04.31 pm
Now, let’s see how I go… I’m using a different keyboard! Yes, we did go to Officeworks, and I got a few things (that I just couldn’t bear to live without! 😉 ) This new keyboard, f’rinstance – it’s an HP one, and comes with its own mouse, which I’m also trying out… so far, so good! 🙂 I’ll let you know how it goes…
We went out just after 11.30 this morning, and went off to the Vet, to pick up some more Norvasc tablets (blood pressure medication!) for Flipper – yes, cats do suffer from high blood pressure, and you should see the little cuff they use on their little legs! It’s so cute! 🙂 It’s nothing like the ones they use on humans though, it’s pretty much just a small microphone, so they have to shave a bit of the cat’s leg so that the sound isn’t muffled by their fur. I suppose they use the same sort of contraption for dogs, too… Then we went on to The Glen, where we had lunch at the Shingle Inn, did a bit of shopping, and Julian got himself a new “stew pot”, I suppose you’d call it – it’s a reasonably large saucepan, with two little handles instead of one long one – to tell you the truth, I’m not even sure what he uses it for, apart from the lamb and Harissa mixture for our Lamb and Harissa Lasagna! We also did some supermarket shopping (what a shame we forgot to get any milk!) we didn’t get very much as we mainly went to get some more cat food! Flipper was completely out of her favourite dinner, and at her age, it’s not worth the hassles of trying to get her to eat something else instead – she either straight-out won’t eat anything else, and just wanders around crying for her dinner all night, or else she does eat it – and then sicks it up, usually on the carpet! We went on to our next appointment, and finally came home via Officeworks (I love Officeworks! 😉 ) where I got this keyboard (which so far seems to be working very nicely!) a clear desk mat, because I keep running my mouse off the mouse mat when I’m playing WoW, which is most annoyment! I also got myself a very elegant “display” folder, where I can keep copies of the recipes that I print or type out, and a new three-ring binder for the graph pad I’m using to chart my weight. The graph pad has holes down one side, so that you can put it in a ring binder, but you can also flip the pages over at the top, where it’s very easy to tear one or more off if you’re not careful – so I figured that by putting it in a ring binder, any page(s) that tore off at the top wouldn’t get lost. We arrived home to find a large box sitting on our front porch, with a big label on it saying “Signature required at delivery” (!!! hmm!) It was another item for the Fish House – some different filter pads, and an ultra-violet steriliser, primarily to kill algae… You don’t think we spoil our little fishies, do you? 😉
And that was pretty much our day today! Well, so far, anyway – though I can’t really think of anything else exciting or noteworthy that might happen around here this evening, from now until midnight! I didn’t get a chance to log onto WoW at all today, and it was far too dank and damp to go to the Nursery to look for Planters – I rather suspect that tomorrow won’t really be suitable, either – so the poor little seedlings, currently languishing on our back deck, will either have to survive another couple of days to be properly planted out, or replaced, come the weekend!
So now, having filled you all in on all the mundane events of the day, I can get on to all the good bits! 🙂
Food stuff. Last night we had the lamb backstraps that Julian had marinated in the Feta “brine” for four or five hours. It was extremely nice, and I think I can happily put a “tick” against it, to say that “Yes, it works with lamb backstraps as well as chicken!” – that being said, I also think that it would be even nicer with lamb fillets, and I think it could only have benefited from being thrown into the fridge overnight. I find it fascinating that only four or five hours in the Feta “brine” is enough to change the texture and appearance of the inside of the piece of meat! You know how your fingers go all wrinkly and “prune-y” when they’ve been in water too long, and start to go a bit “white-ish” if you leave them in the water even longer? Well, that’s about the best way I can describe the appearance of the inside of the lamb backstrap when you cut into it… sort-of, anyway! It was a bit like tenderising it, I suppose – it was certainly very tender, moist, and delicious, anyway, and we had it on a bed of plain steamed rice, which had finely chopped spring onions mixed through it. For dessert I had one of my Fuji apples – they don’t look all that appealing, because they’re not red or yellow or green – or a combination of those colours – being a sort of yellow-y-brown-ish colour, with red tinges, but they’re very nice indeed! I also had a small bowl of my favourite Coles-brand, very low-calorie, delicious, Rice Pudding! For lunch today at the Shingle Inn, I didn’t have my usual BLT on sourdough bread! I had one of their “specials”, announced on the flyer on our table – it was some sort of lamb in filo pastry type thingy, and came (as does the BLT!) with a side salad, which I never eat because of all the dressing they put on it. The lamb thingy was also a lot lower in kilojoules than the BLT, too – Shingle Inn always puts the (I suppose, “approximate”, or “general”) kilojoule count on their menus, next to the price of the menu item, which I think is a damn good idea! So I had the lamb filo-pastry thingy, and it was rather nice, even though it tasted as if it had been cooked with no salt whatsoever, and I had to ask them for some tomato sauce! The lamb was good quality too, real “bite-size” chunks, with no fat, or gristle, or other “not-so-nice” bits – it really just needed a bit of seasoning 
And then I went and blotted my copybook by having a chocolate and caramel slice for dessert! Oh dear! But all-in-all, it was a very nice lunch! 🙂 Tonight we’re having pan-fried chicken breast, with chips, steamed green beans, and our usual half a tomato, and for dessert, tonight I’ll have one of my Corella pears, and a small bowl of the Coles-brand, very low-calorie, scrumptious Rice Pudding.
Weigh-in this morning. Was really amazing! Incredibly, I went from 83.8 kg to…. wait for it, wait for it! 83.8 kg! I stayed the same! Incroyable! (which is French for “incredible”! 😉 ) Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll stay the same tomorrow! I’ll be up, that’s fer sure! Oh well, as long as I come down again… the red line that I drew across the graph page at the 64.5 kg marker is showing more days under 64.5 kg, than over it – so maybe I’m not slowly creeping upwards, after all! I hope not, anyway! 🙂
And that brings me to tomorrow… I have to have my next Warfarin blood test, and I know Julian has to go off to Doncaster to pick up the Dry Cleaning, drop off the next lot, and to pick up some more coffee pods, because we’re nearly out of them (again! Hmm.. I wonder if maybe we drink too much coffee?! NO! Surely not!) but as far as I’m aware, that’s about all I have on for tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get a chance to push Phoenìx up another level or two… and really, that’s about “it” from me again for tonight! Julian is fine, Auric and Dapple are well, and dear old Flipper is well, I only have tonight and tomorrow for these horrible ear drops (not that my ear is much better though, it still feels a bit “blocked”!) I think it’s sinus problems – I woke up this morning with my whole top jaw, near my sinus cavities, aching – it didn’t last long, but it was a bit concerning at first! Do call in again tomorrow night though, to find out how much my weight went back up (my guess is at least half a kilo!) how I’m getting along with this new keyboard, and whether we managed to get out to a Nursery or not. But until tomorrow night, please bee good, remember that the word “Hello” is the most powerful defence against loneliness, and don’t forget to keep warm and dry in this changeable weather, to always drive carefully, and to look after yourselves… but above all, please don’t forget to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂
My Word! 