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