Great Visit From a Good Friend Today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayson_Perry

Grayson Perry.


Last night neither of us got of to sleep easily as we were both too tired, weird would have thought that being tired would make sleep inevitable.

It was eventually, but it took us both hours, I finally drifted off between 4 and 5 this morning and Richie after 5.

We did catch up on a little sleep by sleeping until midday, it was 13.30 by the time Richie had done my leg exercises and massage and I had done my 30 minutes of arm exercises.

An hour later, a good friend Anja came to visit, she brought us bagels and humus, sadly my directions were not too good so she went in the wrong bagel shop, Bagels and Beans who do not make real bagels, they make bagel shaped bread rolls.

Real bagels are chewy, these were very nice light bread rolls, but it did not matter, it was so pleasant to have a visit from such a good friend as Anja.

Realised today that we know each other quite awhile now, first saw her in 1983 and got to know her the year after.

Something really good about getting a visit from someone who knows you so well, like Anja knows me.

Remember how in 1997 when I told her and another friend that Richie was moving back to Amsterdam to be with me, their reactions were so very different.

Anja's reaction confirmed again that she was a real friend, whereas the other woman, Dorthe showed she was not a real friend by shouting out 'That is a bad plan'.

Anja on the other hand said 'If that makes you happy then I am all in favour'.

Think poor Dorthe was quite confused by my reaction, she had not expected me to disagree with her, so when I told her that her opinion had not been asked for, and she was stunned.

Poor thing, funny how you can sometimes suddenly see who really is a friend and who not.

Anja showed by her comment that she was in favour of what made me happy and Dorthe, that
she obviously did not care about my happiness.

It was sad to have this confirmed but that is life isn’t, sometimes you get disappointed but there is usually a silver lining my silver lining in 1997 was Richie moving back to Amsterdam.

I came back in the summer of 1996 to work on my final dissertation and stayed on after I finished my Masters degree in Criminology.

My silver lining is still with me now and I am happy each day that Richie is here in my life.

April 1989 will always be my favourite month, that is when we met for the first time, amazingly that is twenty years ago now.

Quite incredible that it’s 20 years already, does not seem like it at all, but then the saying is ‘Time flies by when you are having fun’.

And I really do have fun with Richie, even now time flies when we are together and we can always see the funny side of things.

Life with Richie is good, despite the MS we still have good times together, and long may it go on.




http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2003/nov/21/art.turnerprize2003

Jewish,Suriname Shop, Turkish,Moroccan shops

Boats going home after the Gay Pride Boat Parade.




The Beigel Shop, Brick Lane, London.

Last night was the night was truly horrible, as it got later it got hotter so much so Richie put the fan on at midnight.

When it was time to turn off the lights, the fan stayed on right next to me and even so it barely kept the air fresh.

It was like lying in a hot, sticky bath, both sheet and top were damp with sweat, when I heard Richie was awake I asked for some THC so that I could finally sleep.

Had been lying awake desperately wanting to sleep, seemed to drift off initially but the tremendous heat stopped sleep for hours.

After Richie got me the THC I did manage to drift off into an uneasy sleep where I was totally aware of lying in sweltering room.

When the rain that had been forecast for the day arrived, it was a deluge according to Richie, who got up and turned off the fan as the temperature dropped considerably with the rain.

After the fan went off we both fell asleep and when I was awake again several hours later another lot of THC helped me sleep on very happily for another couple of hours.

Really strange night all because it got so unbearably hot, seems to be getting unbearably hot now too.

Hope Richie and the dogs are having a real good time in the park, they seemed to need a big walk today.

Richie made a great smoothie for me, of orange, carrots, banana really delicious and healthy.

When he is back from the park the bread will be put in the oven, am looking forward to a tasty bread roll not too long after the merry band return.

Talking of bread makes me think of bagels and the wonderful bagel bakers there are in London.

The bagel bakers that I first went to was on Brick Lane, they call themselves Beigel Bake and are open 24/7.

The first bagel I ever ate was a classic salmon and cream cheese which is yummy as is the cream cheese or humus, other fillings include smoked salmon, chopped herring and hot salt beef.

The bagel is a Brick Lane staple, which has been around for years, and serves as a remnant of the area’s Jewish past.

At the Beigel Bake they are made the proper way, by boiling then baking, creating the dense chewy consistency which is so more-ish.

At the back of the shop you can watch them making and boiling and then baking the bagels.

They encourage you to watch them preparing the bagels the traditional way.

This is a welcome change from most bagel chains, who essentially serve bread rolls with a hole in the middle.

When we lived in Hackney there were lots of good bagel bakers around where we lived, we would visit Brick Lane every now and then but we got our bagels close to where we lived.

Usually we go them from Ross’s on Stamford Hill road, Ross’s was a small family run place, their bagels were excellent.

I was getting some bagels one day, when I overheard some talk of the community having a festival at the weekend.

When the other people had gone Mr. Ross tallied up what I owed, which I paid saying, hope you have a good festival this weekend.

Mr Ross was so funny in the way he replied that this was not that sort of festival and rolled his eyes as if fun would be the last thing on their minds.

A great man Mr Ross, with a great sense of humour, like when I knew I was moving back to Amsterdam.

I went to tell him at the shop, that I was moving back to Amsterdam and would miss his shop so very much.

Asked him if he couldn’t start an Amsterdam branch of Mr. Ross’s Bakers as otherwise I would have to miss his tasty bagels.

Mr Ross rolled his eyes and said ‘’ But I could not bear to live in an attic, can you guarantee that nothing untoward will happen.

Sadly we have missed bagels here very much, good bread is not easy to find here and bagels are here but sadly they are bread rolls wsith a hole.

One shop here makes good bagels and that is a Jewish shop over the other side of town.

Amsterdam is I find much improved by the communities that have established themselves here.

Now there are Suriname and Indian and Pakistani and Turkish and Moroccan shops to choose from.

The Turkish shop near us is very much a neighbourhood shop and is open later than most, just like other Turkish shops.

They really make the neighbourhood so much livelier and streets are bustling and everyone feels happier and safer.

Personally, as a Trini I like a mix of people, I enjoy the cultures meeting, love being able to get a Suriname filled roll with tempe or saltfish with lots of pepper.

When I was first here in Amsterdam you could only get a cheese roll.

Racism seems to restrict people in a culinary way as well as emotionally and socially, a cosmopolitan life seems to be a healthier.

It is good to know about other people other lives, the blog world is a great place to find others and exchange stories.
THC
I am going to post this and visit some other blogs, both those I follow and some I don’t and see how my lovely blog friends are doing.
Have a great Sunday.