Today Graham is not happy with me.
The reason is that he has decided he wants to buy a pair of bellows to encourage the fire to burn more quickly.
And the reason he is not happy with me is because I have vetoed the idea.
My argument is that we have been lighting the fire for well over thirty years without the aid of bellows, so why do we need them now?
And I suspect Graham's argument is: 'But I want to play with some bellows!'
I know that if we buy some bellows, they will be used once then stashed by the fireplace and never used again. But is this a good enough argument to say 'No.'? Would I be better off allowing the bellows to be bought? Graham would be happy, I wouldn't have to endure the hurt silences and it wouldn't actually be that expensive a purchase.
He might be right - it might be a good idea - not having any experience of bellows, I could be wrong. It is certainly a less scary prospect than some of his methods of 'encouraging' the fire to burn - parafin, barbeque lighting fluid. It would be worth it to avoid those.
Graham has taken the dog out for a walk.
By the time he gets back I will have talked myself round to the idea that having a pair of bellows is a Good Idea - or at least an 'OK' one.
So, looks like we shall be buying bellows after all.
p.s. Graham is now happily choosing bellows
and a metronome.....
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Thursday, 19 January 2017
St Agnes Eve Spells
St Agnes Eve is one of the traditional nights of the year for performing love divination spells, to find out who your future spouse may be.
Most of these were designed for girls or young women to use, but most can be adapted for a man to try.
The first is a Scottish spell which instructs that you should go out to a ploughed field at midnight and take a handful of grain with you. Cast it about, as if you are sowing the field and say:
A chap could simply say 'The one who is to marry me.' or 'the lass'. The spirit of your future spouse should then be seen following after you, as if mowing the grain - or you might dream about them.
The next spell says that you should 'take a row of pins', this goes back to when pins were sold stuck into rows in paper. I would suggest making your own row of pins in a paper, and for this purpose 13 pins would be a good number - or 21 as the 21st is St Agnes' saint day.
So, take a row of pins, and as you take a pin from the paper say a Pater Noster (Our Father) and stick the pin in your sleeve. Continue doing this, one prayer for each pin, until you have transferred all the pins from the paper to your sleeve, then go to bed without saying anything else and you will dream of your spouse.
Take a sprig of rosemary, and a sprig of thyme, sprinkle each with a few drops of water (the older versions of this spell say this should be a few drops of your own urine) and put one in each shoe. Put the shoes by your bed and say:
Some say that you should fast all day (or from midday, or miss your evening meal). And make sure that no-one kisses you today, not even a child. Or at supper time hard boil an egg, take out the yolk and fill the void with salt. Eat the egg just before you go to bed and your future spouse will appear in your dreams offering you a drink of water.
Finally another traditional spell which says that you should knit your right garter about your left leg stocking as you say the following verse:
As we don't wear stockings and garters these days, you could make a Witches Ladder instead. Take some blue ribbon, yarn or cord and tie nine knots in it. Tie one knot at each of the commas in the verse, and the last one at the end.
Sleep with the cord beneath your pillow, to have an ominous dream!
Good luck.
Most of these were designed for girls or young women to use, but most can be adapted for a man to try.
The first is a Scottish spell which instructs that you should go out to a ploughed field at midnight and take a handful of grain with you. Cast it about, as if you are sowing the field and say:
Agnes sweet, Agnes fair,
Hither, hither now repair,
Bonny Agnes let me see,
The lad who is to marry me.
A chap could simply say 'The one who is to marry me.' or 'the lass'. The spirit of your future spouse should then be seen following after you, as if mowing the grain - or you might dream about them.
The next spell says that you should 'take a row of pins', this goes back to when pins were sold stuck into rows in paper. I would suggest making your own row of pins in a paper, and for this purpose 13 pins would be a good number - or 21 as the 21st is St Agnes' saint day.
So, take a row of pins, and as you take a pin from the paper say a Pater Noster (Our Father) and stick the pin in your sleeve. Continue doing this, one prayer for each pin, until you have transferred all the pins from the paper to your sleeve, then go to bed without saying anything else and you will dream of your spouse.
Take a sprig of rosemary, and a sprig of thyme, sprinkle each with a few drops of water (the older versions of this spell say this should be a few drops of your own urine) and put one in each shoe. Put the shoes by your bed and say:
St Agnes, that's to lovers kind,
Come, ease the troubles of my mind.
I pray this night in dreams to see
The one who'll love and marry me.
Some say that you should fast all day (or from midday, or miss your evening meal). And make sure that no-one kisses you today, not even a child. Or at supper time hard boil an egg, take out the yolk and fill the void with salt. Eat the egg just before you go to bed and your future spouse will appear in your dreams offering you a drink of water.
Finally another traditional spell which says that you should knit your right garter about your left leg stocking as you say the following verse:
This knot I make, this knot I knit,
To know the thing, I know not yet,
That I may know, that I may see,
The one who is to marry me,
Where he/she may go, in what array,
And what he/she works at every day.
As we don't wear stockings and garters these days, you could make a Witches Ladder instead. Take some blue ribbon, yarn or cord and tie nine knots in it. Tie one knot at each of the commas in the verse, and the last one at the end.
Sleep with the cord beneath your pillow, to have an ominous dream!
Good luck.
Monday, 16 January 2017
On the First Flyer of the Year
I really feel that we are fully back into our work routine now.
Today we took our first Mail Shot of the year to the Post Office - we call them 'Flyers' as they wing their way through the postal system to our customers.
No, there wasn't a nostalgic tear in the eye as Graham headed off with carrier bags full of envelopes. But there was a sigh of satisfaction.
It is lovely finding new things to tempt people with. Things I find fun, interesting or pretty - and always magical. But there is always the slight worry that maybe I am the only one who will find these fun, interesting pretty and/or magical.
When we first started Raven and we really weren't sure what people would like, we created a little form which said: 'This is all my fault ...... ' for each of us to sign and to take responsibility if we were investing in something which the other thought was distinctly 'iffy'.
I must admit that I filled in far more of these forms than Graham did. Which I like to think means that I am more adventurous, creative and imaginative than him. But probably means that I am far more likely to go 'Oooooh, Shiney!'
This time, one of the new items we found are some wonderful black glass bottles, in the shape of a skull. These are ideal for a Special Edition Black Bottle of Mortica - a special spell to contain the energies of an enemy, the spell is supplied with the Black Bottle.
Now I think these are fab, and so does Graham, so we bought an armful of them.
But whether anyone else will agree with us, we shall soon find out.
Today we took our first Mail Shot of the year to the Post Office - we call them 'Flyers' as they wing their way through the postal system to our customers.
No, there wasn't a nostalgic tear in the eye as Graham headed off with carrier bags full of envelopes. But there was a sigh of satisfaction.
It is lovely finding new things to tempt people with. Things I find fun, interesting or pretty - and always magical. But there is always the slight worry that maybe I am the only one who will find these fun, interesting pretty and/or magical.
When we first started Raven and we really weren't sure what people would like, we created a little form which said: 'This is all my fault ...... ' for each of us to sign and to take responsibility if we were investing in something which the other thought was distinctly 'iffy'.
I must admit that I filled in far more of these forms than Graham did. Which I like to think means that I am more adventurous, creative and imaginative than him. But probably means that I am far more likely to go 'Oooooh, Shiney!'
This time, one of the new items we found are some wonderful black glass bottles, in the shape of a skull. These are ideal for a Special Edition Black Bottle of Mortica - a special spell to contain the energies of an enemy, the spell is supplied with the Black Bottle.
Now I think these are fab, and so does Graham, so we bought an armful of them.
But whether anyone else will agree with us, we shall soon find out.
Thursday, 5 January 2017
Twelfth Night Traditions
For a start, I have not been able to find out why we celebrate twelve days of christmas. It is all rather speculative.
The first two significant dates in the life of Jesus are his birthday (which was originally celebrated on at least six different dates, none of which was in December), and the visit to his birthplace by the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings. These dates were fixed as the 25th December - largely to cover up the birthday of Mithras, which was already celebrated on that day - and the 6th of January - known as Epiphany.
You have to shuffle about with the calendar whether you count the 'Twelve Days' from christmas day, in which case the 12th day of christmas is the 5th of January, the Eve of Epiphany, or from Boxing Day, which makes Epiphany the twelfth day.
So Twelfth Night can be either the evening of the 5th or the 6th of January.
There are further complications in that some communities retain the date of christmas as it would be in the old Julian calendar, which makes christmas day either the 6th or 7th of Jan., with Twelfth Night on the 17th, 18th or 19th!
What we mainly know about Twelfth Night is that it was a time of great celebration, feasting and fun. The tradition of celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men or Kings is found in many countries. In Spain and France special ring shaped cakes are bakes, stuffed and decorated with preserved fruit. This was carried into Vodu with the festival of Les Rois (the Kings) celebrated on the 6th of January.
In Britain the Twelfth Night Cake was a rich and fruity affair, which also had little trinkets hidden within it. A bean meant that the finder was the King of the night, a pea was for the Queen. But you might find a silver coin symbolising wealth, or a clove which said you were a villain, or a twig for a fool. These were later moved to the christmas pudding instead.
Alcoholic punch, or a drink called Lambswool, was another feature of the celebration, and was served in the Wassail Bowl. Wassail is an Anglo Saxon word, a contraction of wax hael, meaning 'grow healthy' or the equivalent of our modern toast 'Good Health!'
Twelfth Night was also a time when Mummers performed their plays, which usually included the death and resurrection of the hero, symbolising the rebirth of the green world in the Spring. These plays reminded folk that even though it may be dark and cold, Spring will come again.
It has become the tradition that christmas decorations should be taken down by Twelfth Night, although originally they stayed up until Candlemas - the old Celtic festival of Imbolg - 2nd of February.
Party Games
There are many games which were played during the Twelfth Night party. Perhaps the best known is Snapdragon, where raisins and other preserved fruit have flaming brandy poured over them, and you take turns to snatch the fruit out of the flames. This is not as painful as it sounds, and looks really pretty by candlelight.
There were games involving eggs (which symbolise the new life of the sun, reborn at the Solstice) such as throwing an egg and catching it. The two people moving further apart at each successful catch.
Pass the Slipper was another popular game. All present form a circle, with one in the centre who is blindfolded. Then as music is played, the others pass a slipper one to the next, behind their backs. When the music stops, the one in the middle takes off the blindfold and tries to guess who has the slipper. If they guess right, the one who had the slipper takes their place in the middle and is blindfolded. If there is a large group of revellers, the guesser is allowed three tries.
The first two significant dates in the life of Jesus are his birthday (which was originally celebrated on at least six different dates, none of which was in December), and the visit to his birthplace by the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings. These dates were fixed as the 25th December - largely to cover up the birthday of Mithras, which was already celebrated on that day - and the 6th of January - known as Epiphany.
You have to shuffle about with the calendar whether you count the 'Twelve Days' from christmas day, in which case the 12th day of christmas is the 5th of January, the Eve of Epiphany, or from Boxing Day, which makes Epiphany the twelfth day.
So Twelfth Night can be either the evening of the 5th or the 6th of January.
There are further complications in that some communities retain the date of christmas as it would be in the old Julian calendar, which makes christmas day either the 6th or 7th of Jan., with Twelfth Night on the 17th, 18th or 19th!
What we mainly know about Twelfth Night is that it was a time of great celebration, feasting and fun. The tradition of celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men or Kings is found in many countries. In Spain and France special ring shaped cakes are bakes, stuffed and decorated with preserved fruit. This was carried into Vodu with the festival of Les Rois (the Kings) celebrated on the 6th of January.
In Britain the Twelfth Night Cake was a rich and fruity affair, which also had little trinkets hidden within it. A bean meant that the finder was the King of the night, a pea was for the Queen. But you might find a silver coin symbolising wealth, or a clove which said you were a villain, or a twig for a fool. These were later moved to the christmas pudding instead.
Alcoholic punch, or a drink called Lambswool, was another feature of the celebration, and was served in the Wassail Bowl. Wassail is an Anglo Saxon word, a contraction of wax hael, meaning 'grow healthy' or the equivalent of our modern toast 'Good Health!'
Twelfth Night was also a time when Mummers performed their plays, which usually included the death and resurrection of the hero, symbolising the rebirth of the green world in the Spring. These plays reminded folk that even though it may be dark and cold, Spring will come again.
It has become the tradition that christmas decorations should be taken down by Twelfth Night, although originally they stayed up until Candlemas - the old Celtic festival of Imbolg - 2nd of February.
Party Games
There are many games which were played during the Twelfth Night party. Perhaps the best known is Snapdragon, where raisins and other preserved fruit have flaming brandy poured over them, and you take turns to snatch the fruit out of the flames. This is not as painful as it sounds, and looks really pretty by candlelight.
There were games involving eggs (which symbolise the new life of the sun, reborn at the Solstice) such as throwing an egg and catching it. The two people moving further apart at each successful catch.
Pass the Slipper was another popular game. All present form a circle, with one in the centre who is blindfolded. Then as music is played, the others pass a slipper one to the next, behind their backs. When the music stops, the one in the middle takes off the blindfold and tries to guess who has the slipper. If they guess right, the one who had the slipper takes their place in the middle and is blindfolded. If there is a large group of revellers, the guesser is allowed three tries.
Thursday, 29 December 2016
Bring Back Twelfth Night!
I hope you have had a lovely Yuletide and are enjoying your holiday.
I know that a lot of people will have had to go back to work already, that is one of the drawback's of industrialisation - factories work continually, so people have to work continually to keep them going. And because they are working, they expect services to be working too. And everyone has to buy stuff, so shops have to be open.
And, of course, there are some things that need continual attention - you can't stop looking after children, the elderly or animals, they still want caring for and feeding. Police, ambulances, medical staff and fire services etc will always have to be ready to leap into action as and when necessary.
However I still feel that it is a shame that the tradition of the twelve days of christmas is largely forgotten, and instead we really have the two days of christmas and then everyone can't wait to start ripping down their decorations and getting 'back to normal'.
We all know the song The Twelve Days of Christmas:
Even if we are not always entirely sure just how many Lords-a-leaping or Swans-a-swimming were given on which day.
Incidentally when I worked for the Straven Knitwear factory in Alford (Lincolnshire) many years ago, my Christmas party piece involved the local Louth Standard newspaper. I would open the paper at the classified adverts pages and give a rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas based on items from that section.So you might get:
The midwinter festival was always a celebration that went on over an extended period of days.
The Romans had Saturnalia which went from the 17th to the 23rd of December then ran into further celebrations including Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun on the 25th.
This evolved into our Twelve Days of Christmas - although there is some dispute whether these start with Christmas day, or with Christmas Eve, or even with Boxing Day. But it is generally thought that Twelfth Night will cover the evening of the 5th of January, the eve of Epiphany when the Wise Men took gifts to the infant Jesus. And in Italy that is the night when Befana flies through the skies on her broomstick, delivering gifts to every child.
Midwinter in a farming community is a time when there is minimal work to do on the land. The harvest has been gathered in and there is a glut of meat and stored fruit and veg - some of which might be showing signs of going off. So rather than sling it out, make the most of it with a time of extended feasting - there is a lot of meat on a single animal, pig, sheep or cow, enough to feed a whole community. So why not have a feast and invite all the neighbours in.
Of course it is a myth that everyone was on holiday and that no-one was doing any work. Who was doing the cooking? The serving? The washing up? The preparations for the next feast?
And of course the animals still needed feeding and cleaning out and milking, even if they were in stables and fields near the home, rather than out on the hills.
In Victorian times (and into the 20th century) butchers and bakers would be open and busy on christmas day. In 'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens, on christmas morning Scrooge instructs a boy to go and buy a large turkey from the butcher to send to Bob Cratchett and his family. And the bakers were open to produce the daily bread and also their ovens were often where families would take their christmas poultry to be cooked.
But it was still twelve days when fun, feasting and friendship were emphasised. Culminating in the last great feast on Twelvth Night itself.
As this was the last day of this mega-festival, Twelfth Night was the climax of the festival, and a night when all inhibitions were cast aside. Masters and servants exchanged places. The ruler of the feast was chosen by whoever found a special token (usually a bean) in the Twelfth Night Cake. And whatever orders were given by the King and Queen of Twelfth Night, would be carried out with great laughter.
So maybe the twelve days of mid-winter sloth is a myth.
But how on earth have we managed to forget a great excuse for a party?!
Bring back Twelfth Night! says I.
I know that a lot of people will have had to go back to work already, that is one of the drawback's of industrialisation - factories work continually, so people have to work continually to keep them going. And because they are working, they expect services to be working too. And everyone has to buy stuff, so shops have to be open.
And, of course, there are some things that need continual attention - you can't stop looking after children, the elderly or animals, they still want caring for and feeding. Police, ambulances, medical staff and fire services etc will always have to be ready to leap into action as and when necessary.
However I still feel that it is a shame that the tradition of the twelve days of christmas is largely forgotten, and instead we really have the two days of christmas and then everyone can't wait to start ripping down their decorations and getting 'back to normal'.
We all know the song The Twelve Days of Christmas:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree
Even if we are not always entirely sure just how many Lords-a-leaping or Swans-a-swimming were given on which day.
Incidentally when I worked for the Straven Knitwear factory in Alford (Lincolnshire) many years ago, my Christmas party piece involved the local Louth Standard newspaper. I would open the paper at the classified adverts pages and give a rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas based on items from that section.So you might get:
Twelve bales of hay,
Eleven ladies stockings,
Ten tractor seats,
Nine best meat pies,
Eight trays of eggs,
Seven brace of pheasants,
and so on .... A modern version could make use of Google Adverts.The midwinter festival was always a celebration that went on over an extended period of days.
The Romans had Saturnalia which went from the 17th to the 23rd of December then ran into further celebrations including Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun on the 25th.
This evolved into our Twelve Days of Christmas - although there is some dispute whether these start with Christmas day, or with Christmas Eve, or even with Boxing Day. But it is generally thought that Twelfth Night will cover the evening of the 5th of January, the eve of Epiphany when the Wise Men took gifts to the infant Jesus. And in Italy that is the night when Befana flies through the skies on her broomstick, delivering gifts to every child.
Midwinter in a farming community is a time when there is minimal work to do on the land. The harvest has been gathered in and there is a glut of meat and stored fruit and veg - some of which might be showing signs of going off. So rather than sling it out, make the most of it with a time of extended feasting - there is a lot of meat on a single animal, pig, sheep or cow, enough to feed a whole community. So why not have a feast and invite all the neighbours in.
Of course it is a myth that everyone was on holiday and that no-one was doing any work. Who was doing the cooking? The serving? The washing up? The preparations for the next feast?
And of course the animals still needed feeding and cleaning out and milking, even if they were in stables and fields near the home, rather than out on the hills.
In Victorian times (and into the 20th century) butchers and bakers would be open and busy on christmas day. In 'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens, on christmas morning Scrooge instructs a boy to go and buy a large turkey from the butcher to send to Bob Cratchett and his family. And the bakers were open to produce the daily bread and also their ovens were often where families would take their christmas poultry to be cooked.
But it was still twelve days when fun, feasting and friendship were emphasised. Culminating in the last great feast on Twelvth Night itself.
As this was the last day of this mega-festival, Twelfth Night was the climax of the festival, and a night when all inhibitions were cast aside. Masters and servants exchanged places. The ruler of the feast was chosen by whoever found a special token (usually a bean) in the Twelfth Night Cake. And whatever orders were given by the King and Queen of Twelfth Night, would be carried out with great laughter.
So maybe the twelve days of mid-winter sloth is a myth.
But how on earth have we managed to forget a great excuse for a party?!
Bring back Twelfth Night! says I.
Tuesday, 27 December 2016
Bird Spottering
We have just got back from a quick trip to the shops - bread and milk were running low, and we fancied a little trip out anyway. Or as Graham would have it the pile of christmas food had diminished to slightly less than mountainous, so we had to stock up the lower slopes again.
On our way into Hessle we have two supermarkets we visit just across the road from one another. Aldi at one side, and Sainsburys at the other.
We turn off the dual carriageway, and turn left climbing on the road which bridges over the railway line, and there we head for Aldi's on the right side of the road. And Graham says to me, 'What are all those men doing with big camera lenses?' And sure enough, on the left pavement, beneath a leafless tree, are a cluster of greater-coated, bird spotters. Cameras at the ready and pointing up into the tree where a number of nondescript small, greyish birds are perched.
We turn right and down the hill into the almost empty Aldi's car park.
Almost empty but for another and larger flock of greater-coated and flat-capped bird watchers. This group appears to have even larger camera lenses then the previous lot. Some even have tripods, and one chap has a portable camouflage cloth with him, but the camera is already camouflage colours.
Their attention is trained on a rowan tree, heavy with yellow berries, where more of the smallish, nondescript greyish birds are grabbing berries then returning to the other side of the road to eat them in the first tree.
'Go ask them what they are.' I suggested (although I must admit that sounds more like an order).
Graham returns, 'Waxwings.' he says
By the time we had shopped in Aldi, and then Sainsbury, the pavements lining the street were becoming packed with a whole irritation of bird-watchers. Who were definitely twitching.
There is an online entry which says - although it may be just a suggestion - that the collective noun for a group of birdwatchers is a convulsion.
Waxwings are apparently not a native bird, but a winter visitor from the continent. And a group of waxwings is called an irruption.
This picture comes from the RSPB website
On our way into Hessle we have two supermarkets we visit just across the road from one another. Aldi at one side, and Sainsburys at the other.
We turn off the dual carriageway, and turn left climbing on the road which bridges over the railway line, and there we head for Aldi's on the right side of the road. And Graham says to me, 'What are all those men doing with big camera lenses?' And sure enough, on the left pavement, beneath a leafless tree, are a cluster of greater-coated, bird spotters. Cameras at the ready and pointing up into the tree where a number of nondescript small, greyish birds are perched.
We turn right and down the hill into the almost empty Aldi's car park.
Almost empty but for another and larger flock of greater-coated and flat-capped bird watchers. This group appears to have even larger camera lenses then the previous lot. Some even have tripods, and one chap has a portable camouflage cloth with him, but the camera is already camouflage colours.
Their attention is trained on a rowan tree, heavy with yellow berries, where more of the smallish, nondescript greyish birds are grabbing berries then returning to the other side of the road to eat them in the first tree.
'Go ask them what they are.' I suggested (although I must admit that sounds more like an order).
Graham returns, 'Waxwings.' he says
By the time we had shopped in Aldi, and then Sainsbury, the pavements lining the street were becoming packed with a whole irritation of bird-watchers. Who were definitely twitching.
There is an online entry which says - although it may be just a suggestion - that the collective noun for a group of birdwatchers is a convulsion.
Waxwings are apparently not a native bird, but a winter visitor from the continent. And a group of waxwings is called an irruption.
This picture comes from the RSPB website
Sunday, 25 December 2016
Christmas Breakfast
For the last thirty odd years we have never had christmas dinner on christmas day.
This started because we were expected to visit Graham's parents, and laterly his mother, where we would be regaled with plates of shop-bought 'treats' (mince pies, pigs in blankets, sausage rolls, biscuits, buns, pork pie etc) nothing home made or cooked hot food. If you were unlucky, the mince pies would be microwaved so that the inner temperature would melt plastic and burn flesh on contact, and was served with squirty cream.
We were given a time of arrival, and we had to be there on the dot. Five minutes late and we would be told how long grandma had been waiting for us to arrive, five minutes early and 'nothing' was ready. To the extent that one day when she went into hysterics about us being early, that I simply left. We were not treated to that performance again, thank goodness.
However this meant that Graham decided that if we couldn't have a proper christmas dinner, then he would ensure that we have a magnificent christmas breakfast.
This started in a small way. As I have mentioned before, I am from Lincolnshire, home of the famous Lincolnshire sausages, so we always made sure that when we visited my home county, we would visit our favourite butcher (Jackson's of Louth) and buy several pounds of their sausages, which we could put in the freezer. So that come christmas, there would always be Lincolnshire sausages, a taste of home and a link back to my parents and the christmases of my childhood.
However the simple christmas breakfast of sausages with an egg and toast has expanded a bit over the years so that now, as my Uncle Bill (Bullivant) used to say 'the table groans' with the weight and array of bowls and dishes. Graham makes a breakfast that would feed a football team if they were all peckish and brought doggy bags to take home with them.
This year there will be eggs, toast, Lincolnshire Sausages!, baked beans, tomatoes, potatoes sliced and fried, black pudding, bacon and mushrooms - oh and this year's newest addition parsnips! Graham likes parsnips. This is not a breakfast for the faint hearted or those on a diet! This is a breakfast proud of its bacon grease and butter!
All these foods will be arranged in dishes on the table, and everyone will serve themselves, so that your breakfast can be exactly what you want it to be. There will be four of us this year, Mike and our grandson Eden will be with us for breakfast (and afterwards presents will be opened).
This is a breakfast which will sustain all those who partake for the WHOLE of christmas day. There will be no need for a turkey and its trimmings, just the odd top up of a liqueur chocolate or a Ferrero Roche will suffice.
Excuse me I think I need a bit of a lie down after that.
This started because we were expected to visit Graham's parents, and laterly his mother, where we would be regaled with plates of shop-bought 'treats' (mince pies, pigs in blankets, sausage rolls, biscuits, buns, pork pie etc) nothing home made or cooked hot food. If you were unlucky, the mince pies would be microwaved so that the inner temperature would melt plastic and burn flesh on contact, and was served with squirty cream.
We were given a time of arrival, and we had to be there on the dot. Five minutes late and we would be told how long grandma had been waiting for us to arrive, five minutes early and 'nothing' was ready. To the extent that one day when she went into hysterics about us being early, that I simply left. We were not treated to that performance again, thank goodness.
However this meant that Graham decided that if we couldn't have a proper christmas dinner, then he would ensure that we have a magnificent christmas breakfast.
This started in a small way. As I have mentioned before, I am from Lincolnshire, home of the famous Lincolnshire sausages, so we always made sure that when we visited my home county, we would visit our favourite butcher (Jackson's of Louth) and buy several pounds of their sausages, which we could put in the freezer. So that come christmas, there would always be Lincolnshire sausages, a taste of home and a link back to my parents and the christmases of my childhood.
However the simple christmas breakfast of sausages with an egg and toast has expanded a bit over the years so that now, as my Uncle Bill (Bullivant) used to say 'the table groans' with the weight and array of bowls and dishes. Graham makes a breakfast that would feed a football team if they were all peckish and brought doggy bags to take home with them.
This year there will be eggs, toast, Lincolnshire Sausages!, baked beans, tomatoes, potatoes sliced and fried, black pudding, bacon and mushrooms - oh and this year's newest addition parsnips! Graham likes parsnips. This is not a breakfast for the faint hearted or those on a diet! This is a breakfast proud of its bacon grease and butter!
All these foods will be arranged in dishes on the table, and everyone will serve themselves, so that your breakfast can be exactly what you want it to be. There will be four of us this year, Mike and our grandson Eden will be with us for breakfast (and afterwards presents will be opened).
This is a breakfast which will sustain all those who partake for the WHOLE of christmas day. There will be no need for a turkey and its trimmings, just the odd top up of a liqueur chocolate or a Ferrero Roche will suffice.
Excuse me I think I need a bit of a lie down after that.
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