Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! : March 2014

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

"IF YOU COULD RISE FROM THAT DAMN CHAIR....AND TAKE A STROLL!"

WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY

Well! That's a bit more like it: 3.5lbs Off Hurrah!

As you will notice from this weeks heading above - I've been a bit

more active and it seems to have paid off! Yes, Mr Monger, I rather

grudgingly went "Walk-About" around Brentford and the Magic

performed its tricks!

"WALK-ABOUT"

Saturday:

With the advice of my friend Christopher Monger:

"If you could raise from that damn chair, put down the remote, iPhone and iPad and take a stroll"

SO!

I set forth from the comfort of my Flat in Dorey House, Brentford and went for a

gentle perambulation or wander. I'm lucky enough to live by water and soon came

across our working Lock:

This was on the Saturday:

Now that's what I call "A Man on a Mission to lose those Pounds!"

Sunday:

On Sunday I visited:

I went in search of the Coffee Stall, where over the past months I have been

visiting the Market, I have made friends with the owners - Neil & Rebecca

Vanstone. To my dismay I couldn't find the Stall and then I came across

this amazing contraption:

Neil had bought this wagon in France, brought it back, refurbished it and this Sunday had

its first outing at the Brentford Sunday Market:

Neil Vanstone

I'm thinking this might be a lovely addition to Emily's Wedding Celebration in the Summer.

Check them out:

https://www.facebook.com/thecoffeetraveller?hc_location=timeline

www.thecoffeetraveller.com

info@thecoffeetraveller.com

ALSO AT THE MARKET

Whilst I was at the Market I was accosted by two middle aged women! "Could you settle a

bet for us please - I've bet my friend, Rowena, £20 that you're off the Telly!" I put them

both out of their misery "There you go, I told you Rowena! And you with a daughter on the

Telly yourself" I asked Rowena who her daughter was. "Oh, my daughter's called Charlie

and she's Janine Butcher in "East Enders"

Rowena, the Mother of Janine Butcher in East Enders

Janine Butcher

"After previously getting away with murdering her first husband Barry Evans,

Janine went two for two when she killed her husband Michael ..."

Now I have to admit, a Guilty Secret - I'm an avid watcher of "East Enders"

So, I was over the moon to meet the Mother of "Janine Butcher"!!

Monday:

After visiting the Post Office in the High Street on Monday Afternoon My Walk (!)

took me in search of Brentford Art Gallery & Studios which I knew was situated

on a small island at the Thames in Brentford connected to the mainland by a footbridge.

What I found - delighted me:

This provides resident artists with an ideal space to retreat and create and also

offers a small

Exhibition space:

I immediately thought what a perfect space to house an Exhibition of my daughter Maisie's

work. She is an Artist in Dublin and when she has enough work that she wants to show

I seriously think we should investigate this space. Take a look at the recent exhibition of an

artist:

http://www.littlepictureshow.com/photo-album.html

And to take a look at the Brentford Gallery itself:

http://www.brentfordgallery.co.uk

The Rest of Monday's Walk:

took me to areas around which must have been, at one time, a thriving working Dock for transporting

Cargo off trains and onto Barges for journeys up the canal to Birmingham.

Brentford Dock began construction in 1855 to a plan by Brunel as a freight link between river-borne traffic and the Great Western Railway's (GWR) rail network to the West Country and other parts of the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1859. It is interesting to note also that whilst under construction, stone, bronze and iron weapons along with roman coins were discovered in the dock basin, giving an indication as to how long there had been settlements in the area.

(Thank you to all the people who helped take my Photograph on my Walk-Abouts)

Hairy Biker's Lite Beef Casserole

(411 Calories)

Well, after all that "Walking" I found the perfect recipe - a hearty but diet friendly

Beef Casserole. I made enough for a couple of days at least and also some for freezing!

And how about this for desert:

The Hairy Biker's Warm Nectarine Tart

(173 Calories per portion)

Seriously Yummy!

The Grand Budapest Hotel

During the week I managed to catch Wes Anderson's Masterpiece. I can highly

recommend this film. The performances are delightful - Ralph Fiennes is a

revelation - very funny. The Sets, Costumes are all gorgeous - the attention

to detail is outstanding. Over all the film is very enjoyable - an absolute delight.

DOODLE FOR CHARITY

(KBO = "Keep Buggering On!")

I did this doodle of myself as Winston Churchill in "Doctor Who" for

The Charity Epilepsy Action.

Someone bought it for £23.50 out of 7 Bids on Ebay - Bless them!

ebay.eu/1ox5qfp

TRAVERS

Congratulations to my son Travers who gave a presentation of his Book THE LION CHILDREN

(he co-wrote with his brothers & sister) for Bronwyn - a friend of his that teaches autistic

children - ages 9-13. He had a very moving experience sharing his stories of writing

the book of his adventures growing up in Botswana. He said it was a day he will never

forget seeing the joy in the kids eyes and the laughter they all shared. Well done Trav.

Bronwyn's Class with Travers.

The Class sent Travers some "Thank you Letters"

Jenny McNeice's personal favourite was Gavin Runkle, whose least favorite things include onions, commercials, waiting in line, sweet potatoes, getting yelled at, water and pointy things.

I've just picked up my first ever Prescription Spectacles

From: SpecSavers

Cool eh?

JENNY McNEICE

(The delightful Jenny has very kindly come up with a delicious recipe)

Thank you Sweetie..xx

Hey Pops!

On the eve of Weigh-in Wednesday, I thought I'd share with you a new recipe I found. I cooked it for Trav and our roommate Mike last night and got VERY good reviews. Trav's having it for lunch today, too.

A few notes on the recipe: I added ground coriander seeds and fresh ginger. Also, I did 1 cup of quinoa, and found 1/2 can coconut milk and a little more than a 1/2 cup of water to be a good ratio - just test the quinoa as it's simmering down and add more water if needed. Lastly, I added the raisins only towards the end, in time to warm up - I didn't want re-constituted grapes rolling around in my quinoa. Optional: I sauteed some chopped green beans I had lying around with some garlic and and they go great on the side or stirred in.

The author of the recipe doesn't have the caloric count, but with lite coconut milk and going easy on the oils, I think it's a very healthy meal. On top of being fucking good.

Bon apetit, and much love,

Jenny xx

*pro-tip, Arugula=Rocket

http://cookieandkate.com/2014/curried-coconut-quinoa-greens-roasted-cauliflower

AUSTRALIA

Perth & Adelaide

When most of you will be reading this I will be on a plane heading for a stop-over in

Dubai - before arriving in Perth on Thursday. Yes, I'm off on my travels again, having

been invited to attend a couple of Sci Fi Conventions in Perth & Adelaide. You will

be pleased to know I've been to Morrisons to purchase 5 boxes of Crispbread because,

as you are all hoping I'm sure, the diet must go on! It's not going to be easy because being at

home I was able to keep a strict count on my Calorie intake. The good news is -,there

will be a Blog next Wednesday or "Letter from Oz" - but I'm not sure I'll be able to

find a scales big enough for my Weigh-in. We shall see!

COMMENTS

Yet again it was a bumper crop of comments last week. Please keep them coming -

they are much appreciated & a joy to receive, well nearly all of them!

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

It's Called DIET Because All The Other 4-Letter Words Were Taken!!!!!

WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY!

Oh dear, after the TOUGH LOVE I received from a couple of ladies

leaving comments on MY BLOG last week, I was hoping to report a

better result this week! In fact the result is worse!

NO LOSS AT ALL

One would have thought having been severely reprimanded last week for

a paltry 1lb loss I would have done everything in my power to rectify

the lousy outcome and come shining through with a glowing result this week.

"Must do better!" "Must try harder!" I hear you cry - all of which is

true - but in my defence, as you will see from MY BLOG, I've had a

couple of Dinner Dates Out and also I have memories of my weekly Weigh-in

with Weight-Watchers, where I'd remained the same even though I'd

thought I'd done really well. I hope Cindy will vouch for this.

Enough, the Proof is in the Pudding, or in my case

" NO PUDDING at all Daddy!!"

ST PATRICK'S DAY

Well, Top of the Mornin' to ya! I hope you all survived St. Paddy's Day! I was able to combine a few greens with a Guinness for my celebration!

And while we are speaking about the Irish.....

THE 6 NATIONS RUGBY

Came to a close at the Stade de France, in Paris on Saturday night. My friend

Robert Dickson dropped by to watch Ireland take on France in the Final game.

Ireland needed to win to claim the Crown over England and in the end it

came down to the wire with a nail biting finale. For Ireland's Showdown in

Paris, it was a case of victory at all costs - victory in spite of terror,

victory however long and hard the road maybe, as Winston Churchill

famously said. In the end Ireland was triumphant with a 22-20 victory over

France. My friend Robert, who supported England was very disappointed

with my jubilation for Brian O'Driscoll!

What a fitting end to that man's amazing career!

Have a happy & well deserved retirement!

Staying with Sport:

THE WINTER PARALYMPICS AT SOCHI 2014

After the Winter Olympics came the Winter Paralympics at Sochi

and I was just as hooked on them. The Star of the Brit Team was a

23 year old from Chelmsford, the Visually Impaired Jade Etherington.

She, along with her Guide Caroline Powell, who skis ahead of her in

an orange vest, picked up a staggering haul of 4 Medals (3 Silver and

1 Bronze)

This was her first Paralympics and she ended it being the first Briton to

come home with 4 Medals - an amazing achievement. Such a truly

gutsy performance. Congratulations!

"A LITTLE SCHEME"

After spending a delightful Christmas with, amongst others, Emily and her children, her

Fiance, Jimmy contacted me about a little scheme he had in mind:

Jimmy travels all over the world reporting on Formula One Grand Prix.

The little scheme he had in mind was to tell me about the odds of one

of the drivers for winning this years Championship. If we were to put

£50 down on a bet for NICO ROSBERG to win there & then, we would

be able to get odds of 20-1 (Amazing!) Meaning that if Nico won the

Championship come November, (which Jimmy thought was possible), we

could receive £1000 in winnings ourselves!

Well guess what!

"Nico Rosberg proved that Mercedes are the class of the field in the early stages of the new Formula One World championship with a runaway victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. It was the fourth win of his Career"

Well, I contacted Jimmy and said: "ONE DOWN! Cool Jimmy, we are on our way"

His reply was "Haha! I was thinking exactly the same thing! Let's see if we are

still smiling come November...."

WATCH THIS SPACE

I hope we are too!!

THE BATTERSEA ARTS FAIR

On Wednesday I attended the Opening of my friend the Artist David Hinchliffe's

exhibition of paintings at the Battersea Arts Fair - whist I was there he introduced

me to another painter also called David Hinchliffe who lives in Taunton,

where I went to school!

You can see some of my David's paintings behind us. By the time

the Fair had closed on Sunday he had sold a staggering 7 paintings,

mainly due to the advertising in my last Blog, I have to say! He did promise me a

commission of 0.005% - which I worked out to be less than one First Class

Stamp!! Mind you, he did take me out to dinner at a Lebanese Restaurant,

later that night, near his flat in Battersea Square:

Try not to look too closely at what we are having - I'm not sure

it's very Calorie Conscious!!

The Wolseley Restaurant, 160 Picadilly, London, W1J 9EB

The Artist - David Hinchliffe

I returned the favour, later that week, with a Farewell meal

at the Wolseley Restaurant in Picadilly. David is now in

NewYork painting in a Studio in Harlem - in preparation for

the New York Arts Festival there - "Go David!!"

RO WILLMOTT

I got a lovely email from my friend Ro Willmott who now lives in Blockley

just up the hill from Hollybush, our old Cottage in Broad Campden. She

and her then partner, Vince, used to run the Kings Arms Hotel in Chipping

Campden and then the Riverside Hotel in Evesham. They have a boy

called Freddie who I believe is now high up in the medical profession in London:

"Dearest Neecie,

The Willmotts en mass have been inspired by you ! ( nothing new there !) rinse and spin gave up sucking 20 Marlboro lights 12 months ago with inevitable body mass consequences .darling Freddy is a tad stout , and I'm as fat as butter !! So with you as our guiding light, we Sally forth to a slimmer healthier future!! Love as ever x x "

I love her nick name for Vince: "rinse and spin" - too funny!

EMILY

Also another lovely supportive Email from Emily:

"Having basically stayed the same weight over the cold Winter months (but no gain thankfully) I am feeling up for a big loss over the next few weeks. So much easier to cut out carbs as the weather gets warmer and we come out of hibernation! I'm loving your blog and so proud of your weight loss. Keep going 😘❤"

Thanks, Emily, seeing your amazing weight loss at Christmas was a true inspiration for me.

Keep it up Sister! You can do it! Love yer! xxx

THE TWO FAT LADIES

I LOVED watching the "Two Fat Ladies". I remember when I first found them on the telly in LA. I would sit on the end of the bed at Phyllis Avenue and just stare with my mouth wide open salivating. They used butter and fat in everything and they also smoked and drank while cooking. My kind of ladies.

I just found out that Clarissa Dickson Wright passed away yesterday. Now they are both gone. It's a sad day as they were both hugely entertaining.

I have a photo of Angus imitating Jennifer (on the right) which was taken in London years ago when he and Maisie were staying with Cins and I in Camden. Gussie wore my glasses and the similarity was brilliant. I would have included it, but the picture is somewhere in storage in Los Angeles.

Speaking of Angus:

ANGUS McNEICE