Cucumber Humour
Cucumbers have always been a source of humour for British comedians.
A satire web-site called The Spoof has two pages of note.
Cucumber World Domination To Be Arrested By Cull
101 Reasons Why Women Prefer Cucumbers
This one will run and run.
Tha Andalusian Food Minister Does a John Gummer
Clara Aquilera, the Minister for agriculture in the Spanish region of Andalusia has taken a leaf out of John Gummer’s book and been seen publicly eating a cucumber to prove that they are safe. Admittedly, John got his daughter, Cordelia to eat one with him. But as I write both John and Cordelia, seem to have suffered no ill effects ten years or so later.
Let’s hope Clara is as lucky. Although judging from the pictures, she does seem to have a love for food.
Is My Right Hand Getting Worse?
I’ve had a couple of very small accidents with my right hand in the last couple of weeks. Nothing serious, but I did drop a can of Coke.
On the other hand, I had no trouble carrying the parcel to day to Canary Wharf. And for most of the journey I used my right hand to hold the prcel.
So is it a comparative thing in that my left hand is actually getting better? I’m certainly making fewer typing mistakes with it.
I don’t know, but the left hand isn’t so useless as it was. As an example, I had a pork chop today and it wielded a fork with a degree of alacrity, that wasn’t there a few months ago.
Germany’s Cucumber Problem
I typed “german cucumber joke” into Google and found this site. It’s actually part of a serious German web site called Toy Town Germany, for Germans and others who live in the country who speak English.
Food At Wembley Tonight
Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 Live was talking about the overpriced snacks at the stadium. Here’s a letter I sent in.
It’s not only over-priced, but as a coeliac, there’s nothing there that is gluten-free. So the last time I went I starved. Scunthorpe is much better!
I suppose UEFA have got to raise the money to fund their lifestyle someway. So they’re not as much a disgrace as FIFA, but give them time, to either sort themselves out or learn.
A Hay-Fever Diary
Last year I put together a Pain Diary to see if I could find a better strategy to feeling better.
So now, as I’m suffering badly from hay fever or something like that, I’ll see if I can find any link. Note the two factors after the date are the pollen level according to the BBC and how I have felt on the day out of ten.
Monday, May 23rd – Moderate – 3/10
It started as a good day.
But after washing my hair at about three, it went swiftly downhill. It was almost as if I’d got soap in my eyes.
I had dinner at Arbutus and felt a bit better as I was very cruel to a rabbit. But I suspect the restaurant was air-conditioned.
Tuesday, 24th May – Moderate – 3/10
I got up and after breakfast went back to bed only getting up at about 10:00. I didn’t eat much all day, as I was so tired. I think it was just a Beanz thing for lunch and strawberries for supper.
Wednesday, 25th May – 4/10
Again I got up late and went to IKEA in Croydon. Lunch was a plate of IKEA gravadlax and a bottle of ginger beer. Did the air-conditioning help?
Thursday 26th May – Moderate – 6/10
Lunch was an egg dish in Carluccio’s and then getting wet in the rain.
Supper was a Marks and Spencer beef stroganoff after a drink down the pub.
Friday 27th May – Low – 5/10
I had a lot of pain this morning, in my face, left arm and left leg. I was sneezing a lot as I walked around the city.
After lunch of a salad nicoise, I slept for two hours.
Supper was another Marks and Spencer salmon after a drink down the pub.
Saturday 28th May – Low – 5/10
Less pain than yesterday, but like yesterday I did have a two hour sleep after lunch.
Sunday 29th May – Low – 6/10
The pain has been back in my arm today. And I had a good two hours sleep in the afternoon.
I didn’t have much lunch, but supper was Moroccan Chicken from the freezer with rice and strawberries to follow.
Monday 30th May – Low – 6/10
The pain was still in my arm today. And again I had a good two hours sleep in the afternoon.
I cooked the Beef and Bean Casserole, but supper was very much a snack.
Tuesday 31st May – Low – 7/10
The arm pain wasn’t so bad today and I didn’t have the sleep in the afternoon.
Lunch was eggs in Carluccio’s and supper was a couple grilled pork chops with some beans.
Wednesday 1st June – Moderate – 5/10
I didn’t have much pain, but I did need a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon.
I was also lazy and had supper in the Northgate Arms
Thurday 2nd June – High- 6/10
I went to the physio this morning and after some asparagus for lunch, I slept for a couple of hours.
Supper was fish and beans.
Friday 3rd June – High – 7/10
Perhaps the physio helped, but my arm was much better today.
Lunch was in Carluccio’s in Hampstead and supper was a Waitrose Indian meal for one after my long walk in Bow.
It was the first day in a long time, when I didn’t have a long sleep in the daytime.
Saturday 4th June – High – 7/10
As the blog shows, I went to the Derby, where it was very hot. I came back tired and went to bed at 21:30, which is early for me. I slept until 07:20, which is a long sleep for me.
Sunday 5th June – Moderate – 6/10
Not too bad a day and the pain hasn’t been too bad. It’s now 22:00 and I’ll be going to bed soon.
Two Greedy Italians
Antonio Carluccio has said tonight, that his religion is food. So tonight he and Gennaro Contaldo are exploring Puglia looking at religion and food.
But Gennaro did come up with this glorious recipe. I’ll try it sometime. It’s gluten-free too.
Antonio seems to be rather dismissive of the religion and is much keener on the food. I’ll drink to that! As I sip a gluten-free beer!
Diet and Warfarin
With the scare from Denmark about Marmite, I thought I’d check that my diet was OK? Especially, as I’m on a gluten free diet and take Warfarin.
It can’t be too bad, as I’ve been on the same level of Warfarin for about seven or eight months now and the last test was in the correct range.
I found this informative page in the Grown Up Congenital Heart Patients Association web site.
I liked the section about alcohol.
The interaction between alcohol and warfarin is complex. Alcohol acts as a mild anticoagulant. It also can affect the metabolism of the liver, which s important tor metabolising warfarin. As a rule of rhumb, two to three drinks per day – glasses of wine. beer etc -(typical cardiologist input) are unlikely to affect your warfarin levels. Intermittent binge drinking (typical medical student input) leads to an increase in INR (international ratio, the measurement used to check warfarin levels in the blood) due to warfarin being metabolised more slowly. Chronic heavy alcohol intake (Harley Street cardiologist input just joking!) results in a lower warfarin level because the alcohol increases the metabolism of warfarin.
It’s good to see a bit of humour in sites like this.
But then it says it’s a site for grown ups, by which they mean young people and adults.
Marmite Banned in Denmark
According to reports like this, Marmite has now been banned in Denmark.
It doesn’t bother me. I must be the only man in the world, who made his late wife a morning cup of Marmite before she got up in the morning for at least a dozen years, after she cut down on coffee.
I think I used to eat it as a child, but I haven’t had a taste for perhaps ten years or so, when I accidentally got C’s toast under my scrambled egg.
Rabbit Awareness Week
To celebrate Rabbit Awareness Week, I ate an excellent rabbit in Arbutus last night.
This restaurant is surely one of the best places to eat gluten-free in the UK. The chef, Anthony Demetre, is I believe a coeliac, so you never have any trouble choosing something to suit your taste.
The restaurant, despite its location in Soho, is not as expensive as some I could name. In fact, because of the way they sell wine in 250 ml. carafes, it often works out to be extremely good value.
The Anonymous Widower 