life – Page 31 – Louisa Parry

Death & dressing: killing, plucking & butchering our first chickens

25/4/2010 / louisa / 4 Comments

On Friday night, we killed, plucked & butchered two chickens. As you do.

To be accurate, the wonderful John B and my John did the killing, then my John’s brother Chris and I joined them in plucking, then John B showed me how to dress the chicken, and then I showed Chris.

The chickens first came into our collective lives late last year as unwanted day old chicks and Chris handreared them in a make-shift nursery in his conservatory until New Year, when he had to clean out the chicken poop, ahead of the arrival of his son, Zachary on Valentine’s Day/Chinese New Year. Despite being planning/building a chicken pen/coop since we got this house last September (well, planning it since I went on a chicken course in April last year), we still weren’t ready to take them when Chris needed to get rid – and John B, who already had his own girls, offered to take in the still-unsexed chicks. He gave us regular updates about how they were doing – and a few weeks ago, his suspicions were confirmed: two of them were definitely boys. Over the last week, the boys had become somewhat randy boys and were hurting his girls with their “affection” so one way or another, they had to go. John B has been banned by his daughters from eating anything they’d named so he couldn’t do it and a friend on his allotments offered to do the deed instead – but he thought he’d give us first refusal.
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3BT – first spring, slick, the answer

21/4/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. (I sort-of mentioned this on Clare’s blog the other week but I’ve not mentioned it here yet so…) Where we lived in Leeds, it was green — the lawns of the park, the trees of the woods leading down to the canal — but north facing houses & gardens meant no flowers, no colour, permanent shade. Here, as I walk along the road, there are cheerful spring flowers, vibrant bedding plants, delicate tree blossoms and surprising wild blooms. The cottages with their cottage gardens, hanging baskets against stained black stone. A single red tulip. Next door’s garden spilling out through their front gates. It feels like the first spring in nearly a decade.

2. The pink meat falls heavily to kiss its own reflection in the glossy marinade.

3. It seems so obvious after we try it – why hide awkwardly in the corner when we can float in the middle of the room?

3BT – halo, trunk, indulgence

20/4/2010 / louisa / 1 Comment

1. The branches practically invisible, the green buds form a lime halo around the trunk.

2. We sit down on a fallen trunk for a kiss. The sunlight dapples the world around us.

3. We nibble the rich dark biscuits in bed before turning to our books.

Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-04-18)

18/4/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

Have been on 3 big corporate websites this morning and on all, found multiple 404 errors within 2 clicks from the front page. Sloppy. #
@andatche it's here. we stole it from you. ha!! in reply to andatche #
@xbaz hurrah for benignness, boo for the lose of teeth – top ones or bottom ones? Boron has hilarious smiles after losing his top fangs :) in reply to xbaz #
On http://votematch.org.uk/ I matched with @TheGreenParty (already a member) & Lib Dems (I'm voting for them at #ge10 to oust our Labour MP) #
@leftbeingrealis I'm not that surprised by that tbh. The drugs thing did seem to be quite an omission in the questions though. in reply to leftbeingrealis #
@leftbeingrealis I'm reluctantly voting LibDem. No Green candidates here & LibDem is the only way to get rid of long-serving, crap Labour MP #
A busy week wrangling many, many kids ahead of the Bingley Little Theatre production of The Beggar's Opera at the weekend. Should be good :) #
Wondering whether it's worth trying an anti-glare screen for al fresco laptoppery. I think something to shade my eyes would help a lot too. #
@left_realistic i have one or five pics you could use. although only "better" if you define "better" as "including a mick jagger impression" in reply to left_realistic #
Enjoying the novelty of not having to rush to Bingley so early this evening – get to watch the show tonight :D #
Last show went well, the kids did a fantastic job. Felt like a proud mum to all 38 of them! #
http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ – I matched @thegreenparty on everything except Democracy (LibDem). Good way to compare policies side-by-side #
Looking for a film to match my mood: somewhat melancholy but not sad & with some optimism. Someone make a mood-to-film matching website plz. #
@IdleSi I was thinking Police Academy. in reply to IdleSi #

3BT – yeasty, worth it, outsized

16/4/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. At five days old, the ginger beer plant is satisfactorily gloopy and the sourdough starter smells divine.

2. Even though the general backstage consensus is that Thursday night was better, John is impressed by the show – the music, the costumes and the kids alike. I clap like a proud mum throughout.

3. Sleepy Lily droops in John’s arms as he carries her to the car.

3BT – reflecting, making waves, unravelry, sway-sway-sway-swirl

15/4/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. The new floor reflects the light around the soon-to-be-decorated walls. I imagine how bright it will be when we’re finally finished: I can’t wait to work down there.

2. Her tail hits the water in a rapid beat.

3. The wool is tangled. It’s such fun to undo the knot.

4. Backstage, we mouth along the words to most of the songs but it’s only the last one that we join in the dance – the surge of joy that it’s very nearly over for another night.

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