The Queen and I...with update at the bottom...

"Oh what a glorious day to be a small busy lady with a dodgy knee"

Just trudged around the thick iced regions on Ashingdon Road.
Very nasty indeed Sir!
But kitted out in white fur coat, grey beret and black tank girl boots I soon made light work of collecting Mother's pension, getting the papers, paying rent.

Someone said that when two Englishmen meet their first subject of conversation is invariably the weather.
Correct.
"Oooooh" Older lady with red anorak dragging excited-small-at-home-child
"Steady!" LOL white haired man with one arm as I tiptoed abruptly to my left on account of sludge and heavy newspapers.
"Oh, had to shovel it for hours...." men talk outside number 28

But we got there in the end. Some of us unscathed. Which is more than I can say for some poor thing who'd left half a pint of blood outside the Post Office.

Feeling a little idiotic but with tension building up in my arthritic legs I decided to walk in the road.
Far less dangerous!

Today's Eatables:
Men Food. Meat Madam, Meat. Will feminize it with a light-as-a- spider's-leg dessert. Something with fruit or something. Will be spectacular on account of loving every joyous minute of prep.
Will, if time allows knock together a fruit cake, icing not allowed.



God Bless The Queen.
60 years of Service. Think endless banquets and all her openings.
Sadness. Think castle/divorces/Blair/Thatcher/real bloody conflicts/scrutinization of daughters-in-law/Camillagate/French tunnels/the Duke's heart and mouth.

Family joy. Think Grandchildren. Royal Ascot. Shooting.

Money Matters furore. Think tax, let in price for Buck House and family pocket money.
Spectacular change in wardrobe. Think strawberry pink. Now not so matronly more cougar/Goodhousekeeping chic.

Elizabeth has behaved in a right royal way...Always there, saying very little.
Filled out a bit, but looks good.

All in all not a bad Monarch, one thing is for sure when and if Prince Charles's botty polishes the Throne .....it won't be as squeaky clean.

Just made theeee most lusciously sweet red onion marmalade. It tastes so good I might have it warm with a cracker and nut of cheddar.

Witches food, Cycles and The Queen

By the tills in the supermarkets are magazines urging us to buy loads of exotica for Christmas. Exotica like Pomegranates, Mangos, Lychees and Passionfruit. Well blow that. I don't need to make fancy things to create a stir. My *Hexanschaum does that. A simple dessert which is easy to make and meltingly lovely to eat.

Stew some Cox's Orange Pippins till tender, then pulp in blender with some canned apricots. Put in bowl and stir in a little sugar. Whisk some egg whites and sugar until you have a mound of stiff meringue and carefully fold into fruit. Mix slowly with a large spoon till a perfect foam is made.
Spoon into glasses and pop an apricot on top, rounded side uppermost. Arrange flaked almonds around the apricot creating a sunflower effect. Stunning.

*Hexanschaum means Witches Foam. It's an Austrian dish.


Tonight I'll be cooking Lamb Chops with boiled spuds, glazed sweet potatoes and green beans. Followed of course by the Hexanschaum
Hearty yet simples fare on account of my delicate state of health.

Fifty plus with a dodgy shoulder and unbalanced system. And it's all got too much lately what with one thing and another and I'm so sick of it. But tomorrow the unwell cleaner will pop to work to see the unwell Henry, who had to have a doctor in today on account of his innards.
Bless him, he really is in a terrible state, and I sympathise and empathise because I'm a wreck also.

But here's something to cheer us all up...A smashing new series starting on Ch4 on 29th Nov. It's all about the life and times of her Majesty the Queen. I can't wait.
Way to go Betty...

Now as my shoulder burns and my cycle skids orf the track... I must slip away and make myself a cup of tea.

God Bless You All...

For The Boys And Girls

A notice in my local post office was asking the good folk of Ashingdon if they'd like to send some sweets and books to the men and women currently serving in Afghanistan. So seeing as I like sweets, soldiers and doing the occasional good turn, I cleared the shelves of the local sweetie shop and boxed up a load of Murray Mints, Starbursts and Werther's Originals. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to send cake, otherwise I would! What I did slip in though was a note:) I will not divulge the content of the aforementioned note on account of it being about tea and sex. And I wouldn't want my readers to think I'm obsessed with either. What I am obsessed with however are sweeties.

Now humdrum stuff.
Providing the weight of the parcel didn't exceed 2kg/4.4lbs it wouldn't cost anything to send. So John and I picked the shelves of Mr Naseem's corner shop clean:) The man behind all this is a vicar who goes by the name of Peter, and along with the confectionery he's also asked for books...Anything but Mills and Boon. I like him already! In future I will no doubt be scouring the shelves of my local charity shop looking for paperbacks which I feel military types might get a kick out of. No romance of course, just grown up stuff about history and battles. But hold on a min, what about the women who are serving Aunty Betty, I bet they'd like to read a sloppy tale about decent looking blonde birds falling for rascals in leathers who torture them with their searing brown eyes whilst offering them nothing but fantastic hearth rug sex in a Swiss chalet. Nasty. But essential.
Anyway today I'll be sending a sweetie box to a far away place hoping the sweets and my note hit the spot. The above picture shows a selection of the wrapped confectionery that I am sending.

God Save The Queen.

An English Woman's Tuesday

Today.
It's warm and sunny, bits of cloud up there, nothing too threatening though.
Hope it stays dry for Royal Ascot. Looking forward to seeing what the Queen is wearing. Looking forward to cheering home dad's horses. Just looking forward to seeing something very English.

On the work front.
The staking of tomato plants.
The making of a dozen Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins for freezer.
The making of a Beef and Vegetable Pie for tomorrow.
The re-arranging of ceramic birds bought yesterday.

And in between the Queen, the gee gees, the grub making and other gentle woman's activities, there'll be several pots of tea made in my newest tea pot.