A Side of Bacon

It is now 6 full days since I started to cure the full side of Tamworth Pork that arrived last Saturday.

Each day it has been removed from the fridge, massaged with more cure, and re-ordered in the box so that the top moves to the bottom and so forth. after 6 days it looks like this.

The meat has darkened in colour and the texture is much firmer as much of the liquid has been drawn from the meat by the osmotic pressure created by the salt and sugar in the cure. The only smell is that of the aromatics in the cure. There is no "off" smell which I am sure you would get if a piece of pork had been left in an open box in a fridge for 6 days.

Possibly the perfect bacon sandwich

Now the flitches of bacon are washed off and left to soak in fresh cold water for an hour or so. This final soaking removes the salt from the surface of the bacon as it can be too salty for some tastes if this is not done.

The flitches are cut in half to make them more manageable. It can be seen that the cure has affected the entire structure of the meat. There are no areas that look like raw meat as can be seen on the picture above.

They are then wrapped in muslin and left hanging in a cool dry place for a week or so. This is a necessary stage if the meat is to be smoked as a "pellicle" or surface coating needs to form on the flitch so that the smoke adheres to the bacon during that final stage.

Two of the pieces are however to be the subjects of an experiment and are to be further matured in the fridge. One has been coated in Black Treacle and the other in  Maple Syrup. I plan to leave these for a week or so and then sample.

What's Brown & Sticky ? ..... A Stick

My Dad called round today and took a look at the ham hanging in the Garage. He smiled and recounted how my Great Grandfather used to have one hanging above the table in the kitchen. Apparently it used to sit under an Oil Lamp and the heat used to cause the fat to run and drip off the ham. His Father, My Grandfather, also used to home cure and Dad remembers Grand Dad slicing a piece of bacon from a ham and cooking it over the fire on the end of a stick.

Feeling Jaded

Today has been one of those days where I have tried to make progress in a number of areas but have little to show for it really.

I suppose that I shouldn't complain as I can't hit the bulls eye every day but I am off work next week and therefore want to get as much moving or resolved this week so that I can hit the ground running on my return. It is unfortunate that people want to move meetings or are not available to talk or are focused elsewhere and this has left me feeling slightly jaded - what a great word and it describes perfectly how I feel. Slightly annoyed and frustrated.

Still, there were minor successes and I suppose I should look to those and give everything else a bloody good kicking tomorrow..... and then disappear for a week.

We don't have anything planned although I can see some* decorating that needs doing and 30% has advised that she would like to take T&M out for a day somewhere.....

... I suggested that we take them Swimming at the local pool.

No other News really. TP broke up for half term today and is staying over at a friend's house this evening.

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* This is an interesting definition / use of the word "some". If you actually knew what The Pile looked like you would immediately translate to "massive amounts"

I got bored today...

... so I did this.

Marauder's Bumper Book of Crime. Number 3 in an occasional Series

I'm sure that 30%'s watch was less fragmentary when she left it on the arm of the Sofa last night.

Pointless Activity

This morning I looked out of the window to see a Local Authority employee or, perhaps more likely, Contractor striding down the road with a leaf blower.

His mission seemed to be to blow the leaves from the pavement and he was doing a fair job of making sure that the 4 foot width of tarmac was leaf free by ushering them on to the verge and the gutter.

Now here's the thing ........... it has been found that the best way to move leaves from the pavement is to use wind. Now round here we get naturally occurring wind - I suppose you could describe it as free range or organic wind*. I'm pretty sure that we will get some of this organic wind in the next day or so and those leaves will be back where they started.

I just wonder what idiot in the Local Authority decided to specify this job and the parameters that defined it as adequately performed. 

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 * The meteorologically aware will know that this effect is caused by movement of air from areas of High Pressure to areas of Low Pressure

Did I mention.....

Walking the dogs,
Salting the bacon,
Putting the bread maker on

...cos that lot had to happen as well...

and there is going to be shutting up of chickens too

Mission Improbable

Tuesdays are a busy day ....Well there is work for a start, this week is going quite well. I have been lined up to lead a large project that will run over the next few months. Apparently I can't say a lot more than that as I had to agree to a non-disclosure clause but this week will be spend getting to grips with it's history and the few things I can get rolling before I take a week off.

 Once work ends family life kicks in.

TP gets home about 4.15 and needs to be encouraged to complete any home work that may have been assigned and then reminded - REPEATEDLY - that it is Rugby Practice and that 30% will be taking him at 6.30 precisely.....


...... at this point I might be tempted to say "synchronise watches" for mild comic effect but that would be absolutely wasted on TP as he has somewhere in the region of 5 watches but refuses to wear any of them instead relying the handy time keeping skills* of 30% and me.

Where was I, Oh Yes, Tuesday evening. TP has to complete homework, locate and attire himself in Rugby kit and eat before 6,30 pm. He also has to ensure that he has clothes to change in to after rugby as it is Dog Training at 8.30.

The way this runs is 30% takes TP to Rugby. I eat early and then gather dogs and dog training treats and tools and then meet up at the Rugby Club around 7.45. 30% then departs and heads home for her evening meal and hopefully a little R&R. Rugby training ends at 8 o'clock and TP, Tyson, Marauder and I head off for their training. TP changes in the back of the Prius and at 8.30 sharp we arrive at the Village Hall - its Showtime.

We eventually arrive home at around 9.50 and I collapse with a coffee in front of the ten o'clock news and TP heads up the wooden hill.

Dangling from wires and avoiding sweating on a Vault floor is probably a lot more relaxed than this.

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* Apparently some call it "Nagging"

Missing in Action

Monday; the start of the week - I was hoping for a reasonably quiet week as I am on holiday next week and am hoping that it is a case of "there is no point in him starting this if he is not going to be round to finish it". This is highly unlikely but I can always hope.

30% and I are out to see Frankie Boyle this evening so I'm sure it will be an evening of subtle, wry comedy - or perhaps not.

The evening out meant that a concerted effort was put in to walking T&M at lunch time. I did the usual route which skirts the perimeter of the Free Range Egg Farm.  The bird sheds are about 200 yards or more away from the fields where we walk and it is very rare that the Hens ever stray anywhere near that far.

A few of them do and I'm guessing they get caught out by the sudden darkening now its Autumn and then roost in the hedges rather than wander back across dark fields. This is not a good idea as the local foxes patrol these hedges and a free ranger is an easy meal. We regularly see the remnants of these Brave Girls who go MIA.

Mind you - it's brilliant if you are T&M as the smallest fragment of chicken carcass, however "ripe" is a far better toy than a tennis ball or a stick. They found a leg today complete with foot and were hysterical; charging around the fields chasing each other and squabbling over the body part......

.............  I hope it's nothing to do with yesterday's "incident" when Marauder tried to befriend one through the fence.........

Day of Rest - My ar.........

TP had an away match today and needed to be up on top of the Cotswolds at 10 o'clock sharp this morning. This meant that an alarm had to be set and since I have to set one on most days of the week setting one on Sunday really does go against the grain.

So, off we went and arrived at the Rugby Club. I have visited the locale several times with TP's previous team and, when the weather is bad, it is the most god forsaken, wind blown, exposed hell holes of a place on Earth. This is made worse by the fact that they are an incredibly good team and tend to walk over most opposition.

Today was different in one respect, the weather was beautiful. It is probably best that I don't say any more.....

..... back home we lunched and then I took T&M out for a walk round the "three miler" This was their usual constitutional which involves wading through as many ditches and puddles as possible and, when they are not up to their midriff in mud, they are sampling any horse shit they can find.

I got my own back when we arrived home and threw them in their bath!

On the curing front the bacon needed to be removed from the box, rubbed with more cure, rotated and replaced in the fridge. As can be seen in the following picture,an amazing amount of liquor is "pulled" from the meat by the cure.

I suppose it doesn't look that appetising but  there is no odour other than the smell of the aromatics in the cure.This liquid is poured off and the pieces of meat or flitches are re-salted.

As can be seen, the meat is already changing colour and texture as the cure takes effect and fluid is extracted from the meat. Once re-salted the piece of meat that is at the bottom is moved to the top to allow each piece equal potential to dry cure.

This will continue for the next five or six days but, don't worry, I'm not going to subject you to a daily snapshot of a piece of curing meat.

Before I finish I do have one observation. Many curing recipes call for Kosher salt - doesn't that seem a little odd?

What do I do with 10 Kg of damp salt?

Today is day 10 of 10.

For the past week and a half a leg of pork has been sat in a box full of salt with a loosely fitting lid weighed down with a few house bricks.

Don't worry the inside is spotless.

I was quite apprehensive having never done this before and wondered what would await me under the salt. There was no smell just lots and lots of compressed, damp salt that needed to be excavated and put in a bucket. Lord knows what I can do with it although I'll be laughing if we have heavy frosts or snow and apparently it is a great weed deterrent if it is brushed in to the joints of block paving so I may give that a go.

After some careful digging I unearthed the ham.

It was then simply a matter of washing off the salt with lots of cold water and patting it dry with a paper towel. Once dry it is carefully washed in white wine vinegar and allowed to dry off. It is then double wrapped in muslin and hung in a cool drafty spot for 4 to 6 months to allow the air drying process to complete. I have hung mine out in the garage where I can keep an eye out for anything untoward.

Roll on February.

All being well it should be ready to eat some time between Valentine's day and Easter so its a case of fingers crossed and extreme patience.

Moving to something with a slightly shorter preparation time, I picked up a side of Pork today to be made in to bacon.  For the anatomically challenged I have managed to knock up a quick sketch showing the approximate location of a Side of Pork

Basically the "side" is a roughly square section of pork running from the spine to the mid line of the belly. It comprises loin from up by the spine which gives back bacon and the belly which gives us streaky. Funnily enough the meat between the belly and the loin give us "Middle Bacon". It looks like this in the flesh ....

This side weighed just over 7 Kg fresh or 15 and a half pounds in "old money". It will loose some weight during the curing process but should provide somewhere in the region of 13 to 14 lbs of bacon.


The great thing about curing a side is that the resultant rashers are very long and are back bacon at one end and run through middle to streaky at the other. So, where do we go from here ....

... The first thing to do is to cut it up in to three pieces that are more manageable to handle and obviously increase the surface area and therefore reduce the chance of the cure failing. Each piece is then thoroughly massaged with the cure mixture. This is basically 3 parts salt to one part brown sugar with added aromatics. I use black peppercorns, bay and coriander but there many other flavours that can be used.

The left end is back bacon, the right is streaky. Guess what the middle is called.

Once a few good handfuls of cure have been rubbed in the section of side is placed in a non-metallic box.

The remaining two pieces are given the same treatment and are stacked on top.

The box is covered and is placed in a refrigerator. Every day for the next five or six days the pork will be removed and any liquor poured off.  Each piece will be massaged with more cure and returned to the box.


By the end of the week I will have what is called Green Bacon which is "un-smoked" in Supermarket speak.

That was better.

The two Projects I have been assigned to, in my new role, have reached a stage where my activities cease, or at least diminish, and others take over.

A consequence of this is that this working week has had approximately 30% fewer hours and required about 50% of the mental effort of the preceding five weeks. I am therefore considerably less frazzled than I usually am on a Friday evening.

The change of pace has allowed me to assemble supper during my lunch break so its Delia's Smoked Fish Pie for 30% and me. TP has a couple of friends over for a sleep-over tonight so we will hurl a couple of pizzas and some fries in their direction and let them do a reasonable impersonation of a pack of wolves around a deer carcass before retiring to their lair for yet more electronic death and destruction courtesy of Microsoft's X-Box.

Today is day #9 of 10 which means that the ham, currently being salted in the garage, will go through the next stage of the curing process - more on that tomorrow.

Whilst in the curing vein, I also need to nip in to Stratford tomorrow and pick up a side of rare breed pork that I ordered a couple of weeks back. I took ten minutes today to make some cure mixture as I have a suspicion that it gives the bacon a better flavour if the salt and sugar has time to absorb some of the essential oils from the peppercorns and bay leaves that are ground and mixed in.

I'm guessing that tomorrow's entry will be predominantly pork based - vegetarian's  LOOK AWAY NOW!

Quote of the day

30%                   "Badman, you talk to those dogs more
                        than me!"

Badman              "No I don't.......... do I Marauder?"




Marauder            "no"

A session with Mr D

Today I had to go to the Dentist and I loathe the Dentist.

I go every six months to ensure optimum dental health, I keep them clean but I still loathe the Dentist.

I'm not particularly squeamish and I know that it is not overly painful but I still loathe the Dentist.

Maybe it is because I have an active imagination that I loathe the Dentist.

Fortunately when I joined Mr D's Practice I pointed out that I was not a fan of sitting in in a reclining chair which comes from the supplier with optional restraints. I also pointed out that I was observant enough to know that he and his compatriots attempted to conceal their instruments of torture by passing them under the jaw and so out of sight before jabbing them in to my gums and that little dental sleight of hand did nothing to endear them to me as a profession.

I pointed out to him that I would visit every six months and assist in funding the refurnishing his house and his habit of exploring the planet provided that he used massive amounts of anesthetic and didn't tell me that "this wont hurt a bit".

To be fair I must take some of the blame since the worst thing is the scale and polish and I tend to take most of my fluids in the form of black coffee and red wine and neither of these help keep my "pearly whites" pearly white so he gets out the orbital sander and T-cut every six months and I leave with a movie star smile*.

Today I also had an old filling removed and re-filled. He said that it had cracked and needed to be replaced. Here is the thing - how do I know? National Heath Dentists are as scarce as Rocking Horse shit. I can hardly nip out and get a second opinion or have a look in the bathroom mirror and see the Grand Canyon in miniature in upper right, number 6.

So I have to take Mr D's word for it and let him sit me in the chair and subject me to 30 mins of fun and frivolity as he clamps my head in a vice like grip, stabs me in the gums at regular intervals and his Dental Nurse shows her prowess at initiating a gag reflex with the bloody suction tube. For all I know his BMW is due for a major service and he had an hour free and saw it as an opportunity to cover the cost of the brake pads.

To be fair Mr D is a lovely chap who has a natural ease and knows not to patronise a dental coward like me. I just wish he would change that bloody poster that is mounted on the ceiling.

I've seen the original in the temple at Dendera and I'd much rather be there!

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I'm sure Trigger counts as a Movie Star even if Mr Ed doesn't.

Lion's teeth

After yesterdays entry I kept a closer eye on the verges as I walked T&M to see what other late season flowers I could spy.

In the church car park I was rewarded with a Geranium species in full flower by the fence near where Village Idiot's cow is pastured. It is one of the Cranesbill species and a splash of colour by the road. Other Autumn flowers included a solitary Buttercup and a Bindweed flower although the latter was definitely past its best and the adjective withered is probably demanded in this sentence.

Dandelions are plentiful and give the title to today's entry. Their name comes from the French Dent de Lion or Lion's Teeth which describes the coarse serrations of the leaves. the French name for the plant is somewhat coarse as well as they know it as "pisalit" or "wet the bed" as the roots are a strong diuretic.

Whilst cogitating on the feline origins of the Dandelion's name I suddenly had a blast from the past. I don't know where it came from - perhaps it was the concept of playing with words and corruptions of them but I recalled some nonsense that Dad used to mention when I was a youngster....


........... He used to refer to a musical instrument called a Banjalorum.

Why do I remember it? Probably because I was a child and it was a silly word and the definition contained an expletive and a grotesque visual image and was therefore hysterical when you were 7 or 8 years old.

"So, what is a Banjalorum Dad?" we would cry .................

............. "Two strings across a cat's arse that are played with your teeth" came the reply - and as kids we would collapse in fits.

I don't know where it originates from and I have never heard of it outside of my immediate family, but it still makes me smile.

Against the grain

A few of my recent entries have referenced the passing of Summer and the appearance of Autumn.

Well today was lovely; cool, but lovely, and it was nice to see that there are still a few surprises in the hedgerows.

Today I saw White Dead Nettle and also Cow Parsley in bloom. The Dead Nettle  can flower late in to the Autumn but the Cow Parsley is a little out of season. It is just nice to see wild flowers when most of the walk is now dominated by Autumn hues. Indications of life when mostly all I see are signs of hunkering down until Spring returns.

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On the domestic front; TP's debut got a mention in the match report from yesterday and I realised that, as a morning person I would be better off working with the Japanese than the Americans.

Basically the US kick off at about 3 o'clock which means that is the point my in-box starts to fill. They also have a tendency to expect an immediate response which can be challenging when the request doesn't arrive until just before dinner.

I am slowly adjusting to this by making time at midday to  take a walk with T&M and taking a firm approach when a request comes in at 7 o'clock in the evening.

Beginnings and Endings

Today saw TP's first match at his new rugby club.

We warned him that he was the "new kid" and could not expect to make the starting line up having only attended one training session prior to the game. He was a sub for the first half and his new team managed two tries and one conversion to the opponents solitary try.

The second half started 12:7 in TP's team favour and TP was playing at Left Wing. The opposition kicked off and the ball was heading in TP's direction. He caught it cleanly and headed out towards the half way line. A group of backs converged on TP and he went to the ground passing the ball back to hit new team mates. Nothing spectacular but no mistakes - a solid start.

He had a few good tackles including one that saw his victim leave the ground and fly through the air as TP took him off his legs. Later in the match one of the Props had to go off with a knee injury and TP showed his versatility by moving over to the forwards and played as Hooker for the rest of the match.

Unfortunately TP's team let another couple of tries and a conversion through so the final score was 19: 12. Not a bad first game though and a fair score considering the strength of the opposition.

He can't have been too bad as the head coach "high fived" him after the match - as I said - a good start.

The weather was beautiful today and greatly appreciated after yesterday's damp squib. I took advantage of it and wheeled the Vespa out of the garage for quick spin to blow away the cobwebs. The roads were dry and reasonably clear as I went out through Bidford on Avon through to Stratford and then back in a loop.

The weather has been forecast to be cool and dry this week so hopefully I can get another run or two in before the weather turns. I know that I am a fair weather biker and am not afraid to admit it. There is no fun riding on wet, greasy roads with the added perils of wet leaves, ice etc as Autumn changes to Winter.

I have had my fill of soaking rides through rain and frozen fingers in the ice and snow when a bike was my only form of transport. Mind you, those rides do stick in your mind and you do have a sense of achievement at the end of a ride through disgusting weather. That is the thing about a bike every ride is a journey.

Back home, 30% and I took T&M out for a walk and then I had a quick blast round the lawn with the mower as the grass had finally dried.

Dinner, a glass of wine and a little TV will finish the weekend off nicely.

Somewhat optimistic

Yesterday evening the Weather Forecasters were wittering on about temperatures reaching 23 Celsius in the Worcestershire area.

What the bloody hell are those idiots on and is it available without prescription!

Today it was chilly to say the least and I certainly sampled the weather on a couple of occasions.

Firstly TP has decided to change Rugby Club. After four full seasons at his previous club he has decided to move on and this has been precipitated by erratic coaching and a diminishing squad. It reached a point where, at last week's match they just managed to scrape together 15 players which is fine, until there is an injury or one player cannot make a match - basically the team is not viable and the coaches just kept on spouting incredible and optimistic numbers of players - a good proportion of which had the pitch presence of Harvey.

So TP has moved to a club much nearer home and today they had a Team Building exercise which was paintballing at a Skirmish site a few miles down the road. So sample #1 of the weather was at 8.45 this morning and I can report that I stood in a car park for a good thirty minutes and "froze my tits off". This is a technical term recognised in UK forecasting circles and the same circles have confirmed that 30 minutes was more than adequate to form an opinion of the temperature.

Traumatised by this experience I had to retire to the garage for a good couple of hours on my return to restore blood flow to my extremities. Last week I had successfully bid on a drawer unit on e-Bay. It is a robust metal unit which has 60 drawers and has easily swallowed the multitude of screw, nail and hardware packs that littered the garage shelves and other surfaces. It is now neatly filed and labelled to a degree that would make an OCD sufferer relax.

Later in the day I sampled the weather again when I walked Tyson & Marauder, was it balmy, was it F*ck! It was still bloody cold and my fleece was zipped up to my neck to keep out the Autumn chill. If Mr Osborne is going to make some Public Sector cuts he would do well to deal with the bunch of prats at the Met Office  that declared an Indian Summer this weekend.

Still, the walk was enjoyable but I noticed that the Hawthorn and Oak are now starting to turn yellow. It is only going to get colder and wetter for the next few months.

Timing is everything ...

It is rumoured that Dante's shuts down at midday on a Friday.

I know this is an exaggeration but have come across examples where people are less than visible later after lunch. There is a natural winding down on a Friday as one completes the tasks and commitments of the week and prepares to transition to home life, whatever definition you would like to apply to that term. That is not a crime and understandable if you manage your work effectively. *

Why then, has one of my colleagues decided that a 90 minute interactive web meeting would be a really good idea starting at 5.30 on Friday evening?


I'll be really looking forward to any post-meeting actions that come my way.

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* mind you, going AWOL after a couple of pints at lunchtime is well outside the accepted definition of "winding down" - it does drop neatly in to "taking the piss" though.

I didnt expect that

I started work this morning with an unusually clear schedule so I set aside an hour to complete some mandated on-line training.

On the Domestic front Andy & Steve have either demonstrated that they are the luckiest men alive or have been involved in some nefarious practices* as this is the week that they have decided to paint the rendered parts of the house and they have been rewarded with the best possible weather for the job.

Back to this morning - before settling down to listen to one of my American colleagues recorded lectures I made a coffee and a couple of teas for A&S. I took the teas out and had a quick chat.

On my way back I saw that I had a 'phone message so paused to listen; expecting to hear 30% asking about my day or reminding me about something vital ..........

........... instead I hear Village Idiot's dulcit tones - "Bad Man, I'm down in the Isle of Wight. Can you go down and get my cow back in, she's escaped"

VI's cow is an ancient Hereford x Welsh Black x God Knows what. In other words a 14 year old barren mongrel that has managed to escape the knacker and VI has Hindu like adoration for her. She is no longer "stock" and has definitely ambled in to the category of "pet".

She lives in a paddock, rented by VI,  at the foot of the Church and is well known to the village, regularly receiving treats such as fruit, cabbages and fresh lawn clippings. Until recently she had had a few Suffolk Ewes for company but they have been moved and feeling lonely she decided to demolish the fence and take a walk down the lane.

Obviously someone had called VI to alert him to this and I was his nominated stand in so by carefully positioning the Prius and a few handy bystanders and with a restrained application of a stick across her ample backside I soon had her back in the field. Then all that was required was 15 minutes to tie a couple of hurdles across the gap in the fence and back to my on-line training I went.

Which part of my day did I enjoy most?

Back to ze Cooler Englander!

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* by this I mean making offerings to appease the local weather Gods

Day 1 of 10

Bit of an odd title but all will become apparent.

I mentioned, a couple of days back, that I was going to attempt to air dry a ham - a Worcestershire Prosciutto if you like. Well the half pig arrived on Monday evening and the leg has sat in a fridge like a spare part so this evening when a two and a half hour evening call got cancelled I got my shit together and started the process.

This involved tunnel boning the leg to remove the bone without cutting the skin. With the aid of Grand Dad Fred's boning knife - CHECK

I then needed to fabricate a wooden box with internal dimensions that would allow at least an inch of space around the leg. With the aid of some half inch ply "borrowed" from Dad - CHECK

Back in to the Kitchen and the pork was removed from the fridge and the bone cavity was thoroughly salted. Then the bottom of the box was covered with a layer of salt about an inch thick - This is the first time I have ever made anything that measures the amount of salt required in kilos.

The surface of the salt is sprinkled with cracked black peppercorns and the leg is laid on the salt flesh side down. Then more salt is pored in so that there is at least an inch of salt between the pork and the sides of the box.

Once the pork is covered by a layer of salt an inch thick a loosely fitting wooden lid is placed on the surface of the salt and a few bricks are placed on the lid. These should weigh approximately twice the weight of the pork which is about 5 kilos in this case.

The pork is then left in a cool place for 3 to 4 days per kilo weight of pork. As the boned leg came in at 2.5 kilos I am looking at 10 days before I can go to the next stage......

...... watch this space.

A crafty one out the back with Mr H Robinson, or ......

........  Smoking bacon the Bad Man way.

Before we start the Cat's Brief has pointed out that I should say lots of things along the lines of "if you try this don't blame me if it goes wrong and you get ill or die".  I'd like to add that Tesco or Danepak definitely don't produce their bacon this way but the stuff Great Grandma and Grandpa used to eat certainly came from a process like this.

So where do I start; a piece of pork loin has been dry cured in a salt/sugar/spice cure for about 6 days. It has been soaked in water for about an hour then dried, wrapped and hung in the garage for a further 8 days. Here it is in its nice little muslin jacket

It is unwrapped and a hook is inserted ..........

...... and then hung from a rod in the chimney.

What part of Santa is that ?

In the hearth a small charcoal fire is lit. No coal is used as that will taint the meat. Once the charcoal has that barbecue ready look it is raked out and a good couple of handfuls of oak sawdust is thrown on top. This is the point where it gets counter intuitive. Before I started smoking I spent my life lighting fires that burn beautifully. When smoking you want a fire that smoulders; enough heat to cause the sawdust to smoke but not too much or the meat will cook not smoke.

And that is all there is to it. Tend the fire for the next three or four hours adding more fuel or sawdust as necessary or damping down with a water spray if flames appear.

Here it is after smoking. The colour change is a result of the smoking process and can be quite marked depending on how long the cut is smoked for. The one thing that I cannot convey is the smell. An amazing smoky aroma with an element of cooling bonfire.

All that is left to do now is slice it and eat it or refrigerate or freeze.

The taste is fantastic.You can pick up the sweet and saltiness of the cure accompanied by the peppercorns and bay leaves, the smoke is there too but there is still a remnant of pork flavour. It doesn't just have that commercial homogenous bacon flavour.

Quick, Hide the evidence..........

This evening saw me pop round to Cathy's to pick up half a pig. I reckon I actually got more than half or she needs to have her holding checked over with a Geiger counter because I have four trotters and a complete head. I have therefore uprated my half to about 56% rather than phone the National Enquirer about a two headed, eight legged, porcine monster that has savaged the community and been killed by a SWAT team at the end of a 12 hour rampage of blood and gore ...........

........... well, it could have happened like that.

It came to £68 and 30% estimates that it is no more that £1 per 1 lb which is a great deal provided you can store the meat. Fortunately we are a 3 freezer household and they are all full now.

The hind leg looks fantastic and I have already 'phoned Dad to borrow Grand Dad's boning knife and I have also scrounged some ply to make a box for the salting stage of the ham curing. More on that once I get started. At the moment the leg is resting in the fridge for a day or so until I find the 2 or 3 hours I need to get it all going.

Tomorrow I plan to smoke a couple of cuts of the bacon that I cured. Working from home is great as I work near the Inglenook and can keep one eye on the smoking fire to make sure it doesn't burn too hot. It is not a sophisticated process; the bacon is hung on hooks and suspended from a rod in the chimney. A very small, smokey fire is lit and kept burning for 3 or 4 hours. End result, lightly smoked bacon. More on that tomorrow.

Cathy also advised that Village Idiot has been released from Hospital as they have decided that he has not had a heart attack. He does suffer from a muscle wasting disease and apparently exertion caused an unusual heart rhythm which was mistaken for an attack.

This is obviously good news but I am having problems assembling a sentence which has "VI" and "exertion" in it. It must have been one hell of a brook trout that took his worm on Thursday evening - that's all I can say.

Making Bacon

Pork seems to have been an undercurrent to the weekend.

Saturday saw us nip in to Stratford to complete a few errands. It was the fortnightly farmers market and the Rare Breed Pork Butcher's stall was there. This stall is usually manned by Richard. He's a lovely chap who is very encouraging with regard to my Butchery/Charcutuerie efforts and was responsible for suggesting that I graduate from curing Pork Bellies to a full side.

Unfortunately Richard was not around but one of his colleagues was also very helpful and took an order for a full side of Tamworth pork and some Hog casings to be picked up in a fortnight's time.

It was quite scary the first time I cured a full side. It is a lot of meat and is daunting both in terms of the size of the cut and also the price - especially if the cure fails and you end up with about 14 lbs of very "off" pork rather than dry cured bacon.

Once home from Stratford I brought in one of the pieces of Loin that I had cured a couple of weeks back. I put it through the slicer and, if I say so myself, it looked rather professional and quite appetising.



It was road tested on Sunday and performs as well as it looks.

Saturday morning also saw an unexpected phone call from a local Small Holder. Village Idiot had called a week or so back to mention that this Small Holder was killing a pig and wanted to know if I was interested in half the carcass. The call was from Cathy; the aforementioned Small Holder to let us know that the pig will be ready to collect on Monday. She also had some less good news, apparently VI has been taken in to Hospital having had another heart attack.

This is never good news but we never know how to take this as he has had several of these attacks and recovers with amazing rapidity. We are obviously hoping that he bounces back from this one just as promptly.

Back to the impending carcass, I have been tempted to try an air dried ham for some time; a Worcestershire version of a Prosciutto. Well the half pig is the perfect opportunity so Monday or Tuesday will see that project start.

Forever Child

You must have the patience of a Saint.
She's a delight, a forever child.
Filled with the joys and fears and innocence of those first few years.
Held there forever by some unfortunate chance.
A chemical permutation or a mismatch.
You must have the patience of a Saint.
I watch her and see her joy and love.
I see her absolute childlike glee.
I enjoy her enjoying life but hear the forced patience in her Mother's voice.
She is a delight but she is a child too long.
Her future, trapped in a childlike mind.
Full of love but those that love her back are likely to go before her.
What will happen to you Forever Child?

Autumn is here.

Amongst the mayhem and lunacy that is my day job I found an hour or so to take Tyson and Marauder out for an early evening walk.

The hedgerows have been weighed down with their burden of Autumn fruits for some weeks now and fungi are popping up everywhere. It is like the Property Developers amongst the Little People haven't been hit by the Global Economic Crisis at all. Obviously a good sized Toadstool is still a desirable location and there are plenty of Pixies and Gnomes that have the cash to spend on them. The Elvish Bankers  were obviously making some shrewd investments and stayed away from the sub-prime market that was lending to Goblins who hadn't got a cat's chance in hell of keeping up the payments.

The 'shrooms are popping up all over and the market is buoyant.

Where was I going? Oh yes - the fruits of Autumn have been on display for weeks but the weather, even when wet and overcast still hadn't lost all the traces of Summer but now as I walk the evenings are starting to draw in and a fleece and a hat are required to keep out the chill. Autumn is definitely here.

I like Autumn. I like the contrast of the sun shining after rain on a cold day. I like the fogs and mists that bring the limits of vision down to a few yards and give a special feeling if isolation. I like the late Autumn frosts that make the leaves even crisper and the ground as hard as iron. I like Autumn.

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Other stuff - TP and I took T&M to a later Dog Training class yesterday and I thought it went really well. Tyson has been a bit of a sod recently and I'm sure it is due to the fact that she likes to play up when there are lots of puppies around. The later class has older dogs that are more advanced and there are fewer of them. This means that there are more complicated exercises and more time to develop them. This environment seems to suit her and she performed brilliantly. Perhaps she likes to be challenged.

Today Dad popped round for lunch and brought Tilly with him. After some initial shouting from Marauder they all settled in well and she made herself at home. It is good for her to be socialised with other Dogs and getting on with T&M and Sell-by-date will mean that Dad can avoid Kennel fees and leave her with us if he ever wants to go away. Mind you him and Sue (step-mum) are so besotted I think they have already checked out their favourite holiday accommodation regarding their dog policy.

What am I / I am doing?

"Badman, we need you to write a Contract Schedule. Off you go, quick as you like"

Hmmm! This is not what I have been doing for a living for the past few years so its not like I'am expert or anything. In fact I probably fall in to the category of "man on the street" in terms of expereince .........

......... yep - that's right, the man sat on the street outside McDonald's with a dog on a string smelling of urine and Special Brew.

Anyway, I had a hunt around and found an example from a US Contract. I then farted around with it and sent it in for approval. They liked it so much they asked me to prepare another 8 versions for a few Countries in Europe and the Middle East. "tout de suite" - Gits!

This is the nature of my new job. Allegedly it is in the same job family as my previous role. My arse! It is about as similar as walking is to flying and you don't see many Swallows putting on their Nikes and setting off for North Africa "a pied" do you?

Anyway, am I enjoying it? That's a difficult one. It is probably too early to say but I can say this - I may be working longer hours, with a completely new set of TLAs*, processes, people etc etc but it is still preferable to my last role. It is coming together slowly and it is nice to be challenged and to be learning again.**

It is not leaving much time for Domestic stuff at the moment but I am sure that things will even out as I get to grips with things. At the moment understanding what can be put in to "pending" and what is "urgent" is not straightforward. My colleagues seem to think that everything falls in to the latter.

This evening sees TP and I off to Dog Training with Tyson and Marauder. My powers of prediction then see me falling asleep in front of the News.

Apologies for the work based entry but it seems to be all consuming at the moment.

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* TLA - three letter acronym

** This is as positive as I get about work. I could be awarded the position of CEO and I'd still be looking for the Bear Traps.

Weekend or "weak" end

After a very busy week at work trying to be efficient, whilst

a) infected with plague brought in to the house by TP, and
b) not really having a clue what I am supposed to be doing - new job, remember

neither 30% nor I wanted a particularly hectic weekend.

I woke early on Saturday and I mean early - 5.30 - I am knackered and full of snot and really want a lie in and my mind is saying "wake up Badman its the weekend" whilst my body is saying - actually I cant print what my body is saying because it is about 400 sequential expletives.

The mind won so I got up and settled in front of the early TV News and drank several double espressos. This got me to the point of walking upright on the evolutionary progress chart - you know - the one a couple behind the guy with the spear.

I'm not sure I like the way that Chimp is looking at me!

I then had an hour or so of work to get out of the way so I could forget work for 48 hours. By 9.30 my obligations to Dante's were fulfilled and the weekend was mine.

TP was going to spend the day in town with some mates so I ferried them in leaving the rest of the day a blank canvas.

A fine day was spent pottering around. New shelves were put in the garage. Shelves were filled, clutter removed. The day ended with a bonfire and that feeling of self satisfaction of achieving loads of things and feeling somewhat rested too.

Sunday morning was spent watching TP at rugby practice then home for lunch and a bit more tidying in the garage, The lawn got a bit of a trim and the dogs got walked. I then settled down for a bit of cooking. I had found a recipe on the internet for Lincolnshire haslet - a spiced pork meatloaf and was tempted to try it.

It was a bit of an odd recipe involving mincing pork and onions and combining them with lots of dried herbs and seasonings and slightly stale bread that has been soaked in water and squeezed dry but the end result is most pleasing and will definitely be added to the recipe folder. The pork loin that I started curing last Monday was also removed from the fridge, washed and soaked for an hour before being wrapped and hung up the garage for a week or so. There are 3 pieces of bacon, each just over 1 lb in weight. I sure at least one of them will get smoked sometime early next week.

30% says I am a carnivore who regards vegetables as garnish. This is not true - actually it is - but I eat raw carrots and celery just to spite her.

Motoring News

The "Prius" went in for her MOT this morning and passed with no "Advisory Notices".

I am obviously pleased as it means that the upcoming Service will be just that, with no additional repairs to be added to the service.

Any of you who have read this nonsense will know that the Prius is not, in fact, a Japanese, Hybrid engined "eco" car but a British 4 wheel drive. I can hear the Environmentalists wince from here but I have already pointed out that I bought her second hand and don't actually drive that far in a year which makes her carbon footprint a lot smaller than the size 13's most people assume she has. After all 20,000 miles per annum and a new car every three years does tend to kick out a lot of CO2 even if the car can give you 40+ miles per gallon.

Where am I going with this? Well, a comparison of this and last years MOT certificates show that I drove her just under 5,000 miles in the past 12 months. That is one of the benefits of working from home. It also means that I don't really feel that guilty about her fuel consumption of 30 mpg.

Using crude mathematics this means that my annual fuel consumption is in the region of 167 gallons. That's about 3 gallons per week or about £16 per week at current diesel prices.

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Random Fact: Today I gave Sell-by-Date a pedicure - bless him - he is so old that he doesn't really walk that far and consequently his claws don't get worn away.

Calm after the Storm

The quieter evening that I hoped for yesterday did not happen.

Another evening of last minute changes and winging materials over to my American colleagues. With a head full of snot every cell of my body was saying "just lie on the sofa, watch crap TV and do nothing".Unfortunately that was not to be and it was another night in front of the Laptop.

Deadlines have been met and today has started at a somewhat more leisurely pace.

I had an appointment with an Occupational Therapist this morning to check up on progress with my hand. That went well and she has confirmed that the exercises have worked and the mobility of the finger is now pretty much back to normal. It is still numb down one side but at least I can use it to a reasonable extent now.

Back in front of the laptop  I have spent most of the day clearing the bits and pieces that had been ignored while I have been focused on my "primary deliverables". I have also had to develop a couple of further iterations but am realising how boring this paragraph is becoming and am going to stop it n.....

......  This evening I have promised myself a 6 o'clock finish. There will be a walk with Tyson & Marauder and, to be honest, not a lot more.

I have some bacon that is being cured but that will only take a few minutes to massage in a few handfuls of cure and that is about it. Then I plan to spend the evening with 30% and TP and my viral chums - Yes - I still have the cold.

I am snotty.

Bloody Kids.

They spend all Summer in different parts of the world collecting germs. Come back to School and swap them like some Biological Warfare Trading Card Game and then bring them home and dump them on their parents along with school bags and lunch boxes.

You may have guessed that I have a cold and TP showed the first symptoms. He has therefore been judged and found guilty of Biological Warfare and not even the Cat's Brief is going to get him off that one.

To be honest it's not that bad but I have had a crap night's sleep and have that horrible scratchy sensation at the back of the throat. I am therefore milldy Grouchy but at least I am at the midpoint of the week and therefore am on the downward slide to the weekend.

There are a few work deadlines that need to be met so unfortunately I cant skulk off and find some less pressured work to occupy me until the symptoms subside.

The new job is allegedly going well. I have been thrown in at the deep end but apparently am doing good work according to Observers. Now that is a sick occupation. Standing on the side of the Lido watching someone grasping at the waters surface and catching a breath whenever possible. That's Dante's for you. I used to push rocks up a hill now I carry one on my shoulders in 6 feet of water - remember - I am a short arse.

I have to be honest though - the new job is much more preferable to the last one even with increased pressure, a learning curve that is more like a brick wall and not a huge amount of support.

I have been fretting over a deliverable only to find that a Sow's Ear is adequate when I had been trying to produce a Silk Purse - difficult when new to a role. I do however find this mildly concerning when the "sow's ear" deliverable feeds in to a Quality Review.

On the Home front it was Dog Training last night and we were advised that the Silver Tests were scheduled for November. Hmmm! based on T & M's performance last night we have some work to do.

Dog Training and a late night in front of the laptop (work) meant that everything else was rushed; Dinner, chat, chores etc. I am hoping that this evening will be more civilised but I expect that TP will want to go to Rugby Practice if work calls allow.

30% and I did grab a few minutes this morning and we have decided to put an increased offer in for the Coppice - scrub, more like. So it looks like I need to draft a letter to the Land Agents.

Kitchen Stuff

Yesterday evening saw me pricking a pound of sloes with a cocktail stick before throwing in enough sugar to kill a diabetic and the best part of a litre of cheap gin.

All of this was carefully placed in a Kilner type preserving jar and will be shaken every day for the next week or so and then left for at least three months, preferably more. The end result is a sweet liqueur that tempts even the most ardent Gin Hater. I have a bottle left over from last year's harvest and can confirm that,although great from the start, continues to improve with age. It looses some of the sweetness and subtle undertones of other hedgerow flavours appear.

I also topped up the Blackberry Vodka  - this is a similar preparation but involves Brown Sugar, Cloves and Cinnamon Sticks. I've never made it before so haven't a clue what it will be like. I love blackberries and am hoping that I will end up with a sweet, fruity yet slightly spiced liqueur. I started a batch off with some of the first blackberries back in the middle of August. That will be ready for straining and bottling in mid November, so only a couple of months to go before judgment can be passed.

30% had been to Tesco and returned home with a bag full of things that don't, on first impression, appear to make a meal. I then discovered that Pork Loins were this week's "special" so I ended up making a batch of cure* and rubbing it in to a large boned loin joint. Each day over the next 5 or 6 days it will be rubbed with more cure and put back in a cool place. At the end of the week it will be unsmoked or "green" bacon. The loin produces back bacon and for a little effort great rewards can be reaped.

At the end of the curing process it is soaked for an hour and dried. I then tend to wrap it and hang it out in the garage for about a week before either eating, freezing or smoking it.

Dad gave us a bag of shallots from his garden so these will be soaked in brine overnight and then washed and pickled in vinegar. I think 30% plans to kick that off this evening.

TP and I have Dog Training this evening so I will have limited time for things culinary.

Right - now it's time for a quick coffee and work.

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For anyone interested the cure is 3 parts salt to one part brown sugar plus cracked black peppercorns, crushed bay leaves and ground coriander

High Spirits

Crap title but I couldnt think of anything better.

Yesterday saw me taking TP to Rugby practice and I thought I would spend the 90 minutes drinking coffee from a flask and getting cold. In fact I ended up taking part in line-out practices and getting stuck in with the Under 14s. It was good fun and their lack of weight is made up for in suppleness and fitness but me and the two other Dads did manage to take a couple of line outs despite the squad's superior numbers.

It was fun and "yes" I can mange to move this morning.

Popped in to see Dad on the way home and got licked by the new puppy. She is called Tilly and is an absolute delight. Dad and Step Mum are absolutely besotted with her and describe her as the best birthday present ever! She is, of course, spoiled rotten and rules the roost but it is great to see how they are responding to having a new dog - a real breath of fresh air.

Yesterday afternoon saw us invited round to perform a bit of foraging in a local Orchard. C&M are a delightful retired couple who live close by and M decided to spend a portion of C's pension on a 2 acre orchard. It is lovely. She has just purchased a refurbished Shepherd's hut complete with bunk and stove so she can enjoy it at any time.

We reaped a bountiful harvest and came home with cooking apples, blackberries and sloes. We then divided and conquered. 30% produced a few batches of stewed blackberries and apples and I started off a litre of Blackberry Vodka. We were short of gin so will leave the sloe gin until this evening.

Today is work - obviously - but have managed to phone the Land Agents to make an offer on the coppice. It wasn't well received - but it was very low. 30% and I will have a chat later and decide on whether to go higher.

Weekend Stuff

Yesterday TP spent the day out with his Mum so 30% and I ended up on one of those days that never end.

You know how it goes. You walk out of the door after a late Saturday breakfast and then dont stop until about 8 o'clock at night.

Yes, it was one of those - not all bad, I hasten to add, just busy.

The first point of call was a DIY Store - not the one that screwed us about with the radiator, but one I loathe almost as much - where 30% and I spent a happy hour deciding on the colour for the rendered parts of the house as Andy & Steve have quoted a rather excellent price for the job.

As always we ended picking up a few other bits and pieces and ended up, as always, going through the checkout looking like we were going to built and paint a Gimp's Chamber. Is it just me that walks across the store's car park leaving a Checkout Girl thinking "what the Hell are they going to do with that" - or, as is far more likely "how drunk can I afford to get tonight".

Anyway, that was followed by a quick, whizz round Tesco and then home for a late lunch. On the way home we took a diversion and stopped to look at a 5 acre coppice that is for sale at the moment. 30% and I have been looking for a local paddock for a good few years but land here is expensive and small parcels are snaffled up by the pony brigade. This looks absolutely perfect as it is not suitable for ponies but would suit us. I think an offer may well be made. I am hopeful but have been at this point before and been let down several times.

The afternoon was filled with a walk for Tyson and Marauder and then a very early tea as we took TP to see a Monster Truck "Jam" in Birmingham in the evening. It was great - bloody noisy and very American and "low brow" but it was really fun.

Both 30% and I thought that the Pope could go a long way in the Popularity stakes if he swapped his white custom Mercedes for one of these.

That just about finished Saturday off and this morning sees me standing on the side of a rugby pitch while TP does his stuff.

Papal Visit

I'm really keen to see if I can persuade the Bear to wear a hat...........

......... think about it !

Pop Quiz or the 46+ Examination Board

Please insert the word "lucky" in to the following text and answer the three questions below:-

• A lump of Pixie's ear wax.

1. How many possible locations are there for the word "Lucky"?
2. What is the most suitable location for the word "Lucky"
3. Explain in no more that 4 paragraphs why you chose the particular insertion point.

Bonus question; how much of your life did you actually spend on this nonsense :-)

Incidentally this little puzzler had 30% and TP engaged for a good while on the drive up to Wales a couple of weeks ago.

DIY Chain Fiasco

During my 5 week absence we had the family bathroom ripped apart and renewed.

During this exercise I realised how much I truly despise one of the major DIY Warehouses in the UK. 30% and I went along and ordered various ceramic items, some taps and a rather nice heated towel radiator that would look just splendid and pump out plenty of heat in room that could be described as chilly.

OK, the orders were placed and we waited patiently. Everything arrived and was put to one side for Steve and Andy to sort out. Week one of the project was to rip out the old bathroom and re-plaster in prep for week 2 when the tiling and fitting would take place.

During a tea break Andy and Steve got bored and decide to have a peep at the towel radiator and noticed that one of the legs was badly bent. I rang the aforementioned DIY chain and they advised that a replacement would be sent in the next 48 hours. Fortunately I was on sick leave so would be there to receive the goods but did feel that under normal circumstances a 48 hour delivery window fell in to the category of taking the piss.

48 hours later the replacement rad had failed to arrive so I called again. This time the DIY chain didn't really want to do anything and I ended up talking to their Supplier. They committed to having on on-site the following day.

Well another day waiting for the rad went well - I watched a couple of episodes of Star Trek on the telly had some lunch and all of this was only occasionally disturbed by Andy and Steve plastering. Mid afternoon I decided to give the rad Supplier a friendly call to see how they were and where my rad was.....

.... "Oh, we tried to deliver it but you weren't in"......

I bit my tongue and patiently explained that I was. "Ah but our driver knocked your door and got no answer. You have a blue front door". I replied "You're right I didn't answer because I have an oak front door. I think your driver called at the wrong address".

After a few calls the driver was diverted and he finally arrived at our house. I excitedly opened the package to inspect the goods before signing them only to find that the replacement rad was also bent in the same place. I declined to accept the delivery and hit the phone again.

Now we had a dilemma. We were about to leave for our holiday and Andy and Steve were due to start the re-fit on our return in just over a weeks time. We patiently explained this to both the DIY chain and their Supplier and they advised that they would have a new rad on site on the first working day after the bank holiday and would call us to confirm that it had arrived.

So moving forward 11 days, there I was waiting for the rad.

It probably comes as no surprise that it didn't arrive so I called the Supplier having decided that the DIY chain couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

They advised that the girl who normally deals with this is on holiday and it hasn't been checked in the warehouse as being OK for delivery. I fumed and asked for the Manager. I held for 15 minutes and then she advised that the replacement was also damaged, no new stocks were due in until the following week and she couldn't give a new date for delivery as they would need to be checked prior to delivery  in view of all the problems.

I thanked her for her assistance and advised that we no longer wanted the radiator. I also advised that I had wasted 4 days waiting for a serviceable item to be delivered and was not best impressed. I also pointed out that I still had the original damaged unit and if they wanted it back they would collect it at my convenience not theirs i.e. on a Saturday not a week day.

In the background Andy & Steve had asked to put off the refit for a week as they had a patio job that had been delayed by poor weather. This was fortunate as it gave me a chance to order a replacement rad. I took a gamble on an Internet supplier that offered a similar product with a 24 hour delivery and punched in my card details.

The Gods smiled on us for once - about bloody time after the palaver described above - and the rad arrived intact and also considerably less costly than the original one. We also got confirmation of our refund from the DIY chain.

Ah - all is well that ends well ..............  except for the fact that during the week of the bathroom refit I had a call from the original rad supplier to let me know that my (cancelled) rad would be delivered the next day.

In view of the fact that

• I had spent 4 days waiting for them to NOT sort out a problem
• Made many phone calls to people who couldn't give a toss
  
  ....  and received that "Customer Service Classic statement"
  
• "That's not my problem"

I decided to play dumb and let the stupid sods deliver the damn thing.

The outcome of this is that I now have two £500 towel radiators in my garage; one of which is bent and the other is un-inspected. Neither have been paid for.

Am sorely tempted to list the damn things on eBay.

I'm not dead.

exactly what it says on the tin.

Where have I been for the past 5 week ......

To be honest the finger operation has gone pretty well but for the first couple of weeks the last thing I wanted to do with it was bash it against a keyboard so I spent a frustrating time watching daytime TV and doing as much as I could in the kitchen. The nerves are affected by the operation so I have an index finger that still feels like it has just had root canal work at the Dentist. This make using it normally a bit of a challenge as sensitivity is poor and grip and control are both affected. Cooking was fun but I had to keep a close eye on what I was doing or it would have been severed or scalded quite easily.

Net result of my Kitchen based occupational therapy is a Freezer full of home made faggots - that is likely to result on some new readers using the words Freezer and Faggots in Google! I also managed several pints of Pea and Ham Soup and a Game Terrine using some Partridge, Pheasant and Pigeon that was provided by a friend that shoots.

After a fortnight of getting bored and cooking - actually I didn't get bored - I spent at least a few minutes every day sending praise aloft to the God or Gods that had allowed me to escape from the Account Team I had been working with at Dante's.

So that was the two weeks of certified sick leave and then 30%, TP, Tyson, Marauder and I spent a week up on the Lleyn Peninsular in Wales. For those of you that are Geographically challenged, if you see Wales as looking somewhat like a Pig's head the Lleyn Peninsular is the "ear" in the North that sticks out in to the Irish Sea. We had a great time and, as we took the Dogs, it was mostly long walks along beaches and up Bryn's - "its Welsh for Hill" - Thank you Mr Brydon. My lasting impression of the Lleyn is that it is like my 40 year old memories of Worcestershire except that it has more flavours of ice cream.

We then had a further week at home just doing stuff that needed doing and have that smug feeling that accompanies a slightly tidier house, garage and garden.

OK, so why haven't I produced anything for the past week or so - well I started a new role at Dante's at the beginning of last week and have been somewhat swamped to say the least.

Amongst all of this we have had the Chaps in to rip out the family bathroom and replace it with something suitable for People *. The work has gone really well and we are delighted with the results. There are still a few bits to do before we can cut the ribbon and declare it open and this will see me in the roof space to see whether recessed low voltage spots are really an option along with a load of painting in the not too distant future.

So, I have opened the Journal again and started to scrawl. No commitments to frequency though.

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* Believe me, before they started it looked like it should be a grainy shot in a documentary with a bloated body floating, face down in a filled bath - those are the perils of buying a "project house"

A suitable case for treatment

Birthday Present.

Today is my Dad's Birthday. 

If he was a dog he be about 11 years old.

A few weeks back I mentioned that he has decided to have another dog after 15 or more years without one and so this is his Birthday present. He adores Tyson, but she is way too energetic for an elderly Gentleman so it is fortunate that her breed comes in a smaller variety and this is what he has chosen.

I have this afternoon off work and we will be traveling up in to South Staffordshire to pick up the Pup. Yet another coincidence that Tyson & Marauder's joint alias is the "Straining Staffies" and that is where the new pup originates.

On the Home Front the Buff Brahma Cock is now in the fridge. I hope that keeps the Neighbour happy.

It is unfortunate that 30% had become a little attached to him but at least her feelings are eased by the fact that he had a good and long life before he was prepped for dinner. I'm not sure how common knowledge it is but most commercial poultry is killed at around 6 to 7 weeks old*. Free Range Birds are slightly older but rarely more than 12 weeks. Have you ever looked at a Free Range Bird in the Supermarket and gasped when they are asking £9 to £11 for a bird - that is the price of those extra weeks and a field to run round in.

The Buff Lad was about a year old and is probably a bit tough for a roast so I have jointed him and he will make a great casserole, as did the Light Sussex earlier in the week.

On the work front, I finish today and am likely to be off for the best part of a month. I have a minor operation on my hand tomorrow and am then likely to be signed off for a couple of weeks while it heals and am then away for the Family Holiday at the back end of August before starting in a new role at Dante's.

To quote John "Hannibal" Smith; "I love it when a plan comes together"

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* at this age they still cheep rather than cluck and still have baby blue eyes**
** this is the reason I like to rear at least some of the chicken we eat at home

Yesterday's News

Things at work are slowing down as I complete the hand over of my current workload to a colleague.

This meant that I was able to take a lunch break and nip in to town to the auto-bank. Not particularly newsworthy, I'll admit, but on this occasion a lack of time pressures meant that I could take the dust sheet off the Vespa and take a slightly more extended route than is normal. It is somewhat frustrating that I have only just got her back to a roadworthy and road legal state and am about to have a hand operation that is likely to keep me off her for a good few weeks while it heals.

Moving on, Tuesday evening is dog training night. TP is off for a few days with his Mum so 30% stood in as Marauder's Handler and off we went to class....

... what a disaster that was! The normal trainer was off having had an operation on her foot and a replacement had been found - Trainer. not foot - talk about chalk and cheese! It was a nightmare - the key to dog training is consistency and repetition - this woman was contradictory, very poor at describing what she wanted from the class and unwilling to go with the approach that the normal trainer has. As a consequence I was confused so God only knows what Tyson and Marauder thought of it all.

It wasn't just me either. 30%  had to bite her tongue on a couple of occasions and we saw a few "looks" from other members too. After the class we tend to take the dogs for a quick run round the park in case they need a pee before the drive home. This gave us the opportunity for a bitching session with a few other members and in true team spirit we decided that the new trainer was piss poor and it was a good job Brenda is only off for a couple of weeks.

A few of us decided to throw a "sicky" next week and return to classes once Brenda is fit and able. That might seem a bit extreme but I learned how much I enjoy dog training and how much of that enjoyment was dissipated by a replacement trainer who seemed to think that the current approach is incorrect and needs a new strategy.

That is all well and good so long as you win Hearts and Minds and can take the Group along to this Brave New World. Unfortunately that was the flaw with her plan. There was nothing wrong with the old approach and if it ain't broke don't fix it - especially if you are only standing in for a couple of weeks.

Getting Up

At the moment TP is enjoying those long, school, summer holidays ..... and so am I. As he doesn't need to be persuaded from his pit at 7 a.m. neither do I. Like many of my colleagues I am able to work from home and it is nice to be able to get out of bed without the need to set an Alarm Clock, perform minor ablutions and still be ready for work on time.

30% is generally Office based so still needs to set the alarm which gives me even greater pleasure because I can then ignore the damn thing and doze for 40 minutes or so ...... "What about the chickens?" I hear you ask, "Sod them - they can have a lie in too" is my pithy response. Actually there is further bad news on the chicken front but more of that in a minute.

Going back to 30%, she needs to set the alarm to get ready for the Office but also seems to think that, because I can have a lie in, so can she. She then has to run round like a mad thing shouting in order to get out of the door and leave for work. Why she has to shout I'm not quite sure - it's just one of those things she does.

Right, back to the Poultry If your an urban dweller or of a sensitive nature you might want to go and Google something else because it might get a bit "rocky" from here on in.

First things first, Endemol's death on Saturday was very timely as we have received a notice from the Council about the noise of the Cocks. I don't have a problem with that. The notice is very polite and is just that, it is a notice that they have received a complaint and are obliged to investigate.

We have always been sensitive about the noise of the Cocks and their potential impact on our neighbours and have always made it clear to them that if they are disturbed we will do something about it. That is why I am a little peeved to have had a letter from the Council. Rather than knock on the door and say "Badman - they are getting a bit noisy, can you sort them out" some idiot has got themselves all worked up about the noise and gone to the council rather than just sort it out.

This is where I start my "Towny" rant. I am from a rural background and ringing the council is not the way to do things, just come round and knock on the door and ask! Endemol's death was perfect timing and yesterday saw the Light Sussex have it's neck pulled and it is now sitting in the slow cooker surrounded by vegetables and white wine. The Buff Brahma will get done towards the end of the week.

You will note that I am not going on along the lines of "this is the Country, the noise of Cocks is to be expected". I do actually feel that way but the bottom line is that my neighbour has got worked up enough about this to complain to the council so has probably gone beyond a reduction in noise and is expecting total silence. 30% and I had already decided to slim down the population before the complaint hit the mat so the decision had already been made.

So, no Cocks at the Pile for a while. The hens will sort out a new pecking order and everyone will get a better nights sleep. The Council investigation will come to naught.

..... and next year I can put another batch of eggs through the incubator and start the cycle of life again:-)


One final observation, if this had been France the Town Hall would have laughed at the complaint. Here in the UK we have to be more devious - eat the evidence and start again next year.

Marauder's Bumper Book of Crime - No 2 in an occasional series.

This morning Marauder decided to amuse herself by playing with a heavy duty paper bag of the type that one might use to carry home a nice new shirt from a favourite shop.

Unfortunately the location was the Bedroom and the time was 5 a.m. As is usual for Marauder, the play was ebullient, to say the least.

Domesticity

Today saw us pile in to the car and drop in to a local DIY Warehouse Store to take advantage of a 50% off Sale.

The family bathroom is one room that was vile when we bought the house and has been neglected as the extension gave us a stupendous Jack & Jill Bathroom - an "en-suite" accessible from two Bedrooms.

A few weeks ago I was having my haircut by a the Mum of a friend of TP and was moaning about the fact that the room was only suitable for bathing Tyson & Marauder and that we simply had to do something about it. She mentioned that her Husband had recently set up a Property Services Company and would be more than happy to quote for the job. Now her Hubby is a super chap so we called him and his quote was fantastic. I've seen his work, as he has just finished his wife's new Salon in the Village, so I know his workmanship is fantastic.

So off we went to order the Porcelain Goods, Taps, Shower Mixer and Towel Rail. I had ordered the Shower Tray and Screen earlier in the week from a chap in the Village who is setting up a Kitchen and Bathroom Studio next door to the Hair Salon. Steve, the aforementioned Hairdresser's Husband is doing the fitting out of the Studio which gives me an even greater sense of security about his workmanship and I got a great deal too.

Steve starts the strip out at the beginning of September so we have plenty of time for the fixtures and fittings to arrive. All I need to do now is measure up and get the tiles ordered. We know what we want so I just need to spend 20 minutes with a tape measure and a calculator and I can pop down to the Tile Warehouse to see what deal I can strike on Travertine and White tiles.

The rest of the day saw me upside down on the worktop fitting the low voltage halogens under the kitchen cupboards followed by a wander round the 3 Miler accompanied by 30% and T&M.

TP has finally recovered from his PGL week and it seems that he had a great time and actually met up with a Lad from his school and another Boy who was on an ATE week that TP attended last year. It's a small world!

TP is off to spend a week with his Mum next week so it is a case of revolving doors and 30% has been bogged down with his Laundry from last week and ironing for next week.

On a completely separate subject I have decided to treat myself to a compact digital camera with a decent optical zoom. I have a film and digital SLR but they are bulky to carry especially when I am walking T&M but I regularly see things that merit a snap and would like something small that I can just throw in to my pocket. Who knows, the Journal may get more pictures.