No show

 A substantial part of yesterday, the part not spent hopping around turning the air blue on account of a Bernese Mountain Dog knocking over the fence post bodger, weighing some 30kg, right onto my big toe (every animal then took it in turns to step on it during the day) was spent either sorting out our mad cow or getting mud encrusted canines ready for a show. The mad cow, Hetty, has forgotten the pains of calf birth and is now "bulling". This entails mooing at five minute intervals louder than Concorde and generally being a pain, jumping fences being a particular annoyance that she has mastered and is what  got her into trouble in the first place. So whilst I was creating a stockade to keep the mentaler in she was helping herself to Iggles dinner. Eventually she was coaxed out and locked safely behind bars.

 Today was supposed to be show day, a local show we like to go to to get our clan used to crowds and show rings, hopefully pick up a rosette or three and a load of cheap tomato plants. Reuben was spruced up, fifteen minutes with a metal comb did manage to pull out half a bin bag of knots and dirt laden furry bits but to say he was show standard was pushing it. But its the taking part that counts and we were ready. Just as we were leaving a phone call let us know the show was off. The continuing drought meant that the field the show was held in was flooded, so no show.

Instead we went to the not so local farmers supermarket where I managed to get the bits to finish off the aviary for half the price that a famous DIY store was selling it for. The farmers supermarket also had a food and craft fair on and so in no time I had found a sausage maker and was happily sampling various bits of the Welsh White crosses made into very flavoursome sausages. Lemon and Chili were a new on on me and they were the best. The meat looked great but it wasn't selling, this might have been because the chill May weather was putting off people from stopping and putting their hands in their pockets but mainly, according to the nice lady pig breeder I spoke to, was because of the fat on the meat. Each joint had around 15mm of fat, lean compared to a Berkshire, but it seemed people don't want that much fat.Strange as its this that gives much of the flavour.