Hannah Lynes

I recently had a colonoscopy. I found the procedure itself easy and stress-free (I accepted the sedation I was offered). By contrast, I found the diet and fasting I was asked to follow beforehand both practically and emotionally difficult. This prompted me to query the guidance I was given, to look at the evidence base…

Published NHS patient instructions grouped by when they say to start a low-fibre or low-residue diet before colonoscopy. This comparison focuses on standard, non-extended preparation pathways. Instructions specifically intended for extended preparation, previously failed bowel cleansing or other specialist needs have been excluded. Where an organisation publishes different routine instructions, it may appear in more…

I’m planning to test this out for the month of October, using my ordinary life as the test case. I’ve been wondering whether AI can help to redress the power imbalance between people and institutions by making it easier to raise concerns and to follow them through. There is in fact some research suggesting that…

I like to experiment with interesting flavours in my porridge (oatmeal, to non-Brits) and have written about some of the results so that other people can learn from my successes and failures. Here are my porridge adventures so far: Linseeds Fresh coriander Pineapple Peashoots Caraway seeds

The latest thing I’ve done is to sort all my ancient pots of spices by “best before” date. We’ve started using Anylist in our house, so I’ve made a list of all my spices in date order on Anylist. Now I’m working through them, starting with the oldest, putting them in whatever food I’m cooking.…

A bit of an odd one in my porridge series this morning. I had coconut milk left over from making pineapple and coconut porridge yesterday. I wanted to use it again, but had no fresh pineapple left. I’d bought quite a few random ingredients in M&S yesterday (still going with my yellow sticker hobby) so…

My latest hobby is going to M&S at the end of the day and buying things with yellow “reduced”  stickers on and then working out what I can do with them. Yesterday I picked up some chopped fresh pineapple so the obvious question this morning was “Can I put pineapple in my porridge?” I’ve always…

DS1’s secondary school requires the children to wear black coats and bags, in addition to black trousers, shoes and socks. I believe this makes it harder for the children to be seen by drivers and increases their risk of being involved in road accidents. I don’t think this uniform policy is unusual – I know…

I planned to experiment with basil in porridge this morning, but I decided the leftover basil was too wilted whereas I had some leftover fresh coriander which still had life in it. So, yes ladies & gentlemen, this morning I bring you my experiment with coriander porridge. (See my intro post to this series if…

Welcome to the first in my series of experiments with porridge ingredients! (see my intro post here explaining what’s prompted me to do such a thing). Today, linseeds (flaxseeds). What are they like in porridge? I don’t normally use linseeds, but they’re something our Ukrainian guest bought and she suggested I try them in my…