Friday, April 13, 2018

Headaches, Book, Bowling,

One learns things from the most surprising sources. Wednesday morning our cleaner came and later in the morning, when she turned on the vacuum cleaner, I realised I had a headache. I joshed her and said she made so much noise etc. then she said maybe it was the pressure (i.e. barometric pressure). That had never occurred to me before. Thursday morning I had another slight headache and decided to do some Googling. Apparently if you are prone to migraines (which I certainly was although not so much now) apparently barometric pressure changes are thought to cause you headaches and even migraines. I've only been having them since I was a kid and had never heard that before. My mother used to have them and she called them "sick headaches". I think she got them for longer than I because I remember once  they went to some friends for the weekend and she had a migraine all the time. If you have never had one, you are very lucky although it does seem that when you are older they get less frequent and, in my case, pretty rare. There are times I felt I could have cheerfully cut the top of my head off.  Now I find a lot of it could have been triggered by the pressure.

Just finished J.D. Robb's Dark in Death, I really love this series of books although I am not sure I haven't missed one or two. Thinking about going back to the beginning, maybe. There are actually about 46 of them and it would be a lot of re-reading. Not only are they excellent books about the future, great Homicide Stories and a marvellous love story all intertwined. The author, J.D. Robb is a nom de plume of Norah Lofts who's stories I have not followed much, read one or two, not a patch on the J.D. Robb books. I really think I will read them again, from the library of course, would cost a fortune to buy them all.

Bowling again today, none of it very good. I got a tad annoyed with Matt, there were a group of four with whom I had become friends whilst he was recuperating from his broken ankle. They are somewhat handicapped mentally, but not badly, but he was complaining because they made too much noise. It was actually just one of them. He is a whizz bowler mind you and was telling me how well he had done in competitive bowling lately. We used to compete, but not any more. For some reason our bowling alley doesn't hold any competitions other than for Junior Bowlers. The other local alley does so though. However, at our time in life, I don't suppose we would compete now anyway.

Being a nut about asparagus, I am always on the lookout for new recipes. This is one I came across the other day. Only problem is I just ran out of Orzo and couldn't find any in the store the other day.

Grilled Asparagus Pasta Salad

1 cup orzo
1 bunch asparagus
3 roma tomatoes sliced
1 inch sliced red onion
2 Tbs drained caper berries
2 Tbs lemon juce
2 tsp Dijon
1 Tbs maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil plus more for grilling
1/2 tsp salt/pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbs mint
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles - optional

1. Heat grill pan or grill on medium heat

2. Cook orzo in large pot of boiling salted water. Drain and put in a bowl.

3. Grill asparagus spears, halved roma tomatoes and onions until tender with a few char/grill marks. Remove from heat and chop asparagus into 1 inch pieces, tomatoes into bite size and chop onion.

4. Add veg to bowl with orzo. Whisk together capers, lemon juice, Dijon, syrup. Gradually add olive oil. Toss veg and orzo in the dressing then add herbs and/or cheese and toss again before serving.

Source: The Everyday Chef

Have a great day
 

18 comments:

  1. Interesting about the migraines. I developed them during menopause and have had a slight one since last night. I blamed it on the crazy weather as it hit 72 yesterday and then started dropping with high winds and rain. Mine usually get set off by bright lights. My sister has had them her entire life.
    And, re the batteries, I mentioned wrapping them to a friend and he said he found out the hard way when he threw some batteries in his pocket, the positive ends hooked up and the batteries started heating. Guess I have learned something new. Thanks.

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    1. Sorry you ever developed them at all Denise. Bright lights don't help me either and the worst I ever remember was Portuguese caffeinated coffee which was vary, very strong.

      You and me both - hope your friend didn't get hurt - just shows you what we don't know can hurt us.

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  2. My family suffered migraines, but I was spared. But then again, it could be that I learned from my family of sufferers. When I was in my twenties, I would get the vision abnormalities that often indicated a headache was coming. My mother and my grandmother taught me to head off that headache with two aspirin and caffeine. The caffeine seemed to be the biggest headache stopper because I will use whatever pain relief I have handy with a dose of caffeine and it's all good. My mom would take Vivarin, but I found a cup of coffee was sufficient.

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    1. The vision disturbances are called scintillating scotoma, only learned this recently. Surprised about the caffeine because one of the worst I ever had was caffeine related. Heading off pain is always difficult for migraine sufferers as they tend to try and ignore it in the hopes it won't develop.

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  3. I know how bad and irking headaches can be!

    That salad sure looks yummy and healthy!

    www.volatilespirits.com

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    1. They sure are Anupama. I thought it looked yummy too.

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  4. I have a lot of friends who complain of headache or migraine flares with changing weather. I've noticed sometimes it happens with me. Sorry about the bowling though. I hope Matt warms up to those people since they are friends with you.

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    1. II had never connected my migraines or just headaches with the weather. Mostly I understood it to be food. Now I know better JoJo. I don't suppose he ever will.

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  5. I often get a distinct very sharp headache in my sinuses just before heavy rain. Before a thunder storm I often feel weird and jittery. Weather definitely affects me.

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    1. It's only taken me 80 years to understand they might be weather connected Pinky. Duuh. I guess nobody ever suggested it to me before.

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  6. Hi, Jo,

    I can soooo relate to the headaches. Barometric changes always cause me terrible sinus headaches. UGH.... So I get them often. Nothing as intense as a migraine mind you, but enough to cause horrible pressure and nausea. I take a over the counter pill and it helps a lot, but they tend to me me drowsy a bit. Better than the headache though.

    Another yummy looking recipe! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Sinus pains are quite bad enough Michael. As you say, better drowsy than in pain.

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  7. Migraines are the pits. I'm glad yours have lessened with age. I've had them all my life and getting older hasn't helped. I now take a preventative medication daily and they are less frequent and less severe but if I stop the meds they come back full strength so I guess I'm stuck with them. Fortunately the prescription pain treatments for the acute stage are better these days, too, so when I do get one like today I don't have to spend days laid out in bed. Still feel utterly drained in the aftermath though.
    I hadn't noticed any connection to barometric pressure with mine. They seem to be largely triggered by certain foods and perfumes.

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    1. I am sorry yours haven't got better with age, I thought that was at least one benefit Helen. I know my mother's did too. I am lucky, I have never had them for days at a time, although a friend did, especially after working all week she got them the whole weekend. Dreadful. Chocolate is supposed to be a bad trigger.

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  8. Chocolate is defintely one of my triggers, Jo, along with oranges, some hard cheeses, red wine, some commercial ice-creams and some margerines. There are probably others I haven’t tracked down yet as well.
    It does seem to run in families. My mother, both my brothers and my son also have them. Ah well that’s life.

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    1. Oh poor you Helen. I can't imagine living without chocolate or red wine. Caffeine seems to be a trigger for me if I have enough of it like I did in Portugal.

      Don't know if anyone, other than my mother, had migraines. Have a feeling my grandmother may have done so.

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  9. I had no idea about that and headaches.

    They should still hold competitions regardless of age. I think my mom's place still does.

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    1. I hope you don't get those along with everything else Ivy.

      I don't think it's anything to do with age, they never have done so for any age but kids. If we wanted we could go up the road where they do belong to the Five Pin League.

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