The truth about swans

My ten year old stood and watched a swan preening itself on the choppy, chilly waters of Talkin Tarn this morning. He was thoroughly engrossed for a few minutes, and as we continued on our way round the lake he asked if people kept swans as pets. So we quickly replied that the Queen keeps them and they all belong to her. Then came the inevitable "why?" followed by much scratching of heads and shrugging of shoulders. It's like that moment on QI when you know you have just said something and actually, erm, it might just be one of those urban myths.

So I decided to check out the truth about swans and the Queen. And I didn't even need to wade into the murky waters of Wikipedia as the first site that came up was The British Monarchy. 

During the 12th century the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans. In those days swans were a delicacy at banquets, so the royals wanted all of them for themselves. Well, you would, wouldn't you?

Today all mute swans in open water still technically belong to the monarch, but the Queen, God bless her cotton socks, only exercises her right to them on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries.

Each summer considerable pomp attaches to a ceremony known as Swan Upping, where various costumed officials row the Thames on six skiffs for five days, counting swans and cygnets. The cygnets are weighed and measured and swans are given a health check. School children are invited to take part in this historical ceremony. 

I wonder if I will remember all this next time someone asks me why swans belong to the Queen.

Merry Christmas to you all and if we didn't see you in 2013 we will try and get your way next year.

Summer

After a hot, dry July it was a relief to have some rain early in August. Despite the showers, the heat persisted; not having to work in an airless classroom made the hot weather far more enjoyable, and we had a few trips down to the Caldew with Sam's new tractor tube, and cooled off, Cumbrian style, in enviably clear and cool waters. The children squealed with laughter and howled with shock as if they were still toddlers.

We decided we really needed a family holiday. Steve moved into his shop three or four years ago and has only had a handful of days off since then. We booked a ferry from Poole to Cherbourg and loaded the car with enough clothes to last a couple of weeks and headed south. Driving in France was so relaxing after the mayhem of the M6 on the first Friday of August. Quiet, straight roads and a good map reading team were just the thing and we made good progress down through Normandy and the Loire Valley before reaching the sunflower strewn hills of the Charente. It was good to catch up with Mum, Jo, Daz, Dan and Isobel and we enjoyed great hospitality in Mum's new house. Polly, Sam and Izzy discovered much in common and enjoyed some marathon sketching sessions, and we all got involved in some fiercely competitive games of Bananagrams.

Now we are back home and the last week of the holidays is slipping away as we see to stocks of wood for the winter and finish flattening the heaps of dug out soil in the garden and shaping new flower and vegetable beds. As well as trips out into the lovely lakes and a few early morning runs each week. September is only a whisper away and we will soon be back in the busy routine of term time.

The Next Act at Platform 4

Carlisle Community Choir have been together since October 2012 and trod the boards in public for the first time yesterday at Carlisle's Citadel Railway Station.  We serenaded passengers as they arrived and waited for trains and were featured in this Radio Cumbria round-up report. We are about 45 minutes in and you can hear some of our singing and comments from our audience.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p018rbsz

There are a few video clips on the Carlisle Community Choir Facebook Page to look at if you have sufficient interest in our fledgling musical adventure.

Taiwan Blog

 

Polly's trip to Taiwan seemed like months away for ages and it has sneaked up on us in the last few weeks. Here she is with bff Maia this morning waiting for the bus to pick them up in Penrith. And they look rather good in their peacock blue hoodies. Despite the early hour and very cold morning.

So they will be arriving in Taipei tomorrow afternoon (local time) which will be about 6am here. And they are writing a blog while they are away so for more news of what they get up to you can check http://www.cumbriataiwan.blogspot.com/ which I believe will be updated regularly. (Just in case she doesn't get round to writing postcards to you all.)

She will have some utterly memorable experiences and I am very happy to be able to let her have this opportunity. But I am her mum so I will miss her enormously and be happier still when she comes home in 12 days time.

Nina

Stray kittens don't come along very often. And, being fairly helpless, furry young mammals, they are very hard to resist.  Add to that the clamours from one's own human offspring, and there was no way this little bundle of fluff was ever going to leave when she found us on Friday.

She has gained weight and confidence. And she shows no favouritism in the family. She is resting her front paws on my left hand as I type this with my right index, and purring peacefully. Her once dirty and matted coat is now soft and looks a great deal whiter. After all the stroking and food and love she has received she is definitely looking and feeling a lot better. Polly has proved to be an expert at spotting and picking off ticks. We have lost count of how many ticks have embedded themselves in Nina and gorged themselves on her blood and Polly has calmly taken on the role of tick nurse.

Nina has befriended all the humans in the house. The remaining challenge for her is to win over Mouser, who has enjoyed unchallenged dominion here for some five years.

parsnip and red onion cakes

I made these tasty little cakes for Steve's birthday on Friday and they went down very well with good friends, a shoulder of lamb and a nut loaf. Parsnips need quite a hot oven to roast well so if your oven is small or already full of other roasting goodies then this way of cooking them might just tick all your veggie boxes. And they are really yummy and by far the best way I have found with parsnips.

Peel, roughly chop and cook around 500g of parsnips in a large saucepan of slightly salted boiling water for around 10 to 15 minutes, till tender. Drain them well and  mash with 25g butter.

While your parsnips are cooking, chop up around 3 smallish red onions and crush 2 cloves of garlic. Melt 25g butter in a frying pan and add the onions and garlic, cooking slowly till nice and soft.

Add the onions and garlic to the mash and mix well. Season with a good pinch of grated nutmeg and salt and pepper. Stir in enough flour to bind the mixture and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Flour your hands and form about a dozen patties. Coat them in flour and fry in butter for about 3 or 4 minutes each side until golden brown. Serve hot.