Category: Food

Hospital visiting

diagram of personality

Integrative

A good evening to you all from the Lifestyle Support Guru and I hope today’s post finds you well! I am currently wondering if I need a new title – I picked up a leaflet at a charming little café in Derby the other day which had been placed there (the leaflet, not the café) by an ‘integrative counsellor/psychotherapist’. Does the LSG need to move with the times and be ‘integrative’ and would I then become an iLSG? If so, do you think Apple might be interested in my services?
Moving on: today I wish to discuss hospital visits. I have described a previous visit – if you remember, my left kidney was described as ‘very photogenic’ and it still hasn’t let me forget that. However, this particular most recent visit was to the Eye Department where they found that I have a ‘nevus’ on my eye. ‘What is a nevus?’ you ask. Well, it was described as a little mole or freckle, which sounds quite cute, really, so I

nevus on retina

Nevus on Retina

have decided to call this mole Morris, which seems a very good name for a mole, I think (I had considered Malcolm the Mole, but I already own Malcolm-the-strangely-named-cat-from-Australia, and I didn’t want to confuse him). I may also refer to it as Neville the Nevus or Freddie the Freckle. Somehow, I feel that a mole needs a masculine name. The consultant said they would just have to keep an eye on it, at which I smiled broadly but the consultant didn’t – I wonder how soon eye specialists get fed up of everyone coming up with that joke!
The visit was quite interesting in a number of ways – I have never seen so many women without eye makeup in one place, for a start! Whilst waiting, I read a thriller in which the police became suspicious about a character because ‘there wasn’t a fresh vegetable anywhere’ in the character’s kitchen. I hadn’t realised that fresh vegetables were a sign of guilt or innocence, so I had better rush out and buy some before I go straight to the top of their ‘Wanted’ list.

Garden vegetables

Fresh Vegetables

The appointment was for late afternoon and by the time it was finished, it was almost dark. Not having had lunch, and feeling rather hungry but not keen on going home to cook (which won’t surprise many of you), I decided to treat myself to a meal at a pub/restaurant opposite the hospital. I asked the very nice waitress for a table for one, thinking she’d show me to some dark, little corner out of the way, as often happens, but she sat me down right in the path of everyone coming into the restaurant section, which didn’t bother me at all – I just smiled at all the other customers as they walked past and carried on reading my thriller, wondering what other insights into the criminal mind I might learn. A full washing basket is a sign of a serial killer, perhaps? Or a lack of hoovering indicates psychopathic tendencies? What surprised me most of all, however, was that

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc

the restaurant menu prices practically doubled after 7 pm, for exactly the same food, so I was pretty pleased that I’d made it in time to order the cheapskate version! I had a very nice steak, then the waitress asked if I would like some pudding; when I said no, she smiled and said, ‘Ah, the wine’s obviously enough.’ She hadn’t looked like the sarcastic sort…

And so I wended my way home with Morris/Nevus/Freddie to introduce him (them?) to Charlie, Molly and Malcolm. I hope they can all be good friends. Enjoy your evening, dear devotees. I look forward to hearing if you think I should become integrative. In the meantime, I’m off to the ‘Fresh veg’ section of Sainsbury’s.

Life Is Too Short

happy dance

Joie de Vivre

In view of the number of ‘greats’ who seem to have gone a little too early to the Rock Hall of Fame in the sky in the last few weeks, I thought it might be helpful if I gave you, my beloved followers, a few reasons to make sure that you live your life to the full before shuffling off this mortal coil. In other words, LIFE IS TOO SHORT…
1. …to worry about wearing matching underwear (or, in the case of male devotees, [fake] Calvin Klein underpants) in case you are run over by a bus. The conversation in A&E is not going to be (one hopes): ‘Oh no! I cannot treat this person who doesn’t have the style to wear matching bra and knickers or (fake) Calvin Klein underpants! Take them away and dress them properly, please, and then I will attend to their life-threatening injuries.’
2. …not to watch cute kitten/puppy videos which make you feel all gooey inside – the only other living creature who can do this is Idris Elba (insert your own ‘gooey’ person if Idris isn’t your ‘goo’ of choice), and you’re more likely to meet a cute kitten/puppy than meet Idris (or other ‘gooey’ person), so make the most of your chances to get that melting feeling (not to be confused with that feeling of melting because you’ve eaten a Vindaloo).
3. …to worry about diets. I don’t believe that we have evolved as a species to eat lettuce and

rabbit

cute bunny

carrots. If that were the case, we’d be rabbits and would probably feature in cute videos not featuring Idris Elba.
4. …to watch Eggheads. You are unlikely to meet a more self-satisfied, pompous and vainglorious (wonderful word!) group of people other than in Celebrity Big Brother or, maybe, the House of Commons.
5. …to count your alcohol units. This will become more and more irrelevant, anyway, as children will be required to use their fingers and toes instead of a calculator (latest government guidelines) and it’s virtually impossible to count using fingers and toes whilst holding a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc – believe me, I’ve tried, and have accidentally fallen over during the process, so imagine what it would be like for a mere mortal without my powers of control.
Sleep well – and let’s hope life isn’t TOO short and that you wake up tomorrow and read this!

Tourist Review – Barnsley

Well, dearest devotees, today I am going to tell you about a hidden gem of a town in England called BARNSLEY. Why BARNSLEY? you cry. Why not? I cry back. (If you really want to know, I’d never been to Barnsley and there was a special offer on at Travelodge!)

Barnsley Town Hall, a town in the UK

Barnsley UK

So, youngest sibling and I head northwards (after he’d come southwards the night before) and after a tour of Barnsley suburbs – unexpected, thanks to youngest sibling reading his Google map upside down – we arrive at the hotel but are unable to go to our rooms because we are early. To pass the time, the receptionist entertains us with a story about a regular customer who, even when he no longer needed to come to the hotel, would call in and visit just to see the staff because they were so friendly (quite true!).
Having enjoyed this little tale, of which I understood only half because it was delivered in a strong Barnsley accent, we set off to have a look at a local tourist attraction, a working flour mill – highly recommended by the receptionist (at least, I think she recommended it, but I may have been wrong). There were some raht trouble at t’mill, however – there were no parking spaces left!
We set off in search of another attraction and found Wentworth Castle, where we were accosted by people dressed in 1920s costumes because they were doing a Murder Mystery afternoon. Great fun and not only that, they had jam sandwiches on the menu in the café – never seen that before!

slice of bread with jam

Jam Sandwich

Upon our return to the hotel, we ask the receptionist about the possibility of getting a taxi into Barnsley town centre to find some refreshment:

“Taxi? TAXI? Eeh, there’s a bus stop just oop t’road, if tha desn’t mind paying £1.20.”
Off we go to the bus stop, although it cost us a whole £1.50 to the bus station – the receptionist has obviously not used the bus for a little while. And Barnsley was absolutely MANIC! People everywhere, music everywhere, fish and chip shops everywhere! Everyone seemed to speak in loud voices, which is not surprising, given the loud music, but I soon picked up the local language and learned to ask for ‘Twarves’ rather than ‘Two halves.’ People shouted at each other from one pub to another (there are lots of pubs very close to each other) in a form of local greeting:
“Oi! Oreet?”
“Aye! Oreet! You?”
“Aye! Grand!”
After a few Twarves, we headed off to a Chinese restaurant recommended by a friendly bouncer and found ourselves in a rather wonderful parallel universe where we were served by a lovely couple of young Barnsley women. The conversation during the meal went something like this:

chopsticks and bowl with food

chopsticks and bowl

Waitress 1: Would you like any drinks?
Sibling: A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, please.
W 1: Is that the white one? I haven’t worked here long and I can never remember.
S: Yes, it’s the white one.
Me: And could we have chopsticks and bowls rather than plates and knives and forks, please?
W 1: Ooh, how wonderful! I LOVE it when people use chopsticks – I LOVE watching people use chopsticks to eat! I’ll watch you eat all your food!

Luckily, she was busy serving other customers when we were eating, so she missed the bit where I spilt hoi sin sauce all down my front!
Waitress 2 didn’t, though…

Waitress 2: Vanish!

At first, I thought this was an order to get out because I’d made a mess, but she was just recommending what to use to get rid of the stain!

In the meantime, all the other customers, who were complete strangers to each other when they entered the restaurant, were by now on first name terms and swapping addresses, having become best friends over the course of the meal. We were also best friends with the waitresses by the end of the evening, especially when one found out I live in Derby, because that’s where

cartoon heart, smiling

Heart

her boyfriend goes to uni – I almost expected her to ask if she could come and live with me!

And there you have BARNSLEY, beloved followers! Don’t ever let anyone tell you Yorkshire people aren’t friendly – they LOVE people… and they LOVE talking! I HEART BARNSLEY!