Bronnyelsp

( Holiday )

( Disastrous return )

( Aftermath )

Longer-term readers of this journal will know my travails with attempted blood donations in the past. I wrote them up here.

Well, today I tried again. I was getting really optimistic because I didn't have any ticks to put on their screening form this time -- no piercings or travel outside the UK since my last donation, no illnesses, etc etc -- and then when they tested my blood for haemoglobin the sample dropped immediately so the nurse said "That's fine" and there was no need for further testing.

Well, then they attempted to stick me. The phlebotomist rootled around for a bit, which didn't particularly hurt, but there was no blood coming out. Then he stopped rootling, it did hurt, and I said so, then I noticed the blood was coming so I said it was fine, and the pain went off. But the blood was going too slowly to get a full donation. They pulled the needle out and there was a small amount of swelling making it clear I'm going to have another bruise, though it looks like not such a spectacular one as last time.

So, we flipped me round, they put the blood pressure cuff on my right arm, poked around with their fingers for what seemed to me a very short period of time and announced they couldn't find a good enough vein. Was there nothing to be done? I asked. Without looking or trying any further, they said, no, there weren't any good enough veins and they'd rather not go any further unless they could be confident of getting a full donation.

BAH. Unimpressed.

Depending on where we go in Mexico I won't be able to give blood for six months after that.

Me: The three-legged cat and the one-eyed cat that Cats Protection want to home together still haven't been taken.
Kit: You can't have four cats. Three cats is just about understandable, if you have two, and one has kittens, and you keep one. But with four you're just a crazy cat lady with a wire shopping trolley and a collection of string.
Me: I have a collection of string. It is all pink.

[Later]

Kit: Baby, get them if you want to. You know I'm only saying not to so it will be your responsibility and I can say I objected and then I can still get all the cuddles and love when they get here.
Me: I KNEW IT!

Ah, via Facebook, I am once again dragged into this controversy.

Let it be said for the record, that I love dogs. I just spent two nights and the best part of three days in County Down with Kit's family. His mother and stepfather own three dogs, and a family friend came over with two more. I spent vast amounts of time fussing with all of them, and then more throwing random stuff for them to fetch... over... and over... and over again. They were cute and funny and furry. During the party on the second night for Kit's mother's 60th birthday, I fell asleep with the smallest one (a diabetic, arthritic, epileptic, half-blind, half-deaf "dog on a string" type dog named Joe) on my lap. I'm sure one of the first phrases I learned as a toddler was "Is your dog friendly?" because my mother was worried about my habit of charging up to any dog I saw and beginning to pet it right away.

So let it not be said I be hating.

But cats to my mind are infinitely superior. I can say why, and why I will almost certainly never own a dog, in a short list:

1. It is cruel to own a dog in the city. With the exception of a very small number of breeds (to most of which Kit would refer disparagingly as "shiver and piss") I would feel very guilty leaving a dog alone in a flat or house in the city while I went out to work all day. It just doesn't work.
2. Dogs require walking at least once (or at least twice?) daily and then you have to pick their poop up in a baggy. The worst you have with cats is a litter box which needs scooping daily and cleaning weekly, but at least the poop is dry by the time you get there. And with outdoor cats you need none of this.
3. Dogs smell bad. I'm sorry, but they do. Even when they're clean -- just think of the words "smells like wet dog"! Cats in their natural state smell neutral--->good. I love the smell of a warm, sleepy, contented cat. I also love stroking and fussing dogs but I HATE the way my hands smell afterwards.
4. Dogs require considerable planning when you go away on holiday. They need someone to do all that walking and poop-picking-up and playing. Cats will need at most someone popping in daily to put down food. With most cats you can go away for a long weekend and just leave them extra food, and if you go away longer someone can pop in every few days. Mine are actually high maintenance because they are ex-strays so a) I worry they'll run away if someone isn't popping in daily to put down food and b) any food that is put down will be instantly gobbled so there's no way to leave them a three-day stock. So they need someone to pop in for ten minutes daily. That's the WORST it gets!
5. Dogs shed more than cats. Obviously both shed, especially in warm weather. But I have a cleaner who comes once a week and that seems to sort the cat hair so it's never noticeable. A dog can hair up an immaculate house in about ten minutes flat.
6. No breed of cat habitually drools. Or farts. (My aunt and uncle had a bulldog once. I loved him but he could be really gross.)
7. No breed of cat is designed to maim and kill people.

Up against this is this much-vaunted canine loyalty. I admit, I have difficulty commenting on that because I've never owned one, but I've met a lot of dogs that are not described as being particularly loyal to any one member of their family, and who seem to be very friendly to anyone who comes in. I have also met cats who were extremely loyal to one member of their family, or to their family as a whole, and not particularly friendly to visitors.

And you can train dogs of course. Apparently it's possible to train cats too, though I've never tried it, and I expect they can't do as many tricks as dogs do. I don't mind that. I find cats entertaining enough when they're just being themselves, without them having to do tricks. Mine have had me in stitches multiple times since arriving.

Bah. It's twenty past seven, I'm in chambers, we're flying to Belfast tomorrow and I have a MOUNTAIN of stuff to do before I can go home.

Packed? Are you joking?!

Good thing our flight isn't till 1pm.

We're not. Behold dialogue.

Me: We were going to have Vietnamese tomorrow, right?
Kit: Oh no! We can't go out tomorrow night. It's St Patrick's Day. The pubs are going to be full of drunks and green beer and people talking in fake Irish accents.
Me: At a Vietnamese restaurant?
Kit: Probably. I bet they'd even serve us green tea.

Later...

Me (scanning Facebook): All my American friends seem to think St Patrick's Day involves corned beef.
Kit (shrug): Well, they invented it.

Roasted veg -- I'm not even going to do a recipe this time, but it goes something like this.

Potatoes, either whole, to bake; or in large chunks and mixed in with the other veg
Assorted root veg, eg, swede, turnip, parsnips, beets -- put the beets in tin foil as they seem to cook slower than everything else and that speeds it up; cut the parsnips and turnip up in big chunks, it cooks quickly, the swede in small chunks, it is tough and cooks slowly
Marinade-y-ness: oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, herbs to taste
Pre-heated oven to approx 180*C.

Just keep an eye on them, open the oven and toss everything every ten minutes or so, if anything seems to be cooking slower than the rest chop it up smaller!

The first night I just served like this with salad, hummus and lots of sauce. Kit wasn't too impressed with there being "no main" to it (even the potato wasn't in whole, baked form, it was chopped up and roasted with the rest) although he declared himself "stuffed" after eating two-thirds of it -- then went on and ate the rest! So the second night when I did it for myself I had two slices of veggie bacon as well, which worked fine. Veggie sausages would as well, or veggie haggis (can get it at some health food stores here and it seems mostly to be made of lentils and grains) or some other lentil/bean/grain side for extra protein. The hummus is pretty fine for protein, too though. The second night I had a baked potato, on which I put salt, margarine, hummus and Cholula ginger and garlic hot sauce, to which Kit introduced me! On the veg I put hummus and a mustard sauce. On the veggie bacon, mustard and hot ketchup. It was all very good!

( Macaroni 'Cheese' with Mushrooms, take 2 )

The only thing I forgot is I was going to put garlic in at the beginning to augment the "garlic and herb" taste. I'll try that next time. I would also like to try it sometime replacing the leeks with shallots. But I have to say, it would be hard to improve on it as it was today. The first time I was underwhelmed, but this time it was awesome!

When I was 21, I was working as a nanny for two young boys aged fifteen and seventeen months (they were neighbours, not related).  I used to take them to a toddler play group.  One of the women who worked there, who I think may have been somewhat developmentally delayed, asked me as a conversational gambit if I was still young enough to have children. I don't know that she was necessarily terribly interested in my answer (or had even thought much about the question), but just wanted to get on to telling me how she wasn't. I was far too young to be hurt or offended by it. It'd be getting a bit closer to the bone now, though, I guess.

( Dud recipe )

( Excellent caf )

It's a bit sad that at age 31 I am as inveterate a procrastinator as I ever was in primary school, stretched in front of the television refusing to do my homework until "later."

I have my first five-day final hearing next week. I didn't have a single hearing all of last week. Not one. Yet here I am on Saturday evening struggling to finish a case summary and I haven't started preparing to take evidence at all -- except in my head of course, but I think I'd better get it down on paper this time.