Friday 20 May 2022

Friday

 And another week bites the dust.   When you hopefully haven't all that long left on this earth I can tell you that the weeks fly by.   I say 'hopefully' please don't think I am down hearted or depressed - not a bit of it but believe me there comes a time - and I have reached it - when everything takes a lot of doing,  you know what you want to do but it is never easy.   Either it is too far to walk, you can't remember exactly what it was you intended to do, you would like to pull up that enormous weed in the garden but know the effort might lead you to fall over, you get half way through writing an e mail and at the click of something inside your computer the whole thing disappears as if by magic.   Need I go on?   If you have not reached that point yet then it is only a matter of time.   Luckily it is Monty Don's Gardener's World tonight so I shall be back on form again tomorrow.   (I might be 90 in October but some feelings never altogether disappear believe me!)   I will say no more except to say I am pretty near the back of a very long queue I suspect.

Yesterday on my  order I bought my first bunch of British Asparagus so melted butter to the fore and nice bread and butter cut thinly, asparagus steamed lightly and there's my tea for tonight.   I love it.   You can't beat it if you are a fan and it needs nothing more than brown bread and butter to make it a feast fit for a king - or so near to H M's Platignum Jubilee - a Queen either.****The asparagus was delightful - particularly as it was from Tesco and was labelled 'British Asparagus' and was grown in Lincolnshire (the county of my birth) by one Chris Kitchen - thanks Chris - I enjoyed it tremendously'.

I have spent a long time this afternoon typing out a scone recipe for Jackie.   If you are reading this Jackie I do hope you receive it and it makes sense.   I have Benign Essential Tremor which makes my hands shake so that when they hover over the keys of the computer when you look up at the screen they have often landed in the wrong place.   If this has happened I do hope it still makes sense.   If it doesn't then please get back to me and tell me where you can't understand it.

Well asparagus calls in all its greenery,   See you tomorrow.

28 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

I think that you make some valid points. I can assure you that should I become housebound, whether it's 80 or 90, I will be looking forward happily to dropping off the perch. All my interests involve being outside for a percentage of each day, I couldn't bear for that to be denied me.

JayCee said...

Monty Don is very easy on the eye.

Barbara Rogers said...

Great minds think alike...I always believe. So I also got some asparagus today, and it's sitting in water in a bowl in the fridge waiting for my dinner, where I'll have some left over salmon along with a baked sweet potato. Hope your tea is as good as it sounds. Enjoy your evening!

Tasker Dunham said...

I don't think it morbid or depressing to say you don't want to be here for years and years to come. We can't live forever, even if we want to, and there comes a point when the quality of our lives is inevitably so diminished we begin to feel we don't want to continue. I've seen it in people of different ages, the young and ill as well as the older. It is entirely natural and you are only being realistic. Having said that, I do hope we continue to be able to read your blog posts into your nineties. You are quite an inspiration.

Barbara Anne said...

I'm with Tasker in hoping you're able to carry on with good health for a good long time to come. You're an inspiration and it is a delight to read your blog posts.
I'd give you my share of asparagus on the planet, but have already given it all to DH as he shares your love of thin, new asparagus. I don't like it at all.
Take good care of you!

Hugs!

Debby said...

Asparagus is my favorite vegetable (and I am a big fan of a LOT of vegetables!)

When I was a child, I listened to my grandparents talk and the spoke as pragmatically about the end of their days as you do here. I never really understood that as a child. Death frightened me. Now that I am older and even a grandma myself, I understand. I am no longer afraid.

Tom Stephenson said...

None of us know how long we have got, so let me give some advice which you may well give to me at my lower moments. Keep doing what you have to do and what you can still do until someone tells you otherwise. Anything else is just ungrateful! X

The Weaver of Grass said...

Barbara - my father hated it He used to call it Sparrowgrass.JayCee - easy on the eye indeed - we shall get more of him next week at Chelsea!

Anonymous said...

I so agree with Tom, adding 'til a LOT of people tell you otherwise'. Spoke to a woman the other day in her 80's, who I offered to help stand from her chair. "No, she said "I'm fiercely independent and stubborn and I'm still driving though a lot of people have told me that I shouldn't be...I mistook the accelerator for the brake recently and crashed into a shopping centre" , she laughed.
"but I refuse to give up my licence ". Didn't seem to worry her that none of our group were impressed. These sort of people just shrug it off. Thank goodness there are people to 'tell someone otherwise'. -Pam.

Anonymous said...

xxx

Susan said...

I'm all for doing what you like as long as it makes you happy. My uncle and grandmother quite happily both lived to almost 100. Like you, they were well informed and called all their own shots. Both were avid gardeners as well. The asparagus is in season and very delicious. I've enjoyed it twice recently.

Joanne Noragon said...

I could eat asparagus for several meals a day!

Red said...

I like asparagus but not much is grown here.

sparklingmerlot said...

The first asparagus of spring is always a delight. My aunt was 90 last year and she voices the same feelings as do you. She can still drive and lives alone with minimal support but she's tired and over it.

Anonymous said...

I had to go check out this Monty Don fella. My yes, he puts a smile on my face!
Rose

Cro Magnon said...

The most important thing about Asparagus, is never to buy 'Spanish'. I don't know what they do to it, but it is tasteless.

Hilde said...

There is a lot of asparagus grown in our region, mostly the white one. I like the green one better, and it does not need to be peeled, but my husband prefers the white one. I am okay with it, because the only thing I have to cook with it are new potatoes and some brown butter. Some years ago, I even bought a special asparagus cooking pot where the spears are cooked standing up with only some spoonfulls of water.
Hilde in Germany

Frugally challenged said...

Chris farms around ten miles north of Lincoln and he's a lovely man. And asparagus is even more lovely!

thelma said...

Everyone happy with asparagus as it makes its once a year appearance, I like the white with butter, remembering it as a child when you picked it up and sucked the long stem of buttery delight.
As for winding our bodies down to their inevitable end, it is just something that happens. X

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

As long as you maintain an interest in asparagus and Monty Don you should be good for a few years yet. Have a nice weekend.

Librarian said...

I can add my signature to Tasker's comment - he says just what I had in mind.
As for the asparagus, I am with Hilde; same here, we're an asparagus growing region, and I also prefer the green one but also eat the white one if offered (just don't buy it for myself).

Rachel Phillips said...

Just catching up this morning as I was out all day yesterday. Good to hear about your life and what you are up to. As I regularly feel like a 16 year old in respect of the opposite sex I can share with when you say some feelings never go away. xx

Joared said...

The header on your blog is a beautiful scene. The asparagus which I certainly delight in eating sound delicious. It is discouraging when everything takes so long that once would have been just an incidental activity slotted into a schedule filled with many more things I would be doing. Still, we adjust and adapt, moseying on to another day.

Melinda from Ontario said...

I'm having fresh asparagus with tonight's dinner. I'm the only fan in my household so my serving will be humungous. Without question, life gets harder with age. I watched my mum's world shrink as walking became more and more of a struggle for her. What each of you share, however, is a big dose of optimism and resiliency despite how hard it is to push through a day.

Daisy Debs said...

I love that Tesco are labelling the the vegetables with the good farmer's names .Glad you enjoyed your bundle of asparagus . I only got one spear off my plant this year the rest has shot up it's lovely feathery leaves before I got to them ,but I don't mind . It is beautiful , especially in the morning dew . Have a lovely weekend x

The Weaver of Grass said...

TThanks everyone for responding. No blog today - I know what I want to write about but it is taking some writing so hopefully I will be ready to write tomoorrow.so right Rachel - and I get a good dose of Monty Don at Chelsea everynight this cominge week.

Eileen in Fla. said...

I feel that nature provides us frail humans a way / some guidance / to prepare for every stage of life. Insights are imparted to a woman who is 9-months pregnant or a young man about to go to war or the terminally ill. Acceptance, gratitude, a sweet sadness, and peace should be embraced. We can either rant or agree that we're only a part of the bigger plan. Here's hoping that you continue to grace us with your sweet spirit for many years to come, if that's what you want.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you everyone. You always leave me with plenty to think about.