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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – February 2013

Well we ha’a started a ploughin a furra acroos 2013, less hope we dont get t’meny bends in it and can keep a straight furra until t’end o the year .

I recon that 2012 were a good year for the village cos there were plenty a goin on, first we hed the Jubilee day & the village fete und arter harvest we hed the heritage week-end and finished wi the Spirit of Christmas, thas good t’see a lot of new folks in the village a helpin at these does cos sum of us olduns want t’be a pullin a light harrow now. That were good t’see them folks from the Norridge road houses a drawin down t’the village and ajoining in.

The Missus & I drawed down the the Spirit of Christmas , there were all them bits o ice t’see a dotted round the millennium green, that must ha’bin a job a holden them things in the ice steady while the water frooz, we bought sum draw ticket & I wum a car cleaning kit, the Missus recon that if I use that on my old bike that’l fall t’bits cos thas only mud a holdin it t’gether.

They recon last year were one o’the wettest on record, I ha got a rain measure in my garden und I ha totted up that we hed a fare few inches, thas arter they were a lellin us last spring that were a’goin t’hev a drought. Thas still to dawby on the garden t’go a jammin about on it. If you go a jammin about on it while thas wet when that du dry out that’ul go down as hard as contrete und you’ll never be able t’knock it down t’get a seed bed. I say t’the Missus that want I want is a pair of boots like them big floatin tyres they hev on tractors so I dont du any harm if I go on the garden while thas a bit dawby…..she din’t say anything…she just gi’me one of her looks. I sowed my Sweet Pea seeds a’for Christmas, they hev all chitted und are growin nicely, that should please the Missus cos she like a cuttin the flowers for indoors.

I ha got an old mole a warkin in the garden, he ha bin a rifflin under the lawn, I can’t catch the old begger, I’ll ha’a do what my old father used t’do, if he knew an old mole were a warkin he’d go & get his old 12 bore und stand still near where that were a warkin und when that used t’start a pushin the soil up he would shoot inta the mole hill…I don’t think he ever shot one und one day he shot all the soil onto Mother’s washin that were a hangin on the linin line, cor she were suffin savige with him……….if I try that trick I’ll ha’a make sure the MIssus han’t got any washin out.

Well I am a’goin t’close now cos the lady Editor don’t want to much this month cos she ha’a got t’get two months inta one.

Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a’troshin. The Boy Tom

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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – March 2013

At the beginnin of February they were a’remembering the 1953 floods. We were a livin on a farm ny on 2 miles inland from the East Coast when that happened. I remember M’Father hed t’go out a couple o’times that night to look at’an old cow that were arter calvin. he cum back in and recon that were a moderate night und how he could hear the waves a breakin on the beach at Walcot. Acors we din’t hev a TV, most folks din’t hev a phone then and there were no local radio t’tell us what were a happening all along the coast, we leant about it next day by a listin the wireless and a readin about it in the pearper Afor the floods at Walcot yu ha’a push yar old bike orf the road und through sand dunes t’reach the beach and the sea. When we cycled down t’hev a look arter the floods the beach, sand dunes and road hed all bin washed away. We ha’a bring a letta home from school a’askin our parents t’send in spare clothes und blankets so they could be given out t’them who hed lost their homes. Everybody helped even though rationin were still on some things.. That were true then und thas true now… “theres allus somenone wuss orf than yarself”.
A lookin at the old photos of the floods yu can see how every thing were done by hand then, there were no mechanical diggers and forklifts t’help bung up the gaps where the sea hed cum through. As I hev said’a’for Mother Nature will allus keep yu on yar toes cos yu never know what she is a’goin t’du next and you’ll never beat har.

I went a walk acroos the old airfield t’other day(along the new footpath), my heart they are, a makin a mess on it a pullin up the run ways, that seem along while ago now when there were planes a flyin there, still thas good t’see it going back to farmin though they’ll want t’make the fields bigger than they were in 1939 as 2 Hosses have bin replaced by 250 horse power tractor and equipment that want the best part of a acre t’tun round in.

At least then old nights are a startin t’pull out now, I’ll soon be able t’draw outside again arter I hev hed my tea. As I said in last time the garden is still t’wet t’get about on although as I am a writin this (Early Feb) the old Snow Drops & Primroses are a peepin through und a’time yu read this the’ll be over und the old Daffs will be a breakin out on the verges around the village.

While that ha bin moderate outside the Missus ha’a started a doin har family tree, She ha bin a’doin it on har new computa that I got har for Christmas, my hart she’s ha rearly got the Bit between har teeth und so far she ha found over 150 relations, I told har that I wern’t a’goin t’start a t’sending them all a Christmas card,…… she say that I hant got t’worry about that cos sum on un ha bin buried for two hundred years und more. So far she hant found any who ha bin t’prison and, more’s the pity, she hant found any on um who ha’got a bob or two. Still the good thing while that while she’s a doin this family tree she hant a bin findin jobs for me t’du so I ha bin a pullin a bit of a light harra lately, I recon that ull soon change so I am a’meakin the most on it while I can.

Fare ye well t’gether und du yu keep a troshin.

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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – April 2013

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

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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – May 2013

That look as if we are a’goin t’get sum warmer weather at last (second week April), that old wind ha bin suffin fit t’flare yar these past few weeks, nothin has bin a growin. Tha ha put the land wark all a’hind, at least now the old soil will a’bein warmed up now und things ull start a’growin.

I hant bin able t’get inta my old green house cos thas all bunged up with the Missus tender plants, I’ll soon be a movin them out so I can get it ready for my old tomato plants. I ha start a few seed orf on a heated sand bed I tricolated up but that ha bin too cold to move them out so I ha bin stowed up for room, still if we git a week or or two good weather we’ll soon forgit them cold winds.

Sum time last year I were a sayin on how there wernt meny yougsters a goin inta farmin, well they recon thas the same wi horticulture, they were a interviewin sum younguns on TV und they recon thas dirty work a muckin about wi plants. Well, they took them to a great old green house were everything were bein controlled by computers and they were a usin bugs t’kill other pests insted o’sprayin everything. Arter seein that the youngsters recon they might be interested in a lookin at horticulture as a job. But they recon on this programme that thas a gettin serious und they want the government t’du suffin a bout it cos there arnt any scientists a comin along t’stop things like Ash Dire Back a agettin inta the Country.

Tuther day I were a drivin past one of them gret old outdoor pig units yu see about here. I recon thas a job a warkin on one of them durin the frorsty weather, that arnt so bad a feedin the old sows cos they hev machines what hull the feed out as thas drawed past the pens behind a tractor, if yu feed sows dry food they gotta hev water as well und I recon most of the water pipes will ha bin frozen up, so yu gotta cart water to’un un all and thas a lot of water cos an old sow with a litter o younguns on har will want a gallon or two a day.

Cos keeping pigs outside int nothin new, I remember my grandfather a keepin pigs out side in the early 1950s. They wernt kept behind electric fences then, the old sow wore a harness and were tethered to a long chain that were attached to a long spike that yu driv inta the ground. Yu ha’a make sure that when yu driv the spike inta the ground the old sow could get just git inta her hut but could not get round behind it cos if she could the old begger would git hung up. Most of the old sows then were black und white (Saddlebacks) but they lost favour when they started a keepin pigs inside cos they did not hev very big litters und the piglets did not grow fast enough so farmer switched to white pigs ( Large White & Landrace). They kept pigs in the late 1950s where m’father was Foreman und their pigs went t’ the Wall’s factory in London where they made pork pies und ice cream.

Them boys up at Carra Rood are a makin a rum job on it this year, I recom they’ll stay up but that arnt a goin t’be easy, still at least where every they finish that’ull be higher than the Tractor Boys. (Ipswich).

While the weather ha bin moderate the Missus und I hev abin decoratin agin, We turned out a lot of stuff, I found a book of pressed wild flowers und grasses I hed collected when I were at Agricultural Collage, we ha’a find 40 different wildflowers/weeds press um and put them inta a book along wi’ their latin names un what chemicals would kill um. Along wi that we ha’a find 12 different grasses. I dunno what folks thought when they cum acroos these 17 year old boys a carrin bunches o’wild flowers. The Missus recon she would ha liked to ha sin me, I told har I could still pick wild flowers but I might ha forgottun some o’their latin names.

Fare ye well t’gether und du yu keep a’troshin.

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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – June 2013

Well, old mother nature ha got the sun t’shine at last (early June) although that old north wind ha bin a blowin the soil ha hed a chance t’warm up und plants are a growing, so are the weeds.

I were a readin in the last NPN that the young master up at the hall were a sayin that, on account of the cold weather, the corn harvest will be two weeks late a startin. He were also sayin on how he like t’hang onta his corn from last years harvest und sell it as late as possible. Cos years ago when corn were stored in sacks yu ha’a sell it afore the rats chewed the sacks t’bits. Instead of havin the grain in great old barns farmers ha’a store their corn in stacks until the old threshin drum cum round. Threshin were mostly done in the autumn and the sacks of corn were stored on the farm, t’be used for feeding the livestock that most farms kept then. Any corn that had been sold left the farm on a lorry or was taken t’the local railway station und loaded onta a wagon. No farmer would hev enough sacks t’store all his corn in so he would hire them. There were a firm at Wymondham called Fermins who hired out thousands of sacks as did the different railway companies.
The Master m’Father worked for durin the 1950s were big enough t’hev sum sacks of his own, they all ha’a be sorted through und mended a’for harvest. If the hole were a small one yu used a sack needle und binder twine t’draw the sides t’gether. If the old rats hed chewed a great old hole you ha’a mend it by cuttin out a piece of sack und sticking it over the hole using Copidex. When yu were a doin this you ha’a remember t’lay the sack over a plank o’wood like an ironin board t’keep both sides of the sack apart, I forgot one day und stuck both sides o’the sacks t’gether ………. I wunt very popular at harvest time that year.

I also see in the last NPN that the lady editor is still a’lookin for somebody t’take over…. she only took the job on until somebody else cum along. Cos not every one in the Village is on the internet so the NPN is an inportant way o’lettin everybody know what’s a goin on. There must be sum body who could take the job on……und afore anybody say anything I hev got enough on my plate already. The NPN hev cum a long way, sum on us can remember when that were called the “Penny News “ so we want t’keep it a’goin.

That wont be long afore the football season start agin. The Canaries can hev another go with the big boys. If they play like they did in the last two games of last season, they’ll do alright.

The Missus and I have bin t’see Cliff Richard’s a’singin. We drove there,hed a bite t’eat und then drawed acroos t’where he were a’goin t’sing. There were a rare crowd there, there were seats for us all t’sit on, they recon yu could unt take any food in w’yar. Thas cos there were stalls a’sellin food at a rum price. I’ll tell yu suffin though, the biggest queues were for the toilets……well,that were a cold evenin.
Well when he cum on there Mawthers down the front who were a screamin und shoutin his name, I ha’a keep an eye on the Missus t make shure she did’t want t’go und join um. I’ll tell yer what, for a oldun he move well. I asked the Mussus if she thought I could move like Cliff if I were t’wear a pair of jeans like him…… she did’t say anything, she just give me one of har looks.

Fare ye well t’gether und du yu keep a’troshin.

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2013 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – July 2013

Missing Month

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – May 2012

Missing Month

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – June 2012

Well we’r nearly half way through another year, the time that is a’goin suffin quick agin. I am a writtin this while the Missus and I are away in our Caravan for a few days, we hant gone over the water this time. The camp site we booked wernt to good when we got there. For the money they wanted we were expectin suffin good, all we got were a meadow wi long grass and a load o’stingin nettles, I had a jam round t’see what the other things were like- and they wernt a lot better. There he’bin a’lot o’rain and that made it job a’gettin the car and caravan on the field and a’gettin orf agin. we stayed the two nights we had a’paid for and then we moved to a better site f’less money.

That’l soon be time for the old Norfolk Show agin, I ha been a up t’the show ground twice already this year a’helpin on the Rare Breed Stand. The fust were afor Easter when there were a Vintage Tractor and Hoss week-end. There were a lot a’makes o’vintage tractors there, the trouble was when I went round a’lookin at them old tractors I recon I hed driven half on um and nearly all on um.
The other du at the showground wus just arter Easter, that were the Spring Fling when children cum and see how their grub is produced, they could hev a’go at milkin a cow, spinnin wool and holdin a day old chick. Thas a right good day, this year I were a’showin on um a sheep’s fleece and a lettin on um take a little bit home with um.

They recon them old sugar beet plants should be a meetin in the row by the Suffolk Show,(beginin June) and meetin acrors the rows by the Norfolk Show(end June). Them old beet will ha’a grow suffin if they are get there by either show this year. We hev had the rain now all we want are sum warm weather. I remember a’horse hoeing beet with m’father on a warm day– the old Sky Larks were a singin and Father recon you could hear them old beet a’growin. When I were agoin t’get m’peaper t’other day I herd an old Sky Lark a’singin, du u now, thas the fust one I hev herd for a year or two. when the Missus and I were out for a drive the other day, when on the tuther side o’Watton we see a Red Squirrel run acrors the rode infront on us. When we got home I rung up them wildlife people and told them about it cors yu dont see to meny on um in Norfolk.

Last time I writ the Missus wernt to good, She’s back in harness now so I hev been able t’get out inta the garden, thas a job this year cos old mother nature keep blowin hot then cold so thas a job t’know when t’put yar tender plants out. That dont du them any good a keep a’takin them in and out o’the green house, I ha decided t’keep them in and ha made up a door frame with that green netting on so I can put that up in the open door t’let the air in and any vermin out. I ha got sum shrubs in the garden that dint stop growing much durin the winter so tha’ll want a lot o’feedin in the summer t’keep them a’goin. The rain we ha bin a havin ha kept my old water butts full so I’ll hev enough water t’keep agoin in the garden for a while.

A’time yu are a readin this them Jubilee celebrations will be a’goin on. I here there’s a’goin to be suffin on the Millennium Green for us all t’draw along to celebrate har Magesty’s Sixty years on the throne I can remember her a bein crowned. We hed a du in the village where we lived, cos thar were a wet day that hat’a be moved inta a farmer’s barn. There were a fancy dress competition for us children. Our mother spent ages a makin our costumes, me brother went as a drummer boy and I went as Sir Walter Ralegh, we din’t win but Mother was suffin savage cos the winners were the son and daughter of the farmer whose barn we were a usin. Sum folks recon we dont orter hev a Royel Family cos that cost to much, I recon we’r better orf wi them than sum president whot get changed every five years or so. Somebody say t’me once about the Queen, “That int the power she hold, thas the power she deny other folk”, I recon there’s a lot o’truth in that.
Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a’troshin

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2011 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – December 2011

Missing Month

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – January 2012

A’time yu read this we’ll a’started another year. We’ll ha’a see whot old father time ha got in store for us this time round. We know we got a’celebrate her Majesteys Golden Jubilee, yu can say what yu like but I recon she ha done a good job, I know there are them whot are all for a’gettin rid of the royal family but I say du yu hold hard, that int the power she have… thas the power she stop others a’havin, we better of with har than sum president or dictator.

I recon sum on um are now a countin the cost o’Christmas, that seem that these days if the youguns keep a crazin their parents for suffin they get it.
When I were a’youngun my old dad used t’say t’me “what yu want and what yu get are two different things” .

I see thar a’gettin them selves in a muddle over the water with their money, thas all acors their ha bin a spendin money whot they hant got and they hant a’bin puttin anything in the mattriss for a rainy day.

The weather still cant makeup it’s mind what that want t’du, as I am a’writin this in early December thas got mild agin but they recon we a’goin t’get sum rare winds t’night and then thas a’goin t’tun cold agin.
The fust year I started wark we had a rare winter. That started t’get cold and we had sum sharp frosts up until Christmas and then on New Year’s Eve that started a snowin and by new year’s day that were a driftin. We dint get a bank holiday then so I ha’a travel t’work on my little old mota-bike and that were eight miles from where I were a livin to the farm, there were snow drifts every where but I got though where cars were a gettin stuck. They recon I looked a job when I got to work cos my old army great coat were a’covered in snow and sum snow had frose on m’ eyebrows. I recon the wust weather we had that winter wus freezin rain. The tractors we were drivin had canvas cabs on with a glass windscreen, well the rain frose on the screen and yu count see where yu were a goin so yu ha’a open the door and stick yar head out, yu count do that for long cos the rain holy stung yar face, still that were worsa for one of the other tractor drivers I were a warkin with, he were a wearin glasses so when he stuck his head outa the cab door t’see where he were a goin the rain frose on his glasses.

Cos if you had livestock t’look arter in the winter frost & snow made the job harder. Stock allus ha’a have fresh water so if the water troughs were frozen yu ha’a get the old blow torch t’thaw the pipes, if that dint wark yu ha’a cart water to the stock in milk churns Gettin food to um were hard wark, cuttin marrowstem kale was the wust, that grew t’over six foot tall and when yu bent down t’cut it orf at the base the snow on the leaves fell onta yar head and shoulders., yu ha’a be careful yu dint cut yar self when yu were a’doin this cos yar hands got s’cold yu wont ha felt it. If the weather were moderate that were good t’be in a loose box or barn with cattle as they made the place warm. When yu cleared the muck outa the bullock yard during the winter y’always left a foot or two of muck in the bottom of the yard so the cattle still had a warm bed t’lay on for the rest of the winter. The old cows warmed the cowshed up when yu got them in t’be milked although that wernt s’good if they slapped yu about the head with their cold mucky tails when yu got down to put the milking machines on.

There ent a lot yu can do in the garden this time o’year, just a bit o’tidying up and I ha’a make sure the missus’s tender plants in the greenhouse are alright. I ha’a keep an eye out for vermin cos moderate weather is when they draw inta buildings, they recon yar never more than six foot from a rat, the trouble is they arnt frightened on us and they recon these more o’them in the world than us.

While I carn’t get on outside the missus ha got a list o’things she want me t’du indoors………….. the trouble is as fast as I keep a knockin the jobs orf the top o’the list she keep a’adden others on the bottom……….I hope spring int to long a’comin so I can draw back inta the garden.

Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a’troshin.

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – February 2012

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – March 2012

As I am a writin this (mid February) thas suffin cold outside, that got down’t minus 12 outside my old greenhouse last night, I dussant open the door t’have a look inside as that’l only let the heat out. We had sum cold old winters afor. I remember the fust year I started warkin arter I had bin to farming collage we had sum rum weather, I recon the freezin rain were the wust. The tractors we were a drivin had canvas cabs on with a glass windscreen, well, the rain that froz on the screen and the only way you see where yu were a’goin was to open the door and stick yar head out, yu cont do that f’long cos the rain holy stung yau face, still that were worsa for one o’the other tractor drivers I were a’warkin with, he were a wearing glasses so when he stuck his head outa the cab door t’see where he were a goin the rain fros on his glasses. That tractor driver, he were a master one for losing things, one year when he were a ploughin he lorst his leather Jerkin , (that were like a body warmer) he recon that must a’fallin orf the back o’the tractor and he ha plough’d in, du you know the next year when he were a ploughin the same field he ploughed it out agin it out a’gin……. and that were good enough for him still t’wear.
Yu ha’a put up w’the cold if yu ha’a drive a tractor w no cab on at all, thas how that was a’for they ha’a put safety cabs on tractors. Yu might have a canvas cab but they were drafty. I remember askin my Boss (in 1966) why he dint hev cabs on his tractors, he recon that yu shount be a warkin on the land when that were a’rainin so there wernt any need for cabs, he dint ha’a sit on the tractor when that were a blowin from the North Pole and all yu ha’a keep yu warm were an ex-army great coat: thas another one o’them ‘good old days”I dont want t’see back agin.

I hear that the Watton air field ha bin sold back t’local farms, they’ll hev a job a breakin up all that contrete and a’gettin rid on it, perhaps sum on it will be used when they start a buildin the new bit of the A11. One farm I were a warkin on in the 1960s had part of a old air field on it, when we started a ploughin on it we dragged up sum cables that still alive so when yu ploughed through um sparks were a comin orf the back o’the plough, we ha’a stop until somebody cum and turned orf the current.

I hope a lot on’yer took part in the bird watch at the end o’January, I did, well that meant I could sit down for an our t’do that with out the Missus a findin me a job cos I kept a’tellin har I were a concentratin on a countin the birds, I tried t’stretch the our out as long as I could an all. The trouble is w’this cold weather I cant get outside so the Missus keep a findin me inside jobs t’du……..the trouble is as fast as I knock the jobs orf t’list she keep a’’addin more on.

Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a’troshin.

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2012 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – April 2012

Well thas official, we are a’havin a drout. I recon those of us hu ha warked on the land or have a garden could ha told them that months a’go. Thas tu easy these days to just tun on the tap. If they want t’get folks a’saving water they orta tun off the taps and get folks t’start a’usin water from a well. When I were a growin up Father used t’draw two bucket full outa the well afor he went t’wark in the mornin, he draw another 2 bucket fulls when he cum home arter his dinner and another two when he cum home for his tea, and he ha’a go inta next door’s garden t’get it outa the well. When mother did the washin on a Monday he used t’fill the copper in the shud & light a fire under it afore he went t’work. We ha’a mind how we used the water cos that ha’a last til father cum home t draw some more cos the old well were suffin deep and Mother wunt able to turn the handle t’draw a full pail up a’gin.

Saturday were bath night so Father would fill the old copper agin and light a fire t’heat the water, when that were hot enough the old tin bath were put in front of fire and we all hed a bath in the same water, starting wi the youngust and finishin wi father. Our next door neighbours had their baths in the shud where the copper were I bet that were suffin cild in the winta. Arter we had all had a bath the dirty water got hulled out onta the garden to water the vegitables.

Cos the farmers want sum rain as well, a time you read this they will ha bin drillin them old sugar beet agin, I hear they hav done all right outa the 2011/12 crop, that’ll make up for what they lorst to the frost the year a’for. If farmers want t’keep moisture in the soil they ha gotta get humus mixed in, that were alright when most farms carried stock and they hed plenty of FYM (Farm Yard Manure) t’plough in. Now accors most farms dont have any stock on um, I recon that yu can drive from Carbrooke t’Norwich and not see any cattle or sheep out in the fields. Not puttin any FWM on the land make that hungry and that wunt hold moisture. I see one o’the farms in the village ha started cartin in pig muck t’use on their land. The land here about is right on the edge of the Brecks and have a lot’o sand it so that soon dry out, they used t’recon that sort’o land want a shower o’rain on it every day and a shower of FYM on it every other day only they dint say FYM but the wud they used is too rude t’use here.

Old Turnip Townsend knew what he were a doin all them years ago (about 1750) when he invented the Norfolk Four Course Rotation: Wheat, Beet (Turnips), Barley and Hay. (Grass). Sheep fed of the turnips and grass, the droppings they left behind were ploughed in and provided nutrients and humus for followin wheat and barley crops. They dint call sheep the “Golden Hoof” for nuthin.

My old water butts ha still got sum water in but I ha told the Missus that if we dont get n’rain I am a goin t’open up our old well in the garden and a start usin the water in there cos they might stop us a usin hose pipes in the garden, I am a lookin for one of them two wheeled water barras, they hold twenti five t’thirty galluns, that ul be easier than a jammin about wi a little old two gallun waterin can
Them old evenins are a’pullin out so I can get out inta the garden arter tea. In Norfolk we hev our food at different times t’the rest on um. Dinner time for us old Norfolk boys and is in the middle o’the day and we hev our tea in the evenin. If yu hev anythin t’eat or drink durin the arternoon thas called foursus.

Well I ha betta close now cos the Miissus ent to good at the moment and I’m doin a lot o fetchin and carryin for her till she get back inta harness agin.

Fare ye well t’gether and u yu keep a troshin

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2011 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – January 2011

Well we have started a ploughin a furra across 2011. Durrin the year the old plough will tun up some things what we are pleased to see & there will things we will wish had stayed buried.

I had suffin tun up the other day what I din’t want, an old Rat got inta my green house. My hart that made a mess in there afor I got it out. I was allus told that God put every creature on this here earth for a purpus. When I get to meet the Almighty I am goin to have a wud with him about why he give us Rats, if I can I’ll let you know what he say.

Nearly every day I walk along the footpath twixt Caulde Springs & the Norridge Rood to get my peaper. One morning a’for Christmas I met a couple of Mawthers who had come out from Norridge and were a followin a footpath walk what had been printed in the EDP. I stopped & had a mardle along with um & they say t’me what a lovely village Carbrooke is, so quiet & peacefull & how good that is to see the footpath a’bein used. The Council trimmed it back last year but I wonder who will be a’doin it this year cos them at County Hall & Breckland recon they are short o’ money. If they arn’t a goin to keep the footpaths trimmed back is this suffin our Parish Council can take on?. I have read in this here New Penny News that they have got a shillin or two sittin in the bank.

Well I have finished my fourses now so I had better find suffin to do a’for the Missus see I am still a sttin here.

Fare ye well t’gether and do you keep a troshin.

The Boy Tom

Categories
2011 Archives Monthly Retrospective

The Boy Tom – February 2011

Missing Month