IT'S BURSITIS! OH, WHAT A RELIEF!

It started about a month ago, she was walking up a flight of stairs when her left knee 'gave' way, it caused her to catch her breath as it was a. a bit of a shock and b. it hurt but when she took another step, rather nervously, all was well! Curious, she thought and continued on her way up the stairs.

About two days later it happened twice in one day, then it started happening every day but as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. But something else started and that was a sharp pain shooting up the inside of her knee cap and occasionally, it seemed to lock.. grr.. and made a noise. But as they were both affected by polio when she was a young child, she knew that sooner or later, her knees might well experience some 'difficulties'.

Yesterday she went to have her first appointment with a new Medical Herbalist. Who is a charming woman who came highly recommended. They went through her medical history quickly and then they got to what was 'troubling' her currently.

"Arthritis or food have caused the swelling of my joints of my right hand and my knee, they can be extremely painful and I want to get on top of it before it gets any worse as I have allotments which need to be worked" and explained what had happened.

She said that since the beginning of the year she had overhauled her eating habits radically, that she no longer drinks coffee because her consultant at Moorfields had told her that caffeine increases eye pressure, which is not great if you have Glaucoma.

Doesn't eat any corn or corn product, like starch or flour, because of that attack when she ate the popcorn and had cut out all dairy as it is a known triggers for arthritis and that she can't eat any bread or anything which has wheat, rye, barley in it as they do horrendous things to her insides and cause her to bleed like a stuck pig! To put it politely..

"I haven't been able to eat any of the Nightshade food family for four years' as they cause my joints to swell within the hour, I think that more or less covers it.. oh, I never eat take-away food and the only sugar I ever eat is on my crystallised ginger, I won't take anything that has aspartame or fake sugar in it".

She produced a ring that she hasn't been able to wear even on her little finger for several years and slipped it on with ease! "Ah.. well it was certainly something you were eating that has caused your joints to swell, if you keep doing this elimination diet for another two months, then put them back one at a time and see what happens, that way we will identify which the culprit is.. but I think with the timing that you talked about, that it's dairy" said the lovely herbalist. "Yes, I agree, sad isn't it!" said my mum.

"Now, let's look at your knee and find out what's causing the problem", so she pulled up her trouser legs and the herbalist moved her chair so that she was right in front of them.. "ah, well this is interesting, your left one is very swollen, it's pink, hot to touch and also.. it's swollen at the back, you've got.. Bursitis" and proceeded to explain what it is.

They talked for about another twenty minutes, the herbalist told her to tell Valerie about her knee and then it was time to go, she took the paper about how treat bursitis, a herbal mixture for her knee and hands, a bottle of prescribed herbal mixture, paid for the consultation, said "Goodbye and thank you" and walked slowly to the station to go home.

What a pleasant experience.. and the relief of knowing that it's 'only' bursitis and not her Arch-Enemy Polio 'waking up' was and still is.. monumental!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 31st, 2017.

JANUARY 29th, 1917 - CONSTANCE'S BIRTHDAY.

She was born in the morning in Madras, Southern India, so when we awoke this morning, we knew she'd already been born all of those one hundred years ago today. One hundred years.. time is an extraordinary thing is it not?

She came across some of her mother's letters this last week, she was looking for papers, she really must 'get on' with sorting out that back room! And she found them and with them were the letters, goodness me, no one could ever forget Constance's writing! It was only decipherable by her old friends, to whom she wrote on a regular basis or her immediate family.

A gift that she always gave her mother was a bottle of 'Moment Supreme' by Jean Patou, She used to get it in Bergdorf Goodman if she was in America or Fortnum & Mason's in Piccadilly, only a very few stores stock it.

She never known anyone else who wore it and the only times she has smelt it since her mother's death were on the occasions that Constance has come to 'visit' her in order to alert her to something! I know it sounds pretty strange but life IS pretty strange!

We woke up to sunlight but the boring dreary greyness has descended upon us again, it's slightly warmer than last weekend but this past week has been truly bitter, on Thursday at midday it was below zero in deepest Knightsbridge and yesterday was so damp.. ugh. It might as well have been raining the pavements were so wet.

She went to the library yesterday morning and was desperately saddened to see the tree on the corner of Sydney Street and the King's Road surrounded by flowers and candles in jars. When she was headed for the library on Thursday, a car had jumped the lights and hit a motorbike.

The police and an ambulance with medics were on the scene almost immediately and when she left the library, she was directed to cross the road much further up. Oh dear, we all know what flowers and candles mean, poor man. Fancy having to be the police officer having to go and to tell his family that he wasn't ever coming home again.

But whilst she had been in the library, a curious thing happened, a woman came in with a big bag of books and said to one of the librarians "I'd like to give these to the Library as I don't want them", the librarian explained that because of Public Lending Rights, (authors get, I think, 7p per borrowing) that they didn't accept books from the public but suggested that she gave them to a Charity Shop or let my mum, whom she said "reads a lot" have a look at them!

My mum said "what are they?" The woman put the bag on the desk and said "help yourself if you want any of them and pass them on if you don't" so she looked at the books and squeaked with joy! For there was just the book she'd been wanting to get but had forgotten the, rather starting, title!

"I'd love this one if I may, how much would you like for it" she said to the woman who smiled and replied "Absolutely nothing, have it with my pleasure, please take the others as well" and with that she left, leaving mum with the bag of books!

The librarian and she looked at each other and laughed! What were the odds on that happening.. just the very book, about which we will post when she's read it, for on Friday, she collected her new reading glasses from EYE Opticians, yippee!

And just a few doors away from her opticians on Mare Street, Hackney, she has found a very nice bunch of youngsters, they run 'CRISIS', a charity shop for the homeless and last Friday when she collected her long distance specs, she was  delighted to give them her computer monitor together with its' cables, a bag of books and some dvd's.

And when she goes to collect her additional pair of distance glasses next Friday, she'll take them the other books the woman gave her.

Much as she'd like to stay warm and snug in bed with me keeping her head toasty, she thinks she 'ought' to do something. So I have to go as she's about her business, whatever that might be. Me, I'm going to snuggle down somewhere until sanity returns and I can get back onto her head.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 29, 2017.
PostScript: Her mother's birthday and also Bill's! 

DROP YOUR SHOULDERS AND BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE.

She said to herself as the needle slid painlessly into her lower jaw. Yes, she was at the dentist having her annual check up and having a filling replaced.

Her dentist is a magician! A kind, gentle, incredibly thorough man whose work is top notch and she's had great dentistry work done in the past and puts him up there along with her first regular dentist, Dr. Crease of Tenterden, Kent, Dr. George Taylor of Hereford Square, London and the first of her North End Road Dentists.

It was Dr. Crease who did the orthodontist work when she was eight, she has a small jaw and the amount of teeth that we have were going to be a problem for her so he took a couple out which gave others the correct amount of room, clever nice man.

Dr. George was also a magician, his bridge on her lower jaw is stil as good as the day he put it in, over forty years ago! Sadly Dentists grow 'up' as do their patients and it was a very sad day when she received a card announcing his retirement and thanking her for being a patient for so many years.

She wonders who is doing Sir Roger Moore's teeth now, for Doctor George did the teeth of a lot of show business people.

Anyway, back to current times, after Doctor George retired, she had another good dentist for a few years but then he also retired.. grrrr.. then she went to one whose work was very sloppy, but he did take out a molar, that even she knew had died but she certainly wasn't going to trust him with Bridge work and she moaned about this to Karen, our old friend in the North End Road market.

"Not a problem" said Karen, "There's a great dental surgery literally just behind you, go in and tell them I sent you" and turning around, she saw she was standing in front of a dental surgery she must have passed hundreds of times.

In she went and spoke to a young receptionist who gave her a form to fill in and she booked an appointment for a full check-up. It appeared to be busy practice, with several dentists and a hygienist as well.

She met her new dentist, a young capable looking man with a smiley face who complimented Dr. Crease and Dr. George on their dentistry work and said that that her teeth were in good shape apart from a filling that she needed in an upper tooth and asked her what did she want to do about the missing molar hole?

It was decided she would have a plate, so he made a mould of her jaw and this marvellous thing appeared! It was a perfect fit, but with this guy whom she ranked 'up there' with her two previous dentistry Gods, she hadn't expected anything else!

Then one day she went in and after her clean and check-up, she was saddened to hear him say "This is our last appointment ...., for I have sold my chair" and he explained that he was getting married in two months time and moving up to Suffolk where he had bought a chair.

"But don't worry, I trained with your new guy and he is good, really good and the same age as me (34) so he won't retire on you like Dr. George and just remember.." then they both laughed as did his assistant.

And he was right, her new dentist to whom she has been going to for two years is extremely good.

So that's my gift to you, when you go to the dentist and have to have any kind of work done but especially if you have to have an injection, remember, to drop your shoulders and breathe through your nose.. you'll be amazed.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 27th, 2017.
PostScript: Dental Surgery, 337. North End Road, London SW6. Tel # 020 7385 0113.

BT & THEIR ITALIAN BOOK KEEPERS & THE STORY OF A FREE GIFT!

Now I know that unless you're a wizard at figures, adding up endless columns can sometimes lead to a small amount being 'out' at the end but have you seen by how much 'out' the Italian branch of BT books are out?

They're out by £530 million. That, even to her, works out at over half a Billion Pounds Sterling! Blimey and all those other gob-smacking words that she uses when she's been struck dumb, that sure is a lot of loot to get wrong when you are supposed to be doing the accounts, is it not?

The shares in the company have currently fallen 20% with a bigger loss probably to follow when the full report hits the fan! Can you imagine how much these accountants are paid and yet they pull a stunt like this! OI VEY!

But I now want to tell you an enchanting story that a friend of hers told her today in the bank, she's banked with this bank since she was very young and along the years has met folk who are charming. And she bumped into one of the more charming folk in her local branch this afternoon.

They wished each other and families etc all the best for the new year etc and then he said "You've just missed the most extraordinary event ever to take place in our bank certainly, maybe in any bank" and he proceeded to tell the tale of what had happened.. he said..

"A very smart but casually dressed late middle aged customer of ours came into the bank, she withdrew a lot of money in £50.00 notes, took her card out of the card reader, thanked the teller and walked towards me looking at this big bundle of money, she stopped and said quite clearly and very calmly "What the hell, I don't need all of this" and with that she smiled at me and walked up to a woman who was waiting with a little girl and said "Here, please take this, put it into an account for her", she bent down and kissed the little girl on the head and handed the mother everything, except for one note, that was in her hand and walked out of the door".

He continued by saying "we were just frozen, the woman was standing there looking really scared and looking down at this huge bundle of money in her hand, she turned to me and said "is this ok, is she ok, what shall I do?" and he said "it's quite ok, I heard her, I saw everything, now why don't we do as she suggested and put most of that money into something for your daughter?"

My mum was standing there with her mouth open! As you can well imagine! She asked him if he knew the money giver well? He replied that he did and that she was worth millions, and yes, they had opened an account for the little girl, the mother had kept £150.00 for herself and the rest which amounted to several thousand pounds is now waiting for the little girl to grow up..

He then went onto say "but the reallyreally nice thing was that the mother said "I know that you won't tell me who she is but if I write a note to her, would you please make sure she get's it, to tell her what we've done with her generous gift?" and she and the little girl wrote a note thanking the woman just giving their first names, so that the gift giver had no way of being obligated in any way".

Apparently she's quite sane this woman, she is generous to a fault and extraordinarily kind. We think it is a lovely but slightly eccentric tale of kindness..

And although we awoke to a frosty foggy day, by 11.00am it was bright and sunny with not a cloud to be seen! But it's cold.. veryvery cold! Lucky me, I got to stay home, she had to do food shopping for greens and fruity-tootie! She was given some easy peel mandarins today, such a treat, we haven't had those for a year.. but it is January and it's the best month for citrus fruit.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 24th, 2017.

THE SLOTH WOKE UP!

Good grief, yesterday I got turfed off the bed and she stripped it, bundling everything washable into the magic wet machine. Then she reappeared to 'make the bed' with crisp clean linens and a new blue top cover.

Such action! And it didn't stop there, she then vacuumed the bedroom. Cleared the dudu off the hall surfaces, dusted and polished them, vacuumed, put two candlestick lamps with toile de jouy shades onto the chest of drawers and a piece of silver, rehung Hugo's medal designs and the little icon back on the walls.

I was chased off each top of door that I perched upon, Beaky likes books you see, it's a hideous passion for those crunchy spines has ruined thousands of £'s worth of valuable books, she cannot sell them now, that's for sure.

Walk-in cupboad gave up its' prize possession! An airtight bag full of boxes of original Twinings LapySang. I don't care what Twinings say - by the way Twinings has been bought by the family who own Primark and Selfridges - they HAVE altered the recipe of this tea, when she was tipped the wink by a tea buyer friend of hers, she swooped and bought a huge amount of the tea. Kept in airtight conditions she probably has enough for the rest of our lives! The new packaged stuff bears no resemblance to the original!

We are keeping to the elimination diet, her knees are less swollen and are looking much smaller! She is stiff in that joint if she sits for a long time on a bus journey but finds the trick of getting up and standing for a bit helps stop that. And the finger joints on her right hand are considerably less swollen! Yippee.

She saw a friend very briefly on Friday who showed her an interesting book! She only buys books that are 'meaty and of factual importance', all the rest she borrows from the library. Talking of which.. ouch ouch ouch.. when she was sick in the chest and head, she forgot about her library books and ran up a debt of £27.00, she had 11 books out and had to hand over the dosh over on Tuesday to unblock her account. Good thing she and I are practising frugality at the moment, isn't it!

Twenty seven squidly-diddlies.. that'll larn her, that's for sure!

Anyway, enough of doom and being silly. This 'ere book, which she plans to buy it this week is very scary and I will blog on it.. for there is information in it that made her blood boil as it will do yours as well.. but you ain't hearing anything about it until she's got it, the book, in her hands.

Today was the day for clearing off every flat surface in the bedroom and dusting it, what a lot of dudu  there was on her bedside table, which is the top of a cupboard or the bottom shelf off a bookcase, whichever way you want to look at it! There are identical book cases either side of her bed.

Next week she is going to Dawes Glass to place an order for two pieces of glass with which she will cover the top surfaces and two long but narrow pieces of mirror for the bathroom.

Rubbish galore.. aka dudu disappeared into a black bag, empty envelopes and old letters of no importance, she has a bag full of stuff that needs to be shredded as well but that will be a chore for another day. A longer connection flex for the iPad to its' charger was unearthed, she knew she'd had one once upon a time and there it was!

A very late lunch was cooked, lots of vegetables with meat! Goodness me, I'd almost forgotten about meat! And very tasty it was. She'll see if she has any untoward reactions later today but so far, her system and her hands are very content with the new diet routine of lots of vegetable and eggs with fish, so perhaps meat, for a BIG treat on Sunday, might just be ok?

We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, I have to go, she's a'going hunting for this new book and needs iPad.. have a good week folks and remember to read Tales from GeeGee Parrot.. aka yours blog often to amuse and educate yourself. ChirpChirp.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 22nd, 2017.

IT'S A GOOD THING WE LIKE ENGLISH WINTER VEGETABLES AS THOSE 'FANCY' & OUT OF OUR SEASON ITALIAN & SPANISH COURGETTES, LETTUCE & TOMATOES ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY!

For due to the current appalling weather conditions in Italy and in Spain, the prices have rocketed for courgettes, iceberg lettuce and tomatoes in the wholsesale markets, leading to some supermarkets refusing to pay the huge differerence in their box price. It's a bit of a steep jump isn't it.. from £8.00 a big box to £22.00?

She's mighty glad that we eat mostly what is grown in season, however, the thought of eating a tomato (even if she could) grown hydroponically in a tunnel in the depths of winter, fills her with horror! Ugh. No, thank you.

So we are eating all manner of root vegetables, carrot, parsnip, turnip, beetroot, cabbage, onion, shallot and garlic together with rice and buckwheat, which isn't wheat just in case you're gluten intolerant. Sadly, one of her most favourite grains is, this is Freekah, a young wheat grain which is smoked and comes from the Middle East.

She's mighty glad she planted so many onion, shallot sets and garlic, both hard and soft neck varieties, for although a thieving bastard dug up half a bed, she's still got a lot and dear Tereza, our upstairs neighbour has given us lots of the delicious Violet variety from France.

It's bright and cold here in London today, last night was below zero C. She has her clothes ready for her morning jaunt down to Hackney to collect her glasses, thick trousers, cotton tights, much warmer than socks!

Thermal clothing, poloneck sweater, Marina's beautiful coat and walking boots with slip-proof soles, one of Darling Pat's hats to keep her head warm and with Myra, our Lebanese friend's, Christmas gift of a deliciously warm long scarf to wrap around her neck.

And she'll stop off somewhere along the route to find Chick Pea flour for she now has the recipe for those Sicilian Chick Pea flour Fritters!

That's your lot for today. She's off to do some laundry and a bit of sorting out in the store room and I'm heading off to a high point for a doze.. an afternoon doze after lunch is a good thing, do you not agree mes amis?

GeeGee Parrot.
January 19th, 2017.

RICK STEIN IN PALERMO.. QuickQuick! An email must be sent to Joe in Canada immediately to get a recipe!

It will go off to him immediately after we publish this short post. Rick Stein has been on the BBC1 channel going for a weekend to lots of interesting places.. Iceland, Berlin, Vienna, Thessaloniki and Palermo to name a few that we have seen.

And towards the end of tonight's programme, he went to to meet with Duchessa Nicoletta Polo in her beautiful home the Palazzo Lanza Tomasi, she is the daughter in law of the man who wrote 'The Leopard' and she taught Rick how to cook Panelle, they are Sicilian chick pea flour fritter.

As they're made out of Chick Pea flour, which she can eat as it has no gluten, oh yippee, with water, parsley and salt - she cannot eat any flour which has gluten in it - these would be wonderful!

Now why is Joe getting an email? Well, his parents are from Sicily, so there's a fair chance that he might know what she's wittering on about or that his mother will.

Bed time.. we are going to bed early in this household. She has to fill her drinking water bottles (three of them, she making herself drink lots and lots of water these days), put her last lot of eye drops in and then it's time for the light to go out.

Chirp.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 18th, 2017.
PostScript: She woke up the next day and did an on-line search for Panelle and lo & behold, oh, the wondrous web has the recipe! Also a full description of that programme together with the Duchessa's full name and other recipes, so this post has been altered slightly.

SHE'S NOT LADY KIM MURRAY, SHE'S LADY MURRAY, THE WIFE OF SIR 'ANDY' MURRAY THE TENNIS PLAYER!

Grrrr! Get it right you stupid journalists! Strangely enough, a woman who should know better also titles herself as a Lady, this is Jeanne Galway, the American wife of Sir James Galway, the man from Belfast who was knighted by HM The Queen in 2001. She is an extraordinarily talented musician.

The only time a woman is ever a Lady in her own right is if she is born with that title, as in the case of the daughter of an Earl, Marquess or a Duke or if she is given a Baronetcy as in the case of our Prime Minister, who then became Baroness Thatcher, more commonly known as Lady Thatcher. If a woman is 'knighted' by HM The Queen she becomes a Dame, as in the case of Dame Diana Rigg.

Rant over..

Very chilly bumbum here today in deepest Knightsbridge! Further north they're basking in giddy heights of about 9 degrees C, it is zero degrees C here. Shivver my timbers and all that. The sky is a pale watery blue with no clouds in sight, hence the coldness.. brrr.

She was seen hunting in the china cupboard for something, I flew over and landed on her back as she was down on her hands and knees, that made her laugh when I peered over her shoulder into the cupboard as if I knew what she was looking for!

Then with a triumphant squeak, she pulled out a very large heavy mug. Like a beer stein, if you know what they look like but it has no lid, more's the pity! This, apparently is a momento from the trip to Copenhagen that she and Edgar took in 1994.

A quick dust and wash and moments later, it had two Peppermint tea bags in it together with a measure of Vitamin C powder and was being topped up with boiled water. The smell was delicious and the very thick ceramic ware kept the heat in splendidly!

Lunch time.. yippee! Apparently we're having spring green, onions and carrots and a tin of sardines. Life is simple in our home, I love what she cooks and eat it as well, I, of course, do have bowls of 'Parrot Food' but who would eat dry seeds if offerered human food, not me, that's for sure.

And I am extremely partial to sardines and all other manner of fish and LOVE to crunch the stems of cabbage leaves and broccoli and cauliflower. But, I beg of you do not be stupid enough to try and nick a bit of hummus whilst Beaky is eating out of the pot.. you'd get an 'old nip' very quickly.

So we're off to rustle up grub.. stay as healthy as you can. Do not spread germs if you have a virus, it isn't fair as you don't know the ramifications for other people.

But please do Chirp, be as happy as you can and remember to walk on the sunny side of the street.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 18th, 2017.

THE GREAT SOUL OF SIBERIA. In Search of the Elusive Siberian Tiger. By SOOYONG PARK.

There are books that you start and put down as you want to go to sleep and then there is the kind of book that you read all through the night to the last page, this book is of the latter kind. An amazing and extraordinary tale of human bravery and dedication, of spending six months of the year in sub-zero temperatures in underground bunkers and immersing himself in the lives of these very human shy animals.

His writing 'holds' you, you turn the pages wanting to know what happens to 'Bloody Mary' and her cubs. Apparently there were several documentaries made from his hours of filming, she's now on the hunt to find them.

Today had an early start but delayed rise, curious, no? What I mean is that she woke up, went to the bathroom, then got me out of my cage when she came back and we slipped underneath the bed clothes for an hour to have a cuddle.

There's nothing like a cuddle on a sharp and frosty morn! And this morning was extremely 'frosty' here in deepest Knightsbridge but old Mr. Sun was awake and had his torch on full beam! YES! We saw sunlight at last and a high blue sky greeted our eyes when we got up and she drew back the curtains.

Yum.. egg and hummus for me, how delicious! Just egg for her, for she had finished all the broccoli and needed to go fruit and vegetable shopping today.

And go to the Library, which is where she picked up the Siberian Tiger book. Then onto to the North End Road for a weeks supply of fresh fruit. Persimmons, pears, mango, avocado and two crisp white cauliflowers plopped into WW. Then it was home via Tesco's!

Tesco? Yes, Tesco because they're the only people who sell 'Spring Greens' which I think, but am not sure, are what are called Collards in the USA. Whatever they're called, we love them! Steamed with carrots and shallots, drained (vegetable water retained and drunk) then drizzled with olive oil, with plenty of fresh black pepper and some crunchy salt.. delicious!

Lots of crisp, un-packaged heads of broccoli completed her shop and she was home again in two flashes of sunlight! What a lovely day.. crisp but sunny.. the perfect January day, please may we have lots more like this?

Then she can go gardening and I can get some peace and quiet. You do realise she been underneath my feet almost every day since December 28th, so there's been no rest for me at all!

But I know she's going to Hackney on Friday, that'll give me a few hours of peace and quiet, as her glasses will be ready to be collected by then. Don't worry folks, she isn't trying to read a lot without her glasses, she maybe be dumb sometimes but she ain't stupid where her eyes are concerned.

Chirps to all.. many chirps in fact, because that mango we had for pudding was wonderful!

GeeGee Parrot.
January, 17th, 2017.

SYLVIE JONES. A LOVELY FRIEND

She knew she owed her a call but somehow didn't pick up the telephone..

To a lot of people her name will mean nothing but to those of us in the design world, she ran the wholesale desk at Bennetts Silks in Stockport for years and later on, to Manchester United Football Club, it meant a lot.

About a year later after leaving Bennetts to help Rod run his business, she was working out at her gym very early one morning on 'The Dreaded Ball' which Sylvie could, literally, dance upon. She finished a routine and three very fit looking men started to clap!

They came over and asked her if she could teach them how to use the ball like she did and her second career was born. For those three men were members of Manchester United's first squad, three of the highest paid footballers in the land!

She did her training and qualified as a fitness instructor and proceeded to take the guys fitness up to an extraordinary level, the word spread and then someone started talking 'Olimpic Athletic Squad'.

Sylvie was one of the most unassuming people she knew and she asked her "what are you going to do?" And the response was this "I'm not, I'm not giving up my family life, I'm happy as I am, there are other fitness coaches quite capable of doing what I do" and she didn't, she stepped down.

And did something different.. she started Web Designing! She was, truly, a Woman For All Jobs!

My mum started to be ill and a mutual friend told Sylvie about it and they chatted.. but Sylvie did not let on that she had also a problem.. a cancer that had been operated on and 'dealt with' many years previously had returned. Our lovely friend had full blown bowel cancer.

Today, in the afternoon, she thought "Where is that naughty girl, I'll give her a call and was slightly bemused to find a answering message in her friend's mobile saying 'Rod Jones can't take your call, please leave a message', so she called the house number.

Rod answered the phone, except it really didn't sound like Rod, it sounded like an older, desperately sad version of his former self and she said "Rod, it's ..., are you ok, you sound very ill, what's the matter sweetie, is Sylvie there with you?".

And she heard him choke as he had to clear his voice and tell her the dreadful news that Sylvie, his marvellous and truly magical wife of forty eight years, had died on November 18th, 2016.

She sat stunned.. our darling Sylvie gone. Rod told her about the funeral and the 'wake' afterwards at Frankie's, Sylvie's Wine Bar of choice. To which bosses of textile industries came, a lot of folk from the Interior Design world, the Man United squads past and present, the WI, the Samaritans for whom she had volunteered for over thirty years, the local allotment members, her friends and the whole of the local town council!

Everyone wrote in a book and Christian, her son, said "It's very strange, it's almost as if all the remarks have been written by the same person just using different words and different subjects.. but it really shows how loved she was".

That, Christian, is true, she was loved very much by hundreds of people and we will all miss her.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 16th, 2017.

CROSSING THE PENTLAND FIRTH IN A WILLOW FRAMED COWSKIN COVERED BOAT. PROBABLY LAST DONE IN NEOLITHIC TIMES!

The lifeboat men said "Don't do it, those tides are very dangerous" and they were justified in saying so, the currents and tides here are extremely dangerous as the Atlantic sea is forced through a narrow channel between two pieces of land, it is a place where many a boat has met its' sad end.. ship wrecks are frequent.

However, after careful reading of the tides and by waiting for a significant Moon, the crew went ahead and in a hand made willow-framed boat covered with cow skins waterproofed with melted lard, they paddled across the most dangerous area of water around the British Isles in just under five hours.

And, in doing so, demonstrated how the people of the Neolithic age of the islands of Orkney would have travelled to and from the mainland, the Orkneys are situated off the uppermost coast of northern Scotland.

The very brave crew were five members of the Orkney Rowing Club: Dave Flett, Bruce Davidson, Dave Walker, Jamie Thompson and their female cox Audrey Cameron, together with Jeff Mackie, who was one of the local boatbuilders and Andy Torbet, the BBC presenter.

The BBC2 did it again! This is a three part BBC project - Operation Orkney. How fortunate we all are to have these channels that give us these incredible programmes.

The boat building was part of a fascinating programme we watched last night on the Orkneys and the archeological works 'digs' that are on-going on a large Neolithical settlement.

Neolithic British age refers to period of British, Irish and Manx (as in the Isle of Man) history that was from circa 4,000 to circa 2,500 BCE. It saw the dawn of farming as in the cultivation of cereal crops and animals: Cattle, pigs and they kept dogs.. not for farming!

And from farming to building monuments.. who hasn't heard of 'Stonehenge'? But, have you heard or been to Silbury Hill? Silbury Hill is a 40 metre high pyramid and dates to approximately 2,660 BC.. which makes it older, my amis, folks and Dear Readers, than those pyramids in Egypt!

It is located near Avebury, which has its' stone circles, in Wiltshire and forms part of the Unesco World Heritage site which, of course, includes Stonehenge.

Tis fascinating, tis it not what has gone before! Now I am very fascinated by what is lurking in chilly white larder! It is my pot of hummus and I reckon it's time that we had some sustenance as our eggs were eaten many hours ago.

ChopChop.. HullyHully. I'll be back later this afternoon to give you her recipe for Root Soup, it's much more interesting than it sounds.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 15th, 2017.

FAN MAIL FOR ARCHIE KIMPTON, THE AUTHOR OF JUMBLECAT & DAMP WET DRIZZLE, NOT A LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE. NOW, WOULDN'T THAT BE NICE!

BORING! Cold and wet is nobody's favourite weather, but she's trying very hard to be full of chirp and thinking of how the cold is, she hopes, killing beastly slugs and bugs at the allotments. But she's hacking again, the couple of times that she's been out she's had multiple layers of proper cold-beating clothes on but she coughed for much of last night and is doing so again today.

So there'll be NO testing the new grass trimmer at the allotments this weekend, that's for sure. But, you cannot cut the garass when its' frosted, all it does is wrap itself around the head and then that makes the operator reallyreally grumpy.

She had to go out yesterday for she had to hand-deliver a letter to Archie Kimpton, the author of Jumble Cat, a book that she sent to Charlotte for the fourth birthday. The letter was suspiciously fat and it pleased Archie greatly to receive such a fat letter full of fan mail!

For Poppy, Freddie and Charlotte had all written to say how much they were enjoying his book and Poppie had drawn pictures of things relating to the book. If you have young children, I suggest you get his two books for them as they are 'splendid' (according to Freddie) and make them use their imagination.

They are: Jumble Cat (2014) and The Porridge of Knowledge (2015).

Drizzle Cake! We'd rather eat it than watch it, I bet you would too, wouldn't you? Ooh.. when you're not feeling very well and the only thing that helps you breathe is an Olbas Oil tube up your nostrils or Vick Vapor rub.. the mere mention of a Lemon Drizzle Cake is a happy making thought. I know, she can't eat it, as does she but a girl can dream, can't she!

We saw something being cooked last night that she loves and that she can eat! Saddle of Venison wrapped in slices of Prosciutto Ham and roasted in the oven for just under an hour! Her butcher, lubbly-jubbly man that he is, can get it for her and that would be an amazing treat for Easter!

For until the middle of April, Easter Sunday being on April 16th, 2017, she is going to be very good and follow an elimination diet to help sort out the arthritis in her hands. She also has to go to see a specialist to see if it is the onset of Arthritis in her knees or if it is the Polio damage which is, sadly, worsening.

This was what put the, recently deceased, Earl of Snowdon.. aka Anthony Armstrong Jones the photographer.. into a wheelchair, his knees were affected when he contracted polio in the same way as her were.

But.. guess what's in the YumYum HQ? Go on.. hazard a guess? Well, I'll have to tell you 'cos you'll never get it!

It's all of the ingredients to make Yemenite Lahoh, this is a flatbread and Penny, a clever blog writer whose children are allergic to Gluten, has posted a great gluten free recipe! So when she's feeling up to it, probably Monday or Tuesday.

That'll cheer her up, for she truly loved making bread, it is such a magical thing to see dough rise and to watch it fill a huge bowl, she loved making Tuscan bread which couldn't be more basic if it tried.. so she's very happy to have found something to fiddle with!

We've got a soup hubble-bubbling on the stove at the moment, an all vegetable mish-mash mixture of everything that is in the vegetable rack, plus whole onions with their skins still on which gives onion soup that deep rich colour.

Supper will be early, we will watch some television, she has a new book, yes, a purchased book! This means that it is a veryvery extra special book that she means to keep but whereas she's ok with iPad as she has the ability to make the print larger, she doesn't have her new reading glasses yet, she's not reading until she gets them, for it makes her eyes ache.

Apparently the cause of this are those evil baby cataracts, they are forcing her stigmatisms to alter shape and this is affecting her eye sight dramatically! Poor old bat.

Anyway, this hot soup will cheer her up and I'll have some soft boiled vegetables when they're cool enough for Beaky to nibble.. all very slurpy, how delicious!

Chirp to you all.. many chirps in fact.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 14th, 2017.

UPON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST.. & EYE OPTICIANS.

Think upon those words if you will and no, this post is or rather, has nothing to do with a book whose title is made out of some of the same words.

For if you want to do something / learn something / create something.. then you have to be ernest in your endeavours And who, in their tight mind, wants to remain clueless. Not her for one and after her extremely unpleasant shock of having an allergic reaction to corn.. sobsob, for I don't see her popping a bowl just for me.. she has set to learning about Arthritis and what triggers it.

She has a dear friend who, as per her training in matters of this subject, is extremely knowledgeable and has suggested that she cuts out the usual suspects for a period of time. In other words, she has to follow an elimination diet. In her case, we already know that all the members of the Nightshade family cause her to have an attack within an hour.

Corn, Rye, Spelt and Wheat also do evil things to her poor knees and finger joints but she had never thought of dairy as being a possible villian. "Dairy" she squeaked when she saw the email the friend had sent her with what to eat and what NOT to eat and swore silently under her breath.

And then she remembered Constance didn't 'do dairy' for about twenty years as it made her hands sore and at that time she had been doing a lot of sewing and fine embroidery.

So on the way home after going to the optician in Hackney on Tuesday, she plundered their local market of broccoli, cauliflower and spring greens.. called collards in the US.

Breakfast is now quite different from most peoples. For she has, yes, her beloved soft boiled egg but with it, she now has a bowl of steamed broccoli with olive oil and black pepper. She offered me a tiny piece of broccoli stem and I was just about to turn Beaky up at it when Beaky had the bright idea to nibble a minute bit to see if it was any good.

WHO KNEW? Who knew that funny bit of stalk would taste so scrumptious?

So she has one egg with her bowl of broccoli and I have two eggs with some broccoli stalk. Plus hummus and a fresh bowl of seeds. These tasty dishes really take me through most of the day until about 6pm when she produces more vegetables and a bit of non-citrus fruit.

We will eat fish when we finish the three month elimination diet and we have Rick Stein to thank for Cod Loin with Dill Oil, it was on one of his shows last week that she saw Cod is no longer in danger of being over fished, UNLIKE the poor little Sea Bass, it is now a reasonable price in a good fishmonger.

Yes heads up.. did you know that Sea Bass ONLY start to reproduce after the age of seven. So all of the female fish caught under this age are, therefore, decreasing the breeding stock in the sea of yet another fish. Those tiny little Sea Bass you see in the shops are of a very, very young age.

PLEASE DON'T BUY THEM.. AND.. Tell your fishmonger why you're not buying them!

OPTICIAN.. yes. Her appointment was at 2pm, so she was there early and waited for Meera to take her examination, it is Margaret's business but Meera is the optician. Who is extremely thorough and had already received a note from the Moorfields Glaucoma Clinic about what they had found.

The cataracts are causing her stigmatisms to alter! "Ahah.. this explains everything" said Meera as she proceeded to examine and test her eyes and found the huge differences which have occurred since May 2015. "Yes, I am prescribing new distance and reading glasses for you and please remember to wear your dark glasses on bright days".

"They'll be ready in under a week, I'll text your mobile when they're ready" and the three of them finished off her time with a chat about their families, then she wished these two lovely women "Happy new years" and left the shop, thanking her lucky stars for her old friend, Marion, who had introduced her to Margaret.

You have to take care, without being neurotic, of yourself. You are in charge of yourself, so if you want to live a good life, do it properly. Be ernest in your quest for knowledge, health and happiness.

Chirp.. broccoli stalk for supper about which I will be veryvery ERNEST!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 12th, 2017.
PostScript: EYE Opticians, 312. Mare Street, Hackney, London E8-1EJ.
Tel # 020 8533 1188.

BBC1 ITALY'S INVISIBLE CITIES.. VENICE VIEWED WITH SCANNERS & UMDERWATER CAMERAs

Just in time we walked back at 21.12 to catch this programme on Venice and immediately, all thoughts of us going to bed at 9.00pm (on the dot) have gone out of the window and been thrown up the steps!

Oh, we do so hope that you can get to see this programme. For no camera team of archaeologists has done this depth of work before.. aided and abetted with scanners and underwater cameras.

The scanners used within the Jewish Ghetto and the Doges Palace show things that very few people, except for Venetian archaeologists, have ever seen.

Do you know where the word and practise of quarantine comes from? There's an island off the main island where ships and their passangers and loads were held for forty days and the word and practise of holding goods and people in 'quarantine' comes from Italian for forty.

The Arsenale where they made three complete ships in one day.. they made everything within these walls. Ropes, anchors, sails everything.

Casanova, having greatly upset some big wig, was arrested and tortured by the Secret Police, he was held in 'pretty' gruesome conditions for fifteen months but he and an accomplice managed to escape, they were the only people ever to escape from the Doges Palace.

In 1797 the last of the Doges surrended to Napoleon.

If you want to see this marvellous programme, go to the BBC1 website and enter invisible cities. Florence is being shown in two weeks time, yes, we'll be watching it!

We have had a very successful day indeed. A lot of work has been done. But we have a question for you and it is this.. At what point does your stuff, that you presumably bought, turn into - excuse my language - crap?

The first place she disappeared into was the old boiler cupboard where one of the cupboards that used to be in the bathroom is being put to use and lurking on the top she found a huge bag full of jam jars! All with their tops.. but then she remembered, she had collected them for a friend who makes the most delicious marmalades every year and guess which month the Seville Oranges come to town? You've got it, January.

She heaved the huge bag off the top and dragged it out into the hall. "She'd better come and collect them asap GeeGee, otherwise, they're going up to New Horizons for their members, they love jam jars!" And so the piles of 'crap' disappeared slowly, as things were put away in its' correct home or lined up either to be given away, taken to the garden or disposed of.

Then she pulled out several articles of clothing that she has to try on, but she has a feeling they'll be leaving. She's a mini-miss compared to when she wore these lovely clothes.

Ok, now it is time to go to bed.. I'd been sitting very quietly upon her head but twitched and she immediately looked at her watch! So off I go, I know, I still have to tell you about her trip to her optician, maybe tomorrow.

I wonder if we'll get snow tonight? There's a huge snowstorm apparently heading our way. Thank goodness she bought food on her way home yesterday!

Bedtime.. Chirp.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 11th, 2017.

FUNGI & SWARMS.. OH, THANK YOU BBC4!

We do have oblong eyes now. Last night we watched a documentary on Swarms. They covered all manner of animals and insects: locusts, crabs, ants, birds, mice, rats, you name it, it swarms! BBC4 does brilliant documentaries on wild life and we have watched a lot of them over the past two weeks.

Another fascinating programme, also on BBC4, that was shown two nights ago was on Fungi. One part of the programme was on the Honey Fungi in Oregon which is the largest living organism in the world.

But the most fascinating part of this programme was an interview with the young scientist who has developed, I kid you not, LIVING POLYSTYRENE!

Of course, it is not polystyrene but it's a living organism made by mixing a fungi with something that it likes to eat. And.. it degrades naturally.

Over to the mighty Mississippi River where, due to a break-out from a fish farm, Silver Carp which are not native to the area were shown leaping out of the water to the height of three feet! What causes them to behave in such a strange fashion? The movement of water from a propeller being a classic example and if one does it, then all of them start leaping about, it was an extraordinary sight.

So that's another two wonderful programmes for you to find on-line.. now we are off to do mysterious things in YumYum HQ. I'll be back tomorrow with the result of her today's visit to Margaret, her optician, as her consultant at Moorfields had told her that her prescription has changed 'quite significantly'.

PipPip.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 10th, 2017.

BILL GATES OWNS 47.5% OF THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL CHAIN! WHO KNEW?

The other 47.5% of the Four Seasons hotel chain is owned by Prince Al-Waweed bin Tahal of Saudi Arabia and the remaining 5% is held by Isadore 'Issy' Sharp who started the hotel chain in 1960 in downtown Toronto. He floated it on the Stock Market in 1986 and then sold the 95% to Gates and Al-Waweed in 2007, the prince must like hotels, for he also owns The Savoy Hotel in London.

She finds business news interesting and sometimes extraordinarily funny, not funny as in funny haha but funny as in funny curious aka peculiar.

There is a 'small' piece of news in the papers today about the UK's £5.4 million funding of an Ethiopian Girl Band being reviewed. Curious? Yes, we thought so too.

When you read papers, if you do, either on-line or in paper format, do you read everything or do you flip through catching just the headlines and then perhaps turn to your favourite sections of the paper? If you do this, you miss a lot!

Yes, I know she's an information 'junky' but a line or two in a paper has started some wonderful treasure hunts and opened her 'eyes & ears' to things that she's never heard talked about before.

Like the story of the pilots who flew Chaing Kai-shek, the Chinese gold bullion and the thousands of ancient treasures out of China and into Taiwan in 1949, thereby saving them from destruction by the Maoist Gang of Four which came to power afterwards. Communist regime had swept to power in 1946 after the civil war.

Reading tells you things.. you don't have to know, of course, but ancient and modern history is interesting and so too, is the 'plot' of your country's history. Take William of Orange & Mary for instance. They were crowned King AND Queen. He was Dutch and a Protestant, she was English, the eldest daughter of James 2nd who abdicated his throne because of his Catholic religion and lived the rest of his life in Paris.

He was the full brother of King Charles 2nd who, despite having sired many healthy illegitimate children, had no legal heir. After William and Mary, came Queen Anne, Mary's sister.

The French East India Company created in 1664 'held' land in the Americas, Louisiana being one such place and their State laws still differ slightly to other states.

The history of Europe.. phew! Where do you start? She's only 66 but has seen massive changes occur within her life time. The building of the Berlin Wall, the destruction of it, the break-up of the USSR.

And go back even further.. go back to ancient times, take for instance the Trojan Wars. And the story of the Trojan Horse. Woe betide any politician who is stupid enough NOT to read history, perhaps someone should have given Mrs. Angela Merkel a book of how the Greeks broke the seige of Troy.

We are off.. whoosh.. it looks to be a dreary day outside but there are things that we need like fresh vegetables and she has to try and find buckwheat flour. Oh, just one more gruesome piece of news! We had a huge treat last night, she made us a bowl of salted popcorn!

Yumyum! Such fun but an hour later she went to switch on a light with the first finger of her left hand and jumped in shock as a piercingly agonising pain darted into the knuckle joint! "Hello.. WHAT was that for?" she cried and when she came back to bed, she investigated it on-line.

And there in black on white on iPad was the answer to her question.. 'Dairy, Corn and Wheat are the three main triggers for Arthritis'.. don't you think that's really mean? So whereas she was going to be able to subsistute corn flour for potato flour in the Yemenite Lahoh flatbread, she'll now have to find something else!

Oh, a pox on these foods that causing pain or discomfort to her and other people. Why does food suddenly do this? Admittedly she hasn't eaten popcorn for a very long time but it never caused her fingers to be painful now, what has caused it to do so now?

Intelligent and informative answers posted in Comments will earn you a 'Reddie', how can you resist!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 9th, 2017.

BLINIS.. FOR BREAKFAST.. WHY NOT?

Thank you Patrick. She had completely forgotten about Buckwheat, which, by the way, is not wheat. It is usually found in its' roasted state but you can find the un-roasted groats and flour, if you search for them.

But why is she thanking 'Patrick'? She sent him a text alerting him, if he was at home, to the fact that there was a great documentary showing on Mexico on BBC4 last night. His response, about an hour later, was that he was dining upon caviar and iced vodka, followed by duck breast flambeed with vielle prune as he and Jane were celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary!

Caviar.. BLINIS! She squeaked outloud, how come she had forgotten about this grain for we had only recently written about doing blinis for Sir 'Willie' Purvis at his 70th birthday when catering with her company 'The Flying Fish Co'.

And tomorrow, there are no guesses where she'll be trotting off to? Yes, the North End Road for if she can't find it in a Middle Eastern food shop, it will be for sale in WholeFoods at Fulham Broadway.

Also at Fulham Broadway is Wilco, a great store if you live in the UK but don't know it yet. It's full of sensible products that you need at extremely sensible prices! White Vinegar, Washing Soda, Vim (very difficult to find these days) and countless other products too numerous to mention. Where she used to go to the basement of Peter Jones for things, she now goes to Wilco.

But I'm skipping back to buckwheat because of her gluten intolerance.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know that she highly allergic to all of the members of the Nightshade family. They are: Aubergines, Peppers of all descriptions except, thank goodness Peppercorns, Potatoes and Tomatoes.

They cause all of the finger joints her right hand to swell to an alarming size and the pain is off the scale. She's known this for several years and so she is more than vigilant about not eating any of these foods but the sneaky thing is how often Potato Starch is added to things.

Marigold Swiss Buillion was something she loved, if she wanted a hot tasty drink, she'd reach for this pretty tub but no longer.. for there is a high percentage of this wretched starch in it.

And now she has become highly allergic to gluten. This affects both of her knees (which are already more than dodgy at the best of times due to having contracted polio at the age of six) and her intestines!

Gluten is found in Barley, Rye and Wheat. And in Oats, if they are grown in too close a proximity to wheat through cross contamination and wheat is used in all manner of things! Like the manufacturing of Corn Tortilla Chips and Lentils! Who would have guessed it?

Marmite.. was another old staple in our yumyum cupboard but not any longer, for it contains Barley! GRRR. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce does too and Japanese Terriyaki sauce contains wheat, although you can find the gluten free variety.

Yesterday she came across a blog written by a young woman whose two young boys are both allergic to gluten. www.pennilessparenting.com. Penny gives on her blog a huge amount of interesting recipes including what she called a Yemenite Lahoh flatbread, her version of this bread is gluten and refined sugar free and is made on the top of the stove.

She's made a list of the ingredients needed and yippee.. she might have something new to eat with her egg for breakfast this week but..

Blinis for breakfast does have a certain 'je ne sais quoi', does it not!

GeeGee Parrot.
January 8th, 2017.

HARROD'S LINGERIE DEPT & THE MONCLER COAT FROM MARINA.

Blew.. We have woken up to find a dull and cloudy day, the sky has descended and there isn't a patch of blue to be seen, not even enough to patch a mouse's handerchief! She's not surprised as, by the time she got to the North End Road yesterday to do essential food shopping, it was tipping it down with rain.

But being cosily wrapped up in foul weather clothing, she didn't give or care one jot. Upon leaving the house, her first stop was MailBoxEtc to collect some post, this included a letter for the author of 'Jumblecat' Archie Kimpton from Poppy, Freddie and Charlotte.

She gave the book to Charlotte who is a grand-daughter of the Pewsey gang for her fourth birthday which was just before Christmas, Archie, whom she met at BoroughMarket, had written a message to Charlotte in the book.

Next up Harrods! Harrods.. in Sale time, why on earth did she go in there?

Well, as much as they fiddle about with this store they haven't physically changed the actual building too much and she knows the way to certain departments without going through the busiest areas.

Where was she heading for? Lingerie! Yes, lingerie. Having lost kilos of weight, otherwise known as fat, she needed a new black bra and Harrods stock is just the same price as other shops for non-sale items and sadly these Wacoal bras don't go on sale very often!

But just as she was stepping off the escalator, she got a big fright! For someone sneaked a hand under her elbow and whispered in her ear! She had both a scarf and a hat on and no hearing aids.. so she whipped round to find.. her Number 2 from thirty eight years ago.. Francine!

Oh, such joy, such utter joy! They haven't seen each other for over thirty years as Francine moved to Australia in 1986 and this is her first time back!

"But how did you recognise me under all these clothes" she said.. "simple, your profile hasn't really changed and I saw you side view on when you stepped on to the escalator in that pretty coat, where are we going, which department?" And off they went arm in arm to find the black bra, which was in stock.

Then they sat on a couple of seats and chatted, she's en route to France to visit family and was leaving by EuroStar later in the afternoon but she'll be back in a month's time before heading to America to visit her twenty five year old daughter and HER baby! Francin's first grandchild. Gosh, what a lot of news to catch up on. They parted having exchanged contact details.

As she meandered back towards the escalators, she realised she was passing Moncler, the makers of the pretty thigh-length coat that Marina gave her. It was a small boutique and the two assistants were busy, so she prowled about and looked at their jackets and coats and.. at the prices! Goodness me, she thought, I knew she was a generous friend but never having been into one of their shops, I had no idea of their prices.

A smiley girl came up to her and asked if she could help her, she smiled and said "no, I was just looking as I have never been into one of your shops and a friend gave me this coat as a Christmas present a few years ago, actually you are the best person to ask, there's probably a label inside but how do I clean it?" The girl smiled and said "wash it like you would do a cashmere sweater and dry it flat, that is all you have to do and it will last you for years and, what a lovely friend!"

She smiled back at the girl and said "that she was". And she left thinking about Marina, her husband John and the fun the three of them had had over the years, the trips they made together to le Grande Braderie de Lille each September. The wonderful 'swag' that they had found and carted home, the small bits coming home with them in the Volvo, the larger pieces coming home by truck. The meals with the other antique dealers where the noise level had reached astounding levels as people greeted friends they only saw once a year.. yes, Marina had been, indeed, a lovely friend.

And she slipped out of the store by a side door and  caught a 14 bus to Fulham Broadway! From one extreme to the other.

Our lovely Lebanese friend is home and has just telephoned us to ask her to supper, "no thank you darling, I'm not going anywhere, I'm coughing and my nose is blocked, I'll see you next week when I'm germ free" and they chatted about life in general, blowing kisses down the telephone at each other.

"It's cold BumBum, let's go and make some ginger tea and some lunch and then I am going to make the dill oil so it will be ready for when I get us some salmon or cod loin.. yum, you love fish, don't you?" and yes, I certainly do, I know that Congolese African Grey Parrots don't eat cod, salmon or red mullet in the wild but I don't live in the wild, I live in deepest Knightsbridge and my 'diet' is a little different to that of my wild relations.

With food in mind, we are off to YumYum HQ to rattle a pot and a pan. Stay.. dry, warm and safe.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 7th, 2017.

GOODNESS ME! HOW BIG WAS THAT MATTRESS THAT HID $20 MILLION?

'US agents find $20 million in cash hidden underneath a mattress in a Massachusetts apartment!'

Cor, ooh and other suitable noises of astonishment, can you imagine the faces of the federal agents when they raided this apartment and found all of the dosh? How big was the bed I wonder?

It is in The Guardian and the American newspapers this morning and has to do with the on-going case of a $5 Billion fake internet telephone company which has seen the American creator of TelexFreeInc arrested but his Brazilain partner has skipped off to Brazil, where, interestingly, they do not have a extradition treaty with the USA.

BUT.. silly man, he left his wife behind.. and you know what 'they' say, 'Cherchez la femme (find the woman) and guess what? (No reddies for guessing). She knew where the dosh.. aka loot.. was! I suggest that someone writes a script of this as soon as possible! It would make a wonderful film, with a certain proportion of the the proceeds going to the investors who were scammed out of their money.

She's making progress, yippee! She managed a telephone conversation with the Pewsey gang yesterday without choking or losing her voice but this morning, having had a 'bad' night, she was mighty relieved to know that a date, which was scheduled for 2.00pm down in the city, this afternoon has been postponed for a week! Phew!

It is very bright out there, out there being the outside world of deepest Knightsbridge. The bears jamboree.. aka Harrods Winter Sale.. is causing its' usual chaos of illegal parking and there are countless chauffeur driven cars waiting in the neighbourhood for their owners to summon them to collect their passengers and their swag.

In the days of long ago when she worked in the store, she enjoyed it as the management were extra-especially generous to those who worked those 'Sale days'. The canteen ran 24 hours x 365 days a year because of the in-house fire brigade and if you were working early or late getting your stock ready or doing your figures, there was always something delicious to eat and drink.

But much as she would like to remain snuggled down in bed.. the back pain in her kidneys had gone, she finds the heat pad on her back very helpful at loosening whatever it is that is 'lurking' there.. she has to get up and get dressed.

Supplies need to be purchased as we need chick peas and tahini paste for my hummus, this denotes a trip to the North End Road. UR Supermarket are closed for a refit, so she'll have to go to another of the Middle Eastern shops because she needs them plus a large bunch of fresh dill.

On Rick Stein's show three nights ago, he went to Iceland for a long weekend and ate salmon with dill oil, the colour of the oil was enough to make you want to lick the tv screen! She went on line to find it, no, she didn't want essential oil of dill, she wanted culinary dill oil.

Then she was given a clue, that it was 'home made' by each restaurant, as a recipe appeared for how to make it together with a way of doing 'the' fish (as the Scots call it). There are a couple of duck breasts for todays' meals, they came out of frosty white larder yesterday and defrosted overnight.

We are eating down the contents of both frosty and chilly larders. She has some salmon in there as well but wants to do Rick's recipe with fresh fish so that will have to wait until she next goes to our lubbly-jubbly fishmonger. But she could make the oil, if she finds some fresh enough dill.

She has just been alerted by a friend an extremely unpleasant expose on the inhumane treatment of pregnant mares (female horses) linked up to blood draining machines. The world exclaims horror at the sight or knowledge of bears in China being kept in cages and having their bile ducts milked.

But is a much more evil scandal resulting in the death of the mares as they are drained of their blood because it contains a highly profitable hormone and it is happening, at this precise moment, on South American horse farms with the profitable hormone being sold to cow and pig factory farms in the EU.

AVAAZ: Stop the pregnant horse blood trade.

The EU is considering action but so far, nothing has happened. EU ministers are due to meet in two weeks time. She doubts very much that it will stop as the EU also wish to severely curtail the use of non-medical, ie homeopathic, herbal, essential oil remedies.

A completely unknown law exists in the UK dating back to the time of Henry 8th, he gave the people of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales the FREEDOM to use whichever medicine or form of treatment they want to use. This law is still active. Reflexology, lymphatic drainage and countless other non 'medical' forms of treatment are under threat.

The EU plans to stop this, why? Why? You are having a 'giraffe', aren't you. They plan / want to stop it because Herbal, Homeopathic or Essential Oils are not and never can be patented and therefore, they can't make millions for the drug companies and millions in taxation, unlike drugs and armaments, the two biggest money earners for governments.

We are off to splosh in hot water, well, she is, I'll stay out of reach on top of the door.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 6th, 2017.

A SCOTSMAN CALLED JOHN MUIR.. IF YOU'RE AN AMERICAN YOU SHOULD KNOW OF HIM & BE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR HIS FORESIGHT.

Because if this man, whilst a child, had not moved to the United States of America and fallen in love with the Redwoods, well, who knows what might have happened. But it was his love of nature and his adopted country that inspired the National Parks of America.

Tonight is the third night of the programme on Yellowstone. Temperatures of extraordinary highs and lows. We are watching this on BBC2 and it was filmed in 2016. I would suggest that you, if you are interested in wildlife and what is going on in this amazing place, try and find it.

Dreadful news about the Pine Beetles and their destruction of huge areas up in the Alpine area in Greater Yellowstone.

The camera work is beyond brilliant, the underwater photography of the beaver's home under one of their dams was wonderful. Babies beavers are very cute! And the sight of a ten week old young one sitting up scratching its' belly and yawning.. need I say more?

And the cameraman managed, for the first time ever, to catch a mother beaver moving three babies and taking them back up river to a new location. What a glorious series this is to watch.

We were late to bed tonight as we have had an occurence of GREAT excitement happen today! Yes, the antique six-drawer chest of drawers arrived this morning! Yes, it would be lovely to have an empty, white painted Zen effect bathroom but where would she put her 'stuff'?

The chest-on-chest that used to live beside the bath was HUGE, the top chest held all her sweaters, belts, gloves and the lower chest held everything that lives in our bathroom except for our towels.

This chest of drawers is nothing fancy! The top needs another layer of veneer as this old one has been badly maintained, the rest of the chest wood was filthy, you could not tell what type of wood was used for the drawers and frame.

She literally had to scrub it, And out from underneath a thick layer of filth came a beautiful blonde and black wood! It's pretty, she originally thought she would paint it but having seen the clean wood, she has decided not to do this.

She dug around and found a box of pretty lining paper and folded it to fit the drawers, then she pulled out two bottles of essential oils, lemon and lavender, drops were put onto cotton sachets to refresh their contents, pretty smells for wool sweaters and undies.

The two top drawers hold underwear, the rest hold thinner sweaters. Underwear has been culled. She's lost a couple of sizes so a lot of underwear has been put aside. Sweaters have been tried on and examined with an eagle eye and there is a pile of cardigans and 'pullovers' that will be given away.

There is much culling to be done.. she has to, literally, try on every article of clothing that she owns and decide if it fits, if it doesn't, then that's easy for out it will go but if if it does, well, does she want it anymore?

It is my bewitching hour.. I hope she watches the rest of the programme, it is now on the subject of the terrifying summer fires and in 2016 there were a lot of these. Oh dear, there was a BIG one in the area of those Great Grey Owls.. but phew, they're all alive!

She has made her opticians appointment for next week, Margaret was shocked to hear that her prescription needs to be changed only ten months after she had her stronger lenses prescribed.. so are we Margaret, so are we. She also went onto Amazon and bought the newly revised version of her favourite book, I will tell you about it when it arrives next week.

Bedtime, we got up much earlier than recently and she has much to do tomorrow so we will say "Goodnight" to you all.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 5th, 2017.

THE GREAT GREY OWL.. RICK STEIN'S GERMAN MARINATED SALMON & CATARACTS!

If someone gives you a 'Lemon', well, you make Lemonade, don't you? Or so the expression goes. Well, in our case, having had the flu, we have watched some magnificent television that we would not have seen if she hadn't been confined to bed.

There is a wonderful programme currently being shown on the magnificent Yellowstone Park, it is being shown over several nights and we are glued to it, plus I have seen a bird that made me go "Woooooo", yes, it was the Great Grey Owl. What an amazingly breathtaking bird.. the programme is on all animals in the park and the snow and the melting of it.

Beavers, Elk, Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, Wolves, Sage Grouse, Muskrats, Snowfall, Waterlevels, Climate change.. watching three baby Great Grey Owls take their first flights was nerve racking, to say the least!

And before this programme tonight was Rick Stein in Berlin, she likes his recipes. And you all know how she loves fish and there was a great recipe for marinating a middle cut of Salmon. The recipe is too long for her to tap tonight but here, mes amis, folks, Dear Readers, is the website to which you can go and find it.. don't say I don't give you anything!

Beetroot-Cured-Salmon with Cucumber & Apple Pickle.
This delicious recipe can be found on: www.thehappyfoodie.co.uk.

Now, did I tell you she was going to have her bi-monthly test at Moorfields Eye Hospital? Well, she did. But first off we went to the bathroom and she sploshed about in hot smelly water for a long time breathing in the essential oils, too numerous to name (I can't remember which she used to be truthful but Eucalyptus and Peppermint were certainly amongst the smellies.

Then she got dressed in layers and layers of clothing, remembered her glasses, both long long and short distance for the consultant, wrapped a fine scarf around her head and neck, then pulled one of Darling Pat's hats.

And went off to collect her facial mask that she had ordered at Boots.. except.. they didn't have any! None in stock at the warehouse.. grrr.. onto the new pharmacy a couple of doors up, a delightful young woman said "Yes, I have paper facial masks, so useful in this weather", she handed over her credit card and received a box of.. 100!

And armed with these, she slid underground onto the Piccadilly Line to St.Pancras and then onto the Northern Line to Old Street and followed the Green Line to Moorfields, Clinic # 3 for her 3.00pm appointment.

This is such an extraordinary place, the staff are truly amaaazing and beyond kindness itself. And on went one of the paper masks, she was NOT going to breath her horrid germs onto anyone.

First up, general eye health and pressure test.. hmmmm.. at 13 & 13 this was a little up from the reading in November. The nurse took her through the eye test with each eye separately. OH dear, not so good. Next stop Vision Field which involves watching four dots and any other dots that you may see and then concentrating on a central yellow dot and clicking when you see a bright or pale light anywhere else.

She was asked to sit and wait to see her Consultant. This Glaucoma Clinic is always a busy one but she was seen again within the hour. He went through her tests and then examined both her eyes in great detail, she asked him how her eyes were as she told him she now finds that she has to wear her glasses for any detailed work and her right eye gets 'tired'.

"It's that poor old optic nerve, I'm afraid and the reason you're now reaching for your glasses is you've started to develop cataracts since we last saw you, they're just beginning to form and this will cause you to notice a difference, plus you need a new prescription for your glasses, we picked this up when you did the eye test".

"CATARACTS" she squeaked in outrage! "I've already got very advanced open angled glaucoma and a dying optic nerve and now you're telling me I've got a pair of cataracts forming!" and the two of them rocked with rather manic laughter!

So, there you have our latest news! Oh, and that naughty plate washing box.. aka dishwasher.. flooded YumYum's floor last night!

But tomorrow, as Scarlet so wisely said, is another day and an antique, tall but skinny six-drawer chest of drawers is arriving between 11.00 am and midday, it will live in the bathroom and hold her underwear, her night clothes and her thinner sweaters, the thick ones live in a cupboard.

It's arrival will trigger the start of putting our home back together again. (Thank goodness). For everything that will live in the bathroom is, at present in another cupboard in our bedroom which normals holds 'other stuff' and it is this 'other stuff' which is lolling about causing chaos and mayhem in our sitting room. Are you with me? I know, 'tis difficult, but just imagine having to live here as well!

Well! Flap-my-daps, I have just been SO grown-up, I jumped off her head onto the bed, came back up to her and asked to go to bed.. how about that?

Cataracts, poor old bat, she'll be off to see lovely Margaret at Eye Opticians in Hackney for new glasses and propably Curry PC World for a new plate washing box (if it leaks again).. and so, you see, mes amis 'Pop goes the weasel!'

GeeGee Parrot.
January 4th, 2017.

LUNCH WAS 'ON' THE BED @ 1.15!

I have explained, have I not, that she keeps a blanket, one of three identical light weight fleece, over our bed comforter / quilt and it is a good thing too! For with her in bed and me spending a great deal of the day lolling or playing about on it plus having a varied selection of bowls full of my tasty yumyum on it, the comforter would be in a dreadful state within a day!

After I posted yesterday, she did indeed settle down for a nap and we dozed for an hour, then she woke up, looked outside which was, miraculously, still bright and sunny and got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Where she proceeded to give herself 'a lick & a promise' and to get dressed in multiple layers of warm clothing.

Blimey! She's shrunk! Talk about skinny ribs.. I wonder how many lbs or kilos she's lost in the last few days? "I am going to Sainsburys GeeGee, the butcher and market are still closed until tomorrow but we needs eggs and vegetables for the basket is nearly empty" she said and with that, she pulled out a wonderful coat she was given two Christmases ago by our darling friend Marina, whistled up WW, pulled on her gloves and a hat and left the house.

And walked as fast as she could down the Cromwell Road to the big Sainsburys and purchased a bunch of fresh beetroot, a large swede, a sweet corn, some carrots, a bag of loose leafed 'Spring Greens', a couple of parsnips, a box of 6 eggs - she buys our eggs from the Egg Stall in the market - a bag of their own tortilla chips (!), a packet of Gluten Free Nairns Oatcakes with Herbs and a small present to slip through our kind friend's door, the one who went out in driving rain to get her the pain killers.

And walked towards home, via the friends house slipping the gift through his letter box. Then she detoured to Boots the Chemists to purchase a face mask. She has an important eye appointment at Moorfields tomorrow and will not breath her germs or cough on her consultant.

Wow, that was quick, she was there and back within two hours and definitely felt the better for the exercise but today is bitterly cold and she's decided to stay in and not go for even a quick walk around the gardens.

Lunch was truly scrumptious! We each had a small piece of sweet corn, she cut the corn into quarters, then there was a bowl of mixed root vegetables with the spring greens which had steamed on top of the harder vegetables, they had olive oil and ground crunchy herbs on top of them, just the sort of food you want on a cold day.

And so here we are! I am delighted to say that she hasn't needed to take a pain killer since last night at 8.00pm, she's drinking masses of hot drinks, keeping the heat pad on low meant she slept really well last night and we woke up almost 12 hours to the minute of when she put the bedside light out last night!

She is thinking of sixteen years ago this very week, when a mad but truly delightful friend of hers telephoned her on January 6th, 2001 to ask her another* life changing question.. "Do you know anyone who wants an allotment?" The rest is history.. as they say.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 3th, 2017.
PostScript: *The first life changing question was when the Tyre Kicker telephoned her on Friday, May 6th, 1988 and said "Do you know anyone who wants a parrot".

BE PREPARED! G. Baldwins Herbalists contact details.

Brrrrrrrr.. shivver my timbers, it's very chillybilly but what a delightful sight greeted us both when she drew back the curtains and pulled up the blind. Sunlight, yes folks, bright sunlight. Not just a few old stray rays wobbling through a cloudy sky, no, our sky is clear and high.

'High' I hear you think, the sky is always high.. huh.. well I beg to differ for no it ain't, not when you have dense fog and mist sitting about three feet off the wet earth. And it has been like that for a week. Heaven only knows how many flights were delayed or cancelled because of the recent appalling weather conditions.

So be away with you.. doom and gloom. You're not wanted here!

We put our lights out last night after watching a second Agatha Christie movie, it was called 'They do it with mirrors' which is a Miss Marple story. Murder (as always) snake venom.. ugh.. she'll have to read the book to get the full plot as she fell asleep and missed a chunk of it. NO reflection on the film, but she was pain-free, (thanks to our kind friend) and warm and just nodded off.

The facts and symptoms of influenza are extremely interesting! She was wondering if the pain in her back was 'normal' or if she had some other sneaky thing wrong with her kidneys. She was, therefore, mighty relieved to see that it is a classic symptom of influenza.

It is all to do with two evil villians called Cytokines and Chemokines which are pro-inflammatory, here is an excellent website which will give you all the details - without boring you to sleep - it is 'www.losethebackpain.com'.

At this time of year with viruses lurking in plain sight, with people being 'brave' and going to work when really what they are doing is being incredibly thoughtless and spreading germs and their flu to an even wider audience which is beyond stupid and has unforeseen consquences, it is good to be informed on what to do.. when you get the Flu!

Heat, fluids, REST. The later is really important. Do your research and be prepared, she thought she was but didn't realise her packet of pain killers was of such a high dosage.

A lot of people live alone and if you do, be prepared and at the first sign of a sniff or snivel, go and get your home stocked with enough food for a week, that way you won't have to go out when you feel gruesome and you get what you know you'll need / want. Also.. check that your hot waterbottles have not perished, the rubber can get old and crack, so check it /them out.

We buy our eggs thirty at a time, I know that sounds a huge amount but we eat three a day! She has two and I have one boiled egg every morning. So thirty eggs only last us ten days and they're still fresh.

 In UK the eggs don't have to live in a chilly white larder.. aka fridge. Unlike in America where all commercially produced eggs are washed at a high temperature, dried and then sprayed with a Chlorine mist immediately upon being laid and MUST be kept in the fridge.

It is due to different control of the Salmonella virus. Here in Europe we vacinate our laying hens.  Our eggies live in a large glass bowl in YumYum HQ.

A little piece of useful information for you.

There is NO difference in 'goodness' between white or brown eggs. Nope, none at all. They come from different breeds of chicken.

Spices, fresh Ginger root, Honey, Peppermint Tea, Sweet Potatoes, Sauerkraut, Fruits, frozen homemade stock with added boiled rice makes a very tasty and light meal,  She used to keep sachets of a delicious dried soup in bef and chicken flavour but they have vermicelli in it so she can't have them any longer and most tinned soups are thickened with potatoes which is a member of the Nightshade family to which she is highly allergic.

Nightshade Family consists of: Aubergines, Peppers, Potatoes, Tomatoes.

Epsom Salts. A bath with Epsom Salts is a really good thing to do for yourself, what's not to like, hot water, with maybe a drop or two of essential oil - she uses Lavender and Lemon for their particular properties - a warm towel and clean night clothes to jump into before scurrying back to your bed.

And, she increases her usage of Tincture of Myrrh as a mouthwash. She also puts one drop onto her toothbrush and brushes her gums, teeth AND tongue with it three times a day.

Tincture of Myrrh is available by Mail Order from:
G. Baldwins Herbalists, 171-173 Walworth Road, London SE17-1RW. Tel: 020 7703 5550
They also supply proper Epsom Salts for bathing. A full range of Essential Oils besides all manner of other things. Their staff are very well trained and highly knowledgeable. We like this place.. which consists of two shops.. a lot!

Now, belatedly my soft boiled egg has appeared, oh yippee! So I am off to beak that whilst she settles down for a doze. I might be back later, who knows, for it is she who taps iPad but chirp is most definitely the word for today.. the mood is very Chirpful here today.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 2nd, 2017.

'WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS'.. A HEAT PAD & AN ACT OF GREAT KINDNESS.

I tell you, we're going to have square, or rather, oblong eyes at the end of this 'ere flu. She napped for a bit this afternoon, how God only knows, 'cos my toe-toes and I were standing on her head having a doze, but I must have twitched or rustled a feather for she woke up to see an Agatha Christie film starting.

Action stations! A hot drink was made very quickly and we settled down to watch 'Why didn't they ask Evans', a Jane Marple story with more twists than a country lane! Go and read her books, they stand the test of time very well.

And now we have brilliantly happy news! Yubba-dubba-doo! Many years ago, in 2008 to be precise, she was given several 240volt electrical items by a friend who was relocating back to America. Amongst these treasures was a heat pad.

Her back was in great pain last night with this wretched bug but she knows not to take too many of the 500mg pain killers as they're not great for you. Luckily, this afternoon she remembered Lesley's heat pad and.. eureeka.. she knew EXACTLY where it was. (A rare occurence with our home in such chaos). There it was, in the cupboard at the end of her bed.

So that was plugged in and oh, the bliss! Who knows why your body aches so much with flu? But, she can tell you that the heat pad placed against your back, it doesn't even have to be at the maximum heat, has made everything 80% better.

Now you will hear a Tale of GREAT Kindness which happened at lunch time

She received a chatty text asking about her well being and inviting her to tea tomorrow, she rang the friend back  and explained that she, sadly, wasn't going anywhere with this wretched bug. The friend asked if she had everything she needed and she said that she was ok but was slightly concerned about taking these painkillers every four hours.

He asked her what she was taking and said "Do you not have anything else?" and she replied that she didn't. Now, I must tell you that this dear friend has also had this wicked virus. They commiserated with each other and agreed that they would treat themselves to a film and a Chinese when they were both bug-free.

An hour later, she received a text from her friend saying 'there's a bag hanging on your door'. She open the door to find hard driving rain and hanging on our front door was a Sainsbury bag.. with two packets of a 200mg pain killer.

This dear man had gone out in driving rain, walked to Sainsbury, got pain killers, walked all the way to our home and put them on our door. HOW kind was that? 2017 has started on a VERY kind note indeed, do you not agree?

GeeGee Parrot.
January 1st, 2017.

JANUARY 1st 2017. IN BED WATCHING 'CARRY ON CRUISING'.

Well.. having missed the party last night, our life surely had to take a turn for the better, did it not? And what could possibly be better than turning on the television - she said it was to stop me being bored whilst she slept (yes, she's still in bed). And finding.. oh.. lookielookie!!

'Carry on Cruising'! Just the thing to keep a bird and her mum amused.. with Syd James, Kenneth Williams, Lance Percival, Liz Fraser etc. Anything to keep us amused and this lot will certainly do that!

Did you all enjoy your evening? We didn't see it! We were asleep by about 10.30pm, she woke up just after midnight and said "Byebye 2016, you've been a very strange year and it hasn't been a happy one for us, let's us hope, in fact, pray that 2017 is kinder" and with that, she swallowed a pill and went back to bed.

So here we are, lolling about in bed. It's foggy and wet upon the ground. We had a call from BUB.. aka her cousin Bruce. BUB stands for Big Uncle Bruce. He says it is bright and 'cracking a whip' up on the Isle of Man.

Our Lebanese friend, Myra, has called from Paris to wish us a 'Happy New Year', she was due back after Christmas but her brother is ill, so her return is delayed, she says that Paris has the same weather as London and that the atmosphere in Paris is subdued, with people celebrating at home and her butcher reporting a significant increase in customers.

The amount of food that has been consumed since last Thursday in our house is neglible! She still boils us our eggs in the morning but I now have hummus for lunch, together with a chunk of juicy persimmon / kaki / sharon fruit, it's a good thing that she has a washable cover over her comforter, isn't it!

She has the other three quarters of this divine orange fruit, some steamed vegetables and lots to drink with spicy ginger and turmeric and that's it. Her appetite has vanished and so, too, have several kilos. She can think of nicer ways to lose weight.. like gardening in sunshine! Sunshine! We haven't seen any for days and I don't think anyone is likely to see her for days either!

She's turned off her bedside light, there is another 'Carry on' film showing with Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor! Bliss.

GeeGee Parrot.
January 1st, 2017.