Photodump 3 (Now with added book reviews!)

We found a circle of stones in a park near our house. There's one from each area of Scotland.


Matt standing on the Aberdeenshire stone.


Jumping on East Lothian...


...and on the City of Glasgow...


...and some more...


Some giant nettles.


Books I have been reading/rereading over the last few days.

The Wench is Dead - Colin Dexter.
I've never read one of his before, and never really watched any Inspector Morse on TV either. It was... ok. It was fairly interesting, as far as the actual investigating went, but I found the plot in between dull.

The Medusa Child - Sylvie Germaine (translated by Liz Nash).
This book was a surprise to me. Incredibly lyrical and atmospheric. One of those books one keeps picking up, just to see what happens. Well worth a read.
I'm also halfway through The Weeping Woman on the Streets of Prague by the same author. So far, so good.

In a sharp contrast to that, I have been rereading The Latchkey Children by André Launay. It's a very 80s style of sort-of horror story - the tag line on the front of the book is: "Six kids belonged to the club. The seventh had to kill to join." This probably tells you a lot about the style of the book... Enjoyable, in a trashy sort of way - like The Amityville Horror, only without the claims to being true that drive me mad.

I've also been rereading Law of the Playground by Jonathan Blythe. This book, based on the website, makes me laugh out loud every time I read it. It makes me happy.

Finally, I very much enjoyed The Boy on the Bus by Deborah Schupack. The plot is that one day, when Meg goes to meet her asthmatic eight-year-old son from the school bus, the child that gets off just does not quite seem to be him. It's very eerie, and very good.

Photodump 2

These photos are all from around Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat (our beloved extinct volcano).
They have been taken over the last 2-3 months.

From the southwest and west side of Arthur's Seat.













Birds at the pond in Holyrood Park.











We were surprised to see a pheasant in the grounds of the volcano. In the centre of the city...

Hot and spicy pork.

Well, today I went back to see my nurse. Last time I saw her and the doctor, they basically said that I was anaemic, and that I should come back in a few weeks, and eat and drink healthily in the meantime.
I walked in, and she said "Oooh, you look great!" So that was a nice reception. She took yet more of my blood, then sent me on my way.

I also went to Lidl, where I picked up a pack of reduced pork. When I was at the checkout, the guy was flirting with me, before offering me 'hot and spicy pork' for free. Now, in fairness, that was what the product was called but, what with the flirting, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing hysterically. (Turns out that they were close to the sell-by, and were therefore being given away.)

And I am now officially a glasses wearer. I went to the opticians at the weekend, and got two pairs for £144. I don't have any photos of me wearing them, but these are the styles, here and here.

The first of those pairs I shall be picking up on Thursday (something about the thickness of lenses meant I couldn't get same-day collection). The second pair is the pair I'm currently wearing. I was concerned (well, I still am, to some extent) that I look like a complete nerd in them, but even Mouse said they suited me. And if even my sister isn't taking the opportunity to mock me, they must be ok.

Here's a picture of Hastings, asleep with full cuteness.

Pasta sauce...

I'm doing well on the healthy eating plan. I've cut down on all the things that are bad for me. (Including things I love, like cheese and wine... *sobs*) It's really paying off, sizewise. I have no idea whether I've actually lost weight, since I don't weigh myself, but I don't care. I'm looking good, my mood is up, my energy levels are up, and my self-confidence is up.

And I'm finding it a really fun challenge to adapt recipes I had to be healthier.
Today, after going grocery shopping (Lidl on a Monday - fresh fruit and veg, and up to 70% reduced), I thought I'd make some nice fresh pasta sauce.

So I made this ridiculously simple recipe. It fed two of us, but we had it by itself, and Matt eats a lot, so it would probably do 3 or 4 if you had salad or some nice crusty bread by the side.

1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 large tomato, chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 green chilli, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 or 5 handfuls of spinach, shredded
50g feta cheese, cubed
100g chorizo, cubed

Simmer the tin of tomatoes, the chopped tomato (since the tinned tomatoes are quite liquidy, the other tomato is in for bulk) and the garlic for approximately five minutes.
Add the onion and the chilli, and simmer for another ten minutes, stirring on and off.
Add the spinach, feta and chorizo, simmer for five more minutes, then mix in the pasta.

It was very, very tasty.

And here's the first photo of me taken in years that I don't hate.

Photodump 1

I've got quite the backlog of photos, so I've decided to just put them up in batches for your delectation. The batches aren't in chronological order, although the photos in each batch probably are, but I'll try to at least vaguely put a date to them.

This first lot are of Matt and Hastings running free in the garden, and were taken today. A lot of them are of Hastings trying to eat plants, mud, rocks and ants.

About me - in bed

No, not the sexy type bed stuff, and not the boring old stuff that loads of people do (snoring, talking, grinding of teeth, etc...), but the more odd sleeping habits.

1) I sleep under a lot of blankets whilst in the nude. I'm not a big fan of wearing PJs or anything to bed, because too often I find that I have turned over, but my bedwear has remained where it was, and is now throttling me. Currently, it being June, we have done away with the fleece that was over the sheet under us, and now 'only' have a fleece, an army blanket*, a duvet, a chenille-ish blanket* and a feather blanket* over us.

*Thanks, Acci! You stopped me from dying of cold this winter!

2) If I ever do get too warm, I'll remain under the blankets, but stick one bare foot out the side of the covers. Now, this is the important bit. I can't have it sticking out unprotected. If there isn't a sheet or some sort of blanket covering over it, something might get me. I'm not talking about the usual fear of something leaping out, or grabbing my foot and dragging me away, or eating it... but imagine if you were lying there in the dark, foot out of the covers, and something just trailed a finger down your foot...
*shudders*

3) Sort of connected to this, I prefer to sleep further down the bed. I tend to gradually edge downwards until my head's below the bottom edge of the pillow, and my toes dangle off the end of the bed. Covered up. Always.

4) I had mysterious dreams the other week. I kept waking up, then drifting off again for a few minutes. All I knew in my half-awake state was that it was very important to remember a certain word. My brain had processed it so that I awoke finally to wonder why I had to think of Terry Pratchett's Cohen the Barbarian. Then I remembered that the word I needed was possible to find through connections. I remembered that my dream had somehow decided that Cohen was somehow easier to remember than Conan, and the word I was so desperately having to remember was onanism. Exactly why it was vital for me to remember the biblical word for masturbation, I have no idea.