Anna the dog

[misskit]

Watch out for these birds if they are hanging around. They wait and watch until the eggs hatch, then eat the little chicks.

[Mendip]

Mendip, I have eaten pigeon before.

Well, you're not eating mine!

I must admit to also eating pigeon before. Wood pigeons (a different species to the feral rock doves) are a common sight in rural England and are also a pest for farmers, eating their crops. Many village butchers used to sell wood pigeons, along with rabbits and pheasants that had been shot on the farms, but I doubt that it's so common these days with changing eating habits.

I well remember spitting out lead shot while eating rabbit pie.

^ Edit: the Greater Coucal. We have plenty of those around, and they sit in a tree not far from the pigeon nest. They are a problem but have a wonderful call.

[moose65]

In Straya as a lad i can remember eating a Top Knot Pidgeon, Toppie's, but i cant really remember the taste.

[david44]

l remember spitting out lead shot while eating rabbit pie.

meat ooh

A pub in Penzance used to serve rabbit as a treat once a week their chalkboard opp acorn Theatre said


Watership Down

You've read teh Book

You've seen teh film

Now try the stew

[Mendip]

^ My rabbit pie rivals my steak and kidney pie but I haven't made one for yonks.

I used to keep ferrets so my rabbit pies were sans lead shot.

A young Mendip with Salt and Pepper, the best ferrets a man could wish for. I once put Pepper into a one-hole rabbit warren and she got in behind the rabbit and flushed it out. That's how good she was.

With Jos, one of our basenjis.



Jos playing with Salt and Pepper.



Salt and Pepper with a litter of kits.

It's very unusual to have a hob (male) ferret stay with a litter without killing them, but Salt was special. He was the large albino, and Pepper was the small brown jill (female).



Salt and Pepper are still buried in my mum's rose bed.

[DrWilly]

You had hair back then.

[Joe 90]

You had hair back then.

Didn't we all.

Cute dog, looks like a fox.

Not everyone can claim to owning ferrets!
Infact I'll go out on a limb here and say only only 0.0000001% of the world's population has owned them.

[david44]

I used to keep ferrets

Stoatally obvious , you are weasily recognised as the lad who'd mind the horses at the Bung Inn when I resided at Butcombe Court, no ostlerilty , ferretualy obvious you are animal lover like me, in fact the more we see liars ruining the planet the more we need to nurture wildlife, I try in my humble way in the moo ban and you in Nan, sorry Nanny, woops Nana.

PS love rabbit pie served at Uvea duck restaurant in Elizondo Baztan
Of dozens great eateries this would be the onevfor you, notice Looper cycling outta da closet to evensong

[Joe 90]

I don't reckon I'll be eating rabbit stew anytime soon again.

It's a Maltese national dish and they can keep it as they cheated me out of the head.
No one likes to be cheated outa head!
I actually reconstructed the skeleton after the meal.

[Mendip]

^ I used to keep a bag of rabbit heads in the freezer for ferret food.

Along with tubs of maggots in the fridge.

My parents put up with a lot but were keen for me to have hobbies.

You had hair back then.

And I still have a full head of hair, it's just a different colour. I'm not such a slave to fashion these days and keep it short.

Cute dog, looks like a fox.

Basenjis were wonderful dogs, until they got scent of a rabbit or hare and then they were off. No amount of training could stop that.

They're the only dog that can't bark.


We have the high 30s degrees at the moment and it's a struggle to keep cool. Yogi disappeared yesterday and I found him enjoying the Isaan zephyrs while watching the gently lapping cerulean waters of the pond.



He usually likes to sit in the gardener's doorway while exposing himself to Maya and Lola on the other side of the gate.

[DrWilly]

Hehe nice little Mendy style dig at Sausages.

[Mendip]

^ I wasn't aware that Seeking Asylum was known for exposing himself?

[Shutree]

the gently lapping cerulean waters of the pond.

Are you on the yadong already? I'm not sure that English has a word to describe the colour of your pond.

Meanwhile, in my part of Isan, the zephyrs are like those that came out of Dagenham, going absolutely nowhwere. Flat calm here.

[Mendip]

^ OK, so my pond may not quite be the endless, deep turquoise of the Mediterranean sky, and the only zephyrs around here may well be in my bedroom after a dinner of peas and sprouts, but it seems to do the job.



As Wordsworth said, 'You can only piss with the cock you've got'!

[Shutree]

As Wordsworth said, 'You can only piss with the cock you've got'!

Those Lakes poets, they had a way with words.

[Shutree]

As Wordsworth said, 'You can only piss with the cock you've got'!

Those Lakes poets, they certainly had a way with words.

[Mendip]

^ They did.

Sorry, I mean they certainly did!

[Mendip]

I now seem to have a selection of feeding bowls AND plastic bags littering in the dog's feeding area.



But as the guy is a kindly dog-feeder, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that the plastic bags were being used as makeshift plates. That open tin looks a bit sharp around the edges as well, so I will leave more food bowls out to cover all the dogs at dinner time. I have another spare red Celebrations tub left over from Christmas so I'll add that to the selection later today.



This area is also littered with water snail shells. During the wet season this area, which hasn't been filled, is full of standing water teeming with water snails, frogs, tadpoles and small fish. I will never understand how fish eggs survive in the 'baked hard like concrete' soil during the long dry season.



Tem always takes his chewy bone to the pile of sand left over by the road builders. I have often thought that the only thing Korat is missing, apart from clean air, a tolerable climate, reasonable access to international airports, a selection of decent bars and a passport office... is a beach.

Tem seems to have solved that problem!

[DrWilly]

Korat missing a passport office? You’d be in all sorts of strife if Korat had a passport office. No more passport runs! Are you completely mad?

[Joe 90]

Tem seems to have solved that problem!

Life's a beach

[Mendip]

You’d be in all sorts of strife if Korat had a passport office.

Good point, I'll scratch that from my list of desires.

We are promised this high speed bullet train between Korat and Bangkok, which would theoretically allow breakfast in Korat followed by lunch in Fitzgerald's on Soi 4. It is supposed to open in 2028.

So, maybe it will be in service for my retirement which at present progress should start in around 15 years time...


This morning I gave 'Whitey' her breakfast...



But hang about... what's that?



A distinctly hatched looking egg. And this after only 16 days, 2 days ahead of the 18 day incubation period norm for a pigeon egg! Interestingly enough I have noticed that our chicken eggs consistently hatch a couple of days quicker than the accepted 21 days, and this seems to extend to the pigeons eggs as well. Maybe it's the heat and humidity of Isaan that causes this?

I took a sneaky peak a few minutes later...



Congrats, two out of two!

Welcome to the world... and Isaan.