Field Day

Cat news...

2008-07-08T15:25:05Z

Haven't talked about my moggies for a while so I reckon a mention must be due (if only to bait cat-hating farmer Matthew Naylor).

So, two bits of feline news:

1. Parsley has made an appearance on Tom Cox's fab Little Cat Dairies blog (as a contender in the Hard Cats competition).

2. Both Nutmeg and Parsley are going to be featured in the August issue of Cat World (which goes on sale at the end of this week). And for a cat, that's the equivalent of getting into Hello! or OK!

I really must think about getting them an agent!

G8? G-ate, more like!

2008-07-08T11:12:55Z

Milk-fed lamb and pickled conger eel with soy sauce, anyone?

Obviously the G8 leaders aren't following the trend towards simple food this week.

Mart art

2008-07-08T10:22:17Z

I've heard of lots of places to hold an art exbibition - but never in a cattle market.

This is what's happening, though, at Skipton in North Yorkshire on August 16-17, when the venue plays host to the 'Art in the Pen' fair.

]]> It showcases the work of established and emerging contemporary artists, jewellery makers, photographers and sculptors, and gives visitors the chance to purchase, sell and discover art.

First-time buyers and seasoned collectors are expected to browse the hundreds of works, including paintings, photography and sculptures, textiles, ceramics and jewellery.

You don't need deep pockets either: the organisers tell me that individual purchases can be made for as little as £50.

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Keeping it simple in the kitchen

2008-07-08T09:14:14Z

Forget snail caviar and crocodile steaks, we're getting less - rather than more - imaginative in the kitchen.

New research from Oxo shows that today's typical meal uses seven ingredients - half of what went into a 1950s offering.

]]> The average number of ingredients in a meal rose from 14 in the 1950s to 18 in the 1960s, before dropping to three or four in the 1970s and 1980s in the drive for convenience.

The rise to fame of TV chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes in the 1990s took the average number of ingredients up to 10.

But now, it seems, we're too busy to grapple with complicated cooking and favour time-saving, ready-prepared ingredients and traditional recipes.

"While cooks in the 1960s prepared complicated dishes using long and drawnout techniques, in 2008 we use convenient ingredients that sometimes do more than one job at a time," said Sue Brennan from Oxo.

"In the 1950s a dish like Lancashire hotpot or sausage stew would simmer away for several hours, but in 2008 one of our favourite dishes is chicken stir-fry, made in minutes with pre-chopped veg."

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Bra hoo-ha

2008-07-08T09:02:22Z

You can find bats in the belfries of country churches - and, it seems, in bras.

Snap happy

2008-07-08T05:45:12Z

If the sound of snail caviar appeals to you, then 'Alternative Meats' might be the sort of place you'll like to do your shopping.

They bill themselevs as being 'deliciously different' - and, with zebra fillets and crocodile steaks on the product list, I guess that's a claim they can legitimately make!

Students strip for charity

2008-07-07T13:47:11Z

Students on the first year national diploma in land-based technology at Wiltshire College recently stripped and transformed a 1960 Massey Ferguson 35 tractor in just 22 hours.

Starting at 6am, staff and students got to work dismantling the vintage tractor donated by David Keene of Henley-on-Thames.

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The money raised will go to The Sue Ryder hospice in Oxon and Diabetes UK.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the experience," said student Ollie Seymour from Somerset. "It's great practise for our gap year when we will be working in the industry doing this type of work. Being able to donate thousands of pounds for charity at the end is an added bonus."

Bill King of Cheffins has kindly agreed to auction the tractor at the renowned Cheffins Classic Tractor Auction in Cambridge on Saturday July 26. They have agreed to waive any fees, so all proceeds to go to the charities named below.

Students have already raised more than £2,000 through sponsorship and it is expected that the tractor will raise in over £6,000 at auction; with a confirmed starting bid of £4,000 already received.

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Slick marketing

2008-07-07T11:11:48Z

Talking of food, here's an odd one. I'm reliably informed that Harrods (not a shop I frequent very often, admittedly!) has a new delicacy on offer - snail's caviar. The price? It's £65 for 30g.

According to the swanky London retailer, snail's eggs are "reminscent of a walk in the forest after rain".

It'll take more than a bit of PR prose to convince me to try it, I'm afraid!

Badger update

2008-07-07T08:30:34Z

Badgers are back in the news in the countryside. For all the latest on this story, see here.

Pork-you-pine

2008-07-07T08:14:29Z

I find it hard to drive past a farmshop without stopping. And I had a rather splendid pork pie from this place recently - so if you're ever in that part of Cambridgeshire, it's well worth a look...

Surf and turf

2008-07-07T08:10:02Z

Or that bullock, when it was stranded on the beach, could maybe have taken a lead (no pun intended) from these dogs in America - and gone surfing.

Emmerdale star Clive Hornby dies

2008-07-04T16:30:36Z

This is sad news - Clive Hornby, who plays Jack Sugden on Emmerdale, has died.

I only met him once when I interviewed him for an article but immediately warmed to him.

Airlifted animal

2008-07-04T16:17:53Z

Another amazing rescue story - this time a bullock from the bottom of a cliff.

They could have saved themselves the trouble and barbecued it on the beach!

OK, it's not Indiana Jones but...

2008-07-04T13:09:44Z

Forget the Cannes and Sundance movie festivals - you can get to see a film premiere at this summer's Game Fair.

It follows the recent tradition of innovative UK animations, and has a cast of native British bugs and animals made of recycled cardboard against the real background of an ancient, hollow tree.

The short animated film, called Reliable and tidy hoverfly looking for a place to live was made and directed by three young film-makers, and was commissioned by the Woodland Trust.

]]> It marks the first complete year of its Ancient Tree Hunt, a five-year project to find and record 100,000 ancient trees in the UK.

The film illustrates why such trees are so important as wildlife habitats, with holes, dead and rotting wood, wrinkles and crannies all important habitats for hundreds of plants, animals, insects and fungi, including many rare and threatened species.

Using animation with characters made of paper, recycled cardboard and other recovered materials, it tells the story of a hoverfly that wants to move into an old tree and is looking for the perfect spot to live. He is befriended by a click beetle who introduces him to the other inhabitants, the inner workings, relationships and survival mechanisms of the interior of a hollow, ancient tree.

The film will be shown at the Woodland Trust's stand in the Exploring Nature zone.

This summer, the Ancient Tree Hunt organised its 'Summer of Hugs' to get more people out looking for ancient trees. The Trust will be taking its hugs to Blenheim and running lessons in tree-hugging. Hugging is an easy way to measure the girth of old trees; one of several indicators of age.

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A bird in someone else's hand

2008-07-04T11:11:26Z

Watch out - bird thieves are roaming the countryside.

My pal Richard (who knows eveything there is to know about poultry) tells me the bird pictured above is a Satsumadori.

In terms of sheer unadulteratde cuteness when it comes to poultry, though, I reckon you'd have to go a long way to beat the little beauty below. It's a magpie duck.

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