Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat,
so please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!
Christmas is a coming, the lights are on the tree.How about a turkey leg for dear old me?If you haven't got a turkey leg, a turkey wing will do.If you haven't got a turkey wing may God bless you!
No, I'm not wanting to speed the approach of Christmas up but these lines are in my head quite often at the moment, although I didn't know the second stanza shown here until very recently!
A few weeks ago, FR went out to buy a couple of young cockerels. Our hens are not laying many eggs at the moment - mainly since the days got shorter and there's less light for them. They are out every day and never stop eating, but I've had to resort to buying a couple of dozen eggs in town as we simply don't have enough! Oh, the shame! FR thinks that the cockerels might help solve the problem...
When he returned, it was clear the problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon as the cockerels were teeny, tiny little things! He did have an extra creature with him though, which he announced was our Christmas dinner...a white turkey. Poor thing, he looked very scraggy and unattractive and the hens bullied, chased and pecked at him dreadfully to begin with.
However, as the weeks have gone by and he's eaten well (I am sure he's a 'he') and grown in size and confidence, he's also developed a lovely personality. He wakes us in the morning, 'pew, pewing' outside the house, encouraging FR to get up and feed him. His call is so 'pewy' that I have named him Barney McGrew. Anyone who saw Trumpton in the 1960s and 70s can't fail to remember the Fire Brigade and the roll call. Barney McGrew comes after 'Pugh, Pugh'.....OK it's a slightly tenuous link but Barney walks a bit like the characters in Trumpton too....Here's a little reminder or taster (if you're completely in the dark here!)
And as always, I digress...a little.
As we sat in a postprandial slumber the other afternoon, there was a 'tap, tap' at the window. I went to investigate...
And had to look a little closer ...
And there was Barney, a little damp in the rain, tapping on the window. Maybe just to say 'Hi', maybe to say, 'Did you know it was raining?', maybe to say, 'Any food left?'.....So sweet.
I am currently reading up on vegetarian Christmas dinner options......
Oh Annie..... a veggie Christmas dinner may be the required option. He looks so sweet. However, as you know exactly what he's been eating, I guess he'll taste pretty sweet too !
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Mankinholes one of our neighbours raised turkeys for Christmas, but I determined not to meet our until s/he was headless, plucked and arranged in a way similar to those seen in Tescos. S/he was incredibly tasty...by fat the best turkey we have ever eaten.
Good luck with the eggs. Jxxx
FR says he has no qualms...Barney follows him everywhere and it's beginning to get on his nerves, so maybe we'll eat turkey after all. Romy is currently refusing, but she's such a foodie that I actually don't expect her intentions to hold too firmly. I was thinking of getting another one though, and NOT naming it. Axxx
DeleteTrumpton! Teasing me for my love of cricket in a period where England seemed to lose every match my father would enquire how many runs had been made by the team members, Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub... ..
ReplyDeleteAnd whatever made your dear husband think that the presence of cockerels would help the egg laying situation? There is something Freudian about men...
Loved Trumpton, and Camberwick Green...
DeleteAs for the Freudian husband...well he said someone had told him this, but then someone else told him it was rubbish and that they just needed more light. They now have cockerels AND light but we still have very few eggs... I always thought there was something very Freudian about men too! Axxx
It's difficult to imagine eating a creature you've named and come to be fond of, isn't it? Our hens laid very few eggs as the days grew shorter and stopped laying altogether in the depths of winter, but they certainly made up for it in summer! But we could never have eaten them, however few eggs they laid. Thanks for the Trumpton clip. We didn't have TV back then but the children loved watching it when we visited their grandparents.
ReplyDeleteYou can't eat Barney, I imagine he'll knock at the window so many times that you'll invite him in.
ReplyDeleteI loved Trumpton when very small. And yes, perfect name for a handsome turkey.
ReplyDeletePlease reply c/o The Save Barney Campaign, Mr Platt's Clock Shop, Trumpton
Nah... I couldn't eat him... not after seeing that pic. I don't eat red meat and I wish I could give up chicken. Sigh.
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