The inevitable someone who does these things has surveyed the British population for their interest level in the wedding. There is, as ever, mass media hysteria but something approaching half of the population won’t be watching. That comes with the warning that for all of our recent elections the survey predictions have been very wrong.

We did discuss crumpets, pikelets and muffins and debate which was which. What I think I forgot to mention was that crumpet is also an old fashioned slang term for a woman or women. Not often heard these days except in the old black and white films.

LJ I am a grandfather of 15 year olds and I think it pretty much went out of use before my time.

It is sunny here and has been for several days, but today is colder. This is confusing the wild life. There is a hedgehog, normally nocturnal, on my lawn at mid-day. I am very glad to see it. They are no where near as numerous as they were and anything that eats slugs and snails is welcome in my garden.

I have no idea how my fast went – grandchild sitting overnight for my youngest so I didn’t get weighed this morning.

Cinque, rest up and get better soon.
Not sure what was wrong with me yesterday but the headache and sore throat are both gone today.

Penguin, for the crumpet reference I was tinging of men a generation older than you.
How lovely to have to have such a helpful hedgehog – even a confused one.

I notice on the news that the ABC just interviewed some Australians who were camping our for their viewing spot for the Windsor wedding. I wonder if Merry made good on her thought of trying to get there. I can imagine anything worse than battling those crowds and the lack of clean toilets that invariably follows. Has anyone else noticed that access to clean facilities becomes a bigger deciding factor as you get older? Our bladders just seem to be that bit more unable to hang on for extended periods of time.

I had a very poor night’s sleep, about 3 hours from 5-8am. Although I didn’t feel like fasting, it’s good thing I am, as I invariably spend the day snacking when I’ve slept badly the night before. I’ve been sleeping so well lately that last night was a surprise. Hopefully the tiredness I feel today will get my sleep pattern back to normal tonight.

It’s cold and very wet here. I just had to go out in the rain to clear leaves out of the stormwater drain, so I’m a bit damp. In autumn it seems to need clearing at least daily and sometimes twice a day if it’s windy. Time to dry off and warm up. I’m about to have my second pot of tea for the day. I’ll be drinking it in front of the fire I’ve just lit.

I am doing my 3rd FD this week as well, and just like Lindsay, I relax a little at dinner. Still soup, but with some buckwheat (which actually isn’t wheat at all) mixed in.
I am on a mission – trying to find rye grains (berries?), maybe someone has a suggestion where I can buy some – preferably unprocessed and organic. I checked at one of the larger bulk stores here in Cairns, but could not find any.

after posting I googled ( I know, it’s back to front :-)) and found a company I could order it from, but it comes in 5kg lots, and that’s way to much.

Penguin, I think the least you could do for that snail eating hedgehog is to put out a little pot of melted butter and garlic to upgrade his dining experience to escargot! 🐌

Lindsay, glad to hear your littles are improving, even if it’s taking steroids to make that happen. They do have their place for some conditions that don’t seem to respond to anything else.
I can’t imagine camping out to see the Royal carriage pass by without a proper loo very close by. And don’t forget a good quality toilet paper as well!
I agree that the media can be cruel when it comes to personal family details that are none of anyone else’s business. I think having 24/7 news shows tends to exaggerate everything. They have to find something to talk about for all that time that will pull viewers in. When there isn’t real news, they just make stuff up.

Cinque, hope you’re feeling better today. When the weather turns it seems like there are always a lot of people with colds. At least feeling poorly makes food less attractive and FDs easier!

LJ, hope you get news on your house today. It feels like a long week!

LJoyce https://ccsts.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/celebrations.gif

Woopee! Enjoy packing!

Yummy sounding soups Lindsay. I made a minestrone type this week (with added kimchi 😉 ), and my miso soup.

O I would love some chicken soup. But I am well enough to cook a yummy meal tonight including roasting eggplant and butternut my sister brought down from the farm (passed carefully around the wire door as she has spent months recovering from dreadfully painful shingles and doesn’t want to catch anything right now thanks).

Yummy sounding soups Lindsay. I made a minestrone type this week, and my miso soup.

Let’s all sleep well!

fantastic news LJoyce!

kibbled rye sounds good – would you have a recipeor maybe a link for your bread? no hurry, I understand that you have other priorities :-))

Thanks Sybs, Cinque and Penguin.
I’ll be relaxing (and sleeping) tonight and start packing tomorrow.

Just finished eating my stir fry. Not only was it yummy, it allowed me to use the last of a few things in the pantry, which will reduce the amount I have to pack. There should now be no reason for me to turn on the stove again before I leave. Just reheating required from now on.

Sybs, I usually cringe when people ask for recipes. Not that I don’t have a lot, I just never follow them exactly. Now matter how hard I try I just can’t seem to stop myself adding or substituting things.
One thing I will say about kibbled rye is that you treat it a bit like a dry legume. Pour boiling water over it the day before you want to use it. After a few hours if it’s still crunchy rather than chewy then simmer for about half an hour.(If you manage to find the whole grains it’s the same process, just longer soaking and much longer cooking). Once they’ve softened, drain them really well in a sieve and allow them to cool. Then they can be added to pretty much any bread dough.
This is one website that has mostly good bread recipes and it’s an easy method when using either kibbled rye or rolled rye as you don’t have to stress about draining the water from the grains.
https://www.breadexperience.com/pain-bouillie-porridge-bread/
I have made a version of this, but as I said I never follow recipes exactly. I’ve been making bread for over 30 years and for me it’s an organic process where I rely on the look and feel of the dough and I always add extra that I’m in the mood for. The recipe uses either rolled rye or spelt but I have used some pre-soaked kibbled rye in the porridge along with rolled grains (I think I used a combination of rolled barley and spelt last time in addition to the kibbled rye).
I quite like the “porridge” method as you always end up with a very moist loaf and it’s an easy method, especially if you have a mixer with a dough hook – I never knead by hand these days.
This method makes a wetter dough so it requires a longer baking time for the loaf to be cooked properly. If the loaf starts to get too brown you can cover with foil and reduce the temperature by 10-20 degrees (ie reduce the heat not the cooking time).

thanks LJoyce, much appreciated. I know exactly what you mean about not following recipes, I do the same when cooking.

Hi Penguin:

Sounds like you ran into Dr. Gundry’s diet. I wouldn’t worry about it (not that I think you do).

Gundry is just another diet book writer that is exploiting some people’s sensitivity to FODMAPs and trying to make it into a general thing everyone should worry about (so he can sell more books and the pills he sells to counteract the effects of these terrible foods).

The fact is pulses are high in FODMAPs and there are people that react negatively to them. But hardly everyone. Not that you are interested, but FODMAP stands for “Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols” and you can read all about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP

One of the first FODMAP based diets was the gluten free diet. The FODMAPs in wheat cause many people to experience digestive tract upset and eliminating wheat from the diet takes care of the problem. Unfortunately, a researcher wrote a paper blaming gluten for the problem, and before he retracted his research and placed the blame on FODMAPs the gluten ‘sensitivity’ and gluten free craze had started and still hasn’t stopped. Lactose intolerance is another FODMAP caused condition, among others.

It is now understood that people that suffer from IBS and similar maladies are very FODMAP sensitive and their condition can be radically improved by going on a low FODMAP diet. I believe Monash University was one of the leaders in researching FODMAPs, but the research has gone worldwide.

Its just another example of a diet doctor taking a bit of information and trying to make a living by exploiting people’s fear or interest in good health to get them to buy what he has to sell, in my opinion, anyway.

Take care.

Penguin:

Amen.

Good morning SHs, and good afternoon to our NH members who’ve been busy chatting while the rest of us slept. And yes I did sleep, over 8 hours of unbroken sleep.
Packing day – can’t believe I’m excited about that.

Penguin, what seems to have gotten lost in the FODMAP hype is that it’s not a long term diet it’s a temporary “rehab” diet where those with IBS (which is something I used to suffer from) remove foods that upset their bowel and allow the digestive system a time to recover – usually 8 weeks is recommended. Then foods are gradually added back – sometimes there’ll be one or two foods that there is so much sensitivity to that they need to stay out of the diet long term, but most foods can be reintroduced. FODMAP foods are all good for gut bugs so it’s really unhealthy to keep them out of the diet long term. It’s a process that’s meant to be managed by a dietitian, but I suspect most people self diagnose and then turn to google (or magazines) for advice.
I do find it alarming that people would cut pulses out of their diet permanently, they are such a healthy food. My IBS is managed really well if I have very high fibre levels (over 40grams a day). Pulses are one of very few protein sources that also give me fibre and help me get to that required amount fibre. It’s also one of the reasons I hunt out all the less common high fibre grains.
If I’m ill and use a lot of antibiotics I sometimes need to repeat the elimination and reintroduction of certain foods. Those I have the most continued sensitivity to are brassicas (cauli, cabbage etc).
Penguin I hope the sourdough baking goes well.

Cali, I will be joining you watching the wedding. There won’t be many other choices here as all 5 of our tv networks has sent a film crew to Windsor. I suspect there’s lots of hype in the US too given that the bride is American.
A bit over a decade ago an Australian (Mary Donaldson from Tasmania) married the crown prince of Denmark and there was quite a lot of fuss about that here. It was actually one of the sweetest royal weddings I’ve seen. Prince Frederick cried when Mary started walking down the isle toward him. Being part of the Commonwealth we are used to the British royal family who would never cry in public for any reason, so witnessing that much emotion was a pleasant surprise. Most of Australia (the women anyway) developed a bit of a soft spot for Fred after that. (Yes we are irreverent enough to call him Fred).

Well I think my pot of tea had brewed. Time to drink it while I watch the morning news.

Although I was introduced to Prince Philip way back in 1972 during the Munich Olympics, I won’t be watching the wedding. However, I’ll watch the FA Cup final between Man U and Chelsea – I guess I enjoy football more than a Royal show :-)) Friends of mine will be watching the wedding on the big screen in a cinema, cheap at AU$10 per person, which of course includes a glass of bubbly! Whatever you get up to this weekend, enjoy it!

Good morning,
I heard some dietitians interviewed a while ago and they were bemoaning the indication that ‘anti legumes’ looked like it was shaping up to be the next fad, so I have been bracing for it. It is a clever money maker, some people do need to avoid them, lots of people are afraid of them and most people fart and bloat when they aren’t used to them. Excellent fodder for a fad.

Hopefully it will be a short one.

I’m still coldy but my brain is working a bit better.
Your chicken soup sounds wonderful Cali. Mine is an Asian style, and I might even nick up to the shop and get the ingredients for it.

So glad your meds are being adjusted Cali.

Awful school shooting news. Again 🙁 . They were saying on the news that more US school students have been killed this year than US soldiers in war zones.

Penguin, so sorry to hear about your hedgehog. I do wish cats could be more discerning about what they kill. I’ve realised that I am not really a pet person (she says with the cat on her knee, demanding a head rub) I’d rather be enjoying the wild life and especially getting to know the wildlife that live around me. Or would, if it wasn’t for the cats.

I hope you get to make your rye bread Sybs. Yum.
And I bet you’ve made (or are making?) a wonderful sourdough loaf Penguin.
I must put up some bread today. I have been missing it.

Day before fast day for me. Best wishes all.

Edit: 2 posts sneaked in while I was writing. Hi Sybs.
Welcome Rarabel. Congratulations on a great 5:2 start! Tape measures are much more reliable than scales 😉 You’ll get to your goal! Easy peasy. Slow and steady.

Fast day for me, I’m possibly the only Saturday faster? Tomorrow, we’re having a picnic at the river with our neighbours; still enjoying temps in the mid to high twenties.

I read the posts but was too busy to respond so this will be from memory. Sad news for the hedgehog. Great news for LJ.

Lindsay, I’m sure the standard of journalism was much higher in your day. From a news report, I just want the who, what, when, where, how and why. Hold the adjectives, I’m not interested in the journalist’s or network’s personal opinion on anything so don’t tell me it was a ‘cowardly attack’ or an ‘irrational tweet’, I’ll be the judge of that, thank you. Years ago we watched a report on a highly respected current affairs programme on a national broadcaster on a subject about which we had intimate knowledge of the details. The highly respected journalist/presenter were literally ‘making up’ the aspects they didn’t know. This completely distorted the truth and we found it very unprofessional. That programme is still highly revered by much of the nation; I consider it infotainment and don’t watch it or the news that precedes it.

Being a news sceptic, I’ve managed to avoid most of the pre-wedding hype. CalifD, I won’t be joining you in watching it unfold but I’m smiling that you will get so much pleasure from it – have you decorated your home for the occasion? I did read that the cake likely cost £50,000 and that a member of the groom’s family would give the bride away which struck me as incongruous. As for their personal lives, who cares? Merry, I hope you’ve staked out a good ‘possy’ near the portaloos. I don’t mind a bit of pomp but the highlights will be ample for me.

Pulses are fabulous.

Well done to the 4:3 fasters. Two days are enough for me.

CalifD, that’s great about the meds being decreased and things getting back to normal. My weight is up a bit today and I know why. Alcohol and sushi at the jazz night this week. Not worth the pain.

Talk of crumpets and a bit of crumpet reminded me of Les Misérables:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k6uqhKEAOM

Sybs, I was also apparently in very close proximity to Prince Philip as a 3 year old. My family told the story of me repeatedly saying, “I touched the Duke” for some some afterwards. I’m not a royalist but I take some weird comfort in the Queen having been the only ‘constant’ throughout my entire life.

Cinque, you might like to consider encouraging your grandchildren to own herpetofauna. It’s a controversial initiative to increase awareness in, and a love of, our own wildlife instead of keeping more traditional pets that like to kill our wildlife. A license is required and reptiles cannot be taken from the wild, only bred in captivity. It’s a different way of thinking. Are you feeling well today?

Off to enjoy the sunshine.

*sorry, not enough time to edit that lot. s/b ‘some time afterwards’. I was the 3 y/o, not the Duke.

Rarabel welcome. I took am more likely to kick the scales than agree with them. I get along much better with the tap measure. I think 8cms is amazing in 3 weeks.

Cinque, I think cats have great self preservation instincts! To a cat, I imagine a toddler looks like a clumsy giant that might either fall on me or pull my tail – or both. Lentil and lime dahl sounds lovely.

Thin, enjoy the sunshine. I think fasting today so you can enjoy a picnic tomorrow is well worth it. The sun has just peeked out from behind the clouds, but I expect it to get stage fright any minute and disappear again.

After our earlier discussion of Friday night fish and chips I’m a day late. I am making fish and chips tonight. I have some frozen battered fish fillets in the freezer that need to be used. They’ll go into the airfryer with a potato, carrot and parsnip that I’ll cut into large wedges. Hopefully after an afternoon of packing I’ll have earned those calories.

I’ve had a very productive afternoon. I’ve packed all towels, bedding, quilts, linens, table linens, pillows and cushions except for one set of each to use now. I’ve also had a big clear out of magazines and display boxes that I used for staging and I’ve packed up all the remaining magazines and books in the study. There wasn’t much in the spare bedroom but anything that isn’t furniture I’ve also packed.
I’m starting to realise just how much stuff I did put into storage as I’ve ended up with just 5 tea chest sized boxes and that’s 2 1/2 rooms of stuff, plus the linen closet.

I’m feeling quite pleased with myself. Just making a pot of french earl grey and taking a break.

The sourdough worked well. It rose faster and better than when I used to make it but for some reason doesn’t seem to have the distinctive taste. I don’t normally do breakfast, but I toasted some. Whilst eating it I switched on the TV for the news. There is a wedding today and later, and less important to the news channels, there is a football match. No other news at all, even though last night I heard something about another school shooting in Texas. The TV journalists are exulting in the fact that the nation will joyously come together to celebrate. Interesting how the press have changed their view. A few years ago he was a a horrible profligate crypto fascist, now he is a hero – pretty much what they did to his mother. The weather is fine, so I’ll be in the garden during both events. I have nothing against the prince or ceremony. I have put on my best uniform and stamped around a time or two myself and I usually manage to watch the Queen”s Birthday Parade/Trooping of the Colour (although a good fly-past is better). It is the over-the-top fawning commentary that gets me. As for the football, the ball is the wrong shape.

LJ. Tea chests brings back memories. Earl Grey I am familiar with, but French Earl Grey?

Arel. I googled Tile Farm and got about 500 farms, none of them with a Tile!

After posting that piece about dangerous pulses I read that meat consumption in UK is down 20% and people are eating more pulses – quinoa and the like becoming very trendy.

It is possible to miss things on this site. Do I gather that Lindsay was a journalist?

Cali – for once something happening overseas happens to coincide with evening viewing time here, although I will only watch the ceremony. I’d lose interest if I had to put up wit the several hours of preamble that will undoubtedly preceed the actual wedding. I’ve found a channel showing David Attenborough until then.

Penguin, well done on the sourdough. I think the sour taste develops more when the starter is more mature. Probably a bit like a cheese – it gets riper with age.
French earl grey is English earl grey + flower petals (I kid you not).

Well after all I said, I wound up watching the actual wedding. It coincided with lunch. It doesn’t matter how old and cynical I get, a young man in uniform and a pretty girl looks right. The Song of Solomon is always a good read and a motet by Thomas Tallis can’t be wrong. I have a CD of Tallis in the car – it is my chill out in a traffic jam music. “Stand by me” was different, but actually worked very well. The style of the address was also different, fine but a little long. The Bride’s Mum looked, as required by tradition, about to burst into tears. A Welsh rugby crowd will sing “Bread of Heaven” better, but there would be more of them. The young string player has a great future.

Sybscairns -” bread and circuses” yes, but a really well run circus and I ate some of my sourdough whilst watching it.

Just popped in for a cup of tea. My neighbour brought her dogs round – there is a new rescue mutt who is scared of men and needs socialising.

I’ll have a look at that cake recipe. My grandmother, who had been widowed twice, earned her living in a variety of ways – school cleaner, potato peeler in the fish and chip shop and anything else. The most lucrative, but unfortunately least frequent, was icing wedding cakes. Before she was fired for getting married she was in service as a cook so she was good at it. Not the best preparation for a military career, but from the age of about six I have been able to do a very traditional cake, making all of the fancy decorations from scratch.

I’m losing it. I have just been out watering the plants, thinking to myself “Why are the Church Bells ringing?”

Penguin, I agree about the one wedding sermon being awfully long (although a good one) but after 4:00 am in the morning here, it had been a long day/night. The whole thing was beautiful and unique, probably like no other marriage for Royals the Queen or anyone had seen before. I managed to stay awake until they were headed off on their carriage ride. Having the 10 little children as bridesmaids and Pages was so charming. I am amazed that it all came off perfectly with each one performing their part as planned. (I wonder if bribes were used? 😆)
Penguin, learning how to decorate cakes is something I’ve always admired. What a wonderful talent to have! Are you always recruited for family birthday parties and such? I’ve been tempted a few times to take classes, but you’re right about the dilemma of who will eat the finished cakes. Maybe using artificial cake forms of some sort would be a solution.

Joffy, it sounds like you’ve had a busy day even though you weren’t feeling great all day. Drinking too little water (or too much in some cases too much) can often have an effect on the way you feel. I hope you got caught up on your sleep.