Less-than-Multiple Choices

On a slightly silly note...

Michael & I came up with a new term last night...

When answering multiple choice questions, it's frequently the case that there is at least one answer that it just could not be. I commented on this and came up with the following example:
Question: What colour is the sky?
A: Red
B: Yellow
C: Green
D: Blue
E: Parrot

This lead to the coining of the term 'the Parrot', meaning the option/answer that it just cannot be because it makes no sense at all.

A more 'real life' example might be a TV phone-in with the question: "For the Benefit of... who?" was a song by the Beatles? A: Mr Kite, B: Mr Jones, C: Mr Blobby. (In case you missed it, C is the Parrot!).

A bloom by any other epithet (aka Language 1)

England is a single country, right? Where everyone speaks the same language, yeah? Not so much!
Since moving 'oop North' about 18 months ago, there have been a number of occasions where I have felt like I am speaking a whole other language to those around me.

The first and most obvious perhaps is the area of Dialect. I have learnt a surprising number of new words in the past year or so. Do you know what the following mean (answers will be given later)?

1. Nithered
2. Pack-up
3. Sand shoes (I have come across 4 different terms for these!)
4. Bread cake
5. Riggweltered
6. Canny
7. more to come

And similarly, in my various dealings with American English, there have been a number of words that I have had to look up, often resulting in an outburst of "Oh! It's one of those!" when the item turned out to be something I knew very well, but not by that name. Such as:

1. Skillet
2. Ground meat
3. Shredded cheese
4. Rutabega
5. Thrift store
6. Duplex
7. Jumper (US)
8. Biscuit (US)
9. Sausage (US)
10. Baseboard
    

Look-alikes 2

For part 1, see here.
Watching the rugby just now, I was struck by how much the French Manager, Jo Maso, looks like celebrity tapdancer, Lionel Blair:




And just to let those few who still visit here know... there are about 4 posts in the pipeline (including 3 'themed' ones!). However, unlike Michelle, Jenni or Kate/Cakes seem to, I struggle with writing anything coherent and thus these things take a lot of mulling-over-whilst-filing-Xrays. I'm working on it, though!

Chilli is the Spice of Life

About 2 weeks ago, something happened to me that does not happen very often but is serious when it does... I ran out of chilli powder! Now, I know that several of you who read this blog know about me and my chilli con carne.
For those who don't know, chilli con carne is my 'trademark' recipe. Now, I'm not saying that it is a very good recipe or that it is particularly delicious. It is simply a recipe that I know how to do very well, is cheap, very flexible and I can cook & serve it in less than half an hour. I try to always have the ingredients to serve 4 in the house to cook at short notice, although that doesn't always work out.
So, the other week, I was making chilli for tea. I was part way through and well beyond the point of no return, when I added the all-important chilli powder... and a very light dusting came out - and that was it! I looked at the tub and it was indeed empty! I was amazed firstly that I had managed to use a whole jar up, and secondly that I hadn't noticed that it was getting so low. I managed to make up for it with alternatives, but still!

So, I hear you wondering (possibly so quietly that even you can't hear it), what is this amazing recipe? Well, Marie once asked me what goes into chilli and I said that you needed: minced beef, some sort of beans and something spicy as a minimum. However, here is the slightly more advanced version...

Serves 4 hungry people (easily feeds 5) - can be doubled/trebled/halved as needed, ~100g meat per person.

You will need:

• 500g/1lb minced beef/ground beef
  (I use lean/low-fat because it comes out less greasy and more tasty)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• a small amount of flavourless oil, eg. vegetable.
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (any colour, though I think red looks best)
  


• 1 clove of garlic, crushed/chopped very finely (optional)
• 1 can (~400g) kidney beans in chilli sauce (in brine works, but doesn't taste as good)
  


• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• Tomato puree
• 1 beef oxo (stock) cube
• Chilli seeds in oil (comes in a small jar or a tube, usually in spice aisle)
  


• and of course... Mild chilli powder (using mild gives more control over the strength)
  


• A big wok or frying pan to cook it in!

What you have to do:

1. Heat the oil in the pan over a medium heat (I usually put a tiny piece of onion in - when it starts to sizzle it's ready). Fry onion and garlic with 1tsp of chilli powder, until soft (2-3 mins).
2. Add beef and fry until brown, stirring frequently.
3. Sprinkle oxo cube over meat, add a good squirt of tomato puree (1-2 tsp), a good sprinkling of chilli powder (maybe 2tsp) and about 1 tsp of chilli-in-oil and stir in. Taste and add more powder/chillis as desired.
4. Add beans and tinned tomatoes and stir in. Heat for a few minutes, until hot through. Add chopped pepper, stir in and simmer for a few minutes.
5. Serve with rice (or pasta). Also good with sour cream or grated/shredded cheese on top. Nachos work well with it too.

There you go. Enjoy!

Lent

Ok, well, this is a little late, as we are now over a week into Lent.
In an attempt to become a more reliable blogger, however, I am going to write about it anyway.
This year, I have become more aware of Lent than I have in previous years. That may be connected to attending a 'higher' church this year (full bells & smells). Last Wednesday, we attended an Ashing Service. This was a normal communion service (except it was Wednesday) but it also included the vicar/priest putting ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross. This was to remind us that 'from dust you came and to dust you shall return' and as an outward sign of inward penitence/repentence (I think!).
The church is running a series of weekly Lent talks entitled 'Walk the Walk', focussing on different aspects of the Christian journey. This week's was by Margaret Sentamu (wife of John, Archbishop of York... the one who cut up his dog collar in protest against Mugabe). She spoke on 'Excess Baggage' and on the things that are holding us back from a fuller walk with God/Jesus. Her main quotation was 'Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives us something to do, but doesn't get us anywhere'.

In terms of what I've given up for lent... I have given up chewing my fingernails and have taken up having a proper breakfast everyday. So far, it's going well.

I have a couple of other posts planned... Watch this Space!

Temporary outtage

Well, as you can see, I didn't get those pictures taken. Sorry! I did get essentially all my Christmas shopping done that day though.

The Christmas break was good. For once, I had managed to book my ticket early enough that it was significantly cheaper to go 1st class than I was expecting it to be to standard class, so I treated myself (although it was actually a Rail Replacement bus after about half way!).
Christmas Day was spent at home with 8 of us round the table and was very nice. Lots of silly games and quizzes, as well as much enjoyment of giving and unwrapping.
Boxing Day was at Nan's house for tea with 12 adults and 2 tinies. Here's Nan with her most recent (5th) great-grandchild. She's 81 in this pic, but she turned 82 last week. Jonathan is 4 months here.


I then spent a few days at home before travelling 250 miles north to the Lake District for the New Year.
As last year, we did something of a whistle-stop tour, taking in Kendal, Threlkeld, Keswick, Derwentwater, Coniston and Ambleside, before dropping in to visit Michael's mum's Godmother in Grange-over-Sands on the way back home. All apart from Threlkeld were in YHA hostels and were all excellent. If you haven't stayed in one for a long time or haven't ever, then I would recommend them.

Highlights:

1. Seeing a real, live, wild Red Squirrel on the birdfeeder outside while having breakfast at Derwentwater YHA.
   
   (No, I didn't take the picture - it came from Wikipedia).
2. Feeding crackers to several quite brave chaffinches before our walk on Jan 2nd. They came within 5 feet of us, but then would realise it and scoot off. They did come back though.
3. Getting to the top of Latrigg on Jan 1st and managing to see the views of Keswick just before the mists came down.

Lowlights (is that a word?):

1. Not managing to take any decent pictures from the top of Latrigg before the mists came down:
   
2. Sliding a short distance down Latrigg on my behind in the mud.
3. Realising (as we were getting off the once-an-hour train from Kendal to Oxenholme) that we had left a bag of walking boots on the back seat of the car when we dropped it back at the hire-car place. We then had to wait 20 minutes or so for the train to go back, walk back to the car place, collect the bag and then sit back on the station platform in the pouring rain for the train to come back and once again get to Oxenholme. Thankfully, the tickets we had for the rest of the journey were still valid and we actually travelled on a nicer train (albeit probably a lot more crowded!).

In other news:
My 24th birthday was 9th Jan, which I celebrated with a lovely meal out with Michael and my brother, Tim. We went to the Punch Bowl on Stonegate (not to be confused with the Wetherspoon's on Blossom St, also called the Punch Bowl!), which is a really lovely pub/restaurant. Not too pricey with decent-sized, delicious, quite simple meals. We then came home via the Three-legged Mare (aka Wonky Donkey) where we got ID'd. Harumph.

Since then, not a lot has happened, although on Friday I did have my first sick day off from work/school in nearly 8 years. I managed half an hour, before concluding that I really wasn't well and came home again, suffering toothache and severe nausea. I spent most of Friday in bed feeling sorry for myself (Michael came over to my house and looked after me, which was nice). By Friday night, I was still in a lot of pain, so Michael suggested I call NHS Direct to find a dentist who was open on Saturdays. They were very helpful and this morning I had an appointment with a very nice dentist (yes, really!) who told me I had an infection under my gum where my wisdom tooth is coming through, so I'm now on amoxycillin 3 times a day for the next few days.

Work at the hospital continues. I screwed up on the closing date for a job I really wanted, but at least I now have a good personal statement prepared and have updated my CV, so when I find something else it won't take as long to fill in the forms.

I think that's all for now. Once again, I'll try to be more prompt with my next update!

The sights, the sounds...

For the time being, I'm still working at the hospital (well, not right now, because it's Saturday...) and it's getting slowly more interesting as I'm shown how to do things other than filing. Still not overly brain-taxing though.

Other than work, we seem to have very effectively filled up our evenings, including 2 pub quizzes a week - one at 'the Three-Legged Mare' (aka the Wonky Donkey)... which we won last week and came second this week... and the other at 'The 'ole in t'Wall', where the third member of our team asked if he could join us a few weeks ago and we have been a team ever since!
Also, we have been going to the 4-part choir at church and performed on Wednesday at the York FC Carol Service (where John Sentamu was preaching) and that went well. Next Sunday is the St.Luke's Carol Service and on Christmas Eve, there is a Crib Service with Christingles, but I won't be there for that one, as I'm going home! (woo!).

In other news, Michael and I spent last weekend in S.London with his paternal grandparents. I also met several of his aunts, uncles, cousins, a great-aunt and several of his grandparents neighbours and other acquaintances, who were all very nice and welcoming, but there were, well, quite a lot of them!
We also went to see Mary Poppins on stage at the Prince Edward Theatre. The show was amaaaaazin! Aside from the amazing singing and truly astonishing dance routines (not a tap out of place when the chimney sweeps are dancing on the roof), the set was spectacular. A typical Cameron Macintosh, with bit of set sliding on and off sideways, up and down... and I still don't really know how they did the 'taking-stuff-out-of-a-bag-that's-clearly-too-small' scene!
I did have a stinky cold for that weekend too (my third in 3 weeks), but it seems to have gone now. Woo!

Also, finally, I have finished the website for my home church (Hatfield Road Methodist Church), and it can be found at http://www.hatfieldroadmc.greenisp.org/. If anyone finds anything wrong with it, please do let me know - I'm aware of several typos, but I haven't got as far as fixing them yet.

Anyway, I really ought to go, as I need to do all my Christmas shopping today! Not so good.

(And, Cakes, I haven't forgotten the pictures - I will tidy up when I get back from shopping, take pictures and post them, or at least that's the plan!)

Pastures new

Well, having finished in Scarborough and spending the summer crossing the country repeatedly. Greenbelt was FANTASTIC! I will try and blog on that soon.
Anyway, the big news is that I have a new place to live. I'm moving in the next couple of weeks to a room in a 3-bed house in York. (email for address, if you want it). I don't quite have a job yet, but I am working on finding a temping position, learning to drive and then taking it from there.

Will try to blog again soon!

My past month...

Well, I did pass my PGCE. So I'm now a qualified teacher. Yeep! That's a little bit scary. And before you ask, no, I don't have a job yet. If anyone knows of a school near York wanting an Infant Teacher, please let me know. ;-)

Other than that, I've spent the past month covering across significant distances across the country, largely by train. Between June 29th and July 28th, I will have travelled 2,167.9 miles (according to Google Maps).

This includes Dave & Marie's wedding (pic taken at CU Ball last year),

Chris & Rebecca's Wedding

Dave & Zoe's Wedding
(Don't have any pictures)
Tim's graduation
(Don't have any pictures)

Also, I will be helping at holiday clubs in Macclesfield and York, as well as attending Sam & Rosie's Wedding.

I have got to learn to drive!

Just to say that, barring throwing a child out of a window or something,...

I HAVE PASSED MY PGCE!!!