Monthly Archives: December, 2008
Looe
He took me to Cornwall. “Well!” he said as we unpacked our stuff in the tiny, wifi-equipped, sea-facing self-catered (thereby ticking all my boxes) flat. “What shall we do first?” I thought for a moment, looking out of the window at the waves rolling further and further up the beach. I opened the door, my …
Merry Christmas
MadFather raises his glass to toast. I lift up my gluten free orange squash. He tilts his head at my glass. “Better than last year?” I consider it. There is so much I cannot have, and cannot do. Sometimes the future stretches out before me in an endless run of reading labels and talking slowly …
The life of a coeliac
“And is this… mint sauce okay?” I say to my Nanna’s husband. “I’ll just get the jar.” I read the label. Spirit vinegar, fine, soya lecithin, fine… “Oh it’s fine,” I say, and spoon some onto my meat. “I just added malt vinegar to that,” he says. Oh shit.
Fixing me
Well. I’m feeling quite a bit better. Wheat has once again been eradicated from my kitchen. Went to college on Wednesday which was incredibly bizarre but in a good way, and went shopping for three hours yesterday and I felt – dare I say it – well! I’m going to a wedding tomorrow on my …
So going to dr next week to get diagnosed…
“How’re you doing?” Cousin says to me. “Oh, alright,” I say. “I got really well and then – I don’t know – some sort of flu but that was a month ago and I’m still not right…” “Oh right,” he says. “Strange. And how’s the wheat?” “Well I reintroduced wheat, but took it out again …
On understatements
“What’s happened is your tear glands were affected by this…” the consultant looks at his sheet “glandular fever that you say you had a while ago. So now your cornea doesn’t renew itself.” “Right…” I say. “What does that mean?” “Just that you need to use these drops 8 times a day.” “8!” “Yes, they’re …
Your auto update
Right. Hello. Sorry, sorry, I have been BUSY. Body is not back to normal yet. In fact just on Thursday it protested about me sitting up for two hours in the MORNING God forbid and attached invisible weights to my arms and legs for the rest of the day. Getting someone else to wrap my …
Sadly we did not uncover a culinary flavour pairing
“What’s happened?” MindReader says, coming in the back door from the outside freezer bearing frozen mince. “Meh,” I say. “How do you know…?” “The way you were standing. As soon as I saw through the window I knew something was up.” I smile and gesture to the potatoes I am cutting up. “I was just …
I’m actually quite proud!
“Hello?” OldestFriend says into her phone. “How do I wrap a circular tub?” “What??” “How do I wrap a circular tub.” OldestFriend laughs for quite a few seconds. “Oh God Billygean,” she splutters. “I have no idea how to describe this to you.” OldestFriend is an interior designer and got me through the mandatory art …
On encounters at college
I sit in the college library, almost a year on. It smells just the same; of books and computers and tiredness. The last time I was in here was February the 17th when I walked out of my exam, too sick to care, and cried in the library as I emailed OldTutor. I spot a …
