.
"Isn't that Mexican?" I ventured.
"Grnnnn it's all foreign muck," said he.

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Friday Frivolity

High above us each day we see these vapour trails.  Aircraft passing overhead, mostly from nearby Stansted Airport, some from deep into Europe heading for the far west and vice versa.  I discovered an interesting site that allows us to track the flight of aircraft. Until recently this was only possible in Europe and certain other airports worldwide, now however planes can be tracked in most parts of the globe, and it is amazing just how many are up there at one time.  Click on Flightradar24 and find fascinating details about the airliners poisoning your atmosphere are the wealthy travel the world.   

The other day another programme was screened enlightening folks as to how we lived during the second world war.  The reasoning is possibly two fold for such programmes.  On the one hand those who lived through that time are dying off rapidly, it is 67 years since the war ended and those who were 20 at that time are now approaching 90 and therefore serving servicemen and families are becoming rarer.  Those of us who arrived just before, during or after that time have little need to understand much more of that time, we lived it after all, but so many of the present generation have no understanding of any kind of the life their elders lived.  It was ever thus, and these programmes do enlighten such souls.  On the other hand many who lived then have, quite rightly, a memory of the greatest time of their lives!  Sure millions died but they survived!  The excitement for some, the emotions that arose, the loss on one hand and often gains on the other had a huge impact on them and to this can be added the fact the they won!  These were the participants in the greatest was so far.  The shared fears and emotions, the victory over a real evil must be regarded as a huge and important aspect of their lives.  This is of course the same in Germany, although guilt and failure leave a somewhat different shade to the memories.  One thing that was mentioned was the diet.  Because food would become scarce it became important to grow as much vegetables as possible, meat would be in short supply.  The nation was commanded to 'Dig for Victory!'  And they did!  This meant the UK, in spite of so many shortages, was healthier than it had ever had been, and indeed has been since.  So I dug out some wartime recipes and bought lots of veg, at least this will keep me on the run!  Buying is the only option as there is no place to grow things here, other than the park.  I might try that but these council jobsworths get annoyed.  I know you too are desperate to lose weight eat a much healthier diet so here is the link I found.  100 Wartime Recipes Actually the only one I tried was the 'wartime Scotch Shortbread,' and while exceedingly fattening it would not have been encouraged to feed the troops of any regiment I know, that's for sure.  Maybe I did something wrong......?

I was looking for a counter for the site after 'Sitemeter' got hacked and discovered that device was introducing adverts secretly.  I ended up trying .StatCounter' which might be OK but came across 'Freeware Home'  a site I have used often in times past.  It's worth a look for mean, cheap, skinflint types, I enjoy it.......        

p.s. There is no free beer.

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Countryside

This picture is for town dwellers.  If you live in towns and cities, not both at the same time, you will probably not realise that underneath your house/flat/slum there is a thing called 'earth.'  Outside of towns the food that appears in plastic wrappings in the supermarket comes from here. Some of the food grows by itself in the ground helped by nothing more than rain, sun and a ton or so of chemical warfare which, the government assures us, is 'healthy.'  Other items on your plate grow by eating the green stuff called grass, you may find some growing through the spaces in the wall if you look closely, and these creatures are called 'animals.'  These are divided up into sheep, cows, pigs, chickens and if they go under any other name check out it does not come from South Korea.  


When at the Open University, failing to obtain a B.A. through poverty, sloth and total ignorance, I discovered that around 1801 (in England, as English historians ignore Scotland, but I am not one to complain about such racism) the majority of the population lived in the countryside. By1851 fifty one percent lived in towns or cities and by 1901 the vast majority of people were crowded into the urban slum that was the home of the 'Greatest Empire the world has ever known.' I have come to believe that this does indeed affect our mentality.  We need to see greenery, animals, trees and nature to keep our heads clear. That is why so many of us rush to get out of towns and even the Victorians came to realise that public parks were required in built up areas.  That appreciation of the need for green space resulted in the housing estates built just before and after the war.  Many three bed-roomed houses, with gardens front and back, are to be found throughout the UK.  There are often green areas, roundabouts with grass centres, and reasonably wide streets.  However a look at housing built in the last twenty years shows that while the design of the houses are often in keeping with the area in which they are found these house are often crammed together in an effort to get as many as possible into the space, partly to supply enough houses, mostly for profit!  The green areas, gardens or open spaces, are very limited in comparison to those designed in the forties.  The sense of being hemmed in increases among those living there.  Estate agents call such areas 'popular,' and postmen will inform you that they have many 'redirections' for these houses.  Some from people who find they cannot afford the cost, some from young folks living together too soon, and others from those who realise a new house is not always a joy to live in. I used to have six or seven 'redirections' on my old house route, my friend John had so many it could take him an hour to attend to his!  People need space, a decent green area front and back, and natural daylight.  City life offers to little of this, and I know about city life!


It is only recently I realised how little contact most of us have with creation around us.  Do we realise where our food comes from really?  As kids we were well informed about this but we also had a view of the distant world, farms nearby and a good instruction from our parents, who really 'never had it so good.'  Too much manufactured foodstuffs, supermarkets that push rubbish onto us in our weak moments, and a life full of haste leaves us missing out on something I think.  We need individually to get into green areas, look at animals in their natural setting, or walk along the sea shore. Some call this a 'spiritual experience' but it is not 'spiritual' it is just our need for the open space and the natural world around us.  It is re-creative for our heads stuffed full of life.

I've Done it Again!

I've done it again!
After climbing out of my bed, washing my face and this time remembering to take my glasses of first I wandered through to the west wing and made what passes for a 'healthy breakfast.'

After this mound of 'Bran Flakes' covered in raisins and oats I dumped the bowl alongside the rest of the weeks used crockery and made the tea. The kettle (£4:98 from Tesco) came shaking and steaming to the boil, I poured the water over the milk and tea bag (Half price Somerfields) and brewed the concoction with the aid of a dirty spoon (Charity shop 5p). Job done, as well as possible, I returned to my post at the broken laptop (Crooked second hand dealership) and placed the mug in its rightful place.

It was then I realised I had done it again!
I already had a mug of stewed tea sitting there quietly awaiting me spilling it all down my ageing fleece! What is going on in this mind? I forget things like this all the time. I would say it is the beginning of Althez...altezhi, altzleh..going gaga if it was not for the fact this habit has been with me always. I am scared to open that storage cupboard now, just in case a body falls out, someone I forgot I accidentally locked in. Which reminds me, there was a thump thump sound a wee while back that I don't hear nowadays.......

Victory V

I handed a spool into the chemist to have it developed today and saw these sweets on the counter. I have not seen these around for years and here they were in probably the only shop to stock them these days.

As a kid we were given these occasionally and suffered the heat they gave off with good grace and much noise! I found today that they were not anything like as strong as I remember and I wonder if that is just because I am somewhat larger today or if they have altered the recipe in some way.

It would not be the first time an alteration has taken place, in the nineteenth century the sweets contained chloroform! It was not possible to buy more than a quarter pound of them because people took too many and passed out! While this is no longer the case many folks found them far too strong for their taste and only 'real men' ever ate more than one at a time. Of course they suffered and folks kept well away from their breath for good reason!

They are widely available online from The Sugar Boy and elsewhere.

Healthy Eating

I am all for healthy eating! Being, what my doctor described as a "Fat slob," I understand the need for care in the diet. However this word crossed my path a short time ago, 'Tunnocks Caramel Log!' Immediately I was transported back to my youth a few short years ago. The very good remembrance of caramel logs being stuffed in my fat gob has never left me. Tunnocks, as some may well know, are responsible for more tooth decay in Scotland than any other company! Their wide range of products are chomped on worldwide, and many a dentist has grown rich on his patients love of the Uddingston giants.

All Scots kids develop the sweet tooth by beginning on a Tea Cake or two as a treat, brought out when visitors are in, and progress onto Caramel Wafers and Caramel logs, often suffering the Snowballs on they way. Oh let me suffer mother!!!! It is possible to buy these lovely products worldwide, especially now the internet has changed shopping habits. Several companies at home and abroad make vast profits from the exiled Scots nostalgia for trips to the NHS dentist. I remember the needle being inserted while the dentist muttered, "This will not hurt a bit, be a good soldier." I assure you he lied! Tunnocks were of course not the only people to cash in on the sweet tooth. I once took to a cheap chewing gum and happily received seven fillings because of this disgusting habit! Now all chewing gums and many soft drinks, use Aspartame, a substance with a dubious record, instead of sugar, the products often advertised as 'sugar free.'
I recommend a web search on this product as it is used by so many products and little information regarding the possible problems comes to our attention. I would rather have sugar myself!

The Scots childs love of sweets and the adults love of drink and chips helps make the nation one of the unhealthiest in the world! I suppose having such dreich weather does not help. The idea of cold mackerel and salad while the dark gray clouds unleash heavy drops of cold rain rarely appeals as much as spam fritters and chips, with a whisky follower! Not that I would know of course, I am only going of what others tell me here. However when I left Edinburgh's gray skies in 1975, the sun shone that day and I, grasping the money collected for me by my work colleagues - enough for a one way trip to London - I left a society in which red and green peppers were considered 'exotic. Such things really were unknown outside of the middle class shops we could never afford (start playing the violins now). Until the Patels came flooding in from West Africa in 1973 Edinburgh shops still worked a simple routine. They opened at 9, closed from 12 - 1 and closed sharp at 5 p.m. like it or not! The Pakis, as we then called them (well except Mr Khayam, "I'm an Indian, not a bloody Paki!" and being 6'2" and a very good customer in the cash & carry I worked, we submitted to his will) opened their shops from 8 a.m. and did not close till 6 in the evening, one staying open until 7. This small change in the approach revolutionised Edinburgh and it has never looked back. We owe such Pa...Asians, a great deal! However, in spite of tropical fruits and veg, Scots are just as fat as everybody else.

But while I agree with a better 'Veg filled' diet, honest, I have to say that as long as Caramel Logs exist, I will want to eat them! Bring them on I say!

Weight!

Now look! After Christmas I realised I had once again put on weight. I was touching 16 stone again, and I had dropped at least half a stone before that. So the other day I began the exercises. Walking at least thirty minutes, moving around, doing things rather than just sitting here, eating less and more fruit and veg. Today I not only walked for hours around the market, being barged around by the bullying woman found there, but I also got on the bike for a while this afternoon.
I sit here aching with all the strenuous effort I have put in. I am stretching both legs backwards as I type, and with one hand I am lifting a dumbbell. I know that when I leap (leap?) out of bed in the morning I will be confronted with all over stiff muscles. I did ask that nice young lass at the fruit and veg stall if she would like to help my aching back with some embrocation but she did not seem too keen. I finally removed that melon from my big gob by tea time. Tsk! Some folks are touchy, or not as the case seems to be here!
However, when I weighed myself, expecting to see the little needle slowly roll to the 13 stone mark where it should be, it read 16 and a half stone! After all this effort I am putting on the weight! I think I will start one of those fasts, the type those hermits used to go in for. Sitting there on a pole, high above the world, they sought enlightenment. Personally I think they just got fed up with the local 'Lose weight now! Ask me how!' type folk peddling their lies. The chance of enlightenment seems slight to me anyhow, Jesus appears to have eaten well enough. I am not sure if he wants us to live on bread and water in such a public show anyhow. Eating well and eating less is the only way to lose forty two pounds. The exercise is just good for you. Until that is, the morning after.

HELP!

HELP!!!! I need help! I have allowed something to slip my mind. You see I was hurrying to enrich my life with a nourishing sausage dinner. I fixed the pasta that was being used as a base, and added tomatoes and a large broccoli. Marvellous and almost healthy!

It was delicious! Of course the special sauce did improve it, as it always does, and I sat back with the small portion of Christmas pudding content and happy. What more could one ask?

So, I went cheerfully to do the washing up, even though it truly is woman's work! This was accomplished efficiently amid a flurry of soap suds, all except the tray used for the sausages! I looked everywhere but could not find it. This was a mystery I could not answer. I remembered taking the sausages out the oven, deciding the were not quite ready so chopped them up to speed the process and returned them to the oven for a few final minutes.

Oh dear! I had a sudden thought. I remembered switching off the oven and ....oh dear! Yes indeed there in the oven were the blackened remnants of my beef sausages! Now usable in some form of engineering or possibly as Royal Artillery shrapnel! As sustenance they failed badly.

I blame unemployment. If I had work that stimulated the mind instead of the dullness that has set in during the past few years I am sure this sort of thing would not occur! The work I have done has often been repetitive, even when enjoyable, but the brain needs stimulation. So far the greatest incentive comes from perusing other folks blogs. Surely that cannot be good enough!

Age!

So last night I put the chicken in the oven. "Two hours should do it," I says to myself as I withdrew the Imitation Peshwari nan from the top shelf. I then happily stuffed my fat face with the aforesaid nan and cheese. I live well here!

Today I decided to clean up the PC, hopefully not repeating the mistake of the other day when I deleted the connection with the CD which, by the way is still defunct! So I press 'Start' then press the appropriate button.Or at least I thought I did,but suddenly this broken, secondhand, laptop was switching off! I had automatically pressed the 'Shut down' button. What seems like an age later I had finished the start up process and promptly forgot what it was I had been intending to do in the first place. I remember now, but maybe I will leave that for another time.....

I have however attempted to put another nan into the oven, but failed. The reason? Some fool had left a chicken in there all night,uncooked. The said fool had taken the Peshwari nan out the oven, turned it off, and forgotten the chicken was inside. What a life for that chicken. Maybe she was free range, maybe she saw some daylight, although with all the bird flu scares I doubt that. Passing through a factory complex, she is killed, defeathered and trussed up like a...well, turkey! reduced in price to help Tesco increase her profits, she ends up, cold, bare and lonely in an oven that last saw cleaning fluid in 1996! Why did the chicken cross the road, I can guess she had foreknowledge and wanted a better life!

Free Rice

Yes indeed I am offering you the chance to participate in this also. I realise many others will have brought this to your attention and I hate to be left out! So here it is. Find out just how your vocabulary fares, it will be better than you think. Mind you, this has clearly been developed by an American, some of the words make no sense whatsoever to anyone born in the real world!
However anything that is fun and educational, that gets a grip of you and helps feed those who need it cannot be bad I say.

The Free Rice FAQ's says this:-

If FreeRice has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now?

FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

Who distributes the donated rice?

The rice is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The World Food Program is the world’s largest food aid agency, working with over 1,000 other organizations in over 75 countries. In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, the World Food Program buys food locally to support local farmers and the local economy. We encourage you to visit the United Nations World Food Program to learn more about their successful approach to ending hunger.

Will the rice I donate make a difference?

The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. About 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. To a mother or father watching a loved child die in their arms from hunger, the rice you donate is more precious than anything in the world.

So, have fun, educate yourself, and feed the world at the same time.
Click here now! http://www.freerice.com

SPAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's with this outburst of SPAM?

Yesterday I had fourteen 'Penis enlargement' spam alone! FOURTEEN! There were Six more waiting this morning! All this in twenty four hours? Why? it shows how little these folk know of me, when she was around she often referred to me as 'Animal,' and it was not because of my monkey like looks.
There were several offering 'Replica Watches,' or bizarrely, 'Replica handbags?' Who buys replica handbags for crying out loud? One or two offered nothing but made up nonsense stories just to see if the address was live. But why now? It has been down to two or three a day until recently, now it seems an attack of spam is doing the rounds.

Now 'junk mail' through the door is a good advert for a commercial enterprise. Much as we hate it, the 'junk mail' sells! It is one of the cheapest and most convenient forms of advertising. Let us admit it, folk somewhere want the stuff on offer. However laws ensure we know who is sending the 'junk' to us, and where we can contact them, such info must be included on all leaflets in the UK. This is not so with 'spam.' If it was merely commercial enterprises it would not be so bad, but most of it is porn and much of the rest is dubious also. Companies selling medicines show the failings of the US medical system, the 'penis extension' adverts show the insecurity of far too many men, and the complaints of too many women. By the way, you don't need to extend it, just try 'loving' the bitch! It will make things better quicker. It is not just insecurity in men, it is lack of knowledge of the woman! 'Love her' and things improve for you both. (Didn't stop mine running off but that's another story) Anyway I am annoyed by these this morning. Here are a couple of things to help fight Spam. I suppose we ought to make more use of those that fight the stuff before spam blocks the Internet altogether.

http://www.spamcop.net/

http://www.spam.cl.cam.ac.uk/spam/

http://www.mailwasher.net/

Clinically Obese - or Just FAT?

There is yet another report by someone or other informing us we will all be 'Clinically Obese' by 2050. This is not true, I will be 99 by then and I can assure you few men that age are obese! When I say '99' I mean years of age, I do not imply that I will have become some sort of ice cream and be wandering around with a 'Cadburys Flake' stuck in my head! However they have a point here the nation is obese, and there are many reasons for this. To this weeks researchers the 'environment' plays a part. From what I heard this morning they imply we sit around too much, watching TV, driving, lounging at work, or just being a slob. They have a point! Less stress appears to be put on the food we eat, and the implication I picked up is that there is little we can do about this. I beg to differ. I get the impression that we will, as a nation, do anything to avoid personal responsibility. Our genes make us predisposed to violence, crime, laziness, obesity, and anything else we take a fancy to. Our free will and personal choice to heave half a brick at a referee, or make off with someones wallet is irrelevant it seems. Can this be right?

The idea of changing words to make us feel better is an old one now. It goes back thirty or so years and, as you might expect, we picked it up from the United States of America. We began by changing the word 'scafe' or 'Dustbin men' to 'Cleansing Operatives. Of course by privatising that 'service' we stopped six men working half a day on a lorry and now two or three work half a day, that's progress! Other words changed also, 'secretary' was not good enough, so 'personal assistant' became the norm (and cost more for doing the same). In hospitals the term 'portering Services Operator' replaced the 'Hoi yew!' of my day, and so it goes on. Today the media informs us that we are 'Obese' or even 'Clinically Obese' as it sounds medical and more adult. This is like calling 'Santa Claus,' 'Father Christmas' because that too sounds adult, but in the end is just as stupid. Tell the kids to believe in a fat (sorry, obese) man in a red suit leaving something for nothing but ignore Jesus leaving Heaven and spending his life in sinless perfection before dying or your sin filled nature, oh no that's taking it a bit far eh? yes indeed let us tell the truth, we are not 'Obese,' we are 'FAT!' Yes 'FAT!' Not that is different you see. While 'obese' sounds clinical and even medical, 'fat' is just ugly! Large masses of greed stored in a dirty big pile, usually around the gut in men, leaving those who choose to wear their football shirts looking more than ridiculous, and leaving lumpy women pangs of guilt they will no doubt blame on others, that is 'men' or 'society!' Fat is ugly, I know, I have it! It is disgusting. Standing naked in front of the mirror I swear I could hear someone cry "Captain Ahab! Captain Ahab! There she blows!"

So, why are we 'FAT?' There are several reasons. We eat too much, do not exercise enough, and, well that's it really! Living in a wealthy country we become used to an easy life. The expectation is to have the best we can afford and eat what we like. The worship of Mammon has a downside, we encourage selfishness in ourselves and those around us, the life of ease and plenty is seen as 'the good life' and we end up stuffed but not necessarily happy. The food we eat is all to often pre-cooked. Chilled foods come, not just ready to heat and eat, but full of preservatives that add to the bulge that hangs in front of us. Food manufacturers are prone to add elements that give such meals 'morishness' and we naturally want more! More fool us.
Lifestyles lead us to laziness, and wealth enables a call to the 'takeaway' rather than spending time actually cooking for ourselves. Personally I hate the bother of cooking, after all, is that not what a woman was made for? It takes time to plan, shop, peel, scrape and prepare so that those who benefit can sit back, well nourished and forget to thank the cook for her work. But hey, that's normal life isn't it? That used to be before middle class women began to tell working women they should get a 'career.' Actually many working class women already had a job, and still do, it was the middle classes who thought writing for magazines or sitting behind desks telling others what to do was actually a career. It wasn't, it still isn't. However women work, children are all too often fed junk, grow up fat because mum, and dad, are couch potatoes, and will not take the time to look after themselves let alone the kids. It must be said there are many slim, good looking women who do just that,many working at the same time, but society today is stuffed full of laziness. I am a prime example.

Today I walked to the Tesco on the edge of town. Not the longest walk, but far enough for me. This was part of my exercise programme, (having a doctor refer to you not as 'obese' but as 'fat slob' is an encouragement to this) and was accompanied by lots of sunshine, lovely indeed. As I strolled along I came across many unhappy postmen struggling to recover, financially and practically, from the recent dispute. How nice to see, that both going towards Tesco and on the way back, that they had not forgotten me. Vigorous greetings met me in both directions. This reminded me of the difficulty and danger faced by posties today. The letterboxes often have dangerous springs which catch fingers, sharp points on these cause injury, and of course dogs, and sometimes cats, sit quietly behind the door waiting to pounce on any finger shoved through the gap. I was reminded of this as I noticed just how many of these fellows of mine had fingers missing as they greeted me eagerly. I suppose at least they have lost a few ounces in weight this way eh?

Tub of Lard!

Now I am not sure where the copyright for this picture originates so if it's yours let me know won't you? However it goes well with my thoughts that arose while watching a BBC2 prog about fat tubs of lard improving their diet, and this encouraged me to do the same- again!

Just how many times have I returned to the raw veg and fruit intake diet? It happens every so often and you find yourself cutting celery, carrots, tomatoes and peppers into strips, adding a tin of mackerel and brown bread filled with healthy bits, and with a dash of

mayonnaise (light) you start full of zeal. Of course this keeps you on the run for a while but sheer lack of time, and the effort required means you soon find yourself stuffing buns bought cheaply when Salisburys are near closing instead of Bulgar wheat and watercress.
Somehow it seems more satisfying.

The scales lie and tell you that you are nearly 16 stone- minus a pound or two, but you just convince yourself that is because they need oiled. In fact you are the one that has been oiled - with lard!

Such an improved diet does lead to a better all round feeling, instead of just an all roundness, and is worth while I say. It does make me feel better in every way, and makes me more keen to find some form of fitness to accompany the health. Amazing really, I used to walk

everywhere in London, for hours, with no problems. Now I can hardly walk without the 'postman's knees' strain aching away. It was while I walked for two hours round the forest and decided it was stupid aching like that when I realised that was the end for me as a postie. The arthritis was a bit of a surprise and a worry but the creaking knees are a nuisance.

Now this diet has already had benefits and I have only been at it a short while, days as yet, and already things are better. But already I am sick of peeling carrots and chopping green stuff! This is hard work! Cutting, cleaning, scraping, shredding, slicing, no wonder today's mums buy ready made meals for the kids.No wonder the kids are less healthy than we were with our mums potato soup instead of a quick burger and chips!
That potato soup kept us alive and done us more good than what is on offer in far too many houses today. Women want a career but what is more important, children or career? Kids first and when your career collapses they will be big and strong and able to keep you! I can understand the effort needed in cooking is a trial, I hate it.I just want someone else to cook as it holds little joy for me, but the eating is something I can usually manage however. What on earth makes men want to become cooks? Are they mad?

Anyway, 'eat well and prosper' as someone once said.......