Masterchef No More

It being spring Masterchef is back on our screens, but like Dancing on Ice before it, I'll watch until the end of this  series to see who wins and then call a halt. The main reason for my decision is this

I think that just abut sums up most of the things I find irritating in the extreme about Greg Wallace; most of the rest you would need a soundtrack for.

I hate the stupid faces he pulls and his stupid put on mirthless laugh, and I hate how he pesters and patronises the contestants. I'm constantly annoyed by how, when giving his opinions on the food that is served up, he simply repeats what the other more knowledgeable judges have said, but changes the wording slightly, presumably because he thinks that will disguise the fact that he has no opinion of his own. I'm sick and tired of is clichéd phrases, and I swear if I hear him say ''you've got the sweet earthiness of beetroot coming through there' once more I will throw something at the TV. As it is I shout at it (well raise my voice! I know they can't hear me) off and on all through the programmes, and generally it's when Greg opens his mouth to speak and I say 'No-one cares what you think Greg'. Because honestly - nobody does. I really don't know why he co-hosts htis program, he's not a chef, as far as I know he doesn't even cook, he's just a thrice bankrupt, thrice divorced bloke who knows a bit about vegetables. 

Anyway I can't take it any longer and my Masterchef watching days are over. I'll continue to watch Masterchef the Professionals because Wallace makes only fleeting appearances on that and when he does is largely kept in check by the infamous Marcus Wareing. But unchecked, full flight, giggling, gurning, groaning, ghastly Greg - no more for me, thanks. 

Making Things Happen

One of the reasons we dashed down to Glasgow last week was to attend a Masterclass at Scottish Opera.

It's not often we have the opportunity to go to these but they fascinate me. I love watching the process of an older, experienced singer not only coaching a younger singer in technique, but passing on ideas and hints gained from a  lifetime  of performing.

We started sponsoring artists through Scottish Opera's Emerging Artist program a couple of years ago. This year 'our' singer is a young Russian, a  baritone who is a great admirer of Sir Thomas Allen . As huge fans of Tom ourselves this was one of the major  reasons behind our decision to support this singer rather than any of the others. We knew Alexey was keen to have the opportunity to study with TA so it gave us a huge amount of pleasure to be able to fund a masterclass with the two of them. 

They looked at Largo al Factotum from The Barber of Seville, a big sing in anyone's terms, especially  for Alexey who came straight from a day's rehearsing a completely different role. It was fascinating to watch the two of them refine the performance and once again to realise all the  detailed work that goes into making the difference between competent, good and great singing  - or in Tom's terms, between singing in Llandudno and singing in Milan. 

The passing on of tradition, of expertise, of wisdom, has always played a massive part in opera , more than in any other art than perhaps ballet. Being able to facilitate this in a small way was absolutely a privilege for us. And as far as we could ell, the participants and the small invited audience all enjoyed themselves very much in the process. Seemed like a win/win to me. 

Spring is Sprung

So there has been this happy coincidence recently;  spring has finally arrived (although if you were judging from today's weather which is strong winds and lashing rain you might doubt it ) and I can actually see some of the things it brings, so I went out and took some photos in TWWCTG.

Miniature daffodils ...

...and miniature daffodils with that white stuff whose name escapes me for the moment

some of the heather is in bloom 

and finally finally the snowdrops have made it

and here's The Cat Lorenzo enjoying the sunshine. 

I don't think the coming of spring has ever lifted my  spirits as much as it has this year. I can't think why it should be so, unless winter was worse than I thought.  Whatever the reason though, I'm very glad of it. 

A Little More Attention at the Back, Please!

Remember when I bought those new trousers recently and didn't notice they had a side zip and was only saved from the consequences of my inattentive folly by the fact that I could actually get them on and off without needing to bother the zip at all?

Well last week I wore the new pyjamas that I purchased even more recently and here's a thing. The trousers have tapered legs. And pockets. I don't think I have ever had a pair of pyjama trousers with pockets in them before.

I'm not objecting. I think the tapered legs and the pockets are lovely. Very Twenties, very elegant. If only I had an elegant Twenties body to put them on. 

Eye Update

So I went to see the eye surgeon last Tuesday and he wasn't at all grumpy or abrupt as I had been told he was. Possibly a bit condescending, in a nice way, but hey! why shouldn't he be? He\s the one that knows about eyes. I'm just the patient who needs hers fixing. 

Anyway it was good news. He's quite happy to do the op in the left eye, so I'm waiting now for the summons to that. It's a scary prospect, particularly after what happened last time, but really, how unlucky would  I have to be for the machine to fail on me a second time? 

The right eye needed some laser treatment and I was rather disconcerted to discover that he intended to do that there and then. Probably better than giving me an appointment and having me go home and get all worked up about it though. It took about 30 seconds, I was promised an eyeful of floaters for a few days which was what I got but they have mostly resolved themselves now, just one medium sized one left that I hardly notice unless I move my eyes very rapidly indeed. On the upside the world is suddenly a much brighter lighter place and I can see lots more than I could! Still can't see to read properly but the op will take care of that and meanwhile the improvement has totally lifted my spirits, which had been getting very low. 

So All was Good.

And then on Wednesday morning we caught the early morning ferry for what we thought was going to be our madly busy two days in Glasgow ....

New Things 2018No 1 /Baking Subscription March.

Yup, it's two for the price of one today. Obviously plans for enjoying ten new things in 2018 have been somewhat hampered by my limited ability to see but I have now managed one, courtesy of the baking subscription. 

And here it is

just to be clear, it's making a ganache. The OH has done this quite often, often enough to jeer at contestants on MKR Australia when they try, but I've never bothered. However, there it was on this month's recipe, so I made it. I did what it said to do on  the card, despite the OH's protestations that it was the 'wrong way' which basically means 'not the way I do it',  and it turned out fine; thick and glossy like it should be. . As you can see.  

The whole thing looked like this

I can't tell you how good it is as we haven't sampled it yet. We're off to Glasgow at the crack of dawn tomorrow and we're taking it with us so that son no 2 and his flat mate can share. Going on Wednesday and back on Friday, which  sounds, and possibly is, a bit mad. But there is something we don't want to miss tomorrow, and again on Thursday, we couldn't go today because of my hospital appointment and we're coming back Friday because we're trying to cut down on the time we ask other people, basically our friend J, to feed the cats. 

Some Good News

Yesterday I chased up my position on the ophthalmic waiting list with the hospital and they told me there was an appointment letter on its way, and today the letter turned up so they were obviously right! I am seeing the surgeon next Tuesday afternoon and I hope very much that he will be amenable to doing the necessary to restore my sight to something a lot closer to normal vision than what I experience just now. 

It's a bit scary but as I said to someone, this  is the only way forward so the sooner the better really. The optometrist worried me a bit with all his talk of possible complications and risk to reward ratios, which no-one said anything about when I had the other eye done, but hopefully the surgeon can put the little worries to rest and I can await the operation with a calm (ish) mind.