Lardy cake.

One of our neighbours had a birthday today, to celebrate they arranged to have a very large Lardy Cake made and they shared it around.

It was delicious and not too sticky.

For those who don't know, Lardy Cake is a fruit bread. The local bakers make their Lardy Cake topped with golden syrup, very sticky! This one had a sugared topping that was nice and crunchy.

Before this I went for lunch with Betty and some of her friends. We had chilli and wedges with sour cream and guacamole.

No more food for me today, I'm still full from lunch and cake, I shall relax on the sofa whilst Steve takes his blood pressure repeatedly!

In control!

Steve feels the need to be in control of everything at all times.

This is why he decided I wasn't shopping correctly, he could do it better and more cheaply. He is currently struggling to get our food bill below £250 a week.

He feels that doing the washing once a month should be sufficient, I wash once or twice a week, sometimes more.

He would also like to control how often I leave site and who with!

Although he claims he is worried about me, he never worries about me walking Beano even after dark and he refuses to see me across the road if the sun is low and it's difficult for me to see.

Steve's latest decision is about my choice of refreshment. I drink tea and coffee in the morning but then swap to tap water, but when I go to the summer house in the afternoon, I like to take a mug of herbal tea. Steve has decided this isn't safe and I'm to go over with an empty mug and a tea bag and get someone to boil the kettle and pour got water in my mug. I make tea and coffee in the flat so why I'm not trusted to carry a mug of herbal tea to the summer house in not sure. 

I don't follow his rules but he does get quite upset as he feels he's spent a lot of time deciding the best way for me to do things only for me to ignore his advice.

Time slip

It's some years now since Steve had his stroke, in some ways he has recovered but in other ways, not.

When he first came round he was was confused obviously but gradually improved.

For me, one of the most heartbreaking aspects was Steve's conviction that he was still in his 30's and he could not understand why he had such an elderly wife.

His lack of understanding did improve but he still remains horrified at having such an elderly wife. I'm now 73 and he is 69, we had such a happy !marriage but that's all gone now.

Oh what joy!

Today Steve has watched the rugby and checked his blood pressure repeatedly.

He is doing my head in!

He gets very excited watching the rugby and keeps shouting, he also would like me to watch it with him so he can tell me all about it.

Instead of this, I've read a book on my kindle and browsed an assortment of websites.

I did manage to spend some time in the summer house and have a chat which was nice.

Please stop shouting.

Steve is trying to take his blood pressure, he has the machine talking to him at full volume.

Steve is shouting at the machine also at full volume.

I'm watching Inspector Morse silently, I'm reading the subtitles.

Every so often Steve gets obsessed with his blood pressure, he measures it countless times a day.

He has been told many of times that taking his blood pressure repeatedly is unwise and that he should take it just once a day.

This is all to no avail and the more often he takes it the higher it goes and the more Steve shouts!

I don't want to become a shufflie

Beano keeps me moving, he needs his walks, three a day during the winter when it gets dark early, four or more when the days are longer.

I won't walk around the streets is the dark, I'm sure it's perfectly safe but I can't see well in the dark and I worry about tripping over an unseen bump or dip.

I see my neighbours on site and many of them shuffle, even some of the younger ones. There are an assortment of reasons for this but I want to avoid for as long as possible.

The weather here is warming up gradually which is good as it's half term here this week.

Sod's law.

I keep a blanket on my sofa, I feel the cold more than Steve, so he wears a tee shirt and rather than have the heating up high I snuggle up under a blanket.

I have a few blankets of various sizes but only two really large thick ones. Yesterday I washed the cream blanket that had been on the sofa for a while and I asked Steve to get the red blanket down from the top of the wardrobe.

Steve did this and this morning I washed the cream blanket, it's currently hanging over the airer near the storage heater. When I go to bed I'll move the airer nearer the dehumidifier, hopefully it will be dry by the morning.

Part way through the afternoon I realised Beano was on the red blanket and was being sick. He often does this and doesn't bring up very much so it doesn't seem to be anything serious.

It does mean, however that I now need to wash the red blanket in the morning, it's already in the washing machine after having a little bit of dog vomit rinsed off it.

So I now only have one of the thinner, small blankets on the sofa if I get cold.

Dog treats.

 I try to buy healthy treats for Beano as I'm concerned about the amount of crap and sugar in some types.

He has nearly finished his bag of  air dried chicken feet so I've just bought him some mixed treats.

He has never played with toys despite being provided with a selection but he does play with his treats. 

He has to ensure they are properly dead before he decides to chew on them. This involves throwing them around and pouncing on them..

It gives him some entertainment as well as a treat.

I love Sunday's

Today I met with a neighbour for a chinwag, this has to be done secretly. 

If Steve thinks I've made a friend he will insist on joining me and will eventually start an argument with them.

We meet most Sunday's during one of Beano's dog walks, it is a ridiculous way to carry on but I'm really not prepared to inflict Steve's behaviour on other people.

UPF's and MRM.

I don't have to hide my treats from Steve, there is no way Steve would eat any of my food, it's all far too healthy!'

I'm pretty careful about what I eat, I eat vegetables, fruit, pulses and some meat.

I like my food to be recognisable so I don't eat things that are covered in breadcrumbs or other toppings, I think they can be used to cover a multitude of sins.

I read a lot of blogs and websites and I'm frequently amazed by people who think their diet is healthy. I would never claim to have a healthy diet, especially since the idea of what is healthy changes regularly.

Steve is convinced that by buying frozen food and heating it in the air fryer that it hasn't been fried, when it quite obviously has. I do avoid ultra processed food and items made from mechanically recovered meat.

I'm not being sanctimonious,  I don't lecture Steve or anybody else on what they should eat. I'm also far from perfect as I love chocolate biscuits.

Lots of treats.

Betty messaged me this morning, she was feeling better and wondered if I'd like to go for Waitrose. I jumped at the chance!

I didn't need anything specific but I bought myself some treats.

From the Deli counter I bought some anchovies and some artichoke hearts. I bought some blue cheese and a bag of pretzels, I also bought some nut bars. I'm now set up for a few days with some yummy treats.

Bugger

Last week I went to lunch club and when this week's lunch was arranged I offered to cook the main course.

I spent this morning preparing and cooking for tomorrow lunchtime. Chicken casserole, carrot and swede mash and broccoli. I was going to do roast potatoes with the meal as well.

When I went to the summer house I discovered that tomorrow's lunch club has been cancelled. Unfortunately no one thought to tell me!

I've bagged up the food and put it in the freezer, I'll reheat it next time there is a get together.

Steve is very torn, on the one hand he's delighted that I went to all the trouble of making a meal and no one let me know it has been cancelled. On the other hand he's annoyed that I spent money on food that hasn't been eaten.