Pick me up, before you go go..

My personal mantra :- "Their only thinking of me, their only..." through, I have to admit, gritted teeth. Sometimes.


"How can" a kindly neighbour asked "A bloke like you mess around in the kitchen?" Do what? Bloke like what? Mess? I threatened, dead pan faced, to punch him in the nose. Then I danced a little jig. Ended up slap bang on my arse of course, but it was worth it to see the consternation and everyone run around like headless chickens.


The answer is, of course, as I told him, once I'd been hoisted unceremoniously to my feet in a fit of giggles, is that being a Strokie is bit like sex. Cooking takes careful planning, lots of unnecessary ceremony, is fun to do and hilarious to watch. Metaphorically speaking. Of course.....


It's just that one doesn't leave bruises on the bum. Apparently. I'm told. 


Our kitchen, in fact, our home - Wheelie Towers, as one on line correspondent calls it - has lots of little labour saving devices. We have a cheapo little 'wizzywig'. That's an electric hand mixer with a jug, and a couple of little bowls with blades, a whisk attachment and a thingie to stick into pans and liquidise.


I use an odd little device that consists of a plastic grooved handle and a long rubber strip that was designed to tighten joints in plastic pipes for plumbers. It's excellent to undo jam jars and sauce bottle tops.


I have a hook that enables me to lever open ring pull cans, and something called a 'helping hand', a really simple device about three feet long that has a simple lever action through a string attached to 'jaws'. It's a godsend. I don't have to bend down to pick  something up.


My eternal companion is a folding bar chair. It's was cheap, it's light, and a quick flip of the left wrist unfolds it, whether that's in the kitchen or a couple of mins rest digging the veg patch. Work a little, sit a little works for me.


I'm quite inquisitive, imaginative, and inventive so something as simple as a pop bottle can become a container, funnel, plant drip feeder, thermos, or  a pressure vessel. Handy for small scale home brewing.  


I know I keep  saying this, but..


My point is, one should not get confused between brain and mind. 


I'm fine being seen as a little eccentric. But I was pre-stroke anyway :)