It’s Sunday, my day of rest so I get up at 11 o’clock. Decadent, depraved and delightful. My first thought is “Weigh In”, so I skip to the bathroom, prepare and jump on the scales.

89.8 Kilos

I am elated, I’ve cracked the 90 kilo barrier and I am setting new personal bests along with a decreasing resting heart rate. Now I can begin to get cracking on the weights regime. I love it when a plan comes together.

Breakfast follows, and the Sunday call to our youngest daughter. We spend quite along time chatting and talking about houses and mortgages. Its gone midday by the time we have finished. While this is going on I start to create a pair of crocodile clips so that I can begin to cannibalise some mini solar panels to drive the pond pump more efficiently. In the process of doing this I discover that the battery connector in my multi meter has eroded and the wiring failed. So as a sub plot I end up mending my multi meter before I can test if my crocodile leads work. Life is never simple. Success; when I test the crocs they work. Too late to start on the panels so I clear things away and get ready to deliver a birthday present to a niece that lives in the village. My partner and I walk around the village and deliver the present and saunter back the long way round just for the exercise. Its all I will get today as its my rest day. Once home I settle down to watch the second half of Leicester Tigers beat Newcastle and then move on to watch England beat Albania two nil. I pop out to the shed and check to see if the garden sculpture I had repainted yesterday was dry ad ready to be re-sited in the garden. The paint has dried well and so I return it to its place in the garden beneath the pampas grass.

Tea follows and more pain killers in preparation for tomorrows 28 day injection. It has become part of my monthly routine. I start to write the blog as I watch “Line of Duty and then continue as my washing tumble drys. I like to go into a new week with my washing done and my clothes sorted. Tomorrow will start with training before I go for my jab in the afternoon which will then go down hill for a while. To finish the blog today I have included my recipe for my favourite one pot, which I have in the past clearly mentioned as a friend who has asked me to share. So here it is:

Roland’s famous one pot recipe. The basic requirements are as follows:

1. Chicken 650 – 750grams – cut into cubes
2. Chorizo – half a ring, sliced into coin size discs
3. Bacon – one pack chopped up
4. onion – 1 chopped
5. leek – 1 sliced and separated in to rings
6. Carrot- 1 chopped.
7. pepper – seeded and diced
8. garlic – four cloves at least, sliced thinly
9. mushroom – half a dozen, quartered.
10. Cherry tomatoes- half a dozen
11. One tin of chopped tomatoes
12. One tin of chick peas
13. Mixed herbs
14. Smoked sweet paprika
15. 1 chicken oxo cube – dissolved in as little water as possible
16. Tomato paste- two table spoons
17. Red wine – cheap as possible
18. Virgin Olive oil- enough to cover the bottom of a sturdy large oven top pot.
19. For the luxury version- a couple of shots of Armagnac

The Method.

1. Heat the oil till a piece of onion in it bubbles
2. Throw in the chorizo and bacon, cook until the oil turns red from the chorizo.
3. Keep the heat up and throw in the chicken and smoked sweet paprika. Seal the chicken by keeping it all moving in the oil, bacon and chorizo.
4. Now throw in the pepper, carrot, pepper, garlic, leek and soften them. Keep it all moving as it heats through.
5. Turn the heat down and add the chick peas, stir in.
6. Empty the can of chopped tomatoes onto the top of the mixture
7. Squeeze a good two tablespoons full of tomato paste into the chopped tomatoes.
8. Add to the tomatoes and tomato paste a good tablespoon full of mixed herbs. Stir the tomato and herb mixture into the rest of the food.
9. Add the chicken oxo cube diluted in as little water as possible.
10. Add red wine till it just covers the food. Bring it to a simmer, slowly.
11. Add the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes (adding them now preserves their integrity).
12. Add a sprinkling of more smoked sweet paprika and stir in.
13. If doing the luxury version add the Armagnac.
14. Bring to the simmer and cover. Leave to bubble quietly for least an hour, or pop it in the oven on the lowest heat and leave for four hours, checking occasionally to monitor juice level. Should it show signs of drying add more red wine, never water!!! More Armagnac if your rich.
15. Serve with fresh whole meal bread to soak up the sauce.