Stop For A Chat & Bake Off Blues

The death of the Red Faced Welsh Farmer earlier in the year has meant that great chunks of my weekly routine have been left somewhat intact and gossip free. Once you caught a glimpse of his familiar red landrover,bouncing towards you you braced yourself for at least a 45 minute chat, whether it be a gripe about community Council antics or a lively debate of the ins and outs of village life.
I often see others from the village, out on their daily walks , but our conversations are never as convoluted and detailed as the ones I used to enjoy with the RFWF and I can now catch up with the jobs of the day.
I now miss those 45 minute times.
Yesterday I noticed an old chap leaning on the gate of the field. I don't see him often, so I went over for a chat, giving him a couple of spare eggs for his pocket. He asked me about Mary's hutch and I told him of her story and he was intrigued by the sheep who kicked their feet sharply at Winifred who bounced around the field like a puppy with that awful lurid purple plastic bone in her mouth.
He was in no rush to move on.
Eventually I left him to fill the water and pellet feeders and when I returned a good while later he pointed at the Mary's hutch and asked " is that rabbit all right? It hasn't moved for over half an hour"
I had to laugh a little
The eyes can play tricks on you when you are 80.
He had been carefully watching a small cabbage.



Another of the nice characters was voted off  The Great British Bake Off  last night. Grandmother Christine ( the one with the calm voice and the winning smile) left the show amid a flurry of contestant tears. Ruby ( less pouting last night I thought) will I suspect win as the chirpy Welsh girl Becca and the mousy but talented Francis got a real mauling from the judges.
I am also becoming a little sorry for Kimberly, who is being manipulated by the producers into a kind of " baddie" role. Her confidence is not a virtue in British tv competitions.
The programme seems to have lost something since Howard and Glenn have left.......the men seemed to have given he whole thing some heart.



41 comments:

  1. The 'stopping for a lengthy chat' business is alive and well here in France. Sometimes I almost imagine they might reach for the baguette and saucisson, and make a day of it.

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    1. That's such a nice thing though! I wish I had neighbors like that!

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  2. There is something about that Ruby. OMG she needs to get off of my TV. And I agree, something has been lost now.

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  3. I do love my conversations around the village; yesterday I was discussing pyschology with an 85 year old gentleman whose autobiography I bought for my 83 year old mother.
    He gave me a couple of good quotes - one being from Shakespeare, " unto thine own self be true " Marvelous.

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  4. Oh, and such a cuddly little cabbage it is...

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  5. I miss the slower pace of life since we left the farm (18 years ago - eeek).
    But I've been especially thinking about you and the animals for a week since I bought our two new little bantams... 'show and tell' on my blog soon.

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  6. You can go days ora week without speaking to anybody here in rural Ireland. People wave in their passing cars. But so few have time to stop and talk. There's a lot to be said for living in a village John.

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    1. Yes Dave.... I think I am lucky with living right on the outskirts of Trelawnyd
      We have the uninterrupted views of total rural living, but still retain the company

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  7. mary is getting so big!

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  8. This is the advantage in living in a smaller village or neighborhood, you get to know people and no one looks at you funny if you stop for a random chat. IN bigger cities that never happens!

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    1. Mind you when winter arrives... I often don't see a soul

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  9. Yes, I was sorry to see Christine go too John. I think the trouble with them all last night was that they placed too much emphasis on the decorating (which was marvellous - that cheese and mice, that red topped toadstool) and not enough on the cake. Why did nobody use bananas - they have taste and sweetness. But I really think the judges were a bit harsh reducing all the girls to tears.
    And kindly - less about the eyesight and eighty year olds - I still know my rabbit from my cabbage (as the bishop said to the actress springs to mind here).

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  10. Can't read this as we're not watching it until tomorrow at the earliest!

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  11. Reminds me of the time I mistook my tights, which were in a heap on the patio, for a giant toad. ;-)

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  12. I agree. Come back Glenn, perhaps as a glamorous assistant in the final?

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  13. My husband won't often go to the shops with me as he says I have to visit with everyone I see that I know....maybe it's an old person thing this love of visiting .....

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  14. Let's hope the old boy keeps stopping by - filling the gap left by the RFWF and keeping an eye on your animal husbandry. What is your rescue cabbage called?

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  15. My yard seems to be the place for the neighborhood to gather and gossip as well. Sometimes when there is a task to be done, I must put my head down and avoid eye contact with anyone passing by. Still, if a day or so goes by without one of those sessions, I miss it greatly.

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    1. I can be irritating at the time when you have things to do.. But you do miss them when they are gone

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  16. Hubert? Hubert the Cabbage?

    All this Great British Bake Off is a mystery to me as we do not get it here, but I do like to watch Midsomer Murders (dreadful acting, predictable plots and oh so thin story lines but lovely images of English villages) and Death in Paradise (also thin, predictable plots but by God I fancy the hero's side-kick).

    I am off for a walk now, ostensibly to measure up the fencing required for a client of mine who is also building near here. Let's see how many people try to stop this grumpy old bastard for a chat. A flexible tape measure can, in the right hands, be a lethal weapon.

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    1. I live with a MIDSOMMER MURDERS fan.....and hate the programme with a passion... Go on tom give the bake off a go.......and work yourself up in a lather about the state of someone's puff pastry

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  17. I have been filmed on CCTV in our local Boots, chatting to someone that I didn't even know, for a couple of hours !!!! { I got found out because my friend's daughter worked there }
    ..... and, I still like Francis and Becca..... they don't seem to have any hidden agenda ..... Ruby might not have pouted as much this week but, God, she's a right old moaner !! .... and, her garden shed and veggie plot was not good, even though Mary and Paul liked it ..... something is going on there . XXXX

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    1. Jac...I thought that too... They were unreasonably harsh on Francis and Becca I thought

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  18. I am very late to the Bake Off Party but I thought it was all about the decoration and not the flavour and Ruby's had flavour! I want Kimberley to win and felt Frances and Rebecca had their bubbles burst a bit. Like them all though. I enjoy all the baking and Mel and Sue (remember their channel 4 lunchtime show anyone?) but am not keen on the judging bit.
    x

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  19. Mel and sue make me Larf
    And I am serious that the producers like to make one character a " baddie" they did it last year with Brendan .... This year they have with Kimberly

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  20. omg, I laughed OUT LOUD about the cabbage! HHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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  21. Hubert the cabbage LOL!!
    Agree with you about the Bake Off comments last night. And I too wonder about Ruby--that garden shed wasn't really that good.... was it??

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  22. I liked Kimberly's showstopper most of all. Not sure about Ruby as she works in a terrible mess. When I did a cookery course at college everything had to be mis-en-place and you had to tidy and keep the work surfaces clean as you went along otherwise points were deducted!

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  23. I was about to cook a Hubert for lunch...but after reading the comments have put him back in his hutch in the fridge...

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  24. I think I've laughed and cried more at your blog, John, than any other ... that's a good thing, by the way ... between your writing and the comments I'm sure to be moved one way or the other :)

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  25. Keep that green rabbit out of lovelorn Winifreds way.

    You are very luck to live in such a friendly village.

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  26. Perhaps your 80-year old cabbage watching friend also misses the RFWF visits and wanted to find some way to keep the conversation going.

    Some people who walk along my street will chat a moment if they think you'll say hi, and some have asked me to walk with them if i'm not too busy. If i'm not, i do, and we chat. If i'm pushing the mower, we simply wave to one another.

    One nearly stopped his car in the street when he watched me backing up the boat into its winter place. The only reason i was so successful was because SFB was telling me what to do (yes not even a fortnight out of hospital and he's nearly back in top form). He congratulated me for a job well done, but i told him he did all the thinking, all i did was follow instruction. Anyhow, neighbour in car was watching, and i could see that he was impressed. He moved on before we were done completely, so i know he gave me high marks but really SFB should get the credit, i was just the lackey.

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  27. I was sadder about losing Christine than I thought...and for the rest, yes I think Ruby will out...Paul Hollywood seems to have a particular soft spot for her. I'd like Becca or Frances to win, but I agree they're probably not going to. Kimberley does seem to have become the baddie, doesn't she. And yes without the characterful men, it's become a bit serious and less fun...

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