Friday 24 September 2021

We are the World Blogfest #53 Being able to Stem Bleeding from Stab Wound …

 

This UK entry is in the international James Dyson Award category … the shortlist will be announced in October … regardless, I think that this invention will be taken up by the medical world, particularly first responders.

 

Rapid Emergency Actuating Tamponade

The React (Rapid Emergency Actuating Tamponade) device is undergoing medical testing and could so easily save hundreds of lives a year – in so many parts of the world – once it is approved.

 

 

Joseph Bentley from the University of Loughborough is the young inventor … and leads the continued development of this product …

 

Wound management is notoriously difficult, while the patient needs urgent help - the normal process is slow, and worse for the patient very painful.  The React has been proved to stop the bleeding from knife wounds quickly … while it is also suitable for wounds in cavities like the abdomen.

 

There’s a simple application procedure, whereby the device is automated inflated … the Tamponade can be in place and stop haemorrhage in under a minute – a life saver.

 

We are the World Blogfest

In Darkness, Be Light

 

Here's the link – with full details, a video and some images … please take a look.



Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories


Sunday 19 September 2021

Small Forgotten Moments …

 

A wonderful book by Annalisa Crawford … bringing to life those tiny fragments, that rattle around in our minds …



 

… in the book there’s a ghostly undertone to these thoughts that constantly reappear … what do they mean and why, and where are they coming from...

 

 


Annalisa sets Jo, her artist character, working and living in London … before the wheels come off and Jo realises she needs to go back to her beloved Seaton Beach in Cornwall to work at and sort her life out – so much seems to be missing.

 

 

Seaton Beach, Cornwall 
Annalisa lives in Cornwall, where she admits her very active imagination, dances around down at the local beach, devising novels, and in this case deconstructing art works … wondering what the life of the person portrayed would be like …

 

 

Our character Jo, an artist, infiltrates the story … moving us around between reality or a confusion …

 

… black and white portrait sketches appear, then bright colours fill in parts of the draft as Jo draws … each haunting memory comes into being via these art works …

  

… the palette becomes less strident … as each realises pieces of the dream, drawing those snippets of memory to the fore …

 

Saltash Bookstore - The Bookshelf
Her book is a great read and one I recommend.  She gave a wonderful interview to Radio Cornwall about the book … it was a delight to listen to … then there was the recent book signing event at her local Saltash bookshop – the BookShelf …

 

 

Annalisa receiving her prize
I don’t know whether you remember Annalisa came 3rd in the 2015 Costa Books Short Story Awards … so you can see she has writing pedigree.

 

 

Kernow chocolate - I was sent
the 'Cream Tea' bar ... 


I entered a draw for a copy of her book, and some Cornish chocolate … my dream was realised!  Thank you and congratulations to Annalisa …


 

Costa Book Awards

Annalisa’s blog post … she is very self-effacing!

 A Chance to Win ... offered by Annalisa Crawford


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Tuesday 7 September 2021

Amuse-Bouche …

 

This phrase does not amuse me!  It immediately draws to mind something I’d rather forget … about how poor we Brits are when speaking other languages … in this instance: French … I have to admit I wish it had an English equivalent … but it doesn’t …


Smoked salmon on
Cucumber in a
Gazpacho sauce


 This was meant to be an interim post about mouthfuls of delicious tasty food … but then curiosity kicked in about the name, and the why, and the when …

 

 

Apparently it appeared about the time of a 20th century reinvention 'Nouvelle Cuisine' – 1970s – 1980s – which characterised a lighter, delicate emphasis on the food presented … but there’s no definitive answer …


 

 

Parmesan Pannacotta
 After my taste buds got a-wondering … I decided I was not going into the grammar of ‘the phrase’ - way too difficult for me.

 

 



Hallucinogenic
Mushrooms
Yet now having investigated and found the episode ‘Amuse-Bouche (Hannibal)’ … I’ve rather gone off food too … also … as is the interesting reference to a blogger, who influences the episode – another something to ponder, or probably not, as the case may be …

 

 


The amuse-bouche I’ve seen on tv have always been (in my opinion) over-done creations and way too large – they preferably should be a tasty morsel … not a few full-bite appetisers … nor tummy filler!  Nor (again!) continually spoken about with appalling gaucheness … but then I’m a …



Breughel the Elder's 1618 -
Senses of Hearing, Touch and Taste

They’re also meant to be whatever you have to hand … by creating a tiny morsel of ‘delectitude’ … to tempt the waters of the mouth … before serving the actual dinner …

 


 

… not appetisers/pre-dinner nibbles … but just a tiny bite of flavour – whatever the restaurant feels like tempting you with – no menu, no choice …

 


Nordic delicacies of Amuse-Bouche

Instead of Amuse-Bouche – “mouth amuser” … you could use Amuse-Gueule … gueule being a snout … rather like a snout in a trough … all manner of images now appear …



Having sauntered into a pot-au-feu of anything a kitchen has available … I think I’ll saunter out to grass with a glass for a while! 

 

1742 cover page
for Menon's treatise on
'the new cuisine'



So Amuse-Bouche yourselves tonight before supper/dinner is served … while trying not to think of the Amuse-Bouche episode in the psychological thriller-horror series Hannibal.  All kinds of new stories could be written … 

 

 



These tasty morsels  à la ‘Amuse-Bouche’ have now bored me … as I’ve dragged this post out – but it needs to see the light of a hot day in the UK … surprisingly there will be some sunburnt bods around … for us ‘tis warm!


A Jacques Lameloise
Nouvelle Cuisine presentation

Enjoy the coming of Autumn or the fulfilling of Spring … take care …

 


Amuse-Bouche ... 


Amuse-Bouche (Hannibal) - detailing the 2nd episode of the first season of the tv thriller


Nouvelle Cuisine ... 


I do have two more food oriented posts to follow at some stage - a film I'm seeing next week ... and another I picked up about helping ourselves eat to suit our world ... 


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories