Friday, July 20, 2007

Any Old Iron?

Apparently a by-product of domestic goddess earth mother homemade sourdough bread baking activity is the urge to make a lot of homemade soup to accompany said sourdough. I think Suse could have warned me.

(Lamb & barley soup. Tastes better than it looks).

Or maybe it's a by-product of super-improved energy since the iron transfusion. Because I just feel SO much better. I would thoroughly recommend the process to anyone out there feeling like a beached whale, or how I imagine a beached whale feels, viz:
Damn, how did I end up here, I should swim back out because otherwise I'm going to die slowly and miserably but it looks too hard and I cannot be bothered. Maybe a nice hippy will come and heave me back.
I wish I'd found out about my iron deficiency and my sludgy thyroid a couple of years ago. I should actually have paid better attention to my fabulous GP, who narrowed her eyes every time I brought one of the kids in for an appointment and said why have you got such awful bags under your eyes? Or why do you look so terrible? Which at the time was slightly insulting and I of course thought the answer was : because I'm old and nature is cruel. Well, I am and she is. But more to the point and for no reason that we have yet discovered (although my guess is that the babies leeched out all my nutrients during their incubation and breastfeeding days) my iron levels were so pathetic that instead of the normal dosage of half or 1 gram of iron, I needed 2 grams of the stuff. I think this explains why I turned pink the next day.

Anyway, like I said, I feel great now, and it hasn't even been the full 3 weeks they said it would take to kick in. Teaching tap is going great guns, I've got my bounce back and my students are starting to feel the burn (and incidentally the phone is running hot at present; the tap business is doing very nicely indeed). And I can now just get out of bed of a morning instead of draaaggging myself out. Sadly, the house is no cleaner. But that is partly school holidays, partly very wet weather (who wants to mop when you know the kids will track in mud?) and partly dealing with extra tap stuff. I'll get there though. One day. I have cleaning plans.

Probably not for this weekend though. I have an appointment with Harry Potter. So, like Captain Oates, I am just going outside [the blog-tent] and may be some time.

16 comments:

  1. Oh, criminy. I'm sorry about the iron issue, but your comment about whale-heaving hippies actually did make me laugh out loud.

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  2. We are on the Potter countdown here too. It has been in days, but has now reduced to just hours.

    I'm glad to know that a nice hippy provided you with some iron and now you are finding your vim again, maybe the open water won't look so far away now.

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  3. I think your soup looks delish actually.

    Glad to hear your energy levels are back up. Enjoy the new potter book - I'm looking forward to it too!

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  4. Isn't it always the way that you don't realise how crappy you feel until after you get better?
    No wonder you're whipping up bread and vats of soup! (which, maybe, you should share with that slender student of yours?!)

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  5. So good to hear you have your burn back!
    And the soup thing- hasnt it been just the weather for it!

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  6. Glad the iron worked, the soup is making me hungry and have fun Pottering.

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  7. So glad you're full of energy, it's wonderful the iron infusion worked.
    I'm avoiding all Potter hype this weekend (last time I was queuing at Borders buying it on the day), I just can't muster up the enthusiasm.
    BTW, I like your new doona cover. The satin thingy would be ripped to SHREDS at our house by the dog.

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  8. As you know I love a good soup and any winter-time soup with barley in it is OK by me. I recently cooked a lamb stew from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries and it had enough fluid in it to be called a soup in my book - devine.

    And I too loved your doona cover of last post. Very pretty colours. I got a bit hooked on buying doona covers a couple of years back and have gone cold turkey for a while. Might be time to crack out the wallet with all these new designs about....

    And by a very strange coincidence I was reading about polar explorers in one of Anne Fadiman's wonderful essays in her book, Ex Libris (which I am currently re-reading) and she mentions that line by Captain Oates - how very stoic of him (and you)!

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  9. Must be arsenic hour - I am reading everyone's blogs instead of attending to my children - enjoy HP - despite the ten year old having every book I am yet to read the series. I am a seriously avid reader but can't explain why they don't appeal - if someone could convince me???

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  10. My book is pre purchased ready for me to waltz in (have no tap shoes or any rhythym) and waltz out. No talking, no eye contact, NO MUMMY until it is DEVOURED.
    I'm off to bed now, to rest and prepare.
    ps glad you feel better

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  11. I hate mopping. Like dusting, it's never done. I vaccuum - thas basically it.

    I acn't believe you think you look so bad though, as I never suspected a thing ( and beached whale ? ... hmmm .. hardly )

    Anyway, glad to hear it's done you the world of good .. but does this mean it will be a part of your programme now ?? Ie: top-ups ? Or will you naturally right yourself ?

    I'd make more soup, but the boy hates anything mushy, soupy, waterey, or non-solid basically.

    Which is a pity, as I LOVE soup - esp homemade farty .. errr... lamb & barley :)

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  12. Yay! Glad you are better. That soup looks nice, can I have recipe please?

    Really, someone ought to start a recipe blog. Everyone talks about their yummy stuff, but mostly never spit it out (the recipe, not the food).

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  13. go sister go - are you surprised about your tap business??? you are a fabulous teacher. And as for te iron - unrool!( I know I am a boge)

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  14. Ahh. After having my first baby, I lost a lot of blood, so I drank this liquid iron stuff for a week. Felt a million times better so quickly... and without the side effects that pills can bring on....

    Glad you're feeling peppy and energetic!

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  15. ...off to buy some barley!! That soup looks so good - I can taste it really!!!

    Glad you are feeling so great!! Don't waste your new found energy on housework though!!

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Don't let the cat get your tongue.