Blog - Ivor’s Daily Gallivant

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday September 13, 2023 It was another of my sleepless nights, so I got up and made some ratatouille to put my time to good use- following the recipe in BBC Good Foods Guide but with a couple of variations. First the guide said use basil, I didn’t have any so used tyne. I think I’d seen another recipe which recommended it so, it was probably okay. Also, I added paprika and Worcestershire sauce and a little chilli powder. The end result wasn’t authentic, but to my palette was good. Unfortunately, I later realised after finishing the cooking- it should have included garlic. I started by dicing an aubergine and frying it in olive oil, next I diced two courgettes and fried them. After that deseeded four peeled tomatoes and fried them and some peppers which were prepared earlier. Then I remembered fried onion should be included, so I fried some and mixed them with the other ingredients. The BBC recipe says use red wine vinegar and add sugar in my version I used balsamic vinegar thinking it was the same and didn’t include sugar. It was only later that I discovered red wine vinegar is sour and balsamic vinegar is sweet. This made me wonder how many different types of vinegar there are and what their different uses are. So, I found an article about it. By the time I’d finished cooking and written up what I’d done it was 3.52 am. I helped myself to a small sample of my concoction with a slice of well buttered whole meal bread, and it was good with the courgettes having a pleasant crunchy texture. As I was finishing the cooking, I remembered how I had been made to feel useless in the first job clu I attended. Which was Followed by a factory job which lasted for a week or so before I became surplus to requirements. My experience was like many other people's whose talents were and are wasted due to some silly economic expediency. It has been the story of my life and many other lives. Later that morning I decided to write a ‘To Do List’ for the day. (1) Housework (I defrosted my freezer) (2) Painting (3) Buy milk. (Done) (4) Phone double glazing contractors At 10.49 after running to the Coop to buy a canister of milk I went to bed and slept through until midafternoon, I took a portion of vegetable curry out of the freezer and ate it with brown rice and lime pickle. As I ate, I thawed my freezer and afterwards slept through until about 11.00pm, when I remembered the freezer which I dutifully cleaned out and turned on. As I worked, I imagined how annoyed I would be if I had someone standing over me criticising what I was doing and how long I’d left it before getting to work. I sat down with a cup of tea. Happy the freezer was now in an acceptable state.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday September 12, 2023 Once again, I got up late and ran to Boots to buy some shower gel and cod liver oil capsules. I had several things to buy in Lidl in Hythe and on the way from the Hythe Pier bus stop met Stuart at a table outside Number 15 and stopped to have an omelette and a cup of coffee. Stuart mentioned Andy which reminded me I didn’t have a birthday card for his mother next Friday so after I’d finished eating, I ran along to the card shop and found a card which was ideal. It was a three D image of a tiger with three cubes. When I got back home with my shopping, I was exhausted and slept until early evening. One of the surprises for me with getting a little older is that I don’t have the same amount of energy as I used to. I treated myself to a bowl of broccoli and stilton soup, followed by a cup of tea which I used to accompany my cod liver oil capsule. Despite not getting much done today I was content.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday September 10, 2023 Got up at around five and had a banana and an apple some dark chocolate. Started doing some cooking and made a budget curry. I googled some YouTube videos on making ratatouille but realised I didn’t have an aubergine so opted for making a vegetable curry using onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, onion, frozen baby corn (from the clearance section) broccoli, carrot, (from the clearance section), coriander,(free from the cook up on Thursday) sweet potato, courgette, tinned tomatoes, chestnut mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, a liberal helping of tobacco and lemon juice. (I didn’t have fresh chilli or chilli flakes or power) I’d forgotten what a superb smell coriander has. Adding balsamic vinegar was a new idea (for me) which I got by watching a YouTube video this morning about making ratatouille. Proving that you can teach an old dog a few new ticks. As it cooked it filled the bungalow with amazing smells. I look out of my window and there’s rain on the conservatory roof and my knees are aching. To go with my curry l bought some brown rice, which had a couple of surprises first it takes about 30 minutes to cook and when it’s cooking it smells amazing. Eventually I had my meal about midday and the day passed without any problems.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday September 9, 2023 As expected with my out of sync circadian rhythms after sleeping from early evening I woke in the early hours and got up. I checked through the article I’d downloaded from Glaucoma Research about diet and glaucoma and when the Co-op, opened bought some dark chocolate and bananas as recommended. I’m dubious about if this will help but it can’t do too much harm (unless my blood sugar is heightened too much) and the bonus is I’m partial to chocolate and bananas. Later in the morning I caught the bus to the Soul Café, at the bus stop I met Isabel whose husband had just died. I didn’t really know what to say but think it went okay. At the Soul Café the paintings were on display around the room, and I went and looked carefully at each of them. Phil and Rory were going to a football match, and I went on to have a tuna jacket potato at St. Andrews Coffee House. I bought a venison scotch egg from Sergeants. And had to run to catch the bus. When I got to Hythe, I did some shopping in Lidl then came home and had a cup of tea and ran to the Co-op where I brought some vegetable mix in the clearance section and a canister of milk.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday September 8, 2023 Up early after another night without sleep. One of the troubles with insomnia is not being able distinguishing one day with another. Yesterday I went for the free cook up organised by Lucie Mann. It’s always nice having something which I hadn’t cooked myself. Unfortunately, I learnt there’s likely to be a delay getting work started on my garden. I suppose everyone’s sleep patterns are out of sync with this weather. I went back to bed and surfaced sometime after 2 in the afternoon, but it was a pleasant sleep, and I felt really good. One of the joys of retirement is most of the time you can sleep whenever you want to. I had a late lunch of chorizo sausages with whole meal bread and butter washed down with the inevitable mug of tea. Then I had another sleep and woke by late afternoon/early evening. Nothing much else happened, I went to bed early.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday September 7, 2023 It may have been late on Thursday or early Friday when I blocked a scammer. I had been having messenger conversations with her and she read and and often commented on the latest instalments of the Gallivant as I published them. For a while I thought I’d found a friend. Fool that I must surely have been I gave her money. And was deaf to the sound of alarm bells. My suspicions came to a head due to some remarks on messenger by a friend who she was also asking money from. Anyway, I blocked her. After I’d blocked her wanting confirmation my decision was sound, I checked a photo she sent me of an empty fridge by looking up empty fridge on Google images and found the same image. Come to think of it I posted a picture of a frying pan of chilli con carne on one of my blog posts and she reposted it as on her timeline as hers. I have to admit I’m going to miss hearing from her, but she never was a true friend.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday September 6, 2023 I listened to a song yesterday about always having done something that you’re proud of every day. I lived up to that ideal yesterday by getting closer to getting treatment for my glaucoma organised and writing to Julian Lewis about my experience and sharing the letter with the RNIB campaigns section. There was a piece on the television yesterday evening which mentioned a Citizen Scientist (a retired businessman) being involved with monitoring the ongoing situation with Thames Water dumping sewage into rivers during fine weather, which is illegal. Unable to sleep in the early hours, I Googled ‘Citizen Scientist’ and found out about an organisation called Zooniverse who organise a variety of citizen scientist projects. My to do list for today began with the plan to phone the double-glazing contractors to get something done about my windows, instead of which I wrote a letter to my younger self, as an entry to a writing competition. Out of milk, I ran to the Coop and bought some, together with six apples from the clearance section. At 12,.00 hardly able to stay awake I went to bed and slept through until 18.00. After my evening meal I slept again and woke at around 2.00 pm the next day

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday September 5, 2023 Having spent yesterday afternoon trying to sort out getting treatment for my glaucoma (I was late getting up yesterday and today) To do list (1) Phone double glazing contractors (not done) (2) Buy bread and oil oil (bought, olive oil, bread, brown rice, eggs, and for my midday meal pizza slice and coffee) (3) Get letter to Julian Lewis printed (done) (4) Housework (5) Painting (6) Phone eye hospital (an appointment is arranged for 13/2/24….8.40. I wonder if I would have got an appointment at all if I hadn’t asked) (7) Post letter to Julian Lewis (done) I was late ‘rising from my pit’ and felt like a change of air and there was a letter to Julian Lewis about the ongoing situation with my glaucoma which had been printed by the Herald and Advertiser office in Hythe. The first thing I did once was got off the bus was take £10 out of the hole in the wall at HSBC in Hythe. I wanted cash so there wouldn’t be any difficulty paying for my printing at The Herald office. Next I made my way to Lidl where I bought a bottle of olive oil, some bread, six eggs, easy cook brown rice, and for lunch a pizza slice and a coffee. After shopping at Lidl using some of the money I had just taken out of HSBC I went to the Herald office and got my letter printed. I caught the bus home and phoned the eye hospital and have an appointment booked for 13/2/24.(or possibly sooner if there’s a cancellation). I posted my letter and found there was an email from RNIB acknowledging receipt of my email and saying it would be forwarded to their campaigns section.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday September 4, 2023 I woke up late had a cheese and pickle sandwich for lunch, having decided to skip Veg Out at October Books because until I get my pension on Friday, I will be short of cash. The most urgent thing to do today is try and sort out my glaucoma treatment. On Saturday I noticed looking through a newly completed sketchbook that I’d had an all day examination for treatment for my glaucoma on 15/6/23. I have heard nothing about it since then and decided today I would follow it up. I phoned my GP surgery who gave me the number of their contact at the eye hospital. Which I phoned and left a message with. After the call I wrote to Julian Lewis (which took most of the afternoon)and emailed a copy of the letter to RNIB. Finally, I went for a run, had my evening meal and a shower.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday September 3, 2023 To do list (1) Painting (not done) (2) Housework (not done) Incredibly tired and feeling downbeat, after a long period of sleep deprivation which ended sometime around Friday, I think. I am now drinking tea, listening to a Radio 3 broadcast of Choral Evensong which didn’t help. (It was as uplifting as a trip to the dentist). A shower and change of clothes and a run would perk me up…but (!?) I took a portion of chicken curry out to be thawed, ready for my evening meal. Spent about three hours, trying to explain to someone how to get a Grant to set up a small business which was extremely unproductive and frustrating. When I was at school, I thought of becoming a teacher but after experiences like today I’m glad I didn’t. It was time I could have spent doing the housework or working on my painting. In a primer on economics, I dipped into it discussed scarcity. Almost everyone could do with more money and everyone is short of time. There’s only twenty-four hours in a day and seven days a week. And however careful you are with your health you will only live so long. After a run round the block and to the Coop where I bought a canister of milk and (some root ginger from the clearance section) I felt more perky and blocked the person who had asked me for help setting up a business, so that I would put my time in the future to better use. I had my evening meal but as money would be scarce until I got my pension, on Friday, and I only had a little rice left I had rice and boiled potatoes with my curry.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday September 2, 2023 Second Thoughts about yesterday. Last night after writing my blog in a messenger conversation I realised, my appraised for yesterday was too harsh. I hadn’t achieved what was on my ‘to do list’ but I did achieve something, and it was useful. And had taken a lot of time and energy. Early in the morning I got into a messenger conversation with a young chap in Ghana and found him some information about starting a business there. First I found a video and then details of a scheme to encourage business start ups in Ghana. I could now access my bank details. To do list for today (1) Housework (did hour an hour hoovering and two loads of laundry) (2) Go to the Soul Café (I went this morning) (3) Work on painting (not done) I couldn’t get to sleep last night and was full of energy this morning. On the bus I noticed Rory and expected him to join me at The Soul Café, but he got off at Hythe Pier. After arriving at The Soul Café I sat alone and sketched the people drinking coffee and eating a slice of homemade chocolate cake. Getting to the last page of my sketchbook I started to fill in the other pages (working backwards) with drawings. I drank three cups of coffee which was too many. Kathy came and had a chat, about if work had begun on my garden and the exhibition of paintings which will be on display at The Soul Café. When left I went on for lunch at St. Andrews Coffee House the soup of the day was leek and potato with crusty bread and croutons, which I washed down with a pot of tea. The bus home was late, and I asked the driver how he was… He replied: ‘great’ And I apologised. When I got home, I was totally exhausted and had a nap. I heated a portion of chilli con carne in the microwave and boiled some pasta to go with it. When I’d finished my meal, I set for half an hour and loaded and unloaded the washing machine and hoovered the lounge. Then I wrote this blog post. Exhausted I went to bed at 9.00.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday September 1, 2023 To do list (1) Pick up print from The Herald office. (done) (2) Housework (not done) (3) Phone double glazing contractors (not done) (4) Work on painting (not done) (A 25% success rate for the day) Today was a day with modest objectives which weren’t met. I set out fairly late to go and collect my printing from the Herald office in Hythe which was followed up with breakfast at Be Be’s. At the bus stop in Holbury a young lady remarked that my portable seat was a good idea and asked me where I got it. After breakfast I decided it was high time, I got out my banking app to work and went into Southampton to fix it. When I got to the bank, I worked out how to make it work before being seen. Southampton Market was on, and I tried the Bangladeshi Street food stall, again where this time I bought a Kabab and a bottle of water for lunch. Then, it was a tiring and tedious trip home. When I got on the bus I asked the driver: ‘How are you?’ He replied: ‘You don’t want to know’. When we got to the station (a couple of stops on) the door of the bus went wrong and we had to wait for the next bus. When it arrived it was full to the gunnels, and I managed to get what must have been one of the last seats. After a tiring ride home, I could do nothing but sleep until the early evening when I made myself a meal of a pork steak, jacket potato, mixed vegetables gravy, Dijon mustard and apple sauce cooked using the microwave and air fryer. Which was just a matter of setting the timers and waiting.

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