Monday 3 March 2014

My tummy and me, and the wind doth blow....

My tummy used to have a robustness,
back in the days when we lived in the UK,
enjoying loads of different types of foods,
most of which we shouldn't have eaten,
but, nevertheless, we did.
 
Like,
chocolate and mint ice cream,
one tub
divided between two.
Or crisps,
or Cadbury's Dairy Milk choccie,
oh, just loads of nibbles in general.
And Sunday breakfasts:
eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, fried tomato, etc....
oh what a delight.
And sometimes breakfast in town on a Saturday too,
always followed by a visit to the bakers,
there to buy cream buns, etc....
And my tummy did not seem to mind too much.
Milky coffee in the afternoons,
eating out frequently,
takeaways in the evenings,
non stop eating at the weekends,
oh what a feast of food we enjoyed.
 
And then we came to France,
and a right little tub I was,
looking very plump,
and jolly,
with a cast iron stomach, I think,
because it never seemed to mind what I put into it.
 
 
And here we are on our first day here....
 
 
.... and Lester, cutting the grass in the courtyard with a breadknife because the strimmer was still packed and our removal men had to get to and fro the barns to unpack our stuff.
Lester, too, was a tad on the chubby side, bless him, but very huggable.

 
But now my tummy is no longer happy.
If I put something into in which is not quite right,
it rebels.
If I eat too much of the 'wrong' thing,
it rebels.
If I fill myself with choccie, ice cream, etc....
it rebels.
And I have become an advocate of bicarbonate of soda,
which can bring up the most eruptious wind,
to give the most loudest and longest of burps imaginable.
 
So what has changed, that my tummy does not allow my food indulgences?
1. Living on a tight budget.
2. Living in France, because they don't 'do' fast food, not in our area anyway.
3. Having our main meal at mid-day, the same as the French do, which stops snacking during the day, eating a main meal too late in the day, then snacking until bed time.
4. Not visiting food shops very often because we have a larder.
5. Not eating out, because we like our own food, and not other people's.
 
And all this is because we run a smallholding and so eat a lot of our own food.
But the downside is that my tummy has got so used to 'proper' food,
that it no longer can tolerate anything else.
In other words,
it throws a sicko,
and hence the bicarbonate of soda.
 
So be warned my friend,
that if you want to run a smallholding
and want to feed yourself,
and want to live off the land,
and want to live healthily,
then you had best enjoy your indulgencies of food now,
because once you go down the route of self sufficiency,
then neither you or your tummy
will ever be the same again.
 
And the wind?
Oh, just that we have had gusts of wind
that fair knocked us off our feet,
plus the rain, and hail,
and doing smallholding in such weather 
is not good,
so all one can do,
is smile,
or try to!
 
Now where is the comfort food,
the choccie, ice cream, etc...
Ah, but no, we have none..
Oh well, a raid on the jars of dehydrated apples and figs then,
or perhaps a slice of chicken pie (one of our cockerels, pressure cooked then roasted)
or a slice of tart (made from our own eggs, milk, and cherries(canned from last year) )
or an omelette (our own milk, eggs, and cheese)
or a slice of homemade cake (our own eggs, yoghurt, dried fruit),
or just a slice of toast (DIY bread (our own eggs and buttermilk), our own butter and jam)
 
Simple food, but do-able,
because if we can,
you can.
Vx

11 comments:

John Going Gently said...

Do we get to see an " after" photo Vera?

Elizabeth at Eiffel Tells said...

Idyllic! We dream of a life like this and are slowly working towards it. Have a house in France with a very small parcel of land, but are stuck in Australia working to pay for the renovations in France!
Warm regards.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

yes exactly this! we only have a few choices where we can eat out. McFastFood? only if we want to die.... french fries thru a drive thru? only if you want a headache. excited about going out where someone will hand you a plate of food? only if you want bland, tasteless, boring food. it is one of the biggest drawbacks. who would have guessed?

Janice said...

You'll have to post an updated picture of the two of you. I'm sure you are both much stronger and fitter than when you first arrived. You seem to do a lot of hard work between the two of you.

Horst in Edmonton said...

Small holding life has really been good to you. You look like you've lost a fair amount of weight. You look much better now. Have a great week.

Jean said...

It's interesting how our insides change and rebel as the years go by.
I can no longer enjoy things like lasagne or meat and potato pie without suffering a few hours later. I suspect it's an age thing and our bodies telling us that when it comes to things that aren't really good for us, enough is enough!

The Squirrel Family said...

Very funny and I totally get it :) where's the after pictures?

Vera said...

John, ...will do!

Elizabeth, it must seem a long pathway at the moment, but your move to France will be worth it. Where are you moving to in France? Will you be near us...we are in the SW.

OFG, absolutely! Who would have indeed thought that providing your own food would stop us from enjoying anybody else's!

Janice, we are stronger and fitter, with a lot of our body fat having turned in muscle, this being particularly relevant to my husband!

Horst, smallholding life has been very good for both myself and Lester. Hate to think how our health would have been if we had stayed in the UK.

Jean, I would agree that age could be the reason why my tummy has become sensitive, but Lester is still in his forties, and friends of ours, who are also smallholders, are in his age group as well, and they say that they have the same problem with having sensitive tums!

TSF, glad you enjoyed the blog, and will sort out 'after' photos.

Rhodesia said...

Interesting post and thought provoking. I have to admit there is nothing that I cannot eat, but I have never eaten take aways anyway and our food is, and always has been mostly health.

Re your bacon post - thanks so much. I sorted out one piece of pork of which 1/2 I smoked after. Taste although different was not really a big deal, both were excellent. The smoked though did shrink and slicing it was a pleasure. Have another piece in the fridge at the moment for another 4 days :-)) Thank you. Have a good day Diane

Vera said...

Diane, glad you enjoyed the bacon, and thanks for the update about the recipe. Thanks also for the info about smoking the bacon. To make our unsmoked bacon easier to slice I put it into the freezer to firm up first. Vx

Diane said...

I did put it in the freezer Vera but it was still not easy to cut, the smoked was VERY simple. Just not sure it is worth the trouble of smoking it and it also shrinking. I have another few days to think about the next lot. Whatever I am very pleased that you spurred me into giving it a go :-))) Diane