For those of you who know me well you will agree that I am from time to time the fairest of people so this morning I decided to give Thought for the Day a chance. Canon Angela Tilbury, fair play. I was immediately rewarded with the knowledge that today is Ash Wednesday which this year coincides with the start of Ramadhan. Gosh. Moreover I googled it and discovered that:
“The start of the Lenten period (Ash Wednesday) coincides with the start of Ramadhan approximately every 33 years due to the cycle of the Islamic lunar calendar shifting through the Gregorian calendar. This year, 2026, both Ash Wednesday (start of Lent) and the beginning of Ramadhan will occur on February 17, 2026.”
Then she started telling me that Ash Wednesday was all about reminding me of my mortality and it wouldn’t be long, in the great scheme of things, before my bones would be “resting” in the dust. That’s the point I switched off. Life is too short to be reminded before breakfast that I am destined to be food for the worms.
Down at breakfast I was complementing THG on her home made granola when the conversation turned to yo’ gurt. I pondered over how the stuff was invented:
“Yoghurt was likely invented by accident around 5,000–10,000 BCE by Neolithic nomadic tribes in Central Asia and Mesopotamia, who stored milk in animal stomach bags. Natural enzymes in the skin containers, combined with warm climates, caused the milk to ferment, curdle, and create a sour, thickened, and preserved product.”
Oh ok, thanks. I am reminded of the time when I was at uni when my Sudanese pal @Mansour asked me to get some yoghurt for him when I went to the shops. When I got to the shop I realised he hadn’t specified a flavour so I randomly chose strawberry. I quite like strawberry yoghurt though we tend not to buy fruit flavoured yogs these days as they contain a lot of sugar in them. So I get back to his hall of residence to a general sense of amusement. Turned out he wanted natural yoghurt to stick in his curry. That was my first ever exposure to natural yoghurt! I hadn’t experienced curry before going to uni either.
Mans will be doing Ramadham today. I’m not an observant so had toast as well as my granola and yoghourt. Got a streaming cold so as the old adage goes, starve a fever feed a cold. Did my best. Left over curry tonight as well. Lamb madras. If that doesn’t sort the cold then I don’t know what will.
Will have a houseful today. Mark the joiner is coming back to finish off the bit of skirting board and Simon the plumber is going to fit a new heat exchanger in the boiler. Worcester Bosch provide free replacement heat exchangers but you have to pay for the labour which will be best part of ¾ of a day!
Other than that it’s business as usual. Better go. Should get dressed before Mark and Simon arrive.
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Fox came at 2.30pm and 3.15