Notes of Life

Mika having a kip!

This photo was taken with my new mobile phone (Sony Ericsson W995) and hasn’t come out bad, considering. I was reading a book (Strange Brew (Edited by P. N. Elrod)) and Mika came and curled up by me on the bed, so I couldn’t resist reaching across for my phone to take a photo.

The snow that first fell before Christmas and continued until this past week has now all but gone. The fields and hills are now green with just patches of white. The only thing now that it’s melting is that there’s water all over the place… I just hope it doesn’t freeze again just yet!

My migraine/headache has gone too. However, I now have a cold in it’s place! What next?

Photo posted for Camera Critters.

Being wheat and lactose intolerant, I’ve tried many wheat free breads, but they are usually awful. Wheat free breads have a tendency to be thick, stodgy, tasteless and not worth the high price you have to pay for them. I would sit at work looking longingly at my colleague’s sandwiches, with the smell of lovely bread wafting my way.

Then one weekend I was watching BBC News when they started interviewing a woman called Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne. Lucinda wanted her son to be able to enjoy “soldiers” with his boiled egg just like other kids, but because of his restricted diet he couldn’t. She made it her mission to create a fresh gluten free bread that everyone could enjoy. Lucinda named the bread Genius.

So, did Lucinda succeed and is she a genius?

Well, it took me a while to find out! Tesco initially had an exclusive contract to sell the bread and, because my nearest Tesco is currently an hour away, I had to wait. When I finally did get to Tesco, I expected to find the Genius bread with the other ‘free from’ range sold at Tesco. When I didn’t find it there I was quite disappointed. However, a trip to the bread aisle to pick up bread for my Dad, ensured that I found the Genius bread. There it was among the “normal” loaves of bread. Luckily the Genius bread caught my eye. Like with other breads I had the choice of white or brown, so went with my preferred brown.

Genius Gluten Free Brown Bread is not just gluten free, it is also wheat free and dairy free, so perfect for me! As I’ve said before, other gluten free breads aren’t fresh and tend to be stodgy and feel tough. However the Genius Gluten Free Bread is fresh and even invites you to give it a squeeze. Of course, I accepted the invitation and gave it a squeeze… It didn’t feel as soft as “normal” breads, but it did feel softer than any other gluten free bread I’ve squeezed! *I admit it… I’m a phantom bread squeezer!*

When I got the bread home I decided to give it a proper taste test and split a slice between me and my Mum (who doesn’t have any food intolerances). It tasted pretty much like any normal slice of brown bread and I don’t think I’d have been able to tell the difference if I hadn’t have bought the loaf myself.

Next I used it to make sandwiches to take with me to work for my lunch. It sliced nicely (Genius bread isn’t pre-sliced) and didn’t crumble. Most importantly, it was fresh and soft. Eating my gluten free, wheat free and dairy free sandwiches (complete with soya spread, Lactofree cheese, ham & salad) at work was heaven – I’d never been so glad to have tasty sandwiches for lunch!

I loved my sandwiches so much that I went all the way back to Tesco to buy another loaf when I’d finished the first! I can’t wait for Tesco to open up in my nearest town (not long now) so I can easily buy this bread.

The good news is that they are now also selling the bread in Asda, Waitrose and Selfridges, so Genius bread will be more readily available (in the UK).

Genius Gluten Free Brown Bread comes in a 400g (approx) loaf, but (as with other ‘free from’ products) you do have to pay the price for being able to consume nice ‘free from’ food… It cost me £2.49 compared to my Dad’s “normal” wholemeal loaf at 61p. I think you’ll agree that’s quite a price difference!

Other Genius Gluten Free Bread information…

This bread does contain egg, but is otherwise gluten free, wheat free and dairy free. It is suitable for vegetarians and it produced on a site that does not handle nuts (but cannot be guaranteed nut free). The ingredients include: Water, Potato Starch, Cornflour, Vegetable Oil, Tapioca Starch, Egg White, Rice Bran, Treacle, Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Yeast, Cellulose, Salt, Sugar Beet Flakes and Millet Flakes. (I’d have never have guessed that Treacle would have been one of the ingredients!).

So again, did Lucinda succeed and is she a genius?

Yes and yes! This bread is lovely and you really can’t tell the difference between this and “normal” bread… apart from the price. Once Tesco opens in my nearest town I’ll be buying this on a weekly basis (rather than just when I’m near another Tesco). It’s heaven to be able to eat sandwiches again!

For more information visit www.geniusglutenfree.com – you’ll also find some gluten free recipes!

Also posted on my Dooyoo account.

It’s been more than a couple of weeks since my last post and I don’t really have an excuse. I’m full of cold now, but that’s only been since the weekend. I’m surrounded by a box of tissues, medicated sweets and an empty mug of Lemsip. I’m just hoping I can sleep tonight, because sleep has escaped me for the past 2 or 3 nights and to say I’m tired would be an understatement!

So, what have I been up to? Not much really, apart from work, spending time with friends, writing reviews and reading.

I’ve recently redeemed another £20 Amazon voucher for writing reviews on Dooyoo, so that’s over £210 worth of Amazon vouchers earned from writing reviews since May last year. It’s only pocket money, but it’s provided me with books, DVDs and CDs etc. I used part of my most recent voucher to buy The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi which has just been released in hardback, though I’m aware the paperback version, when released, may contain an extra chapter as Patrick sadly died just before the release of this autobiography written with his wife. I haven’t started reading the book yet, as I’m half way through another book, but it’s now sat waiting in my big pile of books to be read. It’ll probably jump straight to the top as Patrick’s untimely death is a current topic.

I’m currently reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I spotted the book in a Ludlow bookshop… The tagline “When Death tells a story, you really have to listen” got me intrigued and the fact that it’s a “The Sunday Times Bestseller” told me I was in for a good book, so I picked it up and paid full price for it as I couldn’t wait to read it. ‘The Book Thief’ is narrated by Death and is about a young girl called Liesel who lives in Nazi Germany. Her brother has died and she is living with a foster parents on Himmel Street. Before Liesel arrived there she stole her first book at her brother’s graveside… it is not the last book she steals. It’s quite a read at nearly 600 pages, but I am around two-thirds of the way through and I can barely put it down.

There’s another book that has caught my eye, but which I’ve yet to buy… It’s Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson. It’s a thriller about Isaac Newtown when he ran the Royal Mint and discovered a very skillful counterfeiter. I’ve added the book to my Amazon wishlist and will probably either put it on my Christmas list or buy it in the new year, after all, I do have quite a pile of books to get through already!

Are you currently reading a book? Any books you can recommend?

I can’t tell you what this flower is… We’ve lost the tag! We’ve cut a few from the garden and put them in the kitchen window to brighten it up a bit.

In fact, I could do with being brightened up a bit! On Thursday I had one of my top wisdom teeth extracted (which I think hurt my purse more than it hurt me) and then yesterday (after taking my Mum, Nan & Granddad out for a meal for Granddad’s birthday) a chipping flew up and hit the top of my windscreen, resulting in a large crack. So now my windscreen needs replacing (and they can’t come out to do it until Tuesday, depending on the weather, because it’s a Bank Holiday weekend) – another dent to my bank balance! I was going to make an appointment to see the optician in September, but I think I’d better’d leave that until October as I’ve got another dental appointment in a week or two for a check-up.

On a happier note… Happy Birthday to my friend Kim!

For us this weekend was another of remembering. This time we were remembering our friend Roy who died back in August.

You see, Roy wasn’t a religious man (actually, it was best not to mention religion to him!) so when he died while on holiday in the Isle of Man with his son, they thought it best to cremate him there and spread his ashes where they’d spread his wifes just a few years earlier. So the family had organised a “do” for us to remember him and it was organised for yesterday.

The “do” was in 2 parts. The first was a non-religious remembrance service in the village hall and the second part was down at one of the village pubs with food and drink aplenty.

Roy’s son Peter gave a wonderful and funny speach telling us all about Roy’s life and some of the things he used to get up to. Others (including my Dad) were also given an opportunity to share the moments they’d had with Roy. Roy’s granddaughter also read a Rudyard Kipling poem (with out even reading the words). I must say it was a wonderful service. Roy wouldn’t want us to be sad and so it was a celebration of his life. Peter did a wonderful job, although Dad had to fight back the tears when he started telling us about the time he’d spent with Roy.

A wonderful spread of food was laid out at the pub and everyone talked amongst themselves about moments they remembered with Roy.

All in all, I wish all funerals could be more like that. A celebration of a life rather than grieving about our loss.

Today Dad is having to drink some horrible stuff in preparation for his Bowel Cancer check-up tomorrow. The stuff is disgusting (powder mixed with water), I know as I’ve had to take it in the past… just not as much as Dad’s having to drink this afternoon! Dad has been clear of cancer for a few years now, so *fingers crossed* all should still be OK.

I’ve taken tomorrow off work so I can drive Dad to the hospital. I’ll have around 3 hours to spare, so I’ll go into Shrewsbury and do a little Christmas shopping. Depending on the weather, I might do a little photography too, but the weather has been a bit miserable of late!

I think that’s about it for now. I’ve been busy writing reviews on DooYoo and I’ve now earned myself £70 in Amazon vouchers since May, with another £10 not far away. It’s good, I’ve not had to spend money on CDs and DVDs for a while now!