Friday, August 31, 2012

This is fantastic:

You need to click on this link to read it at the original source



New Blog?

I'm seriously considering creating another blog to run alongside this one. My idea is to do something about paleo diet eating in a Scandinavian context. There are loads and loads of paleo blogs out there, but most of them are US based and it often isn't easy to take american recipes and ideas and use them in a Scandinavian context.

We have a much more limited access to the ingredients that are often used in paleo recipes and in general the selection of food available is different.

Here are links to a couple that I like which could serve as some inspiration:

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/

http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/

Perhaps this should be my winter project.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Summer ending???

I should have been out riding my bike this morning, it is just getting light when I go out at about 5:45 but this morning the air was very cold and damp and worst, there was a thick fog.

I don't mind the cold damp air, that is nice and refreshing, but the fog is just dangerous and I don't have any lights set up at the moment so it would have been dangerous to go out as I have to cross busy roads and roundabouts.

I opted to ride on the trainer instead which is considerably less fun than being out in the fresh air. I guess I'd better get used to it although I will get the lights sorted out this evening so that I can get outside again on Friday morning.

The coconut "bread" below is a rather odd eggy, greasy creation, but it's not that bad and the kids seem to like it with some chocolatey stuff on top. I personally liked it best with BHP's homemade rose-hip jam.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Bread?

Not quite, it's paleo coconut bread made with 12 eggs, a packet of butter and a cup or so of coconut flour. It's a bit greasy and eggy but overall not bad, the biggest drawback is the cost of making it.

Monday, August 27, 2012

The nearly broken halyard

Battered

It's been another busy weekend (the only kind we have these days thankfully). J's street football was over by lunch so we headed to the summer house with cousin A as we were babysitting her overnight.

We had a good walk along the beach to wear out those who hadn't played football before cooking up a big batch of tacos for the kids and chilli for us.

The night went smoothly and we woke up to a good strong wind. J and I took the boat down to the beach and with a lot of huffing and puffing (and swearing trying to get the rudder on whilst being beaten by the boat in the waves) I got out for a sail. The wind was verging on being too strong for me in reality and I was very conscious of not having any back up of a rescue boat should something break.

I tore backwards and forwards across the bay having a blast. I did have to stop the put the rudder back on again at one point (I have a new retainer clip to put on) but after about 45 minutes I called it a day as I was getting tired and rather battered. I took the sail down to find that the wire halyard that holds the sail up had almost broken. There were only 2 strands left so I had timed it perfectly.

This morning I was up and out at 5:30 for my early morning bike ride, I enjoyed it again and seem to be getting into the habit just in time for the mornings to be too dark to go out. I then had my renal scan which wasn't all that much fun and the tracing fluid has left me felling a bit crappy all day. Hopefully it will all have been a waste of time anyway.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Street Football

Three goals, three teams, one ball and probably a load of confused kids...

Saturday morning

Breakfast pancakes now made with banana coconut and ground almonds, cooked in butter. Yummy!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Physiotherapy

Concentrating on walking the line.

Hair cut and colour

Don't worry, the colour washes out but he loves it.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Early morning bike rides

My alarm clock went off at 5:30 again this morning and for the second time this week. I dragged myself out of bed and went straight out on my bike. The sun isn't up when I leave the house at 5:45,  but it is light enough not to be dangerous and I am getting to enjoy the experience of seeing it come up from the saddle.

I blogged last week that I had admitted to myself that the only way I could find time to exercise was to get it out of the way before breakfast and it seems to be working as I have now succeeded on each of the 3 occasions I have tried and enjoyed each of them. That is despite the rather tough interval sessions involved.

I find it wakes me up very well and I don't have the problems of cramp in bed and difficulty sleeping that I get with late night exercising although I am ready for bed a little earlier than normal. Early bed times fit perfectly with MK's circadian rhythms though so there's no problem there.

Maybe I'll even get some photos one morning although I am not sure that my brain or co-ordination to manage that, remember the intervals I am supposed to be doing and also staying upright on a bike.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Blueberries and cream

As good as strawberries at this time of year ad note the delicious yellow cream. Yummy

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Kidney Stones

Apparently that discomfort that I experienced a couple of weeks ago in the bathroom was probably the result of a kidney stone.

How exciting.

MK made me go to the doctors after I (in a typically male way) declared that there was nothing to worry about as the small amount of bleeding and pain had all gone away. She wasn't buying that so I gave a good fingers worth of blood to the doctor along with a cup of wee and will be called in for a scan to check if there are any more kidney stones in due course.

A little research with Dr Google has left me convinced that I should ditch my calcium supplements that I started taking after giving up dairy. They are even more redundant now that I drink cream and eat butter all the time!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Sailing

We just had a fantastic weekend.

Friday was the medieval festival in Ringsted so after J and I had our hair cut (and he had temporary coloured stripes done) we watched some people dressed in silly clothes doing silly stuff and a woman kill and gut a chicken before heading out to the summer house for the weekend.

I spent Saturday morning repairing the broken bits of the boat with marine plywood and glass fibre and then set about rigging it up. That was no easy task without anything to refer to but in the end I decided that I wasn't racing anyone so the most important thing was that the correct things were securely attached to the boat, mast, boom or sail before hitting the hay.

The weather has been fantastic so we dragged the boat down to the beach on Sunday morning and had a great time sailing around, first on my own, then with the kids and after lunch I got MK to come out for a test ride again.

There wasn't much wind, but there was enough for it to be fun and the kids enjoyed it. We didn't get many photographs as it tends to be me taking then and I was busy with the boat. We'll try to get some more next time.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Blue and yellow hair

Medieval festival

Kids watching a chicken having its head chopped off with an axe. Good wholesome family entertainment in Ringsted.

Launching trolley

Life is busy all the time these days. I have finally admitted to myself that if I want to get regular exercise, then it's going to have to be in the mornings before everyone is out of bed. I hate early mornings and particularly hate jumping out of bed into vigorous activity but my first attempt at it in a long time as a success. I managed an hour long bike ride before 7:00 yesterday morning and had a good day afterwards.

Yesterday evening I was out getting a launching trolley for the boat. The guy bought it for a boat he   was expecting to buy, but his plans changed so he was left with a trolley and no boat. I got it unused and half price. It came apart into pieces small enough to fit in the car and the only problem was that I could only fir 3 or the 4 bolts when I took it out of the car.

Bother

Now I need a trip to the hardware store again to get one, but all in all, I am pretty happy to have found a trolley I can use so cheaply. I just hope that I can get it down the beach in the sand on my own with a boat on it. Some of the others on the beach have double wheels or maybe I need some balloon tyres.

We hope to get the boat in the water at the weekend, wish us luck.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sauerkraut

Apparently this stuff will be good to eat and wonderfully healthy once it has fermented for a few days. I remain skeptical for the time being but if nothing else, it will have been a good way to get another cabbage out of my life.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Pillar to Post

It's been an incredibly busy weekend. I started cutting the hedge last week in the evenings so the inside was done before we started on Saturday morning. We had rented a trailer from 10 for 4 hours and we used all of that time cutting the rest, collecting the cuttings up and taking them to the tip along with a friends cuttings from her allotment.

We collected DK from a birthday part at 2:30 and then had some lunch before MK and the boys drove to the summer house and I cycled the 55km over there for a quick swim in the sea and supper.

Sunday involved a bit more swimming and getting started on the boat repairs. I have removed the rotten centreboard supports and a friend gave me some marine plywood so that I can make some replacements. We smoked some fish for lunch with the rest of the ever increasing family before I cycled home and MK took the boys for ice cream and got on with cooking dinner.

A final hour or so of ironing before bed and I was completely finished. With a bit of luck, I may be able to get the boat into the water next weekend. Fingers crossed.

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Dinner

Half way through salmon with kale, garlic mashed cauliflower and seaweed salad.

Yummy

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Back to School

The new school year is almost upon us, MK is back in her office from today and lessons start again for J on Monday. That also means that the extra curricular activities are about to get into full swing as well.

J is carrying on with football - no doubt two evenings per week and matches at the weekend as before and is now also doing athletics one evening a week and maybe some other stuff that I can't remember such as gymnastics or maybe tennis

DK is about to start music lessons, swimming lessons and gymnastics as well.

I guess that MK will be going for gymnastics as well so it looks like there isn't going to be a lot of free time for any of us for a while especially as a lot of these sessions are weekend mornings.

As for me, I don't think I will be signing up for guitar this season as I can't imagine having time for it and I still have some idea that I can cycle until October and would like to find some enthusiasm for riding again after putting myself off quite effectively with hard training in the spring.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Monday, August 06, 2012

Kale Bolognaise

Finn D134

MK and I looked at a Finn dinghy last week and were a little unsure about whether or not we should buy it. In the end, I made a low offer and waited to see what the seller said. After thinking overnight (I suspect he told his wife what he was offered, he didn't want to say yes, but she made him agree to get it out of the way) he said yes provided that we collect within a week.

The scene was set.

Sunday morning we drove to Gørlev, rented a big flat trailer from the petrol station and then went to get the boat (dropping off the kids and collecting BHP on the way).

It all went fairly smoothly considering that the launch trolley has a broken axle and it was not exactly easy to pick up. It was home and delivered to the summer house before lunch.



Now it needs: a new trolley or the old one fixed, buoyancy bags, centre board supports fixing and some toe straps. Then we can take it for a test...


Thursday, August 02, 2012

Part eaten paleo dinner for one

Rib eye steak(s), sweet potatoes and spinach.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Sand castles

Torn

I don't know what to do.

MK and I went to take a look at the Finn yesterday evening and it's not in too bad condition, but needs some work before it would be sea worthy again. The supports on the side of the centreboard are rotten and need replacing, it needs some buoyancy bags and I suppose that all of the rigging (ropes and stuff) need replacing. On top of that, the launch trolley is a write off.

On the plus side it is in reasonable condition without any obvious damage and all of the important bits are there. There are 2 sales and it is geographically close and it is also the only Finn for sale within 100s of miles as far as I can see.

I think it is a doable winter project to get the boat sail-able again and I don'think it would cost too much, but I need some more evidence to support this for my own and MK's peace of mind.

We also need a new washing machine, but that's significantly less boring.