Thank you for joining me once again on Whimsical Wednesday when anything goes..wherever my thoughts take me or when something stops me in my tracks and makes think or when something just wows me…I returned from sunny Phuket, Thailand yesterday …My tan is topped up as a sea breeze mixed with water and sun soon does that…

I enjoyed a nice few days with my daughter which was wonderful and has gladdened my heart…now I am back to normal or as normal as I will ever be…haha

Great food and beaches…BBQ fish, white sand and blue sea and sky…

Sadly on this day in 2009 the legend who was  Sir Bobby Robson, English professional football player and manager (b. 1933) …Passed away…

A legend…R.I.P.

Back on the subject of food, today is National Avocado Day…Depending on where you live you may also be able to get FREE…Guacamole…

Holy guacamole!

All-day on Wednesday, July 31, Chipotle Mexican Grill is offering free guacamole on any entree purchased in Chipotle’s app, for delivery and order ahead, or on chipotle.com.

The promotion is in honour of National Avacado Day. Guacamole usually costs $1.95 alone or $3.25 combined with chips.

The offer is only valid on July 31 and is limited to one free guacamole per entree. No promotion code is required, but a $10 minimum on delivery applies.

And no I am not on a commission of any sort…haha…Enjoy!

Italian by birth all of  Christopher Columbus’s explorations were carried out from Spain with the support of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and in 1498 on this day  Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad on his third voyage…

Time for a Short Story…By Carol Ann Taylor…

Snow Storm…

The snow was coming down thick and fast, the weather had changed from a few light flurries of snow which didn’t settle, into a raging blizzard with frightening speed. The windscreen wipers struggling to keep the snow off the windscreen, it was building up with alarming speed and ferocity, Jenny knew if she didn’t get to Sally’s soon she would have to stop and clear the windscreen as her driving visibility was fading fast the windscreen wipers getting slower and slower as the snow built up, she was squinting to see clearly. There were already cars and lorries abandoned on the roadside, the weather was getting pretty dire and Jenny was getting worried.

Wearing heels and a short dress  was definitely not the most suitable clothing to brave the elements in if she had to get out of the car and walk and to make matters worse she had forgotten to put her warm jacket and boots in the car, well, the weatherman had said a mild Christmas was on the cards.

I hope Sally is ready, and I don’t have to wait or we will be lucky to get to mums in time for lunch. Then snow or no snow she will have something to say. Jenny could just hear her mother saying “I see the pair of you turned up just in time to eat and I suppose you will both be off soon after, some work excuse or other, you don’t think about your old mum and dad spending most of Christmas alone do you? You just wait until you have kids and they treat your home like a restaurant” Then you will know how we feel, you mark my words.

“There will be no both of us now mum” Jenny thought.

The car sputtered to a halt outside Sally’s little flat. Jenny could hardly see out of the windows  and she recalled that time 10 years ago when getting out of the car had also been a struggle as she battled the wind and driving snow while trying to open her car door, how she struggled up the path to the front door her face stinging from the driving snow. Stamping her feet to remove the snow as she went up the steps to Sally’s front door, how the door was swinging backwards and forwards in the wind and how she thought that Sally couldn’t have closed it properly when she came home last night.

Jenny remembered calling Sally’s name as she stepped inside the tiny flat, how the heat hit her and how she involuntarily shivered and felt a chill run through her. How the kitchen was tidy except for last night’s dinner plate in the sink, the cat was mewing outside sounding desperate to come into the warm, his scratching getting more and more frantic, breaking the silence. The living room was quiet except for the Christmas tunes that Sally loved, playing quietly in the background, the tree lights twinkled, the presents unopened around the little tree, except for one which lay on the chair the pretty wrapping paper discarded on the floor.

Tap, tap on the window, the noise made Jenny jump it was Mrs Brown next door saying. “Come on in Lovie don’t sit out here all on your own, you will freeze to death. Come on in and have a hot toddy with us before you go to your mum’s.”

‘Thank you, Mrs Brown I was just……

“Oh love, don’t cry said Mrs Brown. Sally has gone, she is not coming back, you know that don’t you?”

“I know, said Jenny tears running down her cheeks, I know.”

The End!

In 1703 Novelist Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet but is pelted with flowers…

Time for some music… 

 

Cliff Richard first No. 1 was 60 years ago today. Written by Lionel Bart.

July 1959 Cliff Richard and the Shadows have their 1st British No. 1 single with “Living’ Doll” (biggest British single of 1959)

My mum’s sister was a great Cliff Richard fan and they took me to my first concert…

Then we have the Stones…

Always causing controversy The Rolling Stones on Jul 31, 1964, at a Rolling Stone concert in Ireland the concert was halted after 12 minutes due to a riot.

As it is National Guacamole Day ...What better than some avocado recipes…

Guacamole…

 

• I avocado
• 1 ripe tomato
•  1 finely chopped shallot or green onion…I prefer shallots
• I  birds eye chilli finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of fresh coriander
• Salt and black pepper for seasoning
• Lime juice

Let’s Cook!

Peel and roughly chop the avocado stir in the chopped onion, chilli, tomatoes and the coriander. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and a generous squeeze of lime juice.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill before serving.

Avocado mashed on some lovely wholemeal bread or sourdough toasted with smoked salmon or hardboiled eggs is a lovely healthy snack at any time of the day…

Apple, Avocado and cucumber salad.

Thank you for reading my whimsical ramblings I do hope you enjoyed and it bought back some memories… xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a creative week ahead xx