A while back, I posted about silly questions people ask. Well, now I have some of my own:
Where does spinach go when you cook it? I cooked a large bag of spinach this evening, and 99% of it just - disappeared.
Why do people almost invariably start up the engines of their cars before doing up their seatbelts?
How does a duvet cover always manage to eat all the acoompanying laundry in the washing machine? (And please don't tell me to do it up before washing it, because I just can't be bothered.)
Why do most of us grow out of liking sickly sweets, like those ones you can buy for a penny each? (I don't mean you, B. I know you like them, although it's probably high time you grew out of them.)
Why do children hate sprouts?
Why do women open their mouths when they put on eye make-up? (I do this, too.)
Where do colds and 'flu go in the summer?
How did the perfectly able-bodied, if decidedly odd man (he shouts a lot) at the top of our lane actually manage to persuade the authorities to let him have a disabled parking badge? (Parking round here is a nightmare, so w'ere all very indignant.)
Why is it impossible to account for all the money I have spent, within a day of going to the bank, although I've only bought boring things like washing powder and potatoes?
And why, why, why am I wasting time writing this, when it was NY Resolution no.5 not to?
And why (if you're still with me) are you reading it?
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Just some of life's mysteries. It would be just plain-sailing without them.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, L. But maybe it would be a bit dull??
DeleteLast question first: Because I find your posts, like your books, interesting and good food for thought.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you writing it? Because you're not getting on with your next book. I'm torn between chastising you for not doing that and just enjoying your posts.
I didn't know colds went anywhere in the summer. Flu is no regarded of seasons either.
Oddly all children do not hate sprouts. I have solved the problem of my older friends who 'hate' sprouts by doing them with chestnuts. In any case sprouts now are sweeter than they were when I was a child. I always liked them anyway by the way.
It's just what duvets do in washing machines and it's infuriating. I suppose it's better than some of the other things they could be getting up to though.
I've only ever done spinach in a pasta sauce with ricotta and the final result was spinach flavoured rather green ricotta with no trace whatsoever of the original spinach bulk,
As for the seatbelt question why would one do it any other way?
Tank you for your comprehensive comment, Graham. Now, what about the man up the lane, who shouted at me again this morning? (Excuse typos. iPad refuses to let me correct them.)
DeleteI was about to pen a comment which would have almost precisely coincided with GB's, so thanks mate! Neither of us has dealt with the eye makeup one, though, nor will we.
ReplyDeleteOh, go on, Tim give it a whirl ( the eye make up).
DeleteGB said it in hIs first sentence. My husband only does his seatbelt up after he has backed out of our drive and across the road ! Probably the most dangerous manouvre he ever does! But he knows best.!!
ReplyDeleteFrances, do please ask him why. I'd love to know.
DeleteThe seatbelt question seems to be attracting the most interest. The answer is obvious; one needs to see if the wretched car will actually start before bothering about anything else.
ReplyDeleteAh. So that's it. Thank you, Cro.
DeleteI do not drive, so I can only speculate as to what the answer to the seatbelt question is, and I am sure Cro is right - this must come from a time when cars were rather more unreliable than they are nowadays, and when getting the motor up and running would take longer than it usually does today.
ReplyDeleteAll children hate sprouts? That is new to me. My sister and I ate nearly everything our mother cooked; spinach, sprouts, the lot. i remember that I did not like aubergines the first few times I tried them, but that disappeared later.
When we open our mouths, the skin on our faces stretches somewhat, which makes it a little easier to apply eye makeup. (I don't open my mouth when I put it on, since most of the time it is only some mascara anyway, and my skin does not need to stretch for that.)
Strangely enough, my duvets behave themselves rather well in the washing machine. The odd small item will hide insde, but by no means everything else that is in the washing at the same time. But I have never lost a sock in the washing, either, so maybe I have a special super-neat Librarian's washing machine.
Sickly sweets? Any time!!
Spinach? You weren't serious about this question, were you? (I am now beginning to think you weren't serious about any of them, and are simply testing our willingness to join you in a fun little game. Well, I'm game!)
Not too serious, Meike. It's too cold to be serious.
DeleteI really don't know. Too complicated for me.
ReplyDeleteNo more complicated than why anyone would want to eat fat balls, Adrian.
DeleteSpinach is a mystery, Frances - must be its high water content. And I do fasten the duvet cover and it still manages to eat the pillow cases!
ReplyDeleteRosemary I don't know why spinach should differ from others greens. But there you go ( or there it goes).
DeleteSpinach shrinks or wilts or something. That is my highly scientific answer. I don't wear eye make-up but I do fasten my seat belt first (I think - I'll have to make a point of noticing next time).
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you anyway!
DeleteI wish I could grow out of liking chocolate and unless you want mascara all over your cheeks I should keep on making funny faces.
ReplyDeleteHang on. When did chocolate come into this?
ReplyDeleteI've just noticed that frozen spinach (the kind that comes in balls, you know?) seems to grow in volume when you microwave it. How does that work, then?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Tim, and I've no idea why. But fresh is nicer.
DeleteSubstitute Swiss Chard for Spinach; it tastes much the same, has the same beneficial qualities, but shrinks far less.
ReplyDeleteI would if I could find it, Cro.
DeleteI'm with Cro here, Swiss chard is really easy to grow and it overwinters, so you can pick it until it runs to seed, by which time the next spring's crop is coming on. It's not easy to find in shops, so worth growing.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm taking other people in the car, I do my seatbelt up while I'm waiting for them to get comfortable. If I'm on my own, I usually start the car first and fasten up while I lurch down the (long) drive.
I've always liked sprouts and so did all my children. Some of my grandchildren do.
Opening the eyes wide to put on mascara naturally seems to open the mouth.
I suspect the man was given a permit to make him go away. I remember many years ago when my mother was a town councillor, a disabled man was determined to have his driving licence returned to him. He badgered her, the authorities, everyone and, in the end, he duly got it. When my mother phoned to tell him, his wife said that he'd died the day before. She was not entirely put out, saying that thank goodness he hadn't got it earlier as he was certainly not fit to drive.