It’s really hot. I sat for a while on the front step
today. It’s something of a sun-trap, on the rare days when the sun shines in
Edinburgh, and today much hotter than indoors. My nasturtiums are visibly
flourishing, but flowerless. Wafa re-potted the mint. She is a vegetable-grower
as well as a cooking-from-scratcher.
My appetite continues very low (except for my
invariable breakfast – wilted spinach with a poached egg on top). But this
afternoon I thought of something I could eat, and ate it. It was
corn-on-the-cob, which came in the grocery order this week. From Spain.
Terrible. I was brought up to plant the corn uphill from the kitchen door, and
to get the water boiling before I went out to pick it. I can’t even say that
this stuff had the ghost of the required flavour. The texture, however, wasn’t
too bad, and I ate the whole cob with generous butter. That’s better than I’ve
done for days.
I have my pre-operation session at the Royal Infirmary
tomorrow, as mentioned yesterday. Helen will take me, and Wafa will stay here
with Helen’s dog, and even take him for a walk in the gardens. Everybody’s
happy. It said on the radio this morning that junior hospital doctors in
Scotland will strike for three days next month, one of them being the day on
which my operation is scheduled. Presumably they will postpone non-urgent
surgery? It gives us something to talk about tomorrow. Junior hospital doctors are
on strike in England at the moment.
Wordle: four, for me. My ush. It was a Wordle-special.
On line three, I had four greens with only the first letter to guess, and I
guessed wrong. Of the others, only Theo did as badly. Alexander, Ketki, Rachel
and Mark all scored three, and Thomas eclipsed us all with a two.
I've suggested to you that he just ha a yoghurt or a muller rice pudding out of the fridge in the evenings ( he doesn't eat salad or fruit or veg!). In his shopping tomorrow I shall look for cooked meats that he might fancy.
ReplyDeleteWordle in three-pure luck. First 2 guesses only gave me a green last letter; hunting around the letters that were left I happened to get the right one!
Not to you, I meant to my father! Sorry!
DeleteI suspect the NYTimes of somewhat reflecting current events — has anyone else felt that? Cam
ReplyDeleteHow disappointing that the corn (maize) was so old. Doesn't anyone in Scotland or England grow it? There is one variety that was bred to reverse the usual enzyme change and gets sweeter after it's picked. If someone grew that, I would think it would be popular--once people tried it.
ReplyDeleteSpinach with egg? um. I know it's traditional - quiche, for instance - but... When I was in college and trying to donate blood, I learned that the reason I tested as "low iron" was that I had egg for breakfast. When I avoided breakfast eggs, I tested "acceptable" for iron. The effect was transient, fortunately, but I wonder if some of your "low" days are related to low iron leading to low oxygen in the blood. Just a thought.
Another postponement? Or maybe the non-junior doctors will do the surgeries.
It varies between hot and cold here in MD; the much-hyped cold from Canada may be why it was cold last night and cool today, but we have had chilly nights in June going back to the 2000s. The rain cleared the smoke, anyway.
Not sure about Scottish but there is definitely English corn on the cob; however it's still too early for it. I would expect it around August.
DeleteI hate it when I guess the final, and only remaining Wordle letter, wrong! Happens too frequently leading to a 4 as it did today!
ReplyDeleteI hope your appetite returns soon. You need to keep your strength. Many people who try to diet have no idea how hard it is to eat when you have no appetite.
The weather in New York is finally very clear and sunny after the awful orange air pollution from the Canada wild fires. Our air quality was worse than New Delhi, actually it was the worst in the world. We stayed inside with the windows and doors closed.
Sarah in Manhattan
Your carer sounds like interesting company, do enjoy it. The only thing I would say is that carers are as interested as the rest of us in the world around us, and they do know how to "google". I was surprised how many of our parents' carers confessed to us that they had googled the parents' names to learn more about them. My parents didn't blog, so there was only stuff about old careers and interests......
ReplyDeleteJennyS
It’s amazing how many good nutrients can inhibit absorption of other nutrients, especially as we age. Vitamin D for instance is more difficult to absorb as we get older. It all shows up in our blood, apparently. Will you be getting a blood work-up prior to your surgery, Jean? I can’t remember if you just mentioned it. Comments won’t let me refer back. Chloe
ReplyDeleteOh, and everyone needs to eat carbohydrates and/or fats daily - because they provide the energy we need to move about and to use our brains. There are not many carbohydrates in spinach and eggs, although they do have lots of nutrients. Similarly, sweetcorn is hard to digest. It's good to eat eggs and vegetables, but maybe try good old-fashioned buttered toast as well? That sort of thing is a traditional convalescent food, and for good reasons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I said “shows up in our blood” that may have been clumsily written. I meant Vitamin D deficiency as well as other deficiencies can be detected in blood work. I am astounded by how much we can learn from our blood these days. And yes, we do need fat in our diets. Glad you said it! Chloe
ReplyDelete