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Yawn.

Three shifts of nights always fills me with such joy , well any shift at work fills me with such joy..not.

I find myself regularly searching the in house job vacancies for something else to stimulate me.

In house politics have made me unable to be a trainer , due to the fact of their draconian sickness ‘ policy’ , because I had two period of sickness [ certified on both instances ] , my ankle injury and my lump removal at the start of the year , mean I am not able to have the course.

This is all down to the number of shifts I was off , the policy was designed to make sure those that took days here and there ‘ to be sick ‘ would be penalised for applying for anything.

The fact that my two genuine unable to work periods of ‘ sickness ‘ took me over the number of shifts, I am now not able to do or apply for anything until next year seems pathetic to say the least and the muppets that implement this are unable to distinguish between mine and the p*** takers , beggars belief, so I’m bored more often than not , uninspired is not even a very descriptive word to ephasize my mind set.

Yet I see some woefully inept people being elevated to becoming supervisors of what I do.

One in particular has the mouth of a sewer and the most annoying whining girlie giggle that more often than not finds me wanting to drive a poleaxe through his numb skull.

I think I’m likely to come up against him in the very near future.

How my small professional team of supervisors can tolerate him on a daily basis is beside me.

All credit to them.

On a lighter note , I found the need to do some essential cycle maintenance today, replacing inner tubes on my Xtracycle, due to the valve going , luckily I checked the commuter cycle and noticed a nice sliced front wheel , which would have been a tad awkward to discover in a couple of hours when I need to transport myself to work.

So a quick phone call to my local longtime cycle dealer, and a new wheel [ which I needed anyway ] tyre and inner tube, carried in the Free Rad’s and both cycles now back on the road again.

I’m sorely tempted to maybe upgrading the Xtracycle to a new lighter frame , disc brake setup , but I’m not in a hurry and it’s not an essential at this moment in time.

Anyway my fence needs completing first before the airshow kicks in and I need to transport all my garden waste down to the recycling plant yet , but this cannot be done until the parentals return from them vacation as they have the car and trailer that will utilised to do this , although I suppose I could hire a van for a day.

I need to measure off and calculate how many panels and poles I will need in order to erect the new fence as well and that’s definitely a two person job.

Hmmm.

1535 hrs.

I notice also that Oil prices have hit a record high above $127 a barrel on speculation that China will need to import more fuel, stretching global supplies. Maybe those of you that read this will follow Murray , Mine and ‘The Velorutionaries’ and take up the challenge and get Xtracycling.

It won’t be long now that people wil not be able to afford to even run a car.

1556 hrs.

Loving the new album by Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid.

All change now that I’ve had help from Yoda.

Finally cracked away from the boring themes and finally managed to bring the whole of my blog from previous blogs across into Zebra Central.

Although the theme has changed on this and you can only see this one , believe me it’s all here , Yoda is going to help me bring it all across into one unified blog once he has time, so although you only see a couple of months on here at this moment it’s all here.

Piccies / tunes et al.

Not that you care.

Thanks to Hx , HHx , Mr HHx , Glee , Mummy Hx , Amy et al who made this a good surprise for someone special.

A good weekend.

Costoluto Fiorentino , the huge befsteak tomatoes are not really bush types but actually vine tomatoes that could extend for up to 4 feet.

Gulp

A delicious Italian variety ideal for salads or cooking.

Tall, vigorous plants start to fruit early, and it’s a steady producer, cropping over a long period. Gives a heavy yield of huge, juicy, ribbed red fruit over a long season.

Brought to you from the gardeners of Florence.

Fat, red & ribbed, tall vine.

Note: This really is a very good tomato, with high yields of very big fruit. And others agree. In fact, those of you who read ‘Garden Answers’ Magazine may have seen a full page advert for a new ‘Miracle’ tomato last year, at the outrageous price of almost £4 a packet. If you read the small print you’ll see that the variety they were offering was actually ‘Costoluto Fiorentino’

Indie meets techno meets Fatboy Mad and new software.

Regards to Fee , The Bros Denning & Smiley & TSL [ USA ] For being my test audience.

One Of Two I have managed to finish today.

This is the smaller of the two. 11:54 minutes

powered by ODEO

Before I forget Hippy Burpday Matron

Whilst I was travelling I encountered many styles and flavours from all my hosts.

Japanese / Thai / Chinese / German / Aussie ???

But the wonderful sea food restaurant owned and managed by a friend of HKH called Martin was without doubt the tops.

Something I’m never likely to experience again.

So it got me thinking what can I come up with for a soup that will suit the palettes of my hosts.

Butternut Squash, Crab & Chilli is the result.

Serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion , finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic , Crushed
1 Medium Butternut Squash , roughly chopped
1 Stick Lemongrass
Pinch of Chilli Flakes
500ml veggie Stock
140ml Coconut Milk
120g ( 4 1/4 oz.. ) White Crab plus brine if using tinned
1 Tablespoon Fresh Coriander , chopped

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Squeeze Of Lime

Heat oil in the pan , add onion , garlic , butternut squash , cook gently approx. 10 mins.

Peel the tough outer skins of the lemongrass , bash and bruise to release the oils then add this with the chilli flakes to the pan and fry approx. 10 mins

Add the stock , bring to boil , cover and simmer gently until squash is cooked.

Cool a little and remove the lemon grass.

Blend until smooth.

Add coconut milk, crab meat and most of the coriander.

Season to taste , reheat for approx. 5 mins.

Add a squeeze of lime to taste , sprinkle with remainder of coriander and serve.

Consume.

FAO : Junya & Thomas : Maybe Kaffir Lime leaves could be added with the lemon grass.

FAO : HKH : It’s something different for you to try out on Martin when you next host him.

A HDR version of Katoomba : Kato San , this is why I take 3 shots at the same time so when they are all blended they give you a HD version of an otherwise standard photo.