Carrot and parsnip soup, sandwiches, sausage roll, cheese and crackers, fresh mango, yoghurt

This learning to walk lark is utterly exhausting: today I have walked maybe 20, 25 yards in total, it’s now 7.30pm, and I’m ready to sleep. Of course, one of the good things about managing my own medication is that I can go to bed whenever I want to, without having to wait for the nurse to do their evening rounds, so please excuse me if you comment on this post, here or on Facebook, and don’t get a response. I’ll be back online tomorrow morning, I promise.

Usually I very much enjoy the homemade soup at supper time – as I may have mentioned, just on the odd occasion – but am left guessing as to the flavour unless I am told in advance. Tonight I was told in advance, but that wasn’t necessary because I could really taste the veg that went into it. The first flavour was carrot, then onion, then finally a lingering taste of parsnip, in a way that made me want to have another mouthful, then another, until I was spooning the last bits out of the mug (because it was too thick to drink) and wondering if I could or should ask for another serving. This was Seriously Good Soup.

The sandwiches were egg mayo, tuna mayo and cucumber, and cheese mayo. They tasted better and more interesting than recent sandwich suppers despite being exactly the same, perhaps under the influence of the soup. (There was also a sausage roll, which I literally only remembered when uploading the headline photo, so it obviously wasn’t very memorable!)

Perhaps under that same influence, or because of the aforementioned exhaustion, or because it seemed like a good idea at the time (and I wonder how many inventions, both good and entirely regrettable, can be traced back to that seemingly innocuous phrase?), I invented, and am presenting¹ to you all: loaded cracker bits!

Pieces of assorted crackers, topped with garlicky tomato chutney and fingers of assorted cheese. It looks a bit messy, I’ll give you that, and creates even more mess when eaten, particularly when your hands have a bad case of the shakes. It was very tasty but, being cheese and crackers and chutney, of course it was.

I then had a box of ready-prepared mango from my private fruit shop. I intended to eat half tonight and half tomorrow morning as part of breakfast, but my hand tore off the lid and put it in the bin before my brain could stop it. My hand and mouth were obviously in collusion, or at least know each other well, because the truth is that once I start eating mango I don’t stop until it’s mangone².

Tomorrow I am meant to be visiting home, which may mean I miss lunch at the care home. I have mentioned to the Occupational Therapist who is organising the visit that I would appreciate a stop at a Maccy D’s or similar fast food establishment on our way there or back, and she laughed. That gives me the drive over to the west of the Island to convince her both that I wasn’t joking, and can we get something greasy, preferably spicy, and with minimal nutritional value on the way back? Pretty please? 🥺

1. I was going to say “proud to present”, but I’m not at all sure that’s true! ↩︎
2. Sorry. ↩︎