Singing Chicken

Last time it was about car parking in the village. This time it was about Christmas Leave. I had a what would you call it? 'Holiday Offensive' sounds too offensive, but I had a big well, not a 'go', that sounds a bit aggressive. I had a good long talk withh partner 2 about Christmas leave. I'm fed up seeing all other local firms close between 24th Dec and the first working day in January, when we stay open. That means if you want the full 8 days you have to use3 days leave. Out of 22 that is a pretty poor deal. We have all been moaning and groaning about it for months but last week the rest of them wanted somebody to go and ask for an extra three days. I said 'Oh, not me' then I turned on my heel and said 'Alright. I'll go and speak to him now.' Off I went, had a good old 'go' and it was not made easy for me by partner 2 just chucking counter arguments at me all the time and bystanding colleagues shying away when I asked them to back me up and say what they had been saying behind closed doors. Partner 2 said he would speak to Partner 1 (who is incredibly mean and dosn't seem to like holidays) but not to expect anything because in the current climate we are lucky to be employed at all. You can imagine what I had to say about THAT.



Well well, an email came today. "For this year only ..... closing from 24th December through to January..... extra 3 days' leave" YESSS!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!

We'll see about the 'this year only' bit. We'll try to argue next year that it's a precedent. The year after that, it really will be a precedent.
HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to get thm all to go one by one to say hw much thy appreciate it. And then the sam again after Christmas. I was one of the ones who had kept 4 days back. I will still use one this year, but now I have an extra 3 to start next year on. Will not stop telling them throughout 2011 that I am so grateful, hoping it will bring about the same decision next Christmas.

Having had the first Sunday in Advent, now I feel I can put on Christmas music and welcome back my Christmas crocks from their hideaway cupboard. I love the familiarity of all these little things at Christmas. I feel sad every Twelfth Night when I put them away and just want it to be next Christmas. Now it doesn't feel as if it was that long ago.
Emma Bridgewater designs don't stay the samee one year to the other, hence the two types of holly crocks.



I think this little cup and plate set is actually Australian, though bought in Shrewsbury.

It's f-f-f-f-re-e-e-e-EEEE-e-e-e-zing!!! From now on it's wellies in the car every day. I was caught out on Friday. Didn't know that snow was on the way so set out in just court shoes then when I got to work, it started. Didn't half feel stupid creeping about the town trying to stay upright doing my shopping in such unsuitable footwear. Neeedless to say, I love this white world.

I took copious photos of the pink light cast on the white hills by the setting sun on Saturday afternoon but won't bore people with those just yet. Unlike in January, on this occasion t's measured in inches rather then feet (though still stopping the cars). It's time to get excited now about ChristmaaaaAAAAAAS!!!

The question became ‘Why not Exmoors?’ After I lost Ginger Parkin I looked at some ponies for sale locally and nearly bought a Welsh cross dapple grey mare but she needed work on her jumping so I decided I would just think about her. I began looking up breed societies because I fancied a pure native breed, for their cuteness and hardiness. My favourites were Highland and Connemara. I gave no thought to Exmoors, Dartmoors and Welsh Mountain because they are ‘small breeds’ and I thought I needed something around 13.2 hands.

The sales lists arrived but most were too novice, too old, too big, too small, too old and often too expensive. I didn’t mind mare or gelding but I wanted something broken for riding but young enough to have for a long, long time, say 5 to 10 years old.

I can’t remember who made me think of Exmoors. Maybe I had just decided to widen the net, but when I did contact the local rep of the Exmoor Pony Society, she said that lots of light adults rode them and they didn’t look silly on 12.2 hand ponies because the ponies' bodies were quite substantial and riders' legs didn’t dangle down or meet underneath in the middle as you might expect. She said I could come and try some out even though she had none to sell.

Off we went and they did look cute. The first things I noticed apart from their mealy noses (obviously) were that they were wearing no shoes, they had thick, short necks, relatively large heads and this ‘hooded’ eye. These are all the classic Exmoor characteristics. I really liked them. I saw the lady ride some, and she was taller than me but didn't look wrong. Then I tried two or three and although they were about 12.2 hands, it didn’t matter. Quite a lot of people don’t actually need the size of horse (or pony) that they think they should have. These little things will carry grown men across moors all day, so long as the rider doesn’t weigh more than 12 stone. Well, they probably can carry more than that, but that is the recommendation of the breed society. The rep lady said she would find out about Exmoors for sale and put me in touch with any possible vendors, so that’s really ‘Why Exmoors?’



I’ve said enough for today again. Another time it’ll be about ‘why that particular Exmoor’ and how I first got Quasar. Then another time about Skylark’s arrival. I will leave you with these photos, taken yesterday morning. The top picture is Quasar (looking across the sun – sorry) and the blue sky background one is Skylark.

Can I just say, because it’s Fauna Friday, that I had just been to the rushes to smash the ice on their spring and a jack snipe flew out. I heard the THRRRRRRR!!!! of its wings and saw its beak silhouetted against the frosty hill.

Sometimes I don’t post because I just don’t know what to say. I can always fall back on ranting about things I’ve heard on the radio on the way to work.

They played a bit of ‘music’ that was going to be played live on a train today somewhere in the US. It went “PINGGG!” “Thud” “BOINGGGGG!” “Clunk, clunk, clunk oooooooooooo!” Well I’m glad for the passengers that they will never hear that above the train noise because frankly it sounded like the sounds of a train breaking into pieces which would just cause mass panic and a rush for the emergency stop button.




Barak Obama has a spiritual advisor. Well, good. Not wanting to be politically incorrect, I’ll just say that something that reminds you that the world isn’t just about money and tangibles; there’s as much going on about inside heads and hearts, imaginations and emotions, and how we might like to live our lives (even if we can’t or won’t). It says on the internet that he has been ‘hijacked’. That’s why I didn’t mention the ‘r’ word.

Then they said ‘“RSA doesn’t only stand for Royal Society for the Evaluation of Aunts” (or was it “ants”?). Well that would be RSAE, so of course it doesn’t. What were they on about? Maybe I just didn’t hear properly. There can’t be such a society. It turned out it did stand for something to do with drug or alcohol addiction.

No sun - no moon
No morn - no noon
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November!

It all sounds a bit like August actually. It isn't true, is it? The sun does shine in November, there is dawn and dusk, just closer together. There can be warmth sometimes, even outdoors; there is shine and shade; I haven't seen a bee or a butterfly for a long time but there are hawthorn berries and rosehips. There are apples and pears to be seen if you know where to go. There is the glorious spindle tree which is just coming into its own now. I know of none hereabouts but I know where to go to see one.



For flowers there is winter jasmine and some pale pink shrub (viburnum?) in people's gardens. I bet the fuchsia is still out in warmer places. I saw flowering ragwort and umbellifers on a roadside this morning.



I can't move for starlings, fieldfares, magpies, robins to name but a few. Hmph. Thomas Hood must have had his hood up when he wrote that poem. No, I know exactly what he means.

Top pic isn't Foodyland. Got it from Google images. It wasn't that easy to find what I wanted.

Sometimes I am asked why I chose to have Exmoor ponies in particular. I started writing this but couldn't really answer the qustion without giving the background of my pony keeping, so here is that. 'Why Exmoors?' will follow another day, otherwise the post will be too long.

Before I had Quasar I had ponies on loan from trekking centres over two consecutive winters. The first was Merry, a Welsh Section D mare, about 14 hands with striking good looks, bay in colour with a white star and white back left foot. It would take me ages to find an old photo and it wouldn't be digital so here is the closest likeness I could find in Google Images. I think this is actually a younger but bigger animal.



She was quite a heavily built pony and a handful, but I managed. The next year, Merry had been sold so I had Ginger, a little chestnut/roany coloured pony of 13.1 hands and of unknown breeding and age (but later thought by a vet to be about 12). She was the colour of October bracken, with a tiny white dot on her forehead and one foot. She was sweet, quiet but lively when you asked her, very well behaved with the blacksmith, other ponies and people and just very good-natured and easy to manage. Just before she was due to go back to trekking, I bought her.



Again, same photo problem but this 'quarter pony' is the closest likeness.
She was the first pony I had owned. I renamed her Ginger Parkin and sometimes called her 'Parks' for short. That would have been about March/April time. The following January she died suddenly in her field while I was there with her. I had only got back from Christmas hols the day before. Imagine if I hadn't been back that day, or not in the field when it happened? It's still painful to think and talk about it.

So there we are. I was pony-less, bereft and although I really just wanted her back, and only her, I had to begin thinking about a new pony. When I lose a pet it's as though I feel I owe it to all ponies/cats to take on another and love it. It's a focus for all the emotions I suppose.

Empty washing powder boxes always have powder stuck to their insides so is it OK to put them with the cardboard recyclable waste or must they go in the "all other waste" bin, because of the powder?

There has been some news again so they don't have to resort to default and report only what is being talked about in parliament (yawn). I'm glad William and Kate are engaged, as I am happy for any couple in that position. I'm not expressing views on whether it's good or bad to have a royal family.

Because of the job I do and the recent track record of our royal marriages, I can't help being a little cynical and thinking that Kate must have signed an agreement that she would give the ring back if they don't marry or if they part.

About the cost of it all, well, people are saying that times are hard and they shouldn't have an extravagant state wedding. Both are in paid employment. William has always been concerned to be treated as an ordinary guy. It'll be interesting to see if they dip into their own pockets like other young couples. They've had 9 years to save up, after all. Maybe Mr. Middleton will get his wallet out too, in the traditional manner. We'll see.

I just hope we get a public holiday on the day and that it's a Friday or a Monday.

BTW Helsie, the mincemeat pie post was 21st Dec 2009. I was wrong. It says 100 and a half pies, not 104 as I thought.

Starting this week, we, the last community in the county, now must separate our rubbish into various types of recyclables for the Council to collect. This is actually easier for us, because we used to take it to the various recycling places, so it will be tidier and easier. However, the only problem is the rubbish that doesn't fall into any recyclable category and is not food waste (which we compost anyway) is collected every two weeks.



My policy with fish skin/bone/plastic fishmonger bags has been to bundle them inside a plastic bag inside a plastic bag etc about 4 times, to seal the stink in. This puts it in the 'general waste' category, not the food waste one, because of the necessary bags. Even with weekly collections, the smell started to come though even after a couple of days. With fortnightly collctions, this isn't going to work.
If it gets put in the food waste bin, which is collectd weekly, it must be without packaging. It will really pong then if it's left bare. Cheese rind could cause the same problems.
Must I resort to chucking the stinking fish bits somewhere unauthorised? Or just have fish every fortnight?
What do people do?

It said on my calendar under November "Pastry 4lb". This was my reminder that I was to make pastry in advance because I am always in a hurry once the time comes to make the mince(meat) pies (No meat but that's what it's called and that's what it says on the jar). Anyway, I set to on Saturday morning.
I am always leaving myself insufficient time to do everything in December so I am starting Christmassy things earlier than ever this year.
When I see the number of lbs, I take it that that is the weight of the flour only. So I had been to the shops on Friday and got about 2 and a half lbs of butter (because I find the only way I can make my pastry edible is by using butter and in more than half the weight of the flour. Other people make better pastry in a less extravant way but I am a lesser pastry mortal).
It looked a lot. It had sounded a lot. However, I usually know what my own notes mean, so the quantities must be right.




Oh heck, the mixing bowls were overflowing. (Not my pic. I have a very basic hand held mixer)I had to do it in several batches. Oh well, I reminded myself that the pie total last year had been 104 so maybe this quantity was correct.
In the end I had nearly 7lbs of pastry. Would anyone like some? Hungry Horace? Bernard? You like buttery pastry. You have said so. Or is it a complete 'No-no' now?

I froze it in 1lbs and half lbs in the hope that I could give lumps away or sell them at the church sale for charity.
I have changed the diary entry for next year to 'use 2 and a half lbs flour'.

Last week on hols we saw lots of these.



Often they are crossed with these



or with these



to make these.

I was going to put a beefburger pic here and say tht they all make these, but it seemed a bit in poor taste.



We also saw one of these



And one of these



And scores of these



But none of these.
Well, we saw plenty of ponies and horses, but none of these precisely, and you all know I mean Exmoor ponies.

All war is horrendous and it's tragic when young life is cut down and I am full of gratitude to this who have died fighting for well me I suppose and my safety and security. However, I don't 'do' Armistice Day.



"If it wasn't for them, we would all be speaking German. " If it wasn't for lots of other soldiers over the milennia and centuries, we might be speaking all sorts of languages. English is a mongrel language anyway. We might have been speaking Latin if the Romans had stayed. It's not that simple.

"They fought and died so we could have this freedom" Yes, but it's not only wars fought and won that have brought it about. There is no one cause and one effect. Everything that ever happened in history is what made today today.

Do we really have to have war programme after war programme on telly? 1914 1918 1939 1945 so every year with a 4, 5, 8 or 9 in it we have overload on telly. It's not just the multipls of 10, it's often the somethingty-fifth anniversary as well, so that's vry year with a 3 and 0 as well. And for notable events during both wars, in between their starts and finishes. That's practically all the time. Yawn.

"Foody, you sound uncaring and ungrateful". No, I'm not. Read my opening words. I just look for the wider picture. We have to be careful that it isn't war we are glorifying, but the people.

I think we should always remember them, but I feel we don't do enough looking forward rather than back.



If I sound a bit grumpy, it's because my laptop is sick and I fear that this time I may have lost copious amounts of unsaved work, but we'll see. It kept saying "Start up failed". You see, I had turned it off without closing down properly, but I often do that. I may have shut the lid a bit hard because I was annoyed with it because it was whirring and not shutting down quickly enough. I had just lost a pad of notes and wasted a lot of time looking for it so was in a rush to go. Could I lose stuff from hard drive this way?
This is th on with a lump of blu tac instad of a ltter ''.

Hello. Sorry to be so long. I just haven't had time to spend blogging since I got back. It was a lovely hol. Thankfully, although the weather was mainly dull, it was better every day than the nightly forecast predicted and we were outside nearly all day, every day, except for one. It was also miles better than back home. It's winter here now. All colourful leaves gone in a week, it was so rough. Back there where we were it was still all bright and beautiful the day we left.




I haven't put any of last week's pics on yet but the two pics showmn are from the same area when we were there a few years ago.

Spare time after work and occasionally at lunch time will be spent at the gym between now and Christmas because I didn't haven't really stopped gorging since arriving in Suffolk for summer hols back in August. I am slightly ashamed of myself but on the other hand it has been fun for a foody.