Thursday, October 13, 2005

Musings

Some months ago I watched a tv programme about archaeology, a favourite subject of mine, and they were talking about some australopithecine remains they had found along the banks of a river (can't remember where, I'm afraid). What stuck in my mind about this was that for once the archaeologists were absolutely certain how the individual had died - of toothache. They knew this because they could see in the jaw bone clear evidence that he had had an abscess on one of his teeth. As a result they thought that blood poisoning from this had caused him to fall into the river and then to die. This has rather been on my mind over the last week, since I developed a nasty abscess on a wisdom tooth. As a result I have just finished a weeks course of Amoxicillin and the strongest painkillers I was able to buy over the counter from the Chemists. Despite these the pain is still bad and I am still doing a wonderful impression of a squirrel carrying nuts just in the one cheek. Anyway, I am off to the dentist tomorrow to have the offending tooth removed - not a session I am looking forward to. I've had three other extractions and didn't like them - but at least I am hoping that I will end up with no more pain or infection (and can sleep again) .

Still the Stepdaughter has sent me something that really made me laugh. Look at this, starting with the description of the product on eBay and then going onto the Questions and Answers. Well worth it. Very funny.

What irritates me is the way that music "experts" automatically reject any piece of music that proves popular with the public. Phillip Glass's Violin Concerto was on Classic FM radio yesterday evening as I drove home fromthe Soft Furnishings Workshop. It is really a wonderful piece of modern music. Yet experts discount it because it is listenable and enjoyed by many. I know I am going to continue to believe in my own opinions on music, not on the opinions who think they know best. (We have it on CD and I am listening to it as I write. Excellent.)

I have recently been trying out a new soup recipe that the Husband and I have both decided is a success. It is Puy Lentil and Bacon Soup, from Delia Smith's book of Soups. A really good and very distinctive taste to the Soup and well worth doing again. I did have one problem though - trying to find the Puy lentils, the only ingredient I didn't have at home. I could find green lentils at the supermarket but not Puy ones. Eventually I found them at the health food stall at the local market where I was told that one cannot ask for Puy lentils by name as the name has been banned by the EU, as are all items named after specific places. Instead I have to ask for Dark Green Speckled Lentils. I will, however, have to make sure that I don't get given the ordinary green lentils in future as these are somewhat bigger and just don't have as much flavour. I will post the recipe for the soup here soon as it is well worth making.

Autumn is clearly here. We've had a fair amount of rain the last few days and a few leaves are beginning to turn brown, although most are still, thank goodness, green. But I notice that a few leaves on the Alemanchier Lamarkii are beginning to turn red. I just wish it would stay dry enough to mow the lawn which is getting a bit overgrown.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me get this straight: You can't recall what riverbank held the treasure, but you can recall that the treasure was the remains of an australopithecine. You have one strange memory, Val. *grinning* Sorry to hear about your tooth. If you still have a wisdom tooth at your age, I'm impressed. All of mine were gone at age 19! Other than those four, my teeth are still, nominally, in place--that is: some of the teeth (I no longer know how many) are crowned.

I too enjoy the Violin Concerto, although I've not purchased a CD of it. It's on my list of books to read/CDs to buy.

Having eaten few lentils in my life, I wouldn't know one from another. Perhaps more attention should be paid.
Cop Car

Anonymous said...

Val--As if any of your readers would fall for the line that Askinstoo plays out. It's a shame that one cannot escape the spammers, even in one's own blog!!

BTW: At about 5:30 AM, a few bars of the Violin Concerto were played on the radio, as background to a piece on our local symphony orchestra. Nice timing.
Cop Car

Adele said...

CopCar,

Back after the removal of the offending tooth, a quiet Saturday to recover from quite a bad experience and a day today calming down a stressed Stepdaughter who has an important exam on Wednesday.

On your first three sentences above I think the point is that one tends to remember things that interest you. I have been fascinated by archaeology for ages and the fact I have had trouble with my teeth all my life has led to things like this sticking in my memory.

The Glass Violin Concerto is lovely, isn't it.

The Husband is now suffering from wind a bit - he is blaming the lentil soup. I'm OK but then I was, until a few years ago, a strict vegetarian for about two decades, when I ate a lot of beans and lentils. So they don't affect my digestion at all. (That reminds me, I have still to post the recipe - I'll do so tomorrow.)

On the spammer I am lucky that Blogger has a facility to Delete the unwanted messages. So I did.

Anonymous said...

Ah, better without the spam! Glad that the tooth is no longer there to bother you and hope that your step-daughter's exam goes well!
Cop Car