A Free Food Recycling Bin From The Ploughing.

 

I queued up for a free bin for waste food at the ploughing last Wednesday.  Waste.ie placed a leaflet inside explaining how to recycle your leftovers.  They also gave you some biodegradable plastic bags for you to put your vegetable peelings s in and to take to the compost heap.

I will use our new bin to take to our livestock.  The hens and ducks and pigs and donkeys,  pony...  Al love the vegetable peelings and the dogs and cats get any leftover meat or fat.  We give the wild birds food waste too especially in winter.

My self sufficiency guru and hero John Seymour said the dustbin man should never visit the smallholding.  

I think he wrote that when everything was natural or organic unlike the plastics world we live in today.   I knew what he meant though.  Anything natural will decompose and can be used for fertilisers in the fields or on the allotment or veg plot.  Even wood ash makes great potash which onions adore.

My favourite rant seems to be why do we have so much packaging on food and drink and most importantly how much do we pay for it?

Oh to go back to string shopping bags and food like sausages and beef wrapped in paper and tied up with string.  At least living in the countryside next to the sea you can burn some paper in the stove.

Do you recycle your food waste or does it go into the wheelie bin and ends up in landfill?

Back In The EU.

A heavy envelope arrived in the post last week.  I finally got round to applying for my Irish passport and it duly arrived in the post .  I am an Irish citizen and a dual citizen because I also hold a British passport.  This also means I am an EU citizen yet again.  Hurray!

I am a member of the EU again.  If I want to stay in the EU for up to six months I can do so or even work or retire  there.  Perhaps I will fulfil my dream and live in Portugal every Winter? Oh happy days!

I have yet to meet some one in Ireland that can see the sense in Brexit.  Not to forget the 30 Billion Pounds leaving bill that the UK needs to find in January.  All the lies and false promises. Even the Remainer Liz Truss wants to recruit workers back to the UK again, especially seasonal horticultural/agricultural workers

I see the Liberal Democrats and the SNP say they will campaign at the next General Election to rejoin the EU yet  Labour of all parties the party founded for the labourers won't be.  Do they not believe in free movement between our European neighbours?  We need to be island hopping with our European neighbours not  content with signing deals with the US and Australia.

Anyway if you  have a grandparent or parent born in Ireland or another EU country why not apply for a passport and become an EU citizen again?  Ten percent of the UK's population are  from an Irish background like myself.  

I feel like I beat Brexit on my own.  Well my dad helped a great deal with him being born here and so did Ireland especially the passport people.  Thanks!

Blasket Isles Seal Cubs.

My friend who accompanied me to the Blasket Isles and to Blighty sent me his photos of these seal cubs he took on the beach.

They are quite adorable and they lie on the beach all day while their mother cow seals watch from the water fishing and not too far away.

At night time a big bull seal  starts flubbering and flopping about and  they all eventually gathered on the beach and gave a Prog Rock Blasket Islands free concert all night serenading the sea and its surroundings.  It was an incredible experience.

Have you heard Animals album  by Pink Floyd? Well if they recorded a Maritime version they could write a mega long track called Seals.  What a performance!  

Sunbathing on the beach whilst mum goes for a swim and catch some fish.  

Christmas Starts Earlier Every Year In The Shops.

 It's the 24th of September and I went shopping today.  Look what I found already:

I know.  We have bought most of our Christmas 🎄 presents already have you?

What you eating for Christmas Dinner?  One year we had curry.  This year me thinks it will be steak and an all day buffet again.  Merry Christmas 🤶. 

More Pictures From The Ploughing.

Heaving with people.  Crowds everywhere.

Pedigree Aberdeen Angus.

This lass had twins.

More vintage and modern 🚜  ploughing.

Derek Ryan and his band entertaining the the crowd and some even line danced.

Pedigree Hereford.

It was a good day with biblical multitudes.  Like when I went to Glastonbury in 1989.   It was like Glastonbury with tractors!  I like that.
 

A Trip To The National Ploughing Competition.

Anyone for Poteen?

A toe nail trimmer.

Lister engine.

I have got one of those.

Just like my Anna Ford.

An American visitor.

 It  was like Glastonbury music festival  with vintage tractors..

I finally managed to get to the ploughing championships both Irish and World this year.  115,500 attended yesterday including yours truly.

Biblical like multitudes descend on the site but the majority of people go for the trade stands.   Oh to have lots of money 💰 to buy all these things like diggers and everything what any smallholder, big farmer, country dweller wants.

We set off at 5 and endured some very long traffic jams several miles from the ploughing   We got there at 9.20 and I wandered round on my Jack Jones for 3 hours until my phone starting ringing and I made my way through the world and wife crowds and found them waiting at the beer tent.  I only had a pint of Heineken for 6 Euros fifty.  

Hope you like photos of my vintage tractor 🚜 friends?

What do you call someone who use to like tractors and doesn't any more?  An extractor fan.

More photos from the ploughing tomorrow.

Newly Hatched Hen Chicks.

 We bought an electric egg incubator about a month ago.  Number one son bought some fertilised eggs for ten Bob (50 Cents) each.

On Sunday they started hatching and making chirpy cheep cheep noises.

Up to now we have eight newly hatched hen chick's.  They are beautiful.  Old Mother Nature played a blinder yet again.

Two day old hen chick's.

Sorry it's took on it's side.

Newly hatched and very chatty 

Have you ever hatched hens or ducks?  What did you feed your day old chick's?

Tiger Kitty is trying her best to catch the new chick's on their heat pad in the cupboard next to the range. The oil range isn't warm not for a while yet.  

 Have you thought about lighting your fire in the front room yet?  We are leaving it for a bit longer and saving the wood.

"Are You A Geordie?"

 The night before the music festival in Oxfordshire we had to find somewhere to pitch our tents for the night.   We found a site at top of the road and asked the farmer/campsite proprietor if we could pay to camp for the tonight? 

He reminded me of a typical West Cork farmer.  He was more interested in us and whether we were interested in him.   

We put the world to rights for ten minutes or so and he asked us what the BBC initials stood for? Before we could reply he said: " The bullsh*t broadcasting company". We laughed and he laughed and we had found another character on our travels.

I asked him if he would be going to watch any of the bands at the music festival?  He said if Gene Pitney or Roy Orbison was playing he would have gone.  He didn't like the modern music on the radio today and most of the artists can't sing!

He picked up on my North country accent and said to me: "Are you a Geordie?"

My friend and me laughed again and I said: "No Lancastrian."  Perhaps he knew I love bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale?

Then we asked him if we could pitch our tent for the  night.  "Ok lads.  But you won't wreck the bathroom will you? I spent a lot of money fitting that out".  We had no problems paying cash at this campsite unlike some of the other one's we stayed at.  He didn't ask for contactless payments.  

We laughed again and we spent another twenty minutes in the morning leaning on a farm gate talking to our new found farmer friend putting the world to right and laughing 

Irish Pizza.

 I spotted Irish pizza 🍕 for sale in Killarney on Saturday:

-Black Pudding, Bacon, Sausage, Mushrooms, Onions -

I suppose you could add Guinness?

Do you remember when we made our own India pizza with a curry paste topping?

We once sampled Bolognese pizza in an Italian restaurant in the Algarve.

Suppose you could make your own country or regional pizza?  What about a full English pizza with eggs, bacon, sausage and beans? Or a Welsh pizza topped with leeks or a Scottish pizza topped with Haggis?

Do you have your very own pizza recipe?

Bath Pillow.

 We went shopping in Aldi on Friday and I had my usual saunter along the middle aisles.   

I noticed they had BATH PILLOWS  for sale!  I always thought baths were for storing coal in.  You won't be buying any this year Dave. It's 35 Euros for a 40KG bag at the moment.

I know some people like a deep soak but do they need a pillow?  I'm more of a shower person.  I use them every day if I stay at a hotel.

I once knew a lady who fell asleep reading a library book in the bath and dropped it in the water.

Perhaps the bath pillow is a good idea?  What do you think?

Porridge On The Bus To Canterbury From Broadstairs.

 Yet another Blighty tale and character we met on our saunter around the sceptred isle or England even.

On the way back from our bus to trip to Broadstairs.  A man in his sixties and rather the worse for wear managed to  fall on to the bus.  The man cracked a few jokes with the bus driver and headed to the empty seats straight in front of me.  Jasper Carrott's Nutter On The Bus story started to play in my mental jukebox: "Eek as anyone seen my camel?"  "I've got an atomic bomb in my bag!" "It's only a biscuit tin".

The man clenched his fist and tapped it against my clenched fist:

My friend sat across from me and looked at me and laughed and smiled.  

The man introduced himself to us and said:"Alright mate?"  I replied: "Sound." " Oh your from up North?"

A well dressed lady got on at the next bus stop and sat across from us: " Alright darling?" Have you been waiting long to see us?"He said and we  roared and I nodded to the lady to reassure her he was harmless.  Just a loveable drunk on the bus giving free entertainment.

The bus stopped again.  Another  lady got on the bus and our new friend said to her: "Alright sweetheart.  Where we going tonight?" She laughed and smiled and sat a few seats away from us.  A few minutes later she had heard enough and went upstairs laughing.

He started to tell us he once was a boxer and then he started to remind us of the boxing match inthe BBC sitcom Porridge and he stood up and started sparring against an invisible boxer.  He threw one punch and nearly fell over.  Everybody on the bus was in stitches.  He then came out with the classic Porridge punch line: "It was a draw." My friend, myself and other passengers were in stitches.

We told  him about a New Day Festival and that Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers was playing there on the Friday night.  He jumped up and said that they were his favourite band and sang into an imaginary microphone: "Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches".   

A lady passed us getting off the bus and he said:    "It's the ex wife". She got off the bus wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

What a character.  I suppose you had to be there?😊 Oh what it must be like to have public transport and entertainment for free?

Have you ever met any similar comedians on the bus or train?

Stop Off At A Kent Village.

 On our bus ride to Broadstairs we decided to stop off at Chartham a village we had passed through by train to Ashford the previous day.

Swans rehearse Swan Lake.  Amazing beauty.

Old telephone boxes seem to be a new way to display free books or maybe to swap or return?

  

A Tudor wattle and daub timber frame house.  It looks like an old coaching Inn to me.

World war memorial and an ancient old church so quintessentially English and incredibly attractive.

Look how sun scorched the lawns are.

Ancient tomb.

Inside the beautiful Anglican church.  

A wonderful  hand embroidered church tapestry.

When We Met Waterloo Man.

I met a few characters on my travels in Blighty.  At one music festival in England.  I began talking to a man from the tent next to me.  Like you do.  It was 33 degrees and unbearably hot.  I said there could easily be a fire.   He pointed to a large pub type ashtray  in his tent that you use to see in pubs.  "I stub my cigarettes out in here" he said.

We talked about the festival and every band I said I wanted to see and he told me he wasn't keen on any of them I mentioned.   

Then some how he began telling me how his favourite hobby was taking part in war reenactments.   He even dressed up in military uniforms and shot muskets.  Fine.  We all have our hobbies nay obsessions.  One of mine is writing, blogs a speciality.

He proceeded to tell me that the soldiers at Waterloo would have had exactly the same tents and camping equipment  that we have today.  I thought to myself: " like zips, sewn in ground sheets, sleeping bags and a blow up plastic pillow that I bought for 1.50 in Ireland in Dealz (Poundland).

Why do I always get them?  My friend came over and Waterloo Man shared his hobby nay obsession with him.  I kept quiet and listened for another ten minutes about Waterloo and the English Civil War..?

We certainly get to meet some 'interesting' characters on our travels!  I will introduce you to another character we met on our Blighty travels another day. 😀 

Scenes From A Kent Rock Festival.

 We took in our second Rock festival at Mount Ephraim Gardens near Faversham and Canterbury in Kent.  We went there in 2019.  We arrived on the Thursday and pitched our tents near the big house, Gardens and a short walk to the two stages.

I like A New Day Festival because it's my kind of music with Prog, Heavy Rock and Punk bands playing there.  The crowd is less than 5000 which I like very much the old downside is you can't take your own beer in like we did at Cropredy a couple of weeks previous.

Here's some photos:

Never got to see the band of my youth The Stranglers.  At long last I saw one of my Punk Rock heroes Hugh Cornwell with his band.  I shouted:Duchess" and they opened their set with the very said song.

Ian Anderson and his Jethro Tull.  It's the fifth time I have seen them and I missed Martin Barre not being with them.  My friend met a man who said he had seen Jethro Tull 257 times.   It made my five times seeing them very insignificant.

Mount Ephraim four legged local residents.

The other stage.

Kaprekars Constant.  I saw David Jackson in the David Cross Band at the night of the Prog festival in Loreley in Germany in 2017.  Now him and his daughter (vocals) are members of Kaprekars Constant.  We saw them in Oxfordshire at Cropredy a week or so earlier at the back of the brasenose pub in Cropredy village..  What a band.  Prog at it's best.  If you want to listen to a masterpiece of a song play Hallsands.  It's 14 minutes long and tells the story of a Cornish fishing village washing away .  It's brilliant

Skinny Molly.  An American Southern Boogie band with ex members of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd.   They rocked! 

It's a great festival.  

Two festivals and a hiking/camping trip was very tiring at my age.  There is a lot to be said for electricity, your bed and a roof over your head.  Think if I ever go to a music festival again I will booking in a hotel like Travelodge or Premier Inn.

I took lots of other photos but I hope these will suffice and give you a feel of an intimate Rock festival in the garden of England.

I found this video  on good old You Tube.  Enjoy.

The video brings it all back from A New Day Festival.