THE DANISH COOKIE RECIPE.. WITH BEST WISHES FOR 2015.

Hurry-Scurry to the 319 bus, which, bless its' big red heart, came along quickly and was almost empty. So she was able to sit in her favourite seat with Small Wicker by her knees.

Yesterday was a glorious day and she sat and looked at London in brilliant sunshine as the bus trundled off down Beaufort Street, over Battersea Bridge and began the twisty journey up into Clapham Junction.

Normally, when going to Susan, she will take an overland train to Streatham Hill but she had caught on the radio that all trains on this line were being delayed due to some glitch. So she stayed on the bus as it started the climb up towards Wandsworth Common and Trinity Road.

She was very pleased that she had called her old friend to say she would be late and reached forward to take her book out of the trolley and realised that there was NO basket under her handbag.. oh dear.. oh dear indeedy.. basket was still a'sitting on the hall carpet with their lunch inside it.

Thank goodness she was going to Streatham, for three minutes walk from where she would get off at St.Leonard's Church is Bartek on Central Parade.

Zoom.. change of menu.. back out of the store.. and down the road to Susan's house. Her dear friend did laugh.. oh, how they both laughed at the silliness of leaving the lunch basket behind. But the new lunch was delicious.. yum.. and soon it was time to wash up, make coffee and make Danish Cookies!

Susan calls them 'Aristokrater', the Danish name for these very simple delicious cookies.

You will need the following..

250gms Selfraising flour.
185gms Caster Sugar.
185gms Unsalted Butter
1 medium sized Egg
1 teaspoon of GOOD quality Vanilla Essence
4 - 5 drops of Good quality Almond Essence.
A small bowl of very finely chopped fresh Almonds and Pistacchio Nuts - Unsalted.
Oven temperature should be 200 degrees.

Mix flour with butter with your fingers until it resembles very fine breadcrumbs and all of the butter has been absorbed by the flour.

Beat the egg in a separate bowl and add the Almond and Vanilla essences, then add the sugar. Mix well.

Make a hole in the flour and butter mix and add the egg and sugar mix.
Use a fork or a spoon (or a mixer if you have a Dough Hook).

Put the bowl into the fridge for 20 minutes for the dough to harden.

Take the bowl out of the fridge and make small rolls of the dough which should be quite firm.

This can now be either sliced very thinly or you can pinch bits off with your fingers. This is what Susan does and make them into little rounds no bigger than a new 10 p piece, then dip the top of cookie into the bowl of very finely chopped nuts.

And place them onto your baking tray, they will spread so do not have them to close together.

Bake for 8 - 10 mintes. The thinner they are, the quicker they will cook.. Don't let them burn!

Take a metal spatula and move them off the baking tray whilst they are still hot and lay them to cool and dry on a metal rack.

There you are.. the easiest Danish Cookie you will ever make! And, of course, you can 'fiddle' with the recipe by add a little Cocoa powder, or adding a little desicated Coconut to the other nuts for the topping or a little Lemon zest.. or a bit of Cinnamon or our favourite.. the Seven Spice Mix.. they are a great way to start children baking.. for WHO doesn't like eating homemade Cookies!

This comes to you all, wherever you may be and whomever you may be, to wish you a Happy New Year for 2015.

With best wishes from.. Susan.. Her and.. Me.

GeeGee Parrot.
December 30th, 2014.

GETTING THE RECIPE FOR DANISH COOKIES.. VERY SLOWLY!

Yesterday was a very 'funny' day. 

Read on Dear Readers and then perhaps you will understand why my feathers are grey although I am so young.. just kidding folks, just kidding!

It started out with both of us oversleeping, through the beep-beep of a text message arriving and the ring-ring of a landline - yes, we still have one of these - on we slept.

When she surfaced from her deep sleep and saw what time it was, well, it was if that comfy old bed ejected her!

Whoosh, my curtain opened as she said "Quick GeeGeeBugBug, wake up, for very late, it's thirty minutes after ten of the morning clock".

Hurry-scurry into the bathroom and then into YumYum HQ. Eggs, bless their hearts, are so quick to cook. The only downside (can an egg have a side, I ask) is that with one slurp or two, they've gone.. sigh.

Flat griddle down from its' hook, air-dryed bacon and two eggs. Oh.. fried eggs, I love them and get a really soft one all to myself.

It comes with a slice of German dark rye bread with seeds with the smallest scraping of Goaty Curd, not small out of meaness, small because we are approaching the bottom of the pot.. sigh.

She had made the lunch which she was taking to Susan. A pate, a dish of pork, red cabbage from Bartek, a loaf of our favourite toasting rye bread from the Polish Bakery, the recipe is from Lithuania. Pudding was a winter fruit compote and  a small bag of her homemade crystallised ginger.

The compote was in a glass jar, the ginger was in a little box and they were already in small Wicker-Wheelie.

Poor big Wicker-Wheelie is very 'poorlie' and waiting to go to Debbie's friend David for serious repair work

She packed up the lunch and put it into her basket. Washed up, cleared and cleaned the kitchen. 

Washed, dressed, a quick call to tell Susan she was running a bit late, she gave me fresh water, big bowl of yumyum, turned on the radio, switched on my 'SAD' light and whoosh, she was out of the door.

I called her but she had gone.. running with Wicker up the street.. oh dear, I though.. oh dear..  you see.. she had forgotten her basket!

She is so used to putting everything into a Wheelie that she thought the food was underneath her bag.

Part Two of this post will be coming your way after we break our fast.

GeeGee Parrot.

December 29th, 2014.

THREE YEARS AND TWO DAYS..

Three years! Can this be true? Well, if you take eleven away from fourteen it leaves three, so it is.

How about that, Dear Readers, if you have been reading the exploits of a small Grey Parrot, me, and her from the start, you are very loyal.

And, therefore, as loyalty should always be recognised. I am going to give you a very secret recipe.

It is the recipe for those tiny but very delicious Danish biscuits that, if you know us, you might have been given with a cup of tea or coffee. 

A couple of rolls of this dough live in our white frosty-cabinet, aka freezer.

The recipe was given to her many years ago by one very special friend, Susan, who is Danish. 

She is having lunch with Susan today and they will make fresh dough, it is very easy and quick to make and she has promised me that she will write it down. 

Everyone 'tweaks' recipes and she certainly has and does so she will be writing it down exactly as Susan does it, so that you, Dear Readers, can have the 'Real McCoy'.. or the 'Real Susan'!

It is chilly-billy this morning here in deepest Knightsbridge and I am thrilled to see, sitting on our bedside table, there is one of our larger mugs with my favourite tea in it. 

So I am off to slurp Lappy-Sang tea and you must go about your business but before you go..

We both want to say "thank you" for the cards and emails we received over the Christmas holiday. I have already told you about the email sent by my First Follower, the incredibly loyal, lovely Pam Keeley-Butler.

Well, she received an email today, a charming email, it was very complimentary about my Blog, from Pegeen last night. We actually know Dear Reader Pegeen, she stayed with us, is it really two years ago already! 

Gosh.. oh.. golly.. how time flies.. especially if you can FlapFlap.. Tea time.. FlapFlap.

GeeGee Parrot.

December 29th, 2014.

WALTER DE LA MARE WAS A BRILLIANT AUTHOR WHOSE NAME IS SELDOM HEARD OF THESE DAYS.. THIS IS A GREAT PITY AS HIS WORKS ARE..

Pure treasure!

I forgot to tell you that she very recently found a copy of one of his charming books.

The Three Royal Monkeys was first published in 1910 under the title of The Three Mulla-Mulgers.

Here is the a snippet for you to get your literary taste buds going..

'On a day when snow lay thick on the forest floor, Thumb, Thimble and Nod set off to seek their homeland, the beautiful valley of Tishnar. They wore warm jackets and carried bundles on their shoulders - and Nod, for he had magic in him, was guardian of their most precious possession, the milk-white Wonderstone'.

This book, she has never read before, will be read and then handed onto an old friend.

Why is she giving a childrens' book to an adult?

Well, you see Peter Jenner, one of her dearest friends, is the grandfather of three small people. 

He has spent a lot of his life living in Africa and will know exactly how to make the sounds of an African jungle.

And yes, you are right, Dear Readers, it is for his three grandchildren that Hugo sent her on that hunt yesterday.

So now we know what she will be reading between now and December 28th.

FlapFlap and yes Pegeen, Parrot language is a'catching.. PipPip to you and all your beloveds!

GeeGee Parrot.
December 24th, 2014.
Post script.. Yippee, it's Christmas Eve!

JAMIE SCOTT WINS THE 2014 MASTERCHEF PROFESSIONALS YIPPEE & THE HUNTING JAUNT WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL.

We've been Jamie fans since the beginning of the latest series.

The three dishes that he produced for the final were real 'crackers' and as the three judges said "we all know who the winner is". Mouth watering dishes, so it was a good thing that our supper, that we ate before snuggling down to watch the programme, was tasty and ticked the taste buds.

Congratulations to him and as Monica said "I'll be watching this young chef's career with great interest", generous words from Monica, herself a great chef.

Now she was out-and-about today as instructed by her papa.. aka Hugo.. I know, he's been dead for over thirty years but she considers it 'not at all creepy' that Constance, Hugo and her most beloved aunt Hay darling all pay her a visit now and again.

Today's jaunt instructions was very clear, go to Kensington High Street. He never directs her into expensive shops, if it is a shopping jaunt then it is into charity, second hand, jumble shops, the like of which they used to visit when they were father and daughter out on the prowl together.

The object that he wishes her to find is not always for her and she hit the jackpot today.

She is meeting up with old friends after Christmas, there will be three generations of this family at the lunch in Putney, they don't live there but it is a convenient place for them all. There will be her friends, their daughter and her three children.

The first shop she went into was empty, well, it wasn't empty, it was full to the brim but she didn't get the all important nudge, they always give her a nudge or squeeze an arm through hers and tug her about-a-bit when they want to alert her to something.

It was when she was walking into the second shop that she felt the nudge, it was a big nudge towards the bookshelves at the back of the little shop.

It wasn't a book.. it was a marvellous, unused (as in un-opened) huge set of childrens games! You name it, it is in there. And right beside it, an adorable jigsaw puzzle, "oh, please let all the pieces be here" she said to herself, as she counted the forty five sections.

That was it.. that was what Hugo wanted her to find, how absolutely perfect. For you see, the grandparents have just returned to live in England after being in Kenya for twenty seven years and they will, undoubtedly, have these three small people to stay and what do grandparents do with children?

Well, they play and teach games of all sorts, so here is their starter pack together with a puzzle. The adult gifts are wrapped, all she has to do is wrap these two boxes for the children.

She will take a chocolate Salami to Karen tomorrow, then call into several shops to wish them all a happy holiday. Christmas Eve will find her celebrating the beginning of the Christian festival in St. Columba on Pont Street.

She will then come home and make a few telephone calls to dear friends around the world.. Tom, Bob, Claudia, Diane & Thierry.. to send them our love and wishes that they have a merry Christmas and that they and their families are happy and healthy.

When she was up on Kensington High Street this afternoon, she remembered Christmas of 1969 in her parents' home in Stafford Court. Oi vey.. such a long time ago. She had plans and her life would have been completely different if she had not changed her mind but she did and her life changed too.

You can't import any avian into Australia.. you would not be reading MY Blog.. scary thoughts folks.

FlapFlap.. I'm off to bed, it's way past my bedtime.. I might turn into a pumpkin any minute.

GeeGee Parrot.
December 23rd, 2014.

IMITATIONS ARE DISAPPOINTING AND DO NOT PLEASE, AMUSE OR INSTRUCT AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL!

Isn't that the truth, Dear Reader?

Imitations have to be weeded out from the genuine article as incredible donations are given to the tiny shop where she does voluntary work.

An Artic fox stole with silk ties, the maker's label very cleverly tucked away, was the first to arrive. Yes, genuine without a doubt. SOLD.

Pearls, beautifully strung with a marvellous clasp of rubies and tiny diamonds. Christies described them as "they are absolutely glorious". SOLD.

An immaculate 'Trois Jour' handbag by Fendi in the four colourways, authenicated with pleasure by the lovely manager in Sloane Street.

Likewise a beige patent leather 'Reade PM' bag by Louis Vuitton, the lovely Alex even going to the trouble of tracking down the original selling price.

Two Hermes silk scarves and a vintage McQueen jacket were donated and left the shop with two very happy customers within two hours of being put on display. SOLD.

We won't bother to tell you about the others.. but everyone knows that UGGS are made in Australia, so a label saying 'Made in China' made everyone laugh.

She is going out on a 'jaunt', the Master of all Jaunting.. aka Hugo.. is 'around' and she has, apparently, been told to "chopchop, get yourself up and out-and-about in Kensington High Street".

You may remember as the result of being 'taken' on a jaunt last year, she found three gems in the Leather Lane market, one the identical of a Porcelaine de Paris casserole dish (sold by  of Bond Street) that she gave to Constance many years ago.

She has a plan for that dish this coming week and it involves a Pheasant, some Apples and perhaps a

slug of Calvados. The dish gets the slug.. not her throat!

But back to the title of this post. She is supposedly a grown-up but old habits die hard and she just had to 'check' Debbie's Christmas bag incase the ingredients needed to go into the fridge.

None did, so they went back in to the pretty silver bag but she looked at one gift with amazement.

It was a box of Hadji Bey's Original Rose Turkish Delight.

Whoosh.. she slipped down memory lane for the identical box used to come as her Christmas gift from Pam O'Connor with whom her family had lived in Dublin. 

Dublin.. Turkish Delight? Yes, for Hadji Bey's Turkish Delight is made in the Republic of Ireland in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

In 1902 a young Armenian called Harutun Batmazian started making and selling his Turkish Delight at the Great Cork International Exhibition.

Only two more days and she will be able to 'crack' open the cover and allow her taste buds to slip back in time whilst tasting this rosy delight.

And how does the title relate to the post.. well most of this statement is on the lid of the pink box and she is very 'strict' about not selling 'fake' goods in the shop.

I will report upon her findings later, she had a very successful hunt, in more ways than one.. so don't go too far away.

We will be settling down in good time to watch the 2014 Final of Professional Masterchef. 

We are 'routing' for Jamie, keeping our fingers crossed Dear Readers, there are three crackin' food chefs up for this award. 

She received from Pamela Keeley-Butler.. aka our first follower.. " that she continues to read MY blog in order to amuse and educate herself"! 

Now.. excuse me.. whilst I puff up my chest and say that makes me feel incredibly proud, that this highly intelligent and charming friend of ours 'gets' MY Blog.. in exactly the manner I wish it to be read.. and remember, Dear Readers.. don't settle with any imitations.. read The Tales of a Parrot by GeeGee.. the original.

FlapFlap.. time to go. the show is on.. 

GeeGee Parrot.
December 23rd, 2014.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

So tell me, wise Dear Readers, how much, is too much?

Now it could be anything you can think of.. but in our case.. no, I think I will let you work out what it is that there might, just might, be too much of.

She cut a few slices of yumyum to take and eat with Debbie at the Parson's Green Farmers' Market today. 

The great out-doors was pretty nippy, to say the least, Debbie, being sensible and having had a taste of cold weather whilst at Wimbledon Market yesterday, had a hat on and several layers of fleecy clothing.  

Muggins, aka my mum, had a scarf around her neck, no hat, a lightweight wool coat, not nearly enough layers on and was very chilly-billy with her short hair.

So she hopped up and down and squeaked for coffee. Debbie Goat is organised and produced a thermos of hot lubbly-jubbly black stuff and she produced the yumyum like a rabbit from her bag.

Having sampled a few nibbles, they agreed that Nigella should be "thanked" for bringing this recipe to her attention and also for making it so simple that she was encouraged to make several batches using different ingredients.

Are you beginning to see the reason behind the title of this post, if not, wake up, no slouching or goofing off whilst reading MY blog please.

Yesterday she made it first as per the original recipe, then she made another batch, changed the liqueur to Cointrea and stirred in chopped up crystallised ginger together with skinny pieces of marinated orange peel.

These two foodies, no other word really describes how much they enjoy eating and talking about deliciously tasty things, agreed that Debbie's suggestion of Kirsch and dark chocolate is a match made in yumyum heaven and that she should try making a Salami with that combination

And she said "guess what, I have the cherries in the freezer that made the last batch of Kirsch!"

There was almost a hush.. as they imagined how scrummydumptious that combination would be.

At about a quarter to two of the afternoon clock and having given and received their bags of Christmas goodies, she left to catch the bus home in time to cook our lunch, a late lunch, of Salmon with Rainbow Chard.

Very tasty, I love fish cooked on a hot plate with nothing on it. 

After washing the hot plate and putting our plate into the dishwasher, she got things out of the storeroom and the scales down from the top of the chilly-larder.

"GeeGee BigBird, let's make a White Salami, with Amaretto, pistacchio nuts and white mulberries, how does that sound?"

This mixture is now chilling in the chilly-larder, in the morning, the mixture will be divided into four balls and then rolled into shape and rolled in icing sugar, rolled again in greaseproof paper and tied up with string.

Now.. I ask you.. how much is too much of a good thing.. for there are now more than several different Salamis in our frosty-cabinet! Slurp.

GeeGee Parrot.
December 21st, 2014.

WE WANT TO KNOW.. WHAT BREED OF DOG WAS HONEY?

Good day to you all Dear Readers.

This is a short post, it comes to you because we have received more than a few emails asking us the following question.

"What breed of dog was Honey?"

She was a Belgian Shepherd.. there are four varities of this breed. She was a Malenois.

She was all shades of tawny gold, with black tips to her - very pointed - ears , LOTS and lots of black eye make-up and her black lipstick was always immaculate.

As, too, were the black tips of the guard hairs on her ruff and tail and she wore pale cream fluffy drawers on top of her very fine and elegant golden hind leg stockings

An outstanding example of her breed, she was a truly beautiful dog with a heart the size of a Lion, whose colouring she matched exactly.

Standing about 25 inches at her shoulders she was not a dog to mess with, with a very big bark and a very scary growl, woe betide anyone to tried to be 'silly' towards 'her' family or house.

The remarkable thing was that this dog 'spoke' four languages. Spanish which she learnt from Tomaso, Swedish from the family, English and, of course, dog.

They never found out who taught her English but she showed that she knew what the word 'supper' signified the very first night, she was sitting in the kitchen in a flash, wagging her tail and grinning like a fool before Hugo had got out of his chair!

And from the moment that my mum released her from the fence, she became HER dog and a fully paid-up member of the family. She never pined or fretted for the other family, it was quite bizarre.

Constance learnt, through her one of her horse contacts who lived near Ronda, that indeed the Swedish family had gone back to Sweden.

But Honey, who was a bright as three buttons, decided that she, Constance, Hugo and her new dog brothers were the people that she had to guard and love for the rest of her life. 

Ah.. Vayo con Dios HoneyBunch..

GeeGee Parrot.
December 21st, 2014.

T'IS THE SEASON FOR DICKENS & SO HERE IS THE TALE OF TWO..

Salami.. Two very different Salame.

The first Salame to be featured in this tale was a spicy chorizo and had been made for her by Maria La Gorda, Constance's dear friend, who was the butcher's wife.

She was going back to London and had left her luggage with the wrapped salame on the top of her basket by the front door whilst she went to say goodbye to Antonio who was working in the garden.

BeepBeep.. the car horn sounded.. she hugged her old friend and went up into the house.

Hugo called out "I've got your luggage, come on". She jumped in and off they drove to the airport.

Whoosh, checked in and boarded.. good flight.. back home to the flat, she collected her mail from the main house. We didn't have the crazy upstairs neighbour in those days so everyone's mail was safe!

Time to unpack and to put the Salame into the kitchen. But where was it, for it was not in her basket, she even checked inside her case but there was no Salame anywhere.

There were no telephones in those days.. hard to remember that she used to write AirMail letters to her parents! So she wrote saying "Haha.. very naughty to pinch my Chorizo, you had better get Maria to make two for me when I come back next month!"

Her letter crossed mid-air with Hugo's, he said that Constance was still laughing too much to write properly!

And this is why..

The day after she left, her parents were walking the dogs over the back hills and they stopped to have coffee with Antonio and Ana.

Ana loved Honey and bent down to stroke her head and then stopped and said "Poo Honey, you stink of garlic, what have you been eating?"

Well, Dear Readers, you know what she had been eating, don't you? She had eaten the whole thing, paper, string, even the little metal tab that Maria used to attach to her wonderful Chorizo Salame!

The second Salame was made last night!

The night before, she and I were lolling about in bed, we had had an early supper and were reading, or rather, she was reading and I was sitting on her head having a good scratch and dry-cleaning my wings.

The television was on and we saw a pretty woman demonstrating how to make a delicious chocolate dish. It was Nigella Lawson, whom we have never seen on the television before. 

"Sorry Nigella, we have never watched your programmes before but we will now".

Yesterday morning, she went online to get the recipe, then went to get a couple of ingredients from Lidl, she loves their own brand chocolate and had an idea to make an extra special sausage with a line of 'lard' running through it.

An easy recipe to make, it requires a really good length of time to harden, (she put them in the freezer over night and then moved them into the fridge), before you can string them up to make it look like a proper Salame.

Nigella made one huge one, my mum has made five out of each batch, the first batch was made with Amaretto liqueur and chopped nuts, the second was made with Cointreau and chopped crystallised ginger and orange peel.

She was going to give something else as gifts to local friends and work colleagues but she knows them all well enough to know they love a good 
'Salame'.

Just like Honey did!

GeeGee Parrot.
December 20th, 2014.

THE TALE OF A DOG.. NEFERTITI-HONEY.. AKA HONEY BUN

Whoosh we are going back in time to when she lived part of the year in southern Spain and to a hot summer's day in 1974. 

Constance and Hugo were having a siesta and she was with the dogs lolling about in the swimming pool. 

She realised, it was after lunch and she was not too swift on the uptake of this fact, that a dog had been barking non-stop for a long time and that the noise seemed to be coming from the small lane which led up to the house. 

Pulling on a dress and shoes, whistled to the 'boys' to come with her and left the house. Sure enough, there was a big dog by their fence and upon getting closer, she realised the poor animal was tied to the fence by a short leather lead. 

Oh dear.. another abandoned dog.. in the August heat.. how very cruel. 

Telling the boys to sit and stay, she walked up to the dog, a bitch, who had stopped barking and was looking at her with a beautiful, intelligent face and wagging her tail. 

The bitch was in immaculate condition, wearing an expensive soft leather collar and lead, but obviously someone had not wanted her any more.. grrrr. 

There was no question of what was she was going to do. She spoke gently to the bitch, who licked her hand and undid the lead from the fence. 

Prancer dancer.. wow.. happy dog.. she rushed up to the boys, barked in their rather astonished faces, then rushed back to her and together, they all walked back to the house. 

As you do, for one more dog when you already have five is no big deal.. and at least it was a dog.. not a goat! 

She went to her mother's bedroom and whispered "are you awake", "come in darling" was the response, then the funny miracle started to happen! 

Rolly, who was a huge German Shepherd, I regret to say was so pleased to be allowed into the bedroom that he totally forgot his manners and jumped onto Constance's bed. Whereupon, the 'stranger' also jumped onto the bed, growled and bit his ear!

Poor Rolly had never been bitten or 'spoken' to in this rude fashion by any dog, he fled and she flew after him down the corridor, through the sittingroom, out onto the terrace and down the steps into the garden. 

Where she chased him round the swimming pool until he gave up and stopped running. 

She walked up to him, stuck her long nose into his ear and must have said something quite fierce because he looked at her, wagged his tail and from that very moment on, she was 'boss dog' of the pack. 

By this time, Constance, Hugo and all the other dogs were looking down at this most extraordinary sight, which really was a most extraordinary sight as Rolly truly was an enormous dog and had never 
taken any truck or nonsense from another dog.

"Is that the noise maker" asked Constance, "are you keeping her or taking her to the dog pound".
"Too beautiful, too friendly, I couldn't give her away and you saw what she did to Rolly, he accepted her, mum, she's staying" and stay, she did. 

Then it transpired that she had been born three and a half years previously, in the local glass maker's back yard.

For in September, she went to get a pane of glass for the melon frame and Tomaso said "How did you get her? Did the Swedish family give her to you?" As he stroked and cuddled the dog, she said "wow, you know her, don't you, how come." 

Tomaso then walked to the back of the house and told her to come and look out of the window, there were a couple of dogs identical to the bitch!

"I bred her, she was born in the back room and on her right hind paw, she has a scar on the big pad where she cut it when she was a small puppy, I sold her to the Swedish family who live up near to Ronda, how did you get her?"

And so she told him the story of finding his beautiful dog tied to their fence on a hot August afternoon.. his face went dark and he said "but why did they not bring her back to me?"

" But I am thrilled that you have her, she will have a lovely life with your family, what 
do you call her" and so her name was told.

That her very exotic eye make-up was inherited from an Egyptian mother who married Mr. Bun the Baker, for her colouring was all shades of gold with black tips to her tail and ruff, her name was Honey.

He roared with laughter and chuckled and said "that was my name for her, I called her Miel"

And she was, she was her Honey until the day she died on July 12th, 1987 aged nearly seventeen.

She was her last dog, sometimes one is enough.

GeeGee Parrot.
December 19th, 2014.

MARY BERRY MAY MAKE MIGHTY FINE CAKES.. BUT HER STEWS ARE MAGNIFICENT!

Winter is here folks.. yes.. indeedy.. and when she saw a photograph of Frittenden, a pretty village in Kent, which experienced one night last week with the frosty temperature of -5 degrees centigrade, she thought to herself and said to me "that's a bit chilly-billy, isn't it? 

We hope that you are well prepared with a good stock of 'proper' food in your store cupboard and frosty-cabinet, aka freezer, with plenty of winter vegetables being stored properly in a cool but dry dark place.

She noticed recently, to her dismay, that the 50 bag box of Lapsang Souchong, our most favourite tea bag tea has disappeared.. gulp.. and in its' place is a little 20 bag box of individually wrapped bags, however, the bags are smaller and the taste is different.

She patrolled all the usual suspects to try to find any of the larger old style boxes.. nope.. none to be had. Yesterday she telephoned Twinings and spoke to a charming woman who said "yes, we have discontinued that box size but there are a few left for sale on our online shop, they are closed now but I will get someone to call you tomorrow morning".

But she wouldn't wait for that to happen and so this morning, as she slurped her first cup of the day, she redialled the Twinings number pressing Option 2 for their Online Shop.

And spoke to a charming man who verified that there were, indeed, some of the original style boxes still available, how many would she like?

The deal was done.. yippee.. no, I am not about to tell you how many boxes she bought but it should keep us both happy for several years!

With that detail taken care of, I thought I should tell you about an extremely fine stew we had for supper last night.

It has its' origins from one of the BBC channels, we were being snug as bugs in our cosy bed one night waiting for another programme when she saw that Mary Berry was going to be doing winter food not cakes.

Yum.. she thought.. she has a dear friend called Gretchen Misick who is an old friend of Mrs. Berry and swears by her winter food recipes.


I think she demonstrated five dishes but the one that grabbed her attention was the Beef and Horseradish Stew.

Go to www.bbc.co.uk and look for Mary Berry's recipes for Christmas. 

She made it yesterday having bought from Messrs Dickinsons a kilo of their excellent stewing steak, everything else she had at home, hot horseradish, worcester sauce, onions, garlic she used fino sherry instead of white wine.

And cooked it on top of the stove for about three hours, we had it with mashed potato and broccoli and, 

So as far as we are concerned in this house.. Twinings make very fine tea and Mary Berry may make very fine cakes but her stew was absolutely.. yes.. you most certainly know that I am a bird of habit and so you can say it with me now..

Scrummydumptious.. 

And I know that a not-so-small bowl of it is going in the thermos to work with her today.

Now it is the time to eat buttered eggs and rye bread and to flap a wing and start our day.. pippip Dear Readers. 

GeeGee Parrot.
December 17th, 2014.

I forgot to tell you this..

That on November 18th we celebrated our tenth anniversary of being woman and parrot.. yes folks, we've been together ten years.

What did we do? Nothing special, no fancy celebrations took place, we spent the day together. We ate delicious things and remembered the long, very scary drive down from Shropshire. The weather was very similar, with wild wind and lashing rain.

Now we are in the month of December and the Christian festival of Christmas is a'coming, that old Goose is getting fat and on the day after Boxing Day, she and I will celebrate another anniversary.

Do you have a clue or do you know what it is? Go on.. be brave.. hazard a guess.. shake and rattle a brain!

It was called 'The Christmas Holidays'.. there is a huge clue.. our first post was written on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011.

Yes, Dear Readers, this year on December 27th we will have been causing you to choke with suppressed laughter at: Fandango dancing, to read about our strange habits, adventures that she and I have had, to know about chilly white-larder aka fridge and Wicker-Wheelie aka her trolley on wheels for three years!

Some of you are still reading my Blog, which we think is extremely sweet and we hope that we continue to amuse and inform you with the special and favourite things in our lives.

Such as very charming ribbons from The Little Printed Ribbon Company on the Isle of Man, all those scrummydumptious manner of Goaty products from Ellie's Dairy, that wonderful, completely chemical free soap from Richard and Elaine Hamner at The Green Mountain Soap Company, fabulous yumyum meat from her lubby-jubbly butchers Dickensons' in the North End Road, delicious Polish products from Bartek in Central Parade on Streatham High Street and last but certainly least the brilliant Herbalists called Baldwins, on Walworth Road, near to Elephant & Castle, London.

Of course, if you've been clever over the past three years, you will have already taken note of these wonderful suppliers and all the others that I have written about over the past three years.

Three years.. of having my own place to write just what I wish.. no editor has been employed in our house! Oh, it has been such fun and I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts as much as I have had writing them.. so onwards mes amis.

But now it is the dreaded time aka my bed time.. flapflap.. Dear Readers.. flapflap.. I'm off!

GeeGee Parrot.
December 14th, 2014.

HERE ARE THREE NICE THINGS THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED & ONE CURIOUS ONE!

Good day to you all and, although it is damp and slightly chilly-billy here in deepest Knightsbridge, it IS a good day because our house is warmer!

No, it is not wishful thinking on our behalf, it is.. yippee.. because the person who maintains the flat, which is behind and above us, has switched the heating on. The owner is very seldom here but our home is getting toasty warm and so she must be due any day!

I know that my poor Blog has been neglected terribly this autumn.. sigh.. but things have been a bit 'strange' to say the least around here and really not worth writing about but she recounted two very pleasant things to me whilst we had supper last night.

Whilst she was out and about yesterday morning, those Manx Kippers arrived at MailBoxEtc and one of the extremely nice and efficient men saw from the label what the package contained, put it into the fridge and left her a message on her mobile!

How kind was that!

The next nice thing happened she was going to collect them, she saw a friend who she has not seen for almost three years! Gill travels a lot for work but there she was, looking chic AND pretty (as always) with lots of news to tell and "yes, I am here for Christmas, come and have supper next week".

They say 'No good deed goes unpunished' .. well, actually we don't hold to that saying and having arrived home, she went into YumYum HQ, took a big much treasured ladle, it deserves its' own post, gave the contents of a very large pot a quick stir and, having poured in boiling water to sterilize them, filled three jars with fruit compote.

She put two of the jars with a small packet of Italian biscuits into a bag, the other into her basket and left the house. "Wow, what is it, they're hot" said one of the MailBox men as she handed over the small bag with the two jars. She laughed and said "Have it for tea, it's to say thank you for taking such good care of my post".

Then she ran to catch the 74 bus to the market. It was now raining hard and very cold but she knew lovely Karen would still be there, working hard as she does six days a week in all weather, she got off the bus and turned into the market. She went up on the street side of the stall and put the still very hot jar into her hand.

"Oh, I know what this is, how wonderful, thank you, it will be perfect for my tea" said her lovely, hard working friend.

Hugs and laughs and then crossing the road, she went into her favourite Middle Eastern supermarket, UR Market, to get lots of 'little' things. No, I can't tell you what they were because they've been packed into a box and sent to Peel on the Isle of Man.

The reason I can't tell you what they were is because they, and two small bottles full of mysterious things, are a gift to LazyBoyBruce. And why should he be so lucky, I hear you saying to yourselves?

Well, it is a very long time since she ate a Manx Kipper, a present of which his father sent to his sister for Christmas all those years ago. Yes, this is the third nice thing.. a pair of Smoked Manx Kippers broke our fast!

Bruce's father was Constance's brother, Constance was her mother, Bruce is her cousin. Yes, Bobs' her Uncle!

You've read about the two nice things which happened yesterday, the third which was eating the fore mentioned Kippers and now I will explain the curious portion of this post. The weather goes in cycles, doesn't it? Which means that what we eat does too, you don't want to eat winter food in the summer and vice versa, do you?

Now, it is a little earlier this year, like a week or so, but apparently, her brain switches in December to thoughts of Terrine of Pork with Whisky flavoured Hazelnuts and Raisins soaked in Brandy, for a couple of Dear Readers have pointed out to us that we wrote a similar post about them last December!

Well.. she is obviously trying to tell you something, isn't she! Like find a big jar, get the raisins, Don Pedro's Brandy and all the other good stuff together and 'put up' these delicious treats yourselves, you WON'T regret it in a couple of years to come, that's for sure!

Of course, I eat fish. What do you think Pirates' Parrots, who sailed the high seas on galleons, ate whilst plundering the Spanish Main? Limes!

GeeGee Parrot.
December 5th, 2014.
Postscript.. The old expression 'Put up' refers to bottling or canning.

DRUNKEN RAISINS & BOOZY NUTS..

Yohoho.. oh, some very serious cooking has been going on in the YumYum HQ. Because it's very chilly-billy outside (and a little bit inside as we don't have the heating on yet) proper food is being planned and cooked.

She realised at about half four of the afternoon clock that we had no more apples.. dire straits! So she shot out of the house to catch a bus to the market before it packed up, it was pitch dark when she got there and most of the stalls had gone but Karen was still there and was delighted to see her as the Herbal Tincture that she gave to Karen last Wednesday has done the trick!

Yippee.. poor love, she was suffering mightily with 'night sweats' and all that they entail, lack of sleep  being the main offender and had complained about them to my mum. Who said "can't have that" and went to get her much loved friend a bottle of Tincture of Sage.

So there she was looking very perky and rested and dishing out bowls of veg and fruit at two for a quid! What a good thing she had old Wheelie Wicker with her! For mushrooms, grapes, pears, courgettes, those juicy dark plums, fat pears and apples, russets and cox, all went into the basket!

Along with 60p's worth of Spanish sausage from the butcher!

Quickquick.. back on to the bus and rushrush to Mr.Mail Box to collect the Manx Kippers from The Isle of Man before they close at 6.00pm.

Zoomzoom.. through their door. What's this! Nothing for us, what do you mean nothing! Cousin LazyBoyBruce said the company said they would be here today.. sigh.. eggs again to break our fast.

So home she came and plopplop down the stairs came Wheelie Wicker.. supper was just scrummy, Freekeh with beans that had been soaking, courgette, broccoli, mushrooms and the Chorizo sausage.

And into a very big pan went all the fruit.. PLUS.. hahaha.. the cherries that made the kirsh which is now sitting in pretty bottles in the store cupboard, a handful of dried strips of orange peel, two tablespoons of barberries, two persimmons, you might know them as kaki or sharon fruit, a good squirt of pommegranate syrup, a few chunks of crystallised ginge and some very secret ingredient!

The oldest jar of these is very sacred.. for they are the last of the originals..

She spent the Christmas of 1973 with her parents in Spain and Constance gave her three very large jars of Raisins in Brandy. You can do this yourselves. Constance used Fundador Brandy, it is strong and goes wonderfully with the raisins, the trick is that you must leave them for at least two years in a dark cupboard to soak and, of course, the longer you leave them, the better they will be.

1973 to 2014.. yes Dear Readers, forty one years, you can just about begin to imagine how amazing they are!

This was left to simmer on a very low heat for two hours whilst we watched the beginning of the Professional Masterchef finals. Tonight it was the turn of Richard and Jamie who had done a days' stint working at The Connaught. They then came back and had an hour and three quarters to produce two dishes.

Richards' dishes were good but there were a couple of things which let him down but Jamie's.. well.. his two dishes showed off a wonderful talent and the word outstanding would not do this young chef justice!

But Boozy Nuts.. why do they come into the title of today's tale?

Ah well.. a long time ago, she used to cook a great deal and one of her 'signature' dishes was a terrine of two cuts of pork with hazelnuts.. but they were not ordinary hazelnuts. Oh no.. For they had soaked in whisky and thyme for at least two years.

Just a couple were used in the terrine, they were cut into two so, in fact, there were only four pieces. It was all that was needed, any more and the flavour of the whisky would be too strong.

And today, whilst she was buying her chorizo sausage, she asked her lubbly-jubbly butcher to keep her some of those two pork cuts for her tomorrow.

You see, she was sorting out the boiler room store cupboard yesterday and there they were. Sitting quietly on a small shelf with two tins of black grape seed.. two jars of hazelnuts in whisky with thyme and she smiled and said "Yes, GeeGee, it is time to start cooking again"

So all we need now is for Joe in Ottawa to get that lazy cat to move off the pile of papers so that he can send her his Sicilian biscotti recipe.. HINT HINT Joe.. how many years is it now?

They would go really well with a compote of autumnal fruits, wouldn't they?

Chirp.. it is my bed time.. she's vacuumed the bed, everything is ready for the morning, she has an appointment at 11.00am and so it is "Good night to you all Dear Readers".

GeeGee Parrot.
December 3rd, 2014.

IT WAS £25.00 VERY WELL SPENT (SHE SAVED £75.00) AND IT WAS NOT ON FOOD!

Yes, she's been spending money! Now this is actually something that happens quite rarely as F is one of her initials.. frugal by nature, if not by name!

Get on with it GeeGee (I can hear you) what did she spend that £25.00 on? Well, she gave herself a gift of a year's Digital Subscription to The Daily Telegraph. The price is usually £100.00 per year but they had a four day sale and she snapped it up this afternoon!

We have just read last Saturday's and Sunday's editions.. but haven't got to deal with all that paper! What a treat. The other papers that she reads are available free online but the Telegraph limit their readers, as do the NY Times, to only so many articles before cutting off the supply, as it were.

With cold winter weather fast approaching it will be such a nice treat to curl up in the evening to read this at our leisure, she finds lots to read at her beloved Library, another good place to read papers and magazines.

Oh, she is SO grateful to both her parents who instilled in her the love of the written word.

Now, what else is here apart from the iPad? Yum.. a jar of mixed nuts, cashews and walnuts and two juicy apples. It is a good thing she has a little DustBuster as I chomp nuts on the top blanket which then has to be vacuumed before we go to sleep.. otherwise Mr and Mrs. Mouse would probably be leaping up there during the night and you can just imagine what she would have to say about that!

It was St.Andrew's Day yesterday, You would probably only be aware of this if you are a Scot or are of Scottish descent. He was the younger brother of Peter and it is said that he died on an X shaped cross, hence the Blue Saltire (The Scottish Flag).

Anyway, that's your lot for today, the first of December.. stay warm folks and eat sensible rib warming yumyum.. Me.. I'm awaiting a package from LazyBoyBruce, he has sent us some Manx Kippers, they will be here on Wednesday.. oh.. roll on Thursday mornings breaking of the night's fast!

GeeGee Parrot.
December 1st, 2014.

OUR GIVING THANKS SUPPER..

Yes, you did read that right, for we had a wonderful meal yesterday and whilst we were eating it, we gave thanks to a few people and many things that have happened in this last year.. and other things such as living in a dry home, with food to eat and clean water to drink.. simple basic things which millions of people all over the world do not have. 

But back to our meal, we didn't have old Turkey-Lurkey, oh no, we had Mr. Duck and to be precise, we had breast of Duck. 

The fat had been heavily scored and rubbed with a few herbs and a little salt and the breats had sat out of the fridge for at least an hour to come up to room temperature, they were cooked on a very hot metal griddle with no oil or butter.

They were cooked, fat side down, for four minutes, then the heat was turned down and they were turned over to cook for further two minutes, for neither of us likes over cooked meat and to over cook quack-quack would truly be a sin.

This delicious meat was served with a compote of our own cherries, a puree of a baby orange squash, an old fat carrot and a sweet potato and in another pan there was a large head of broccoli.

Having scoffed the lot, we sent text messages to a couple of much beloved friends to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and had an early night.

Grateful.. yes, we are very grateful for a lot of things besides the fore mentioned and hope that you too, Dear Readers, have things to be grateful for as well.

GeeGee Parrot.

November 28th, 2014.

Brrrrr.. winter is a'coming.. but so is lovely YumYum.. red cabbage.. stews..

Baked apples with cinnamon, apple strudel, spaetzle, Ingrid's dumplings with star anise, mashed potatoes with garlic, slow cooked stews with herbs and spices, risotto with freekeh instead of rice, need I go on? You've got the drift by now!

Yes folks, up here in the northern hemisphere, winter is approaching at an ever increasing speed. Today brought in the first band of heavy rain, we are due for a week of it.. ugh.. there will no gardening done this week.

But, in fact, this suits her as there are books to take to her wonderful 'Pensioner's Club' together with wool that she has uncovered, as well as several pieces of unfinished knitting, weird no?

It was lurking in the walk-in cupboard, carefully wrapped up with lavender bags, goodness knows how long it has been there or where it came from!

There is far too much for her ever to use, it can all go, so that other people can love and use it.

The boiler man is fitting a carbon monoxide alarm this morning, she has a doctor's appointment later in the afternoon, is lunching with a friend at her club on Wednesday, working on Thursday and has another dental appointment on Friday.  

No time to devote to the plots, it takes an hour to get there she cannot just go for just half an hour, besides, what can you do in a garden in thirty minutes in cold, driving rain?

Not-a-lot..

She has dug the slow cooker out from its' summer storage and has pulled out a few of her most favourite recipes books, I saw an old one of Hazels, her most beloved aunt, on the chest in the hall. A Hungarian cook book.. seriously delicious food.

She has to check our supply of herbs and spices.. as well as for extra cinnamon, cloves and turmeric. These three spices, along with garlic and ginger, are major bug and cold killers. 

I can 'see' it now, a pot of red cabbage, braised with a bit of pork fat and apples.. yes.. I know I am a parrot but I love food of all kinds, yours as well as mine!

Whoops. Time to let the boiler man in and put the rubbish out. So I whistle to you "Farewell, adieu, auf wiedersein, goodbye" until later.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 11th, 2014.

EMPTY BOTTLES, LATE FROSTS & WICKED WINDS.

Good afternoon Dear Readers. 

Tonight's post has a curious title, does it not and I know you will be thinking "I wonder what this is all about?" Let's go back to the begining, which is always the best place to start a tale.

Way back in the mists of time she and her family lived on a farm on the edge of the Romney Marsh escarpement. 

The farm was a mixture of arable, fruit, hops and stock. Barley and wheat were grown as well as fruit, hops for beer making and cattle and sheep.

Hop and fruit picking in the summer were the way that she earned money to pay for hay, shoes and straw for Bluey (pony) and Victoria (goat).

Maureen, the farm manager's wife, made the very BEST Scrumpy out of apples that were a little bit wonky looking and Constance made Kirsch, the farm had two enormous cherry orchards, one of sweet varieties, the other of sour varieties.

Therefore, it was pretty much a done deal that as soon as her cherry trees started to produce fruit she would make her own Kirsch.

I know most people don't look back and think about weather, you have no need to unless you have been directly affected by it. Like those unfortunate people in Somerset who are still battling for compensation. 

Another tale is needed for the dreadful story of gross mismanagement by the West Country River Authorities.

But those of you who live in Europe and the Near and Middle East may remember in May we had heavy frosts and strong winds with heavy rains.

Apricot and cherry blossom comes later than apple or pear blossom, in England most apricots are grown against walls and usually they have some sort of protection that can be rolled down to protect the fruit.

But not so in Iran and Turkey where they are a major crop, they are grown in orchards like she grows her cherry and other stone fruits.

After a lovely spring, she and the thousands of stone fruit growers were desolated to lose 99% of their crops due to these extraordinary weather conditions.

Now if you are reading this, and are awake, the title will be obvious! For there were no cherries to pick to make her beloved Kirsch and there were no Iranian apricots to buy in the shops.

They are total different to any other variety of apricot. They are pale skinned and look anaemic but the taste is like eating a lump of the very best brown sugar!

And standing on a cupboard shelf are a row of shiny, but sadly, empty bottles, waiting for next year's crop of apricots and cherries.

So our message to those of you who are fortunate to have been given a bottle of her home made liqueurs, I say "You better take very small sips because there isn't anymore".

Now I am off to pole and she is off to the Post Office.. zoom-zoom and flapflap.. away we go.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 10th, 2014.

Sunny sky and it is chilly-billy out there but luckily our boiler is working.. touch wood!

Have you had your electric or gas boiler and stove checked yet? The last thing you want, as we head towards winter, is for either of them to go wonky.

Our gas service was done this morning, she had, luckily, remembered last night that the engineer was due very early today so she cleared everything out of the cupboard so that he had room to do whatever boiler repairs and tests were necessary.

Done and dusted, he now has to come back and fit a Carbon Monoxide detector but the boiler and the stove both got a clean certificate.

It is a beautiful day here in London. Very bright with a clear sky, the three Calamondin trees are covered in fruit and blossom, some of the fruit are turning orange which made the engineer laugh and ask "do they stay outside all year long, they are amazing".

She explained that yes, they do stay outside all year but that she stops watering them in October and when the temperature drops to zero, she wraps the pots in a sheet of coir and tucks scrunched up newspaper around the stems. 

Now she has to go in search of potting compost, there are lots of Paperwhite Grandiflora, Jonquil and Pheasant Eye Narcissi bulbs to be potted up.

A package has to be taken to MailBox, they are such a great help, it saves having to wait in for a courier to collect or deliver packages, plus it keeps things out of the upstairs neighbour's hands.

Boots, gloves, scarf and cotton tights are all on parade today, it may be bright and sunny but it is chilly-billy, it was minus four last night in South Newington, Oxfordshire, minus four equals very chilly-billy in our minds considering it is not yet officially winter!

So have YOU had your appliances serviced and installed a Carbon Monoxide detector? If not, do so as soon as possible and check your smoke alarm whilst you are at it as well.

PipPip.. we have things to do and places to go.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 6th, 2014.

The hideous truth was revealed..

Hello Dear Readers.

Our day started strangely as she left the house without breaking her fast. She had to have extensive tests done this morning and the doctor had asked her to fast from midnight.

I had to chew a few bird seeds to tell stomach that throat was still working, not the same as delicious eggs I can assure you, she had water.

When she came back, she opened Chilly Larder, aka fridge, sighed and said "well GeeGee, there is just a smidgen left but that's it, there is nothing more until the weekend".

The hideous truth of no more curd for tomorrow's fast breaking meal is grim news and we will have to eat something different tomorrow morning.

For once you have eaten buttered eggs done this way, you don't want them without it. Buttered eggs in our house means two eggs and a good dollop of fresh white goaty curd.. scrummydumptious and slurp are two excellent words with which to describe this dish.

Memo.. buy more goaty curd when you next see Ellie's Dairy at a Farmer's Market.

She's off to the Library to change lots of books. The new book, his second novel, by Chris Pavone is excellent! What a twist in the tale.. write another soon please Mr. Pavone.

She has recently found several new, to her, authors, that she is enjoying. Christobel Kent writes great thrillers, as do both Alex Gray and Elizabeth George.

So she is going out and I will peruse the day by sitting on pole.. it is not so warm.. so put an extra layer on, she has socks and boots on so you know winter is here!

GeeGee Parrot.
November 5th, 2014.

Bissell give brilliant Customer Service..

Good morning to you all Dear Readers.

You all know how something funny (haha) or nice puts a smile on your face and how much nicer it is to have a smile on your face than a scowl.

Well, this tale is about things that happened that have put two smiles on her face and made her aware that we should recommend them to you.

First up.. Bissell. They make electronic machines to keep your carpets and floor clean. 

She had had a Dyson for many years and recently the motor died. Now, we know that everyone loves these machines but she doesn't anymore.

Why?

Well, you cannot get through to their Customer Service by telephone because and we quote, "we are experiencing a high level of calls at the moment" which was the very annoying recorded message she got for far too many days and "we will respond to you within 48 hours" was the response to an email.. perhaps the owners of this company should invest a little bit more money in their employees.

She then remembered that our much treasured Bissell Carpet cleaner has a mini vacuum on the front and so she ran that over the hall carpet. Oh my goodness me.. for there was, suddenly, a much brighter carpet!

She told a friend who said "I will drop my Bissell vacuum off with you this afternoon, you are in for a big shock".. the big shock was that the Bissell left her carpets in an amazing state of dust free glory!

So what had the old Dyson being doing? The answer.. making a huge huff and puff and a lot of noise but very little else, just picking up the stuff 
on the surface but not doing a proper job.

She went on line to find Bissell, she called their Customer Service, she spoke to a woman and said she was very impressed and how much was the PowerForce 300? 

"Under £50, it is on sale" said the woman.

"What! Well, yes please, I will have one of these thank you very much" she gave the woman her details and her different delivery address, mad upstairs neighbour is NOT getting his hands on this baby, that's for sure.

It arrived by courier.. oh, the joy of a machine that does a great job! And what pleasure it gave her to write a congratulatory email to their head office telling them that they employ excellent staff and make brilliant machines.

Big smile on her face and a clean carpet.. how happy making is that?

Naughty BlogSpot behaving very badly, so the next post will be about the other great place for wonderful Customer Service.. the Apple Store in Covent Garden..

FlapFlap folks, I am off to my favourite perch, aka pole and she is off to work at the shop but like General MacArtur said "I'll be back".

GeeGeeParrot.
November 4th, 2014.

October 30th is a day of Rememberance in our home..

For it is the day that three VIP (to us & a lot of other people) died.

Edgar was the first, he died in 1997. They had known each other for a very long time and she will be eternally grateful to him for introducing her to two glorious men about whom we often write.. Bob Dundas and Tom (Thomas) Lampson.

One day soon we will write about the trip that they (Edgar and she) took through Sweden, Russia, Poland, Germany and Denmark twenty years ago. This was a major - think major in capital letters - trip by land and water!

Then her beloved Bill died in the early 2000's, oh dear.. he had been ill for a couple of years, which she only found out later after his death. He had not told her and forbade his family to do so. So it was a massive shock.

And then darling Suzan, aka Moley, died in 2012. It was her poor son, Austin, who had the gruesome task of telling us that she had died. Suzan, her equally adored husband, Lewis, and she met in London in October 1994 a few days after her return from the epic trip with Edgar.

Oi vey as they say..

You have to bless and love your loved ones and when they have gone, remember them for the joy and happiness that they brought to your life. Luckily, she also has some very sweet photos of the before mentioned friends, which reminds her that she has to copy some to send to members of their families and mutual friends.

And she has to go now to see her newly-wed and very happy looking dentist! Correction, no, she doesn't, she just looked at the appointment card and seen it is next Friday!

So she is going to Mail Box Etc to collect her new 'toy'.. a Bissell Vacuum cleaner! Yes, the mad upstairs neighbour who throws away everyone's mail can no longer do any damage, her mail gets sent to Mail Box and she collects it from them.

We will write a review upon this in my next post.. yubba-dubba-doo.. she loves a new electrical machine! So I wonder if I can get her to start using the very clever and compact Canon printer that someone has just given her, it makes photographs!

PipPip.. Dear Readers.. PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
October 31st, 2014.

THE LAST TOMATO PLANT..

Good morning Dear Readers and here in deepest Knightsbridge it IS a good morning. For old Mr Sun is out and about, the air is fresh and we have enjoyed a tall mug of our most favourite tea.

Lapsang Souchong is the 'amber nectar' that we drink first thing in the morning and always out of a blue and white mug. Food and tea are strange, are they not? Well, I think they are. You see I won't eat very hot food but I won't drink cold or even luke warm tea. No, it has to be hot.

Ah, the taste of hot Lappy-Sang slurping down my throat reinforces the fact that all is well in my life.

But what has tea got to do with tomatoes I can hear you wondering.. well, in the immortal words of Paul Daniels.. not a lot! But I am in the present and the last tomato is now sadly in the past.

It was Hurricane Gonzalez who brought about the demise of our Plum tomato plant. You see she grows the tomatoes at home, that way she can water and feed them every day if they need it and this year the yield from just five plants has been astonishing! She had already taken down the other four plants who had given up and were just producing growth but no more flowers or fruit.

Because we are in the centre of town miles away from other tomato or potato plants we never suffer from the dreaded blight and so our pretty Plum tomato was still growing and producing fruit.

But then that hurricane blew into town and with it, of course, just baths loads of water. That was it.

With great sadness she saw the dark marks on the stems and blotchy leaves, it was time to cut off the remaining fruit and take down the plant but mid October was pretty good for a tomato plant still to be fruiting, was it not?

That evil hurricane killed three people in the UK. One was Teresita who was one of her customers from the shop. Poor Teresita.. the tree had already been damaged but it had not been cordoned off and the next big wind caused it to fall and it hit her.

Poor family.. she was much beloved in the neighbourhood.

Vayo con Dios Teresita.

Back to Marylebone this morning, no, not in search of yumyum but she has to go to Ainsworths, the Homeopathic Pharmacy on New Cavendish Street. She needs Paramedic Rescue Rememdy and a bottle of Mimulus to give to dearest Leigh.

In order to get it to her quickly, she will jump on a District Line train to Kew to give them to her before heading back to join the team from the shop for a celebratory supper. (Their second!!)

Yes, they have come out tops again for enrolling Gift Aid supporters. Gift Aid allows a Charity to collect an extra 25% from the Government on items that have been donated by UK Tax Payers. The customers sign a form stating they are UK residents and tax payers and the shop gives them a small plastic fob and records their postal code.

Each time they donate something to the shop and show their fob or give their postal code to identify themselves, a special label is produced and attached to the item, this is then zapped by the bar code reader when it is sold. The customer does not have to show bank statements, the taxman does not breath down their neck, it is a way of increasing the donation from the Government.

So tonight, there will be much merriment when she recounts the story of being contacted by Penelope (?) asking her if she would like to do voluntary work for the charity.. for whom she has been working for five years.

And now, Dear Readers, we are off.. places to go, things to eat. Yes, for it is time to flapflap to the YumYum HQ for a late fast-breaking meal.. soft boiled egg and goaty curd is what I fancy with rye bread and sunflower seeds. I trust you eat a good breakfast every morning?

GeeGee Parrot.
October 27th, 2014.

The secret's out! What made the bottle red..

Greetings to you all.

If you have read the last post you will know that she took Goaty mum Debbie two bottles this morning, one was dark red and slender, the other was brown and fat.

The dark red colour bottle was requested by the recipient herself.. she was offered an apricot coloured one but said "that she was very partial to a Slurp (stick around, the word is catching) of Kirsch!"

And on Ellie's Dairies Blog this morning Debbie wrote about having an hour in bed with Marmite, who is a cosy cat not a mug of the strong stuff, and a slurp of Sal's homemade Kirsch.

Bob, her uncle, would be very proud of his only niece.. for he was a Master Brewer of all manner of deliciously scrummydumptious drinkable things.

She is particularly pleased with this batch of Kirsch for the colour is dark velvety red.. it is from a batch of home-grown Stella cherries that she forced to become sweeter and darker by covering the trees in a tent of nylon! It raised the temperature and the cherries, which are normally a pretty red, went completely black! Brogdale Nurseries, from whom she bought the trees, were fascinated and vastly amused by this when she showed them the photos.

The cherries and the vodka soaked for three years, the smell is divine and the taste, well.. Slurp is indeed an excellent word to describe what people think when they taste it. There was a secret ingredient added which shall remain a secret.. nope.. Beaky's sealed.. and no, it was not sugar or vanilla but it does make the liquer have a wonderful smell and a certain je ne sais quoi taste!

She is back from Marylebone, she waddled home for these two foodies had eaten several scrumptious things. First up were the dumplings with the chilli-billy sauce.. yum.. then a cup of good coffee and then the stall holder left her minding the 'shop' only to re-appear with two scones.

Oh.. heavens-to-Betsy.. proper scones, not those light-airy-fairy-taste-of-nothing ones, these had substance and were filled with a thick slab of double cream and strawberry jam.. not a crumb was left for even a poor pigeon and, I regret to say, she licked the paper it had come in!

So you see waddle is an apt word with which to describe her walk up to Oxford Street, mind you, she was carrying a goodly amount of swag, some cheese, a bag of Pak Choi, three pints of raw goaty milk and a wondrous selection of Kilner Bottles, the like of which she has never seen before! Found by Debbie in Ashford, Kent and they have a product number on their label so that she can speak to Messrs Kilner to order more!

Yesterday she was given a tub of the same cream that Omer used in today's scone, so today, before she left the market, she swooped on a pile of Bramley apples.. because in the swag bag is a lonely scone.. she thought he would be greatly cheered up by being introduced to an apple pureed with some spices and a dollop of cream.

What do you think?

Now there is Mount IronMore waiting for her attention in the sitting room.. bed linens and some summer clothes which will be packed away. So with a large bottle of Lavender smelling water for the steamy iron and Chocolat in the dvd player.. whoosh.. we're off.

Flap Flap.. Dear Readers.. Flap Flap.. Sorry about the mini print, but she can't get BlogSpot to make it bigger..

GeeGee Parrot.
October 26th, 2014.