Well bor we hev had sum rum old weather leatly, a time I am a writin this (mid March) there ha bin sum snow , the ground is frooz und thas a blowin hard straight from the North Pole, thas one o’them lazy winds whot go straight through ya rather than round ya.Yet at the beginin o the month that brook out warm und the Missus and I were a gettin busy in the old garden a cuttin back sum shrubs and a tidyin things up arter the winter. Our Grandson he were with us und he sowed sum lettice und raddish seed inta the ground under sum cloches, when he cum on Motherin Sunday he wanted t’go und hev a look t’see if they were a peepin through yet, I told him they were a holdin hard until the weather warmed up a bit.
Cos this weather is a puttin the farmers behind, they want t’be a gettin on a top dressin winter corn so it will start a’growin agin when the soil warm up. If the weather hed bin a bit kinder I recon there would h’bin sum sugar beet drilled by now. Once the weather du change that ount teke them long t’catch up with them great old machines they hev now.
When fields were smaller and there were a lot more men a warkin on the land this were the time of year, when the weather were moderate, to go a hedging und a ditchin by hand, that were cold wark but if yu were a hedgin yu would meake a bonfire outa the hedge trimmins so yu could go und hev a warm up when yu stopped t’eat yar grub. Another job were a muggin out the yards and boxes where the cattle were a layin in for the winter, a good team o’men with three or four hosses und tumbrills recon to move thirty t forty tumbrill loads in a day. The manure were carted out onta the field where that were cromed orf inta little heaps which would then be spread about by hand t’be ploughed afor the crop,mostly beet, were drilled. I remember when the fust machine cum out that would spread the muck about the field when it was towed over the heaps by a tractor, the trouble wus that hulled the muck up into the air und if the wind were a blowin the wrong way that cum down all over the tractor…… there were no tractor cabs then so that wernt a very popular job.
There h’bin a lot o’talk lately about hoss meat a bein put inta pies what them supa markets sell. The Missus recon we et hoss meat when we went t’France for the fust time ni-on thirty five year ago, yu don’t see much on it over there now. That ha reminded me of a story an old boy told me when rationin were on durin the second world war, he recon that his baker told him her were a puttin hoss meat inta his rabbit pies. The old boy asked him how much hoss meat he were a puttin in, the baker say ‘Bout fifta-fifta’ the old boy say what du yu mean “fitfa – fifta. ‘Oh! One hoss, one rabbit say the baker. I’ll tell yu what that hev shown, how the meat get carted around afor that get inta the shops, they recon beef want t’hang for twenty one day afor yu eat it, I recon thas a lot older than that a’time that ha bin carted around Europe afor that git t’the shops, I recon yu should buy meat that ha bin grown in this country und not half way round the world.
The Missus told me t’other day that that were forty one years since we moved inta our house, I dunnow where the time ha gone, I’ll tell yu suffin though.. even though I hev pulled up weeds in the garden every year since we ha bin here they still keep a comin.
Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a’troshin