Strange conincidences have always fascinated me.
For instance, the government introduced a scheme to train mothers who wanted to return to work in the modern computerised office when my daughter was about 8. I applied for a place, but was unsuccessful. They said if they ran another, they would contact me. 6 months later, they did just that, and I spent 10 weeks learning not to be afraid of computers, how to make them serve me! Well, that was the theory, anyway!!
In the penultimate week of the course we learned to write a good CV, including our newly won quallifications in Word+ and other such archaic things. We were also obliged to apply for at least one job advertised in the local paper. I applied for, and got, one of the best jobs of my life, working in a primary school office.
If I'd got a place on the first course, I probably would have ended up somewhere else, and missed out on so much fun and valuable experience around the children I love so much. As it was, I started out working nine and a half hours a week, the only person who could use the new computer on which all ordering was soon to be done. As you can guess, it wasn't long before all pupil data, personnel data etc etc was computerised. I was promoted after just four months, and over the next couple of years became the school Bursar, or office manager. I stayed for 16 and a half years, only retiring to go to uni as a full time mature student. I loved that place.
So, coincidences are great.
Today, I was flicking through some raw food sites, and saw a recipe for "hummous". Only, of course, it wasn't hoummous as I know and love it, it was all raw. As it was coming up to lunch time, I went into the kitchen and made it.
Well, I say I made it, but of course, you never have exactly what the recipe needs, do you? I'd got most of it though, so here's what I did. I liquidised:
2 medium courgettes, well scrubbed
a good handful of pitted black olives, drained
1 small pickled gherkin
2 cloves of garlic
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 avocado (which replaced the olive oil in the original recipe - I had loads of avocados, and not much oil, that's all)
good handful of linseeds
pinch of salt
the recipe also called for some cumin, but I didn't have any in my spice box!!! I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it?
It came out a sludgy colour, but tasted great. I ate it over some falafels, and put the rest in the fridge.
The coincidence - no, I hadn't forgotten that's what I was chattering about, even though you thought I had - is, that I've just got a new (second-hand) wheat-free cookery book. (I was given it through the freecycle group - I gave her 2 jackets I don't wear any more!). As I was flicking through the recipes, what did I see, but a reciep entitled warm courgette and cumin dip! The ingredients are very similar to the above, but the courgettes are lightly fried before blending. Now I'll have to try that too :) Life can be so hard!
Maybe you'll try it, and enjoy it too. It doesn't, in my opinion, replace that lovely warm flavour of chickpeas in the real deal, but it is good :)
Monday, 13 July 2009
emergency call out, gas leak
Yesterday morning David and I went to a local car boot sale. We didn't buy much, I think he got a book and I bought a silicon bowl scraper for 50p (I'd have bought one for you, too, Rachel, if they'd had more than one!). When we arrived back home, about 11am, I though I could smell something funny as I walked towards the house. When I opened the door, I still thought there was something, but it was very slight, so I opened the doors to get a draught blowing through.
David went into the garage to clear the party wall between the garage and the house so that the cavity wall installers can do their job on Wednesday.
One minute later he was back, "Will you come out to the garage with me?" - it's not the most romantic request I've ever had, but at my age, what can you expect?
This was followed by "Do you remember there was that funny smell - like gas - a couple of years ago? Well, it smells similar out there now." I'd called out the emergency gas people then, and they'e told me it was blowback from the water heater, which is sited in the garage. I felt pretty silly, as you can imagine!!!
I walked in and was almost knocked over by the smell!! Then I heard the hisssssssss!!!!!!!! "We need to get out of here and I'll call the emergency service, don't touch anything, especially the light swicth!" I said calmly, my mind going into overdrive - what else don't you do when there's a gas leak??? "Shall I turn it off?" he said. "No" I replied, "it might cause a spark. We need to speak to them before we do anything." Caution is my middle name when something might go very wrong. I'm incredibly glad that neither of is a smoker!!!!!
So, I called the emergency number. How many of you know what it is? It's 0800 111 999 for a gas leak in the UK. If you have a gas supply, it's a good number to memorise. No, really, it is. It's pretty easy, freephone 111 999. The 999 is drilled into us from children, and three 1s isn't that much more to remember, is it, and the 0800 you'll remember cos that makes the call free. See, that was so easy, wasn't it?
A very calm lady on the other end of the phone took my details and I could hear her typing away as she sent the message out to the emergency vehicle. Once she'd done that, she advised me to turn off the gas supply, assuring me that it wouldn't cause a spark!! OK, so I worried in vain, but it had caused a spark, I wouldn't be writing this, now would I??? Within half an hour the engineer had arrived, replaced the leaking pipe, and was on his way.
The Yorkshire blood in me heaved a huge sigh of relief when he confirmed that the leak was at "their" side of the supply, and I hadn't been paying to pump gas into the atmosphere.
Just as well, really, as David later confessed that he'd smelled the gas the night before, but forgotten to tell me!! So the funny smell that had tantalised me was the gas leaking out under the garage door on the drive, and in through the open bathroom window in the house. Mystery solved.
He has now cleared the wall - a gas leak only gives a man a short reprieve. He was out til 8pm, but he's done it wonderfully, and I only had to help with the huge old school cupboard, but that's another story.
David went into the garage to clear the party wall between the garage and the house so that the cavity wall installers can do their job on Wednesday.
One minute later he was back, "Will you come out to the garage with me?" - it's not the most romantic request I've ever had, but at my age, what can you expect?
This was followed by "Do you remember there was that funny smell - like gas - a couple of years ago? Well, it smells similar out there now." I'd called out the emergency gas people then, and they'e told me it was blowback from the water heater, which is sited in the garage. I felt pretty silly, as you can imagine!!!
I walked in and was almost knocked over by the smell!! Then I heard the hisssssssss!!!!!!!! "We need to get out of here and I'll call the emergency service, don't touch anything, especially the light swicth!" I said calmly, my mind going into overdrive - what else don't you do when there's a gas leak??? "Shall I turn it off?" he said. "No" I replied, "it might cause a spark. We need to speak to them before we do anything." Caution is my middle name when something might go very wrong. I'm incredibly glad that neither of is a smoker!!!!!
So, I called the emergency number. How many of you know what it is? It's 0800 111 999 for a gas leak in the UK. If you have a gas supply, it's a good number to memorise. No, really, it is. It's pretty easy, freephone 111 999. The 999 is drilled into us from children, and three 1s isn't that much more to remember, is it, and the 0800 you'll remember cos that makes the call free. See, that was so easy, wasn't it?
A very calm lady on the other end of the phone took my details and I could hear her typing away as she sent the message out to the emergency vehicle. Once she'd done that, she advised me to turn off the gas supply, assuring me that it wouldn't cause a spark!! OK, so I worried in vain, but it had caused a spark, I wouldn't be writing this, now would I??? Within half an hour the engineer had arrived, replaced the leaking pipe, and was on his way.
The Yorkshire blood in me heaved a huge sigh of relief when he confirmed that the leak was at "their" side of the supply, and I hadn't been paying to pump gas into the atmosphere.
Just as well, really, as David later confessed that he'd smelled the gas the night before, but forgotten to tell me!! So the funny smell that had tantalised me was the gas leaking out under the garage door on the drive, and in through the open bathroom window in the house. Mystery solved.
He has now cleared the wall - a gas leak only gives a man a short reprieve. He was out til 8pm, but he's done it wonderfully, and I only had to help with the huge old school cupboard, but that's another story.
Friday, 10 July 2009
writing, wasp nest, photo
So there I was, writing my new short story, when a voice calls 'Get your shoes on and come and see what I've found!'
Obediently, I set down the keyboard, and head for the kitchen. David stands at the patio doors, looking dishevelled. Unsprprisingly, really, as he's busy moving several huge boxes from the garage to the shed at the bottom of the garden ready for the cavity wall insulation team to arrive on Wednesday. (They'd arrived yesterday, but the surveyor had failed to inspect the garage, and therefore I hadn't been informed that the wall between the house and garage needed to be cleared ready for injection!)
As he had stacked some blue plastic baskets in the shed, he'd heard a buzzing. After glancing up, he fled the shed and came to call me.
I walked down with him, he wouldn't tell me what it was, I was guessing rats, mice, squirrels, he just wouldn't tell me. I soon saw for myself, and headed back to the house for my camera:)
You can see the blue boxes, and just behind them adjacent to the single shed door, (which we don't use, as you can tell from the ivy creeping in through it), is the wasp's nest. If you look closely you can see a few wasps walking around quite nonchalantly.
They are fascinating objects, wasp's nests. When David was helping me clear out the loft about 3 years ago, we found a huge one under the eaves. It wasn't it use, so we dismantled it, and I took it into the junior school where I worked, for the children to see. The science teacher adopted it, and for all I know it could still be used as a resource! It was beautiful. All the different shades where different trees had been used by the wasps to form the paper thin walls made fantastic patterns in swirls.
It was incredibly lightweight, despite its size, and remarkably strong, though each layer was very delicate. Mother Nature has some wonderful things in her store cupboard. So many of us go through life with our eyes blinkered to what's around us. Yet miraculous things occur all the time, unapprciated for the most part. Like the humble wasp's nest. Truly beautiful, but hidden away by its makers. A remarkable feat of collaborative work.
Obediently, I set down the keyboard, and head for the kitchen. David stands at the patio doors, looking dishevelled. Unsprprisingly, really, as he's busy moving several huge boxes from the garage to the shed at the bottom of the garden ready for the cavity wall insulation team to arrive on Wednesday. (They'd arrived yesterday, but the surveyor had failed to inspect the garage, and therefore I hadn't been informed that the wall between the house and garage needed to be cleared ready for injection!)
As he had stacked some blue plastic baskets in the shed, he'd heard a buzzing. After glancing up, he fled the shed and came to call me.
I walked down with him, he wouldn't tell me what it was, I was guessing rats, mice, squirrels, he just wouldn't tell me. I soon saw for myself, and headed back to the house for my camera:)
You can see the blue boxes, and just behind them adjacent to the single shed door, (which we don't use, as you can tell from the ivy creeping in through it), is the wasp's nest. If you look closely you can see a few wasps walking around quite nonchalantly.
They are fascinating objects, wasp's nests. When David was helping me clear out the loft about 3 years ago, we found a huge one under the eaves. It wasn't it use, so we dismantled it, and I took it into the junior school where I worked, for the children to see. The science teacher adopted it, and for all I know it could still be used as a resource! It was beautiful. All the different shades where different trees had been used by the wasps to form the paper thin walls made fantastic patterns in swirls.
It was incredibly lightweight, despite its size, and remarkably strong, though each layer was very delicate. Mother Nature has some wonderful things in her store cupboard. So many of us go through life with our eyes blinkered to what's around us. Yet miraculous things occur all the time, unapprciated for the most part. Like the humble wasp's nest. Truly beautiful, but hidden away by its makers. A remarkable feat of collaborative work.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Family, love, sons and daughters, time, memories
Last Christmas we were supposed to be going down to stay with my daughter and son-in-law. Sadly, his mother's husband was rushed into hospital shortly before, and ended up in intensive care. Obviously it was far more important to go and stay with his mother to offer her support, than to have David and myself as visitors. Consequently David took me to Portugal for Christmas, so we spent Christmas Day walking in the sunshine on the beach, which was lovely, though far from traditional! Poor John is still in hospital and unable to feed himself as I write.
However, what with one thing and another, I hadn't seen my daughter since before Christmas, so was delighted to receive a call from her a couple of weeks ago saying she was on holiday in Scotland, and planning to call in to see me on her way home. A lovely surprise which resulted in David helping me to clear all the car boot stuff from the spare bedroom, so that there was room to put up beds for Rachel and Andrew. He also mopped all the floors for me, as I struggle with my back when doing things like that.
It was a delight to have the pair of them to stay for a short while, and would have been even nicer to have seen them for longer! David and I will go and stay down there for a few days this summer.
I took advantage of Rachel's visit to get her to look at some of my short stories. One of them is about a little girl called Precious, and it prompted memories from Rachel. Way back when I was a teenager, I was told it was unlikely I would ever have children as my innards weren't working properly. I was lucky enough to become pregnant, and have Rachel as a result. Since she was born she has been the most precious aspect of my life, and still is. She probably always will be!
However, the point is, whenever people asked why I didn't have any more children I simply said that since I had a perfect daughter, why would I want any more children? I didn't go into my medical history every time! Rachel told me that she had overheard me saying this through her life, and she had always felt special, knowing that she was the perfect child.
I wasn't aware of this until she told me as she was reading my story!! She explained that during a brief conversation about a year ago, I had mentioned that her father and I had tried, briefly, to have another child, but failed, and she had been shocked by this, having firmly believed that she was perfect and we didn't want any more children. She was confirming the feelings of the child in my story in a very strong way. We really have no way of being aware of what our children overhear, and how deeply they can be affected.
Fortunately it has always been true that she was loved, and she was pretty perfect, too, when I compare her to the babies and children I have known over the years - both as a children's nanny, and nearly two decades of working in a primay school. And she knows that she is still loved and always will be. We still tell each other that we love each other every time we speak on the phone. How many mothers and daughters do that, I wonder? I hope that we always will.
I feel that I'm very lucky in my relationship with my daughter. When she left home, years ago now, to take up her place at Oxford, I told her that if she needed me, I was always at the end of a phone. Day or night, she could ring if she needed me. It says a lot for our relationship that over the years she has phoned in the middle of the night; not often, but when she needed to talk to me, she's phoned. She knew I meant what I said - I will always be here for her. Always.
However, what with one thing and another, I hadn't seen my daughter since before Christmas, so was delighted to receive a call from her a couple of weeks ago saying she was on holiday in Scotland, and planning to call in to see me on her way home. A lovely surprise which resulted in David helping me to clear all the car boot stuff from the spare bedroom, so that there was room to put up beds for Rachel and Andrew. He also mopped all the floors for me, as I struggle with my back when doing things like that.
It was a delight to have the pair of them to stay for a short while, and would have been even nicer to have seen them for longer! David and I will go and stay down there for a few days this summer.
I took advantage of Rachel's visit to get her to look at some of my short stories. One of them is about a little girl called Precious, and it prompted memories from Rachel. Way back when I was a teenager, I was told it was unlikely I would ever have children as my innards weren't working properly. I was lucky enough to become pregnant, and have Rachel as a result. Since she was born she has been the most precious aspect of my life, and still is. She probably always will be!
However, the point is, whenever people asked why I didn't have any more children I simply said that since I had a perfect daughter, why would I want any more children? I didn't go into my medical history every time! Rachel told me that she had overheard me saying this through her life, and she had always felt special, knowing that she was the perfect child.
I wasn't aware of this until she told me as she was reading my story!! She explained that during a brief conversation about a year ago, I had mentioned that her father and I had tried, briefly, to have another child, but failed, and she had been shocked by this, having firmly believed that she was perfect and we didn't want any more children. She was confirming the feelings of the child in my story in a very strong way. We really have no way of being aware of what our children overhear, and how deeply they can be affected.
Fortunately it has always been true that she was loved, and she was pretty perfect, too, when I compare her to the babies and children I have known over the years - both as a children's nanny, and nearly two decades of working in a primay school. And she knows that she is still loved and always will be. We still tell each other that we love each other every time we speak on the phone. How many mothers and daughters do that, I wonder? I hope that we always will.
I feel that I'm very lucky in my relationship with my daughter. When she left home, years ago now, to take up her place at Oxford, I told her that if she needed me, I was always at the end of a phone. Day or night, she could ring if she needed me. It says a lot for our relationship that over the years she has phoned in the middle of the night; not often, but when she needed to talk to me, she's phoned. She knew I meant what I said - I will always be here for her. Always.
20p mule, eBay, gullibility, greed
My partner sent me a text the other day suggesting that I look through my coins to see if I had a twenty pence coin that was undated. His newspaper was running an article on a "mule" 20p coin which had inadvertently been sent out from the Royal Mint.
A mule is formed when an obverse and reverse sides of a coin are incorrectly married together. In this case the new "shield" reverse with the old obverse, neither of which has the date on, as when the new designs came out, the date was moved from the reverse to the obverse. There was a web site where you could register your coin and receive £50 for it.
David was lucky enough to have found one such mule in his change after he'd bought his newspaper. I hunted through my stacks of change, but fortune did not smile on me that day.
When David next came over to see me, he logged on to the internet, and looked at eBay, where these "mules" were selling for hundreds of pounds. Not only that, but many people were selling the "shield" ordinary 20p pieces, and these were also fetching far more than their worth.
I decided that if people are so gullible as to pay more than 20p for a 20p coin, I would list one on an eBay 24 hour auction. I listed it in much the same words that others had used, "undated shield side", but quite clearly stating "2008 on head side", threfore making it obvious that it was not a mule. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that someone had bid over £20 for my 20p coin!!!!!
I had listed it as a joke, really, and was truly surprised to see it sell. However, the joke is on me, really, as the "buyer" hasn't paid up, and I will now have to go to the trouble of contacting eBay and claiming an unpaid strike against the "buyer". Serves me right, I hear you say. Yes, I should have known better, I suppose I was greedy!
When I told David what I'd done, he listed a similar coin. His sold for just over £2, he was paid and he's posted the coin. It's a funny old world :-)
A mule is formed when an obverse and reverse sides of a coin are incorrectly married together. In this case the new "shield" reverse with the old obverse, neither of which has the date on, as when the new designs came out, the date was moved from the reverse to the obverse. There was a web site where you could register your coin and receive £50 for it.
David was lucky enough to have found one such mule in his change after he'd bought his newspaper. I hunted through my stacks of change, but fortune did not smile on me that day.
When David next came over to see me, he logged on to the internet, and looked at eBay, where these "mules" were selling for hundreds of pounds. Not only that, but many people were selling the "shield" ordinary 20p pieces, and these were also fetching far more than their worth.
I decided that if people are so gullible as to pay more than 20p for a 20p coin, I would list one on an eBay 24 hour auction. I listed it in much the same words that others had used, "undated shield side", but quite clearly stating "2008 on head side", threfore making it obvious that it was not a mule. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that someone had bid over £20 for my 20p coin!!!!!
I had listed it as a joke, really, and was truly surprised to see it sell. However, the joke is on me, really, as the "buyer" hasn't paid up, and I will now have to go to the trouble of contacting eBay and claiming an unpaid strike against the "buyer". Serves me right, I hear you say. Yes, I should have known better, I suppose I was greedy!
When I told David what I'd done, he listed a similar coin. His sold for just over £2, he was paid and he's posted the coin. It's a funny old world :-)
Monday, 29 June 2009
Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) and Sainsbury's Feed the Family for a Fiver Advert. Woman's role as cook
I was about to go to bed when the latest advert which Jamie is doing for the supermarket caught my attention. I've enjoyed watching Jamie since his Naked Chef days, he always seems quite natural - a refreshing change.
He still seems pretty much the same, genuine, caring, passionate about good food for all, that sort of thing. I'm all for it. I think it's great to show people who don't know how already, to feed their families for a reasonable amount.
However - why is the team of attractive "cooks" doing all the sticky mixing, shaping, then grilling on the bbqs all women? What message is this portraying to the watching populace? Jamie=head honcho: women=labourers.
Nothing has really changed, has it? His little team labours on around him, cheerfully toiling, smiling, feeding the masses. Why isn't the supermarket confident enough to have some males feeding their families? Why no teenagers learning how to prepare decent food ready for when they either go to uni, or leave home for their first flat? Wouldn't that make it all more relevant?
In the C21, it isn't only women who cook at home.
Come on Sainsbury, be inclusive, not exclusive, on this front. Take up the challenge - have some men there, getting their hands sticky before manning the bbq.
Please.
He still seems pretty much the same, genuine, caring, passionate about good food for all, that sort of thing. I'm all for it. I think it's great to show people who don't know how already, to feed their families for a reasonable amount.
However - why is the team of attractive "cooks" doing all the sticky mixing, shaping, then grilling on the bbqs all women? What message is this portraying to the watching populace? Jamie=head honcho: women=labourers.
Nothing has really changed, has it? His little team labours on around him, cheerfully toiling, smiling, feeding the masses. Why isn't the supermarket confident enough to have some males feeding their families? Why no teenagers learning how to prepare decent food ready for when they either go to uni, or leave home for their first flat? Wouldn't that make it all more relevant?
In the C21, it isn't only women who cook at home.
Come on Sainsbury, be inclusive, not exclusive, on this front. Take up the challenge - have some men there, getting their hands sticky before manning the bbq.
Please.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Results
Confirmed - three firsts for last semester - yippee!!!!! two 70%s and a 73%. I am so happy, and proud of myself - who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Thanks are due to my excellent tutors, Dinesh, Theresa and Helen, who believed me when I said I was aiming at a first, and didn't laugh at me, only with me. Thank you:-)
Can't wait til September now! Though as I said earlier, I'm not waiting. I've already read a couple of books for Victorian, and started several short story attempts ready for my dissertation.
I'm so lucky to be able to do what I want to do with my time, it's very self indulgent - but, as the adverts keep telling me, I'm worth it!!!
No more boasting - unless I mention, in passing, that my short poem was selected on one of the writing sites, that is. It was only short, and hardly anyone else entered, but still, I'll take it where I can get it!
Happy reading and writing:-)
Thanks are due to my excellent tutors, Dinesh, Theresa and Helen, who believed me when I said I was aiming at a first, and didn't laugh at me, only with me. Thank you:-)
Can't wait til September now! Though as I said earlier, I'm not waiting. I've already read a couple of books for Victorian, and started several short story attempts ready for my dissertation.
I'm so lucky to be able to do what I want to do with my time, it's very self indulgent - but, as the adverts keep telling me, I'm worth it!!!
No more boasting - unless I mention, in passing, that my short poem was selected on one of the writing sites, that is. It was only short, and hardly anyone else entered, but still, I'll take it where I can get it!
Happy reading and writing:-)
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