At long last, Andrew and Joanna closed on their condo in VA today. OMG this has been a huge nightmare to get here. No problem on Andrew & Joanna's part but at the final step the Sellers went full-on mad and absolute insanity reigned at the "you wouldn't believe it if you weren't living through it" level. We all despaired of a happy ending after a while and had visions of mad, bad, and brutally expensive court hearings. But at the last moment it all pulled together and voila, the keys were in Andrew's hand.
I'll get the the full story as soon as Andrew has a chance to slow down and stop the world spinning. But meanwhile we are all kvelling like crazy for them.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Monday, January 01, 2018
Happy New Year 2018
A quiet new years eve; Alan went to bed early and I stayed up and made candied orange peel. Our cat stayed up and harassed me for endless pieces of "kitty crack" which is some sort of freeze dried chicken breast cubes. She has an amazing range of vocalizations from little sweet peeps to low moans and loud barks commanding attention to urgent issues such as a kitty needing an immediate treat.
Asti visited us for a week before Christmas which was a delight as always and I chatted with both Andrew and Adam. Hopefully we will have visits from the boys in the coming year.
We're settled in to our new apt and the cat has claimed the garden as her fief.
Asti visited us for a week before Christmas which was a delight as always and I chatted with both Andrew and Adam. Hopefully we will have visits from the boys in the coming year.
We're settled in to our new apt and the cat has claimed the garden as her fief.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Christmas/New Year recap and new good news
We had a generally subdued Christmas holiday - filled with frustration because our finances had reached bottom and we cut spending to the bone but in the background Stan's house had sold and we were waiting for the paperwork to complete so Alan would finally get his share of the inheritance. The house sold in November 2016 but due to the way they do property sales/transfers here and assorted other mishegas the final completion date ended up being in the end of January 2017.
There were a couple bright moments in the holidays tho. We went out to dinner with our friends Ron & Hilary just before Christmas Eve at an old favorite Cypriot restaurant. This was the first time I'd gone out to dinner in almost 2 years! The past year I'd only been able to get out for occasional hospital based Consultant visits. Then we had a really gorgeous Chateaubriand roast with all the trimmings for Christmas dinner thanks to my accumulated Tesco clubcard points. Asti flew over from Germany for a couple days between Christmas and New Year; it was so great to see her again and I really enjoyed her company and conversation. And the highlight of the holidays was a huge festive roast goose dinner with both Asti and Fi joining us at table. Fabulous dinner all homemade from scratch and Fi brought an amazing dessert of chocolate trifle which was in the "death by chocolate" class. So ultimately we wrapped up the old year with companionable feasting and looked forward to a much improved new year.
And to our delight, last week as we waited for Alan's inheritance to hit our bank account, we received a call to inform us that after years of waiting, there was a ground floor apt available for us that met all of our requirements. OMG! What perfect timing! Our move-in date is 20 February. Omg! Omg! I'm obviously going nuts until we sign the lease and get the keys. We're both wild to get in there and start measuring and ordering and moving our things over. OMG! This is such an amazingly wonderful start to the year.
Note that the apt has a private walled garden and Alan is already picking out a BBQ and garden furniture.
More news on the move as soon as we sign the lease.
There were a couple bright moments in the holidays tho. We went out to dinner with our friends Ron & Hilary just before Christmas Eve at an old favorite Cypriot restaurant. This was the first time I'd gone out to dinner in almost 2 years! The past year I'd only been able to get out for occasional hospital based Consultant visits. Then we had a really gorgeous Chateaubriand roast with all the trimmings for Christmas dinner thanks to my accumulated Tesco clubcard points. Asti flew over from Germany for a couple days between Christmas and New Year; it was so great to see her again and I really enjoyed her company and conversation. And the highlight of the holidays was a huge festive roast goose dinner with both Asti and Fi joining us at table. Fabulous dinner all homemade from scratch and Fi brought an amazing dessert of chocolate trifle which was in the "death by chocolate" class. So ultimately we wrapped up the old year with companionable feasting and looked forward to a much improved new year.
And to our delight, last week as we waited for Alan's inheritance to hit our bank account, we received a call to inform us that after years of waiting, there was a ground floor apt available for us that met all of our requirements. OMG! What perfect timing! Our move-in date is 20 February. Omg! Omg! I'm obviously going nuts until we sign the lease and get the keys. We're both wild to get in there and start measuring and ordering and moving our things over. OMG! This is such an amazingly wonderful start to the year.
Note that the apt has a private walled garden and Alan is already picking out a BBQ and garden furniture.
More news on the move as soon as we sign the lease.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
I went to West Middlesex University Hospital yesterday for one of my routine IV Iron top-offs, Usual pre-proceedure routine of assorted blood tests, and other standard measurements like BP and weight.
Nurse turns to me smiling and says, "you've lost over 10 KG since last time you were here."
Yay!! Diet is working! I weighed 12.3 kg less than the last time I was treated at West Mid. Not bad for about 4 months and absolutely no feelings of deprivation. It's slow but as long as we stick to the changes we've made since February it will keep adding up. I'm really pleased. Of course, when I arrived home and announced the good news to Alan he said, oh yes, his GP mentioned to him last visit to the surgery, that he'd lost a couple of stones.
Anyway, in a generally depressing landscape of illness and aging anf other associated crap of the human condition, this was a bit of delightful news.
Now Alan just needs to find a new job.
Nurse turns to me smiling and says, "you've lost over 10 KG since last time you were here."
Yay!! Diet is working! I weighed 12.3 kg less than the last time I was treated at West Mid. Not bad for about 4 months and absolutely no feelings of deprivation. It's slow but as long as we stick to the changes we've made since February it will keep adding up. I'm really pleased. Of course, when I arrived home and announced the good news to Alan he said, oh yes, his GP mentioned to him last visit to the surgery, that he'd lost a couple of stones.
Anyway, in a generally depressing landscape of illness and aging anf other associated crap of the human condition, this was a bit of delightful news.
Now Alan just needs to find a new job.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Finally, day 1 diet. Completed. I had planned and hoped to start earlier but life doesn't always work as you want it to. I think for me it was just to actually get it started. And to keep it going through the day even when I screwed up or strayed off plan a bit. It's done. I did it. Tomorrow I will do it again. I guess it's like AA in some ways - I take it 1 day at a time and just focus on getting through the day.
So hooray! Day 1 belongs to me!
So hooray! Day 1 belongs to me!
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Monday, January 11, 2016
Marmalade Day
Alan spotted fresh Seville Oranges at Sainsbury's and brought home a bag of them - good move because those oranges have an ultra-short season and go out of stock in a flash. We're fans of homemade marmalade which is nothing like the commercial stuff. So I was delighted to fuss about in the kitchen and fill the first batch of kilner jars with tart golden deliciousness. I'll start batch 2 shortly.
Alan spotted fresh Seville Oranges at Sainsbury's and brought home a bag of them - good move because those oranges have an ultra-short season and go out of stock in a flash. We're fans of homemade marmalade which is nothing like the commercial stuff. So I was delighted to fuss about in the kitchen and fill the first batch of kilner jars with tart golden deliciousness. I'll start batch 2 shortly.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Sunday Brunch - Homemade Eggs Benedict! Yes, that's right, homemade. Specifically the hollandaise sauce! And OMG! was it good - lemony, buttery, silky. Breakfast perfection; the egg yolks hot and liquid, the whites firm but tender, crisp medallion of bacon, toasted muffin and the hollandaise sauce spooned generously over it all. Yum!
I'm so pleased I've finally cracked the hollandaise conundrum. There's no alternative for it. It must be homemade from scratch or crossed off the home kitchen choices list because this sauce cannot be reheated from a jarred source. You can buy jars of the sauce in supermarkets but it tastes disgusting and not to be considered. So I've been trying on and off for years to make it but never produced an acceptable quality. At last, my time has come.
Yay!!
I'm so pleased I've finally cracked the hollandaise conundrum. There's no alternative for it. It must be homemade from scratch or crossed off the home kitchen choices list because this sauce cannot be reheated from a jarred source. You can buy jars of the sauce in supermarkets but it tastes disgusting and not to be considered. So I've been trying on and off for years to make it but never produced an acceptable quality. At last, my time has come.
Yay!!
Friday, January 08, 2016
Turnabout is Fair Play.
It's bad enough that I'm subject to profound pain that comes and goes without warning to make it worse, I have no way to anticipate or predict the level of pain ahead of time. So regardless of what I plan, that can change without warning or reason at any time. I accept that this happens and just stay patient; my GP accepts that this happens and makes sure I have breakthrough doses of my meds; Alan is convinced that this is deliberate on my part, and caused by bad planning, laziness, and inconsideration. As far as he is concerned, if I casually mention that I would like to make fish pie for dinner tomorrow, then come hell or high water I should damn well be up and in the kitchen making that fish pie at the appointed time.
So, this afternoon, I suddenly was in very bad pain and really bad shape. Nothing helped and I knew I'd have to excuse myself from preparing our meal and the usual miserable scene would play out - and it did. Absolutely no explanation was accepted and my only choice was to drag myself into the kitchen and start to prepare dinner shaking and stumbling thru the pain or accept Alan's offer to wash and massage the painful foot area because it's a sort of voodoo he believes in - his quick little one off massage heals whatever it is at the moment. I accepted the massage and it actually helped surprisingly well this time - we think a bit of cat litter or pebble might have gotten lodged in my sole.
Anyway, I went into the kitchen and made the fish pie mix from scratch -gorgeous stuff made from scratch, even the white wine fish stock cream sauce. Pie mix complete, I filled a deep dish pie plate and set it aside to cool. Later Alan would make the mash, top off the pie plate and finish it in the oven.
Time passed and the dinner hour approached and I noticed that Alan hadn't done anything of his part of the dinner prep. Twice I reminded him with only a grunt in response. At 6:30pm I pointed out to Alan that it was getting very late for him to get all his share of the prep work done and even if he started right now the fish pie would be way overdue. I didn't really care one way or the other but since he'd made such a huge fuss that he had been promised fish pie and it was fish pie that he wanted for supper tonight and nothing else would do, then he damn well should get up and get to work. So he headed off for the kitchen grumbling and muttering all the way.
Turnabout is fair play. (And it was a delicious pie no question.)
By the way, the attitude is not unique to Alan by any means. It really feels like it's ubiquitous and universal. Utterly infuriating and frustrating and nothing to be done about it.
Apple crumble tomorrow if you're in the mood for it, folx.
It's bad enough that I'm subject to profound pain that comes and goes without warning to make it worse, I have no way to anticipate or predict the level of pain ahead of time. So regardless of what I plan, that can change without warning or reason at any time. I accept that this happens and just stay patient; my GP accepts that this happens and makes sure I have breakthrough doses of my meds; Alan is convinced that this is deliberate on my part, and caused by bad planning, laziness, and inconsideration. As far as he is concerned, if I casually mention that I would like to make fish pie for dinner tomorrow, then come hell or high water I should damn well be up and in the kitchen making that fish pie at the appointed time.
So, this afternoon, I suddenly was in very bad pain and really bad shape. Nothing helped and I knew I'd have to excuse myself from preparing our meal and the usual miserable scene would play out - and it did. Absolutely no explanation was accepted and my only choice was to drag myself into the kitchen and start to prepare dinner shaking and stumbling thru the pain or accept Alan's offer to wash and massage the painful foot area because it's a sort of voodoo he believes in - his quick little one off massage heals whatever it is at the moment. I accepted the massage and it actually helped surprisingly well this time - we think a bit of cat litter or pebble might have gotten lodged in my sole.
Anyway, I went into the kitchen and made the fish pie mix from scratch -gorgeous stuff made from scratch, even the white wine fish stock cream sauce. Pie mix complete, I filled a deep dish pie plate and set it aside to cool. Later Alan would make the mash, top off the pie plate and finish it in the oven.
Time passed and the dinner hour approached and I noticed that Alan hadn't done anything of his part of the dinner prep. Twice I reminded him with only a grunt in response. At 6:30pm I pointed out to Alan that it was getting very late for him to get all his share of the prep work done and even if he started right now the fish pie would be way overdue. I didn't really care one way or the other but since he'd made such a huge fuss that he had been promised fish pie and it was fish pie that he wanted for supper tonight and nothing else would do, then he damn well should get up and get to work. So he headed off for the kitchen grumbling and muttering all the way.
Turnabout is fair play. (And it was a delicious pie no question.)
By the way, the attitude is not unique to Alan by any means. It really feels like it's ubiquitous and universal. Utterly infuriating and frustrating and nothing to be done about it.
Apple crumble tomorrow if you're in the mood for it, folx.
Monday, January 04, 2016
I stayed up to watch Big Ben and the fireworks welcome in the new year 2016. As a pleasant surprise, Andrew joined me online and we chatted in the new year together - it was only 7pm for Andrew so easily enough done.
Anyway one day this week I'll start my Intermittent Fast diet/eating pattern. To my surprise, last week Alan brought it up over breakfast and after some discussion he announced that he would like to join me on the diet, too. He was interested in the diet because it not only helps to lose weight but also balance metabolism/body functions like improving Diabetes Type 2. I'm really pleased as this would make it a lot easier on me not having to compete/conflict over foods.
I' committed to starting the plan this week; just haven't picked which day. I'll know when the day arrives just like how I started my stop smoking plan.
I canceled my car insurance today and sent in the papers to the DMV to transfer ownership of the Honda to the new owner. One less burden to worry about.
Tomorrow I'll update Alan's CV on all the websites he has it posted then it's up to Alan to run his job hunt. I hope he gets something pretty quickly.
----------------------------------------
What do Hiroshima and Tehran have in common?
Nothing, yet.
Anyway one day this week I'll start my Intermittent Fast diet/eating pattern. To my surprise, last week Alan brought it up over breakfast and after some discussion he announced that he would like to join me on the diet, too. He was interested in the diet because it not only helps to lose weight but also balance metabolism/body functions like improving Diabetes Type 2. I'm really pleased as this would make it a lot easier on me not having to compete/conflict over foods.
I' committed to starting the plan this week; just haven't picked which day. I'll know when the day arrives just like how I started my stop smoking plan.
I canceled my car insurance today and sent in the papers to the DMV to transfer ownership of the Honda to the new owner. One less burden to worry about.
Tomorrow I'll update Alan's CV on all the websites he has it posted then it's up to Alan to run his job hunt. I hope he gets something pretty quickly.
----------------------------------------
What do Hiroshima and Tehran have in common?
Nothing, yet.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Our Christmas Day dinner was absolute perfection. The Chateaubriand roast came out the exact rare state from edge to edge we were hoping for. Bravo me and my roasting skills. The horseradish sauce was stunning with the beef. We had our favorite take on peas - petit pois french style - with lardons, shallots, lettuce, and cream. Mashed potatoes, beef gravy because Alan always wants gravy with his dinner, and an indulgent French Bordeaux to sip. Later we had Christmas Pudding with cognac cream sauce and brandy butter. A peaceful and delicious Christmas meal.
It was all in all a quiet and nice day. We chatted with family on phone and online. Tasty nibbles and drinks during the day, too. Our cat Rosie approved of the food after she taste tested it all.
Boxing Day we gave away our Honda Civic to a nice local young woman through a neighborhood recycle/reuse scheme we support. Alan hates cars anyway and I'm not driving lately so it was a huge waste of money and useless hassle to maintain a car here in London. The Honda was old but in excellent condition with very low mileage. It was the right thing to give it to someone who needed a friendly hand.
Tomorrow, the 29th we're having a friend over for dinner - it's Roast Goose leading the menu. Crepes Suzette for dessert.
It was all in all a quiet and nice day. We chatted with family on phone and online. Tasty nibbles and drinks during the day, too. Our cat Rosie approved of the food after she taste tested it all.
Boxing Day we gave away our Honda Civic to a nice local young woman through a neighborhood recycle/reuse scheme we support. Alan hates cars anyway and I'm not driving lately so it was a huge waste of money and useless hassle to maintain a car here in London. The Honda was old but in excellent condition with very low mileage. It was the right thing to give it to someone who needed a friendly hand.
Tomorrow, the 29th we're having a friend over for dinner - it's Roast Goose leading the menu. Crepes Suzette for dessert.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
We had a great Christmas Eve Dinner tonight - roast duck with stuffing and home-made bread sauce. This was the first time I've ever made bread sauce from scratch - AMAZING taste! I've always disliked it because we used the packet stuff but tonight with the homemade genuine article I understand what the moaning and fussing is all about. it was just gorgeous. Since it was actually pretty simple to make, we'll never use a packet again.
Anyway the duck dinner was a perfect way to start the holidays.
Btw the day actually started as a complete disaster with Tesco getting their whole specially ordered Christmas delivery wrong. They didn't deliver the lobster or the roast for Christmas dinner and got other things wrong. Lordy, lordy! I gave them a piece of my mind at customer service as soon as they opened this morning. I understand it wasn't just me; lots of other people who ordered their Tesco Finest Christmas Show stopper whole lobster also found themselves without the promised treat. I hope they also called Tesco and demanded reparations.
Hoping all my family and friends have a great Christmas night and a wonderful Christmas day tomorrow.
Anyway the duck dinner was a perfect way to start the holidays.
Btw the day actually started as a complete disaster with Tesco getting their whole specially ordered Christmas delivery wrong. They didn't deliver the lobster or the roast for Christmas dinner and got other things wrong. Lordy, lordy! I gave them a piece of my mind at customer service as soon as they opened this morning. I understand it wasn't just me; lots of other people who ordered their Tesco Finest Christmas Show stopper whole lobster also found themselves without the promised treat. I hope they also called Tesco and demanded reparations.
Hoping all my family and friends have a great Christmas night and a wonderful Christmas day tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.
First thing in the morning at 5am Macklin Bros butchers opens and Alan will be there to collect 2 racks of baby back ribs and then at 7am we get our last Tesco groceries home delivery before the holiday goes live. The groceries were almost completely paid for with my saved up Tesco Clubcard vouchers.
I've completed over 2 months smoke free. Bravo me! I have to get some friends to stop by for drinks and nibbles so they can tell me if the house is starting to smell fresher and the smoke smell is dissipating.
My next project is a new diet. I'm not looking for nor interested in a "sensible and moderate" diet like the weight watchers sort or the usual 1-2 lbs a week food pyramid sort. I saw something that looked more my sort of thing called "Intermittent Fasting" and after doing some extensive reading on it; it looks just my sort of thing.
Just as I stepped into cold turkey to stop smoking directly, I intend to slide into Intermittent Fasting to diet and lose weight as quickly as possible. Sounds like a miserable way to begin the New Year and worse so if you realize I also don't drink. (Not teetotal but fairly close.)
I'll keep up progress posts as things move along.
Back to Xmas - I'll be cooking and baking from scratch so if you pop round you'll find there'll always be assorted goodies awaiting you.
On the family front we're still waiting for the contracts of Tom & Andrew's country house to be signed and the keys turned over.
First thing in the morning at 5am Macklin Bros butchers opens and Alan will be there to collect 2 racks of baby back ribs and then at 7am we get our last Tesco groceries home delivery before the holiday goes live. The groceries were almost completely paid for with my saved up Tesco Clubcard vouchers.
I've completed over 2 months smoke free. Bravo me! I have to get some friends to stop by for drinks and nibbles so they can tell me if the house is starting to smell fresher and the smoke smell is dissipating.
My next project is a new diet. I'm not looking for nor interested in a "sensible and moderate" diet like the weight watchers sort or the usual 1-2 lbs a week food pyramid sort. I saw something that looked more my sort of thing called "Intermittent Fasting" and after doing some extensive reading on it; it looks just my sort of thing.
Just as I stepped into cold turkey to stop smoking directly, I intend to slide into Intermittent Fasting to diet and lose weight as quickly as possible. Sounds like a miserable way to begin the New Year and worse so if you realize I also don't drink. (Not teetotal but fairly close.)
I'll keep up progress posts as things move along.
Back to Xmas - I'll be cooking and baking from scratch so if you pop round you'll find there'll always be assorted goodies awaiting you.
On the family front we're still waiting for the contracts of Tom & Andrew's country house to be signed and the keys turned over.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Two days ago was my birthday; I turned 65. Sound the noisemakers and poppers. A quiet and pleasant enough day. It's almost 2 months now since I stopped smoking. Haven't cheated, still moving along with it. Diet starts right after New Years.
And the big news, the GREAT news - the mortgage for Tom & Andrew's country house got the final approval Friday morning. It's all engines on and full speed ahead now. Closing will be scheduled in a few days and the house will be theirs for Xmas. Yay!!!!!
I am so happy for them. I am kvelling like crazy for them. Absolutely shepping nachas for them. They have all worked so incredibly hard to reach this point. This is such a great way for Andrew & Joanna to go into the new year.
In other excellent news, my daughter Astrid has a new terrific job. Her base is in Basel, Switzerland but she'll also be working out of several other project centres including NJ this week. So yes, Asti is in the Metro NY area working this week and visiting family during her down time.
I presume I'll hear more news from other family members at some point. I refuse to allow facebook to take over family communications. I loathe how people utterly expose themselves on FB. This blog is as public as I plan to get.
Enough for now. I need to look through some seed catalogs.
And the big news, the GREAT news - the mortgage for Tom & Andrew's country house got the final approval Friday morning. It's all engines on and full speed ahead now. Closing will be scheduled in a few days and the house will be theirs for Xmas. Yay!!!!!
I am so happy for them. I am kvelling like crazy for them. Absolutely shepping nachas for them. They have all worked so incredibly hard to reach this point. This is such a great way for Andrew & Joanna to go into the new year.
In other excellent news, my daughter Astrid has a new terrific job. Her base is in Basel, Switzerland but she'll also be working out of several other project centres including NJ this week. So yes, Asti is in the Metro NY area working this week and visiting family during her down time.
I presume I'll hear more news from other family members at some point. I refuse to allow facebook to take over family communications. I loathe how people utterly expose themselves on FB. This blog is as public as I plan to get.
Enough for now. I need to look through some seed catalogs.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)