Tuesday 6 December 2011

You Know That's Something I Crave.....

It's not every day that you find this kind of thing hanging on a washing line, in my limited experience!:






But there it was this morning on a neighbours rooftop line: a few rows of Morcilla/Black Pudding and a trio of Chorizo links. What a tasty treat to set before the neighbours!

I assume it means a family killing has recently occurred, with a pig being slaugtered and the bounty doled out between family members. To judge by the amount received here, our neighbours must be rather low in the pecking order! Still, never look a gift horse etc, etc.

There used to be a strong tradition of this annual killing and distribution throughout this region and most books on the area mention it. The Matanza is, however, now largely a thing of the past, with shop-bought produce filling the gap, albeit leaving a cultural void in its wake. On one of our earliest visits to the village, the neighbour of our Brit friends had a whole pig in its constituent parts hanging in their rooftop tower/hutch affair, but they have now given up on this and today is the first sign we've seen of it for many years.

My visit to the UK was uneventful save for being dragged off to Tin Pan Alley/Denmark Street by our French friend, Patrick, who longed to see some decent acoustic guitars, Martins, Gibsons and Lowdens. He was satisfied with the excursion and also enjoyed the music events we managed to cram into the trip. I left to return here with an old Scottish friend before Patrick returned to France but J stepped in and took him off on a grand sight-seeing trip on his last day there.

We returned here to a dismal day of soggy cloud and rain, replaced on the next day by the usual sun and blue skies. As it's continued since. J returned yesterday for a few days and today we had Toastada at the local bar and a few beers to slake our thirst in the warm sunshine. Temps about 24 degrees or so today. Pretty acceptable with Xmas approaching, I'd say.


J returns for her final shifts before retiring and returning here on December 20th. I'm trying/hoping to get my hands on a Turkey out here and assume, given the number of Brits down on the coast, it should be possible! We do have some Duck and Chicken available, if not!


Charlie is still behaving like a near normal cat: his offering today, brought in yesterday sometime, I'm sure, was this poor Mole:






The stray/feral cat population now views me as an essential part of its daily routine. Today the Kittens came calling, yelling hungrily outside the door until I went out and fed them all. The little masked one now tolerates my stroking her (I think!) while feeding and the others are also becoming used to my presence. Anyway most of the hissing has stopped, which must mean something!:





And finally, a few evenings ago, I heard a clamouring/clattering/ ringing of bells and looking out found a herd of Goats being walked along the street by the house. Now this used to be commonplace when we first came here but it's the first time I've witnessed it since our return. They don't have leave pile of shit in their noisy wake, though!:











3 comments:

  1. It is sad when you see traditions slipping away under the onslaught of "progress".

    It is gradually getting chillier here,but I'm still finding bits to do in the garden!

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  2. I have to agree with Gwynneth on the loss of traditions, it's something that's happening here on Lewis as well.

    And I'm doing nothing in the garden at the moment as it's covered by a layer of snow.

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  3. Good luck J with your last shift at work and happy retirement.

    Glad panda cat is getting used to being stroked.

    Sft x

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