Guilty pleasures

Longer nights are approaching, so the evenings will be soon filled with bad tv (most everything that is in fact advertised) bad/good tv (Road wars -above pic the sweetie traffic cop Charlie) and excellent tv (Strictly Come dancing!)
I have a feeling I need to start reading a little more

Masterclass number two,dog trouble and Memorial Hall set up

Bill called around this morning to give me my first lesson in chicken "dressing", and I couldn't quite get out of my mind that I was appearing in an episode of the 1970s Generation Game.
Patiently he showed me how to cut the head off and remove the crop without tainting the bird's flesh and like a surgeon he helped me to to understand the somewhat complicated workings of guts, viscera and gizzard. We cut off the feet with garden scissors, and removed the livers to be cooked later whilst all the time bantering about this and that..
In a matter of minutes he had dressed the first bird, and only a few minutes behind him, I had finished my first! and it was surprisingly easy! We cleaned the bird with care , and by doing so, I felt that the whole effort of killing the roosters was worth something.I was secretly quite proud of myself.
Now,I know I am not going to get into the habit of killing birds for the table, but I have found the whole experience of the last few days, sobering, useful and in a strange way very respectful to the birds involved.
I cooked the large Buff cockerel this afternoon,(below)....which was tasty enough......But I have to say that I am so happy that I didn't Kill Bill.........

We finished up at noon and after I had stored the two extra chickens in the freezer I piled the dogs into the car to go to the Memorial Hall to set up the Flower Show display for tomorrow's grand Hall re-opening. As we drove off, a neighbour who had been ill for a while came around the corner and I got out of the car to say hello, as I did so William deftly jumped up and depressed the central locking button on the car door. The bloody keys were in the ignition!, The car was in the narrow lane...and all four dogs (who all needed a pee) were trapped inside.....I was livid with myself.......Chris had the other set of car keys and could not be contacted, so the only route left to me was to ring the AA.
I rang and gave them a sob story of four desperate "bladder overflowing terriers" trapped in a berlingo and within half an hour a dog loving AA man with his van, who had put me on a priority call, had broken in to release them. I could have kissed him!

I got to the Memorial Hall late, but still manged to set up the display up before the village Friendship group had their afternoon's social. The hall looks lovely. with it's newly painted walls and woodwork gleaming and all shiny and new. A modern kitchen has replaced the old tired church-Hall looking old one and there is even a small lift installed so that the stage room can be reached by all.They have thought of everything.

The war memorial outside has been re landscaped too,and shrubs and turf has been laid where before there was nothing but scrub and dirt.

Tomorrow's opening is a celebration of a much used and much loved local landmark. I am so looking forward in attending

Bill

The one that got away....

Lesson One

This morning I had a good think about culling the cockerels and finally felt at peace with my decision to proceed. However as I know I am ever so slightly emotionally attached to the beautiful black male, I removed him from the shed early this morning and replaced him into the field. I am resolved to find him a new home, I think he is just too handsome to be killed and eaten.
The three males I finally picked are only a few months old, one buff, one large white sussex and a mongrel hybrid, and all three had been kept comfortable and quiet in the shed overnight.
Chris tried to wind me up this morning by intermittently whispering "chicken killer" when he ambled through the cottage,,.....I found it strange that in the film Julie & Julia last night, Amy Adams' character was tormented by her husband when she was try to kill a lobster, by whispering over and over again "Lobster killer!!!!"

Bill called down on time and immediately put me at ease with his relaxed professional approach to the culling. He used all of those techniques I employed in spinal injuries to coach inexperienced staff through stressful situations, and the whole "event" went ahead in a systematic and incredibly calm way.

Each cockerel was gently removed from the shed, and held until it relaxed. Then with a precise pull the cervical vertebrae was dislocated and after a few seconds flapping the bird was dead. It was as quick and as clean as that.

I placed the birds into a bucket of very hot water for a few seconds to relax the bird's muscles and then quickly plucked the feathers off before hanging it up . Bill explained that the birds would bleed into their necks and head and he would return tomorrow to teach me how to prepare the carcasses professionally before we can freeze them.

So that was it! within half an hour all three birds had been killed humanely, they had been plucked and hung and no longer resembled those pretty "boys" I was trying not to look at too closely this morning and I felt totally ok with it all. The trick is, I guess not to get attached to the birds I know I will have to kill...I made that mistake with the black cockerel, who I think deserves now to be named..........

I will call him Bill I think...

Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia (2009) can be described in one word.............charming.
Writer and director Nora Ephron obviously liked the celebrity chef Julia Child with a passion and the warmth and mischievous goodness of this 1950s despot pervades this intertwining story of her and of her modern day student's attempt to emulate her cookery skills.
Of course the casting is central in this witty and celebratory tale, and Ephron must have been cackling all the way to the bank when she signed up Meryl Streep in the lead role of Childs. Streep throws herself into the role which would be so easy to caricature,and in her own special way gives the larger -than-life chef a depth and natural warmth which is totally irresistible.
Amy Adams, who is no slouch in the acting department herself more than holds her own in the more difficult and more unsympathetic role of the rudderless writer/blogger Julie and the pair of women are supported admirably by Stanley Tucci as Child's devoted husband and the very sexy Chris Messina (below) as Adams' food loving spouse.
The film is overlong, and is slightly repetitive at times but it is a gentle and very funny celebration of all the good things relationships can bring to couples that really have affection for each other. And...I must say that I didn't miss the subtle sideswipe Ephron gives to the very narcissistic nature of blogging.
I think I actually subscribe to Adams' explanation of why blogging is important to her....."It gives me the essential short term goal I need" she explains.......I understand this brief comment only too well.
8/10....

Guilt

I am only typing this because I feel guilty. The retired poultry farmer from Lloc called this afternoon and completely wrong footed me by asking if he could come and "do the deed" with the cockerels tomorrow instead of Saturday.

In my mind I had a few days "grace" to prepare myself for the killings, now I have less than 24 hours! Of course I said yes and with a heavy heart I have caught three of the young males and have placed them in the shed with water and in darkness. They need to be fasted before being culled, and I want them as stress free as possible before the morning.

I know I have to bite the bullet with this, the less palatable part of country life, and the extra cockerels are just a drain on my valuable feed stocks, ....I just wonder that after helping cull these pretty young males, will I be able to eat them?

Turkey talk

We are heading towards the final few days of incubation for the turkey eggs. I have tried to candle the eggs several times but their thickness has stopped me seeing which are fertile and which ones are duds.. This morning I have bobbed the six eggs in a large bowl of warm water and the hopeful jump of three of the eggs gives me some optimism of a partially successful hatch.
Turkey chicks are the most delightful (and unfortunately delicate ) of creatures, I am so looking forward to have some by Friday!
Off on egg deliveries now! later it is Julie & Julia at Llandudno....review later

Bench Marking

I recieved this e mail from my friend Jonney H this morning......

I have no idea who Tracey is but can you please assure her that there’s at least one man in the world – or Sheffield to be specific – who bathes and shaves every day, changes his clothes on average twice a day and never eats a dinner that the cat walked over. Nor would I ever be seen in Sainsbury’s in my wellies – even in a snowstorm and that’s assuming, of course, that I have wellies, which I don’t.
Perhaps she’s American – or perhaps she just doesn’t know the right men. And I thought you homosexuals were all supposed to be preening Dorian Grays. Oscar would be turning in his grave!

PS: You know already how my sensitive nasal passages feel about doggy odour…

Reading it, I did realise I am long overdue for a Sheffield visit.....and it did make me smile! So in a sort of reply I must say that I have had a bath today AND changed my t shirt! and I have totally spring cleaned the living room, shampooed the sofas, carpets and cushions. I even dragged in an egg customer to "sniff" around to see if she could detect any wiff of doggy pong....I passed with flying colours.