A day with the cockerels for Christmas at Fosse Meadows Farm

So, there's just over four weeks to go until Christmas.

Unlike some highly organised people I know, I haven't bought and wrapped all the gifts yet.
Of course I haven't - hell would freeze over before I managed to do that so early. However, I have started thinking about it ....

For certain food producers though, Christmas is the biggest event of the year., when precision, planning and timing is crucial

I'm talking about those who are providing the poultry which are the star of the show at most Christmas tables, unless you're veggie or vegan.

The other week I went along to Fosse Meadows , a poultry farm, close to the Fosse Way in rural South Leicestershire, a farm owned by Nick Ball (see below ) and his partner Jacob Sykes.

They produce bronze free range turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens and cockerels. On a damp, grey and cold day after torrential rain, Nick drove me from the farmhouse along to the fields and the huts where the cockerels live.

These cockerels are slightly older than the cockerels being reared for Christmas..

Usually, Nick and Jacob sell between 1,800 - 2,000 chickens a week and about 40 to 50 cockerels, but at Christmas , they sell more cockerels.

So where were the Christmas cockerels I wondered. Nick pointed to some other huts. "Show me your cockerels!" I declared....a phrase some of my colleagues said they had never expected to hear on the radio. 

These cockerels are a french breed with much longer legs and are slower growing, and they are sixteen to seventeen weeks when sent for slaughter. Most of them were preferring to stay indoors, eating to their heart's content on the additive free, ethically sourced feed and staying out of the biting wind.

I also learned about why Nick and Jacob don't sell capons.... have a listen to the piece I recorded to find out the operation here at Fosse Meadows....the link is below .

Nick obviously enjoys his life as a successful and ethical poultry farmer, and I know that many  people around the country will be enjoying his prize winning birds too this Christmas.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07v31zq

Christmas days

Ah, Christmas...you've been lovely.

The last five days have flown past in a flurry of fun. Lots of eating, drinking, laughing, sharing, caring, singing,...it's been a blast with all of our children, Lucy, Billy and Callum, here.

Our cottage has been bursting at the seams with extra people and animals. For a few days there were seven humans and four dogs staying over, an extra human (Elly) another day, some went home, and then yesterday there were six humans and four dogs , when my lovely sisters in law and their husbands/partners came for lunch with two large spaniels.

I love having a house full at Christmas with my gang....catching up with what's going on, sitting around the kitchen or dining table , relaxing by the fire, watching old favourite films where we know every single line of dialogue and are in fits of giggles waiting or the punch lines.

Usually I do all of the cooking, but not so much this year. In fact, it's been a real joint effort which has worked so well.

On Christmas Eve we broke with tradition. For years, I've baked a large gammon, but this year my son Callum said he would like to cook the meal. Was this because he's bored with the gammon? No, but this was a welcome surprise...and he did everything for that meal from buying, prepping and serving.  It was a gamble though, making a Jamie Oliver's Beef Wellington complete with mushroom pate inside, plus goose fat roasted potatoes and seasonal greens when you've not made a whole dinner before. No pressure with it being our Christmas Eve meal.

 



It was delicious, really flavoursome and we all absolutely loved it, so much so that all the gang were warning me I would have to step up to the plate with Christmas lunch. No pressure there either!

 

Luckily, dear, darling Tom Kerridge saved the day as I made his Turkey Crown....stuffed with sausage meat, pistacios , dried cranberries etc, topped with a toasted crumble of pork scratching, s pistachios and sourdough. Lots of praise indeed , and the ultimate accolade of "best carrots ever " as I faithfully replicated the Kerridge recipe of carrots poached in butter, star anise etc.

 

Make no mistake, this was such a rich lunch, there was no huge pudding this year, and most of us didn't want anything else to eat at all for the rest of the day.

 

Even though the dogs had been walked in the morning, I thought I might spontaneously combust if I just sat down after the meal, so Callum and I took the dogs for a walk around the village.

 

 

 

Even so, I still couldn't eat a thing for the rest of the day, but some  managed  cheese and biscuits at about ten, as we made our way through a  marathon game of monopoly.  It was such fun....the cunning, the guile, the bad language from some (er yes, that would include me) as certain people began putting hotels on all of their properties, the competiveness between my sons who carried on the game until after I'd gone to bed, three and a half hours after the game began.

 

Boxing Day was busy too, but my daughter Lucy and her hairy husband Harry cooked a huge  full English breakfast which lasted us most of the day.

 

Then yesterday, Nigel and Mandy brought the most delicious chicken curry with them for lunch. What a treat.....all I had to do was make a pudding. Home made ice cream with a raspberry coulis made from the raspberries from my allotment, plus some raspberry gin.

 

 

It's been a wonderful five days...the Christmas chaos of a full cottage eating such tasty meals, toasting each other, catching up all on our news and just being together. It's been so busy and  I've been so engrossed in each moment, I've hardly taken any photos.

 

 

 

 

Today though it's quiet. So quiet, even the dining room looks so different without us all squashed around the table, talking at full speed and at full blast.

 

 

Some have gone home, others are away for a few days and my husband is on the golf course. I took the three remaining dogs on a walk earlier around the fields and lanes on the village. One of those glorious mornings where the sun had climbed high after the earlier fog, a morning where I had to walk where the sun has dissolved the hard frost on one side of the road only to try and avoid skidding on the ice.

 

 

 A morning where as soon as we were in the fields and the dogs off their leads, I could admire the different patterns of the ice on the mud and stamp on icy puddles to hear that satisfying thwack and crack as my wellies crashed the ice.

 

 

 

And for the rest of the day, I am relaxing. I'm just about to go and sit by the fire and do nothing.  Until tomorrow that is, when I go back to work, and when I get home , my gorgeous mum (Mama) who I love and adore will have arrived from my brother's on the Isle of Wight to be with us until her birthday  at the beginning of January.

 

Happy Days, and I really hope that you all have had a lovely Christmas too.....

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Days of the visiting dogs at Christmas

The build up, the preparations, the present buying, making the beds, the cooking, the fun....Christmas has come and gone in a flash. We've all had a thoroughly good time - all seven humans and four dogs.

Of course the dogs don't know it's Christmas, but Boo, as top dog in the house, knows when something is going on. She recognised excitement in the air when the postman delivered more cards and parcels  than usual, and the fridge was full of tasty treats.

Then Winnie, my son's dog came to stay while he spent Christmas in Australia. She's the smallest one of all....

And there was unrestrained joy and frenzied excitement when Eric's brother came to stay. Rudi is the  one on  the left, a lovely social chap  just like Eric, but a bit more lively than his more serious brother..

 

 

And here they are altogether in this picture taken by my daughter Lucy. She can get them to pose brilliantly....

 

 

 

 Boo, her two sons and little Winnie. Having them all around has reminded me of Christmases past, when my children were small. The rough and tumble, the constant wanting to go outdoors to play,  the jockeying for prime positions on laps in front of the fire or the telly, and the ability of dogs and little children to just fall in a heap and sleep anywhere when they are really tired.

 



 

And all children and dogs need a good walk every day, come rain , come shine, to blow the cobwebs away. Mind you, so do the adults.

 

 

 

It has been so good to have them all here...they get on so well together. But this afternoon, Rudi had to go back down to Southsea with Lucy and the hairy husband.

 

 

 

I really didn't want to say goodbye to any of them, but I couldn't help laughing as they posed for on last photo. "Smile" I called out. Even Rudi obliged....

It suddenly seemed awfully quiet after they had gone, so it was an ideal time for the remaining three dogs and I to have a little nap on the sofa. We all needed one but I couldn't help but think how lovely it would be to have four dogs living here permanently.
 

In the quiet of the day at Christmas

For the last four mornings I've been getting up early. So many things to think about before 7am but here's my thinking place in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 I sit here with a cup of coffee and the three dogs…Boo, Eric and Winnie ( who has come to stay for Christmas while my elder son spends Christmas in Australia.)

 

 

I love the early morning quietness before the rest of the house wakes up. The last few days have been very busy... my last day of work, carol singing around our village , followed by mulled wine , sausage rolls and mince pies , a get together and carols on Christmas Eve at the golf club, that last trip to the farm shop for the vegetables .

 

 

Even though its before dawn , I've been cooking or preparing food at this time. On Christmas Eve, I'd made a banana cake , today there's a huge gammon bubbling away in coca cola , in readiness for a big meal tonight.

 

My darling daughter and her hairy husband are on their way up from Southsea as I write this...their car is packed with presents, and their dog Rudi. It's going to be a full house for a few days ..seven adults , four dogs  - just as I love it.  Mama ((my mum) is here, two of my children,  and tonight we shall just celebrate being together, and thinking of those who can't be with us.

 There will be lots of laughter and  bottles of prosecco , and lots of stories to tell around the candle lit table.

 Mama will have us in hysterics just like she did last night at our Christmas dinner. Mama said she was looking forward to watching Downtown Abbey on telly, the last ever episode. "I shall miss it so much" she said "I've really got the hots for Hugh Bonney what's his name"

 

 

 

 

Mama is 86 next week. I want to be like her when I grow up.

 

In the meantime, there's time for another cup of coffee in the quietness before the others stir...

 

 

 

I hope you've all had  a Happy Christmas like we have, and Happy Boxing Day!

 

A few days when it's beginning to feel alot like Christmas

 

Last year I had lost my Christmas mojo...that inner glow I get every December.

 

http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/days-of-bah-humbug.html

 

It  wasn't until a day of two Christmas carol services at two very different churches, that the true spirit of Christmas came flooding back.

 

http://www.thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-day-when-i-got-in-mood-for-christmas.html

 

 

But this year, the glow has returned earlier than last year I'm pleased to say!

 

It began two weeks ago, when I went to Anne -Louise's house one evening for a pre Christmas pop in to buy a few little bits and pieces. She is a floral designer and  has her own company, No 10-Flowers. She's so creative.....

 

 

Her displays in her kitchen not only looked beautiful, they smelt divine...with the scents of hyacinths, cinnamon and oranges all around

And there's something about mulled wine and mince pies which immediately conjure up Christmas, especially when it's the first mince pie of the season...

I bought some lovely home made gift tags and Christmas bunting and after deliberating about a wreath for the front door, I left there with a smile and a feeling that I had started Christmas.

I wrote most of the cards by the fire last weekend....

In Uppingham to record some interviews this week,  I smiled as I spied this lovely little Christmas display in a tiny wool shop - a woollen interpretation of the song "The twelve days of Christmas. "

And then yesterday I joined the others from our children's book group gang at Debbie's house

And there they are...left to right Alex Gutteridge, who's had 14 books published, Pippa Goodhart with a mighty, whopping total of 100 books published or in production,  Josephine Feeny, with 12 books to her credit, Ros Adam who's written four books and Debbie White who has published 12.

What a bright and clever bunch they are, and we had a super, bring and share lunch, with lots of laughter, books and publishing gossip, a chat about Christmas, exchanging Christmas cards and then plans for our meet ups and workshops in the New Year.

 

 

So there you have it, a few days which have made me feel I'm feeling Christmassy! There's my two favourite Carol concerts to go to on Sunday, and I'm even doing fairly well on the Christmas present buying front.That's not to say there won't be any last minute panic though.

As the little ones count how many sleep until Christmas, I'm counting my blessings. I'm spending the days over Christmas with those I love.  There'll be a house full, food and drinks, giggles, noise, long walks with all of the dogs and time spent relaxing.

And that's all I want for Christmas....now I'm in the mood.



 

A frivolous, happy Friday until....

For the last three years or so, Laura, Susie, Fiona and I have met up for a Friday fizz night, We meet most weeks ...it's a lovely start to the weekend with nibbles, ice cold bubbly prosecco or sometimes champagne. We laugh a lot, we support each other if something goes wrong, and what 's talked about in our Friday night fizz gang stays with the gang.

Last Friday was different, we were saying goodbye to Laura before she flew off  to live in the States, and as we wouldn't be seeing her at Christmas, we would exchange presents.

So I turned up at Susie's ....and found Laura sitting beside a Christmas tree. In November - an old naff Christmas tree which Susie's Mum was throwing out. Susie shrugged..."Well, I haven't bought one yet, and needs must", or words to that effect.

And in addition to the usual nibbles such as olives, pate, crackers, cheese, bread etc, there was a Christmas cake.

 

There were even crackers

 

 

 We  gossiped all evening, while Laura made impromptu decorations  with the corks from the bottles of prosecco and ribbons from the crackers

And we giggled and laughed, making the most of what would be the last time we would see Laura for months.

And then Susie's husband came home, saying "Had we heard the news about Paris?" We hadn't, but switched on the television and couldn't believe what we were watching. The murders of so many who were innocently enjoying a night out.

I thought of my cousins who have both left Paris in recent years. Alexandra, husband Leo and their children were safe in Lyon, and Claire was back down in the South of France. Thank goodness....

Of course, the impromptu Christmas party in November ended shortly afterwards ...how could we carry on laughing and being frivolous ? We kissed Laura goodbye and wished her well ...

 On Saturday morning, I woke to the news that the death toll had risen to 129.

 I began to cry, for those who never got to say goodbye to their loved ones, and who will never see them again.


 

The day when I got in the mood for Christmas

It may have taken longer than usual, but last week I finally found my festive spirit. I shouldn't have worried, because there's always one event which never fails to lift my spirits and that's the very special BBC Radio Leicester carol service, held each year on  Sunday afternoon in mid December.


But this year on that day, I went to not one but two carol services.

The first was in the tiny 12th century church in my village. This was a break from tradition ...instead of nine lessons and carols,  Willie's band played and the wonderful Emmanu'-EL Apostolic Gospel Academy came to sing for us, their voices soaring up to the rafters, and we all joined in clapping, singing and smiling.

No matter what our age is.

I left the church feeling buoyed up, and then it was onto another , much grander church  in Leicester, the Church of St James the Greater for the annual BBC Carol Service. Tickets for this service are snapped up within a few days....all 650 of them.

It's a wonderful occasion. My friends and colleagues and I perform poems, prose  and bible readings accompanied by the excellent choir, the New Parks handbell ringers and the Enderby Brass Band play with aplomb. Just not all at the same time you understand.

And the audience join in .....

And in those two services I found the Christmas spirit  I thought I'd lost this year, came flooding back. Love, goodwill ,and the age old stories of the true meaning of Christmas had worked their magic once again.

Happy Christmas!

Days of Bah Humbug

I've always loved Christmas. As a schoolchild I adored the rituals of early December...rehearsals for the school nativity play, the sheer agony of wondering what part I would get, singing at the top of our voices, and been given and allowed to eat a few sweets in our classroom.

When my own children were tiny, I'll never forget seeing my daughter as an angel in the playgroup production of the nativity...and my sons as shepherds.  Of making Christmas biscuits  with them on late dark December afternoons...and getting all of them around the tree to help decorate it. I loved those Christmases...and this special time of year has always filled me with an inner glow, if not panic about forgetting someone's present.

But I don't know what's going on this year. For the first time I've been feeling decidedly "bah humbug" about Christmas. I've become increasingly annoyed with the early and constant bombardment of adverts on TV...and nothing would induce me to do some early Christmas shopping. I couldn't even think of any presents to buy.

 On the first day of December, all the Christmas songs came on the radiom and I seriously thought if I heard Slade's Merry Christmas again I would scream. By now, I was worried...had my seasonal spark disappeared for ever?

Then last week I went to Wistow, a lovely rural centre not far away

.My eyes lit up at all the Christmas plants and gardening gifts ,

and I even bought a few presents from here....

And as I drove home on a late December afternoon...I thought my Christmas mojo had made a comeback

But then, the spark stopped glimmering...and I felt quite out of sorts that I was turning into one of those people who had stopped loving Christmas, even though I'd organised the works Christmas party which was rather jolly.

I kept trying to find my inner Christmas glow without success, and I began to wonder whether it would ever return......