This Standard Scottish Life

…. of 2009.

1. Horseradish.  I took up eating this root in a big way.  I put it on my sandwiches, on my potatoes, on cheese, on oatcakes & salmon.  Also extended my wasabi (wasabi is just foreign-ish for horseradish) intake, in particular wasabi peas.  Fortunately I have stomach of ox so can wolf loads of horseradish with no ill effect.  This news just in: plan to grow a horseradish in my garden next year.
2. Spotify.  OMG it’s the best thing ever to happen to music since the iPod was invented.  I even took out a subscription and can now download tunes to my iPhone and computa.  I love Spotify.
3. Talking of the iPhone …. the iPhone.  It’s the best!
4. Oysters.  love them. Love them. LOVE them.  But not a dozen.  That’s too many and can cause the drastic-gastric.
5. Lochinver.  It’s North.  It’s restful.  And the sun always shines there except when it rains and when it snows.


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6. Le Chef obviously.  Well I have to say that, don’t I?  Although he has not extended his skills to include oyster and horseradish preparations.  He will need to improve me thinks.
7. No more Mr George Dubya Bush.  Who?
8. Appellation Wines, the new wine shop near my house.  It has Cremant d’Alsace, the official Nectar of The Gods.  Crement d’Alsace is  the new prosecco (and prosecco was previously the new cava, which itself was the new champagne).
9. Prezi for presentations.  I’m always trying to make my presentations better.  Prezi helps one escape shackles of PowerPoint or at least teach a different way to do things. Beware of making audience puke due to over use of zoom-i-fication tho’.
10. Initial weed to veggie patch deployment of garden.  Having retired the allotment, grew tonnes of potatoes in my garden and a gladioli.  Next year further fine vegetable will be grown. Mibe.

That what it says in my book.  

Conditioning.  Conditioning is the key to successful cycle training.

My book also says things like Periodisation, Neuromuscular Recruitment Patterns and Substrate Utilisation but I don’t like to look at those pages coz … well … on those pages are vary scary graphs mostly going straight up.

In yea olden days conditioning was called stamina.  And I am now in training to be more stamina-ed (stamina-ished?) on my bicycle for the preparation of L’Etape du Caledonian.

 I love conditioning, it is the most easy of exercise.  The conditioning program goes something like this:

1. attach heart monitor to cyclist in training (that’s me)
2. sit on sofa
3. complete 20 minute warm up by reading the cartoons and travel section of The Guardian newspaper
4. on completing warm up read chapter in cycle training book on conditioning for 4 minutes keeping heart rate below 150 beats per minute (bpm).  If heart rate goes over 150 bpm stop reading and stare into space for a wee bit til heart rate recovers
5. repeat number 4 above three times for a full conditioning work out
6. warm down for 20 minutes by watching Neighbours
7. nutrition is an important component of the conditioning training regime so within 10 minutes of completing warm down be sure to intake appropriate carbohydrates and protein (ham and cheese sandwich and some chocolate) and of course it’s important to balance electrolytes (i.e. drink quite a lot of beer which is a well know electrolyte balancer).  NB the conditioning workout leads to considerable fatigue so the cyclist in training should have others prepare their post workout nutrition.

There was one, a burning, on Hogmanay (that’s New Year’s Eve to all you non-Scotchish people) at Chez Imelda.  The burning was facilitated by Dr D and his brassiere brazier.  Old plants, sawings, pallets, garden furniture, champagne corks and precious antiques were all put to the flame.

There was almost a drowning too.  In the canal at 2am.  Due to prosecco-enabled-staggering by moi et Le Chef.

Wot we spent on buying food:

The store cupboard becomes bare.  Supplies required.  It’s off to the supermarket we go.

£19.03 Total so far for this week £19.03 and overall Project Frugal £47.94

Wot we bought:

Wot we ate:

• cappuccino
• OJ
• 2 slices of toast
• bratwurst sandwich
• exotic drink of lemon, grenadine and sugar
• roast squash, potato salad, mushy peas (yum), bratwurst
• exotic drink adapted into amazing cure for the cold: lemon, sugar, hot water, ibuprofen

Reflections on frugality

Only five days in and Project Frugal is derailing.  This is due to:

• certain members of the Project Frugal team not entering into the true spirit of the endeavor
  • Le Chef! What’s that bottle of cola doing here?  That’s an unnecessary extravagance! What’s wrong with drinking water? I have not drunk any of it as I have self control (well at least a little) unlike some people.
• An emergency which required immediate abandonment of all frugality.
  • OMG! Fraulein Direktor’s bicycle was stolen today.  She was rightly traumatised by the loss of the beloved commuting bike.  Appropriate application of tea and sympathy was administered.  Well, not tea and sympathy but more coffee, rhubarb tart and empire biscuits and sympathy too.
• the threat of inappropriate recycling of leftovers
  • Oh Le Chef,  you didn’t eat your porridge.
  • No but I put it in the pasta sauce.
  • We’re having porridge pasta for tea?  I’m off to the chippie!

Wot we spent on buying food:

£10.70 Total so far for Project Frugal £23.87. Le Chef continues to go his own way on his extravagant lunches.  Full disclosure is not forthcoming.

Wot we bought:

Wot we ate:

• OJ
• Cappuccino (not Le Chef)
• porridge (not Le Chef)
• macchiato empire biscuit as part of tea and sympathy
• salami, jarlsberg and salsa sandwich
• chocolate raisins (free. Thanks Flora)
• decaf coffee (free. thanks work)
• hot chocolate (free. thanks work)
• porridge pasta.  Actually Le Chef he did pull my leg about putting porridge in the pasta sauce.  But the pasta sauce did contain the bean stew that I couldn’t finish last night.  In fact the pasta sauce tasted like chili con carne without the carne bit.  I did ask why we didn’t have it on rice only to learn that there is no rice left.  Shopping list then…
• water and lots of it
• white tea with camomile and cinnamon (free. Thanks Imelda)
• carrot cake (free. Thanks Dr Soapbox)
• tea type tea (Free. Thanks Gussie and Roderick)

Reflections on frugality

I was secretly hoping for a fluffy cheese and tomato omlette for tea tonight but the ongoing saga of the recycled bean stew continues.  Tis getting tastier.

Just buy the ruddy oats!

Wot we spent on buying food:

£0.00 Total so far for Project Frugal £13.17. Le Chef continues to go his own way on his extravagant lunches but on the other hand I am particularly frugal.  This is because I am 100% Scottish and Le Chef is only half Scottish.

Wot we bought:

Wot we ate:

• OJ
• Cappuccino
• porridge
• black coffee (thanks work)
• free macchiato and free italian biscuit.  Thanks Boss!
• My lunch was a jamon (that’s Spanish for jam eh .. I mean ham), cheese and lettuce sandwich and three little tomatoes.  Are you noticing a certain pattern to breakfast and lunch?
• decaf coffee (thanks work)
• hot chococlate (thanks work)
• green tea
• water and lots of it
• that thing Le Chef made last night has morphed into something else.  There is some chorizo in there now that he found at the back of the fridge and there’s definitely more beans.  The taste is very good now.
• two polo mints pinched from Le Chef when he wasn’t looking.  I first learned to pinch my papa’s polos when I was only five.

Reflections on frugality

This having others pay for your food and drinks is a great lark. I wonder if I can get it to extend to a huge  plate of free sashimi and 2 free bottles of Asahi.   Free drinks can be hazardous and lead to over indulgence on caffeine.

The porridge problem has not been resolved.  Someone is going to get a smack.

… I was in Mediocre & ‘Spensive tonight and while looking for booze I saw a tub of Organic Chicken Chunks in Jelly.  It was dog food.  Why do dogs need organic anything?  They are dogs! They don’t care what they eat.  Come on … they eat their own vomit and lick their arses! Oh, that’s right, middle class dogs have high standards and are a bit fussy about the source of their food.  I wonder if they worry about fair trade, food miles and the carbon foot print of their farts ?
Inspired by a Gussie forwarded Guardian article.  And I am not joking about the Organic Chicken Chunks in Jelly.  It was very tasty with a glass of Reisling.

… that was what Robert Carlyle said having escaped rampaging zombies in 28 weeks later. About 1.5 hours later I said to Le Chef “I need a glass of wine to steady my nerves!” What a fab film. It has the best opening since Saving Private Ryan. If you are a grrrl, your eyes will be shut for about half the film. If you are weak of the heart, you will be dead by the end. It was supremely top thrilly, scariness! And best of all Mr Carlyle reprises his Begbie role … and he was even more radge!

Run Robert.  Run! Faster! RUN!

friday eveningOriginally uploaded by seinberg.

Picture the scene … Le Chef is away consulting in Barcelona, it is evening time and he is exploiting the free internet connection in the hotel to do some work. He sends an email to Le Chef de le Chef and receives an immediate response back. Le Chef in turn replies promptly saying …

Ah Le Chef de Le Chef. You appear to be working late (from home) and online. Well, that’s me finished now I am off to the bar for a beer. Adios Le Chef

Le Chef de le Chef replies pronto

Yes Le Chef. I am online and on wine.

Isn’t that the best way to be ? Online on wine. It’s my new, new motto. I will have to adopt and practice my new motto at work tomorrow.

[wonders]
Can you Web2.0 on a Wallbanger ? Mashup on Mojitos ? vi on vodka (no … dinnae do vi on vodka it’s difficult enough doing vi auf wasser)
[/wonders]

Last Sunday I returned home after two weeks away doing supremely important work business-type stuff in the States (i.e. shuffling round conferences and scorching my credit card). I scurried off the plane and zoomed home eager in anticipation of a home cooked meal from Le Chef. But … I was taken out, fed pasta and then abandoned to my own devices as Le Chef had to go do supremely important work business-type stuff in Lundun for two days. I had to survive the early part of the week on toast and apples

Fearful that I was going to fade away last night I decided I needed to carbo-load and availed myself of 4.5 pints of the finest ale Deuchar’s IPA and a plate of nachos with beans with my work teamies.

And then this morning, Le Chef goes and f**ks off again to allegedly do more worky type business, supremely important yadda-yadda in Athens and Barcelona. His parting shot was something about suntan lotion (business my arse). So now I am reduced to a diet of ginger cordial, sunflower seeds and coriander stalks.  Red Cross food parcels welcome.