13th February 2024 - Trackers, Stores, and Crempog

Thought for the day :"The word incorrectly is spelled incorrectly in every dictionary"

Rain 30 : Dry 13

Bag 10 still...

Incident free trip to Cardiff Airport to drop Susie off for 4am. 

Rain didn't start until the return journey.

Cardiff Airport is a sensible one - drop off is free if you can get in and out in 3 minutes, they only start charging after that so managed to do it without cost.

Got back at 6am and decided that I would feed the dogs their breakfast and stay up until 9am to see if the duck door was working properly. At 8.45am I got there and let the chickens out - didn't take my phone s was unsure of the time and pressed button of the automatic door to see how it was set. Of course pressed the open button and it started opening.

Will try again tomorrow !!

But walked the perimeter with the new tracker system which seemed to be working though a little slow on the catch up...

Had breakfast and went back to catch up on some sleep until midday.

Wendy and Mark came around with Bob and despite the rain we decided to take them out -and they expended a lot of energy!! Think the dogs will rest a bit for the rest of the day.

With their help emptied the machinery shed and loaned them the log splitter and the rotovator. The first on short term for them to clear their back log (no pun), the rotovator on long time loan- we don't use it at the moment so it may as well be sitting somewhere where it can be used. and I can do with the space though I do not want to lose it entirely.

Some interesting fungi on the way around

Rest of the day has been quiet. 

In other news:

Today is the feast day of Saint Dyfnog - St David's bee-keeper.

Dyfnog is commemorated at the church of St Dyfnog in Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch near Ruthin in Denbighshire. It is near here that Dyfynog is said to have established his cell and holy well near a waterfall. He is also said to have performed penance by standing in the cold water under the waterfall wearing an iron chain belt and hair shirt. His holy well was one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Wales as it was said to cure smallpox, deafness, dumbness and itching. Interestingly, his church contains a 16th century Tree of Jesse stained glass window, which has been described as the finest glass window in Wales.

Also - Welsh Pancake Day 

Shrove Tuesday - Dydd Mawrth Ynyd, which is also known as Pancake Day - Dydd Crempog, usually falls in February but sometimes early March.

It is the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent and therefore, traditionally the last day of feasting before the fasting of Lent, when the last supplies of flour, eggs, butter and milk were used up to make pancakes.

Crempog is the traditional Welsh pancake and was made on a flat bake stone griddle. It is thicker than the British/French crepe and can be made with or without yeast, with buttermilk, oats or speckled with raisins or currants.

Some Welsh traditions at Shrove Tuesday.

* It was a custom in country districts to 'thrash the hen'. The hen would be buried in a hole in the ground with only its head sticking out. Blindfolded youths would then try to hit the hen with a stick and if they succeeded, they would keep it for a family meal the following day.

* In Kidwelly on the eve of Shrove Tuesday, tin cans were kicked up and down the streets to commemorate the putting away of all the working utensils and pots and pans that would not be used during Lent.

* In a few areas, the Christmas decorations were not taken down until Shrove Tuesday, when they were removed and burned during the pancake feast.

* There is a suggestion that the English crumpet may have developed from the Welsh word, crempog.

Cheers !