Something of a Rollercoaster

Bless - thank you for that vote of confidence 

Eileen - it was an interview with me as an author who writes some horror. I hope that it lives up to your expectations.

The podcast, well, we chatted for something like two and a half hours and she is editing it down to thirty minutes. I have no idea what she is keeping in. L Bachman made me feel so at home and comfortable. I hope I did her proud.

Today, well, it was hit and miss. I took bear's blazer to the dry cleaner's next to Tesco and called in. I found the 'breaded' gluten free chicken nuggets in stock, which I love and which are a great meal in a rush. They haven't been in since the start of the plague. As it is Ramadan and Tesco is in an area with a lot of Muslims, there were a lot of goodies. I resisted a lot of them, but I couldn't resist them all and there are more dates in this house than in a crate full of calendars. Unfortunately I forgot the bird's fatballs and the pasty that bear requested for lunch. 

After some discussion with bear, I nipped back out to the Co-op where not only did they have the pasty that he liked, but they also had some yellow sticker mushrooms. I picked up over a kilo (leaving some for everyone else) and they are now peeled, chopped and in the freezer. I don't bother blanching them or anything and it doesn't seem to make much difference when they are bunged into a casserole or cooked up with mince or stirred into a sauce. I've seen a nice recipe for mushroom soup which is basically simmering mushrooms in stock with flavourings and then liquidising. I may add a little onion and garlic, but I'm saving all the stalks from the mushrooms separately and I plan to have a nice bowl or two of the soup. I also remembered to put the left over mashed potato in the fridge which I plan to mix with beaten egg and fry. I'll share if I manage to do that.

Then I stumbled, fell sideways into a chair and broke it. The angle didn't help, but the diet is now! I realised in the nick of time that IKEA was still open, dashed out and picked up a replacement chair. I also picked up some vegetarian meatballs which I really like. They are gluten free, relatively healthy and cook in the microwave in no time. 

IKEA seems to have broken out in artificial flowers. They were everywhere. I was wondering whether there would be an attack of MDF aphids! There was even what looked like wedding dress store set up. I suppose it hides any gaps, but it felt like I was pushing on through the undergrowth.

Yes, the pic above was taken in actual IKEA. I'm still not sure what that was all about. 

I didn't get much time to take pics, as the store was about to shut and I was belting around at speed, but there were real plants, plastic plants, and some stuff I couldn't tell and there were absolutely swathes of the stuff. I'm quite disappointed that I didn't manage to get a pick of the sunflowers and greenery in the food shop. 

Speaking of plants, bear put his hand down on a plant yesterday and came home with blisters. It's still sore and itchy today. I wondered if it could be giant hogweed, as I think I saw some by the beck a few years ago. Bear said that it was spiky and small and wasn't giant hogweed big? I pointed out that giant hogweed didn't start big, but, like all plants, grew. I put some antiseptic cream on it and I'll keep an eye out.

Hugs and good health to all.