Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

Tom ,what were reasons for and against moving on?

is it a seasonal thing, environmental conditions?

During wagon times it was necessary to move on because of the the limited range of your transport. (Horse & cart, bicycle)

Once you had plied your trade in the local town/villages, you had to move of to bring more within range.

Sometimes you would have to move because local people had taken against you, the "School man" had been round, or the police had told you it was time to move on.

Sometimes you would move just because your feet were itchy. For a Gypsy, moving, or "Shifting" as we call it, was the cure for everything.

As the years went by, Gypsies would shift less and less when they wanted to, and more and more when they had to.


As kids, we used to love shifting, and even now, there isn't a Gypsy man alive who's heart doesn't beat faster when he yokes a horse, or drops a ball-hitch on to a tow bar.

[RED-DOG]

During the 60s and 70s we lost most of our traditional stopping places.


Pic one shows a traditional stopping place that has been used for generations.

Pic two shows the same place a few weeks later.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

OK. I'm starting my bucket list. It's in no particular order, I'll add things as they occur to me.

See a glacier and an iceberg.

Bag a nice Munro.

Bite Sarah's bum.

[RED-DOG]

So I intended to go to DTD today to play the £50, but I felt a bit crook and I couldn't seem to get going.

I faffed about a bit, and now here it is, twenty to seven and I'm watching a chick flick with Mrs Red.

I might go and play a bit of cash later.

Re-engaging faff mode..... faff mode re-engaged.

[RED-DOG]

Chick flick finished.

Do you think the ending was

A: Thrilling

B: Satisfying

C: Predictable

E: As dull as ditch water

[Colchester Kev]

Chick flick finished.

Do you think the ending was

A: Thrilling

B: Satisfying

C: Predictable

E: As dull as ditch water

"D" for me.

[RED-DOG]

Chick flick finished.

Do you think the ending was

A: Thrilling

B: Satisfying

C: Predictable

E: As dull as ditch water

"D" for me.

 

[RED-DOG]

Well I never did get to DTD last night. I faffed and fretted until it was too late to go, and then, once I had no decisions to make, I relaxed and watched "Rock & Chips" on the BBC iplayer.

I thought it was nicely done and worked well as a stand alone drama, but then why should it be otherwise?

John Sullivan is a great writer, and great writers can make any subject interesting. Bill Bryson can write about going into a snack-bar for a cup of tea on a wet Wednesday afternoon and have you crying with laughter. Stephen King could write about the same thing, and make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Either one could make the list of ingredients on a sugar bag interesting.

OFAH is by far the nation's favorite, but we shouldn't forget that Sullivan has a string of successful sitcom's under his belt. My pick of the others would be "Just Good Friends" but that's just because I fancied Jan Francis. (Remember her? She played Penny opposite Paul Nicholas's Vince)

I don't think JS will ever again reach the dizzy heights of 386 Nelson Mandella house, but he's only 63, I'm sure there's still some great stuff to come.

[Colchester Kev]

JGF was spot on ... Vince was quality, every bloke wanted to be him.

[RED-DOG]

JGF was spot on ... Vince was quality, every bloke wanted to be him.

Admit it, you had a crush on Pen too, didn't you?

[sovietsong]

This gent's job for the day is to tend the fire and make sure the pots don't boil dry or boil over.

The two four-gallon pots will contain enough food to feed three generations of the family.

My best guess at the contents is bacon bones, and vegetables washed in the stainless steel bowl that the woman is holding.

Mrs Red calls me "An old pot watcher"

Click to see full-size image.

Red i love cooking and would really like it if you could post some traditional Gypsy recipes.  I assume that as money was tight a lot of meals would invlove what ever you had been put in a pot.  I dont think ive ever had bacon bones!

[Colchester Kev]

JGF was spot on ... Vince was quality, every bloke wanted to be him.

Admit it, you had a crush on Pen too, didn't you?

Obv, bit of posh werent it

[Colchester Kev]

This gent's job for the day is to tend the fire and make sure the pots don't boil dry or boil over.

The two four-gallon pots will contain enough food to feed three generations of the family.

My best guess at the contents is bacon bones, and vegetables washed in the stainless steel bowl that the woman is holding.

Mrs Red calls me "An old pot watcher"

Click to see full-size image.

Red i love cooking and would really like it if you could post some traditional Gypsy recipes.  I assume that as money was tight a lot of meals would invlove what ever you had been put in a pot.  I dont think ive ever had bacon bones!

Still waiting for my Summer invite to Red towers for a Mrs Red prepared Rabbit stew cooked outside like that.

[RED-DOG]

Red i love cooking and would really like it if you could post some traditional Gypsy recipes.  I assume that as money was tight a lot of meals would invlove what ever you had been put in a pot.  I dont think ive ever had bacon bones!

Cooking outdoors on an open fire is fabulous Sov. Especially frying, you can make as much mess as you like, spatter fat all over the place and it doesn't matter.

Gypsy recipes are very much what you would expect, anything that's cheap and will fill a lot of bellies.

Typically, we would have two "Proper" meals a day. Breakfast was usually something fried, often just a couple of eggs on a thick slice of bread that had been dipped in the fat, but every now and then, it would be accompanied by a sausage or a couple of rashers of home-cured bacon.

Everyone should try real home-cured bacon at least once before they die. (If you haven't had it yet, add it to your bucket list immediately) Be careful though, don't be fobbed off with any old balla mas (Romany for pig meat) Proper home-cured is really difficult to find these days. You can't buy it in the supermarket, (No matter what it says on the label)

Real home cured bacon is best when it has been dry-cured rather than salted. You will know when you have found a genuine piece because it will be tied up in a muslin bag and hanging from the rafters of some ancient butchers shop in a tiny village, perhaps somewhere along the Fosseway or some such.

The butcher will lower it down on the end of a long wooden pole, and unwrap it so that you can see. He will undo the layers of muslin with an air of pride, like a new mother unwrapping layers of swaddling to show off her new born babe.

The bacon will be almost coal black, absolutely dry, and as hard as iron. If you tap it, it will sound like you are knocking on an old oak door, and (The acid test) if it genuinely is the real McCoy, the butcher won't want to sell it to you until you prove that you appreciate how good it is.


I almost never have any real home-cured bacon any more. I used to be able to find it when I was out hawking because I used to go to all those little out of the way places and talk to out of the way people.

If I do find any, I'm obliged (On pain of death) to share it with my brother Tracy, and likewise he with me.

I have the best end of that bargain, he was always the better hawker.

Have to go out now, more about outdoor cooking later.