GOING COLD TURKEY.. GULP!

WHAT! Ugh.. please don't all shout at once.. she may be deaf but I am not. Oh! I've got it. You think she's coming off drugs? Well, you're right and the withdrawal symptoms are not going to be pleasant, I can assure you.

For she always drinks two cups of very strong black coffee in the morning but from now, Dear Readers, she won't. Let me tell you what happened today in order for her to stop drinking her daily brew of Vellutto Nero.

After a very pleasant lunch with Hilary, who has more letters after her name than most people and who was a British Army doctor (Psychiatrist), she took herself off to Baldwins on the Walworth Road to get Tincture of Myrrh, yes, Myrrh just like what one of the Three Wise Men gave to Mary.

And went next door to speak to the manager, Tim, about something, somehow the conversation turned to digestion. She said something about having to have yet another Colonoscopy in November and Tim, quick as a flash, said "Do you drink proper coffee?" she replied "yes", his response was quite shocking "Stop immediately, for it is seriously not good for you if you have any digestive problems. It interferes with your natural rhythm and destroys 70% of any supplement, or goodness from food or pro-biotic that you are taking".

Now, Dear Readers, if it had been anyone else, she'd have put an agreeable look upon her face, made the right noises and scampered out of the shop as fast as her long legs could take her, but this was Tim, a knowledgeable man who knows a huge amount about stuff and taking care of your body.

So tomorrow folks, I am glad to say she has an appointment at ten of the morning clock and has to be out of the house.

Now.. last night at the ESU.. it was far too exciting to spill it all here, it needs its' own post and I'll give it one but not tonight. I am tired and we have an early start tomorrow. We wish you well wherever you may be, remember to always walk on the sunny side of the street and remember to be grateful for what you have in your life.

We have: clean running water, food, a roof over our heads, a dry bed, a bit of money, a few friends. I have her and she has me.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 30th, 2015.

NO MORE DISHPAN HANDS OR ROCKY NIGHTS!

Because The Wizard has been and fitted the new switch in the dishwasher, which cost a couple of pence under £10.00, and.. WHIZZ.. it works again!

He crawled underneath the bed ~ you'll be relieved to know she vacuumed there yesterday ~ to look at the makings of the bedframe, then went to Leyland's to buy eight wide right angled brackets and having manoeuvred the frame into the right poition, he fired up an electric drill amd hey presto, hey-li-cheese that wobbly old bed frame can't rock about no more!

She, meanwhile, brushed and power washed the steps, pruned back leggy herbs and spoke sharply to one of the Calamondin Orange trees who is not 'perking' up again. Huh, in fact half of him is dead and has to be cut back, poor little trees. They were so happy and full of leaf and blossom until they had to come inside because of the scaffolding and exterior work that had to be done.

Although they were in the bathroom, where you would think there would be enough moisture in the air, but no, they hated being inside, dropped most of their leaves and not one blossom is there to be seen. Two of them have put out new shoots off the major stem but the half dead, well, he's half dead.

Scrummy lunch! A large handful of butternut squash and sweet potato were boiled and in their final few minutes of cooking, she added a handful of skinny beans and a small amount of brocolli, this was placed onto a bed of home grown wild rocket with dollop of COUSCOUS and topped off with a dollop of goaty curd.

The bag of polenta has left the house! In a bag with some goodies that she gave to Rob, badbad polenta, who would have guessed it is SO fattening!

She has to do a couple of errands and then it will be time to change out of her step-scrubbing clothes, wash, put on some face and go off up to the English Speaking Union.

Me, I have had a very exciting day! It's not every day we have visitors who bring such a weird noise making machine (aka powerful electric drill) and who crawl about under beds and do magical things to the whooshwhoosh white box in the kitchen!

So I am quite content to stay at home and digest delicious yumyum. She will tell me about her evening when she gets home and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Farewell from London.. where it has been an extremely happy day in our house.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 29th, 2015.

POLENTA'S FATTENING. BUT OUR MUCH BELOVED COUSCOUS & FREEKEH ARE NOT! WHO KNEW?

Well, she didn't, but she does now having done her weigh-in yesterday morning, for her weight loss was only a lb! This small amount was entirely due to her having scoffed quite a large amount of delicious bread from a new - to us - bakery, whom we will write about in another post, and eating polenta twice because she had run out of couscous.

No excuse, she forgot to get a packet when she bought my hummus. Freekeh takes longer to cook, and polenta is quick like couscous but she was shocked to hear from several people today as to exactly HOW fattening it is! So she missed her half way target by half a lb.. grrr..

But never mind, she's now lost 16.5 lbs and her dodgy knees and right ankle are happy, they'll be even happier when she loses the other lot as well but the great thing is, because she is doing this slowly, that everything is shrinking! Yippee.. who wouldn't be pleased with a loss of five inches from their waist line?

The Wizard is coming today.. hurray.. to fit the replacement bit into our dishwasher and to help her mend the bedframe, it needs two people and Rob's our man! Such a gem.. a qualified electrician, plumber and an ace carpenter! AND a highly trained computer engineer! Everyone should have a Wizard in their life, we bless a lovely friend Pamela for introducing us to him.

And in the evening she is attending a lecture at the ESU.. English Speaking Union.. on Bite Sized Science. How lucky we are in London to have these wonderful places where you are able to listen to these men and women talk who are experts in their field of knowledge.

I will tell you all about the three subjects tomorrow, after she's had lunch with Hilary at New Horizons and played the general knowledge quiz that happens every Wednesday. Thursday she'll be gardening as Friday.. gulp.. Richard, the gas engineer is coming to look at possibly having to replace our entire heating system!

Yes.. exactly.. BIG gulp! This one is over forty five years old and wonky, to say the least, but now deemed illegal because of new regulations on flues etc. Concrete floors.. pipes in them.. me thinks we might have to move out whilst the work is being done.. ugh.

So there we are.. but hey, don't let me get ahead of myself, for it is only the middle of the night, not yet Tuesday morning!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 29th, 2015.

THERE'S A THIEVING MOUSE IN OUR HOUSE!

Not a joke.. about three weeks sgo she went out to supper wearing a pretty pair of amber tear drop earrings, upon returning home and before going to bed, she removed the earrings and left them, as she always does, in a small Tibetan bowl that sits on her desk.

The next day she had things to do and people to see and didn't think about putting the earrings back into their rightful place until late in the evening.. but when she went to the bowl.. how weird? For there were the two butterfly clips but only one earring and it was nowhere to be found or seen.

Today she went out at midday and came back too late to go to the allotments and as the weather was iffy, to say the least, the idea of a bit of Autumn cleaning came to mind. She opened the boiler room door and brought out the carpet cleaner, checked the filters were clean, filled the tank and went into our bedroom.

Brrrmm.. such a great machine! Despite the fact that it uses water and not steam, the suction power of this Bissell EasyWash is such that the carpets are almost dry when you finish. Having put the rug back, she did that as well. Then after moving a couple of little storage boxes, she turned on a table light and went to do underneath the table upon which my cage sits.

Huh.. Master or Miss Mouse has been sitting here munching stolen Monkey Nuts.. for there were the empty shells but WHAT was that! And there, yes, you've got it, there was the missing earring and a tiny piece of crystal that she hadn't missed that also lives on her desk!

Now, she hadn't flung it there, the butterfly clip had been in the bowl and most strangely of all, the pin on the earring had been bent as if someone had been trying to .... who knows! But she did sterilise it quite carefully before she put it away in its' box with its' twin.

Strange things happen in our home which aren't explainable, I'll tell you about them instead and see if any of you can fathom them out.. for we can't!

Monday tomorrow.. I wonder how her weigh-in will go? I'll tell you when she comes back home. But we've got to go 'cos she got a scary book to read and it's nearly my bedtime. But we do have to play at least one game of chase the almond before then.. so PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 27th, 2015.

BLESS MONEYSAVINGEXPERT.COM WOW.. 4G MASSIVE PRICE HIKE IN UK! READ ABOUT IT HERE.

Bless Martin Lewis and his financial website. MONEYSAVINGEXPERT.COM

For he has just exposed the fact that the big UK Mobile providers.. 02.. EE etc are, apparently, going to be charging their UK customers a LOT more money to use their mobile (cell / portable) phones to access the internet. So your so-called Smartphones sitting in your bags and pockets are all potential financial timebombs!

There are several things you can do to avoid this massive hike in prices. But the best way is to go into SETTINGS and switch OFF Mobile Data. Unfortunately, most people are now so used to being able to access Google.. Twitter.. Facebook.. their emails or to read the papers on line that they won't do this.. well, they're in for a big shock when they get their bills next year!

She pities parents who pay the bills for their teenage children, for every child you see is attached to one!

She is hideously frugal and makes sure that, unless it is absolutely necessary she gets an email or needs a piece of information whilst she is out and about, her mobile data is always switched off and as she doesn't trust those free WiFi that lurk in public places, her mobile, for most of the day is just that.. a mobile phone and not a mini-computer.

When she comes home, she switches on the WiFi to connect to our own WiFi. And then usually she switches the beast off, for she has an iPad to use for accessing the 'net' and who wants to swint at a small screen when you can read it on a bigger or even larger one if you have a computer - laptop?

Her bills are tiny, very rarely does her monthly bill go over the amount and when it does, well, she knows the reason!

For although Northern Ireland is recognised as UK and you can chat to Belfast or Derry for free, the Isle of Man, which although geographically is nearer to our mainland, is not counted as part of the UK and she pays a hefty price to talk or text our Cousin Bruce.

Start NOW, get into the habit of switching OFF from 4G, if you're lucky enough to get that strength some folk don't get anywhere near that band and are still on 3G or even 2G, whilst you're out and about. If you're travelling.. travel! If you're at work.. WORK!! And if you're at home.. connect to your own WiFi connection.. Simples!

For what she has yet to quite understand is the following.. The masts are up already to connect to the Airwaves, this, theorectically should mean that the technology costs should be going down and yet we are being warned that the costs to her provider, EE, are going to triple at least and they will be passing the costs onto their customers.. aka us!

"Bugger that for a game of soldiers" was her rather impolite response when she read this yesterday.. "I'm not going to pay more, in fact, I'm going to pay less".

But look, it's time for our very late lunch! Whilst She's been waiting for a telephone call from Bissell ~ who are the makers of the best, most FABULOUS cleaning machines ~ she's had her trusty Bissell carpet cleaner out and has done 'Hazel's' rug, more about that in another post, after they call, she's off to Streatham to purchase a present for soneone.. more later!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 26th, 2015.

THE SKY IS BLUE.. THE SUN IS RIS.. YOU'RE WONDERING WHERE DIS BIRDIE IS. SOME PEOPLE SAY DE BIRD IS ON DE WING BUT DAT'S ABSURB, FOR DE WING IS ON DE BIRD.

Places to go and things to do meant that she was out and about much of today hence this late posting on my blog. When she returned the third time, I knew where she'd been, for she's sporting a chic blonde bob again, she'd been to lovely Anita to have her head scrub-a-dub-dubbed and her hair cut.

Tomorrow she is going with Pauline to the lecture by Jayne Shrimpton in the Old Town Hall at 2pm and as the lecture's subject is fashion, she thought she'd lick her hair back into shape and perhaps wear another dress!

Why the strange title? Well, when she woke up this morning at some ungodly hour, she opened the front door to find a staggeringly beautiful morning! The sun was coming up over the houses opposite, there was no traffic noise and it was fresh with all the promise of a wonderful day.

Much tooing and froing went on all day, much searching for piping bags and nozzles.. which she found.. a lot of sterilising of equipment and rinsing in boiling water. You have to do this when you're catering for other people and she's done a LOT of that in her time!

Her bag of knives and steel along with trays, mixing bowls, spices and seasonings are all packed in WW and she'll do as much prep work as she can tomorrow morning before the lecture which will make assembling the savoury hors d'oeuvres and sweet yumyums quicker tomorrow night.

No, I'm not going, it is not a Rotary do and some people, weird as it may seem, don't like birds.. why? Well, they're frightened of us. They think we are going to fly into them, WHY we would want to do such a daft, silly thing is beyond me but I will be at home.

But we do have the Wizard coming next Tuesday and that will be fun, HE isn't scared of me and I think he great! Dear Rob, he is such a kind and nice man.

So tomorrow she's out and about from 1.30 pm being social and Friday she'll be gardening, maybe I'll go, maybe I won't, it entirely depends on how I feel on the day. So my next post will probably be on Friday morning.. but before I go and just to make your mouth water..

Here are a few tasters.. core a sweet ripe pear, mix a little home made ginger syrup with goats curd into which you have put some very finely chopped crystallised ginger, put this mix into a piping bag and fill the hollowed out pear. Chill so the curd hardens, slice the pear in half lengthways with a sharp knife and then slice the halves.

Wasabi, curd and celery. Chopped walnuts, crystallised ginger and curd balls. Chilli and ginger sauce with curd in cherry tomatoes.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 23rd, 2015.

THE ELECTRICIAN HAS BEEN, THE DODO HAS POWER. BUT DO YOU THINK HE HAS THE GRACE TO SAY "THANK YOU"?

No, there isn't a hope in hell of the dodo upstairs thanking her, for he has no manners and is an unpleasant man, "ugh", is how the other residents refer to him.

Moving swiftly along, there was more rain, lots and lots more rain today, it was bucketing down when she woke up before 07.00 hours and apart from a short period of time in the early afternoon, it continued to do so for the reat of the day. London is looking very clean, the trees in the parks are very happy for it may not have been a hot summer but it was certainly a dry one.

She went up to Chinatown to get her favourite Soya Sauce, some other bits and bobs and a large bag of green Pak Choi, we ate it steamed with the remains of last nights couscous together with a little bit of poached chicken, supper was quick, nutritious and tasty.

Who knows Peter May, the crime writer? I'll post about him tomorrow as she read a book of his last night, it had a very clever twist in its' tale.

But now there is something she wants to watch on television, so it is farewell from the two of us but don't go too far way as I'll be back soon.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 22nd, 2015.

MINUS 4 LBS EQUALS HAPPY & SINGING IN THE RAIN!

YIPPEE.. and lots of joyful words were spoken when she got onto the scales today and registered a loss of 4 whole lbs in weight.. she gained 2.5 last week and was determind to shift the gain PLUS, hopefully, lose a bit more. She would have been content with 3lbs or even better 3.5lbs but 4lbs.. oh.. well.. foodle-the-foodle!

And it is true.. she now knows this to be absolutely true, IF you write it down, it can happen! She did try doing a log of what she ate each day on-line but it is not the same. She now keeps the weekly sheets in the kitchen and everytime she cooks and eats anything.. down it goes.. and as the only thing she eats outside of the kitchen is fruit, life is very simple!

This, Dear Readers, is not a dificult way to live, she'd rather write everything she eats down than have her dodgy knees whinging about how sore they are because they're carrying too much weight around.

Plus, she ate and drank sensibly at the book talk at the English Speaking Union on Tuesday night, which goes to show that you can still go out and about and enjoy yourself without blowing all your good intentions to the wind! And also be able eat things the like of which were given to her yesterday!

For supper tonight she threw a chopped up baby courgette, a carrot, part of a leek and a shallot into boiling salted water and added a teaspoonful of olive oil, then a few minutes later, she poured in a glass of couscous, put a lid on the pan and turned off the heat.

She took a small can of tuna in spring water and opened it to drain, hunted for her favourite bowl and put in crushed chopped garlic and other seasonings, by this time the couscous had absorbed the water, the vegetables had steamed and the tuna had drained. All she had to do was fork the couscous over and give it a good stir.

What a tasty supper, easy to digest and with a couple of large glasses of water, her tummy was happy and so was mine, for I am partial to everything that was on her plate and had a bit of this and lots of that.

So did she mind that it was tipping it down with good solid rain all afternoon? No, not one jot! Because despite getting her hair wet and her shoes soggy, both of which could be dried, she's thrilled as the allotment beds have all been dug over and IF it is going to be fine and dry for most of October, we certainly need moist earth in which she can plant our Autumn planting.

Now what else is happening this week?

Well, the dodo from upstairs has realised that the managing Agents are NOT going to fix his electrics and IF he wants the power back on in his flat, then he has to pay for his own electrician to do the work, so a man is coming between 12.00 - 13.00.

The Wizard will come to fit the new part to the dishwasher, he and Jorge will fix the bed frame, she'll buy the L shaped supports tomorrow. On Thursday after lunch, she and Pauline are going to hear Jayne Shrimpton give a talk on fashion at the Old Town Hall in Chelsea and that evening she's meeting Debbie Goaty mum in Balham to attend a Cheese and Wine do.. she's promised Debbie that she will NOT appear looking like she did on Sunday.. think of a farmyard tramp and you've got the idea of what she looked like.

The rain is with us for most of the week, so gardening will not be done again until Friday, I wonder if the Robins will be there, it was mighty strange not to have them bouncing about and snatching up those poor old centipedes the minute her fork turned them over.

So there you have our week, I am pretty sure she's up to something on Wednesdy but cannot remember what.. we'll find out when we get there!

FOUR lbs! This means a total loss of 15.5, she's back on a losing streak. Oh, happy days are here again, she was very unhappy last Monday, not happy at all!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 21st, 2015.

THE ENGLISH SPY by DANIEL SILVA.. finished at 04.15am.

Now we all know, 'cos I'm disloyal and have told you several times over the past four years, there are sometimes when she's not very bright. And what she did last night wasn't bright at all, read on Dear Readers and I'll tell you a tale to make you laugh and hurry-scurry off to your library or nearest book store!

As you know she gardened for many hours yesterday and was planning to do again today, heavy rain is expected tomorrow and also on Tuesday and she wanted to turn over the biggest beds in order that the water gets down into the soil.  The forecast is that October is going to be hot and dry.

And she was meant to be meeting Debbie goaty mum for a coffee at Parson's Green Farmer's Market.

So, having had that fresh and truly delicious sweet corn and some fruit for supper, she wrote and posted on my blog and then after she put me into my bed aka cage and drew my curtain, she went to bed and did the silliest thing.. she picked up the latest thriller by Daniel Silva, it is called THE ENGLISH SPY.

His books are brilliant! And this, Dear Readers, is no exception! Sadly, she knows a little bit about the dreadful goings-on that went on with the IRA, the Provos, The Orangemen and the troubles in Northern Ireland and also the way that it wasn't just the North that lived in fear.

She had a wonderful client who lives in the Republic of Ireland who was kidnapped in the mid 70's and ransomed for a million Pounds Sterling.. in the 70's.. you can hardly imagine how much money that would be now some forty years later. The ransome was paid but she admits that she still lives in a state of fear and is heavily guarded at all times.

Mr. Silva's latest book weaves a very intricate plot and the Irish situation features in it but when you're reading a gripping and exciting book.. what do you do? Well, you want to finish it to see what happens, don't you? So that's what she did, she turned out her bedside light at 04.15.. I rest my case.

For she was supposed to be with Debbie before 11.00am in order for her to then get to the allotments and do a good few hours digging and a'chopping away! She woke up late, I'm surprised I actually got any food as she looked to be still fast asleep but I guess she was on auto-pilot! Eggs were boiled, a grapefruit was eaten, coffee was made, hummus was dolled out.. so all was well!

She pulled on her gardening jeans and waterproofs, a t.shirt, a fleece, an oiled jacket, rubber boots and off she waddled to catch the 22 down the Kings Road. It was a gloriously sunny day and she got more than a few strange looks as she was dressed as if it was tipping it down, but it is easier to wear it than carry it and she was determind to clear the two reallyreally big beds.

But Debbie now has comfy yellow 'sofas' at the markets! Joke! They're not sofas, of course, they're the huge chillers in which she keeps the cheese, meat and milk that she is selling, but they're just the right height to sit upon whilst you slurp coffee and eat tasty things!

So being in 'slow-mode' she didn't leave the market until 2.00pm! Luckily, there is another way to connect with the little 190 bus that trundles past her allotment gate and she walked in the other direction to catch another bus that would connect with it at Hammersmith.

What a great day! Off with the jacket and fleece, on with long gauntlets and off to do battle with silly bushes and briars that have grown way beyond a reasonable height! Then the loppers were put back and she got out her big man-sized fork. It's huge and turns gound over easily and if you stand on it.. well, hence the expression "give it some wellie!"

Fork the soil up and over, leave the grass and weeds on top to die and the soil to dry on the weeds, this makes it much easier when you come along to shake the soil off.

Where were Mister or Master Robin? For there were lots and lots of centipedes and usually one or two Robins are standing just in front of her waiting for their wriggly treats, but there was no Robin working with her today.

What's she planting in the next couple of weeks? Everything that grows slowly like garlic, onions, shallots and she'll do an autumn planting of broad / fava beans, spinach, chard, winter salads, rocket. We might delay it a bit for if October really is going to hot and dry, because that won't be so great!

Our apples are wonderful! I like the stalky bit and she saves those for me. She's making windfall chutney tomorrow morning, that's why you save your good sized glass jars, for homemade chutneys and jams are easy to make, delicious to eat and who doesn't like receiving a jar of something delicious? Not us, that's for sure!

No picking up books tonight.. I can see a likely suspect lurking beside the bed.. it's called 'EXIT MUSIC by Ian Rankin, he's another author whose books she enjoys. But not tonight dear book, you'll be read tomorrow evening most probably.

For the time is now way past nine of the evening clock, she's full of fresh air as she worked hard today and digging and lopping down bushes is very good for all manner of muscles, they're tired and she's ready to go to sleep.

So goodnight to you all.. we hope you've got a happy week ahead of you with lots to do and see? We have but I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 20th, 2015.

TRUE TO MY WORD.. PLOP.. GOES A CHICKEN & SICILIAN SAUSAGE STEW..

Now we are more than lucky for we are blessed with the friendship of a young Sicilian woman called Daniela, her father is a butcher and she learnt at a young age how to make sausages.  She lives in London and sells them to friends.

So we are ahead of 'the game' as it were, for the recipe coming up has them in it, we asked Daniela for a recipe when she went back for a while to Sicily and, bless her heart, she gave us one. I don't know if it is exactly the same as the ones she sells but my mum has made these and they ain't bad.

So let's give you the sausage recipe first..

500g of minced pork.
50mls of strong red wine.
1 tsp of fennel seeds.
1 tsp of chilli flakes, try and chop them so that the pieces are not too big.
1 tsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary.
Freshly ground salt and pepper.

In a good sized bowl, combine all the sausage ingredients, mix very well and season with salt and pepper.
Taking a chunk at a time, roll the sausagemeat into a sausage shape, place them individually into a piece of tin foil which completely covers the sausage shape and wraps around a bit more and close the ends tightly by twisting them

Have a pan of boiling water, place the sausages into the water and poach them for about 3 minutes.
Scoop them out of the water and allow them to cool in the foil.
When cool, remove them from the foil and cut them into long chunks.

Now for the Chicken & Sausage with Polenta recipe.

You need..

1.5 litres of water.
300g of Polenta, the quick variety, not the slow cooking one!
150g Fontina cheese in small cubes.
150g unsalted butter.
150g freshly grated Parmesan.

1 large white sliced onion.
400g of chicken meat cut into chunks.
200g of your homemade sausages.
100ml dry white wine.
800g of chopped canned tomatoes.
8 tbp olive oil.
Salt & pepper.

A large pan for the polenta and a frying pan for the meat.

Bring the water to a fast boil with a little salt.
Add the polenta slowly and cook, stirring until it is smooth and thickened, this takes about 6 minutes, Add the cubes of Fontina, the butter and Parmesan and stir well to combine them all together.

In the frying pan fry the onion in the olive oil unti soft but not browned, add the chicken and the chunks of sausage.
Allow them both to brown a little, add the white wine and season with salt & pepper.
Cook gently for about five minutes, add the tomatoes and cook for about a further 20 minutes.

We love this dish.. and you will too.. dish up a big dollop of polenta and place the stew on top.

What we ate tonight was out of this world.. she has an allotment friend called Robert whose allotment edges she strims now and again. He greeted her to day with "Hey, thanks for strimming, would you like some Sweet Corn?".. what do you think the answer was?

We have just eaten one.. talk about huge and fresh and sweet and simply delicious! That was all she wanted, together with a couple of tangerines, what a lovely and very simple supper.

She found a real treat this week at the library. One of her favourite authors, Daniel Silva, has published a new book, it is called 'The English Spy', I cannot tell you anything about it as it is lying unopened on the bed, she'll start it tonight.

Off to see Debbie Goaty mum early tomorrow at Parson's Green Farmers Market, then onto the plots for a full days work digging and scratching. Then more fiddling around on Monday on behalf of that demented idiot upstairs.. sigh.. but as the weather forecast is for lots and lots of rain on Monday, with dry but unsettled for the rest of the week, it's ok and staying at home until 12.30am 'might' mean that some housework gets done!

FlapFlap.. I'm off to molest a cashew nut which she's just thrown to the end of the bed.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 19th, 2015.

BABY COURGETTES & SKINNY FRENCH BEANS WITH MINT..

This is food for the Gods.. so get yourselves to the nearest Farmer's Market and look for the smallest courgettes / zucchini and french beans you can find.

We're lucky that she has a barter system going with an allotment friend and she'll be picking these tomorrow, she has her eye on some tiny lamb chops at her butchers so we'll have this for supper on Sunday with couscous.

If you are lucky enough to have these at home in your kitchen garden, go on picking them when they're really small, for these plants will go on producing until old Jack Frost comes along to scatter his icy wares over the plots and most plants turn up their toes and wither.

You'll need the following for four people.

200g of trimmed french beans.
200g of small courgettes - the long ones or the ball types, chopped and quartered
Garlic, crushed and chopped, we use 4 cloves for this dish.
A bunch of Mint, we use Spear mint for this recipe. Chopped but not too finely.
4 tbspful of olive oil.
Freshly ground salt & pepper.
Juice of half a lemon.
A bowl for serving them in

Method.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil.
Add the beans and courgettes and cook for no more than 6 minutes, you want them very crisp!
Put the oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper into the bowl and mix well.
When the beans and courgettes are cooked, strain and put them into the bowl with the mix and add the mint.

Mix everything together well and leave them to sit.. don't cover the bowl.. for as long as you can, she makes this in the morning to eat at night.

We will be eating a lot of couscous, freekeh, polenta in the coming months, they're easy to digest and quick to cook, the next recipe I plan to give you is one of our favourite dishes. It is Chicken and Sicilian sausage stew with polenta and chickpeas. So don't go too far away, this will probably plop onto your screens at sometime tomorrow night!

For Autumn / Fall is upon us and 'proper' food needs to find its' way back to our tables and plates.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 18th, 2015.

OUR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOUR, WHOM WE CANNOT NAME BECAUSE HE IS VERY LITIGEOUS, IS BEHAVING LIKE A REAL PRAT.. HE DOESN'T SEE WHY HE SHOULD PAY FOR AN ELECTRICIAN TO SORT OUT HIS WONKY WIRING.. AND HE'S THE OWNER, HE'S NOT A RENTAL TENANT!

Prat is not strong enough to describe this mentally deficient person, if you know your Cockney slang then the expression J. Arthur will describe him to you.

The plot goes as follows.. she received an email very late last night from the managing agents saying that the power had gone out in Flat 3 and would she give access to an electrician to come and see if the fuse box was in our electrical cupboard, certainly she replied by email, they could come between 08.30 & 12.30am this morning.

No response by email this morning so she called the office and that was when we made the comment about office wallahs having an easy life in our previous post. Eventually this poor woman telephoned to say that the problem appeared to be as follows.. it's his electrics that are faulty but he doesn't want to pay for an electrician to come out and sort them out.

Hello? And since when has one been able to get other people to pay for repairs like this in one's property that, incidentally, he owns?

So as it was raining quite hard and she was feeling somewhat lazy and could cancel the days appointments with no problem, she emailed the landlord before 12.00am saying that she would cancel her days' appointments so that this ....... could get an ełectrician in today up until 18.00 (6.00pm).

Therefore, he has had from 08.30 until 18.00 hours and not arranged anything. But, she added, there would be NO access granted over the week end and the next time that access is being granted is between 08.30 and 12.30am on Monday, September 21st.

Ah.. the bliss of emails.. for now there it is, down in black and white that access was given, she has done exactly what was required and fulfilled her legal obligations but the man has not organised an electrician to come.

We don't think he is actually here, she saw him sliding off last Monday with a large knapsack on his back and without his bicycle, we think he is up in Oxford, the poor secretary at the managing agents confirmed that she had communicated with him on his mobile.

And it will be extremely funny (both peculiar and haha) to see what happens next! For the managing agent won't do it and try to get the money back from the man, they know they would never get the money back as he never pays for anything unless he absolutely HAS to!

Oh.. hohoho.. can an Energy company cut your power supply off without accessing the meter? I wonder if EDF, who are the suppliers to this flat, have cut his power off! Now there's a thought.

Well anyway, the farce will start again on the 21st and as it's not the responsibility of the agents and he'll need and want the power back, well, he'll have to pay an electrician to do it.

Meanwhile, the second floor is very dark and his meter.. well, it has moved not one unit!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 18th, 2015.

NO NEW LOVE.. SHE'S FAITHFUL..

Actually the maybe new love turned out not to be one.. she's happy with her old love. WHAT.. WHO? I can hear all your questions, I had better explain.

Whilst getting a supply of coffee from the Algerian Coffee Stores recently, she bought a small amount of another variety to try. Initially, she thought it delicious but after a couple of days, she realised that, whilst it was pleasant, she didn't want to have this as her every morning 'brew'.

So it was a good thing that her old love bears no grudge, isn't it? He slides from the spoon into the glass jar, accepts hot water, hubbles and bubbles releasing like the true genie that he is, his special aroma.. ah.. Vellutto Nero.. how she loves you.

But first things first, when she wakes up extra early, it is a mug of MY favourite hot drink that we slurp.. Lapsang tea.. Yumpydumpy, for as funny funky Monkey says so well "Amber nectar down the throat".

It's drizzling fine rain and she is waiting for the managing agents to call, apparently one of the flats above has no electricity and an electrician needs access to our cupboard where the meters are to see if there is another fuse box for this upstairs flat down here.

She sent an email at 08.15am telling the contact that she would be here until noon if they needed an electrician to enter our home, no response has arrived so she's just called the office and heard a long winded message about not calling the emergency number unless it was because of fire or theft.. so no secretary or boss was in the office!

That call was placed, Dear Readers, at 09.30am, it's a cushy life these office wallahs live, is it not?

Anyway, her email was quite clear, contact me before 10.00am (or they can whistle Dixie), she's got stuff to do today and this does not include hanging about for an emergency electrician who might, or might not, be wanting access to our electrical cupboard!

Now, where's that mug of Amber Nectar.. ah.. slurp-the-durp, hot tea down my throat, all's well.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 18th, 2015.

THERE THEY WERE.. DIGGING A HOLE IN WATERPROOF TROUSERS..

Three large men were digging a massive hole and they were wearing waterproof clothes.. so not being known for being backwards in coming forwards.. keep up there at the back.. she went and asked the biggest one "excuse me but where did you guys get your waterproofs?"

The giant turned and looked down at her as if he couldn't believe it, a person was actually talking to him! He smiled and said "actually miss, the best place to go for stuff like this is just down the street near to Morrisons at Streatham Common" and bingo! She knew exactly where he meant.. so she said "thank you" and hopped on a bus going down the hill towards the Common.

And there she found exactly what the guys had had on, albeit, in a much smaller size.. for £15.00! This, Dear Readers, is significantly cheaper than Barbours waterproofs or any of the other makers of waterproofs.

She had such a pleasant lunch with Ann in a coffee bar / food eating place, she had a delicious ham and mushroom omelette, it was soft and a little bit runny, just as she likes them with a helping of salad on the side.. chat chat they went until "goodness me, is that the time" and out and off they scampered to go to the Dementia Group.

Afterwards, it was when she was leaving and turning into Streatham High Road bound for Morrisons that she found the guys digging the hole and it all worked out splendidly, now it can rain and she won't get wet digging and be clammy on the bus!

Bad and sad news.. 'her' Morrisons at Streatham Common is being closed.. boohoo.. the lovely gang aka team is being disbanded and the store premises are being sold. Apparently the parent company have had an offer for the real estate which is too good for them to turn down.

But why is there such a difference in the price between Ruby Grapefruit which sell at anywhere between 40 to 55p and the regular sour Grapefruit which are anywhere from 28 to 40p? She pounced on a pile of these at a very cheap price (why pay more when you can pay less) in Morrisons, she had already 'scored' in her favourite 99p Store when she discovered a huge box of 110 Finish dishwasher tablets for £8.00!

Luckily she had old WW with her! She had taken a lot of windfall apples for Ann and with those handed over, old WW, who incidentally had loved being soaked in the rain yesterday, was empty which was a good thing as she'd raided Lidl, 99p Store and Morrisons before climbing aboard a 319 to bring her home.

It was such a lovely day. The sun actually had a bit of warmth in it, birds were singing, there were conkers galore all over the pavement brought down by the hevy rain and strong winds and both she and Ann pounced on them for moth hate conkers.

Goodness me, where did the week go? Tomorrow is Friday! She's gardening tomorrow and Saturday, Sunday she's meeting Goaty Mum aka Debbie at the Parson's Green Farmer's Market.

Then.. hey presto.. hey-li-cheese, it's the start of another week! Fiddle-the-diddle goodness me!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 17th, 2015.

MUD MUD GLORIOUS MUD & APPLES GALORE!

HoHoHo.. it tipped it down whilst she was at the allotments! Did she care? Not one bit, for all this lovely rain has made the ground so easy to work that nasty old weed and all of his roots just slide out of the earth.

She collected windfalls and tested some of the apples on the trees, they're not ready yet but what were ready were a lot of yellow figs! SlurpSlurp and down the hatch they went. They are incredibly fragile, this is why you never see them for sale in any shop, when ripe, the inside turns into something not unlike a thin runny honey.

Out with the big fork and she dug over a big bed, then happened to look up in the south westerly direction, oh, giddy aunt, there was a solid black line of cloud, this denotes heavy rain coming in exactly15 minutes.

And fifteen minutes is exactly the time she needs to clean the fork, put it away, look up little shed, grab old WW and run up the path, through the gate, lock it and run across the road to the bus stop. She made it just in time as the first tranche of water hit the A316.

Whoosh, down it came! Heavy rain too, she was sheltered under the bus stop and thanked her lucky stars that she had seen it coming.

She's meeting Ann for lunch tomorrow at 12.30 and afterwards they will go on together to Singing With Dementia, Ann is an extremely good cook and has two grand daughters who have recently moved back to live in London after spending five years in Brazil.

And as Granny Ann has them one afternoon a week after school, she'll be able to make Chutney with them on Friday afternoon as my mum has a huge amount of windfall apples for her.

Also in WW is a bag of fresh herbs and dandylion leaves, yum, salad tonight will be deliciously tangy  and with this rain that we've had recently, the Lovage, Chard and the Sorrel are growing again as if it were spring time!

So no gardening tomorrow but she'll be off early to the allotments on Friday, she doesn't mind if it rains (not too hard) whilst she's working out there as long as her head and feet are dry and she's got the funniest cap you've ever seen! But it keeps her neck, ears and head dry and she cares not one jot what she looks like when she's digging anyway!

She's got a pair of waterproof pull-on trousers.. somewhere.. but can she find them? They might be in her big plastic box in little shed, that would make like even easier as she could then be dry legged, for sitting on a bus with wet jeans isn't the best sensation.. ugh.. clammy!

And she'll dig out those marvellous boots that Debbie Goaty mum gave her last winter,they have a thick felted thermal lining from the toes right up to the top of the boots.. bliss.

She's all set to weed the asparagus bed too, it is not a chore she's looking forward to at all but it has to be done, it needs compost and seaweed, then she'll cover it with a light weight water permeable membrane, because otherwise those wretched weeds will seed themselves again.

There we are folks, Autumn is certainly upon us, the grain, hay and hop harvests are in but the fruit farmers must be dancing with joy at this rain which has come at just the right time for their apple crops to plump out and get truly juicy! 

Ah.. our Apples.. she's got lots of different varities and loves them all! Spartan, James Grieve, Cox, Russet, etc, etc.. very slurpicious indeed, I like the stalks, she eats the rest, that's fair, isn't it?

So PipPip is quite appropriate, is it not?

GeeGee Parrot.
September 16th, 2015.

SLASH & BURN.. & SHE'S OFF OUT TO A BOOK TALK, THIS TIME AT THE ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION.

I know that you are all thinking that these two words refer to the work that she has to do at the allotments.. well, they don't!

'Slash & Burn' is the action that bad Beaky does when he knows that she wants to do something sneaky, like capturing me, wrapping me up in a towel and trimming Beaky or toes.. aka claws / talons.

It is mighty painful if you happen to me on the receiving end of Beaky when he in this mode, in fact, I regret to say, a few folk will agree with me when Beaky does his other unpleasant action which is.. crunch.

The two sections of Beaky open and close, quite deliberately, upon a poor unsuspecting finger and it is painful.. to say the least but Slash & Burn, well, it is much worse.

However, it is reserved, you'll be happy to know, only for my mum. She's the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to attempt Beaky or claw trimmimg with that dreaded file.

There's much scrub-a-dubdub going on here, laundry, housework, trying to find a book to lend to a friend.. then at a certain time, she'll stop and change and get herself up to Charles Street in time for a book talk at the English Speaking Union.

Yes folks, autumn is here and there are all manner of interesting things starting to happen. She's got lots of things to go and look at the British Library. Did you know that it is the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland's publication this year.. yes.. Alice is much older than you think!

So there we are.. I'm going back to dozing on a door.. and she's sorting out a black wash.

Tomorrow she's off to get several pounds of Beets, it's the time of year to make Beet Kvass and Kefir,  for Autumn / Fall brings Winter.. brrr.. and with Winter come horrid bugs that people generously give away to you for free but they're unwanted so you've got to make sure your body is able to repel these slimy boarders!

I am crazy-daisy about beets when they're fermented but only get to eat them before bed time, I'm sure you can imagine why! PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 15th, 2015.

JAYNE SHRIMPTON'S LECTURE ~ SEPTEMBER 24th @ 2pm.

Jayne Shrimpton's lecture is on September 24th, 2015 @ 2.00pm at Chelsea Town Hall, King's Road, London SW3. NOT October 24th as I wrote in an earlier post.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 15th, 2015.

Plus 2.5 lbs equals glum..

Not a happy bunny, no, she's not happy at all and knowing that it was done by herself to herself compounds the misery. Never mind, I say, at least it was truly scrummydumptious beyond marvellous bread and you enjoyed every munch.

It was weigh-in day yesterday and she'd gained 2.5 lbs.. ugh. So there'll be no trotting off to purchase any of Balthazar's most delicious bread (or any other bread) for a veryvery long time. More exercise and more vegetables will be her programme for the week, as she's determind to shift this weight gain PLUS a bit more to be back on her losing-winning streak.

Bob and Tom have gone, they flew back to New York yesterday afternoon and she missed saying "goodbye" to them, what with a dental appointment, her weigh-in and having to do Rotary work all afternoon, she was out, then in and then back out and finally didn't get home until late yesterday.

And what a change of temperature and weather there was yesterday! Happily, the week end was very pleasant with glorious sunshine and dry underfoot. And yesterday she missed the various torrential downpours by minutes but shivered coming home last night and had to bop about at the bus stop to keep warm.

Time for thicker trousers and boots and socks, time to give her outdoor slip-on shoes a lick of polish and to put them back in their box for the winter. I must say that I am mighty glad that my feathers grew back to cover my chest and tumtum, for 'they' say we are in for a brutally cold winter.. brrrr.

Bob said last winter was the coldest for decades, he lives in Westchester, NY and is on a hill. LOTS of snow fell, imagine having to dig your car out every morning, we are so lucky that our council keep our roads clear and that last year we didn't get snow in the city, those pictures of NYC last winter were very scary, imagine having to drive through and over that amount of snow for several months.

She's already done her winter salt check, living in the basement she's aware of how dangerous snow and ice can be on steps. Hopefully we still have a few months before winter comes rattling his chains at us, it is mid September and September and October are usually glorious in London, let's hope this year is no exception.

Time to start our day, grapefruit, boiled egg and coffee for her and boiled egg and hummus for me. I bid all you a fair day Dear Readers.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 15th, 2015.

BALTHAZAR'S BREAD.. @ 4 - 6. Gt. RUSSELL STREET, LONDON WC2B 5HZ.

All is revealed!

Ah-ha.. in my last post I wrote that she had dined at Balthazar in Covent Garden on Saturday night, she was with Bob and Tom who were visiting from New York.

She hasn't been to either Balthazar or The Waverly Inn but thought that it would be fun for the men to see how Keith McNally's London edition of Balthazar compared to the NY one. Food delicious, decor identical, staff attentive.. what more could you want?

Well, if you read yesterdays' post you would have read how she fell head first into the bread basket and ate most of it.. it was a large basket and full to the brim when it first appeared.. and she told me it was the best ever restaurant bread she had ever eaten.

Well.. surprise surprise.. now she tells me that she's been told by a friend, who goes out and about much more that she does, that Balthazar MAKES its' own bread! Their 'Boulangerie'.. French for Bakery.. is next door to the restaurant and sells that heavenly bread.. OH DEAR..

So I have told her that if she wants that bread.. she has to do at least three times round the block at double fast speed OR she has to walk to and from Gt. Russell Street.. with no sliding up onto a red bus or down underground into the Tube!

But now she has to go to the Library, there are books to change and a time to check for a lecture being given by Jayne Shrimpton on October 24th.. she's just checked on line, it starts at 2.00pm. Location Chelsea Library, Old Town Hall, Kings Road, SW3.

Whoosh.. Zoom.. (huh.. not much zooming being done around here, we're having a slow start!)

GeeGee Parrot.
September 14, 2015.

KEITH McNALLY'S BALTHAZAR RESTAURANT.. THE LONDON ONE.

Whoosh.. down the slippery slope she rushed! Bread and all manner of delicious food was eaten last night when she took Bob and Tom to dinner at Balthazar 4 - 6. Gt. Russell Street, Covent Garden.

Why there? Well, in NYC there is the original Balthazar restaurant, plus The Waverly, which are both owned by Keith McNally, he also, until some point in time, owned Odeon which she loved. So it was just to see if it was as good as its' older sister in NYC. Their meals were delicious.. and it's been a veryvery long time since they were here in London and so it was a treat.

You don't have treats all the time and that's what makes a treat.. a treat!

Today rain was promised from early afternoon, so instead of working at the allotment, she decided to take a couple of things up to Debbie Goaty mum at the Slow Food Fair at The Rosewood Hotel on High Holborn. NO rain fell but instead she encountered that bike race that went through the centre of London on her way home.. NO buses meant a long walk home but hey.. at least it wasn't raining!

Much bread was eaten last night.. she's almost reluctant to go to her weigh-in tomorrow! It was truly the best 'restaurant' bread she's ever eaten. Raw, no butter necessary, and lots and lots of water. A Frisée Salad with Smoked Lardons and a Poached Egg was her starter.. very slurpy indeed and then a beautifully cooked and filleted Dorade.

Maybe all that walking has worked off a lb or two? Sigh, she had lost 14 lbs, aka 2 full bags of that Winalot dog biscuit, and she has always lost something each week, even if it was only half a lb, that's better than nothing or shock horror.. gaining a lb or more!

She wore a dress (!) last night, dug out her most favourite shoes, high heeled black suede, another dig brought out a vintage Gucci bag, then she put on couple of rings and her beloved Amber and Silver drop earrings (which she bought in Poland twenty one years ago this very month) and off she went.

She hasn't worn heels for how long? Maybe a year.. yes, almost certainly a year now, but this pair are, although high heeled, blissfully comfortable. The arch is exactly in the right place, the last is perfect for her feet. They're vintage as well, all of her high heeled shoes are vintage and they live in their original boxes.

And they're all in immaculate condition, one day she'll take them to that amazing auction house who only deals in vintage clothing.. they've already said "yes" to everything she itemised a couple of years ago.

This week is a gardening week.. she's found Kelvin her old gardening friend and he and his brother are coming to help her remove those wicked briars at the allotments, nice, kind men. BIG guys.. digging that ground is going to be like child's play to them.

I am pleased to tell you that MY pot of goaty curd WAS given to me upon her return! And that she did not give in to her stomach saying "lookielookie.. there's delicious bread at the Rosewood Food Fair", somehow she managed to get past that stall without a loaf hurling itself into her basket.

Our supper tonight is going to be fussili pasta, chilli, garlic and spices, we've eaten what was in the fridge, it will be eggs and tuna salad tomorrow, then she'll do food shopping on Tuesday when there's fresh produce in the market.

There we are.. almost halfway through September! Whoosh.. go the months.. and FlapFlap goes this Grey Parrot.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 13th, 2015.
Post Script:
I know I didn't write on 9/11.. apart from the atrocities that were inflicted on America, remember it is also the day that Dagga Parrot died in her hands.

REHANGING HEAVY CUPBOARD DOORS.. ONE PERSON ALONE CANNOT DO IT.

DIET! WHAT DIET? BUT SHE 'PAID' LATER.. READ ON ABOUT SCOFFING SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD AND OTHER SUCH TASTY THINGS!

Well.. huh.. I am not sure what the scales will read next Monday when she weighs herself, for she 'fell' off her diet in a truly spectacular fashion yesterday.

All was going well with much tidying and sorting being done at home, the painters finally finished painting the front door but she wasn't able to shut it until it was dry at about 5.00 so she was forced to stay home.

And received a landline call, which was an invitation to tea by her beloved Lebanese friend and taking a bag of Almonds with her to eat instead of scrummy morsels (as if they would prevent her hands reaching out to take such delicious things), off she went.

OH DEAR.. to be faced with a LARGE plate of Scottish Shortbread with bits of salted caramel and toffee in them! Hello.. did she really eat four?.. is the Pope a Catholic?

And after a couple of hours of chat and laughter, her friend's brother arrived and said "Oh, the more the merrier, let's all go out for supper", she replied "I can't, I don't have anything with me, no purse" and got two withering looks from the others.. "bah, who asked you to pay, hurry up and let's get going, I'm hungry, I haven't been scoffing biscuits all afternoon like you two" he said.

So down the road they went to Orsini's, not the same since the elderly owner died but still ok. What did she eat? Baked garlic in its' skin with tapenade AND toasted bread.. oh dear.. followed by deep fried calamari.. very slurpicious indeed.

She knew she was in for trouble when her poor stomach received the first bit of sugar and flour in the form of the biscuits.. it gave a most unpleasant tweak and twinge as if to say "WHAT is this stuff, we don't eat or like anything like this anylonger.. grrrr."

Last night apparently, was gruesome with a lot of 'discomfort' to put it mildly. But moving along, in the way that all manner of things do, this morning she is pain free and back on her regime. It may sound very dull and boring to you Dear Readers but her digestion just loves it!

There are sounds of movement outside from the pesky builders. Who obviously have NEVER heard of or use the magical painters' aid.. aka Masking Tape.. for the glass panels in our front door have a lot of black gloss paint on them.. sigh.

She'll wait until they've all gone before getting at it with White Spirit.. shoddy work.. they probably charged a fortune, they've had scaffolding up all over the house, back and front, for six weeks and that does not come cheap!

The rat chewed doorframe was just painted over.. see what we mean.. so she took photos which were emailed to the landlord and the managing agents.. last week! But nothing, so far, has been done to replace the rotten and rotted wood.

Off to the garden she is going, much to do and the day is not too cold or too hot. So PipPip to you all.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 9th, 2015.

FIGS & WASPS.

Well, they're still not reallyreally ripe! But wasps are hovering around as our figs are beginning to ripen. A whole month behind the usual first eating date. Yes, the weather this year has been weird, to put it mildly.

But wasps have an acute sense of smell and can sniff a ripening fig from a long way, they have had a good munch at a lot of them but don't understand that when this variety of fig to be reallyreally ripe, they fall down on their stems. So there were many wasted figs where old wasp had eaten the little top bit which was ripe and left the rest.

But joy oh joy, the ground is easier to deal with, it's drank the rain which poured down in the last week. She can now stick a fork into the ground whereas two weeks ago that was impossible. However, we need more.. sorry folks but we do.

None of the usual suspects were there when she went to work at the allotments yesterday, I didn't go as I am now wimpy and do not like it when she's out of sight and so I cry.. this makes her sad and, of course, grumpy as it takes an hour at least to get there and for her to have to then leave to bring me home.. well.. it's better if I stay at home and doze on pole.

Bob and Tom are on their ship, they're sailing across the Atlantic in style and arrive this Friday at Southampton, it will be glorious to see them again.

This is a quiet week, the painters and she have agreed they will do her front door tomorrow. This means that it has to be open all day for them to paint it and for the paint to dry. Gloss paint takes ages to dry and harden.. boring but necessary.

She'll garden Wednesday and Friday and Sing With Dementia on Thursday, they have changed the day, I won't go this week but I will when the weather is colder and exterior doors are closed which will be fun.

Time to go, she's got things to do, I'll doze and think about that tasty fast-breaking yumyum I ate.

FlapFlap.. Dear Readers.. FlapFlap.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 7th, 2015.

SHE POSSIBLY HAS A NEW LOVE, IT'S A BIT SOON TO SAY BUT..

Don't fret folks.. I'll always be Number 1 in her life! But if you read yesterdays' post you'll know that she went coffee buying in Soho and bought a new coffee, the like of which I didn't know the name and apparently it is delicious!

Now, I don't think it, or any other coffee, will take the place of Velluto Nero, she's loved that coffee for more years than she can remember but the new one, whose name is Moscella Italia, is a little sharper and she's slurping it quite happily.

Well, what's going on today? The useless painters are here, they've not finished any job so far.. her front door is still dark grey, the window ledges are still unpainted, the rubbish area doorframe has not been repaired.. oi vey.. HOW can a whole team of workmen all be so useless?

All they've done successfully, so far, is kill all the herbs in her herb baskets.

Moving swifly along, she will be loitering in Bute Street with Anthony this Saturday for an hour or two, he will be manning the Ellie's Dairy stall for Debbie, who will be up at the West Hampstead Farmer's Market, so if you're in that neck of the town, go and say "Howdy to Goaty Mum" and taste some of the best Goats cheese you'll ever eat.

My mum will be raiding Bartek for ishpol salad on Saturday morning, I'll tell you the story of ishpol and nishda another day, then going to drop it off for Debbie with Anthony at Bute Street.

Autumnal weather is here, she warned Bob and Tom to bring a raincoat and weather proof shoes, which means, of course, that it will be glorious when they're here which is the weekend of 9/11. But there's nothing worse than being on holiday and being cold and damp, is there?

They're staying locally so walks will be walked, she's taking them out for dinner on Saturday, where? That's a surprise, so I can't tell you but it will be interesting, that's for sure!

Well, she had better get on and see when those painters want her to be at home one day next week. My egg was perfect and I'm happy to go and find a comfy perch and grind old Beaky for a while.

PipPip Dear Readers.. PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
September 3rd, 2015.

I'LL SEE YOU IN SIX MONTHS..

RUMBLE.. DUMBLE.. Eureeka! Specialist doesn't want to see her until next February! Yippee!

She was SO happy, she immediately disappeared underground and came up at Piccadilly Circus and trotted to Old Compton Street in search of SERIOUSLY good coffee at the Algerian Coffee Stores. She bought a kilo of Velluto Nero and 250g of something else, the name of which I do not know.

And she went over to see Anna at Soho Joe to tell her that someone had paid a 'good' price for the dinner for two with wine that Anna very sweetly donated.

Then went to buy food for us tonight and came across a big bowl of Pomegranates for a quid, aka £1.00. We both love these. She doesn't make a mess like I do, I am only allowed to eat them in YumYum HQ, so that she can wash the walls afterwards!

Not a lot otherwise to report.. it rained on and off for most of the day, she had foul weather gear on and her amazing washable shoes, I see a disaster approaching if and when these shoes 'die'. She'll be most unhappy.

Still no painters on sight when she left the house at past midday to go to the hospital.. grrrr.. Ah well, nothing to do with us but they're useless.. and messy and she cannot wait for them to hurry up and go.. so that she can replant all the herb pots, they've killed everything.. sigh.

Another day but with some good news.. SIX months.. that's very good news!

GeeGee Parrot.
September 2nd, 2015.

THE WIZARD CAME & HE WAVED HIS WAND..

In Rob's case his wand being one of those screwdrivers which tell you if a cable is 'live' or not! And after two little tests, the good news was that her beloved, fifteen year old, never been ill before, Zanussi dishwasher's ON OFF switch is all that is sick!

Yippee.. instant saving of at least two hundred smackeraroonies! Aka £200.00. Oh, this was happy news indeed! He said "I'll order and get it sent here, I'm back from Berlin on September the 12th and I'll come and fit it and do your shelves", yes folks, you're ahead of the game if you've got a Wizard in your life!

I like Rob and it was interesting to see what was inside the control panel of the dishwasher, I was, luckily enough, perambulating along the work surface in the kitchen when he came in, so was close to the action.

The rest of the day was spent waiting for flippin' builders to make up their minds about when they need her to be at home so they, finally, get around to finishing her door. They've been SO SLOW.

She wouldn't recommend this team to anyone. They leave the site dirty, do little bits of work, then go and do another little bit elsewhere. They haven't repaired the damaged rubbish area doorframe and a painter was just going to paint over the broken wood!

So she snapped a photo and sent it off to the landlord and the managing agents, watch this space.

She has to go to hospital tomorrow for a three monthly check-up. Nice when they go from every month to three months, lets hope he says "see you in six months", that would be good news and a great start to September, wouldn't it?

Next thing we will know is Bob and Tom arriving to stay for a long week end, they arrive not this Friday but the next. I haven't seen them for ten years and she hasn't seen them for eight! Where has time gone? Flown by, that's where, it's just gone.. whoosh..

As we are going to go too. Early night for us both tonight, she got us at some ridiculous hour this morning, the weather was very unsettled and she felt cold and damp all day, she left to have tea with her Lebanese friends and whilst she was there.. ohh.. torrential rain came down and the atmosphere brightened!

So good night to you all, I hope you have all had a pleasant start to Autumn / Fall?

GeeGee Parrot.
September 1st, 2015.