Masterchef Winner And The Winning Recipes

James Nathan!

Yes my prediction was correct but Emily Ludolf and Johnny Stevenson are both, amazing cooks and the final show was outstanding. James, the ex barrister, stunned John and Greg with his dishes of a mozzarella ravioli with tomato sauce and basil cream, a main course of picked red cabbage and venison infused with lapsang souchong tea and served with roast potatoes, followed by a chocolate and orange pudding. Want the recipes? Read on.


Smoked mozzarella ravioli with cherry tomato sauce and basil cream

Serves 4





Preparation time 1-2 hours
Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour



Ingredients
For the pasta
100g/3½oz '00' flour, plus extra for dusting (available in most supermarkets and in Italian speciality stores)
4 free-range egg yolks
25g/1oz fine semolina, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp olive oilpinch salt
about 2-3 tsp ice cold water
1 whole free-range egg, lightly beaten
For the ravioli filling
knob of unsalted butter
2 baby leeks, finely chopped
pinch salt
125g/4½oz smoked mozzarella cheese
1 free-range egg white, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the tomato sauce
dash olive oil1 finger-sized red chilli, seeds removed
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
450g/1lb sweet cherry tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
500ml/18fl oz chicken stock or vegetable stock
½ tsp salt
For the basil cream
500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
300ml/10½fl oz double cream
2 large bunches basil


Method
1. For the pasta, place the flour, eggs, semolina, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Turn the motor on full and trickle in just enough cold water to bring the dough together to form a ball. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.
2. For the ravioli filling, melt the butter in a pan and add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Fry over a low heat until softened but not coloured. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile grate the mozzarella and add the mozzarella, along with the beaten egg white, to the cooled leeks. Stir well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a plain nozzle about 1cm/½in wide. Set aside.
4. To prepare the ravioli, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and work the rested dough into a rough rectangle shape with your fingers. Flour the pasta machine. Starting at the lowest (thickest) setting, feed the dough through the machine, turning the handle with one hand and holding the dough as it comes through the machine with the other. Change the setting on the pasta machine to the next-thickest setting, flour it again and feed the pasta sheet through the machine again, as before.
5. Repeat this process 3-4 more times, flouring the machine and changing the setting down each time.
6. The pasta should be quite thin, but still easy to handle without tearing. Don't be tempted to skip settings or the dough may tear. Once the pasta sheets have reached the ideal thickness, trim the edges slightly. Lay the sheet flat on the work surface.
7. Brush half of the pasta with beaten egg. Pipe mounds of filling onto the wet half of the pasta. Make the mounds the size of about a teaspoon full of mixture and try to get them to stand as tall as possible.
8. Fold the remaining half of the pasta sheet over so that they cover the mounds of leek and mozzarella filling. Gently cut around these mounds with a pastry cutter (6-7cm/3in diameter).
9. Take each individual raviolo and press the air out of it with your fingers ensuring the edges are well sealed. Dust a container with fine semolina and lay the ravioli on this. Keep covered. Repeat the process until all the ravioli is used up. Set aside, covered in the fridge while you prepare the tomato sauce and basil cream.
10. For the tomato sauce, heat a large pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, chilli and garlic and fry for a few minutes.
11. Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt and stir over a high heat. As the tomatoes start to split, mash them with a potato masher and turn the heat down.
12. When the tomatoes have cooked down so that they have lost most of their moisture, add the chicken stock. Cook until the sauce has reduced by half. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
13. Leave the mixture to cool slightly before blending it in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer the sauce back into the saucepan and cook until thickened slightly more. Season again with more salt and freshly ground black pepper as necessary and keep warm.
14. For the basil cream, boil the chicken stock and double cream together until reduced by half. Meanwhile roughly chop the basil. Add half of the basil to the boiling cream and stock mixture.
15. Transfer the cream mixture to a blender and add the remaining basil. Blend for about one minute, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Cook the sauce to reduce to a thick green cream. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and keep warm.
16. To serve, boil a large pan of salted water, add the ravioli and cook for about three minutes until the ravioli rise to the surface.
17. Drain the cooked pasta well and gently stir it into the tomato sauce. Spoon into serving bowls, taking care not to break the pasta and drizzle basil cream around the edge of the plate. Serve at once.




Tea-infused venison with roast potatoes, pickled red cabbage and rich port sauce
Serves 4
Preparation time 1-2 hours
cooking time 1-2 hours

Ingredients
For the tea-infused venison
1 tbsp lapsang souchong tea leaves
1 Navel orange, zest only
4 tbsp olive oil
400-600g/14oz-1lb 5oz venison fillet
For the pickled cabbage
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red cabbage, finely chopped
3-4tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
For the port sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
4 banana shallots, peeled, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
55g/2oz smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
½ bottle ruby port
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
½ bottle red Bordeaux wine
500ml/18fl oz veal jus or fresh beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few drops of fresh lemon juice
2 tsp plain flour (optional)
dash olive oil (optional)
For the roast potatoes
6 King Edward potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered if large
3-4 tbsp goose fat


Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. For the tea-infused venison, place the lapsang souchong tea leaves into a pestle and mortar and pound to a dust. Add the orange zest and olive oil and stir. Rub this mix into the venison fillet, wrap in cling film and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.
3. For the pickled cabbage, heat some oil in an ovenproof dish with a tight-fitting lid, add the finely chopped red cabbage and redcurrant jelly and fry until the sugars from the jelly start to catch on the bottom of the pan. Pour in the red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan, stir well and cover the pan with a lid. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4. For the port sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped banana shallots, carrots and smoked bacon and fry over a gentle heat until golden-brown. Add the redcurrant jelly, then deglaze the pan with the ruby port. Add the chopped thyme and reduce down until most of the liquid has evaporated. Skim any residue from the sauce throughout the reducing process.
5. Next add the red wine and reduce to the same point again. Add the veal jus or beef stock and reduce by half, skimming any froth from the surface throughout cooking. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and return to a pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add a few drops of fresh lemon juice. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If the sauce is not thick, enough, mix the plain flour with some olive oil into a thin paste, then stir this into the sauce with a whisk and boil again to thicken. Keep warm until required.
6. For the roast potatoes, turn up the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling salted water and boil for ten minutes or until just tender. Drain and roughen the edges of the potatoes by shaking in a dry pan. Heat a roasting tin in the oven for five minutes and add the goose fat. Place the tray on the hob over a high heat until the fat smokes. Add the potatoes and carefully spoon the hot fat over the potatoes. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden-brown and crisp.
7. To cook the meat, remove the cling film and wipe as much of the tea leaves off the meat as possible. Heat an ovenproof pan on a high heat. Add the venison to the hot pan and sear the meat all over. Transfer the pan to the hot oven and cook for 3-5 minutes or until springy to touch. You may wish to cook the venison for longer if you prefer your meat more well-done. Remove from the oven and rest for ten minutes before slicing.
8. To serve, place the sliced venison on a bed of red cabbage with roast potatoes and rich port sauce.




Chocolate and orange sponge pudding
Serves 4

Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins

Ingredients
For the sponge
knob of butter, for greasing
5 medium free-range eggs, separated
125g/4½oz caster sugar
200g/7oz plain chocolate, melted (slightly cooled)
For the orange sauce
2 oranges, juice and zest cut in long strips only
2-3 tbsp caster sugar
100ml/3½fl oz orange liqueur
2 oranges, segmented
For the chocolate ganache
100ml/3½floz double cream
100g/3½oz plain chocolate, finely chopped
For the chocolate sauce
150g/5½oz plain chocolate, melted
150ml/&frac4; pint double cream
To serve
300ml/½pt double cream, whipped
cocoa powder, to dust

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. For the sponge, lightly grease a swiss-roll tin and line with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and fold together. In a separate bowl, whisk the whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Carefully fold into the egg yolk and chocolate being careful not to over mix. Spoon into the prepared tin and cook in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
4. Cut two discs (approx 6-7cm/2½-3in diameter) per person from the chocolate sponge and set aside.
5. For the orange sauce, pour the orange juice into a saucepan, stir in the sugar and reduce over a low heat to a syrupy consistency. Turn the heat off and add the long strands of orange zest and the orange liqueur to the pan. Carefully set light to the alcohol in the pan. Leave until the flames have died down, then place back on a low heat and reduce again until syrupy. Remove the pan from the heat, set aside and keep warm. When ready to serve, add the orange segments to the sauce.
6. For the chocolate ganache, place the cream into a small pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few seconds. Add the chopped chocolate and stir together until smooth. Leave to cool, then refrigerate until needed. Spoon into quenelles (rugby ball like-shapes) using two dessert spoons.
7. For the chocolate sauce, melt the dark chocolate with the double cream in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until smooth. Do not stir until melted.8. To serve, spoon two tablespoons of chocolate sauce onto each plate and place a disc of chocolate sponge on top. Spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top, then sit the other sponge disc on top. Place a quenelle of chocolate ganache on top and dust with cocoa powder. Take a strand of orange zest from the orange sauce and decorate the top of the sponge stack with the zest. Place a spoonful of the orange sauce on each plate and serve.

Harry Potters Over To Afghanistan

Do you like my pun? Do you? OK it is completely tabloid but I like it anyway.

What do you think about Harry serving with the soldiers he trained with? The soldiers he leads? How do you feel about the British media actually keeping quiet for TEN WHOLE WEEKS? Just shows they have some diplomacy or maybe they were told they would be sent to the tower!

Now German, Australian and US websites have reported dear ol' Henry's where abouts and his life and that of the young men and women around him could be in extra danger because of their eagerness to spill this news first.

Harry agreed to join the army and wanted to serve his country. It is only those above him who stopped him going to Iraq.......Or so we are told. Harry did not choose to be born third in line to the throne did he? He also only gained two weak A levels which and 15-20 years ago he would have got a manipulated place at Oxbridge! Now his only option was agricultural college (no offence to anyone at agricultural college just looking at his position and options) or the forces. He has an older brother who one day will be King and how can Harry live up to that position? He has lost his mother who divorced his father and goodness knows what really happened between those two? Again we only have the delightful media's reports or Charles and Diana's manipulative TV interviews. Who then looked after the boys? They were sent away at eight years old to boarding school and whilst boarding schools are much better now they cannot replace being at home with their parents especially when there is no excuse for not staying at home - I am being incredibly judgemental here I realise that but when I used to see Prince Harry's face he always looked like the lost little brother.

I wonder what he is trying to prove? What would he want to try and do next?

Cooking Doesn't Get Tougher Than This

Yesterday was a nightmare. I spent way too long sitting typing up this elongated letter to the local authority about the merger/amalgamation business with the school I love so much. I finally finished it and have got it down to 4 pages of reasons why we should not merge and basically it is only to do with the authority saving money.


They (the authority), know they need to demolish our building and rebuild so they have this plan to put houses on our building. I suspect they will do their plan B and stick an extension on the infant building instead of the wonderful option they keep telling us they will do - The BRAND NEW SCHOOL BUILDING! That problem is it cost more and the sums do not add up and for at least three years we will be expected to run on a split site with one headteacher and we happen to be a school with the highest number of special needs in the authority......Hmmmmmmmm.......Too right I shall stamp my feet. Those kids don't stand a chance with all the crap that goes on with their education right now. Things change like the wind.



Anyway, Masterchef final tonight and Emily I think has blown it, Johnny has stayed much the same but my boy James who when I first saw him I thought; "He's going to win this year." (Until I saw Emily then I realised he would have a battle!) What an excellent night last night was with cliche after cliche from Greg and John, "Cooking doesn't get tougher than this", "You've got five minutes.....FIVE minutes" "Who's going to win?" JAMES that's who! When Michel Roux tells you how brilliant you are and Michael Cains says "Give up your day job" which technically speaking James should not do because he has already given up being a lawyer and is catering from his garage! Must be a posh garage? Me says James has definitely won this whether he has been crowned the winner or not.

If you were to go on the net you could check out many brilliant amateur and professional chefs, writing their blogs and giving free advice and recipes. Ex Masterchef winners and finalists are out there, my favourite ex Masterchef-er is David Hall who I've finally put a link for his website to. Check him out because he makes really good nourishing food. He' also got some good foodie links too and I do not need to buy another cook book ever again.
Thank you to everyone who has ever written a recipe on the Internet. You all and Jamie Oliver (who I still love), are my only recipe resource now and although I generally adapt what I cook, I get great inspiration. So ta very much all and keep writing. Ive posted a couple of my own recipes and thought about doing my own blog but there are already so many out there. There's no need for a Pigletwiglet Food File!

Wabbits

Had to post this picture.

It belongs to the 'Rabbit of the Day', a silly gimmick I decided to have on my personal Google. Don't know what this dear little creature's name is but I imagine it is something along the lines of Fifi-Twixibelle don't you?

Of course our dear bunnies our just as gorgeous. You don't believe me?

Here on the left is one of our male bunny. He's the gentle one who loves being tickled behind his ears and is very playful. He is a very happy bunny unlike my husband who does not respond to being tickled behind his ears and needs more effort! On the right is our feisty madam. She also likes to be ticked behind her ears

but be warned she will bite the hand that feeds her particularly if it belongs to my husband; (the poor soul can't win can he?)

Maybe I should stick a wand (graphically) and silly hats on my wabbits and see if they can get the 'Rabbit of the Day' gig?

Maybe not.

Anti-depressants prescribed for sore finger.

I bet everyone who believes anti-depressants do not work will jump on the bandwagon today after the University of Hull have stated that the new generation of anti-depressants only help those who are severely depressed. Of course if you were like me watching GMTV this morning, you were led to believe they did not work at all! God I hate sensationalist media.

Charities who dislike drugs like Seroxat and Prozac have commented already stating the news is "Disturbing" and of course the makers of said drugs have handed out inventories of statistics which claim their drugs do work. I am ex Seroxat patient and personally it was not the drug for me and I stopped taking because it did not work. I went on to take another equally strong anti-depressant which helped to disguise that fact I was depressed and that is all. I know doctors are under pressure and counselling services over stretched but these are the services which NEED to be utilised and not the drugs which are pushed into peoples hands. Also people have a fear of counselling and reject it because of that fear. Shame really as it worked for me.

Personally speaking, there needs to be more reports before claims can be made about these drugs. Those suffering with anxiety and depression who are taking newer anti-depressants will now worry after reading or hearing these news reports especially the tabloid versions and panic; thus making any condition they are suffering with worsen. Nice one, (not).

New Look

I've decided on a new look and hopes her readers like it? I'm bored with pink and although many blogs are white I believe mine is unique because it is MINE - Then again everyone say that don't they!

I have also given the blog a new name 'THE MINDLES RAMBLINGS OF PIGLETWIGLET' seems much more appropriate doesnt it seeing as most of the time I speak a load of gobbledigook - That is a good word and goodness knows if I have spelt it correctly however that is another aspect of the Wiglet's blog for my dear reader to look out for. Lol

Life today is not too bad at all. I have to finish my stroppy letter to the local authority about the schools 'amalgamating' ARRGGHH I HATE HATE HATE that word and I wonder if some manipulation has been afoot? If the schools were merged then the jobs of the teachers from boths schools would be safe where as now the jobs of the teachers from only one school are safe. It is deeply deeply nasty and I shall be at every single meeting of the council and heckling to my heckles are heckled over. I've had enough of this excuse of "It is all to do with money" bollocks. What about the kids?

Masterchef final week

That's better! I had the 'edit Html' button pressed and no wonder my blog was behaving so strangely? My brain is now firmly place back into my big toe and I feel much better.

I'm suffering with dyspepsia /heartburn whatever you wish to call it and I need to think about something other than myself so onto the laptop I go. Going to have to switch off though as hubby wants to go to sleep and I am tapping away in the bed and he might want a bit of attention!

I wanted to talk about Masterchef earlier though and before I sign off I will do so now. What a brilliant series it has been! I love the recipes I get from the series but I can't cook as well as those guys.

Good luck to Emily, Johnny and James. Anyone of them could win but seeing as Emily has gone to Oxford uni I suspect that it is not her?

Wireless

4pm my internet went down.

4.16pm it came back up.

4.18pm it went back down again.

4.32pm it came back again.

Now rather oddly my blog has lost the ability to change font?

Strange and needs investigating as long as the internet stays up for longer than five minutes!

Morphine - Sensible Facts

My last post was rubbish so I shall put this one in as a better production and one which shows the power of morphine.

I hate morphine yet it is the one drug that takes away that terrific pain which haunts me day in and day out.

So what exactly is morphine

Morphine is in a group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers.
It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. Short-acting morphine is taken as needed for pain. Extended-release morphine is for use when around-the-clock pain relief is needed. (I take extended-release morphine daily and short-acting on days like this but not every day.)
Morphine may also be used for purposes but the internet has gone down and I need to change what I am doing!

More facts - The structure of the morphine

Morphine is obtained from opium, the juice secreted by the seeds of the poppy. It works on several types of receptors, widely found in nervous tissue. "Opioids" is a term used for all drugs that act on these receptors. These other opioids may be natural occurring substances, such as morphine, or made in the laboratory such as pethidine.
Morphine works on receptors in the cell membranes. These are protein-lipid molecules that alter their shape when stimulated to effect molecular changes within cells. There are thought to be three types of receptors that respond to opioids, mu, kappa and lambda. Morphine acts mainly on mu receptors to cause a wide variety of effects. The most important of these are relief of pain and respiratory depression. In anaesthesia morphine is used to relieve pain. This is an effect of its action on the spinal cord to decrease the transmission of painful stimuli from body to brain, and its action within the brain itself.

Understand or want some more info?

I could go on about the side effects but I have just read a great article from Finland which I shall print instead. It is about people like me who are on long term morphine and should they be allowed to drive? The answer is YES!

http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band23/b23-6.html

We make 80% of all our journeys by car. Telling someone they cannot drive is serious. Not just the patient may be affected; others in the house may rely on the patient for their transport. Recent BMJ correspondence looked at the diseases which may impair fitness to drive. Another worry is prescribing drugs which impair fitness. One study of deaths in road traffic accidents found tricyclic antidepressants in body fluids of 0.2% of victims, compared with alcohol (35%) or other drugs likely to affect the CNS (7.4%) [1]. Morphine and driving Reassuring results have come from a Finnish study of driving ability in cancer patients taking long-term morphine [2]. Although morphine given as a single dose to a healthy volunteer impairs reaction time, co-ordination, attention and memory, this is not true for patients on long-term stable doses. The authors used a battery of tests designed for professional drivers (Austrian Road Safety Board - as used for Helsinki bus drivers) to compare the performance of 24 patients on continuous morphine (mean 210 mg oral morphine daily) with that of 25 pain-free patients who took no regular analgesics. The morphine patients had been on a stable dose (twice daily sustained release formulation) for at least two weeks. There was no significant difference between the morphine patients and the controls on the driving simulator tests. Balancing ability with eyes closed was significantly worse with morphine, finger-tapping with preferred hand was better. The conclusion was that patients on long-term stable dosing with morphine should be at no greater risk to themselves or to other road-users. Changing the dose How long should drivers taking morphine stay off the road after changing dose? Perhaps the best information comes from a study [3] which suggested that an increase in the dose by 30% will impair cognitive function for one week after the increase. The study indicated that at least the first 3-5 days may be "impaired". It might be safe to use this time limit in the absence of more conclusive evidence.

Interesting hey?

Pain

Christ I hurt.

I don't think it is my gall bladder that is causing my abdominal pain. It has to be this delightful bowel problem I have. Why I why do I get stuck with everything humiliatingly wrong?

Oh woe is me.............

Of course life goes on and I need to snap out of it but I don't feel like snapping out of it today. Today my pain levels are sky high yet again for the umtempth day running and I thought I had got my medication sorted but only if I don't do anything?

I want a life!

I would like to be able to go out with the family and so would the kids and the silly thing is that it is not always my pain levels stopping me she said as that knife like pain grates through my back. Oh hell!

Don't think I can talk any more today.

Too Slow!

My Internet is driving me around the bend as it is so bloody slow. I've only been online a little while though and do not intend to stay here that long as my back hurts baaaaaaaaaaaad (I'm a lamb) I must be on too much medication I'm joking about a load of rubbish now.

I would tell you why I feel so bad and maybe I should? If I was completely honest then the world would be a better place - OK it's not quite that dramatic but the truth is I have pain because I had the most enormous crap. When you live with spinal damage it affects all of that part of your body and rather embarrassingly sometimes I can't go for days and the build up is like that cork from a wine bottle; except it does not shoot out! (Sorry to be vulgar but anyone reading this with a a bowel problem will understand). I have a couple of friends who I can talk to about this issue and even laugh about it too. Problem is when it gets like today it's no laughing matter. It is so painful that I'm in agony for hours before (pressure on nerves on my pelvic region), shortly after (legs like jelly and painful legs, belly and back) and the day or two after as well, (inflamed bowel creates additional pain sometimes for a couple of days afterwards plus I can feel inflammation under my ribcage down right and or left sides.

Who the hell would have thought I would be talking about having a poo but do you know what, we all do them! There are so many people out there with difficulties in that region and no one talks about it and it goes to show because of my dear friend I go swimming with. She was having some bowel issues all to do with the thyroid stuff so it seems but if only she go her blood tested earlier she would have had that sorted out months before.

Our bowels are a ta-pooh subject (Sorry couldn't resist)

An Up And Down Blog Entry

I hope my friends read this especially the one I promised I would email information about a certain procedure with regards to bladders. Don't worry, I've found a great article to send over the cyber airwaves and I will do that later if my arse allows me to do so. (Excuse the language but I have a pain in the proverbial plus I'm having a nice little bout of tendinitis again which hasn't plagued me for quite some time!)

Why is it that I get a lovely little good patch but then I have to deal with a elongated bad patch?

Why can't I just have good patches which stretch into even longer good patches which of course would not be 'patches' at all but a LIFE!

I suppose it could be worse? I could be a contestant on The Jerry Springer Show! Where on earth do they get those people from? Rejects are us. The stories are mostly about Randy Jr Jr Sr. who likes to wear his wife' clothes, who's name is Lakeshaniane or Winteikaka or something equally stupid. Randy Jr Jr Sr, wants to tell his wife that he has been having an affair with Traybert his gay lover but what he doesn't know is his wife is also having an affair with Traybert and is expecting his baby. She then will get her tits out for some strange reason as will her husband and his/her lover and as will the studio audience members.

Yes life could be worse I suppose. I have a friend I know via the hydrotherapy pool we swim at every week. She's in her 70's and she has been so worried about a blood test revealing something scary as she has had some tummy issues too and had put two and two together to make five As much as I could say to her "Wait and see what the doctor says," she was going to worry about it. Anyone would and I didn't tell not to worry because that would be silly, I told her to not think about what it could be because she would get it wrong and she did! Thankfully she has an under active thyroid gland which is what I have and I can help her with that one. I was worrying and glad to hear it was something easily treatable.

I know she has some very old fashioned ways about her and some of the things she comes out with are not what I would agree with however I think she is a smashing woman and I want her well. We are a team at the pool. One lady is expecting to go into surgery very soon and will not be able to come to the pool for six months. I've been through so much with her and will have to go and visit her every week at her house instead and take a few of the girls with me who can't get there otherwise. Then there's another lady who's hip has been playing up for some weeks now and she found out that a couple of weeks ago that a piece of metal had been mysteriously left there when she had a minor surgery some years ago. Of course I mustn't forget another lady who's having big probs at work with bullying work colleagues and then our male stud muffin (he'll like me calling him that.) He's a lovely bloke who giggles in the corner at our female chatter. We have a few ladies who come less often and two I in their later years I miss. In my workplace I was used to working with younger colleagues but now my life is always with older people. I feel very old sometimes and yesterday admitted to my husband that sometimes my life feels like it is already over. Today I don't feel this way (thankfully), and I must stop rambling and take some meds as I'm aching pretty bad.

The Honeymoon is Over

I was hoping against hope that I had sorted my pain meds out and I had a few good days with low, no very low pain compared to normal. Yesterday the monster arrived back with avengence and today I'm back on extra morphine just to take the edge off my burning legs and aching back.

My wonderful cleaning lady or 'helper' as the agency likes to have us refer to them, is here completing all the ironing I cleared through over the weekend and it shows just how much I got on with over the past few days. No wonder I hurt!

Will I ever learn that I must pace myself?

No I doubt I ever will?

The other issue.....well its not a real issue but a dilemma really is I agreed to allow my nearly 15 year old daughter to have a friend to sleep over thinking it was going to be a friend of her age from her school. I've found out from my husband that the friend is 10/11 and the friend's parents do not seem to mind that my daughter is nearly 5 years older than their child? I would certainly be objectionable and would have phoned me to see if it was OK! Of course my daughter is lovely if a little loud and manic at times. When someone suggested to her that she may be 'ADHD' she was deeply offended but the truth is that she is mildly ADHD and always has been. There is nothing wrong with that though as long as she harnesses it at times and uses that vivid imagination she has for her own good and not allows it to cause her problems.

She'll be home later and I can talk to her about this because I DID agree, and who am I to now say she cannot have the friend over just because she is younger? I want to speak to the parent of the child though even though the child's parent hasn't phone me!!! Maybe I'm just old fashioned?

Just A Quick One

I've decided to include ads on this blog. It is a way of generating revenue and every little bit helps doesn't it!

If anyone has my email address and doesn't like them then email me, otherwise send me a comment. I do not publish comments but I read them all.

Thanks

Personal Identity

How much of your information is out there for the world to see? The internet has become all encompassing and even me posting here with my blog, I write so much about my personal life and I do not have a clue about who could be reading it?

A couple of years ago, I needed some support and I decided to join a web group and the majority of the members were American and so I didn't know anything about these members and the vastness of the country made it difficult for me to understand where they came from. I have found true friendship with some of the people I met via that group so I'll be honest I am happy in some respects and those friends know I hold them in high regard, however I also came across some complete nutcases.

Some people did not even have medical conditions and manipulated others for their own sad existence!
Some people gave themselves numerous identities!
Some people stole off other members!
Some members stalked other members!

I'm not intending to go over what happened in my sad and miserable life as I talked about this when I first started blogging but because I answered a questionnaire about it today it has made me think about it. How much info we give out can affect our own lives. I am the sort of person who is fairly honest and takes people as they find them and I bet there are millions around the world like me. Then of course there are those questionnaires I and others answer. We give out so much information and where does it go? I only hit on genuine organisations but I bet not all out there are genuine? Then another way of getting information is when we buy products on the net. I'm waiting for something to arrive and it is LATE and I am ANGRY. I have sent two emails and they are nice ones but they will not be so nice if I have to send another one.

Try putting your name/handle/blog name/nickname etc on goggle and see what comes up. My friend did this and she was amazed to see how her information was listed page after page.

Be careful out there everyone and look after yourself as no one else will.

Rugby, Parties, Squash, Ballet, Etc.,

Talk about a busy weekend. My son does more in one weekend that I do in a lifetime. OK that is not quite true but me doing ballet in my physical condition is laughable.

Still feeling good but and there is a but, I have a problem with my right leg and it is a new problem. I had surgery way back when I was 16 so 22 (I nearly said 21 years and forgot my age there) years ago to transfer a tendon in my leg. This was to help me lift up my right foot which was dropping down and I also had my Achilles tendon lengthened at the time too so killed two birds with one stone so to speak. Where the transferred tendon is attached to the new muscle, there is a scar on my leg, this place is very sore and there is an irregular feeling to the muscle underneath. I have lost a lot of muscle tone in my right leg since my spinal cord deterioration anyway and my right leg is thinner than the left - Not terribly but I can see it and if I were to mention it to another person they would too. I'm not vain enough to worry about it as I have a limp and crutches so for goodness sakes, who cares about a slight difference in the circumference of my legs?

One of those boring Sundays today where I have boring clothes to wash, then to tumble and boring American Idol on the box in the background as I write this. I like American Idol and hope there is a better mix of performers than in the past couple of years. Taylor somebody won the year before last and he was awful, last year I liked the winner but she her voice was of no significance. Looks good so far, they have got rid of people who have great voices but forgettable ones.

So time to get on with my washing. Sad ain't I?

I Haven't Felt This Good In Weeks

Well this is a turn up for the books, I feel marvelous today with only a little teeny niggle pain now and again but I can cope with that little blighter.

I took the kids out for lunch (WOW yes I felt that good) and then off to the chocolate shop for yummy divine tasting melt in the mouth velvet. Oooh yeah it was completely deliberately manipulative on my part because I now have two willing helpers with the all the washing I have at home.

Hubby went back to work today after a long ten days off. Much as I love him I needed a break from him as much as he needed one from me. Husbands are lovely and have their uses, like fixing aerials, taking the rubbish out and servicing the ........no lets leave that bit to the imagination! Mine is adorable and most of the time I love him to bits, sometimes I want to be miles away and it is a good job his workplace is miles away. Bet he feels the same though even though I am the perfect wife and woman. I would love to be married to me!!!! LOL

I am in a good mood today, doesn't it show how low pain can make me feel so much more NORMAL.

Bedtime

Half term has begun.

How do I feel about it? Ummmmmmmm. That's a tricky one. Hubby has said he is going to work on Monday and he was going to be off but then again does that bother me? No why should it? The kids are growing up now and they don't need us so much.

I've finally worked out one thing though - And this is great, fabulous news; I've sorted out my medication!!! At least I think I have. I've two meds and that is one problem because I don't want it to be a fixed situation but I have reduced another (sort of but that one is not all the time).

All I want is to stop the flare ups!

PLEASE..........

SAVE OUR SCHOOL!

All of those in favour of saving our school, raise your hands!

The morning after the night before and I am feeling absolutely exhausted. The meeting went well and speaking to people between the lines even if this bloody thing happens, we'll make it work but I dearly hope it does not happen just yet. The best option for our school is to wait until the Headteacher of the Infant school chooses to leave and then reassess the situation or at least wait until we can definitely say we have the money for a new school. Right now we have no money, no planning (no government agreement to sell off the land yet the local authority are pushing this through and we have no way of turning back at all).

I will fight and I will talk to parents when my back feels better and I know the guy from the authority understands me now. I wasn't sure he saw where I was coming from but I think now he sees that I am an experienced governor who wants the best for these two schools, the kids and the staff. We cannot allow the authority to walk all over us. We are being told it is not a forgone conclusion, however ALL THREE of the local government Representatives/counsellors etc agreed that the amalgamation (read merger as it should state) should go ahead. How can that be non biased. Also the policy is for all through primaries. It is a deep worry.

I am trying to remain calm today as my pain levels are incredibly high and my hips are hurting badly. Don't ask why I'm having pain in my hips because this is a new pain on my left side? I usually get pain deep in my right side which goes away but could not even lie on my left side this morning. I'm now able to do this thankfully (and sit up too!) I'm still lying on my bed and the wireless is working so I'm grateful for that and I hope to be able to get to my emails as I've neglected my friends badly. I've also neglected my stomach and I'm starving.

Interesting Meeting

What a great meeting. Tonight was the what is called 'informal consultation' process. The parents turned up tonight and we made sure they understood what was going on. I felt it my duty to ask the questions I thought they wanted to hear. I wanted to ensure that staff felt supported and that parents knew that whatever the case, the staff were bloody brilliant anyway. This is going to be one hell of a roller coaster.

There is one major issue which has come up and it keeps coming up..........I dare not say what that is out loud but there is a major problem. We can overcome it, a good governing body will deal with the issues however it is going to be damn hard from now in IF the amalgamation goes ahead.

I hope it does not. But then again we need a new school!

Totally exhausted now and in need of my bed which I'm already in - Thanx wireless.

38 Years And Counting

Yes today I am 38 years old Or can I say 38 years young? Isn't that what you say when you are getting old?

Everything at home is much more stable so at least I have some hope for the future. I also have some lovely pressies; perfume, chocolate, hand creme, a necklace and a present yet to come from my dear son who decided to wait until today to buy my gift. Not that I mind.......No I don't really........ honestly do I? As long as I am not forgotten. I guess I feel a little niggled because I do so much for everyone and one day a year is my day and I would like it to be special for me. I am being taken out for dinner so I know later I will be looked after then........Just felt a little upset yesterday when I knew my son had deliberately ignored the fact that my so called special day was coming up and did nothing about it. I had said that his dad could help him out but no this was not good enough. His dad could have helped him out too but his dad did nothing; his sister could have helped him but that is a whole different story which I don't know if I want to talk about in this entry? Maybe I should but it will make this yet another long entry. Here goes.

Last Sunday, my daughter told us she was going out with an old friend from her old school. This was fine. She then met up with another girl she knew we did not trust but also she knew she could not trust herself with. Everytime our daughter went out with this girl she would come home late or get herself into some sort of trouble; nothing major but bad enough. At 4.50pm I took a phonecall from a store detective to tell me my daughter had been caught stealing with three other girls. I was stunned into scilence and did not know what to say? Hubby and I got to the shop as quickly as we could to be greeted with these four girls, two I had never met and one who I had know since she was four years old and this one was the girl I told my daughter not to go out with. I can;t stop thinking about her because she looked haggered and ill. I'm concerned about her health more than anything because of what my daughter has said about her, she is only 15 yet looks seven. Her parents had not turned up to collect her in all the time we were there and all the other parents/grandparents were there to deal with the girls. One was a single mum - This was the mum of the girl my daughter was supposed to be going out with. She quite rightly had a word to say to my daughter when my daughter made that silly claim "I wouldn't have done this if I was on my own." No, I don't think she would have but the truth is she stole or was co-erced into stealing because she thought it was the way to gain friendship. There was another girl there who I had never met. Her grandfather came to collect her and told us how her grandmother and he were now looking after her and she was at home in peices and any more problems and that little girl (because they all looked like little girls), would end up in care like her older sister. Her father was in prison and her mother was dead and it appeared that she was the ringleader of the group and yet my daughter cannot comprehend why this girl is stealing? She just felt is was something to do I think to fit in?

So four girls, four differing backgrounds but all of them in severe trouble for shoplifting. Thankfully the shop sis not prosicute but my daughter is banned from that shop and the others that the girls stole from. My daughter claims that the girls went into changing rooms and put the items into their bags in these rooms. She claims that one girl was the ring leader but they were all guilty not just one of them even the one who stood by and put nothing in her bag.

If I had written this last Monday this would have been an angry blog entry but now I know my daughter has learned a hard lesson. She believed that the girls from her old school were fantastic and lovely and the ones at her new school were bitches. She has forgotten that nearly a year has gone by and hormones have kicked in plus her rose colour spectacles are also clouding her judgement. She was having terrible problems with those horrible girls at her old school. She now knows the truth.

I believe that the girl she should have been with has a good heart and if her mother allows it, my daughter and her daughter could still be friends and the pair of them were the ones who alloed themselves to be led but I'm not 100% certain of this. I've seen her but not met her so to speak so hard to say this for definate and only speaking on what my daughter has said about her. As for the two other girls, my daughter knows what our wishes are and if she chooses to go out with them it is against our wishes. I do not think she will do this as she feels very let down and very anxious. We will not let her down - They will. I feel very much for her.