Clothes & Radiators.. and taking over twenty five yeas to figure something out..

Now don't all laugh at once.. some of you could smile and do a Fandango and then snigger when you are out of sight of anyone.. for sniggering is a very sneaky thing and someone bigger than you might think you were laughing at them.. not good.

Anyway, back to the post..

She has lived here for an incredibly long time and so it was a long time ago she bought and installed a towel radiator in the bathroom. It keeps the towels dry and warm so bathing or showering is blissful because there are these cosy towels ready to wrap around you.

A few days ago she machine washed a pair of trousers, a fleece, leggings, underwear and a thermal vest. They were put to dry on the radiator as she wanted them the next morning and did not want to dry them in the dryer part of the washing machine.

Next morning, after imbibing a mug of hot LapySang, we moved into YumYum HQ, broke our fast and then moved on into the bathroom. After washing, she reached for her underwear and put it on.

Cosy.. then another layer of clothes went one, the leggings and the thermal vest, even cosier, then the trousers and fleece.. now very cosy!

By now she was dressed AND warm! Why has she never thought to put the next days clothes onto the radiator before? There is plenty of room for the clothes and the towels.

Every night now she puts her next days' clothes onto the radiator and smiles.. for she now knows that.. Cosy clothes make for toasty toes!

We're in bed, we've had a yummy supper, a big stalked apple has been Beaked, her head is positioned at a comfortable angle and I am upon it, I am chirping, tooting and whistling my repetoire, she will, eventually, say the dreaded words.. "shush" or "it's bed time" but for the moment all is well.

Tomorrow we will tell you what has just been brought to our attention today.  The story of Taxation in Germany of Catholics and Protestants and what happens if they don't pay the tax.. oi vey.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 31st, 2015.
Post Script: Tomorrow is a White Rabbit Day.. yes.. it it! So don't forget!

IN DAYS OF OLD WHEN KNIGHTS WERE BOLD & LAVATORIES WEREN'T INVENTED..

I leave the rest of that particular saying to your memory.. Moving swiftly along,"it ain't half chilly mum" said the-whinging-winnie who went to Balham today. She had more layers of clothing on than the Michelin tyre man and had to waddle up the steps and off to catch the train.

'Gordon Bennett' was said and all those other sayings that she says, she wasn't out for very long and came scooting back down the steps as if the Hounds of the Baskervilles were after her.

It, the sky, had changed colour and we might get snow overnight or tomorrow and we would not be surprised if we did. But anything we get in the way of bad weather, will be nothing compared to that poor city in Central Siberia, where the streets are still solidly frozen ice which engulfed the cars.

She went to Balham because she had two pots of Polish 'Summer' Salad for Debbie and the gilded frame, the market was quite quiet, but hot coffee plus a delicious BIG Pretzel with Goaty Curd and sweet Chilli jam made the trip worth while.. plus.. if you promise to do something for someone, you do it, yes?

Yes, is the right answer.. you'll get NO Browny points from us for answering no.

Which brings me neatly back to this 'Summer' salad that Debbie and she are hooked on.. The purple one is Red Cabbage and Apple but the juice / sauce is NOT mayonnaise, it is a fermented liquor.

They also eat it in a White Cabbage form, with carrots, white onions and fresh dill. It has nothing to do with summer as in the season, in fact, not even Kasha, her Polish friend, knows why they call it Summer Salad.

But it is addictive.. they confessed to each other that it NEVER gets as far as a plate! They both, the philistines, eat it straight out of the tub. Luckily the tub takes about 500g! But the taste is truly unlike anything else, the fermentation is very young, it is not fizzy to the tongue, it is just delicious.. just scrummydumptious in fact.

There was a 'slight' panic earlier this month. For the family run business who make this in Poland, had worked hard to get a big supply of their product finished and shipped for the New Year, then the family members took a break and went skiing..

SKIING.. what! And left us with NO Summer Salad! Shock.. Horror! There were many gloomy faces at the cheese and fish counter at Bartek for a couple of weeks, then Kaska told her the great news "It is coming in this Friday, do you want me to put some aside for you?". This was last week, so very happy faces were back on view!

Mine too, for I like the pale one, she can have the purple one as long as I get a teaspoonful of the one with dill.. for it is very crunchy munchy indeed.

And now I return to the title of this post. For when Knights were bold was a very long time ago and in those days, water was NOT safe to drink, so they didn't! Tea and coffee had not reached our shores, tea only came to England with the wife of Charles 2nd, so they drank Ale, Wine, or Mead. Guess what she was given by Debbie today? A bottle of Mead! London Mead.. how about that!

Defrosting in the sink are a couple of bags of stewing meat, tomorrow she'll dig out the slow cooker and make a memorable stew with lots of root vegetables, chunks of ginger and spices. Perfect food for winter weather.

Tomorrow we have eggs and goaty curd, old Mister Woe will be hopping about upstairs, for we have lots of Goaty milk and cheese in YumYum HQ, he won't be weaselling his way down into our house.

And we also have homemade bread, eggs, cheese, chilli jan (slurp), LOTS of LapySang tea, coffee, chocolate, a warm, dry bed, clean clothes, fresh running water in our taps, electricity at the switch of a switch, the promise of a good stew.. and **.

Our life is very simple when the weather is like this, a few friends to laugh with, galleries to gawp in, libraries to look at, museums to wander and wonder in, some volunteer work to make her realise how lucky she is and me, to sit on her head and keep it warm.

What more could you possibly want, huh, think about it? And, she's got Mead to go with the stew.

Happy days folks.. happy days. You might have to adjust your thoughts a degree or two but think about it and then decide to go and walk on the sunny side of the street.

Oh.. and * a flushing lavatory. PipPip.. Dear Readers.. PipPip.

GeeGeeParrot.
January 31st, 2015.

THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY.. THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE LIBERTY BELL IN 1752 & BIG BEN IN 1858.

Twas a cold and wet night last night but there was no thought of not going to Aldgate East, even when she discovered she had left her travel pass behind. Nope, back home she went in a hurry and found, not only her travel pass but her GLASSES!

ScurryScurry.. Back again to Sloane Square for she needed the District Line on the Underground. Squeeezing her way on, for it was packed with people going home, whoosh, under the City they went, Tower Hill is the stop before Aldgate East so she got up and moved to the exit.

The Whitechapel Art Gallery is next door to the station, she turned left and crossed the White Chapel Road, walked two long blocks and found the Foundry.

A well preserved Georgian double fronted house. People arriving, oh good, she was on time and in fact, the tour did not start until just after 6.00pm.

The tour was taken by Mr. Alan Hughes. His great grandfather bought the Foundry in 1904, he himself started working there in July 1966. You want to know anything about any type of bell.. he's your man!

The company's start date is 1570, making this the oldest manufacturing company STILL in operation in Great Britain, but there is documentary proof that they actually started working in 1480!

She has always found it fascinating that Bronze, a metal that she loves, is made out of Copper and Tin and it is these two soft metals that, when added to each other, make this incredibly strong one.

The place is absolutely fascinating, it made her have one or two pangs of rememberance, for she does love restoration workshops, they were shown everywhere and saw everything and it was all fascinating.

Including enormous metal frames that will house the wheels for two new large church bells that have been cast for the City of Rochester, New York State.

When the tour and question time were finished, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes welcomed the tour into the domestic quarters of the house above the offices.

YUM.. a large and very delicious cold buffet and drinks was awaiting them. She chatted to several nice people, all of different professions and ages and there was an amateur Bell Ringer who had always wanted to see this amazing place.

You can be a member of The English Speaking Union in many countries and the organise trips / tours like this everywhere.

Finding both Alan and Kathryn Hughes, she said "Thank you both so much for a lovely evening, I have enjoyed myself" and left whilst the party was still going strong! Into Aldgate East Station at 21.30 hours and out of Sloane Square Station at 22.25, followed by a very brisk walk back home up Sloane Street.

Home again home again jiggedyjig.. what a very nice evening. She sent the Jane the ESU member, who organised the jaunt, an email early this morning to say "Thank you". It was a very 'different' sort of thing to go and look at but it shows you that there are treasures of all sorts to be found everywhere, in huge cities and in small country villages, all you have to do is look for remember this..

SEEK & YE SHALL FIND!

Today was another extraordinary day, for it was the 50th anniversary of the Ceremonial State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. (Before his private family burial in Bladon churchyard, close to Blenheim Palace where Sir Winston Churchill was born). The entire original black and white television programme was reshown. She watched it with her Lebanese friends and lots of coffee and cookies were consummed.

It is now a very different world, the radio broadcasted speech given by President Eisenhower about Winston was moving, to say the least.. he spoke of Churchill the Statesman and Winston his colleague and friend.

Statesmen.. well, we certainly don't have anyone of the calibre of those two giants these days. Blair and the Bush'es and Kissinger - all Warmongers - of this day and age didn't and don't read History (yes, History with a Capital H) and who are all directly responsible for today's worlds problems.

It was a long day today, and tomorrow she has to go to Balham to give the Goaty person a smart frame, for you knew that one of her Cheeses won BEST in the World at the Nantwich Show, didn't you? Well, my mum said the award should be in a gilded frame, she brought it back here, gilded it and now it is ready to go back to Debbie.

Goodnight everyone.. have a happy week-end. She bought Yoghurt today, will get raw Goaty milk tomorrow.. slurp.. and so Rye Seeded Bread will be baked.. slurp indeed.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 30th, 2015.

DENSE BREAD, WE DON'T EAT HOLES FOR BREAKFAST!

Now.. don't get me wrong, we lurve Sourdough and Tuscan bread.  But when we are telling our stomachs in the morning that "all is ok and that food is a'coming down", we like a heavier bread which we toast and let me tell you.. those toasted seeds are reallyreally tasty!

Which is why she bakes some Soda Breads in a tin. It makes for a far denser and moist'er (is that a word or have I just made it up?) loaf than the ones she bakes on a baking tray.

So that is why the tin baked breads require significantly longer in the oven, on a tray the dough is much shorter in height and the heat gets through the dough quicker, in a tin, the dough measures at least four to five inches and, therefore, it needs longer.

It is all trial and error and personal preference. And explains why she prefers Brioches to Croissants.

Onwards.. for there are poles to sit-upon.. laundry to do.. hair to wash and sheets to be ironed.

But before we go. Have you seen the photographs of Dudinka, a town in central Siberia? On the night of January 14th, the mains water pipe broke, the streets flooded, the temperature was 40 degrees below zero. Cars were encased in blocks of ice. Shiver my timbers..

GeeGee Parrot.
January 29th, 2015.

BIG BEN ISN'T A CLOCK!

It's a bell! To be precise, Big Ben is the hour bell of the Great Clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster and it is a mighty big bell at that, for it stands seven and a half feet high, measures nine feet in diameter and weighs over 13 tons! And it was cast in April 1858.

Why are we talking about a bell? Well, she is off on a jaunt, she'll go down a tube, whoosh under the City of London to Aldgate East and will pop up near to Whitechapel Road.

And why is she going to East London? Well, you see Dear Readers, she is going on a tour of The Whitechapel Bell Foundry and now you know the connection.

For, yes, they made Big Ben and another, very famous bell.. The Liberty Bell, cast in 1752.

If you want to know more about these two bells and in great detail, here is their website. Because she is going out to dinner after the tour and will NOT be posting about this jaunt tonight!

www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk

But I am going to post about the two bread recipes I have just given you.. for Pop.. goes the toaster!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 29th, 2015.
Post Script: Aka Constance and Bill's birthday.

HERE IS A RYE SODA BREAD WHICH ISN'T 'SHABBY' EITHER & HAS LOTS OF YUMMY SEEDS AS WELL.

Sometimes, if I am lucky and she has remembered to get some yoghurt, then she-who-is-definitely-obeyed-on-Baking-Day makes this delicious bread.

It's as simple as the last recipe posted earlier and she has promised that she will make this again soon. What's wrong with tomorrow morning, I thought?

With no more ado.. here it is.

You need to heat your ovens to 200C / 300F or Gas mark 6.
You need two China mixing bowls.
A wooden spoon.
A spatula.
A baking tray.

Grease the baking tray and dust it lightly.

Ingredients.
250g light Rye flour, plus a little more for your surface.
1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda.
A big pinch of salt.
2 tablespoons each of Sunflower, Pumpkin.. these seeds are dehulled.
2tablespoons of Poppy & Linseeds.
100ml plain Yoghurt, she uses Goat Yoghurt.. full fat.
100ml whole Milk, she uses Goat Milk.. none of that semi-skimmed stuff please..
50g good runny Honey.
1 tablespoon of Rapeseed Oil, plus a bit extra for greasing the baking tray.

Method.
In one bowl, sift your flour and mix the dry ingredients.
In the other bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet stuff into the dry ingredients and mix everything together very quickly but thoroughly to form a very sticky dough.
Using a spatula, scoop the dough out of the bowl onto a flowered surface, put dough onto the greased, floured baking tray and form it into round domed shape but NOT too high, 3" is good / 7cm.
Dust it with Rye flour and scatter a few seeds onto the top and cut a deep cross about half way through the dough.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until it has risen and golden brown.
When ready, slide off the baking tray and allow to cool on a rack.

Don't blame me if your waist measurement increases somewhat. Do the Fandango and Smile.. for remember you've got to keep it up! HeeHee..

Did you know that one third of Holland is actually below sea level, yes, that much of the country, they're very clever the Dutch. The disasterous North Sea floods of 1953 killed 350 people in the UK and 1,800 people in Holland. It was in direct reaction to this flooding that Holland developed their extensive sea defences.

Tomorrow we have Isle of Manx Kippers, courtesy of Cousin Bruce, and fresh bread with which to break our dreadful fast. But now, I spy two apples which need a good Beaking and then I will settle on her head as we are going to watch this documentary on Holland..

Oooh.. 17th Century Tulipmania!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 28th, 2015.

AND MAKE ME MY DAILY BREAD.. SEEDED SPELT SODA BREAD!

OH.. she's giving you, our Dear Readers, one of our favourite bread recipes. Here it is.. You will need..

A large CHINA mixing bowl.
Your Oven temperature should be 230c / Gas Mark 8.
Preheat your oven.
And scatter some flour on your work surface. She uses RYE flour for this.
We bake our bread in a tin but you can make it the traditional way which is to use a baking sheet.

Ingredients..

300gms of SPELT Flour. She always sifts flour.. no lumps in her bread.
A big pinch of SALT, she uses Maldons.
2 teaspoons of BAKING POWDER.
230 to 250mls of BUTTERMILK.. sometimes you need a bit more to get all the seeds & flour to come together.
Hulled SUNFLOWER & PUMPKIN SEEDS.
SESAME SEEDS & GOLDEN & BROWN LINSEED.
CARAWAY SEEDS.

She uses 2 tablespoons of each of the above listed seeds. Plus a few more for the tin.

Butter your bread tin, ours are 6 & 1/2" x 3" base diameter, and then scatter a few of the seeds onto the walls of the tin, they stick to the butter and make the loaf look VERY pretty!

METHOD.

Sift the flour into the bowl, add all the dry ingredients, mix well, add the Buttermilk and mix into a sticky dough, when you have all the ingredients together, take the dough with your hands and roll it in the flour on your work surface into a ball.

This is when she puts the dough into a small baking tin. You could put in on a baking sheet and make a deep cross on the top.

Into the oven for 30 minutes, if you are using a tin, not so long if they are on a baking sheet.. watch them.. when they sound hollow if you give them a knock on their top, take them out of the oven and allow to cool on a drying rack. Resist the urge to tear it apart crumb by crumb.. We know this bit is hard, that's why she does her baking after breaking our fast.

It's jurst divine.. no, that is not strong enough a word.. let's try this one.. DEE-VINE! Ah, that's much better!

It takes such a short time to make this bread, she makes several loaves at a time. two are kept out and wrapped in proper linen cloths, the others are allowed to cool, sliced and put into frosty white cupboard.. aka freezer.

Don't tell me you can't be bothered to do this. Oh well, perhaps you would rather get into your car or catch a bus, drive / walk to a shop and pay silly money in order to buy that stuff which is full of chemicals?

Simples.. make your own and tweak the recipe to suit your taste buds.. try putting some rolled oats into it.. yum. Or add some Lebanese Seven Spice Mix. Another favourite one of ours is with Dill, which is great she is serving Smoked Salmon or poached Salmon.

Experiment and find your own favourites.. be brave.. do a Fandango, when did you last do one of them?

GeeGee Parrot.
January 28th, 2015.

WELL! PERHAPS SHE SHOULD PROWL UP & DOWN THE AISLES,

For it transpires that Pocket Coffees have been around for ages.. huh.. so why haven't we been given them before, who is it who is or was responsible for keeping us in the dark and deprived of the little bits of Scrummydumptiousness? We wonder how many of you, Dear Readers, know about these tasty morsels of chocolate?

Oh, well, rock and roll.. let me tell you about about another very tasty thing she has just discovered which have been around and about for three years now.

They are called FLOWER SPROUTS. They were developed by an English Seed Merchant called Tozers. They are a cross of the traditional Brussels Sprout and, maybe Russian, Kale. They are just FABULOUS!

She found them at Parson's Green Farmer's Market on Ted's Organic veg stall, she has seen them in Waitrose and Marks & Spencer also sell them, maybe WholeFoods do as well?

They are sometimes called Somerset Sprouts and are a. cute to look at and b. very cute to cook, for they cook in no time at all and retain all their lovely colour and the water in which they cook is very tasty, (she always drinks the water that vegetables have cooked in).

She was out late last night, hence no post this morning. We were up early but went back to bed with a mug of LapySang. It was cold last night but dry, no snow. Apparently we are going to experience, later in this week, the edge of the storm called Juno which shut down a lot of the Eastern Seaboard in the USA last night.

Poor allotment, the ground will be absolutely rock hard. She does not believe in trying to wake it up too early, but she does have to go and cut down the last years' Asparagus ferns and prune all of the Apple and Pear trees.

Frosty Tigers.. she needs to go and get a pair of proper old fashioned fleecy jogging pants, then with proper socks and rubber boots, there will be a lot that she can do without digging.

That grass always needs to be cut and she has to 'GET TO GRIPS' with two large areas of briars which have become far too big for their boots.. chopchopchop.. they all have to go.

There's always work to do.. she just has to get there and do it but this week is more than a bit too chilly-billy. It is, we must remember, it is still only January!

Bed time for both of us we were watching the most extraordinary programme which is why we are late to bed. More tomorrow. Good night.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 27th, 2015.

GREECE AND THEIR ELECTIONS..

So they voted.. and how they voted!

As of this morning Greece has a new government. The radical left wing party Striza gained one hundred and forty nine seats out of one hundred and fifty one which would have given them total control.

After less than an hour's talks this morning, they have formed a new government having joined with the populist rightwing Independent Greeks Party.

Interesting.. to say the least.. one thing that struck a cord with her was the phrase "we will tax luxury goods and the Greek Shipping magnates". And quite right too.. for there are FAR too many magnates of ALL nationalities and professions, and NO, she is NOT just talking about the Grecian ones in this post, who pay almost no tax.

Ok, they pay the VAT when they eat in a restaurant and when they purchase something of a small amount but on a big item, suddenly their passport appears like a rabbit out of the hat and they claim TAX FREEdom.

Throughout the world, they purchase properties through corporations, the property becomes a company, and the stock price is X, the stock is sold to another company and whoops.. someone else is living in the house and NO Stamp Duty tax has been paid. It is a 'clever' way that properties worth MILLIONS of £'s change ownership but in the UK alone it costs millions of £'s in lost revenue.

Back to Greece.. where, undoubtedly the Greek magnates, of all professions, and a lot of other people, have excercised the cleverness of their Financial Wizards to avoid paying any tax unless absolutely necessary.

She remembers talking to a Greek pilot years ago.. the following story always made her 'smile'.

The Greeks were sent a form to fill in, it was a Property Tax form. One question was 'Do you have a swimming pool in your garden?'

Out of thousands and thousands of questionaires that were returned, there were, she seems to remember, only about fifteen who ticked this question saying that they did have a swimming pool.

The authorities smelt a very BIG rat as they had investigated one swimming pool company for tax fraud, why had they bought so much cement and so many tiles, whose details had already been obtained from THOSE companies, if they were doing so little business and paying so little tax?

The pool company sang like that old proverbial canary.. and so up and into the blueblue Grecian sky the pilot took his plane with a camera.. which, of course, photographed hundreds and hundreds of swimming pools..

She and thousands of other people are 'Rooting' for this new Government. In the meantime but I quess that would be 'A Bridge Too Far'.. how about Germany paying Greece back.. this refers to WW2 and is worthy of a post all to itself.

But she is supposed to be digging out a recipe for Spelt Flour Soda bread with Seeds and Molasses.

FlapFlap.. the bread is for me as Lidl's Sunflower Bread by Rivercote has disappeared.. FlapFlap.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 26th, 2015.

CHE SERA SERA.. WHAT WILL BE, WILL BE..

Cold.. it was not just chilly-billy but freezing last night.. brrr.. Frosty Tigers.

We thought about going back to bed but her stomach got the better of her, it was the fourth Sunday of the month and that, Dear Readers, signifies that Debbie Goat will be at Marylebone Farmer's Market.

Also at the market would be Selina with her dumplings.. yumyum.. pig's bum. Oh, for they are, apparently, reallyreally good. No, that is not a mistake, they describe them that way! Reallyreally means extra specially good.

She took the three tubs of reallyreally good Polish Summer Salad, a bottle of Lingham's Chilli & Garlic Sauce, the Harissa paste out of the fridge, collected the two Hamburg Parsley roots and the small box of star shaped savoury biscuits and packed everything into Wicker Wheelie.

She dressed putting on multiple layers of leggings etc but forgot her hat.. but at least she had some gloves and off they went, WW likes the odd jaunt when he only has a few things to carry, it means that they can travel fast with no lifting involved, just a quick bounce and he is up and down the pavements in a flash.

Busy market, quite a lot of people were out and about braving the cold weather and everyone seemed to be busy. The Organic vegetable stall next to Ellie's Dairy was very busy but his stuff is good, so that's not a surprise.

Fat and juicy looking celeriac and beetroots but we didn't need anything in the vegetable line, we still have carrots and parsnips and a couple of sweet potatoes.

But Debbie and she certainly needed dumplings.. they're so good with a splash of soya, chilli and a squidge of the Harissa sauce! Perfect and followed up with a cup of proper coffee and raw goats milk, it was a great lunch!

She has regained her equilibrium after the shock yesterday, she realises that she is incredibly lucky to be being looked after SO well by the medical crews at this hospital, their attention to detail, their kindnesses towards her.

She will call and speak to Dr. Jonathan, her GP (General Practioner) tomorrow and tell him what transpired and update him. Such a nice man, another kind person whom she is very fortunate to have looking out for her health.

Do you remember the words of the song Che Sera Sera? They're right.. what will be, will be.

She has a full day tomorrow so we are in bed and putting the lights out. PipPip, Dear Readers, PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 25th, 2015.

GET A GRIP.. BE BRAVE.. OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HORRID THINGS.. ETC.. ETC.

You are wondering what on earth I'm talking about, aren't you? Well, she went to see the Audiologist this morning and it was not great.

She thought that the lovely young technician was just doing her job last week and that she was being called back for a regular 'check up' as they do.

Wrong, the sweet 'slip-of-thing' had been been so shocked at how high she had to set the new hearing aids that she, literally, pressed the emergency button.

There was no cancelled appointment this morning, the person she saw was the Head Audiologist. Who tested her hearing very thoroughly and also the pressure. Both have deteriorated hugely since 2010 and she is to be scheduled for a head scan.

The woman was sweet when she told her this, she sat and held her hands and was extraordinarily kind and gentle with her. Her GP will be informed, the ENT Dept. are being notified and an appointment date for the scan will fixed.

She took new moulds of both of her ears and showed her the new back units that she will be given when the moulds have been made. They discussed her herbal remedies for clearing her sinuses and eustachian tubes, which were approved as they are non-invasive.

She was given a prescription of a saline spray with magnesium that she has to use last thing at night as the pressure in one ear was particularly bad / low and she thinks there maybe a slight infection.

She left the hospital in shock. It was a sunny bright day, she walked up to and along the North End Road, she just waved at Karen, for she didn't want to stop and chat and then walked all the way back home up the Fulham Road. Chelsea were playing at home and the area was packed with supporters and shoppers.

It all seemed like a dream.. one minute she was 'fine and happy', then someone was telling her that, potentially, there maybe something wrong and they need to scan her head.

Good thing she has a nice jaunt planned tomorrow.. let's hope Goatie Mum finds the tube of Harissa Sauce for the Dumplings.

Oi vey.. as I say.. oi vey.. not a great day. But tomorrow will be better, for she WILL get a grip and suck this up.. for that is what you do.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 24th, 2015.

UP AND AT IT.. THAT'S THE WAY TO START YOUR DAY!

HUH.. not in our house today it isn't! It is a case of 'is sloth our middle name?"

For she is very sleepy and, between you, me and that old gatepost, if she didn't have that appointment with the Audio Dept. at the hospital, she'd be back snuggling in bed!

But no-can-do but she is very sleepy, so there will be no great and active activities planned for today. She is tired after all that gallivanting and jaunting about with old Wicker Wheelie.. sincere apologies WW, she spelt your name wrong by mistake in our last post.

He, of course, is most fortunate. For his little wheels turn happily round and round which means he trundles along with no effort. She actually does all the work when they go out together and yesterday, he was heavy to lift with that giant package plus the other goodies.

But he is staying home today for she needs not a thing and so will disappear down underground to get to Hammersmith where her hospital is located.

So up and at it has to happen! We'll be back later with a curious Tale.. of a Bull's Head that sticks out of  a house on King's Road. I know, very curious indeed.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 25th, 2015.

KISSING STRANGERS ON THE 14 BUS! AND FROSTY TIGER HAD LAID HIS WHITE STRIPES ALLOVER THE LAWN.

WHATEVER NEXT, I ASK YOU?

Back to the beginning of today, as the beginning is always the best place to start. Because if you start in the middle then you have to back-track and before you know, you'll get into a cat's cradle of a muddle.

So whoosh, back we go. We broke our fast and posted a post. The telephone rang and it was the Audio Dept. of her hospital saying there had been a cancellation and would she go in tomorrow at 12.15! How about that? How nice of them, she didn't realise they worked on Saturdays.

Thick jacket on, hat on, gloves in pocket, keys in pocket, bus pass in pocket, out of the door, Wicker Wheelie lifted up the stairs, oh look.. there's Jim, one of our two postmen. Such nice men they are, working in all weathers to get the post to us on time. They chatted and they spoke about how cold it had been last night.

Apparently it had been the coldest night, in London, of the year. It was indeed very chilly-billy and Mr. Jack Frost and old Frosty Tiger had lain their white stripes on the lawn which were slow to melt as the trees were shading the sun from hitting the ground.

Off to catch the 319 to Streatham Hill on King's Road. It was very busy, there sat beside her a charming woman and they talked, as strangers can, with pleasure about all sorts of things and laughed at a naughty little boy who wanted to eat his lunch and his mama's and his sister's!

Off at St.Leonard's Church and into Bartek.. oh.. please let them have had a delivery.. pretty please. She snuck up to the delicatessen counter and.. oh.. YIPPEE.. there were the three big tubs!

Summer Salad, Summer Salad with fresh Dill and Red Cabbage Summer Salad.. oh, happy days are here again.. yubba-dubba-doo.. the counter staff all smile when they see her lick her lips and grin like a wolf.. so would you if you knew what I am talking about!

Just take our word and that of Debbie Goat, she says she stands and spoons it down straight out of the tub.. yes.. it IS that good! Lots of tubs loaded up, eggs, a loaf of Lithuanian Rye Sourdough bread and two Hamburg Parsley roots, a quick chat with the lovely Kasha and off she went to catch a bus all the way to Oxford Circus.

We are SO lucky with our transport system in this city, you can go everywhere but it does help if you know the routes! Which she does. Lots of time to read her book. 'The Trial of Henry Kissinger' by Christopher Hitchens. Bill loathed Kissinger and would not, by choice, be in the same room.       .

Off the bus in Regent Street, wiggle wiggle, oh look, ahead of her in Warwick Street was the lovely building that used to be the head office of Dormeuil Fabrics. The very lovely big boss Xavier Dormeuil (dream on lass, he was such a divine man), Peter Watson and his glorious wife Rhoddie. She knew that team that ran the company very well.. and talking about Supermodels, which we weren't but we are now.. do you remember the very FIRST one?

Countess Vera von Lehndorff.. is her name but I am certain, if you are of a certain age, that you will recognise her by her 'other' name.. Veruschka. Tall with an amazing beauty she was Dormeuil's model in the '60s and '70s and is / was magnificent.

Leaving Warwick Street and turning right, she came to an abrupt stop. There on the left was Kingly Street. Oh, talk about memory lane.. this is where the Valbonne Club was.. is? Perhaps it is still there.

In London in the '60 and '70s there were great clubs. AdLib off Leicester Square, Tramp in Jermyn Street, Annabelle's on Berkeley Square.. NO jeans allowed.. Ronnie Scotts, The Marquee and The Valbonne. There were other clubs, of course, but these were where she 'hung' out and either danced herself silly or listened to great live music.

No time and it was too cold to stand dreaming of thigh boots and hot pants on cold street corners.. get on with it woman.

That lovely Lawrence, he had indeed done his work over night and the package was waiting for her, it was carefully packed into WW with her shopping as ballast and off she went to catch a bus to Chester Street.

Behind her in the bus queue was a pretty woman in a glorious couture coat, fabulous fabric with a great cut, her raised hand stopped a number 14 on Shaftesbury Avenue. They got on and sat together. Wicker Wheelie by now was bulging.. THANK YOU DAVID.. and the woman said "lots of food for the week end?"

She smiled and did a quick run through what was in the trolley, the pretty woman, whose nationality was not obvious, asked her what was her favourite food.

"Fish and vegetables" was her very speedy response. The woman nodded and agreed. They spoke about all the different varities of delicious food available in London and the woman then said the magic words.. "I come from South Korea".

"South Korea" she cried.. "your country has fabulous food and that magic Kimchi! It is very high on the list of the best countries for healthy eating and I am looking for a proper Korean restaurant, do you know if there is a good place that does not cost two fortunes?

The woman smiled and said "oh yes, certainly there is, it is called Kimchi Restaurant and it is near to Holborn Station, very reasonably priced' and then she reached into her small shopping bag and took out a packet of Roasted Seaweed Sushi Nori, gave it to her and told her how to eat it.

She was so stunned by this delightfully spontaneous gesture that she lent sideways and kissed the woman on her cheek. The woman smiled a huge smiley smile and said "my name is Hyeree, I live in South Kensington, would you like to come with me to eat Kimchi?"

Oh, quickly quickly for her stop was fast approaching, they both scrabbled for their mobiles and exchanged telephones numbers and then the bus stopped beside the Lanesborough Hotel and it was her stop, she had to lift Whicker Wheelie, whom Hyeree had greatly admired, off the bus.

How about that, she thought to herself as she trundled off to Chester Street. It was only within the last week that we had watched that documentary about the healthiest diets in the world, Iceland has the healthiest, and she had thought to herself about how she was going to find a South Korean restaurant that did not cost three arms and two legs and on a bus, the answer was given to her and she has made a charming new friend.

She turned right into Chester Street, climbed the immaculate stone steps and rang the door bell. The lovely woman, to whom the package belonged, smiled as she opened her front door and said "ah dearest, you always pull the rabbit out of your hat, thank you, come in and have coffee and tell me your news".

Home via Belgrave Square, what a day.. what an amazing day. She came in and we went straight into YumYum HQ to cook delicious fish and to slurp two dollops of red, green and yellow vegetables.

And bake savoury biscuits for Debbie Goatie mum, how delightfully cosy a room gets when you are baking. She rolled and cut out lots and lots of star shaped little biscuits and in and out of the oven they went. They cooled on racks and were then packed into an airtight box.. to become 'cheesier'.

Now it time for us to go to bed, for she has that hospital appointment and we are both sleepy.. this has been a very long post but it was a very busy day.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 23rd, 2015.

COFFEE & CHOCOLATE..

Good morning to you all.. and here, in deepest Knightsbridge, it IS a very good morning, very bright, very chilly-billy but dry, which is good as she and Wicker Wheelie have much trotting about to do out there today.

We have broken that dreadful fast with buttered eggs, rye toast and she had two cups of the coffee that she brought from The Algerian Coffee Shop. Their January special offer is called 'Algerian' and it is, from the look on her face, mighty good and strong.

Which brings me to the title of this post.

Who does NOT like the taste of Coffee or Chocolate? Well, I can count but I can't see many hands waving in the air, so I will tell you about a gift she received recently from les filles.. aka Georgia, Rebecca and Tereza.

They came in a pretty paper bag, a tin of mixed Swiss Chocolates, a box of Cherry Liqueurs and then these.. a cute box of 18 dark chocolates each containing a shot of 100% Arabica coffee.

She has never seen these before and no, she does not prowl the aisles of supermarkets looking for new brands or products made with chocolate but you would assume that the company who make them would, if they were for sale here in the UK, have done a bit of advertising.

These were bought in Italy, we think, for all of the information on the container is in Italian.

Now, in the olden days, she would have been hot-footing it off to the wonderful manager of Safeways on the Kings Road. He was absolutely amazing! As were the rest of his staff who ran that shop. She took several products to him that she had brought overseas and asked him if he could get them.

The first she took him was Green Tabasco.. he put a little on his finger and tasted it.. "oh yes, I'll certainly get this in, it's great' and sure enough, she received a call from the store saying "We've got it". ZipLock bags were another product that he found and stocked, he would have had these in a nano-second.

The company imports their other products here into the UK, so how come we haven't seen these little cuties on display?

Now then come along, all you coffee and chocolate lovers, let's unite and ask for them! Because we're worth it!

POCKET COFFEE by FERRERO..

GeeGee Parrot.
January 24th, 2015.

DO YOU WANT TO LAUGH UNTIL YOU CRY? THEN WATCH ROBSON GREEN'S EXTREME FISHING!

Switch on and find and watch Robson Green's new series of 'Extreme Fishing'.. oh, my goodness me!

The generousity of this man who gives us the chance to watch him making a complete fool of himself and the dialogue.. is second to none!

This week he is in China.. so far he has been trying to 'fish' for Octopus in the sand.. she is laughing so much, she can hardly tap old iPad.. go to the internet to see if you can see this programme.. then he was filmed singing to an enormous audience of fellow travellers stuck in a traffic jam.. have you heard the phrase instrutable oriental face?

Well, not one face cracked a smile, no one joined in but plenty of the younger people snapped him on their cellphone / mobile cameras. Little do they know what or who they are watching!

No more tapping.. the adverts have finished, he is now in the depths of the countryside on a huge river with a bunch of Cormorant Fishermen.. bye bye..

Oh, I had forgotten how much I squeak and whistle and generally voice my enjoyment of watching this programme and.. so had she!  For both of her hearing aids 'squeal' when I whistle!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 22nd, 2015.

YES, OF COURSE, I EAT MY GREENS & MY YELLOWS & MY REDS!

We have had one of the laziest days I can remember, she gave herself a very quick lick and a promise of a wash, pulled on thick socks and a fleece jacket over her pyjamas and we went into the YumYum HQ to rattle some pots and pans.

For a batch of Savoury biscuits is needed with which to say "Thank You" to an old friend, who did a job over-night for her, her old client will not believe it when she turns up tomorrow!

Then she had a rootle around in the fridge and found the fish we were going to have for supper. Fish and meat should never be cooked straight from the fridge, they need to be at room temperature, so this is sitting out on the work surface under a cover.

Next was an inspection of the vegetable basket.. there were rather forelorn looking carrots and parsnips and a very strange looking leek, he was trying to do a runner and was thin and pale, you all know what I am talking about, and from Sundays' swag bag from Ted's Organic Veg, there were lots of small yellow beetroots and a couple of celeriacs.

Down came a big pan, in went a slosh of good oil oil, lots of cloves of garlic got given a bash and a chop. Then chopchop went the very sharp knife on the vegetables. After they had all 'browned a bit', she dug three chicken stock cubes out of the freezer and added them to the pot, together with a litre and a half of hot water.

Seasoned and brought to the boil, it simmered for half an hour, was whizzed in a liquidiser and allowed to cool a bit.

Oh.. what a great way to eat 'sad' vegetables! I love them done this way, the taste is extraordinary for half of one mouthful is very carroty but the next is pure celeriac! I am VERY spoilt, for I get to perch on Goosie Head and she offers me this potage on a silver spoon. Then I had an additional course of walnuts, this time, however, I stood on top of chilly white larder to eat these, I am fond of our mice but I don't intend them to have my nuts!

Huh.. how many Parrots can say that, I am referring to being spoon fed with a Sterling Silver tablespoon? Not a lot, as Paul Daniels, the famous magician would say.

Biscuits are baked and out chilling on the drying racks, they were photographed and the recipe is flying to friends in the country and overseas, they're very delicious and incredibly simple.. just like le potage de legumes we ate for lunch.

Sometimes it IS ok to stay at home and work at one's own speed. In fact, after her day yesterday, it is just what she needed.

Slurp time is fast approaching.. I am crazy-daisy about fish-the-dish, so is she and we eat it several times a week.. it is very good for you and me! I have very glossy feathers, lots of new ones that arrive all the time and a big strong beaky Beak.

PipPip.. time to concentrate.. PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 22nd, 2015.

SOHO SHOPPING & PASTRY CHEFS. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THEM? PROBABLY NOT, WELL READ THE DAY AGENDA OF CLARIDGES' PASTRY CREW!

And you will be in awe of them and all the other men and women around the world who cater for us.

The following is from an interview with Ross Sneddon, head Pastry chef at Claridges' Hotel in London.

'We currently have 16 pastry chefs but Claridges is a big operation, it runs 24 hours a day and that will be production and service.

Throughout the night the guys will make croissants and the Danish pastries so they are baked fresh ready for the morning and then in the morning we'll start to prepare the fruit and the breakfasts for the rooms and the restaurants.

That will then lead into 'Elevensies' which is served in the Foyer and then it's into lunch service and banqueting and conferences and then it's afternoon tea which is a focus for us and then it's dinner for the restaurants, the rooms and the bars; it's a full on day!

HoleyMoley.. it does make you think, doesn't it?

She just bakes when she 'feels' like it.. imagine 'feeling' like this every day, apart from days and time off, week in and week out? But these guys and gals do it, because they really, really want to!

No half-hearted workers work in the catering business at this level of expertise, for as he so rightly said "It's a full on day".. every day!

Talking about food reminds me that she was out and about in one of her favourite areas of London yesterday. SOHO.. and to where did she go and what goodies did she come home with?

First up..
The Algerian Coffee Shop,
52. Old Compton Street, London W1. Tel: 0207 437 2480. www.algcoffee.co.uk
She bought Brunette & Santos and Algerian Special, their January special. They sell the very best quality coffees from all over the world and speciality teas, coffee makers, filters and NOUGAT.. get back behind the counter, you naughty sweet!

Next.
I Camisa,
61. Old Compton Street, London W1. Tel: 020 7437 7610. www.camisa.co.uk
She bought Parmesan Cheese. They're purveyors of FABULOUS Italian foods, fresh and packaged.

Lastly.
Loon Fung Supermarket. 42 - 44. Gerard Street. London W1. Tel: 020 7437 7332.
A big bag of Choi Sum, Lingham's Malaysian Garlic & Chilli Sauce (2), vegetarian Noodles. They sell everything you could possibly want in the way of Oriental food, fresh and packaged.

The first two shops are outstanding and where she has been shopping since she came to London in 1967. There used to be another branch of I Camisa, it was in Berwick Street but that shop closed twenty years ago, goodness me, is it that long ago already?

She has been shopping at Loon Fung in Gerard Street for about forty years, she remembers them opening and being delighted to get Chinese vegetables and other items which are necessary for her diet, because..

You can take the child out of a Malay kitchen but you can't take the love of Malay food out of the child..

Berwick Street used to have a thriving food market along three quarters of the street, from the Marlborough Street end right down to the passage where Raymond's Review Bar is / was(?). But the area has been 'tarted' up, where I Camisa was is now some plate-glass fronted something or other.

There were only three barrows there yesterday, the Fishmonger wasn't there, maybe he is there on a Saturday but she always had a cup of his Whelks in the old days. And he always got a Spider Crab for her if she asked him in advance.

Borovick, 16. Berwick Street, London W1. Tel: 020 7437 2180. This wonderful fabric company is still there, as are the other fabric shops, too many to mention!

Kleins, 5. Noel Street, just a pace or two off Berwick Street, London W1. Tel: 020 7437 6162. This amazing Haberdashery shop is still there, if you are an amateur needle person or a professional, you should know about this shop.

Now there are lots and lots of other shops that she uses and loves in Soho but that's your lot for today!

Time to set about our day, we have started it very slowly as it was so chilly-billy when we woke up that we went back to bed, the two of us, yes, we went snuggley-buggley under the quilt and dozed for two hours. The shame of it! Such bliss.. so cosy!

Well, she did walk a very, very long way yesterday and so today is an 'At Home' day, she has a couple of things to do for friends and some sewing, a much beloved, old cashmere dress by Jean Muir has a tiny hole which needs to be darned as does a black sweater.

Whoosh, the recipe for Chocolate Salami has gone to Joe in Canada and we hope to hear that he will be making them at the week end, she is making one this afternoon.

Then later on today we will tell you about a wonderful programme we saw last night on BBC4. About Appaloosa horses and a quest for their geographical origin.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 22nd, 2015.

SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS.. A show called 'Rubens and his Legacy' comes to the RA.

His paintings will be on show at The Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London W1 in three days time, January 24th until April 10th, 2015.

Are you familiar with his work?

Have you ever been to the sole surviving part of The Palace of White Hall, as it used to be written in the time of Charles 1st, the place I am referring to is, of course, the Banqueting House.

The painted ceilings are actually canvases which were painted in 1634 - 35 in Rubens's studios in Antwerp, they were rolled up, then shipped, no DHL in those days, and installed.

His work is glorious, rich, very detailed, his portrayal of the human skin and fabrics are remarkable. Do you know the word Rubenesque? Look at his voluptuous paintings, including several portraits of his second wife Helene, and you will truly comprehend the word.

She can think of nothing better than having a delicious lunch in Chinatown, taking a short stroll along Shaftesbury Avenue to the Royal Academy and spending an afternoon looking at Rubens's seventeenth century masterpieces.

Spoilt for choice in London? Absolutely. Lucky us. Go and see them.. in fact, go to Chinatown, have some DimSum, then stroll along Shaftesbury Avenue and 'walk' off your lunch looking at Rubens's work and rejoice in the fact that superb art is to be found everywhere.. you just have to go and see it!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 21st, 2015.

Senor Juan Antonio Perez Simon.. We thank you.

We do, indeed, thank you and so do and so will a huge amount of people. But why are we thanking this man, for what has he done to please us?

He is a Mexican art collector with the largest collection of Victorian art outside Great Britain and what he has done is to loan fifty two paintings from his private collection and to the Leighton House Museum where they are forming a wonderful exhibition of Victorian art.

It is a breathtakingly glorious collection, made even more beautiful because the paintings and the house, built in the 1860's by Lord (Frederic) Leighton, are of the same era. In fact, four of the paintings were painted in this house by him in this house.

Queen Ester by Edwin Longdsen, RA, The Roses of Hekiogabalus by Lawrence Alma-Tademas (which is being exhibited in London for the first time since 1913!) and Crenaia, the Nymph of the Dargle by Frederic (Lord) Leighton are here and the rest of the paintings are as beautiful.

Albert Moore, Hohn Melhuish, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones are  a few of the artists whose works are shown but there are more.

Whatever your feelings or thoughts are on Victorian art, go and see this exhibition.. what a generous gift it is from this man to allow this collection to come to Leighton House Museum.

Go and wonder at the level of the artists' expertise and view truly superb art painted by some artists that she, phillistine that she is, had never heard of.

Hugo will have already been, for walls and locked doors and security grills are of no consquence to artists and art lovers no longer residents of this mortal earth.. he and her much beloved and sorely missed friend, Marina Orpen, will have surely been delighted by these exquisite paintings.

The exhibition dates are:

November 14th until March 29th, 2015.

The Perez Simon Collection,
Leighton House Museum,
12. Holland Park Road,
London W14.

Open 10.00 to 5.30pm.
Closed Tuesdays.
Ticket details: £10.00 or £5.00 with a National Art Pass.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 19th, 2015.

WINTERDALE CHEESEMAKERS & KINGCOTT CHEESE LTD. OH YUM.. KENTISH CHEESE.

West Peckham, High Halden, Tenterden, Biddenden, Wingham, Littlebourne and Sandwich are places in Kent, they are also places where she and her family lived in this glorious county.

With the exception of Sandwich, all of the houses she lived in were situated deep in the midst of farming land and a great many of her family's friends were farmers and all of the women, even if their farms were not 'stock' farms, had their own cows or goats, from whose milk they made cheese.

So it gives her enormous pleasure to introduce you to two new, to her, Kentish Cheesemakers.

WINTERDALE CHEESEMAKERS LTD are based near Sevenoaks.

Telephone: 44+(0) 1732 820021. Website: www.winterdalecheese.co.uk.

What has she tasted? Oh.. something scrummy, I can assure you of that! It was a piece of 'Winterdale Shaw', a traditional unpasturised, cloth bound cellar matured hard cheese. It was nibbled, just to check it was suitable for human consumption..... you understand..... and then grated very finely into a bowl of butter and herbs, rye flour was added and the dough is maturing in our chilly white larder for the next five days.

KINGCOTT CHEESE LTD are based near Staplehurst, a village she used to know very well.

Telephone: 44+(0) 1580 892478. Website: www.kentishblue.co.uk.

Yes. sirree.. Kentish Blue. A Blue Cheese! Yippee! Oh, slurp-the-durp indeed, what a magnificent cheese this is! For she is crazy-daisy about Blue Cheese and this one, folks, is a really good one. YUMYUM!

She gave it the same treatment, it is now tucked up with herbs and rye flour and nestling happily with the other doughs in chilly white larder.

Yes, if you're on the ball, you will have surmised that there are more than two balls of cheesey dough maturing. And how did she get her floury little paws on these Kentish Cheese.

Ah.. well, you see Debbie Goat took pity upon her and brought them up to London for her and whilst she was with Debbie today, she was given 4 ozs of 'Gruff' Goaty Cheese, it got the same treatment except the dough was made using spelt flour. Kind woman that, she'll go far, or rather, we hope she'll get back safely from Ludlow.

She and David Goatie are supposed to be going there on Tuesday, taking more kidlie-didlies to join the others who are starting a new Goat Herd. There are dire warnings about snow and extreme weather conditions.. not so happy making when you are towing a trailer full of animals.

So there you are folks.. now you have the contact details for three Kentish Cheese makers, the third is, of course, Ellie's Dairy, run by Debbie and David Goatie.

Telephone: 44+(0)7770 777 970. Website: www.elliesdairy.co.uk
Blog: elliesdairy@blogspot.co.uk
And they're to be found at lots of Farmer's Markets in London and at Penshurst, in Kent.

In fact, you should come and meet Debbie Goat and my mama at Marylebone Farmer's Market next Sunday. Just look for two happy faces grinning ear to ear and eating Malaysian Dumplings with Chilli and you'll have found them!

And taste and buy lots of Goatie Cheese and find out what great Kentish Cheese tastes like.

She's very proud to be able to say she lived in this county and even prouder of the fact that most of her time living there, was spent slap-bang in the middle of The Weald of Kent.. aka The Garden of England.

Bed time for both us dollies.. Enjoy your week Dear Readers.. stay safe and warm.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 18th, 2015.

PART OF THE RANSOM WAS PUT IN A TUB & TO HER ASTONISHMENT..

It became very cheesy indeed!

You see the 'Ramsom' which had to be paid to ensure the safe return of Wicker Wheelie, was to be paid in two parts.

The first part was a BIG Chocolate Salami to say "Thank you" to David Goatie for mending WW's chassis, the second part was to be paid to his 'Wheel Woman' .. aka Debbie Goatie. You will remember, if you are up to speed on my Blog, that she had made threatening noises about 'no biscuits, no trolley'.

We shook in our boots to think of life without our tall Wicker friend and so yesterday afternoon, she doubled the quantities of cheese, having to use cheddar as she had no more goatie cheese, then cut the enormous ball of dough into four pieces and placed them in chilly white larder to firm up.

Each portion was then rolled and flavoured with different things, the first with Bayou Seasoning, number two had Fennel seeds, the third had crushed Coriander seeds and the final piece was rolled slightly thicker and cut with a larger cutter, these pieces had additional grated cheese on top.

Strangely enough, they all took more or less the same length of time in our ancient Gas oven. Twenty to twenty five minutes at Gas mark 4, saw them appear golden and crisp!

Allowed to cool on drying racks, they had, of course, to be tasted.. as you do.. I mean, she always tested lamps before giving them to customers, so the Ransom had to be checked out as well, didn't it?

And then she opened up the tub of the biscuits she made using Gruff Cheese, one of Ellie's Dairy's hard cheeses.. and wow! The taste had matured! They were now very cheesy! And very morish..

"Stopstop", I cried, "for can you imagine life without tall Wicker Wheelie..", luckily she heeded my cry, put the lid back on the tub and put the tub into her basket! Phew.. that was a close thing, I thought to myself.

Up early this morning, into YumYum HQ, it was very dreary day outside with a wishy-washy pale blue sky, but hey, the street looked like a street and not a ski slope and, for that, we are grateful.

Her basket was loaded up with the giant Chocolate Salami for David, there was, in addition, a smaller one for Debbie, to be frank and honest, it was a big fat chocolately bribe, to ensure that David's got to him without being nibbled by the delivery person.. not saying who might have nibbled it but you've got a brain and can work out who it would be.. the ransom was carefully checked and loaded.

And off by high security route, aka a 22 bus, she went to Parson's Green Farmer's Market.

But there was NO Wicker Wheelie in sight! Instead, she was handed the keys to a grey van.

With a dry mouth and sweaty hands she unlocked the back of the van.. to find her dear old Wicker Wheelie in incredibly good shape! He rolled out of van, bounced on his old, but tightened up, wheels, then he bowed low to his jaunting partner and showed off his new base, made out of a stock fencing panel, together with his new U shaped front legs, made out of an electric fence post, which had been bent and locked into his existing handle.

David Goatie has done the most amazing job of totally reconditioning his chassis and he is now good for another twenty years, at least. Bowzer-Wowzer.. how much happier could they be?

Oh, she is thrilled to have her trusted WW back again. For tomorrow, she has to collect a tall lamp from a repair shop and a number of pieces from the Silver Platers in North London on Wednesday.

The ransom was handed over and so too was the gift to Salami to David.  They, Debbie, Mark, from the Baker's stall next door and she, all agreed that the best biscuits were the originals made with the 'Gruff Cheese' and the larger ones with the added cheese on top. Well, that's easy, isn't it.

Simples.. made them larger and add more Gruff Cheese.. but then to 'Gild the Gruff' as it were, Debbie cracked open a jar of CrabApple and Chilli jam, put a little on the biscuits and they popped it into their mouths with the jam side onto your tongue. I won't say another word.. I'll leave that edible combination up to your own taste buds and imagination!

She's home now, we had Fish-the-dish for our late lunch and some Rainbow Chard, I hope you know what this is, for it is mighty tasty to eat. Now, she is going to make dough and I am going to grind Beaky whilst sitting on Goosie Head, aka my perch in YumYum HQ.

Enjoy the rest of your day.  She's already thinking about next week, for Debbie reminded her that next Sunday is Marylebone Market.. aka DUMPLING DAY!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 18th, 2014.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES..

Well, it is not at all a sunny day like yesterday, the temperature has dropped and London is now experiencing what the rest of the British Isles has been doing for the past week.

She has places to go, Lidl, Bartek and the Library, yes, our favourite places get given Capital letters.

Stronger cheese is needed to ensure that Wicker Wheelie returns safely and is not trolley napped by Debbie Goat. Strange looking vegetables, Celeriac and Hamburg Parsley, are need for our own yumyum and new books are urgently for entertainment and knowledge.

Also there is an exhibition at the V&A Museum which she must go to before it closes. More later on this when she has been to see it.

There will be a post on another exhibition she has just been alerted to, again, more details will be posted later. And she will tell you about amazing The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, where she is going at the end of the month.

She looked positively sylph like yesterday, there were fewer layers of clothing, for cast aside was her t.shirt, just a light woolen sweater and there were no thick tights or leggings under her trousers.

But she's layered them back on again today, for it is chilly-billy indeed.

So I will sit up somewhere high, for heat rises, in our bedroom, no pole for me today, too cold.

Off we go, she's going out and I'm going up up and away.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 17th, 2014.

SHE AIN'T BAKING SAVOURY BISCUITS WITH WHEAT FLOUR AGAIN.. THAT'S FOR SURE!

It was a sunny day in London town.. so with a spring in her step off she went to walk up to Charles Street, she was heading for her club, The English Speaking Union. Oh, she surely loves this place, for it pleases the eye, Dartmouth House is an extremely fine building and it pleases her brain.. when she gets to use it at some do or other.. they organise a lot of do'es.

She received the programme of events for the London Region and put it down somewhere safe.. not clever, fatal in fact.. for she found it again only this morning and realised that she might have missed going on a great tour to.. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry!

But she squeaked in under the wire and sent off her cheque to pay for the tour and the dinner, yes, she still uses those old pieces of legal tender occasionally and very useful they are too.

Then went looking for her ESU Membership card.. drat.. it is only a piece of paper and I rather think it got jetisoned when she did her monthly clean-out of her wallet.

The nice secretary laughed and said "I will leave it at the front desk for you, when will you be coming in?" Hence her walk up to Charles Street and back. It was a grand day to be out in the fresh air, dry under foot and sunlight in her eyes.. a good day to take the air.

Her route rook her along Pont Street and into Belgrave Square. On the side street leading to the square is a department of the German Embassy. They have a little garden inside their railings, there are lots of Cyclamen in flower and what are those? Three pretty ladies in bell-like white dresses! Can you guess who they were?

Did you say "Snowdrops", well, you'd be right! Isn't that a bit early? They were not in bud either but fully formed on long stems, does nature know something we don't OR are they in for a nasty shock?

Through the square, and along the crescent where the British Red Cross Head Quarters used to be, left into the giant area known as Hyde Park Corner, and up to where St.George's Hospital used to be.

Which, in April forty years ago, was the scene of hours of dramatic surgery to save her life, bless that hospital and those wonderful medical crews. We get wet eyed just thinking about it and in the same hospital, but a different branch, are the teams who are taking such care of Sharon.

You remember Sharon, who was hit by the speeding motorist. Yes, she is still in hospital and will be for many, many months to come whilst she is being rehabilated and all those broken bones mend.

All because a man drove his car too fast and lost control. As we have written before.. just because your car can go at a hundred miles an hour.. YOU don't have to try and do it.

She stopped to read the plaque on the wall. Currently covered in scaffolding it is now a hotel called The Lanesborough. She read on to discover that the hospital, built in 1831, was built on the site of an old mansion called Lanesborough House. Now you know another titbit of information about 'our' city.

Through the arch and onto Park Lane, down and under the road and out up onto the other side, down Curzon Street, past those fancy casinos where people go to lose their money.. willingly.. no-one drags them up the steps, do they?

In the very olden days, she had a great friend who was the manager of one of the more famous ones, she would go there with his wife, they would dine like Empresses and then wander into the actual casino. It never ceased to amaze either of them as to the amounts of money that slid, usually only one way, across the baize covered tables.

Cutting up a side street she came into Charles Street, through the double doors and up to the desk and sure enough, there was her new card, she scribbled Shika a thank note, said "have a happy week-end ladies" and turned to retrace her tracks.

She came home via MailBoxEtc, they had laminated both of her British Library cards which stay safely in her wallet and her ESU card needed the same treatment. The nice smiley man said "I have a package for you, the card will take 15 minutes". And there.. was a bottle of Nettle Tincture!

From Christine. She is the nicest Herbal grower in Kent and who grows almost everything herself in a wonderful, very old walled garden. She supplies 'herself', as you would say if you were in Ireland, with Swedish Bitters, which is the magic potion which stopped all that silly medical problem she had for so many years.

GRANARY HERBS LTD,
TEL: 01622 737314.
www.granaryherbs.co.uk
Email: granaryherbs.christine@gmail.com.

They produce both creams and tinctures.

Her ESU card was laminated and home she came, to give me tea and to make some Savoury Biscuits.

She had promised Debbie Goat some and tried a new recipe using hard goats cheese and substituted spelt instead of wheat flour, no more swollen fingers thank you, she smiled like a wolf at me, it gave me a bit of concern for my safety I have to admit, and said "no no no.. no more wheat flour in our biscuits or cookies GeeGeeBugBug, let's try Spelt Flour instead". They look wonderful.

However, the cheese was not strong enough, it will have to be Parmesan and the amount of the seasoning, cheese and fresh herbs all need to be doubled, at least.

She sent a message to Debbie Goat telling her that they need more of everything but that this lot would be ok with a cup of hot black stuff, aka coffee, and received back the following.. which made her squeal with laughter.

"You had better bring some to PG (Parson's Green Farmer's Market) or you wont see your trolley again"..

Did you read that! Debbie didn't put an apostrophe after the n in won't!

With that, Dear Readers, I am off to watch some television.. of course, she will give you the recipe for these Savoury Biscuits, but not today, she will fiddle, as she always does, with the quantities of all the goodly ingredient things, for a chilli flake or two might not go amiss we think.

Off we go.. rootie-toot.. it's television time!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 16th, 2015.

EATING WINTER'S JEWELS!

How do you fancy munching a Ruby? Well, to be honest I am not talking about a Ruby in the form of a stone but a Ruby in the form of a Pomegranate seed.. but no fairer Ruby could you possibly eat.

Dear Readers, here is the list of ingredients and how-to-make it, aka recipe, of the dish we ate last night.

You will need..

A Red Onion, not too large, thinly sliced, she used the Mandolin.
2 Celery stalks, thinly chopped, again she used the Mandolin.
A minute amount of Caster Sugar.
Pinch of Salt.
2 Tablespoons of Lemon juice.
50 gms of fresh Hazelnuts chopped.
A thick slice of good bread, she used the Lithuanian Rye bread broken into pieces.
200 gms of Purple Sprouting Brocolli sliced lengthways.
100 gms of White Cauliflower flowers.
100 gms of Ordinary Brocolli flowers.
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil.
Fresh Parsley, a LARGE bunch! Roughly chopped. Stems and leaves.
200 gms of Pomegranate Seeds.
150 gms of crumbly Cheese, she used Ellie's Dairy Goat Curd.
Black Pepper.

Put the onion and celery into a bowl, add sugar and salt and lemon and mix well.
In a non stick pan, put a tablespoonful of oil and cook Hazelnuts and bread until browned, set aside to cool.
Boil pan of lightly salted water, add the Sprouting Brocolli for about 2 minutes, then add the Cauliflower and the Brocolli flowers and cook for a further 1 minute.
Drain these well and cool under running cold water.
When drained, add these to the onion and celery and toss well.
Scatter the Parsley, Pomegranates, cheese, hazelnuts and bread over the vegetables.
Pour over the remaining oil and grind Black Pepper over the top.

Crunchy nuts!  Precious Winter Jewels.. Just what we need on dismal days BUT, if you are living in the Northern Hemisphere, have you noticed.. It is no longer pitch dark at 4.00pm!

Yes, the Winter Solstice has been and gone and our days are getting longer.. yippee!

Now I am off to go and sit on pole and look at the passers-by. I heard one woman say yesterday "what a strange noise that telephone makes", strange noise!

Huh. The cheek of it, I thought I was whistling a pretty fine tune. I bet her cat or dog can't whistle like I can and do.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 16th, 2015.

A GLORIOUS WINTER SALAD & THE HAPPY NEWS ABOUT NIGELA SATIVA, AKA BLACK SEED, OIL!

Oh.. I wish that it was not so late! For we have just eaten the most delicious dish of vegetables.

It was both pleasing to the eye and to the palate, for it had colour and texture and here are a few of the ingredients just to tickle your taste buds with anticipation!

Purple sprouting brocolli, fresh hazelnuts and, my favourites, pomegranate seeds! It went very well with Goaty Curd. Doesn't it sound tasty?

We had such a happy email earlier this evening! 

Pegeen let us know that a doctor she saw recently was mighty impressed by the lack of scarring after undoing knee surgery.

Yes, well that's how good that magical Nigella Sativa Oil is. Plus it works on achy bones, muscles and is beyond fabulous for your skin.

Now it is my bed time, I'll give you a list of all the vegetable and other ingredients, plus the recipe tomorrow morning so that you can make it at the week end.

Good night Dear Readers.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 15th, 2015.

DO YOU HELP YOUR FRIENDS?

Well, do you? Yesterday it was her turn to help one of her most beloved friends, Susan, who taught how to make the traditional Danish Cookie.

They were talking quite early in the morning and Susan confessed to being 'frazzled' with the thought of seeing her accountant.

"No need for you to be frazzled darling" said my mama, "bake some cookies, get all your papers, receipts and things together and I will come and help you".

She took a box of large zipper storage bags from the store cupboard, went to Rymans to buy two accounting books and caught the bus to Streatham.

There was a vast, monstrous pile of paper awaiting her! Bank statements, bills and receipts to do with Susan's rental property, dividend notices, bills, receipts.. you name it, it was there.

She took half of the papers and explained to Susan what she wanted done with the other half. Aided by scrummy fresh coffee and LOTS of mini Danish cookies, they worked quickly and before long, there were neat piles of paper on the floor and on the table. Each pile was then put into the order of date.

First to be dealt with were the receipts, she separated them into two categories, personal and business, then she showed Susan the accounts book and explained the way to use the 'OUT' page for all the receipts pertaining to business.

Date, payee, subject, cash or bank. Simple.. Yippee.. receipts were entered, numbered and put into one of the twelve plastic bags, they had been marked for the twelve months.. January etc. Then they did the same with the 'IN' page. Next up were her personal finances, insurances, bank statements, dividend notes, pensions, personal expenditure bills and receipts.

With her doing the sorting and Susan writing in the books, the monstrous mountain of papers shrank to nothing, instead, there were containers of properly filed papers which corresponded exactly with two books. Susan smiled and said "bless you darling girl, I no longer have a knot in my tummy, my accountant will be thrilled and how easy it will be for me to do this now".

We are very excited because on Sunday she is going to bring Wicker Wheelie home! Debbie's David has reconditioned WW's chassis and he is ready to come back.. a classic example of one friend helping another.

So that's what friends are for, to mend all manner of things, to teach you how to keep books and how to bake cookies!

NO.. I did not write .. 'how to 'cook' the books'!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 15th, 2015.
Postscripts: What do you do to help friends?
And she LOVES being called 'darling girl' as she past approaches her 65th birthday!

THE FLYING COOKIES HAVE LANDED!

Yes, they flew through the air with the greatest of ease.. ONLY because they were 'to be signed for' and, therefore, could not be eaten by naughty people on the way!

Now we have to wait for their verdicts from The Cookie Monsters.. we have had one verdict from a friend who received a Salami for Christmas.. he said "it made him laugh so much".. for he received his 'Salami' all wrapped up in paper and string.

She would have loved to do that with the ones that flew to Canada and America but can you just imagine the fuss the xray image of a tied up sausage would have caused! So sadly those Salami Cookies had to go with no fancy wrapping.. but fear not Cookie Monsters, they taste just the same!

It is time to get on with our day.. which involves a search for very fine black wool, one of her favourite dresses has a tiny hole.

So foodle-the-doodle.. off we go.

GeeGee Parrot.

January 15th, 2015.

OH DEARIE ME.. I CAN NO LONGER MUTTER RUDE PHRASES OR WORDS IN HER DIRECTION.. THEY GAVE HER NEW HEARING AIDS!

She has been thinking that her hearing, which is dreadful to say the least, has been getting worse.

So along with the majority of this metropolis, she got up early in order to get on a bus, then she disappeared down a hole and went by underground to the Audiology Dept of her hospital.

A slip of a thing.. this means a very young girl in proper speech.. called her name and off they went into an office.

"What seems to be the problem" asked the technician and listen to her tale of woe. "How old are they, ah.. here's the answer to the problem, they're over five years old and the base unit needs to be changed, this is easy, but I am going to suggest that you come in for a hearing test and we look at what is going on with your hearing levels".

New base units were hooked up to the computer, the computer computed the information that it had stored in its' memory about her hearing levels, then the new units were slipped into her hears.. and as if by magic.. she could hear everything! Oh.. yippee..

Clever 'slip' of a thing!

Many thanks were given.. now out into what was suddenly a very noisy world! But at least when she goes out to dinner tonight, she will be able to hear what people say to her.

Unfortunately this also means she can now hear even the smallest rustle of a feather and know what I am doing.. I used to be able to do and get away with all sorts of naughty things.. sigh.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 13th, 2015.

LOTS OF IRISH READERS ARE READING MY BLOG!

Yes, it looks as if a lot of people in Ireland have found and are reading my Blog. For the information says that we had over 20 Dear Irish Readers today and it is not yet thirty minutes past the hour of three of the afternoon clock.

Is it because someone has told them that she used in live in Ballsbridge, an area in Dublin, or is it because they have found out that she is partial to, many drops of, the Black stuff, aka Guiness, or that she used to work in Co.Wexford? 

Or that she has a dear friend in Dublin, John J. O'Connell, who is an ace Architect specialising in the Georgian age and who has been working on the house that houses the Wallace Collection for more years than she can remember.

Or has Casey, a dear friend who lives in between Co.Clare and New York City, told her friends about us?

Who knows! We will never know unless you, aka they, tell us but people are mighty lax about writing comments at the end of my posts.

Sad that, for we want to know if you are as mad as us, or just enjoy reading about our, sometimes, strange ways. 

And talking about 'strange', which we weren't but I now will.

What sidles or springs to your mind when you hear or see the word 'Barking'.. do you think of a dog making particularly canine noise, or perhaps the town in Essex?  Well, it has been brought to our attention by Debbie Goat that she applies it to us.. my dears.. the shock!

But she uses it in conjunction with another word.. I wonder if you can guess what it is? It is a short word made up of only three letters.. a BIG clue for you is I have already used it once in this post.

ChopChop.. hurry-scurry.. do a Fandango to get brain working.. cast your eyes back along each line until it SPRINGS into sight and down into your consciouness..

Barking Mad.. is how she described us, either her or me, we have yet to interrogate her with a savoury wheat free biscuit on this subject as to whom she was referring to but yes, down in Kent in Goatie Land, they call us by this most unfortunate phrase.

My only fear is that others will realise that, without a doubt, she is right.. sigh.. and actually the main shock comes because it has taken this Goatie mum so long, over three years to discover this.

But never mind.. because we have things to do and places to go.. PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.

January 12th, 2015.

WE HAVE MOST EXCELLENT NEWS TO SHARE WITH YOU..

She and I were busy reading the Sunday papers on line, well, she was reading them, the print is a bit small for my beady eyes, don't forget I am perched on her head so I am not that close to iPad's screen, she reads the interesting, to me, articles out aloud.

There sounded the cerchink noise that alerted us to arrival of a text message.

Opening Mr.Samsung, she tapped on the message icon and up came a message from Debbie the Goatie Mum.

She has reported that David.. aka Master of Machines & Engines.. has worked his magic upon our poor sick WW.. Wicker-Wheelie.. he now has a new bottom and handle and is ready to come home!

Would she be at Parson's Green Farmer's Market this coming Sunday.. Hello.. is the Pope a Catholic? The answer is, of course, yes.

She Who Should Be Obeyed and her priceless Porcelain carrier, tall Wicker-Wheelie, will be reunited.. It will be quite a 'wet-eyed' occasion. I am She Who Fies, just in case you have forgotten..

And we have just been informed by another text message, that he has a new front leg.. ooh, that indeed will raise his standing in the neighbourhood again.

She has promised that she will perform many Jowly-Bowes and that I will perform a Tribal Act. That may well be well, however, I will have to scratch old Beaky and Nape very hard to come up with one of those, as SHE is my tribe and I have never been to a Theatre, so I don't quite know what to do.

I LIE.. I know The Funky Chicken Dance! Now, that's a very special act!

Oh, that's alright then.. phew.. for a moment or two.. I felt 'slightly' warm under my wings.

Back to watching this programme which has just started on George Gilbert Scott, his son and grandson, his Gothic Architecture, we can "stand at ease men".

For tall Whicker-Wheelie is a'ready to come home.  How nice is that? Huh, we call it very nice.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 11th, 2015.

SHE HAS ENTRUSTED BIG WICKER-WHEELIE TO DAVID.. VIA DEBBIE.

Whom she does not know.. gulp.. but he is a Goatie dad, so he must be ok.  

Yesterday she had to deliver some Salami goodies to Myra but both Wicker-Wheelies were left behind.

Oh.. you not realise that there are two? 

The bigger one has a much taller basket which is in perfect condition, however, his metal base is broken, which she has makey-do mended several times and his 'standing' leg broke off a long time ago.

The shorter WW, who is much older, has a basket which is badly damaged at the top. One day, she keeps saying she will do this but it is yet to happen, she will cut willow sticks at the allotment and reweave and repair the top section

One night in December, she and tall WW were coming home from the market, he was full to the brim with vegetables and bottles and as she lifted him off the bus, his metal handle broke at the base and started to slide up through the basket work.

Oh dear.. poor Wicker-Wheelie, for with a loose, damaged handle, which she was unable to mend, and his already patched broken bottom, what was his future? Pretty dire, to say the least.

She mentioned this to Debbie Goat on a day before Christmas when they exchanged gifts and greetings. 

Wise Debbie Goat listened to this sorry tale but said nothing, however, she recounted it to her partner in Goaties.. David.. aka The Master of Machinery and Engines.

Then Debbie sent her a text telling her to bring poor, sick WW to the next Farmer's Market after the New Year.

Which is why she went to Balham with big WW yesterday, there was no bouncing about though and he carried nothing in his basket, she held him most carefully as she went up and down stairs and on and off the buses and trains that she had to take.

And then she had to leave him there with Debbie. It seemed very strange to walk up the steps to the street and away from her Wicker friend.

People, undoubtely strangers and unsentimental at that, will say, "it is only a basket on wheels, get over it and besides, you have the other one".

Yes, sentimental undoubtedly. For her tall basket has enabled her to transport many, a carefully wrapped, very valuable vase or lamp and many clients have smiled at her form of transport, her feet, but they knew that she never broke a client's lamp or vase in all the years she worked for them.

It is much safer to roll it along than to carry a large piece of porcelain with a heavy wooden base.

So off to Kent he has gone. 

We today awoke to a very sunny day but.. oh.. so chilly-billy and she fed me a new bread which caused a major 'ump-the-dump in the YumYum HQ this morning. 

Apparently, Messrs Lidl are having problems with the supply of my favourite dark rye with sunflower bread and there is none to be had! Gulp.

This is awful news! Much searching is being done on line to see if she can find a recipe for such a tasty thing, we know it has molasses in it, this narrows the search considerably, but all that seem suitable are 'talking' about making the Rye SourDough starter, and, as all you bakers will know, that ain't a quick thing!

So now in 'stock' is a bag of Spelt and another of Dark Rye flour, she will attempt to make a heavily seeded Soda bread for tomorrow and start the Starter for a Rye SourDough.  

FlapFlap.. watch this space.. we might have a new recipe to give you, in the meantime we ate Fish-the-dish for our late lunch-early supper.. FlapFlap.

Then we got a call from LazyBoyBruce, his brother, David, also our cousin, died last week and  Bruce and the family went to the mainland to join their sisters and attend David's funeral. 

Life, dear Readers, life. "Enjoy it" as Bruce said to her "for it is mighty short". True, dearest cousin, very true.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 11, 2015

CONTACT DETAILS FOR AINSWORTHS - HOMEOPATHIC CHEMISTS.

Very remiss.. many apologies, we did not give you the contact details for Ainsworths, the Homeopathic Chemists, who saved the day when she had that Anaphylactic shock.

Ainsworths (London) Ltd,
36. New Cavendish Street,
London W1G 8UF.

Tel:           (44) 020 7935 5330.
Website:    http//www.ainsworths.com

Yes, Homeopathic remedies work on animals.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 7th, 2015.

Saving money AND lives.. yours and other peoples.

A thought provoking title and you would be right. So read on Dear Readers and all will be revealed.

Because I live with her and she is mindful of my health (and hers), she never uses chemicals of any kind to keep our home clean.

She relies upon 'old fashioned' products such as soda crystals, beeswax polish, various essential oils, white vinegar, hot water, a little 'pokey' thing made out of twisted wires and short, stiff bristles which cleans bottles and vases and a good, old fashioned scrubbing brush.

We do not use paper kitchen towel.. ever.

You may remember that last year she saved herself a LOT of money by realising that a blocked filter in our washing machine might be the reason it was behaving in a delinquent fashion.

Sure enough, the filter was completely full of tiny threads and a few minute stones! (From whence they came, we have never discovered). 

When it was cleaned and replaced into the base of the machine, you could almost hear the sigh of relief as the, now very happy, machine roared into life and span at a furiously fast spin!

Yippee.. this represented a saving of at least a couple of hundred squiddly-diddley.. aka £200.00.

All the drains get a weekly treatment of Soda Crystals followed by boiling hot water. This gets rid of any build-up of grease, dirt and keeps them smelling fresh.

You are wondering why the title says 'saving lives' aren't you? Well, unfortunately, a lot of people do not think of their drains until they become blocked. 

They go and, horrifyingly but quite legally, purchase strong chemicals in the hope that these dangerous substances will power their way through the blockage and the drain will be cleared and cleaned.

The recent death of a Plumber in London was caused by Drain Cleaners! Yes, you read that right.
This poor man was overcome by fumes and died and the occupants of the home were also poisoned.

I don't know if it was the product he was using which was deadly, the family, whose drain it was, may have already used some product and the combination of two products then proved to be fatal.

Don't risk your life or your family's lives by using 
chemicals in your home. Use Soda Crystals, hot water and White Vinegar to keep your drains clean. 

I will be back soon on the subject of an evil chemical that you may subject your body to EVERY day. Yes, folks, I wonder how many of you use Liquid Soap on all parts of your body?

But now it is time for me to investigate what she plans to feed us, a little fish would not go amiss.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 7th, 2015.

OH OUCH! HOT NEEDLES UNDER THE FINGER NAIL.. OH.. OUCH INDEED!

Oh dear, oh oh oh.. oh woe was she.

Many years ago, she was told that certain foods did not really suit her digestive system and so, with the exception of tomatoes, she has stayed away from them.

Wheat was something she was always wary of, for its' effect was pretty much instaneous upon her and so that was a no brainer. It, strangely enough, was not bad in pasta or pizzas but in bread form.. well, hello very bloated tumtum, this is why we eat the Lithuanian Rye bread. No yeast & no wheat.

As you know, she grows our tomatoes at home in giant pots as there is nothing nicer than having a just picked yellow beef tomato and egg for breakfast (or at any time).

We grew lots of the Plum varities this last year, she made them into Zaira's Sauce, bottled some and froze the rest.

Autumn came and went, the last little Cherry tomato was picked in October, brave little soul, and we got on with eating other food.

Until before Christmas she thought to herself, I was not consulted in this matter, yum, meatballs with tomato sauce. What could be more delicious? She took the sauce out of the freezer and went off to get a mixture of beef and pork mince from the lubby-jubbly butcher in the North End Road.

Truly scrummydumptious smells lured me to YumYum HQ's door. Oh, I just love meat balls and I always get given my very own to Beak to my hearts delight.

What a supper.. how easy to cook and eat they are, a quick munch and slurp and they are gone, leaving only a red trace on the plate to show there had ever been anything there.

A quick swish with a brush, plate and dish into the dishwasher, a glass of water to swill down her evening pills and we went to settle down and do Christmas cards and present making.

We went to bed quite late, I went first and then she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get into her night clothes. It was when she was putting her toothbrush into the pot that it happened.

Suddenly, an intense pain shot underneath her first finger nail and up her finger. Wow.. what was that? And as she looked at her hand, all the knuckles on her right hand seemed to double in size.

She had heard of reactions like this but had never experienced such an occurence herself. She took Five Flower Remedy (Healing Herbs Ltd) immediately and rubbed Arnica gel onto her hand, they helped enough to reduce the pain and she went to bed.

How very sad, she thought to herself in the morning, no more tomatoes for me, that's sure and although the joints remained swollen and she could not wear any rings on this hand over the holidays, it 'sort of slipped her mind'.

Yesterday we had a couple of friends to tea, they all squeezed in somehow amongst the drying racks and she broke open a delicious Panetone and made proper tea in Granny's teapot. It makes very good tea, that pretty old pot!

Yumyum. munch munch, such a delightful taste, have another slice, don't mind if I do, they all said.

Fast forward to this morning, she got up to put the rubbish out onto the pavement.. ugh.. rain. So she came back into our bedroom, whispered to me and lifted me out of my cage, we got back into bed under the bed clothes and snuggled for another hour.

Then it was time to get up.. sigh.. for I dearly love snuggly-cuddles underneath the duvet, especially if she stays awake and scritch-n-scratches my new feathers on my neck.

So get up we did and off we went to the YumYum HQ, she opened the door and using her first finger switched on the light. OUCH.. that evil pain shot up her finger, bit her knuckle and as she looked at her hand, they all started to swell up.

Bugger this for a game of soldiers she said.. and went and got dressed, we broke our fast very quickly and before I knew it, she had packaged up two cookie packages and was a'heading out of the door.

She flew off to the local Post Office, two packages are now flying to Canada and the USA, and she then hopped a bus to Oxford Street. Heading where? You may well ask.. most people would have taken a couple of strong pain killers.. and telephoned the Surgery.. not her.

No, she was heading for Ainsworths, based in New Cavendish Street, they are probably London's most famous Homeopathic Pharmacy and she knew, if anyone could help her, it would be them.

For every person who works behind the counter in Ainsworths IS a fully qualified Homeopathic Chemist. A lovely woman, who has served her many times, listened to her tale of woe, looked at the swollen knuckles, asked several questions, consuted her Remedy 'Bible' and said 'Apis, for it is not Gout, you don't have the hotness.. this is what you need to do and how long you need to take them for'.

She thanked the lovely woman, shook one tablet into the bottle top and tipped it underneath her tongue. Drugs taken under the tongue reach the blood stream 3 to 10 times faster than taking them orally (by swallowing), in fact, they are taken almost as fast under the tongue as by a direct injection into a vein.

And the cost.. £6.18..

It was because she has had no tomatoes or wheat for so long that the reactions were so severe. But she is lucky that the swelling only happened in her hands.. some peoples' allergic reactions can be in their throats and then you are talking about a whole different sort of problem.. wheat and tommies.. sigh.. she does love her tommies but she sure don't love that nasty old pain.

That nasty old pain in her first finger and the swollen knuckles had prevented her from using a knife and from closing her hand into a fist.

The pill was taken in Ainsworths at four of the afternoon clock in a clean mouth, this means you have had nothing in your mouth for 20 minutes and you don't put anything into your mouth for another 20 minutes after taking a Homeopathic remedy of any kind.

We had supper at a quarter past seven, not so very long after taking that tiny pill, she cut the cabbage and carrots and turned out the light. Bless that kind and clever Chemist.. her Homeopathic remedy is doing the trick.. for there was no ouch in the finger and she can make a fist, a wonky fist but at least the fingers all bend.

It would be 'nice' to be able to wear jewellery again, especially as she has been invited to a very swish dinner next week.. and her fingers could scritch-n-scratch better if they were more nimble, couldn't they?

GeeGee Parrot.
January 6th, 2015.