Category Archives: Blogging

Gymnastics and Hog’s Breath Cafe | @hogsbreath

Cupcakes and @luke_nguyen Fat Noodle

4 Replies

Last night I flew to Brisbane to have an extended weekend with my daughters and parents.

Thursday was a pretty big food day and I just didn’t think about my weight.

A work mate shared his Mum’s Macedonian sweet treats

———-

For lunch about eight of us in the branch had chips and gravy. One of us even had a pie, chips and gravy (not me).

———-

I got to the Qantas club with about 30 minutes to spare

I was given the mango sorbet to try. It was pretty good.

———-

On board QF960. The 737-800 has been updated.

I watched a movie during the flight

———-

I may not have had a pie with my chips and gravy but I did have one for dinner on the flight

———-

Dessert cake

———-

When I got to my parents’ place they were eating dinner and Mum gave me a small plate

Shepherd’s pie

———-

Miss16 started making some cupcakes at about 9 pm because a friend of hers is having a birthday on Saturday so she wanted to make something to share with her on Friday.

Some friends on Facebook, twitter and IG suggested I may have applied a Daddy tax. I didn’t do anything to discourage that notion but truth is Miss16 didn’t make enough to fill the baking tray.

———-

They look good don’t they? Vanilla cupcakes with passionfruit icing.

———-

We had an early start for the school run this morning

Peanut paste on toast with coffee

———-

One of the annoying things about Canberra (and in fairness Darwin) is the ban on plastic bags.

———-

Today I was taking my parents in town by bus so I had to buy a go card

———-

I promised Mum for Mother’s day I’d take her to the refurbished City Hall. Mum used to work as a volunteer at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and spent a lot of time at City Hall.

———-

I remember winning school prizes at school speech nights and being down there

Mum tells me she used to sing down there for her school choir

———-

City Hall now contains the Museum of Brisbane. It’s a really nice little museum. I’d happily go again and again. One of the features for now is the exhibit on World Expo 1988 Brisbane.

Do you remember what you were doing in 1988? I was in medical school and we’d catch a train from Bowen Hills to the Mater Hospital and walk through Expo.

———-

I think it’s fantastic that Doug Anthony the deputy PM and leader of the National Party usurped Malcolm Fraser the PM of the day and supported Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen in the bid.

———-

The Light Fantastic

———-

After spending about an hour in the museum we walked over to the Treasury building to meet up with Miss18 and have lunch. Miss18 announced she’d got a job to help her get through her TAFE/QUT courses so we celebrated.

The Treasury building

———-

In the Treasury Casino building is Luke Nguyen’s restaurant Fat Noodle

———-

We waited near some stand up tables and read through the menu and I noticed the cloth napkins

———-

We could see into the kitchen too

———-

After being seated at a large table near a window we received a pot of Chinese tea

———-

Dad asked for the Fat Pho Noodles

His only concern was the large fillet of beef in the bowl which he would have preferred sliced.

———-

Miss18 had pork and prawn wonton

Not as good as Mum’s wonton of course

If you want to read about Mum’s wonton click here and here

———-

Mum and I both asked for the Singapore noodles

This was spectacular

———-

The after lunch Belgian chocolate mint was delicious

———-

Apparently this German sausage hut also serves big pork hocks on request

———-

All in all it’s been a good day.

Now to rate Luke’s restaurant. The meal was fantastic and I would recommend anyone visiting Brisbane to try it out.
The dunny was interesting. The pedestal was solid and sound. The urinal was an older stainless steel model with a sturdy grate. It was big enough for two well proportioned men to stand next to each other without inducing hesitancy. I like a good firm grate to stand on so there is less of a chance of urine spray on the floor. The hand basin was motion detector activated but a little shallow. The hand drying unit was a pseudo air blade. It was pretty pathetic. If you’re going to use an air dryer and try to imitate a Dyson Air Blade, just buy the Dyson. My dunny score is 3.5 out of 5.
The napkin score is pass. Cloth napkins always pass.

Fat Noodle http://www.treasurybrisbane.com.au/Dining/Pages/Fat-Noodle-.aspx
Menu http://www.treasurybrisbane.com.au/Dining/Documents/FN%20Brisbane%20Menu%20web%20081212.pdf
Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g255068-d3748303-Reviews-Fat_Noodle_Restaurant-Brisbane_Queensland.html
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/R6hAE

View Larger Map

My take on corned beef | Avoiding the canned stuff

4 Replies

When I was in Atlanta I had my first (and second) Reuben sandwich. I’ve been wanting to make one ever since. Before I get there though I wanted to practice cooking corned beef. I’ve done it before but it was a long time ago.

The task for today was to simply cook some corned beef that I could have for dinner and also make as a filling for toasted sandwiches at work.

The whole process took a few hours from start to finish.

This is the piece of meat I used

———-

I soaked it in some tap water with some star anise, cloves, bay leaves, brown sugar and vinegar

———-

After soaking I cooked the meat in a pressure cooker

In my youth I would cut the fat layer off and put it between two well buttered pieces of white bread and add some mustard and then inhale. Nothing tastes as good as silverside fat from corned beef between buttered bread.

———-

I wanted to add some caramelised onions

———-

I finished the cooking by putting the onions, corned beef and a cup of the cooking fluid from the pressure cooker into a casserole and cooked in a low oven. Half-way through I took it out to add a little curry powder and a potato for my dinner.

———-

For comparison. I wasn’t going to open the can, but the shot is for comparison (sort of).

———-

This is a large bowl that I will use for toasted sandwiches at work this week.

———-

This is so much cheaper and easier but way too salty and oily

———-

Tonight’s dinner. My take on corned beef and vegetables. No white sauce here

This wasn’t too bad. The meat fibres pulled apart easily. It wasn’t too salty or oily like canned corned beef. It was sweet with the onions.

———-

The next step when I feel confident is to try a Reuben sandwich. That’s a dish I want to make well so I can share it with Bron.

Corned Beef Hash (angsarap.net)
Corned Beef Two Ways – Soup and Sandwich (janceys.blogspot.com)
Corned Beef with White Onion Sauce (angsarap.net)
Curley’s Corned Beef Hash (simplymadekitchenandcrafts.com)

Star Trek Into Darkness | #StarTrek #IntoDarkness | No spoilers

20 Replies

Background image from the official Star Trek website
http://www.startrekmovie.com/images/bg.jpg

Last night Bron took me to see Star Trek into Darkness. I’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time.

Now if you don’t like science fiction I invite you to read on because at some stage I do get onto food

Okay, it’s time for confessions, well, not really confessions because if you’ve read my “about” page you’ll know that I do like all things Star Trek. I remember in the 1970s coming home from swimming club on a Friday night and after a shower I’d sit with Dad and watch Star Trek The Original Series (TOS). I loved it. I didn’t really understand the nuance of Kirk as a womaniser and risk taking leader, but I really liked Spock, Bones and Scotty. When Star Trek The Next Generation (TNG) began I was an immediate fan. I’ve also enjoyed Star Trek Deep Space Nine (DS9) and Star Trek Voyager. My favourite series though has been Star Trek Enterprise (ENT) which was a prequel to the ST TOS era. I suppose it comes as no surprise I have a soft spot for Star Trek medical officers as well as science officers.

Kirk and Dr Marcus
http://www.startrekmovie.com/images/gallery/gallery_12.jpg

In 2009 when Star Trek http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796366/ was launched and we became aware of what Star Trek Canon describes as the Alternate Reality* a whole new vista of possibilities opened for Star Trek fans. Star Trek 2009 directed by JJ Abrams was a great movie. I really hoped Star Trek into Darkness http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/ could be as good and not a disappointment.

Last night Bron bought tickets at the Dendy Canberra http://www.dendy.com.au/Page/Home and we got great seats in the middle. It was an interesting crowd sitting around us. As much as I love Star Trek I’ve never been inclined to dress up in Starfleet uniform or as a non-human Star Trek character. That didn’t stop some of other movie goers. I had a man next to me in an engineering tunic complete with com badge. About as far as I will go is holding up my right hand, palm anterior with third and fourth digits separated and occasionally saying “live long and prosper” Apparently this _\\// is the emoticon for live long and prosper.

Back to the movie; I was not disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised. I did have some doubts at the beginning and now that I’ve seen it I wish I had taken the time to revisit some of the TOS movies plus some relevant episodes from ENT. The plot was great and the story unfolded nicely. I’m glad it wasn’t any longer than just over two hours. Too much longer would have been tedious. I really liked how a variety of concepts from various parts of Star Trek lore have been weaved in. I’d happily rate it between 9 and 9.5 out of 10. At the start I was worried that JJ Abrams had botched the job but he pulled it together at the end. The odd cameo was also appreciated. What I really enjoyed was seeing the return of an actor who played a part in ENT.

If you like Star Trek I don’t have to recommend this, you’ll go again and again like I will.
If you aren’t into Star Trek or science fiction but like a good movie, I recommend this movie as worthwhile. It would help if you watch Star Trek 2009 to get some of the background to the Alternate Reality.
If you don’t like Star Trek and if you don’t like science fiction, if you’re a hater, then I recommend watching something else. The win win will be you will free up a seat for fans to go again and again

Spock and Kirk
http://www.startrekmovie.com/images/gallery/gallery_16.jpg

So how did I prepare for Star Trek into Darkness? It all centred around Bron naturally. Saturday started with an excellent Bron breakfast of poached egg on a muffin with another muffin smeared with marmalade.

Sorry it’s a bit blurry. I was feeling very hungry.

———-

For lunch Bron and I went to Ricardo’s Cafe at Jamison.

I needed something refreshing and dairy

Caramel thick shake

———-

Bron and I shared the Wagyu steak and truffle sliders

These were delicious. I’d recommend them to anyone who likes a ham burger. The chips (French fries) were also very good.

———-

Bron and I shared a vanilla slice after the sliders

One of the layers was salted caramel between the pastry and custard

———-

I cannot say too often just how good Ricardo’s cafe is.

———-

At the movie (Dendy Canberra) Bron and I had a vanilla bean ice cream choc top http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choc-Top

$At the movies with Bron. #StarTrek #ChocTop #yummy #excited _\/// Live Long and Prosper$

The ice cream was very rich and creamy. I think Dendy get these specially made. It’s not clear if they’re made by The Choc Top Ice-Cream Company http://www.thechoctopicecreamcompany.com.au/

———-

After the movie Bron made me a Haigh’s spicy hot chocolate

Marshmallows maketh the hot chocolate

———-

This morning Bron made us scrambled eggs and bacon on sourdough toast

Bron bought the streaky bacon at Elite Meats in Holt. It was very tasty bacon. While there appeared to be a good layer of fat, it didn’t taste fatty at all. Thank you Bron.

———-

*Alternate Reality—If there really is only the prime and alternate realities the word alternate as an adjective is acceptable. If there are however, infinite alternative realities, then I object to the adjective alternate in Star Trek Canon. How this interacts with the concept of parallel universes in Star Trek Canon is unclear in my puny mind.

For information about almost everything Star Trek it’s worth visiting the Memory Alpha site at http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Portal:Main

Star Trek Into Darkness http://www.startrekmovie.com/
Memory Alpha http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Into_Darkness
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Into_Darkness
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/

Dendy Cinema http://www.dendy.com.au/Page/Home
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/ddJiU

View Larger Map

Sign Up for a STAR TREK Starfleet Email Address and Impress the Ladies (collider.com)
Review of Star Trek – Into the Darkness (2013)… (vikrammalhotrablog.wordpress.com)
Review: Star Trek Into Darkness [NO SPOILERS] (lostvhs.wordpress.com)
Will ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Repeat First Film’s Mistakes? (mashable.com)
Climbing up the ranks of Starfleet with the Star Trek App (winphanavenue.wordpress.com)
Reviewing Star Trek Into Darkness: Man’s gone here before, but he’s taking a different route. (mypurplesummer.wordpress.com)

My week in Instagram

5 Replies

It’s been a busy week at work. I’ve changed offices again. I started my clinical attachment at The Canberra Hospital and I’ve eaten out a bit.

After the last post when I revealed I’d reached 80.2 kg I thought I should revisit the single fillet of salmon again as an evening staple

I did the salmon the way I normally do with a fry pan and lid and a 5 minute timer. I cooked the vegetables with a little soy and honey.

———-

and again the next night…

Another small piece of salmon

———-

I’ve been walking every day too

Mr Owl looks good at 0445 AEST with a black background of the night sky

———-

In preparation for my clinical day a week I started reading some relevant documents.

Tea rather than coffee too

———-

For reasons I won’t go in to, I was able to return to my old office area. The first thing I did was put up my flags. I felt immediately at home.

My two favourite places in the world. Queensland and the Northern Territory of Australia

———-

On Friday I started my first day at The Canberra Hospital as an Honorary Visiting Medical Officer in Pathology. I decided I could walk to work from my DoHA car spot

My walk http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/178410745

So this is where I’ll be. Building 10.

There is a lot of construction underway so it’s not possible to see the building from outside

———-

It was a pretty good day. I really enjoyed getting oriented back into a clinical pathology set up. It was nice to speak with clinicians about patients and visit the mortuary and see the museum named after my friend and colleague, viz., Professor Peter Herdson. It was fantastic to get back into the lingo and to start thinking about the wonderful interface being a clinical microbiologist is between the patient in the ward and the vast technological brain power that rests in medical laboratory scientists and other practitioners. I love the technology of pathology. As I grew up in medicine, Professor John Kerr’s most profound comment was that pathology is medicine. If you understand pathology you will understand medicine. Truer words there are not. He also held a firm view that rigorous examination was the best way to produce a well rounded undifferentiated medical graduate who would be ready to learn more about how to heal the sick and teach others to become good practitioners of the art and science of medicine. I love that in pathology we extend our practice into the tactile of holding plates and loops, we can sense the aroma of our friends on the plates, we can see the bright colours of the wonderful chemical reactions in solid and liquid phases. We can stand before instruments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that reduce the time from specimen reception to result delivery to hours instead of days. But best of all I love that we can take the complex and abstract and share a story with a referring and treating practitioner and help him or her heal their patient. Working in government bureaucracy for the last five years has taught me so many things, but I cannot love it like I love being in a laboratory surrounded by wonderful people and patient specimens, machines and most of all microscopes. Four days a week at DoHA and one day at TCH is a good balance.

As I walked back to my car I was reminded that The Canberra Hospital and the Royal Darwin Hospital were designed in Canada and it was Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who sought to build hospitals in the two territories. The design may well have been good for Canberra but it was a disaster for Darwin. This is a multi-storey, air conditioned building with a furnace up the middle. Indigenous Australians in the Top End communities do not like heights, they don’t like the cold and why require a furnace in a building in subequatorial Australia. What the hell was Prime Minister Whitlam thinking? The best hospital design in the Northern Territory of Australia is the Katherine Hospital. One level, multiple wings with open flow through ventilation and lots of courtyards for patients to gather in along with their intravenous infusion stand and drugs. In Darwin, as much as I love the RDH (not the building itself, I love the people, I love the community, I love the family that is a hospital), it is unseemly to have all the Indigenous Australian patients feel like they have to mill outside on hot concrete with their intravenous infusion stands all because of a mistake from the 1970s.

The walk back had a little detour to capture that image
My walk back http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/178532953

On the walk back I passed by an excellent venue for a steak

If you visit Canberra and want a nice bistro steak, the Hellenic Club is a good place for a meal.

This is the building I spend most of my week in

———-

On Friday night I visited Bron’s place and we enjoyed another great meal and an episode of Game of Thrones.

Wagyu steak and salad

———-

Fruit covered in white chocolate served with lemon curd ice cream

———-

My week in Instagram (yummylummy.com)
H7N9: Pathology Queensland-developed bird flu test an Australian first (crofsblogs.typepad.com)
Gribbles Pathology and Sengenics Enter Into Partnership to Deliver Cutting-Edge Genetic Tests (pr.com)
Dinner at Eat 86 | @eat86 @EatShootBlog @hercanberra (yummylummy.com)
NACCHO good news:Aboriginal health initiative proves to be one real success story (nacchocommunique.com)
Margaret Whitlam Pavilion opens at Arboretum (abc.net.au)

Dinner at Eat 86 | @eat86 @EatShootBlog @hercanberra

9 Replies

On Thursday evening Bron took me to dinner for my birthday (which was last week). We went to Eat86 in Braddon. This is relatively new and a new venture for the people who run Ellacure in Bruce.

Having enjoyed previous meals at Ellacure and hearing great reviews from work mates plus reading a blog post on Her Canberra by Trish, I was really looking forward to a nice meal and night out with Bron. Bron had heard good things so we were pretty confident of a great night out.

On walking in you can feel the vibe of the place. The staff are friendly and helpful. We had a table reserved near the bar and fairly central in the restaurant. The menu is written in chalk on the wall and as items run out they are rubbed out. We were advised to try a couple of cheaper meals and one large meal as a guide for the evening. We went for the ceviche, pulled pork terrine and ghetto beef.

These were all delightful. The ceviche was amazing. It was refreshing and full of heat but the chilli didn’t linger and was certainly sharp but not unpleasant. It was a perfect entrée to the evening. I love terrines and the pulled pork was pretty special. I’d happily eat more of it. Finally, the ghetto beef was perfectly cooked. The beef was tender and tasty and chewy in a really good way.

All these images are from my Instagram feed. Click on the image and read the comments.

The ceviche was a perfect start to the meal

The pulled pork terrine broke apart and could be scooped up on the bread

The ghetto beef is a must have

The serving sizes are modest and so by the end of these dishes dessert was not an option but a viable proposition. I chose a caramel popcorn sundae and peanut brittle. The restaurant was pretty dark so my iPhone photography wasn’t too flash. That said, the Instagram comments were pretty good. Click on the image to see the number of likes and comments.

Dessert. Nothing more needs to be said.

Okay onto other things.
It was noisy. My tinnitus was bad that night. I had to concentrate on looking at Bron’s lips the whole night. Not a bad thing
Dunny score was 4.5+ out of 5. The music is piped into the dunny. The pedestal was of high quality. The towels were paper. The + comes because of the Aēsop hand products provided. This was a very good touch. If there was a Dyson air blade in there it would have received 5+/5
Nakpin score was fail. Bron believes I’m too harsh in having only a pass/fail for napkins. To me cloth is pass and paper is fail. Fair enough, these were thick paper napkins and better than most. What do you reckon?

Would I eat at eightysix again. Most certainly I would. I’d like to try a seat at the bar looking into the kitchen. If not for anything else, the lighting would be better for my iPhone camera. I feel embarrassed my images do not do the food justice. This is a great place to eat and I look forward to returning again and again.

———-

Eat86 http://www.eat-86.com/
Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g255057-d4162515-Reviews-Eightysix-Canberra_Greater_Canberra_Australian_Capital_Territory.html
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eightysix/480462502008403
Instagram http://instagram.com/eateightysix
Twitter https://twitter.com/eat86
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/09dbS

View Larger Map

Her Canberra http://www.hercanberra.com.au/
Twitter https://twitter.com/hercanberra
Twitter https://twitter.com/bugmum
Instagram http://instagram.com/hercanberra
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hercanberra
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/hercanberra/

Eat Shoot Blog http://thisistrish.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004618984141
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/trish25/
Twitter https://twitter.com/EatShootBlog
Instagram http://instagram.com/eatshootblog

Reports: Instagramming meals could indicate deeper problem (wtkr.com) I was made aware of this today. Perhaps I have a deep seated psychological problem :-/
April Instagram Update (keepinitcali.wordpress.com)
Which Social Networks Should I Use for My Business? (fliptop.com)
This is the one where I describe the “Instagramification Of Dinner.” (sociallydiabetic.com)
Instagram Life @MsLoveNiki (loveniki.wordpress.com)
What If WordPress, Instagram & Google Maps Got Drunk and Had a Baby? (socializedca.com)
Italian and Sons | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)

Elk and Pea breakfast | Great omelet at @elkandpea

Yikes! I’m 80.2 kg | How did that happen?

20 Replies

This morning I weighed myself. I haven’t done this for a couple of months. This morning standing naked I weighed 80.2 kg (or 176 lb for my friends in the USA). Since about Easter I’ve felt myself thickening a little. At the beginning of the year I was about 76 kg. At Easter I was suffering from ManFlu and then had an ankle problem which meant exercising was not a high priority for me. Coupled with some more extravagant eating it should come as no surprise that I’ve got over 80 kg.

I really need to stop eating so much, exercise more and watch what I’m eating. This last week has been a little out of control. Let’s take a look.

Now we need to remember I started the week with the ham hock (which was delicious). I also experienced my birthday (and much of Bron’s generosity). Finally I had one of the best quick meals I’ve ever had last night [click on the links for the images in the posts].

So in between I also ate pretty well.

Roast belly pork

Yes, I ate all that to myself and there was nothing left over.

———-

Friday morning signalled my last Friday working in the department so I had my last Friday Mavi breakfast wrap.

This doesn’t mean my last Mavi breakfast wrap, just the last one on a Friday. From next Friday I start working as a Visiting Medical Officer in Pathology at The Canberra Hospital every Friday.

———-

On Friday night I was late at work and so that means takeaway

I wanted something yummy from 2YUMMY

———-

I chose a laksa of course

My char siu laksa.

———-

My breakfast on Saturday wasn’t sensible.

It was a lemon meringue tart from Elk and Pea

———-

Before I went to see GI Joe Retaliation I needed lunch. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone. I loved the movie. It’s well worth watching if you like ninja action, guns, heavy machines and very athletic looking actors. I will definitely purchase the DVD when its available.

My Snag Stand Beef Horseradish hot dog

———-

A movie isn’t a movie without, you guessed it

Popcorn

———-

For breakfast this morning I splurged and had some toast

Not just toast but half an avocado plus two poached eggs

———-

For dinner I braised some gravy steak with vegetables

This was pretty nice and it was lean

———-

I’ve included the rest of my week in instagram

If you click on any image in this post you’ll see the IG comments made by my IG friends. Some are pretty funny.

It’s autumn

———-

Mr Owl

———-

New speed dampening cushions have been installed on local streets. I’m not a fan of them. I am a supporter of better road safety.

———-

Saturday’s early morning clouds

———-

Mr Owl this morning. Beautiful blue sky.

———-

An abandoned car outside the local cop shop

———-

On a depressing note, my footy teams have not done so well this weekend. The Brisbane Broncos were defeated by South Sydney. The Reds drew their game. The Melbourne Storm were defeated by the Canberra Raiders. So very very sad…

———-

Elk and Pea http://elkandpea.com.au/
http://goo.gl/maps/6LtA6

View Larger Map

Snag stand http://snagstand.com.au/

View Larger Map

5:2 diet: Week 3 Trying to lose the Easter egg weight (roopeedee.wordpress.com)
Finally another weigh in. (cuddles3.wordpress.com)
The Heath-Yoga-Wellness-Beautiful Instagrams You MUST follow (dirtyfilthyhealthy.wordpress.com)
Second Weigh-In after April Calendar and getting used to clean eating (5-2-13). (eatlovetreat.wordpress.com)

Pizza and profiteroles with Bron

8 Replies

Tonight Bron invited me over for dinner. The plan was pizza and profiteroles and then a movie on the television.

This is the Choux pastry just filled with vanilla custard.

These two pizzas are mushroom and feta and then a barbecue chicken with tasty cheese.

These two pizzas are tomato, mozzarella and basil and then a sweet potato, pine nut and blue cheese.

These are the first profiteroles Bron has made. They look amazing.

Do you think I added enough chocolate custard?

This was an amazing dinner. So delicious and filling. Bron is an amazing cook.

I hope you had a great dinner tonight too

My birthday

26 Replies

I turned 48 this week (Wednesday 01 May) and enjoyed some fun food.

Before the food though a little reflection. I’ve never really been one to ponder too much about birthdays and getting older. We’re born, we live and if we’re fortunate we age, grow old and then we die. When I turned 30 and 40 I didn’t have a party because in my mind it wasn’t a big deal. Over the last year or so I’ve experienced some evidence of ageing in terms of my health. I’ve had to think more about my weight, my blood pressure and my diet. While I still eat more, I’m more and more conscious of the need to keep my weight at a certain level. On Tuesday night I went to bed and for the first time reflected on the following day I would be 48. Forty-eight sounds old. Forty-seven seemed to be a little way before I hit 50, but 48 is two years away from 50. In my mind 50 is old. That means in 2015 I reckon I’m taking a couple of days off around my birthday and spend some time in quiet reflection. The last place I want to be is at work.

So on Wednesday I woke up feeling quite flat. I needed something sweet and refreshing. The best thing in the morning though was a text message from Miss15 who sent me a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month. Normally I get in first.