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Flat tyre
I knew something had to go wrong. I had a second-in-a-row brilliant lesson on Connie this morning.
My stomach and I were sufficiently on speaking terms again last Saturday that I did ride, but I’m the kind of hopeless drudge who would rather school than hack* so I asked Jenny if she could fit me in, since I’d missed my lesson on Tuesday. It’s usually wall-to-wall ponies at Jenny’s yard Saturday mornings, and I tack Connie up for our usual Saturday hack watching the procession of kids, ponies, parents, best friends, resentful siblings, great-aunts, fourth cousins, dogs**, pet sheep, palanquins, etc. But Jenny wedged me in. And the weather was still clear*** so we were outside where there’s more room for those of us who have trouble keeping all of our limbs organised† so that when Jenny says do x at y when you overshoot†† there’s still z before you whang into the fence. And we were doing some not at all bad flying changes. Now we’ve done the occasional flying change from the first, because it’s one of the things Connie can do, and I’m along for the, ahem, ride. But trying to do them accurately and on my signal as opposed to when Connie thinks it’s a good idea or has one of her telepathic fits and thinks, oh! That’s what she wants! What a pity she can’t seem to say so!, has been rather a longer time coming.†††
Today has been one of those really ugly, grizzly‡ days that will neither rain nor not rain and the wind lashes and bangs around to enhance the irritation value. Jenny decided we’d have the lesson indoors. The indoor arena is small . . . and you really do not want to run into the wall. But Jenny was really getting after us: 10 metre circle sitting trot at M, when you get back to the track again, pick up canter, at A turn down the centre line. Yeep. ‡‡ We don’t do 10 metre turns at the canter. We did today. So you get back to C and are ready to stop and take a bow, but no, sitting trot and we do another ten metre circle and then shoulder-in‡‡‡ down the long side, at K come across the diagonal demonstrating extensions.§ There are at least sixty-four limbs involved in all this. We did it though. We didn’t do it smoothly or accurately but we did do it, with pauses and have-at-it-agains, and bracing advice from Jenny . . . and even if a fair old bit of it was Connie doing her telepathic trick§§.
I was so high after all this, not to say completely exhausted and mind blasted, that I forgot to give Jenny her money. She never worries about it; she assumes you’ll bring it next time. But I had to walk hellhounds again, so I decided to drive back out to Jenny’s yard and walk from there, that being one of my favourite bits of countryside anyway. And we came round the very sharp corner off the main road onto the little road the yard is on . . .
. . . and there was a kid on a bicycle on the wrong side of it.
I wrenched the wheel over–I can’t have been going more than about 15 mph; it’s a horrible corner, and you don’t ever know what’s going to be there waiting for you. I wouldn’t have killed him even if I had hit him–at least I hope I wouldn’t've–but it would have been messy and painful and requiring trips to A&E and I don’t like running over small squishy things even when they plonking well deserve it. So, as I say, I wrenched the wheel over, and hit Hampshire’s Biggest Pothole. KaCHOING. And missed the kid.
I gave Jenny her money and walked hellhounds.
And drove home at 10 mph. Flapflumpflapflumpflapflumpflapflapflapflump.
* * *
* Hacking is just beautiful countryside, bonding with nature, enjoying the company of your critter–WATCH THE (*&^$£”!!!! YOU WRETCHED ANIMAL IT’S A COW AND FURTHERMORE IT’S A COW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE (*&^%$£”!!!! FENCE^–and all that oneness of the universe stuff. I get enough of that with the hellhounds^^. Schooling is interesting.
^ Connie is, like most horses, mad. She will shy spectacularly over a mild, munching, solitary cow or cow parsley+ and then only startle and maybe squat a little++ when a pheasant barrages out of the shrubbery at us. We had a pheasant on Saturday that startled me. Maybe Connie was just worn out after all the flying changes.
The hellhounds and I saw her out with her Other Rider the end of last week and she shied at us.
+ Queen Anne’s lace
++ That sense of the back end dropping makes me grab the mane with the speed of a snake striking. Just in case.
^^ Sleet, mud, hailstones, aggressive off-lead dogs, motocross bikes, moats of head-high nettles+, etc, optional.
+ And just by the way, I resent head high nettles when I’m on horseback. Fortunately Connie is fairly proof against riders going AaaaaaAAAAAAaaauuugh. Kinda makes you wonder what other riders she’s had in her life though.
** This occasionally becomes interesting, when Jenny’s Jack Russells decide to get territorial. It is their yard.
*** The weather is doing its usual perverse turn. It rained hard for just long enough to ruin all the cut crops that were lying around toasting in the sun, if any, which there wasn’t for eight days or so. Then it cleared off and all the farmers got out their shufflers–I don’t know what you call them, but they look a lot like the large mechanical version of someone tossing salad with their hands–and turned the lying crops for all they were worth, and they’ve baled them now too so presumably they decided it was worth the trouble. I wouldn’t be a farmer for anything. They should have medals and combat pay just for existing.
† I am fond of saying that you grow more of them–limbs, I mean–the moment you get on a horse. But in bare fact between the two of you you have eight, which is really quite enough to have to keep track of, especially when there are all these subdivisions, hands, fingers, wrists, forearms, ankles, knees, etc, not to mention head(s), forehand, quarters, the bend of equine body between the two, preferably in response to something your legs are doing, and of course the crucial partnership of your seat and the horse’s back.^
^ A while ago I referred to a half-halt as digging your butt briefly into the horse’s spine. Blogmom, who rides, took me up on this. I really have to learn to choose when to exaggerate for effect and when not to. I’ve just been reading Wiki on the half-halt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-halt which is making my eyes spin round in my head somewhat. My first dressage teacher explained it as a brief cessation of flow: riding is all about flow, about matching yours to your horse’s, which is how you can then affect what your horse is doing. A half-halt closes the conduit for a moment: both your seat and your hands gently go still. And then you open the conduit again, by moving to the horse’s–now slightly more collected–rhythm.
†† Due to some of the membership of limbs getting left behind
††† And in fact it hasn’t arrived yet, but I think I can see it against the horizon.
‡ Yes, eight foot tall, brown, furry, big teeth. The meteorological version.
‡‡ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dressage#The_arena
‡‡‡ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoulder-in
§ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trot_(horse_gait) If you scroll down, there’s a brief description of ‘extended’ trot, which is pretty much what it sounds like, only more exciting
§ And I’ve seen Connie do all this stuff with Jenny riding her
§§ Or possibly she understands English, so when Jenny says ‘ten metre circle at H . . . ‘
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How can you prefer schooling to riding across glorious open countryside (like downland, sigh)? Now a life of avoiding speeding honking cars I can understand.
****** Connie is, like most horses, mad
I resemble that remark! Nice horses like Connie want to have fun but try their best to make sure that when they shy you travel sideways (or other directions) with them… I’m sure she’d be extremely upset if she was playing at “watch the tiger” and you came adrift. And part of the game is being unpredictable, otherwise you’d not be able to join in with the adrenalin rush ;p
And very glad to hear that you’re feeling better :) Best wishes for the car and WELL DONE on not squashing most stupid child on a bike (hands over largest possible bar of Green & Blacks)
You’re absolutely right she’d be distressed if I came loose. That time she shied and *slipped* in the school, when the pigeon divebombed us, and I DID come adrift, *some* of her scrambling was to stay UNDER me . . . :) That’s actually one of those lines in the sand about horses: I *won’t* cope with a horse that TRIES to get you off. Life is too short.
And hey, *I’m* mad. I don’t have a *problem* with mad. I just note it when I see it. :)
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****** Connie is, like most horses, mad
****** And hey, *I’m* mad. I don’t have a *problem* with mad
maybe that explains why I like horses so much (and bullies) and then of course, you’re my favourite author (you and Jane Austen) – mad calling to mad? ;p
mad calling to mad
*********** Yep. Bow wow wow arf arf whinny. :)
Well done for your progress on Connie. :)
You do realise that some trainers actually recommend doing dressage schooling whilst on the trail ….. ;) ::evil cackle:: Something to aim towards…. ;)
…all the farmers got out their shufflers–I don’t know what you call them…
Hay rakes :)
Bad luck about the tyre. :(
Hay rakes? But these are mechanised? Drag ‘em behind your tractor and they scratch together, pick up and drop, scratch together, pick up and drop.
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Hay rakes? But these are mechanised?
Yes they are mechanised. :) The rake swishes through the stems of grass/crop and fluffs it and turns it over. You keep doing that until the grass is the right moisture content before baling.
“Hay rakes”
Or could be a tedder–they fluff without putting the hay in windrows for the baler.
I think around here we call those tedders. The rake is for later on when you want the hay in nice lines for baling. According to the Collins Gem Guide “The Farm” tedding is done with “a spring tined hay turner.” The tines are arranged around an axel … imagine leaf rakes built like suns with lots of thin metal rays coming out from the center. And usually there are four of the gizmos mounted on a frame which follow along behind the tractor.
The book, by the way, cost less than four pounds, is tiny, and is in my pack when ever I am hiking through agricultural areas in the UK. It helps me identify what is happening, the breeds of livestock I see, the crops growing in the fields … etc. It is not for kids, altho it is great for answering their questions. It shows 22 breeds of sheep, 8 ducks, 18 chickens, 8 draft horses … and so forth. It is a great guide for a quick, well illustrated guide to serious farming(as opposed to homesteading).
Yes, tedders/turners followed by rakes. I think this is the ancient dusty American memory trying to rouse itself.
Hehe … I’ve been having fun looking for hay rake pics. I found both types LOL
http://www.daken.com.au/prod_tr_.htm
Flapdoodle! This won’t open for me! Error message!
Flapdoodle! This won’t open for me! Error message!
:( I can only suggest trying again as it worked for me when I tried it just now.
I hadn’t heard of Tedder Rakes before… I just thought they were all hay rakes ;) Can you tell I don’t actually put any of my place into hay? LOL
I don’t like running over small squishy things even when they plonking well deserve it.
Well, no. But did you at least SCARE the booger a bit so that he’ll be on the right side of the road next time? It’s all about the learning curve…
I haven’t the least. Frankly I doubt it. Eleven year old boy? He just veered off and kept going. *I’m* the one with palpitations.
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By the way…. I finished Chalice last night.
Thank you :)
Thank *you.* :)
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Eee, that boy. I’m glad you’re both unhurt! Perhaps one day he’ll look back and realize how close he came to becoming a hood ornament. Or maybe not.
Glad you’re making progress with Connie! She’s still the best horse ever, right?
She’s still the best horse ever, right?
********* Absotively. :)
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Sorry to hear about the tire. I had a flat tire for almost a year once without realizing it.
I like to think of the half-halt as redirecting energy, or containing it, in order to maintain (or develop) balance, rhythm, impulsion and all those good things.
I had a pretty good lesson on my horse today, despite it being something like 90 degrees out (gross). Some glimmers of “hey, we’re getting it!” He likes to jump higher than he needs to, especially with his back end, rather than tighten the front end, when he’s impressed by the jump or inclined to show off. Levelling out is a very good thing.
I much prefer schooling to hacking too, but then our version of hacking tends to involve roads and giant trucks, as well as speedy cars that honk as they go by. . . It doesn’t really phase my horse, who has about zero survival instincts (nothing is scary, everything is interesting: ooh! let’s go up to the leaf blower/barking dog/road sign/parked car at the end of the lane with two teenagers making out inside!), but it scares me when they zoom past.
I finished Chalice this morning. It was wonderful! Definitely one to re-read again, and a comfort-type book. :)
Thank you!
I think you’re lucky to have a curious horse rather than a shyer. Connie will actually *go*, which is what matters, but the sideways stuff is a little inappropriate if you DO have to be on a road. I would also rather level out a big jumper than try to convince a lazy one to tuck up his legs!!!
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Yeah, he’s a good amateur horse, that one. I like that due to his rather off-beat and easy-going, for the most part, personality, when I miss to a jump he doesn’t get frazzled by it.
When *YOU* miss a jump?!?!
Miss to a jump. Like chipping (the big ones are called ‘chocolate chips’) or leaving long or miscounting strides in lines. . . Some of these would probably make good Klutzy entries :D
Haven’t taught him how to count jumps quite yet.
Oh gods, yes. Seeing A Stride. Some day I’m going to have a jumping lesson or two on Connie . . . but not this week. :) I *started* with hunters and jumpers . . . but once I started on dressage . . . well, I have my jumping seasons. Just not lately. :)
“I had a flat tire for almost a year once without realizing it.”
I think this could bear a bit more explanation, no? *curious smile*
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I rolled over and picked up a nail somewhere – maybe a horse show; it was about the size of a horse shoe nail – and didn’t realize it. The tire was a bit softer than the other three, but I didn’t think it was a big deal… Anyway, it wasn’t until the third time that year I went in to get my oil changed that one of the people there pointed out the nail to me. I got the tire fixed and so far all four of them look about even.
If this car were a horse, I’d have noticed something was wrong with one of its legs a lot earlier.
If this car were a horse, I’d have noticed something was wrong with one of its legs a lot earlier.
******* LOL! Yes, I know this feeling exactly!
Congrats on your lesson with Connie. Sorry about the tire. I finished Chalice last night, so of course am starting to read it again tonight. It’s beautiful!
*****That sense of the back end dropping makes me grab the mane with the speed of a snake striking. Just in case.*****
(*smile*) That sense of the back end dropping makes my stomach drop right into MY — er — back end.
*****A while ago I referred to a half-halt as digging your butt briefly into the horse’s spine. Blogmom, who rides, took me up on this. I really have to learn to choose when to exaggerate for effect and when not to. I’ve just been reading Wiki on the half-halt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-halt which is making my eyes spin round in my head somewhat. My first dressage teacher explained it as a brief cessation of flow: riding is all about flow, about matching yours to your horse’s, which is how you can then affect what your horse is doing. A half-halt closes the conduit for a moment: both your seat and your hands gently go still. And then you open the conduit again, by moving to the horse’s–now slightly more collected–rhythm.*****
Yeah, I guess I’d describe it as briefly NOT moving with the horse, but not as firmly as to signal a full stop. Firmly refusing to move with the horse signals an immediate stop.
*****If you scroll down, there’s a brief description of ‘extended’ trot, which is pretty much what it sounds like, only more exciting*****
You’re doing full extensions? Cool! In French/Portuguese school dressage, we start with collection instead of extension, so I’ve done tons of collected work — shoulder-in, half-pass, even a few steps of passage, etc., but haven’t really done any extensions at all. That’s advanced work for us. German school starts with the extensions, so if that’s the school you’re doing, maybe it’s not such a big deal for you….
Judith
I don’t think I’m doing anything so grand as a ’school’. :) I did extensions back in the States on my first proper dressage horse because *he* was good at them. I used to love doing them on him: his front end just came right up off the ground like doing a wheelie on your motorcycle. It was brilliant. And Jenny is a show jumper who believes that it all begins with good flat work: some of the stuff I’m now learning with her–like show jumper flying changes–is very different from my earlier ‘genuine’ dressage training. I’m afraid I don’t care that much: if it’s making both me and the horse more responsive and more flexible and more athletic, it can call itself anything it likes. If I have a ‘goal’ it would be to get back to doing a little low-level schooling, so a horse that went through my hands came out better than he went in. :)
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some of the stuff I’m now learning with her–like show jumper flying changes–is very different from my earlier ‘genuine’ dressage training.
Yes, lead changes don’t need to be as correct as flying changes; they just have to happen to keep the horse in balance. One can get away with late or skip changes, though it is not ideal.
Hmm. We may be talking at cross purposes. Dressage flying changes, you keep the horse absolutely straight, and SIGNAL the lead change. Practical show jumping flying changes you change the bend and the horse changes lead. It’s still a precision movement, it’s just a different one.
Cow parsley is Queen Annes’ Lace? Well, I”ll be. I’ve read about it all my life and didn’t realize it was growing wild by the road in Indiana. I never saw a cow add it to her salad, though.
I hope you had someone to help you with that flat. I’m all for female independence, but the mechanics over here screw tires on with evil power drivers. You don’t just reach down and unscrew them. The only time I put my own tire back on, I didn’t have an evil power thingie and didn’t tighten it down enough. The tire came off. While I was driving. Very sudden stop in the middle of a long bridge. During rush hour. I thought I was going to get run over, multiple times, for sure.
I’m afraid I took it straight to the garage this morning. Independence is fine but life is SHORT and I don’t NEED to be able to do everything.
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Flat tires and such are why we pay for auto club memberships. And being intelligent and sensible female creatures, we are not ashamed to USE the auto club services. I recall once, when my younger brother (then age 18 or 19) had a flat, having to be the person who dealt with the auto club man because he was too embarrassed to admit having a problem with the bumper jack. (Do they even use bumper jacks any more? Dangerous contraptions, they are.) I hope he’s gotten over this attitude by now! :)
Yes. I didn’t have my mobile phone with me (I almost never have my mobile phone with me) and didn’t feel like knocking on doors, and it was only three miles home. Then Peter insisted on CHANGING the beggar while I danced around waving my RAC card and saying ‘this is why we pay for auto club memberships’! And yes, the nasty little emergency tyre comes with a nasty little emergency jack.
Robin, I’ve been a long-time reader of your books (and re-reader and re-reader and….) and just recently found your blog. I often save it to read right before bed (save the best for last, don’t you know!). I am also a rider, which is what prompted me to comment tonight. Your description of your ride is fabulous, funny, and too true to be funny! Long live the horses who are patient with us while we figure out what to do with all our appendages.
Long live the horses who are patient with us while we figure out what to do with all our appendages.
*********** It’s just so true. And Connie–as I keep saying to Jenny–is the RIGHT kind of ’schoolmaster’ in that she does what you TELL her and therefore you can CORRECT what you’re, you know, SAYING. She’s *not* a push button machine. (She also hangs like mad on the right, and is heavy in the hand anyway, so she’s also not perfect, which is REASSURING. :))
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Waaah! My favourite bookseller has just now emailed to say that CHALICE is sitting there in front of him.
This is not, of course, the copy of CHALICE that Amazon has sent on a leisurely cruise of the Pacific on its way to me…
Maybe I could give it to a friend…
****I am fond of saying that you grow more of them–limbs, I mean–the moment you get on a horse.****
This reminded me of an essay in a collection of scientist humor called A STRESS ANALYSIS OF A STRAPLESS EVENING GOWN, so I had to go look it up; the essay in question offered a mathematical proof of the assertion that all horses have an infinite number of limbs. It did not address the question of whether this is true only when the horse is being ridden.
Congratulations on avoiding the kid on the bike. I well remember the kind of swooping around roads I did as an 11-year-old bike rider in a small town–for the most part on little New England back roads that I would not consider biking on now–so I have no trouble picturing the situation. Too bad you had to pay with a flat tire–REALLY too bad your local council hasn’t filled the pothole. Our road guys finally filled the wheel-eating ones in the vicinity of the highway off-ramp, so I suppose one should not give up hope.
I’m glad to hear you were feeling well enough to ride. Yay Connie!
Oh, the infinite number of horse limbs! I had FORGOTTEN! I too have STRAPLESS EVENING GOWN! Now *I* will have to go find it!
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****I too have STRAPLESS EVENING GOWN!****
Good going! I love this book.
:) Bonding over obscure books. . . .
I, uh, succumbed.
CHALICE is beautiful.
Robin, you send the most interesting web links (the comic, the wikis on riding…..).
Great that you are having serious fun with Connie. Me too, on other horses.(I won the egg-and-spoon at the barn show on Sunday!!! Competing against five contestants with an average age of 11, granted, so my glee is quite pitiful, but I won and I have never won an athletic contest before, not even races at play-time when I was six, so chortle chortle! Also won the novice trail class, but the egg and spoon is more gratifying because there is no judge’s opinion – there’s the egg sitting on its spoon, in an unfakeable manner. Gravity notices every millisecond. Further disgraceful chortling.)
So sorry about horrible small boy. Many cyclists have this fine, careless faith that the road is theirs alone and others should Avoid Them, no matter what they do. Perhaps the pumping of the legs removes the blood from the brain. (My own personal brother spent weeks in hospital after participating in a cycling accident, him being the cyclist, so I have relevant experience other than snarling at them while braking sharply).
Eggs in spoons is HARD!!!! Congratulations!!! :)
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Geez, I’m glad everyone’s okay! At least it sounds like everyone’s okay. O____O I think I would’ve been sitting there speechless in the car for at least ten minutes before I would have been able to even MOVE. And you managed to walk hellhounds after alll this… *applauds*
And I know exactly what you mean when you say you prefer schooling to ‘hacking’ (yay new words!)…the last time I did anything that resembles “bonding with nature” was a camping trip to Alaska, which I think made me officially afraid of getting on a boat when it’s stormy EVER AGAIN. *shudder*
I walked hellhounds and went home and COLLAPSED. I said to Peter, I don’t know why I’m so tired, and Peter said, YOU ALMOST RAN OVER A CHILD. CAN YOU SAY ‘SHOCK’??
It’s funny about Nature. I love my long country walks with hellhounds but I HATE camping. I want to go home to indoor plumbing and hot baths every night. :)
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****I want to go home to indoor plumbing and hot baths every night.****
YES. In SPADES. I can take the sleeping bag on the tent floor but NOT the campground bathroom. I wouldn’t even consider going someplace with no bathroom at all.
Yep. Me exactly. :)
Oh geez, I can’t stand it either! That last camping trip I went on had a weird little outhouse (no running water, of course) with no light inside, so you had to leave the door open if you wanted to be able to SEE what you were doing…which of course meant exposing yourself to the world… *cringe*
damn kid. perhaps next time you should run him over while riding connie. he won’t die, but he’ll have a couple marks to remember you by.
No, then the authorities would come after *Connie* for being a vicious horse.
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My older son’s best friend in high school lost his younger brother in an accident – speeding car hit him while he was riding his bike on the correct side of the road, well on the shoulder, on a straight stretch of road in daylight so he was very visible – the one thing he did wrong was to not wear his helmet, which would have kept him alive. While this particular boy seems to have been messing around in a careless manner on a road he should have known was unsafe for him, I’m very glad Robin didn’t hit him. It’s no joking matter. This boy probably has no idea how frelling lucky he was! I would have been having palpitations for DAYS after.
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It’s interesting, the sight of him as I come round that corner flashes in front of my eyes occasionally. I guess I *did* go into shock. And no, I’m sure the wretched boy has NO idea.
And I’m extremely sorry about the little brother. Awful.
Hello there, I’m back having taken off a few days with a stomach flu that sounds similar to yours, Robin. It seems to be doing the rounds here too. I wrote a long reply but then Wordpress disappeared, so I think it has gone bye-bye in the e-ether. I’m glad the only damage you came to was a flat tyre, and hope the boy learned a lesson (although I doubt it – my nephew is that age and it takes a lot to pierce the fog of self-involvement, bless him). I thought comfort food was in order and came up with this, as discussed with ajlr, which I would love to eat right now, but can’t yet.:
Battered sun-dried tomatoes (Liastes domates sto kourkouti)
This is actually a traditional delicacy on the island of Tinos, where they traditionally sun dry their tomatoes (some of the best I’ve ever eaten), in order to preserve them for the winter months. This is a warming hors d’oeuvre or snack, or can be turned into the gluttonish main part of a meal. The quantities are deliberately vague and can be added and subtracted to, at will. Greek batter for frying in is simply a paste made of flour and water so this is unbelievably simple
sun-dried tomatoes (as many as you think you will eat)
enough boiling water to cover them
all-purpose flour
water to mix it to a paste
Olive oil (it doesn’t need to be extra-virgin or super-fancy) for frying
Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside to steep for half an hour. When about 25 minutes have passed, in another shallow bowl, mix half a cup of flour with enough water (added slowly) to make a not-too-thick but not-too-runny paste. This sounds vague but you basically need it to be sticky enough to coat the tomatoes on all side, but still runny enough that it can coat, so a consistently thicker than pancake batter but a lot wetter than a sticky dough.
Put about a half centimetre of oil in a frying pan and heat over a medium heat. As with all frying, you want it hot, but you don’t want it burning. Only experience and experimentation teach you the exact way to do this. If it is smoking it is too hot and you should take it off the heat.
Strain the tomatoes. You don’t have to get them super-dry. I keep the liquid for adding to tomato soup or to a stew, much as I would soaking liquid from dried mushrooms. Place up to ten tomatoes at a time in the bowl and turn them round a few times to coat with batter. I find my fingers are the best way to do this. After all batter does wash off. Then place them individually into the frying pan with some distance between them, as the batter will very slightly swell up. Ten is the maximum number because by the time you have put ten in, washed your hands and got your turning implement of choice (slotted spoon and fork, or tongs or fish slice or whatever you prefer) it is time to turn them over. Check to see if they have changed colour to golden and turn in the same order you put them into the frying pan. If you think they might need some more, turn once more after a reasonable amount of time. Once done (i.e. golden all over and not burnt) remove from the frying pan and place onto a draining plate covered with frying paper.
In my household these very rarely actually make it to table. They are eaten (with burned fingers and mouths) on the fly. But they are also very good if served with skordalia (Greek aioli like sauce, a recipe for which I have already given) or tzatziki (garlic mushed up with grated cucumber and strained yoghurt). If you want to get fancier (and you should) you can add salt and pepper to the batter. If you want to get even fancier, Hungarian smoked sweet paprika makes a fabulous addition. You can also sprinkle them with oregano, or freshly chopped parsley or mint when finished. But they are great in and of themselves. Not a diet food but most definitely a comfort food.
Of course, it occurs to me, once more, that you are an unfortunate person who cannot eat tomatoes, so I guess this can be comfort food for others, but not for you. Have lots of virtual chocolate Robin, with apologies for rubbing salt into raw wounds.
These sound lovely, thank you Susan. Mind you – ::surveys over-luscious curve in mirror:: – I think I’ll wait to try them out until we have some friends round! :)
Robin, in case you’d like a small (and, I hasten to add, temporary) change from all the virtual chocolate and champagne, I thought of you when I saw this last weekend – http://www.flickr.com/photos/55324816@N00/2898845817/in/set-72157607581845181/ . Consider a small barrel passed in your direction. :)
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Ooooh. :) I got inveigled to the pub yesterday after ringing for the first time in a LONG time and that draught cider tasted REALLY GOOD.
the shuffles are called tedders in canada. glad your making progress with connie.today is my 40th birthday and my 2 daughters told me that i am now old. lol
Tedders! I’ve actually heard of that. Hmm.
Old is GOOD. :)
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****** today is my 40th birthday
Happy Birthday! Hope you had a great day :)
“today is my 40th birthday and my 2 daughters told me that i am now old. lol”
Happy birthday belatedly. I am forty-one and people still refer to me as girlie (which I detest). Tell the daughters that they are the ones making you slightly older – if you can smile after such comments you are still young. And what’s wrong with old anyhow?
Oh, I have so much sympathy on the tire. My stories aren’t so dramatic but I have had TWO flat tires in the last 4 months. Once after a rainstorm crumbled the asphalt near my work and once when some car’s EXHAUST PIPE fell of off it on the interstate. Nothing like a flat tire at 70 mph. I later found out that the pipe punctured my tire in 5 places. I considered strangling my husband when he said, “I know none of this is your fault but…” I settled for just scowling at him which, oddly, shut him up.
ps, I also finished Chalice. I read it over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. I plan to reread at a slower pace this weekend!
Nothing like a flat tire at 70 mph
************* EEEEEEEK.
Thank you!
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If its any consolation I got Chalice on Monday at work (and had to restrain myself ALL DAY) and promptly sat down when I got home and *devoured* it
And I ADORED IT!!!! Absolutely to go straight to my Comfort Books list (which The Blue Sword is top of and has been, and Beauty is also on)
And its not only a beautiful story thats beautifully written, but is just such a lovely book to look at, the cover is divine and I love the bee accents.
Thankyou for the loveliest story, guaranteed to cheer one up on a rainy day!
Thank you! :)
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