Friday – Sorry folks – with all the stress involved in my PIP assessment on Thursday, I completely forgot to upload the draft of my WOYWW post! I did wonder why I wasn’t getting any comments that actually referred to it… Duh… Too much on my mind, and the whole thing has exhausted me and I’ve been a bit brainfogged…
Anyway, here it is – better late than never!!
What’s On My Workdesk this Wednesday? Same old story – not a lot, apart from clutter on my main work area.
I did manage to tidy the further side of the studio this week, though.
I had hoped to be able to share with you the final phase of my eco project this week, but alas, it is not finished. I’m experiencing some problems with it, and the first part is pretty laborious. If it doesn’t work, I may have to think again. You can see the stuff associated with this between the sewing machine and the plastic storage box with felt in it. Sorry to keep you in suspense, folks, but I’ve also had other things on my mind this week.
Meal Prep Tuesday
This went pretty well this week. I didn’t need to buy quite as much stuff as before. You can read full details here.
Having plenty of veg stock in the freezer, I made soup instead, this week. Full of veggie goodness, with a slightly smoky flavour from the smoked paprika. Freezer fodder now ready.
I haven’t managed to do a “recipe of the week” this week. Too much else on my mind…
Diet
Last week I gained a couple of pounds which surprised and disappointed me, because I didn’t think I’d done anything to cause it! One’s body can go up and down a bit, I suppose, and I thought there was little point in panicking about it! As it turned out, this week, I was shocked to find I had lost six pounds!!! If you don’t count last week’s upward drift, I suppose I could say I’d really lost only four pounds. My hubby had gained a pound, and yesterday (weigh-day) when I told him what had happened to me, he was amazed and asked, “What did you do?” I told him, “Whole-foods plant-based diet!”
We went out for lunch with friends on Sunday and they all had the carvery – my hubby of course went for a large one, and had a pint of beer with his lunch. I didn’t say anything, but ordered the only vegan option, which was actually well worth having – a really good curry, albeit with a rather greasy popadum on the side – people don’t realise you don’t actually have to cook with oil at all!
I told my hubby yesterday that I wasn’t surprised he’d gained a pound. I said that for this to work, you do actually have to do it! Of course, the occasional lapse for a special occasion isn’t going to do any harm, but I have little control over what goes on when he’s out of the house. I said to him that if he agreed to watch the film [Forks Over Knives] he would understand why I was doing this, and how it works. I said it would help him engage with his own health a bit more. He didn’t react so negatively against it as before, and perhaps my greater weight loss this week has impressed him enough to prompt him in the right direction. I did point out that his choices at the lunch out wouldn’t be doing him any favours, and left it at that. This diet is about so much more than just weight loss, but that’s a way in for my hubby at least.
I’m getting into more of a routine with the food now, and not preparing so much – that salad I made a couple of weeks ago was overwhelming – far too much – and I ended up throwing away the last bit. It was pretty heavy going with all that chewy cabbage in it too! Lesson learnt. Also, cooking more than we need each time, I am able to put the excess in the freezer. I always cook double the amount of grain, too, whether it be rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat etc., and put the other half in a box in the fridge, so I can whip it out for the next meal or so. This has the added benefit of the starch being converted to resistant starch by chilling after cooking. I cook more than we need of pulses too – my Ninja Foodi electric pressure cooker is absolutely brilliant for this. Perfect results every time, and no need for soaking either!
I am making almond milk most days now, as we gradually transition away from dairy. The only dairy I am now consuming is the yoghurt I make. My first attempt at almond milk yoghurt was not a success – the recipe definitely needs tweaking! I am awaiting delivery of some probiotic capsules today and then I shall try again. The almond milk kefir is very different, and requires slightly different treatment from the dairy version, but absolutely delicious.
Leaky Pipe
A couple of days ago I noticed someone poking about in the road outside our house. I went over to the window and had a look, and spotted a water authority van with “leak detection” written on the side. The man rang the bell later and spoke to my hubby. They had detected a leak in the pipe under the road outside our house and it would need to be fixed. Being their side of the meter, there would be no cost to ourselves, of course. Yesterday two men turned up and dug a hole in the road, which had to be extended until they found the leak. They told me it was very small, and I asked how they knew where to look for it! Apparently they patrol around looking for leaks, and can tell that there is one if there is a pressure differential between two different points. They can then pinpoint the road, and go in with their stethoscope thingies and discover it! Very clever. They have filled the hole in now, but there is still a barrier around it till someone comes to tarmac it over. Our road is very narrow, especially as people park along one side, so it’s going to cause a bit of an obstruction, but we hope they will come and deal with it fairly promptly.
New Fridge – I Hope!
Yesterday I contacted a kitchen fitter about installing a new fridge, and left a message on his answering machine. I am hoping he will be able to remove the existing fitted fridge freezer and move it into Mum’s flat, and in its place put a full-height larder fridge. My current fridge is bursting at the seams, with all the meal prepping I am doing, not to mention all of what my hubby darkly refers to as my “liquids” – my kombucha, kefir and rehydration drink – makes me feel like Dr. Frankenstein in his sinister laboratory when I get all my bottles and jars and funnels and sieves out on a Friday morning! Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble… You get the picture! Anyway, what I could really do with is a Tardis.
I also want to ask the kitchen fitter for some advice about the large dead space behind the microwave. It’s a sort of glory hole where I keep my VeggieBullet and I have to lean over and struggle to lift it over the knife block, and it gets pretty messy behind there too – inaccessible unless I move the microwave (not possible) so it doesn’t get cleaned. I hope he will have some useful suggestions! It is the recess to the side of the old chimney breast. On the other side I’ve got my beautiful pantry – a fabulous use of what was another dead space.
Health Update
As with last week’s blog entry, this isn’t exactly a health update – it’s about my PIP assessment appointment. This is happening tomorrow morning at 9.30. I have been all over the place emotionally this past week over this, and probably not helping myself much by watching people on YouTube giving their horror story accounts, and the unbelievable results. I thought to myself that if those people, who were so obviously profoundly and tragically disabled, got a result of “0 points,” whatever hope did I have? The reports of assessors actually lying on their statements, disgusted me even more than the fact that during the interview, they constantly try to trip you up, and twist your answers.
Yesterday morning in my Bible reading (I am doing a “Bible in a year” programme, and am in the Psalms at the moment), I was open-mouthed when I read the three Psalms set for the day, which were so appropriate for my situation, and I was able to use them as a prayer. They were Psalms 140-142 if anyone is interested in following this up. Poor old King David had his share of troubles at the hand of those who plotted evil against him! He has always been my Old Testament hero. This morning’s Psalms were in the same vein – 143-145 (especially the first two). Those of you who pray – and I know that several are already praying for me in this situation – please continue to do so. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.
During yesterday, I decided that worrying myself into a state over this, and falling into the victimhood trap wasn’t going to help me at all. Everyone says that it doesn’t matter a hill of beans what you say – the assessor will make up their own mind (and very often they will have done so before you even arrive), so I now believe I’ve got nothing to lose, and what I need to do is to take control of the interview from the beginning. I remember reading somewhere of someone who was taken hostage and interrogated. He entered the room and was told to “sit down on the chair.” Before doing so, he moved the chair a few inches. This showed that he had some control over the situation and was exercising a choice about sitting down. A small move, but a significant one. I have a few plans up my sleeve to enable this to happen. We shall see, anyway.
If I go in with a modicum of control and lay some cards on the table from the outset, which will only take a few minutes, I will then be able to give the assessor permission to go ahead and do their thing. In this way, I will be in control of the interview from the start, and in a subtle way, this will shift the balance of power. I know that I am in the right and that I do qualify for the same level of benefit that I have been receiving hitherto, and that I will ultimately be vindicated, and if I am rejected at this first stage, it will not be my fault.
This whole thing stinks. Everyone who has been through it says so, and for many it is simply too much to endure, and they give up. This is what the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) wants, because this way, they save money. They don’t care about those sick and disabled and vulnerable and suffering people, whose lives will literally be ruined if this payment is withdrawn from them. They don’t care that it leads some to suicide, or that they can never leave their homes again because their motability cars are taken away from them. It’s enough to make one weep.
Sorry for the rant. I feel very strongly about this. I shall be blogging in due course about my interview, but it may take a few days before I can do it.
Wishing all my fellow WOYWW-ers a happy and productive week ahead, and I hope to have Phase 3 of the eco project ready to show you soon! If it all goes pear-shaped, I shall use it for something else!
