An extra pair of hands

 

An extra pair of hands

Susannah is staying with us for a few days, and insisting on helping. We took her at her word. Barry hacked, I pruned, and Susannah cleared and graunched and mulched. The brown gardening waste bin is filling satisfactorily, and the trees will appreciate the mulch.

We got so much more done with that very useful extra pair of hands, and the strength and energy they’re attached to.  She commented that it’s not a low-maintenance garden. It’s better than it was. When I remarked that we’d removed on arch, she said, ‘I knew there was something different, but I couldn’t think what it was.’

Well, we haven’t seen her since Christmas!

Gilbert went upstairs to our bed – he didn’t like the noise of the grauncher. Roxy relaxed, happy to be left to her own devices and not be asked to play by Susannah’s dog, Arthur. He wanted to come outside with us, and helped in the only way he could think of, by bringing some toys out and eviscerating them.

April birthdays

 

April birthdays

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

There is only one April birthday in my family, and it is mine. There are two zodiac signs covering April, (mid-March to mid-April and mid-April to mid-May) Aries and Taurus. The first covers the dates from March 21^st to April 19^th. Taurus covers April 20^th to May 20^th. It’s entertaining to look at the different traits associated with each one and consider how appropriate they are.

There are people who take horoscopes very seriously. One of my nieces spends much time charting horoscopes. I look at daily forecasts for amusement, and choose the one I find most favourable to my circumstances at any given time. I have a similar approach to weather forecasts, and frequently seek out the one that is most amenable.

People born under the Fire sign of Aries are represented by the Ram, and ruled by the planet Mars. Though Mars looks hot and red, it is actually a cold, dry world. Ariens are said to be natural leaders, enthusiastically taking charge with confidence and passion. They are honest and outspoken, but can be impatient and moody. It sounds as though they act first, perhaps on impulse, and consider their actions later, maybe with regret. Maybe those curly horns are used to favourable effect.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Those born under the Earth sign of Taurus are ruled by Venus, which is the hottest planet in the solar system. The symbol for Taurus is the Bull. Its subjects are thought to be patient and devoted, but also stubborn. They dislike sudden change, and seek comfort and stability, to satisfy their sensory needs. They are not the ‘bull in a china shop’ I thought they might be.

Do you know your horoscope sign? Do your character and temperament align with it?

 

How do you eat your animals?

 

How do you eat your animals?

                        Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

The pig that Tom the piper’s son stole was actually an apple filled pastry and it made me wonder about other possibly misleading food items. I’m mainly thinking about local, British things.

Pigs in blankets, surrounding a roast chicken 

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The first that sprang to mind was ‘Pigs in blankets,’ a favourite accompaniment to roast turkey at Christmas. They are chipolatas wrapped in bacon rashers, very tasty and extremely salty. There are other versions, and I gather in the US that pigs in blankets are sausages wrapped in croissant dough, sometimes with cheese.

Hot dogs originated in Germany and/or Austria and made their way to UK in the early 20^th century via US. Eleanor Roosevelt served them to King George VI in 1939 in New York. Why dogs? They share a passing resemblance to a dachshund, a ‘sausage dog,’ and there was some question around 1880, about where the meat in them was sourced. Some queried whether it was from dogs, or horses. I suppose they might just as well have been called horses, and we might now be eating ‘hot horses.’

                                            Garibaldi biscuits
                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

‘Fly cemeteries,’ more properly known Garibaldi biscuits, are currants or raisins squashed and baked between two strips of sweet pastry. Personally, Garibaldi biscuits are not popular, perhaps because of my older brother’s teasing. Legend has it that the biscuit was named after Guiseppe Garibaldi, after he sat on two biscuits while on a visit to South Shields in England.

                                        Toad-in-the-hole
                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

‘Toad-in-the-hole’ was originally a means of making meat go further in poorer households. It usually consists of sausages baked in Yorkshire pudding batter, though historically other meats have been used. Batter puddings were popular in early 18^th century England.

‘Fish fingers’ are surely confusing to the thoughtful child, though they do have some relation to fish, if not actually digits. 

                                            Langues de chat
                                        Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Almost as horrifying are ‘langues de chat,’ for who would not baulk at the prospect of eating cats’ tongues? These are French-inspired sweet, crunchy biscuits in the shape of a cat’s tongue, and a genteel tea-time treat, or so I’m told.

                                                Welsh rabbit
                                            Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Travelling from France to Wales, we encounter ‘Welsh rabbit.’  No rabbit is hurt in this concoction of melted cheese on toast. It is thought that ‘rabbit’ was an insult, inferring that the Welsh were too poor to provide meat to eat. The name changed to ‘Welsh Rarebit’ in the late 18^th century in a bid to ‘gentrify’ the dish. It often has ale, or mustard, or Worcestershire sauce added to it for extra flavour, and makes a quick, satisfying meal or snack.

In Scotland, ‘Cock-a-leekie-soup’ is a traditional dish. It is made with chicken or chicken stock, and many leeks, and much pepper, and often has barley added to thicken it. Sometimes prunes are an additional ingredient, which give sweetness to complement and counteract the fiery strength of the soup.

Scotch Woodcock is not Scottish, and nor does it have anything to do with the elusive, declining Woodcock (Scolopax Rusticola) It was a popular dish in the mid-19^th century at the House of Commons and the then élite Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. It consists of scrambled eggs and anchovies served on toast, and was recorded in ‘Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management.’

‘Chicken of the Woods’ (Laetiporus sulphureus) is not a bird, either, but an edible mushroom found on the trunks of woodland trees, commonly oak or sweet chestnut, from late spring to autumn. Said to taste of chicken, it has a similar texture to chicken, and is useful in vegetarian stews in lieu of meat. It is also an important food for much wildlife, particularly some beetles which only feed on bracket fungi.

Tom

 

Tom

Scanned page from 'The Baby's Opera' by Walter Crane, 1878 edition by McLoughlin Bros. in New York.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

YP was the inspiration, if that’s the appropriate word, for this post.

There are two nursery rhymes I know about Tom. In each he is a piper’s son, but one presents him as a thief, and the other as a musician.

Tom, Tom, the piper’s son,
Stole a pig and away did run,
The pig was eat, and Tom was beat
And Tom went crying down the street.

The pig in question was not a hefty mammal, but a type of apple-filled pastry, maybe like an apple turnover.

The origins of the ‘thief’ version are unknown, but it was first printed about 1795 in London.

The longer version, touting Musical Tom, was printed at the same time as the shorter verse. It was adapted from a popular rhyme from the late 17th century, as a recruitment song to encourage volunteers to join military campaigns in the early 18^th century (1705)

Tom’s skill was such that everyone enjoyed his music.

Tom, he was a piper’s son,
He learnt to play when he was young,
And all the tune that he could play
Was o’er the hills and far away.
Over the hills and a great way off,
The wind shall blow my top-knot off.

Tom with his pipe made such a noise,
That he pleased both the girls and boys,
They all stopped to hear him play,
‘Over the hills and far away.’

Some found themselves forced to dance.

Tom with his pipe did play with such skill
That those who heard him could never keep still;
As soon as he played they began for to dance,
Even the pigs on their hind legs would after him prance.

Tom’s music entranced Dolly, a milkmaid.

As Dolly was milking her cow one day,
Tom took his pipe and began to play;
So Dolly and the cow danced ‘The Cheshire Round’
Till the pail was broken and the milk ran on the ground.

The Cheshire Round (or Rounds) was a country dance and a prime feature of social gatherings in 17^th century England,

 Following that, Tom’s enthusiasm led him on to further capers.

He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs,
He used his pipe and she used her legs;
She danced about till the eggs were all broke.
She began for to fret, but he laughed at the joke.

Finally, he used his piping talent for a good cause.

Tom saw a cross fellow was beating an ass,
Heavy laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass;
He took out his pipe and he played them a tune.
And the poor donkey’s load was lightened full soon.

Magic carpet

 

Magic carpet

. . . or Flying Bedstead?

I was awake early, after a poor night’s sleep, otherwise I might have been startled into consciousness by an announcement from Tom Tom, courtesy of Barry’s iPhone.

‘Traffic is getting worse.

You are still on the fastest route.

You will arrive at 6:41.’

Then, half an hour later, came another announcement:

‘Traffic is getting worse.

You are still on the fastest route.

You will arrive at 8:10.’

I have no idea where we were headed, or why. Tom Tom had been playing up the previous day and not receiving traffic news. A factory reset solved the problem, but why it chose the small hours to prove itself is anyone’s guess.

Fields

 

Fields

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

A field of honour can be a battlefield or the setting for a duel, but ‘having a field day’ was originally a British military expression from about 1747 describing a day of manoeuvres or inspections out of doors rather than in indoor facilities. Soldiers would leave their barracks to practice battle drills and tactics. It was used in the Royal Navy to describe a day of ‘deep cleaning’ a ship.

Now it means deriving a good deal of pleasure, sometimes at the expense of others.

One may have a field day by playing the field, which can be fun for the principal player but not necessarily for the other participants. The others might not consider themselves ‘on a level playing field,’ where everyone has an equal chance of success, and of becoming ‘the best in field.’  

‘The Killing Fields’ is the term for mass grave sites in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge, under the control of Pol Pot, committed the genocide of between 1.3 and 3 million people between 1975 and 1979, about a quarter of Cambodia’s population at the time. 

Anyone who posed a threat, real or imagined, was either executed or worked to death. Intellectual and professional people, religious groups, including Christians, Buddhists and Muslims, ethnic Vietnamese and Thai groups, were considered an obstacle to the creation of a Communist agrarian civilisation, a so-called ‘classless’ society.

Ultimately, Vietnam invaded Cambodia, and overwhelmed the Khmer Rouge. Subsequent decades were spent bringing the perpetrators to justice, some of whom died before the conclusion of the trials, which ran from 2006 to 2022.

 Photographs

It was a bright, blustery day yesterday, with squally showers. There were some interesting cloud formations.

 I have discovered the purpose of the hideous building I mentioned last week. It is an assisted living development for people with learning disabilities and mental health needs. The aim is to enable people to live confidently with a greater degree of independence.

 It reminds me in some respects of the keep of a mediaeval castle. If the windows were any smaller they could pass as arrow slits. Construction was completed in May 2025. 

It is a two-storey building comprising four separate, self-contained apartments of five bedrooms with associated living space.

There is also a rooftop garden for residents.

The complex is situated in  an established residential area, close to the medical practice, library, community centre, and shopping centre. There are parks nearby and plenty of safe spaces to walk. 

I don't know how places are allocated, or whether there is an on-site warden.