Heart attack

Showing posts with label Morphy Richards Soup Maker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morphy Richards Soup Maker. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Noisy, Aimless Pigeons!

Friday 17th July. 10.25 a.m. It's another mild and relatively sunny, but the heat has finished, for the moment. I just hope it doesn't come back as roastingly hot. I don't mind the sun- infact, I love it, but when it's so hot, I can't cope with it. When it's cold, at least you can put anothr layer on, a jumper, fleece, puton the heating, turn up the heating a couple of notches, but when it's so hot, it's difficult to get away from it, apart from sitting in a pool of water, drinking plenty of fluids, have a shower or whatever, but there's never any relief from it.

Currenly, the digital thermometer reads 27ºc.

My fridge/freezer needs cleaning out. One job that I don't exactly enjoy, but must be done. I found two packs of tomatoes, so I decided to make them into soup and use the soup maker. I chopped the tomatoes, along with onions, put them in a glass dish, sprinkled balsamic vinegar and olive oil all over them and put them into the oven to roast for half an hour and then, once they were tender and soft, put them into the soup maker and switched it on and barely 20 minutes ir was done. I'm amazed at how good it tasted, and it's far better than Heinz or any other bought, tinned soup. And there's enough for around 6 bowls or mugs, as I prefer to use a mug to consume it. Actually the best soup I've managed to make in it since I got it.

Saturday 18th July. 4.40 p.m. I should, of course, mentioned the noisy aimless pigeons, who gave me inspiration for the title of this post. Well, they are always outside my window, making that awful repetitive noise they make, you know, cooing aimlseely, possibly the most boring bird sound on the planet. They should at least change it once in a while. Then, when you see them on the ground they move around, nodding their heads. If I was to spend all day nodding, I would get a severe headache. I have to say, they aren't exactly the most intelligent birds on this planet.

Sunday 26th July. 5.15 a.m. Here we go again! Wide awake and unable to get back to sleep, I'm here on my laptop.

I mentioned about the sound system I had ordered from Amazon, which had a Bluetooth-connected microphone? Well, if I didn't, let me just say, the wretched thing lasted all of two weeks or maybe less, when it packed up completely and  it wouldn't do a thing. I knew it would have to be returned and that would be difficult, as I had thrown out the packaging it came in. I scrambled about my flat, searching for any suitable cardboard box into which the sound system would fit and found one, chopped it down with scissors and, after a bit of improvisation, parcel tape and ingenuity, I got it wrapped up. But, parcel tape is useful, but trying to find a loose end, which keeps on re-sticking itself to the roll is really frustrating. 

Having got the parcel wrapped, I had to find the business who would take it and get it returned to Amazon. It turned out to be Parcel Force and I got  tet message telling me someone would collect it on Thursday, between 10.25 and 2.25. All very well giving me a window, but nothing closer to the actual time of collection, so I didn't go to my usual Thrsday life group ar the OTC.

The window for collection closed and I was thinking, have I been forgotten? Did I get the times wrong or something? Then the intercom thing buzzed and a voice spoke and the Parcel Force employee arrived on my doorstep. I didn't even have to print a label for the parcel, all now done with barcodes and a barcode reader (just don't ask me how it works.) and the parcel was whisked away. So, I decided to choose the replacement sound system and next day, the refund was in my Amazon account, so I ordered the replacement and that arrived next morning. So, the packing, sending and collecting of the parcel was relatively stress-free and I now got the new system working.

Saturday, September 13, 2025

Bright And Early

 Tuesday. 7.35 a.m. It's sunny and relatively warm. The digital thermometer currently reads 25ºc. 

9.55 a.m. I have been out in the community garden, planting a few of the bulbs. It is far easier now that I have the trowel and hand fork.

Wednesday. 8.05 a.m. A somewhat flat and uninteresting sort of morning. Probably best described as 'overcast.' The digital thermometer currently reads 24ºc.

I have bought a Morphy Richards soup maker. I have been considering getting one for a while, because Carol and I had one when we lived in Eaglestone. I don't know what happened to it, because moving from there to Dexter House was so difficult. It was great to make homemade soup and try out different ingredients, and it was so easy to use. This one seems a good deal more versatile, and you can make smoothies in it. This was purchased from Very, the online retailer. The thing arrived yesterday evening. I am currently trying it out. You have to clean it before use, according to the instruction manual. It has a setting for automatic cleaning,  as you can't wash it in the sink because of the electrical parts.

2.05 p.m. I had to get some shopping, so I went to Lidl, but when I got outside, I found it was raining. Not very hard, but still enough to get wet. 

I have made a raspberry smoothie in the soup-making machine. Before you ask, yes, you can make smoothies in it. I had frozen raspberries in the freezer, so I took them out yesterday evening, and they were sufficiently defrosted to make a smoothie. I bought raspberry yoghurt in Lidl and, along with some milk, put it all in the machine, and after barely 5 minutes, I had a delicious smoothie! I worked really well, and I will have to experiment with the thing to do more smoothies and soups.

Thursday. 7.10 a.m. Alfie hasn't been out yet. He's under my bed, and it's impossible to get at him. 

The digital thermometer currently reads 22ºc.

9.10 a.m. Alfie was found on his bed, so I was able to grab him and take him out at last. He's currently wandering around the flat.

The sun is out. For how long, I wonder? Will there be another rainstorm before the day is over?

4.15 p.m. It's sunny at the moment, but it's also windy. Fortunately, no rain, although we do need some.

Friday. 8.15 a.m. A bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 22ºc.

I have my laundry in the washing machine. It should have finished its cycle at around 8.50. I will be going to Sainsbury's once that is complete. 

4.25 p.m. My washing was dry, and it was all put away. I then went to Sainsbury's, basically because my Lidl trip yesterday didn't allow me to buy one or two things. I was somewhat surprised to discover mince pies on sale. It really does defy logic that you would sell something which is a key ingredient in a household's food at Christmas, would be on sale in September and would most likely be inedible, or, at least, well past its best, at the beginning of the festive season. Do Sainsbury's expect their customers to hoard them? Or even, dare I say, eat them?

I have now made chicken soup in the new soup-making machine. It has come out so much better than I expected. Really tasty and inspires me to make more, and I will have to find a book of recipes to increase my soup-making repertoire.

There was a roll of thunder as I was busy making soup, but it didn't develop into anything major. Not even a slight rainstorm.