How do I ......? (part 2)

No. 3    Sunday 29 May 2011

How do I cook my food?  That is quite an easy question to deal with - I do very little actual cooking, again modern technology comes to the rescue.  It is a combination of pre-prepared food and modern equipment.  The main meal of the day is lunch which consists of a chilled or frozen "ready meal" heated in a microwave oven (which also doubles as a conventional oven) followed, always, by a banana.  These ready meals come in such a wide variety that, with even just the chilled ones, I could go for a whole month without repeating a meal - if I so wanted.  The other meals - breakfast consists of a bowl of cereal and tea is either a sandwich (bought ready prepared from the supermarket) or a pasty, quiche or burger heated in the microwave followed, always, by a pot of probiotic yogurt.  Finally supper is, again always, a beaker of cranberry juice and a banana.  As you can see my meals are a combination of variety and routine which is how I prefer it as the routine part saves me having to decide minor matters.

Another problem which might arise, especially to keen gardeners, is what do I do about gardening as I didn't mention a gardener in my first blog.  Well, again a simple answer, my garden (or the space usually described as such) has nothing growing on it - front or back.  The front is a good quality gravel, the pieces of which tend to interlock under pressure, spread over a membrane to prevent weeds, surrounded by low concrete edging.  In the centre is a large simple square pattern of slate.  The back is much larger and is on two levels, the part away from the house being much lower and terminating in a brook running in a deepish gully.  The upper part is paved with slate in various dark colours and the lower part is covered with decking which looks like grey driftwood but is actually plastic.  Separating the two parts, and the lower from the brook, are waist high white post and rail fences - again made of plastic.  Rounding off the absence of maintenance rule is the fencing to the boundaries which (with the agreement of the neighbours) is of brown plastic patterned like boards.  I am just waiting for the contractors to come and install the same fencing on the far side of the brook.  The two levels of the garden are connected by ramps so that they are fully accessible to me.  From the back door (out of bedroom 2) is a short slate ramp to the upper level and from this level to the lower one is a longer ramp made of decking.  To finish off the general appearance I have added an ornament at the front and three more at the back.