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Monday 29 November 2010

For a girl who has big feet, I do alright for shoes

I buy my shoes from a variety of places, and each time the size varies (a bit like clothes shops).

I would like to get rid of some of my shoes, but what happens is,  I find a nice pair of shoes in my size* get excited that they actually fit me, and feel that I must buy them, because chances are - they'll never make them like that in my size again.

But in reality, I have about 4 pairs of footwear that I wear regularly, and the rest are just doing nothing.  I would like to bring together a list of shoes with specific jobs, so that I can stop buying shoes willy-nilly, and the shoes I do buy, get worn.
*For the benefit of anyone who doesn't know, my feet are a size 9 (ish), I'll squeeze my feet into smaller sizes, but I'm only kidding myself.

My tooth

I was due a new filling in May 2010, I missed the appointment and made a new appointment mid-June, the earliest date they could give me was October!!  I wasn't too upset, the filling wasn't hurting, it was still intact and I could happily wait until then.
Then in July - disaster struck!
The filling broke, and a big gaping hole appeared.

It didn't hurt, it was just uncomfortable.  It was also awkward, every time I ate something I'd have to have a rummage around with a toothpick afterwards, getting all of the food out of the hole. I rang the dentist and explained what had happened, they said that they didn't have any earlier appointments, and that they'd only consider me 'an emergency' when I was experiencing pain or swelling.  I had considered asking someone to punch me in the face, but thought better of it.  I was told that I could call them each morning to see if there were any cancellations.  I decided that this was my best option.
By September, the hole was still there, and I hand't managed to get a cancelled appointment.  I was due to go on holiday to Spain in a few weeks time, and decided that I actually wanted them to do something temporary until I got back.

So when I rang up to do my usual 'have you had any cancellations today?' I asked if I could have something temporary, and they told me that I won't be able to get a cancellation appointment because my dentist was on holiday for 3 weeks, and that I wasn't allowed to be treated by another dentist, why? Because my dentist had 'already begun treatment' - I told them that no treatment had been carried out - that's what I was waiting for!!  Reluctantly they gave me an appointment for a temporary fix with some other dentist.  He filled it with cement and didn't charge me a penny :)
I came back from my holiday - temporary filling in tact.  And had my replacement filling appointment, as originally booked, October. The filling is fixed and looks grand.

The moral of this story is - when you get an appointment at the NHS Dentist for a filling - don't cancel it!

Last night I dreamt about ice cream

I was somewhere between Longbenton and Four Lane Ends, and there was a funfair on the go, I had a wrist band so I could have unlimited goes on the rides, and this also included ice creams.  I asked for coffee ice cream and the man said that the only one he had, had peas in it.  So I accepted, coffe & pea ice cream.  Claire Briggs asked for the bacon and eggs flavour ice cream - which is just wrong.

I also briefly dreamt that the car would need a new exhaust.

The car was due a service and MOT today, and it needed a new exhaust-part (not a full exhaust).

Chocolate chunk cookies

I took this recipe from a free booklet in The Guardian 2007, the original recipe listed double-quantities, but I've reduced it as I can only manage to bake 12-13 of these at a time with my baking trays.



  • 112g unsalted butter


  • 190g light soft brown sugar


  • 25g caster sugar


  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


  • 1 egg


  • 175g plain flour


  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda


  • 25g cocoa powder


  • 150g broken chocolate pieces




  • Oven temperature 170°C (150°C for fan-assisted)





    1. Beat together butter, brown sugar, caster sugar & vanilla extract until light and fluffy (save time and whack it in a food processor).


    2. Add the egg.


    3. Sift the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder together and add to food processor (or bowl, if you're feeling strong fore-armed).


    4. Stir through your chocolate chunks.


    5. Prepare a baking tray (cover in greaseproof paper, or grease it)


    6. Scoop ice-cream scoop sized blobs onto the tray, spaced evenly apart.


    7. Cook for 12-14mins until puffed up and coloured at the edges.


    8. Remove, cool & eat!




    9. Thursday 25 November 2010

      2-4-6-8

      Two four six eight
      Who do we appreciate?
      B-r-o-m-p-ton


      Two four six and a quarter
      Who are we about to slaughter?
      Broom-field

      We would sing this at primary school when we played netball, football, or rounders against the other schools

      Monday 8 November 2010

      Halloween Costume 2010

      For me the fun of fancy dress is making the costume.
      
      Halloween Costume 2010 (Lisa Vincent)
      
      Making it from second-hand, hand-made, recycled, reused stuff.
      
      I know if I make my own costume it'll be unique, no one else will have one, and I'll stand out from the crowd, which I like to do in fancy dress.

      
      I use google-searches for ideas in my head, this year it was 'headless zombie' I pulled out a few images and decided to replicate what I'd seen. I'm the kind of person that looks at things and says I can make that and I often manage to!

      As Charles Caleb Colton said in 1820, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (btw -I had to google for that reference).

      So the headless zombie grew out of a vintage charity shop dress for £7.50, a papier-maché neck and shoulders (plain flour & water paste with newspaper strips), and a foil buffet platter.

      The results worked a treat, I still laugh at how well it turned out!