+- Cuisine at home Forums (https://forums.cuisineathome.com)
+-- Thread: A quiet life, sort of... (/showthread.php?tid=19409)
A quiet life, sort of... - vannin - 06-07-2006
I have spent the last three days at my daughters house. Blazing fire and wine in the evening. With thick chicken and corn soup. Spag. Bol. and all sorts of yummy things. Waking in the morning, sitting up in bed to see nothing but rolling hills, bush, chalk cliffs. Sheep and horses. We had stunning days, early winter sun, I topped up on my vit D. It was hot for about 6 hours until the fireplace winked us back. Luncheon, the kune kune pig, kept watch from the fence line. With all appropriate sound effects, and we talked about things. Old things and new things, and the chooks and pheasants decorated the paddock. The fantails, so free, mocked the budgies, so caged, and the pair of hawks circled. Which of them is better off? Her (now two) dogs wrestled the days away, and even little Daisy sallied forth to contribute. Cautiously, you understand, we can't have unbridled bouncing, she is a Lady you know. And could get stood on. That would never do, it would not. Elizabeths Rotador is filling out by the day. He now has the serious shoulders of the rottweiler, with the dozy temperament of the labrador. Unless someone comes. Then he is a rotty, but the rest of the time he is a labradoodle. Lacy is still a tall puppy. Had a rude word of a life, but seems as settled as a setter/spaniel x can be under the circumstances. The peacocks were hiding down in the bush. But I could hear them. Must go looking for feathers.
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - cjs - 06-07-2006
"With all appropriate sound effects, and we talked about things. Old things and new things," - what fun, to spend some down time with your daughter!!
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - bjcotton - 06-07-2006
Yeah Jean, I'll think of you as we spend some lazy days of early summer, Dale and I, sipping grog and dozing in the sun
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - cjs - 06-07-2006
Oh that's right, it will be summer there. I'll never forget the first Christmas I spent in California after being raised in eastern Wa®shington...just something wrong with that!!
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - bjcotton - 06-07-2006
We used to sit out in the backyard in shorts, tanktops and flip flops picking cherry tomatoes off the vine on Christmas day when I lived in San Diego. Those bare red clay roof tiles and leafy trees sure looked weird for a while though. People wearing ski jackets and it's 65°F...of course, that's Southern California for you.
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - vannin - 06-08-2006
LOL Billy, et al. I can't really imagine a cold Christmas. Although we do dopey things like send Christmas cards with snowy glitter on them. February is our hottest month, but we get humidity too. That is unpleasant.
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - Lorraine - 06-08-2006
OK, I give. What's a kune kune pig?? At first I thought that was what you had for lunch!!! billy, I just can't imagine Christmas without snow. I think it's inbred in me.
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - bjcotton - 06-09-2006
Lorraine, I found this for you. These things are about as ugly as you can get.
New Zealand's kune kune pig is a friendly, compact animal with short, stumpy legs, a round, sturdy body, a short upturned snout and two tassels hanging from its lower jaw. The breed has been described as a 'Walt Disney cartoon version of a pig', with adult pigs generally not growing larger than 120kg (260 lb) and coming in a wide variety of colours, patterns and hair types.
Although once very rare, the world population of purebreds now stands at more than two thousand, with these unique little pigs living all over the world from Wales to Venezuela.
So what is it that makes these pigs so special?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical features
The word 'kune' literally translates from Maori as 'fat and round', which is a very apt name for this breed (as you can see!). This name was originally used by the Maori to distinguish the kune kune pigs from the Captain Cooker breed also present in New Zealand, which are rather more long and lean than the Kune. Captain Cookers are sometimes confused with the kune kune, but there are many differences, the most obvious being that Cookers are generally feral and larger with considerably longer snouts.
Like all pigs, the kune has a large head with no real neck, well muscled shoulders and a mobile snout which can be used for rooting up food or turning over logs, and a powerful, stocky body covered with hair.
The one most distinctive feature of the kune kune is its piri piri or dew laps that hang from the lower jaw. These are a feature found nowhere else in pigs except in Polish black and white pigs. The exact function of these structures is as yet completely unknown.
The kune kune is smaller than commercial breeds of pig; neither sexes grow much higher than 60cm (24"), longer than 80cm (31"), or heavier than 120 kg (260lb). Although the breed shows a lot of genetic diversity, the pig's body is usually quite rotund, stocky and stolid, with short, thick legs and a coat of bristly or soft hair of many possible colours, including pure black, tortoiseshell, ginger, and 'smoky blue'. The snout is short in purebreds and can be upturned to varying degrees, and the ears can be pricked or flopped depending on the particular animal. Almost all kunes display a very good temperament, which is no doubt a result of the breed's long domestication.
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - Lorraine - 06-09-2006
"short, stumpy legs, a round, sturdy body, "
Geez, Billy, for a minute there, I thought you were talking about me!!!
Thanks for the info!!
Re: A quiet life, sort of... - bjcotton - 06-09-2006
Your legs aren't short and stumpy...hee hee