Choking On A Swedish Meatball et al

Winnie nearly choked to death on a Swedish meatball last night.
Such was the excitement of the moment, that she had no idea of what was happening and continued to get into position alongside the other dogs in order to receive the next morsel.
Luckily she has a mouth the size of an average gin trap , so I coolly inserted my whole hand into her mouth and plucked the meatball from her oesophagus before her lips went blue.
Not fazed she gulped it down almost immediately.
A near death experience should not prevent a girl finishing her meatball!

I tell you this, only as a bit of a comic aside
I'm in the kitchen pottering as a roast dinner cooks.
The Prof is reviewing a PhD in his office.

Some people have a lovely way of speaking don't you think?
I experienced this phenomenon this morning when I spied Mr A working away in his garden.
Mr A is a farmer and had lost his mother recently and although I had sent my condolences I had not physically seen him to talk to.
This morning we talked.
I asked him how he was feeling, and after a pause, and in that slight sing-song Welsh way of speaking only the North Walian's do, he said slowly
" The heavy veil of sadness has lifted from me  just a little" 
Richard Burton couldn't have said it any better

36 comments:

  1. I must confess that for a moment I thought that "Choking on a Swedish Meatball et al" was going to be a another film review. Then I reminded myself that Flower Show secretaries are rarely into raunchy Scandinavian porn.

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  2. Two different glimpses of mortality.

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    1. I am a Mr B and not unlike to Mr A. It is so tearfully beautiful to remember someone you loved dearly.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. That is the most perfect way to describe that feeling ~

      The veil of sadness, not the choking on a meatball :)

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  4. The internal version of the Heinrich Manoeuvre.

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    1. Is that what Himmler used to do to Hitler? When my daughter was little she used to call the Heimlich Maneuver the "Heimlich Remover."

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    2. Oh yes. Hitler only had one ball and it wasn't Swedish.

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    3. Ba-da-bum, ching! [sound of rimshot on drum]

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  5. I admit, reading the farmers words with Burton in mind, I did try my best Welsh accent out loud. Not good but a great sentiment anyway.

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  6. You should receive some sort of award for that life-saving maneuver, John Gray. You prevented the veil of sadness from descending over your very own home!

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  7. my husband had to give our boxer the heimlich once. I forget what she was choking on.

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  8. That's gratitude for you. Save her life and she proceeds to try it again. You must make some scrumdelicious meatballs, John.

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  9. Some people do have the gift to turn a phrase,and it is a gift I think.

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  10. This is a question about your dog training methods. Do you feed your animals from your table, or do they have a discipline and an order to their meals? Treats (Swedish meatballs) are another matter.
    I also had to look up 'gin trap'. I didn't know I was so naive.

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    1. They have strict discipline , each fed in turn in their own space. Treats are given occasionally and all have to take their turn when names are called

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    2. I could not imagine you handling your dogs any differently than my friends who manage that large pack of rescues. But for one Swedish meatball second there my confidence slipped. Thanks, John.

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  11. I watched one of your youtube videos of Winnie yesterday. She's amazingly agile for having such a stout body. Also watched a video of you feeding two adorable goats. What's left of the Ukrainian village?

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    1. It's all there waiting to be restocked in the spring

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  12. Beautiful to speak so unconsciously and poetically about "the veil of sadness". In the '60s I worked for an airline and have never forgotten the way a man from Kentucky made a reservation to " go home and see the blossoming of the wildwood".

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  13. So, word check changed unselfconsciously to unconsciously which is not what I meant.

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  14. Your experience and that of Thickethouse I suspect are few and far between John. Cherish them while they last.

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  15. How very poetic your farmer is.

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  16. Some of our villagers put on a production of under milk wood. The narrator is a professional actor and Welsh. I thought Richard Burton was in the building.

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  17. Gosh, John, that voice ... Richard Burton's. Somewhere on my audio shelves is his reading of Under Milk Wood.

    As to first aid, and please feel free to laugh at me, I did it all. The Heimlich and mouth to mouth and heart and stuff. When I say "I did it all" I mean I was taught the HOW. Please, dear God, never let me be in position where I may have to put into practice what I learnt in theory. Come to think of it I may go for a refresher. Just in case. Sugar.

    U

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  18. I should not have looked up gin traps...

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  19. The veil of sadness can be incredibly heavy. I am glad it is starting to lift for your neighbour.

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  20. Oh dear dogs can be such a worry.Thank goodness Winnie is alright now.My Lily has done similar & I had to open her mouth wide & put my finger to her throat & fish a large piece of biscuit out.My top dog had chewed a twig & got it stuck & had to e rushed to the vets to have it removed after a tranquiliser x

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  21. I wonder how big are those meatballs.

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  22. Winnie was so much less poetic than Mr. A.

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