2019 weekly - Week 30

22/07/2019

A dear cousin visited us on route of his business trip. He's from hubby's side. A very friendly and generous person who I've met a number of times. He invited us to his summer house in the Alps three years ago. That was magnificent. Took my breath away. Today is his second time visiting us in Cambridge. Can you believe it? Family is never a bother or a trouble for him. Thank you, M.

Here is what we planned tonight:

Apéritif

Crémant de Loire

Crudites with olive sundried tomato paste

Grilled halloumi sticks

Breadsticks

Mains

Thick-cut steak

Roasted potatoes

Garlic creamed spinach
Slow roast tomatoes

Dessert

Eton Mess

23-25/07/2019

I got two insect bites probably from last night sitting in the garden. One on the top of my right foot looks innocuous but has made my whole foot swollen! I couldn't see the bones nor the veins underneath and I couldn't put on my shoe properly without feeling pain. My right foot looked just scary on the second day (24th). So scary that I'd suspected the worst, cellulitis. But I didn't have fever. So I went to the pharmacy to ask for some advice. She gave me some anti-histamine tablets and a tube of hydrocortisone. Until the night of 24th, I had prepared for cellulitis and ready to call my GP the next day. But, there must be a god somewhere, 12 hours after I took the anti-histamines and applied the hydrocortisone, my foot started to look better. When I woke up on the 3rd day (25th), the redness is almost gone. So was the pain. As the day goes by, I started to see the bones and veins underneath. So pleased and relived.

So, I had to concede that I may be now allergic to bugs?! Or just the freak heatwave triggering the freak incident?

By the way, today we reached 37 centigrade.

2019 weekly - Week 29

14/07/2019

Well, this ginger cake is a keeper. Light, springy texture with just a right amount of heat and molasses. I didn't bother with the glaze, delicious nonetheless.

Ingredients for the cake:
150g self-raising flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
175ml whole milk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
85g golden syrup
40g black treacle
85g dark brown soft sugar
75g unsalted butter
1 Free Range medium egg
30g crystallised stem ginger + 15g for garnish, chopped

I changed the original method by making a bowl of wet ingredients and another with all the powdery ones. Butter is melted along with milk, syrup, treacle and brown sugar. Beat the egg into the cooled wet mixture. In another bowl, mix together flour, spices and baking soda. Stir wet into the dried.

Bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes.


16/07/2019

I decided not to bi*ch about how others decided to lead their lives. We may be related by blood but definitely different in interpreting the meaning of life.


17/07/2019

I follow several French learning FB pages because, well, I enjoy learning French. I have not let anyone know I follow any of those pages. Today I wrote something in response to a verb challenge (make use of "devoir + infinitive") and I got "liked" instantly by one of my own FB friends. I don't know how this contact found out about my comment/intent to practice. I've kept all my likes private. Apparently it's not enough!

Thank you, Mr. Zuckerberg, not everyone wants to live like a college student, ok?!?! I just want to learn my French quietly without anyone of my FB contacts stalking me!!! Please rehash FB privacy as you mean it.

NOT HAPPY!

18/07/2019

I can't believe there is a "to be continued" part of my FB contact who's stalking me. Today she (yes, you) lectured me on the joy of learning. Such a big fake. I was laughing. BIG.TIME.

Hate to waste my energy and blog space for this kind of people but arrrgghhhhhhhhh.

OK. I'm better.

2019 weekly - Week 28

07/07/2019

This Welsh drama noir took my breath away. The resilience of a woman, all in, broken but not giving up, with pure grit, is wonderfully portrayed by Eve Myles. I remembered her from an early sci-fi drama also set in Wales. She got my attention then, not to mention the cute welsh accent. But in Keeping Faith, she shone through. Love it.

2019 weekly - Week 27

30/06/2019

Nobody presents planetary science like Brian Cox who just gave us another awe-inspiring series, The Planets. I have yet to see another science program as poetic as this one. The science is hot of the press material and presents a nice summary of the space advances of last few decades. I've learned that the ring of Saturn was created by a relatively recent collision and it will disappear in time. I also discovered that a few years after I was born there was a very rare astral event when all 4 outer planets were aligned so that we could send Voyager 2 to help us explore Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 is still in contact with NASA today, after 41 years. Can you imagine how much faith and conviction those NASA scientists must have when they launched Voyager 2 back in 1977? It's as close to people taking hundreds of years to build cathedrals as it gets. And the images and information it's sent back are just out of this world, literally. It's formidable to see. It deserves to be marveled at how far we have gone.

And with all the human endeavors and achievements, it's thought-provoking. What is at the edge of the solar system? Is earth unique? Are we alone? The consequence of the real answer is heart stopping. Either way, it is profound.