Random Ramblings

Skeleton models

Have I just opened my eyes? Have models always looked like a cross between a zombie and a skeleton? So very grey, so sadly thin, so drastically unhappy, so seriously ill?

Are we all demented applauding the fashion industry for churning out clothes that only fit dead bones? For goodness sake – enough!! I was so appalled when looking through some magazines at the emaciated, shapeless, skinny sacks of bones that are being allegedly paraded in the name of designer labels; I have concluded that perhaps all of these ‘so-called’ designers no longer know how to design for the normal, the balanced, the whole, the healthy human.

How sad that they appear to be so fearful of clothes designs looking dreadful, shapeless, uninteresting and quite frankly bad that they cannot use the normal shapes of women. Why are there not normal sizes ranging from a minimum of size 10 and blossoming ever upward, certainly never downward from that quite skinny size. These designers cannot be confident enough to put their creations on real, healthy women – why not? Are they so bad that no-one would ever buy these designs?

The fact that women who do not have one ounce of flesh on their bones are being used in this way is ultimate contempt for every situation where people have had no choice in becoming walking skeletons through starvation by event … To try and look like concentration camp victims and for the rest of us to find this acceptable is quite simply wrong!

Skeleton model – catwalk model

Hay fever?

It is so early in the year and yet even though we are still in February the trees are pretty, powder puffs of pollen which is sent dancing in the wind to tickle our noses and bring on the sneezes. So if you haven’t already felt the tickle of tree pollen provocatively teasing the hairs and membranes of your nose, then you may very shortly do so. More and more adults are becoming susceptible to the twitching of noses and the watery eyes of this unpleasant malady.

Catkins shedding powdery pollen

Penny-pinching

I have noticed over recent years that bed linen appears to be shrinking … because no matter how many times I measure beds their size remains constant.

I often wonder whether it has something to do with European measuring. For instance windows are now all purchased/measured/installed/replaced in metric whereas curtains, whose sizes appear to have remained constant since the 1930’s or thereabouts, not only remain in inches but also in the sizes of yesteryear. Although windows have changed in width and depth over the years, curtains can only be purchased in their original drops of 36 inches/48 inches/54 inches/72 inches/90 inches …

After shock

Not through an earthquake, landslide, tsunami or solar flare but the aftershock of the garden after the snow and ice have receded. I am still not absolutely sure of the amount of plants that have been lost due to the double minus figures of hot knife to butter-cutting frosts that permeated the depths of the top soil. I probably will have to wait until Spring is well under way before reaching for the garden fork to pull up the dead stock.

The one plant that has surprised me is one that doesn’t originate from this part of the world. It is already thick and green and calling for the year to unfold before it. It is my bamboo. What a lovely surprise it brings to the garden with its bright green leaves shaped like spears and pointing in all directions with increasing enthusiasm.

I remember years ago after being enthralled with tales from Toby Twirl and the excitement of China, reading about the uses of bamboo from the wrist-wide to the very narrowest of drinking-straw stems. At the time, I had no idea that there were so many different varieties. Then on a trip to Devon, near to some water it stood growing wild, thick and tall and I was drew to it.

Many years later I purchased a small pot of bamboo. Naively, I assumed that as the plant matured the stems would increase in width size but of course, they do not. My plant is now well established and produces the finest of bamboo canes. I am still left wondering about the shoots … and need to read up to find whether all bamboo is edible …

Bamboo

Tongue twister tale

Timothy Tate turned the tollgate

Twenty-two times each Tuesday;

Titania Teeton tossed her tuppence

Tiptoed pecking timid Tim's countenance!

I spy . . .

February has arrived. The first day of the month has been lovely. A blue sky and soft watery clouds drifting up above. Time to look around the garden to see if anything is stirring. We have had such a cold Winter so far that it wouldn’t surprise anyone if there were just dun soil everywhere. Nature, however, is always full of surprise and hope – if you look for it. No matter how bleak the day, nature will shock, surprise and present us with optimism.

February bulbs pushing their way from under the earth

Dreams

When I was a girl there was a saying that was both haunting and exciting …

‘Dream on a Saturday, told on a Sunday – come true on a Monday!’

Now this is all very well if the dream is good, desirable and happy but what if it is not? If it is unpleasant, frightening or even horrifying, what then? Then dissecting the saying what if the dream was so very bad that it remained unforgotten, lurking in the very depths of the mind and by chance the dreamer repeated it years later on a Sunday … what then? Of course, if a dream is wonderful then to repeat it any Sunday in the hope of it coming to fruition on any following Monday is a better conclusion.

I hope that your Saturday dreams are good and if they are, well why not give this little saying a try – you never know, your dreams just may come true.

Five a day– LIE (allegedly)

The radio was on. It was station Radio Five Live with Parry and Graham. It is a sporting channel but these two often have a wide variety of topics in their banter mixed in with the sport.

Suddenly my ears pricked up – like a prize racehorse awaiting to commit to the track. The two men were discussing ‘the healthy diet and eating five portions of vegetables and fruit daily’ they asked for callers to give their opinions. Amongst the callers was a woman. She introduced herself as Zoe Harcombe, and said most of the information out there was not proven. Allegedly, there is no track record for any of it. She said that she works with obese people. She is gradually going through each theory one-by-one and busting the myths that we have all come to believe to be fact. Apparently, the information put out and advised to us all is not making any of us thinner, especially the clinically obese. It was suggested that the five a day policy would be best as eating one portion of meat, preferably liver; one portion of fish, preferably sardines (they are available fresh); one portion of dairy, preferably an egg; one portion of dark leafy greens; seeds or grains, preferably pumpkin.

Fruit apparently is best avoided if you are very over-weight as with its naturally high sugar content, it is almost certain to be converted into fat and be distributed to the very areas that you are trying to make leaner.

‘Portions usually measured should be no bigger than the palm of the hand of the person that eats them.’

For those who may be interested here is a link to her site:

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/

Pushy pus

The cat has just discovered the oven! Where has she been these past twelve years? Suddenly, soon approaching her thirteenth birthday, she now gazes at the oven as a person might look at a piece of art. Appreciation lingers in her eyes as she sits and stares at the oven door with the occasional fidget of her front paws, determined and rooted to the spot where food comes out, full of aroma.

At one time, she would not ever go near a piece of fresh chicken. In fact, she treated it with such distain it almost left me wondering if there could be something wrong with it. Now she has come to think that the oven has been created just to cook chicken for her and no matter what it contains, whether it be a cake, casserole, rice pudding, fish … she is determined that when I open the door, chicken will come out. Now you would think that a cat would be also interested in other things particularly perhaps – white fish … but not our pus … it has to be chicken or else!!

The cat waiting for chicken

Frightening fact of the century …

The population of the world is increasing at a rate of over FIVE MILLION per month. This means that within the next twenty years our requirement for FOOD, WATER, and FUEL will be around 50% more than we are currently using.

Every country in the world needs to address this problem because if it doesn’t the consequences for us all will be far worse than we could ever imagine.

Easy loaf–quick dough–no yeast

Here is a recipe that anyone can make whether they have experience in baking or have never cracked an egg in their life. It is for a simple and easy quick make and bake loaf of bread that tastes as good as any loaf that a master baker is able to produce. I bake this bread nearly every day and have never had a loaf go wrong either in its flavour or appearance.

Equipment you will need

A jug or bowl for mixing; a fork; a ramekin dish or similar; a teaspoon; a desert spoon or similar.

Ingredients

1 egg per person or mini loaf; half a teaspoon of baking soda/powder; choice of any of the following grains some of which you may well have in the store cupboard: rolled oats, oat bran, ground flax seed, ground almonds, toasted soya bran. These could be substituted with wheat flour, barley flour, spelt, rice flour, corn meal, gram, etc. It is the chance to bake a loaf using the flavours that you most enjoy! You may also add a pinch of spice such as ginger or may be a drizzle of honey or perhaps a few seeds such as caraway, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy, etc.

Method

Crack the egg into the jug or bowl and roughly beat it with a fork. Slowly add whichever of the dry ingredients that you want, a little at a time beating roughly with a fork as you go. The mixture is ready when it is soft and firm enough to drop into a buttered dish.

Bake

Place on the top shelf of a warm oven and turn the heat to Gas Mark 4 – 180°C – 350°F for around 20 minutes or until the top is quite firm – this will depend on individual ovens. Remove from oven – allow to cool slightly, then remove from the dish. Place onto plate, slice in half and either spread with butter or perhaps use fresh curd cheese and may be a small dollop of fruit compote.

I hope that you enjoy your quick and easy loaf as much as I do. My favourite ingredients for making this loaf are oats, oat bran , ground almonds, toasted soya bran and ground flax seed. I rarely use any type of flour and still find the loaf quite light and very nourishing.

Here is a picture of today’s loaf:

Rabbit reactions

During the last few years of my senior school the biology teacher arranged for the purchase of several rabbits, a hutch and a run. That year every child learnt much about rabbits. One of the many lessons taught was food and digestion and the knowledge I gained stayed with me. Though, in truth, the impact of it didn't really make its mark until recent years.

Rabbits cannot digest lettuce!

Lettuce is one of the hardest foods for creatures to digest. It was never given to the school rabbits. It was forbidden fruit for the tortoise. Yet man punishes his body by adding it to salad dish after salad dish. Will we ever learn from the animals?

It is alleged that the population of the world, year-on-year is getting fatter. Dieticians and nutritionists tend to come up with the same format for all of mankind to lose the excess pounds and yet it is obvious that it simply doesn't work as many people remain over-weight, others yo-yo - shedding pounds then piling them all back on again often with several others in-toe.

Many people who hang onto excess weight suffer with high amounts of stomach acidity which leads to all sorts of inconvenience from heartburn to indigestion. Diets that are given out to these people will never work as the dieter is not only trying to cut down on their eating they are fighting the pain of tummy acid. Indigestion cures add to the problem but no-one wakes up and sorts out a diet for people with this predicament.

For people who suffer from excess tummy acid it is best to avoid raw foods unless you know that your body can process them without any problems. Before venturing on any diet plan it is best to start a food diary. From the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed, write down every morsel of food and every drink that you have - in fact, everything that passes through your lips including water. Make notes if you have felt unwell during the day to see if a pattern occurs so that you can hopefully narrow down particular food types that cause your body to experience problems. Indigestion and related problems can strike in many different ways. In some people it attacks as a stabbing pain high in the back, others get surges of pain in the shoulder blades, some feel queasy, others feel dull pains in the middle of their backs quite low down, some will experience headaches, others get a bloating, uncomfortable feeling throughout their stomach and intestines. To lose weight and feel healthy it is important to get to know your body. It is surprising that many people never try to get to know their bodies both inside and out. It is well worth the effort of trying as we have to live with our bodies all our life.

It may come as a surprise to know but it only takes one extra spoonful (a teaspoonful) of food or drink each day to add on a mountain of weight over a short space of time. Sadly, once the weight is there it takes considerably longer to shed it back off again. For those who suffer from acidity it often becomes almost impossible. They will happily stick to a diet and then find that they have to eat something extra that is probably fatty or oily to take away the stomach pains - a small chunk of cheese, a handful of nuts, a digestive biscuit ... all of which undermine any effort they may have put in to lose weight. It is often easier for those who do suffer with this problem to work out how many spoonfuls they eat at each meal time and to reduce the number of spoonfuls gradually until weight begins to come off. Never make the mistake of eating a large breakfast as this stretches the stomach and often brings about excessive acid at lunchtimes. Commercial cereals contain high amounts of sugar and salt so by using them in a diet it is wise never to exceed a teacup of loose cereal and half-a-teacup of milk. Lunches should include oily fish at least twice each week to help to make the skin nice and supple as it struggles to recapture its previous form. Remember that back in early times it was common for people to only eat two meals each day - a mid-morning meal and an evening meal ... so if more meals are required they should really be a portion of these two main meals.

January's journal

This month has provided its usual challenge of Winter's offerings with ice, snow, rain and wind. At the moment, it is overcast but the plants are forever reaching into the new year. There are thick lustrous leaves on the bamboo, which although is not of natural origin in England has made its home in so many areas. Sometimes it is even now found wild.

There are probably very few natural plants here now as so many have been introduced over the years. In fact, if it hadn't been for the Romans we would have a very different diet than the one we enjoy today.

Besides their armies, their culture and their habits they brought over members of the onion family. These included garlic, leeks, shallots and onions. There were beautiful varieties of apples to add to the wild crab apple. Various roots including radish and turnips were all planted along with peas, plump celery which replaced the wild variety, asparagus, etc. They transported animal stocks such as rabbits, hares, chickens, pheasants and guinea fowl. They brought over varieties of herbs, cherry trees, mulberries and probably the very first grape vines.

Since these early times more and more plants, animals, birds and fish have extended the natural country stocks sometimes their introduction has been welcomed but occasionally a new species has caused problems and very often once introduced they cannot be eradicated.

Perhaps the old saying 'think on' is well suited to this rather than romanticising a land that can incorporate all plants and animals without any consequences.

Hush! Once again twelfth night is upon us …

The 5th January is the last party day of Christmas and time to eat up all of the remnants that have been left over from this period. All will need to be consumed from mince pies, iced fruit cake, bowels of any puddings, dates and nuts to boxes of chocolates, toffees and sweets. Whilst the dregs of many bottles of wines and spirits are all drunk up, finished with and rinsed out with soapy water. Then before the midnight hour on the 6th every bauble, spray of tinsel, glittering card, box, bottle and remnant of Christmas time should all be disposed of to encourage a wonderful, lucky and healthy year ahead. Heaven’s knows how you will feel after such a party to the very end of the Christmas celebration – but it is the time honoured custom and just a part of Christmas as every other … and perhaps for those who follow through with this traditional Christmas ending it is a reminder to perhaps not to buy quite so much, as eating and drinking all of the left-overs should never make you feel ill!