What are you doing today?

[Horus]

What's the relevance of 20/20 vision

Well as far as I know it is only called that in America and refers to reading the chart at 20 feet away, we work on the metric system, so use 6 metres as the target distance. This is the distance at which the ‘average person’ can read the chart, so if you take my own example of 6/6 6/6 they are saying that both eyes are within that reading range. If for example I had good reading vision in only my left eye it may have read 6/6 6/12 denoting that my other eye was not as good at the 6 metre distance. It does not take into account any correction that may be required to make both eyes see things equally even if both eyes are 6/6 (or 20/20).

[Grandad]

Ah, visual acuity, you are now on a subject on which I can speak with authority having a PhD for which my thesis was the effects of glaucoma and other eye conditions on visual acuity (bull*hit)

But, having had glaucoma and more recently AMD, for more than 30 years, I do have some experience of these things. VA here in the UK was on the 20/20 Snellen scale until metrication when we converted the 20 ft to its approximate equivalent, 6 metres. We also record VA as the decimal ratio ie, 6/12 is 0.5.

At my last appoIntmen, my left eye was recorded as 6/13, meaning what I can read at 6 metres, someone with 6/6 vision could read at 13 metres. My right eye was 6/60 but this is the eye with hereditary Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma, and is effectively blind.

I have an eye appointment on Friday so I will see if anything has changed. Horus is fortunate to have such good VA even with glaucoma.

[Grandad]

I had mentioned earlier that we would take delivery of a new fridge/freezer on Tuesday this week. Yesterday morning at 07.08 I got a text advising that delivery would be between 07.25 and 11.25. Expecting, by sods law, the vehicle to arrive in minutes I hastily got up and dressed. Time went on and on until at 11.20 I got a phone call saying the delivery would be in 10 minutes.
I missed my regular breakfast in bed routine and had not had a shower, however the plus side is that Mrs G is very happy with her new appliance, it just leaves me to find a way to dispose of the old (still working perfectly) units.
The council want £25 per item to remove them so right now I have put them near the front of the garage and left the door open. We do have gypsies who patrol looking for scrap items and I am hopeful they will see them and take them away.

[Horus]

Breakfast in bed! Mrs G really does spoil you, it should be the other way around
We have the regular Gypsy patrol that will take just about anything left out for them, especially metal. I do have a problem with giving them a fridge or a freezer though as it is relinquishing your responsibilities as we all know that they will just smash them up or worse still just dump them after taking anything metal, I have seen many such recycled items dumped in lay-bys.

[LovelyLadyLux]

REGULAR Breakfast IN BED????

GEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Talk about living in the lap of luxury!

Talk about somebody who is spoiled!!!!

Here if an appliance still works there are tons of people who will take it for free to use in their homes. We also have guys who come and pick up (for free) working appliances.

Sadly I do not give anything for FREE (anymore) as doing so means those coming to pick up this for FREE also help themselves to anything else not nailed down offering up the arguement if caught that they THOUGHT you meant this too! "Free" being put out on the driveway with a "Free" sign on it. And/or if offered on any of the FB or Craiglist FREE SITES they will email & say they're coming to get it then are never able to organize transport to come and get whatever and can eat up hours of your time waiting for them only to find that after days of emails with excuses as to why not now they just stop talking and never show so all my little items get donated to the Hospital Thrift Shop or sold. Seems that even if it is only $5 it makes a committment to purchase and guarantees an arrival & pick up.

Good to know Mrs G likes her new appliance!

[Ruby Slippers]

After having a really good day yesterday, today definitely wasn't. I actually slept for an hour this afternoon, which is so not me! However, I've realised that this illness is going to vanish in its own time so I might as well go with the flow for a while.

[Horus]

It does seem to drag on, most people I know have been ill for weeks with it.

[Grandad]

Alright, I'll come clean. We both go to tyhe kitchen and prepare our breakfast, then take it back to bed on a tray and watch some BBC Breakfast TV. Both have simple breakfasts, porridge toast and marmalade for me, and cereal toast and marmalade for her. Both with a cup of tea. Simple.

[Horus]

I like your style

[LovelyLadyLux]

@ Grandad - OK I'll accept that. Didn't really ever see you as a "Breakfast in Bed" type of person anyway! Course I breakfast in the recliner chair in the living room watching morning TV news, checking email with my feet up drinking a cuppa too (coffee in the morning).

Haven't done much today. The daughter and granddaughter came over after preschool to kill and hour before the twins need picking up then I hauled out all the clothes I'll take on holidays and since it stoppe d raining I got out the camera to try and get a couple pictures of the swans.........and............ I can't see them. I think they're GONE!

I definitely hope they're not and they're maybe over on the far side of the marsh but I couldn't get a glimpse of anybody. I saw some mallard duck and another type of duck with lots of white on it but not 1 sign of a swan........darn it all! Sure hope they're just over on the far side behind the reeds.

[Horus]

Well that’s the shopping done for another week, spoiling myself with a couple of fresh baked hot cross buns with butter and a cup of tea whilst catching up on here. I decided to make a couple of healthy type soups to tide me over the next week, so picked up a few ingredients I needed such as Fresh Mint and Coriander, Garlic bulbs plus ground Cumin and Ras El Hanout, I probably have most of the separate spices in the later one, but its easier to buy it ready made than blending it myself. The rest of the stuff is just regular vegetables such as Celery, Parsnip, Carrots, etc. One will be Moroccan Chickpea soup and the other will be a Moroccan Roasted Vegetable soup.

[Ruby Slippers]

An elderly friend of mine was extolling the virtues of her new soup maker, before Christmas. Evidently, you just put all the ingredients in and switch it on, and it takes about 30 minutes to make. Not sure I would get enough use out of one but if you live on your own, I suppose it's a good healthy option. How do you feel about them, Horus?

[Horus]

My SIL has one and she finds it great as she also lives alone, I am a bit like yourself inasmuch as I doubt I would use it enough, plus I actually enjoy cooking and experimenting.

[LovelyLadyLux]

When you're saying "Soup Maker" that can make soup in 30 minutes are you talking an appliance like an electric pressure cooker?

My daughter has been talking about getting a newly introduced appliance here called and "Instant Pot" which is 1 cooking container (round about 14" high) that can pressure cook, slow cook, steam - does a variety of function. She is wanting one given the fast time it can cook on the pressure function.

I used to use a pressure cooker often in the good old days as I had a coil top stove. Now the stove is a glass top and putting the large flat bottomed pressure cooker on it for a long time can cause the glass tops of the stoves to crack soooo me using my pressure cooker has now gone by the way.

Personally I use a slow cooker quite a bit and make lots of soups in it. I tend to cook bones in a brine than use that as the base for all my soups and like putting the ingredients in and having the hot meal for supper.

Haven't heard of a Soup Maker though.

And H - what is "Ras El Hanout?"

Today is Pottery Studio day so am off to play with the clay.

[Horus]

A soup maker will cook and blend the raw ingredients that you put in, take a look at this link to one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richard ... oup+makers

And H - what is "Ras El Hanout?"

It is a traditional blend of Moroccan cooking spices and contains Sweet Paprika, Cumain Seed, Sea Salt, Corianda seed, Chillies, Fennel Seeds, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Shallot, Tumeric, Pimento, Rose Petals, Mace, Cardamon, Black Onion Seed, Nutmeg, Ginger, Star Anise and Cloves. So as you can see quite a varied and fiery mix especially if you add too much (as I just did)

Here is the Moroccan Roasted Vegetable soup with a dollop of Greek Yogurt, some ripped Mint and smattering of ground black pepper.

[Mad Dilys]

Ras el Hanout? Head of the what I wondered? So I Googled it as I hadn't heard of it before and Wikipedia says Head of the Shop!

You learn something every day.

[Horus]

Probably because it contains just about everything.

[Grandad]

I thought it was one of the Arab Emirates next to Ras al Khamah.

'nite all

[LovelyLadyLux]

I googled it too and got "head of the shop" but that combo of spices sure sounds wonderful to me. I've never seen that in any of the shops here. I regularly use cumin, turmeric, peppers, parsley, garlic, onions, paprika but not mace (haven't heard that spice name for years), fennel, rose petals .......

I don't like food that is so hot you can't taste it but I do like a bit of a zip and zing to what I'm eating.

AND

I've never seen a soup maker. Looks interesting but I've never seen one here in stores or even online.

Is this a new fad? or have these been around a long time?

[Horus]

A fairly recent fad LLL, they come and go a bit like deep fat fryers and bread makers.