Christmas Cake

This morning I went to Saffron Walden with my daughter to have my nails done at Manhattan Nails; they have at last recovered from the dreadful treatment they endured from a different 'nail' shops here instead of soaking off the gel nails, they filed them off, burning the nail and me underneath.

As usual we went to The Courtyard for breakfast. They have very recently been taken over and the standard, in our opinion, was not as good as before. They did not have any gluten-free bread and the gluten-free cake was not being delivered until later. In the past they have had gluten-free bread and cakes. My daughter had a full English breakfast, the menu said two sausages and there was only one on the plate. I had some of the items from the full English breakfast, but obviously without those items, which contain gluten. I did not have eggs, but found a piece of eggshell in my mouth! I was also charged for a full English; there did not appear to be any other way to charge me. We will go again next time we have our nails done, but if the standard is not as it used to be, then we shall go elsewhere.

Some of the ingredients.

During the afternoon I have weighed and measured all the ingredients to make two Christmas cakes, in my opinion, this is the tedious part. Tomorrow I shall just have to mix everything together and bake them. I am using a different recipe this year, so hopefully they will turn out okay. I have also purchased some new baking tins. One round and one square, they are loose bottomed ones, but with a silicone base. I purchased them from Lakeland in Cambridge.

Roses in November

Today I have been working all day with students, which has not left much time for any other activities. I did find time to go into the garden and photograph these roses, not bad for the middle of November in the United Kingdom.  

Breakfast

Early today we went to Scotsdales for breakfast before a full day’s appointment at Addenbrookes hospital for my husband. This picture shows what I had for breakfast, a gluten-free chocolate, cherry and cream roulade! 

Cherry, Chocolate and Cream Roulade

A Proper Breakfast

This Christmas display is in the main entrance to Scotsdales Garden Centre.

Once we were at the hospital, I left my husband in clinic fourteen and went into Cambridge to purchase some new cake tins from Lakeland Plastics and then I returned to the hospital to wait with him.

Although it was one of the ‘longer’ appointments that he has, today was not so bad; we were home just after 1600 hours.

Continuing.......

I really should update this blog more frequently so today I am continuing with it. I might also include some entries relevant to what has been happening in our lives over the past few months; particularly those relevant to the rebuilding of the structure at the back of our home.

Today is a working day with tutorials booked for students all day so I will not be doing a great deal of other things worth reporting.

The Ocado Lorry

The Ocado lorry delivered the groceries this morning including extra fruit and vegetables, no excuse now for lapsing with my healthy, low calorie and weight reducing regime. Although the weather was quite good during the morning I decided to do some housework rather than continue with the gardening. My back appears to have recovered a little from the exercise I did with my grandchildren during half-term and rather than do too much and trap the nerve again I decided to stay indoors. This afternoon it is dark, dull, raining and cold.

 

Today, although it was cold and windy I did two hours of gardening. This was mainly sorting out tubs and window boxes with Primroses, Primula and Polyanthus flowers. After I had hung up the handing baskets, my husband wired them on for me. In the past hanging baskets have disappeared. I do not think this was the grammar school children playing football with them as they waited for their train; they disappeared, no trace was found of the baskets or any plants.

 

 

Today is the day that I have chosen to restart my lapsed weight loss journey which has plateaued, but I have not gained the weight I once lost; this is good, so lots of healthy eating from now on, lots of fruit and vegetables with some healthy exercise when possible. This will be walking due to back and hip problems, but walking is also good. The recommended exercise for older adults can be found at this NHS site.

I decided, probably because they are usually high in calories that I wanted a curry and so I have chosen to make the WeightWatchers Vegetable curry, this is filling and healthy according to the website.

New Beginnings

Today, the last day of February is cold, very wet with dull grey skies. I had planned to do some gardening today, but the weather has prevented this.

I have not written in my blog for many months, but plan to do so again. I will record the building work, which will be carried out this year, to bring our cottage into the twenty-first century. Tomorrow I shall restart my weight loss journey. I have already lost eleven kilos, but have plateaued ,so today I shall eat what I like; tomorrow is another day.

Meringues at Scotsdales

Today we went to Scotsdales Garden Centre, not to buy very much, but mainly for a look round. After lunch we made our purchases and before coming home we had coffee and a meringue. These are the peppermint ones, they are also available as cherry or raspberry. and are served with cream. As you would expect, they are gluten-free and made on the premises by Sarah.

Other purchases were made including some white Hellebores, pale yellow primroses as well as the bright and colourful variants. I also purchased a new pair of Aqua coloured 'Hotter' sandals; did I need  a new pair, no, but I liked them.

Today was my birthday so we visited Cambridge in the United Kingdom to spend the day, sight seeing, taking photographs and shopping. During the afternoon we visited Harriet's Tea Rooms in Green Street where we had a delicious Special Afternoon Tea. Mine was gluten-free and consisted of sandwiches, these were smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber and chicken. There were gluten-free scones with Harriet's strawberry jam and cream as well as assorted cakes. All washed down with a pot of Harriet's special blend coffee. My husband's tea was equally as good although not gluten-free. It is advisable to book, especially if you have any dietary requirements. The price incudes a voucher for a free tea or coffee on your next visit.

The gluten-free option is the one in the foreground