Dear All,
I'm in the 'High Risk Group', I have Vasculitis- an Auto-Immune Condition, am a Kidney Transplant Recipient.... yes I DO 'tick' ALL those boxes☹. Fortunately I live in 'Supported Living', so I have Staff available, should I need them- I had a 'little knock' earlier, "was I OK, did I need anything?" I replied that ''I was fine'' but, if the position changed I would ''let them know''.
So anyway a, very good, excuse to COOK! I have some good mince, from an actual Butchers, a 'Bolognaise' sauce that needed 'using up' (my excuse...) so Off I Went. Nothing 'elaborate', just onion, garlic, stock, lemon juice, ketchup, jar of sauce, rosemary and, of course, mince! I adjusted the water content and 'sweetness' levels (using a 'eucalyptus honey')- and that was it.... I cooked, a mixture of, 'white & brown' spaghetti, to go with it. I also arranged for one of our staff, to take a plate full, down to Michael- one of my neighbours. (Because I have it, I also grated some- rather good- Mature Cheddar and shared some, of that, too.) In all a very good (see I didn't use 'nice') meal.
Unfortunately I, no longer, have a 'Usable' Oven... the glass Broke, quite spectacularly, last week! It WAS- past tense- due to be Fixed this week..... Fortunately I have a, very Nice (yes I used it), Induction Hob and a Multi Function Microwave. (It 'defrosts', micro waves and grills too.) To be honest I, very rarely use/ need my 'big' oven/ grill anyway.) So whilst 'roasts' might be out, not much else is.
Beyond this, I have DVDs, literally hundreds of them, books a good collection- including, My Liege, The Complete Works Of Shakespeare- for sooth.... (Is this a Dagger, before me? Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well... Et Tu Brutus (sometimes Brutain). An Eye, For An Eye... and so forth.) It's a long time, since I 'did' any Shakespeare- and that 'Tis True, My Friends.
Yes Shakespeare I CAN 'cope with' Chaucer I can't really... Middle English is 'tricky', to say the least- Mind you, some of these 'Text- Speak' words are just as hard. (Verily I say, unto you, that 'he has a f..king point', indeed no less!) I don't mind Charles Dickens although, his 'style'- especially by modern standard- is a bit, how can I put this, Laborious.
I prefer Poetry though, maybe NOT, 'Troy' in one sitting.... Sir John Betjeman, Spike Milligan (Not just the 'Ning Nang Nong') even Pam Ayres who, I have had the privilege to see Live, a few times now. I have a Small Book, compiled for Charity, of Poems by a girl called 'Jo'- I don't recall her full name. Most of the Poetry, is funny, with some more 'serious'. Other contributors include Pam Ayres, Maureen Lipman, Ester Rantzen (I think, that's is right... my Spell Checker doesn't know it). There may be Other contributors, but I can't remember.
Well I've 'Babbled on... and on.. and on...' quite long enough now. Take care, of yourselves, Everyone
AndrewT
Christmas 🎄 gluten free mince crumble, 
