No. 3

Well here I am at the end of a really lazy weekend in Edinburgh. What exactly have I done over this weekend? Not much to be truthful. On Saturday I spent much of the morning in the flat and then went off to the gym full of good intentions, had a bit of a work out and spent more time in the jacuzzi and sauna than anywhere else. In the afternoon I did some boring shopping. Did you know that it is now possible to buy lo-energy spotlight bulbs, they are slightly more expensive than other lo-energy bulbs. I replaced the three 100 watt bulbs in the kitchen with these 100 w equivalent which use about 12 w each, on my reckoning a saving of 274 watts against the old ones. I can proudly tell you that every light bulb except my desk lamp (which is a small halogen model) is now lo-energy.



Sunday has been slightly less exciting than Saturday. The only thing I bought today was a newspaper. I have just finished reading it and have also completed the sudoku and godoku in the magazine.



News wise our political masters in Westminster continue to dig themselves into deeper holes, have they never heard of the expresssion 'throw the shovel away'?



I did some preparatory cooking this evening and prepared a salad and fruit salad for lunch tomorrow, trying to follow the principles of economy gastronomy and to stick to something like a decent diet. I am working on the basis of 'failing to prepare is preparing to fail', if I make good healthy meals to take with me I usually don't pig out on unhealthy rubbish during the day. Sticking to the subject of food, I can tell you that we have a bumper harvest of English plums this year. I know because I heard all about it on farming today earlier in the week. The farmers are having problems shifting them because last year a late frost spoilt them and the supermarkets all placed their orders with Spanish farmers because they were let down last year. Now we really need to get a grip and accept that nature is sometimes unkind to us. Anyway I made the effort to look out some English plums (which incidentally here in Scotland are labelled British - I don't know if plums grow this far north). I managed to buy a punnet in Morrisons for only £1. They were Victoria Plums, they taste absolutely delicious and are far superior to the Spanish plums that are for sale along side them. So go on get yourself out there and buy some beautiful English plums, support British farmers. If we let these supermarkets dictate what we can have these beautiful plums will disappear forever, the simple economic principle of no demand = no supply will lead to farmers growing something else instead. Enough about my plums for now.



I forgot to mention a novelty idea I came across in Holyrood Park at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival which has ended this evening with a wonderful fireworks display, most of which I could observe from the comfort of my front room. Anyway, it was the Lure Coursing weekend mentioned in the my first post. I went to buy a sandwich and a coffee. The majority of the catering vans were from the same firm selling burgers etc, except for two. One was selling fish and chips and the other was selling steak sandwiches. I opted for a steak sandwich from the aptly named 'well hung and tender beef' company. Now this company really has got its marketing spot on, the name does grab the attention of most people simply for the novelty factor. They also sold teas and coffees. I opted for a coffee which was presented in a decent quality plastic mug and cost £2. All refills for £1. Well, the mug has the company name emblazoned on both sides so I now have a real attention grabbing mug for use at work.



Well I shall sign off now, leaving you with the 'Irish Blessing' on my coffee mug here at home; 'As you slide down the bannister of life may the splinters never point in the wrong direction'.