Recommendment: Lark Rise to Candleford

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BBC: The hamlet of Lark Rise

I wonder if the BBC is making a particular effort to make more period pieces that reflect the lives of ordinary people, rather than aristocrats. For example, BBC Films was involved in the making of Bright Star, which is about John Keats. Keats and those around him were middle class, not aristocrats. There also is the excellent BBC television series Cranford.

In 2008, the BBC came out with Lark Rise to Candleford. This is about the people in the tiny hamlet of Lark Rise, and the more prosperous people of the nearby village of Candleford. These are honest stories based on the realities of village life — gossip, family trouble, poverty, and social jostling. The series is available on DVD, and from Netflix.

I broke down and got a lawn mower

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I’ve posted in the past about my doubts about joining the millions of Americans whose biggest job, aside from going to work, is keeping up their lawn. Last year I didn’t mow at all. I didn’t have time, because there was so much work to be done finishing the house. Nor did I have a lawn mower until today. The biggest factor that made me decide to give up and mow is that I want to walk and putter outside without being afraid that I might step on a snake. And besides, a certain amount of lawn is like an extension of the house, as are porches and decks.

I did some thinking and research before I decided on a mower. The area around my house is very hilly and uneven. So I figured I needed a riding mower that was as narrow and flexible as possible. I pretty quickly zoomed in on the Snapper mowers. As far as I could determine, Snapper makes the narrowest riding mower available — 28 inches. The front and rear suspensions are independent so that it flexes nicely over uneven terrain. Another plus was that the engine is in the back, with its weight on the rear wheels to improve traction. Because I lived in apartments in San Francisco and didn’t have to deal with such things, today was the first time I’ve used a lawn mower in almost 20 years. This is the first riding mower I’ve ever owned.

I took it for a spin and was amazed. I had not really expected to be able to mow my entire backyard and orchard area, because it’s very steep back there, but I was amazed how well the mower Jeeped up and down my hillside. I ended up bush-hogging my entire orchard area, clearing out the briars, tiny trees, and standing thatch from last year’s thick grass, which grew to about three feet tall.

It’s going to look great when the grass turns green.

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What my backyard looked like last May

Let's hear it for the chickens

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March 4: four eggs. There are three nests in the henhouse, but they always share and take turns.

My four chickens have averaged slightly better than three eggs a day all winter, and it was a cold winter. Even though it’s still early March, they’re already starting to return to their four-eggs-a-day standard of productivity. They have only ever broken one egg, and that was when they were young and inexperienced. I myself have accidentally broken three or four.

They are content, yet demanding, always hoping for treats, which they get, every day. Sometimes the best I can do is cut up some raw potatoes or carrots, or maybe apples, or pluck the outer leaves from a head of cabbage. Their favorite treats are kitchen scraps — peelings and leftovers. Pasta drives them wild. They seem to think it’s worms. On cold mornings they relish a warm breakfast — cracked grains mixed with leftover gravy or soup. During the summer, finding treats for them is easy because the kitchen always has lots of summer produce. During the winter, treats are more of a challenge. They always have laying mash in their feeder. But it’s treats that keep things interesting.

Newspapers and magazines are full of stories about backyard chickens these days, but here’s one of the best pieces I’ve come across. Peter Lennox, an academic, waxes philosophical on the keeping of chickens:

Watching chickens is a very old human pastime, and the forerunner of psychology, sociology and management theory. Sometimes understanding yourself can be made easier by projection on to others. Watching chickens helps us understand human motivations and interactions, which is doubtless why so many words and phrases in common parlance are redolent of the hen yard: “pecking order”, “cockiness”, “ruffling somebody’s feathers”, “taking somebody under your wing”, “fussing like a mother hen”, “strutting”, a “bantamweight fighter”, “clipping someone’s wings”, “beady eyes”, “chicks”, “to crow”, “to flock”, “get in a flap”, “coming home to roost”, “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”, “nest eggs” and “preening”.

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On bread and bakeware

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I bought an iron skillet only three weeks ago, but it has already become my favorite pan for baking. Whether it’s biscuits, cornbread, or rolls, the iron pan produces the most even baking and the best crusts, both top and bottom.

Today’s rolls contained both cashews and soy flour. I continue with my experiments to try to produce a truly good bread with the lowest glycemic index possible. Just using whole wheat flour, of course, is better than white flour. But I don’t regard whole wheat alone as a true glycemic-friendly food.

Some of my experiments have involved brans, both wheat bran and oat bran. Bran, though, makes a coarse, not very tasty bread. I’ve also tried flax seed meal. But there’s something about the consistency of the flax seed that detracts from a really satisfying bread-eating experience.

One way to lower the glycemic index of bread is to add protein. For today’s bread, I whizzed in a blender half a cup of cashews in a cup and a quarter of water. I added a little more than a quarter of a cup of soy flour, then enough whole wheat flour to make the dough. It was pretty darn good bread.

There are some low-cost iron skillets from China on the market, but I’m sure you’d be much happier with an American-made skillet from Lodge.

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The rolls always fall out of the iron skillet clean as a whistle.

And again…

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If we had to have one of the snowiest winters I can remember, even from my young’unhood, I’m glad it was the winter after I was safely moved into a cozy new house with a good heating system and a fireplace.

This photo was taken from the deck behind the house. It clearly shows the slope of the hillside I live on.