Saturday 3 November 2018

Slices of quince







Thank you for all of your tooth well wishes. I have completely failed to heal it by the power of the mind and I'm in absolute agony. I did go back to the dentist and get some antibiotics, after trying my very best to avoid them. They haven't worked yet, but I am travelling hopefully. And also looking after my microbiome, which I have nurtured carefully with all manner of probiotics. Mostly at the moment it's yoghurt and kefir because of the whole inability to eat anything proper.

I am tired of the pain now to be honest, and tired because I'm not sleeping well, and no doubt those around me are tired of, well, me I should think. Never mind, it's not the end of the world, no doubt it will all resolve itself somehow. I am missing the pleasure of eating things though. Now I look at a plate of food and calculate the amount of pain it will cause me. Right, that's quite enough whingeing I think. I'm unbearable and I know it.

I got hold of a few free quinces the other day. They are sitting waiting patiently for me to summon some food enthusiasm. I have in mind Nigel Slater's quinces in a soft crust - a bit of an almond quince crumble thing I think. The quinces were outside of a house I happened to be driving past. A woman came out and I thanked her for them. She told me not to thank her, they were dreadful things! Maybe she hasn't met Nigel.

I decided to take the plunge and do NaNoWriMo. I have written 5,010 words so far, and they are all fairly rubbish. But 5,010 is a good number, no? And it'a a tenth of the way there! We'll gloss over the fact that they're rubbish.

I had a wander round the house yesterday to see what everyone was reading. Derek Landy and Skulduggery Pleasant for the littlest boy, he loves it, Rick Riordan for the middle boy and a huge pile of absolutely everything for the biggest boy. Wildlife and landscape photography, working out, eating well, cricket, art, skateboard designs, it's all there.

I'm reading a book by Philip Pullman, one of my favourite authors, to the younger two at the moment. The Amber Spyglass is an amazing story, the last part of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Does anyone have any must-read children's books to recommend?

The pile of books is mine, for any spare moments there might happen to be.:) While I'm NaNoWriMo-ing, I imagine that will pretty much take up all the time. Well, that and feeling sorry for myself. I shall be all lightness and delight next time I promise.

16 comments:

  1. Bless your heart and your tooth too. I hope those antibiotics kick in and stop the infection. IT is funny when you can't eat how much you really want to do it. Good that it is soup season. Wishing you a pain free night.

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  2. We have a freezer full of quinces and love them. They seem to be a kind of marmite food. You love or hate them. I guess a painful tooth would be a bit of an extreme way to lose weight. Hope that the antibiotics work soon and I am sure your writing isn’t rubbish.

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  3. My dear girl.. hasn't a dentist figured out what is wrong with your tooth? I am so upset that you've suffered so badly for so long! I do hope the antibiotics do the trick or I shall have throw a hissy fit on your behalf. :-) I'm reading a really good book right now.. Kate Morton's "The Clockmaker's Daughter". Very good read. Keep on writing.. maybe someday I will be able to say "I knew you when". ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  4. Oh poor you. Toothache is horrible and you seem to have been suffering for ages. Fingers crossed that the antibiotics work soon. I loved looking at what you are all reading. I'm trying to think what my girls used to enjoy - Philip Pullman was up there, as were Anthony Horowitz and Eoin Colfer. I hope NaNoWriMo goes well, and I'm sure it's not all rubbish at all! Sending well-making virtual hugs. xx

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  5. We love a good blob of quince jelly on the side when we have chicken, so fragrant and delicious, but I think home made chicken soup with petit pois is your best bet the moment, nature's antibiotic. I'll be ancient next month, so I know what I'm talking about... and sucking Kettles sea salt and balsamic vinegar of Modena crisps seems to work too. Can but try!
    The Midnight Folk by John Masefield is wonderful, as is C.S.Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. if they are still in print. Keep writing for your own happiness, and tiredness is like climbing Everest!

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  6. I'm sorry to see that your tooth is still causing you grief, and hope that it gets better soon. I don't think that I've ever eaten quinces. Well done with NaNoRiMo, I thought that the one I wrote was mostly rubbish as well.
    Happy reading and writing. xx

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  7. Lovely to see all the books and the quinces and very glad you've decided to do the writing, but, oh! your poor tooth. I hope it's better soon xx

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  8. I don't tolerate toothache for five minutes - yours has been going on for an eternity so you have every right to feel sorry for yourself and I really hope those antibiotics do the trick pronto.

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  9. Oh no! Toothache is horrible. I hope it clears up soon. Quinces are a beautiful fruit, but I think they have fallen from favour because they take a little work to make them edible. Though I have heard of people eating them raw ...!

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  10. I do hope your toothache goes soon. I have some more quince waiting for me to do something... maybe some quince cheese this time. Well done on the NaNoWriMo!

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  11. Oh man I really do hope your tooth situation improves! You're all wonderful readers and this is very good. Great books listed!

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  12. Prayers that those antibiotics have kicked in!!!!
    Hope you are able to rest and have a cozy November afternoon.

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  13. I hope the antibiotics have kicked in by now. I am so sorry you are still in agony. Make sure you pamper your microbiome particularly well after your course of antibiotics, it will take a hit, too. I went to a great seminar the other day, the subject was the microbiome (one of the perks of academia is being able to listen to fantastic researchers from all around the world). Sultanaban/Lynda wrote about this very chap a while back. Apart from doing real science, he also tries to communicate it to the general public, which is great. Anyway, mustn't waffle. Glad there is so much reading in your house. Not much reading in my house, sadly. I seem to be the only one always with a book or two on the go. xx

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  14. I read the His Dark Materials trilogy to my girls and they loved it. As luck would have it, the National Theatre put on a production not long after we'd finished the third book (I'm going back years now) - it was in two parts and it was fabulous. My youngest loved the young Bond books by Charlie Higson and Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books; my eldest was gripped by Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses trilogy. I hope your antibiotics are working now so that you can enjoy those quinces - toothache is such miserable pain. Wishing you a better week this week. Jane x

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  15. Oh no, CJ – you really should not have to suffer in pain these days, especially for so long. I hope the pills have kicked in and sorted you out by now. If not, get back to the dentist and make a nuisance of yourself. I have a bowl of quinces but they're not yellow, they're green and therefore not ripe, so they don't create that delicious culinary magic sadly! I'm hoping they'll ripen but I suspect they're for the compost heap. I loved reading The Night Circus and Elizabeth is Missing but haven't read the other two in your pile. My three loved His Dark Materials. Have you read La Belle Sauvage yet? I thought it was excellent. Philip Pullman is a genius in my eye. Well done on the writing – keep it up! There will be nuggets of gold in there. Hope you have a good weekend xx

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  16. I bought a quince the other day I was going to add it to some apples but the Nigel Slater recipe sounds enticing too! Sarah x

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