March 2008 Archives

While we're on the subject of Radio 4 - and bearing in mind tomorrow is April Fools' Day - do you remember this one?

It's the famous Archers theme tune April Fool.

Personally, I find the existing theme tune irritating - so wouldn't have minded if it was going to be changed...

Countryman's Cooking, a book which I've mentioned before, is on Radio 4 this week.

It doesn't sound very Radio 4ish - it's been described as a 'manual of seduction'.

Line dancing while dressed as a cow? Don't ask me why - but it is Friday afternoon, I suppose.

Previous Friday afternoon madness here.

One of England's oldest traditions will be celebrated on April 19.

Yes, it’s Damson Day – and people will be gathering at Low Farm in the Lyth Valley in Cumbria to gather to welcome the blossom.

If you're like me and enjoy strange news, it's worth checking out The Metro's 'weird' digest. This often contains some corkers. Today, for example, it includes duck beheading, suicide fish and panda sex. All crucial issues, I think you'll agree...

The Kiwis have obviously been inspired by our pig farmers.

After the Brits did a Stand by Your Ham song, some New Zealanders have put together a Stand by Your Ham track.

They're both a laugh, but I don't think either song is going to trouble the Number 1 spot.

This press release made me laugh.

It's about a Scottish Agricultural College student, Claire Convery, who's been given an award by Lantra, the skills council for the environmental and land-based sectors.

Now that might now strike you as funny in itself but - and maybe this is just my juvenile sense of humour - but what made me smile was reading about one of the previous courses she'd studied. Stud Management.

Anyway, well done Claire for picking up the HE Learner of the Year award.

If you’re in Devon – or fancy a trip there – this exhibition looks well worth a visit.

The Hereford Times did run a story on rural accents after we started a debate on Field Day.

I am now officially 'Yours Disgusted'.

Haven't read On the Black Hill, but I'm told it's a fabulous book. Anyway, there's a new dvd of the film version about to be released. Might be worth a watch.

Sounds like the government's plans to close 2500 rural post offices was almost kicked into touch by Parliament yesterday. Sadly, though, not quite...

Here’s a funny thing.

Like most bloggers, I’m interested (OK, obsessed) with who reads this and why. And I got a shock yesterday.

It's not just husky dogs that can be used to make clothes... this couple had a similar idea.

Don't know why, but my first thought on seeing the photo was: Bet their house stinks.

I've just been reading Country Life and now I'm depressed.

Looking at all those lovely houses always makes me wonder if I went into the wrong line of work.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm innumerate, I reckon I could have made quite a good venture capitalist (it can't be that difficult a job to do - presumably it's a bit like being in the venture scouts, with a calculator).

I completely missed this (shamefully, I haven't been in a 'proper' butcher's shop for weeks) but it sounds like National Butchers Week was a great initiative.

Hopefully events like this will help halt the closure of High Street butchers which are disappearing at an alarming rate.

This year has brought an invasion of a so-called “army of pigeons”.

Now, this is the first time that I've had cause to imagine pigeons as having militant capabilities, but many farmers are now facing an ‘agricultural reign of terror’ because of these gluttonous birds.

HRH opened his shop yesterday. Looks as if it sells some great stuff. Probably not the place to go for a four-pack of lager and 40 B&H.

More on heavy horses in today's news.

Oh dear, I've started something now.

I was sufficiently irked by that whole regional accents business that I emailed The Hereford Times.

Did they realise, I said (never one to knowingly defuse a situation!), that their county's accent had been besmirched.

A friend of mine was given the chance to win a tractor in his local offy at the weekend.

We're supposed to be a nation of shopkeepers (at least, that's what Napoleon said).

Fitting, then, that Prince Charles is today opening his own shop in Tetbury. It will sell everything from organic carrots to breakfast bowls painted with pictures of the royal hens.

I've had a few complaints lately that I've been writing too much about dogs.

In my defence, it was Crufts - but for those of you wanting a cat update, you'll be pleased to hear there was an "incident" involving one of mine over the weekend. And, no, you won't be surprised to hear it ended up involving a vet's bill.

This beautiful beast was spotted at a Shire Horse event at Peterborough a while back. Sadly, though, the future of this breed of ‘gentle giants’ could be under threat, according to reports in the national media today.

We need a few more stories like Bonnie...

Squirrels - just when I thought I wouldn't be hearing any more about the little blighters for a while another story about them breaks. This time, an albino one.

Andrew Pearce's south pole adventure has got me thinking about heroic feats by farmers. I interviewed one back in 1999 who made it to the summit of Everest. Here's the article.

This story annoyed me.

Or rather, the story didn't - but one line in the way it was reported did. It's a great tale of enterprise by a farmer. Why, though, did The Independent feel the need to say, at the beginning of the second paragraph, that Will Chase "speaks in a broad Herefordshire accent"?

No wonder Hugh's gone quiet. High winds have forced Cheltenhan to be called off.

I've been finding some extraordinarily obtuse excuses for not going to the gym.

I even raced home last night to download some virus protection software onto my computer, rather than face the pool. Reading the results of a new study by the dog food makers Butcher's has made me think of a possible solution, one that - for a committed cat lover like me - has been previously unthinkable. Getting a dog.

I’m not a big fan of horses (unless they’re in books like this, of course!)

Never really been bitten by the racing bug, either. But a pal of mind, Hugh, is staying for a few days in Cheltenham for the racing. He’s gone very quiet. Which could mean he’s doing very well. Or very badly.

Shocker. Even more villages are facing a 'pub-less' future, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.

Only one thing for it: get out there and support your local.

Another book arrives that make me smile. Know Your Sheep.

Now I realise this is aimed at youngsters, but something about the title made me laugh out loud.

I love hearing stories of endurance and adventure and I was lucky enough recently to speak to a land agent who has dodged danger and death in a mammoth charity trek.

Here's a sneak preview of the article I've written for this Friday's Farmers Weekly, along with a set of photograhs of his amazing trip.

So, the Giant Schnauzer took the top title at Crufts last night. To be honest, I was just pleased it wasn't that hideous little Chihuahua.

Whatever will Paris Hilton say?

Remember my run-in with that Naylor chap? Well we’ve put that behind us now and we’re best buddies (I can't see this changing, either, unless his blog becomes more popular than mine!)

So, in this spirit of friendliness, I wonder if you can help him out. Bird experts (I’ve been told off for referring to them as ‘twitchers’) might be able to tell him whether he’d have been more likely to have seen a cattle egret or a great white egret in Lincolnshire.

What he says about always having harboured a desire to kick a heron up the bum struck a chord with me. I’ve always found long-legged birds strangely cocky.

While we're on the subject of dogs, three cheers for Dexter the Labrador who survived a 115ft fall from a cliffside in Dorset.

Four evenings of unmissable television kicked off last night. Yes, it's that time of year again: it's Crufts.

The highlights of last night were:

1. Those great Akitas (they'll certainly make my friend Chrissie happy).
2. Rumours of a betting scandal. It appears William Hill suspended betting on which breed would take the coveted 'Best in Show' prize after a rush of bets on the utility dog category.
3. Ben Fogle. Bumbling, Boris Johnson-like and hilarious.
4. The Friends for Life competition (come on Connie!)
5. The synchronized Golden Retrievers.

Anyone planning to take part in the bluebell survey might be interested to know they're blooming a month earlier than 35 years ago.

The organisers of a long-established bluebell walk across three working farms in East Sussex are opening for business one month earlier than they did in 1972.

As you know, I get sent lots of charity calendars - some are of the type you'd feel comfortable giving your grandmother, others feature semi-naked people, inspired originally by the Calendar Girls effort.

I've come into work this morning, though, to find an interesting new development as regards semi-naked photos.

I haven't watched Ratatouille, but I hear it's a great film.

Don't be fooled into thinking rats are cute, though. They're disgusting. Not surprisingly, the latest PR stunt by the film's maker majors on the cutesy angle rather than the awful disease-spreading properties of these vicious vermin.

So, we've counted Scottish wildcats, moles and birds - now here's your chance to get involved with a Natural History Museum bluebell survey.

I might take part - at least I won't get into trouble for not wearing a jacket!

Seems like even members of the government aren't convinced that closing rural post offices is a good idea. Funny, that, seeing as they all originally agreed to it!

Now I don't want you to think my life is one long lunch out after another.

First it was the MasterChef man, and today it was lamb cutlets at The Farmers Club in London.

Forget the many and varied vegetables that have made bids for glory, there is a new superfood on the block. Pigs trotters.

Apparently, they've got anti-ageing properties. I think I'd rather look old.