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16 October 2014

Hermit Life


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A Glut O` Eggs

Each morning noo, when I wake up and open the bedroom curtains, I`m greeted by a half dozen eggs on the lawn. They are duck eggs...ducks, no` the brightest o` creatures, will lay their eggs any auld whar, and then walk off and leave them tae the crows.
Well, I`m no` ower fond o` crows, and would like no` tae attract them tae the garden if possible, so yours truly toddles oot o` a morning in her jammies and slippers, tae collect the duck eggs and bring them indoors.
I dinnae actually like the taste o` duck eggs meself...too `eggy`...but I hand them on tae folks wha` dae.
And noo oor chickens are well intae laying, wi` the lighter nights and longer days, we hae a wheen o` hen eggs. There`s nae point in selling ony tae the local shops, just aboot a`body here keeps hens and has eggs. So each year I`m looking for 101 new things tae dae wi` hen eggs.
So far, I can only manage these...I pickle big jars o` eggs, when we hae visitors later in the year and go for island walks, they always like, packed in the picnic basket, pickled eggs.
I seperate the yolks and eggs and put them in the freezer in big bags. See, ye can tan skins wi` egg yolks, it tak`s the place o` auld fashioned brain tanning. So I store eggs to help mak` buckskins.
I bake! Cakes, biscuits, onything which has eggs in the recipe, I bake and freeze.
Aside frae that though, I am fresh oot o` eggy ideas. We hae mair eggs than we can eat.

Och and see there! On the telly this morning, the weather report. All o` the UK basking in sunshine, temperatures tae grace a summers day on the beach.
Then I look oot the window...it`s chucking it doon, misty, cauld and damp.
I reckon they should mak weather reporters tak some kind o` course in reality whar they could at least phone up some wee chappie in the North Isles and ask him what the weather is really doing that day. Tsk.

Each morning I am serenaded by the wren which is nesting in an auld ivy covered pillar aside the hoose. For such a wee bird, there is a hearty voice! I love tae hear, each spring, the wren and the blackbird sing. Like liquid gold they are, songs full o` sunlight and ease and long balmy days.
Though, in reality, they are marking their territory and sending oot a cross atween mating calls and `let`s fight!` tae other birds...
We hae a lot o` wild birds aroond us. A lot o that is due tae the fact that they are used to feeding off the grain we put oot for the poultry, none o` which is grudged in ony way. So most days the place is full o` sparrows and starlings, blackbirds and gulls and the moorhens wha` seem tae hae adopted us and are almost tame enough tae pick up noo. Ower by the pond at the side o` the track we watch herons fish, wi` that lovely kind o` auld mannish patience and watch swans glide across the glassy water, or the smaller wild ducks, all backsides-up as they feed off the bottom o` the shallow bit of water. Aroond the pond are flag irises, which mak a bonny sea o` yellow and green later in the year, and wild flowers like ragged robin, wild orchids, clover and vetch....Orkney is always a richt bonny sight each year, a carpet o` wildflowers atop a sea o` green, what we lack in hill and forest we more than mak up for wi` this display o` colour and scent.
The landscape wakes up this time o` year. Birds mate and fight, the soil warms up and enfolds the seed, and the whole feel o` the landscape is kinder, more amenable tae us humans wha` need tae mak a living off it. There`s a fine energy aboot the place that cannae be dampened doon even in the face o` yet another rainy day.
I wouldnae trade the song o` that wren ootside me window for anything this day. Ye can keep your big cities, wi` the hustle o` ower mony folks and the roar o` ower mony cars. I`ll keep the sound o` the sea kissing the shingle shore and the pure, clean song o` the birds.
It`s a fine life, being a hermit.
Posted on Hermit Life at 07:16

Comments

Yes, ducks are not as bright as geese (it would seem) and not as manageable as chickens. I was always so furious when I lived in Georgia (property had a fair sized pond) and the ducks (massive Rouens they were too, if I remember correctly) would lay their eggs along the periphery in a foot or more of water. Clearly some important genes disappeared when they were domesticated and in the selection favoring meat production. Duck eggs don't taste as good as chicken eggs, and I don't care if 1 billion or more Chinese think otherwise.

mjc from NM,USA


I prefer duck eggs. The whites are whiter and more substantial and the yolks area so big and sunflowery coloured. And those three blown goosey eggs made two very substantial and tasty omelettes..... Fpu has been chasing a pair of indigent mallards off Pond1, because they were muddying the waters and tearing up the pondweed. The sticklebricks have all disappeared! I'm off to guddle tadpoles...

Flying Cat from dribblingalloverthejoint


yup, i agree ducks eggs to me don't taste like eggs somehow,okay i'm weird, but i didn't know you could could freeze egg yolks,or whites for that matter

carol from france


I spent a summer in Orkney in 1998 and every time that I need my flagging spirits jilted up a bit I think of the place, where "real" life is happening, their in the northern isles. I thank you so much for your descriptive vignette as it is just what I needed this morning. Cheers!

Vera from Boston, Massachusetts


Carol, ye can freeze both yolks and whites, then use them for baking etc, the only thing they are no` really good for after freezing is frying, but that is just because they dinnae keep their shape sae weel. Vera, thanks for your kind words. I hope ye get back tae Orkney one day again. :)

Hermit from Sanday


Can you post a picture of that wren? I'm trying to learn what wrens look like. I find that I am beginning to LOVE bird watching. Hey Vera - I grew up in Massachusetts! In the town of Turners Falls in rural Western Mass. Small world!

Michelle Therese from Moooo! and Baaaah!


Never tried freezing eggs, will give it a go. We have hens and manage to sell most of the eggs but he cracked ones get cooked up to add to the dogs food. How about some homemade Lemon Curd? My children (away from the nest now) love when I make them some to take home.

macQ from NMtoo, USA


Very good, evocative descriptions, Hermit. I hope I will enjoy the natural life in southern Indiana, when we move there, as much as you do yours. Keeping busy won't be a problem, and hopefully I shall increase my capacity to enjoy the natural surroundings as well.

mjc from NM,USA


That must be this year's Top Culinary Tip...the number of times fpu has secreted a small plastic box full of either egg whites or yolks in the fridge, only for mpu to find the green hairy results many months later, are too many to mention. Thank you IT!

Flying Cat from Fanny Haddock's back scullery


To add to the great duck egg debate - not great fried, rubbish scrambled, but very very ood in baking! They give the griddle scones etc a lovely yellow colour. Mmmmm. If you're passing my way I'll swap you some eggs for a bottle of red clover wine. Nic from Coll, I haven't forgotten, just trying to find a tube to send the bottle!

Stromness Dragon from Nigellascakeybook


Just an idea, Hermit. You could take a basket of the duck eggs, the riper the better, at a political rally (makes no difference which one: there'll always be takers) and peddle them. 2 for 1 pound, 5 for two pounds. All for fun and profit. If I remember correctly, the duck eggs have the right heft, comparable to Rhode Island Reds' double yolk eggs. All throws are allowed: but the more spin the better. The discontented but penurious should be subsidized: one free egg for free expression. Good luck and bless you all.

mjc from NM,USA


That red clover wine sounds good SD! I mak` rhubarb wine (deadly stuff though, havenae figured oot yet how tae avoid the resultant headache afterwards) and fizzy mead (recipe discovered by accident after overdoing the citric acid)

Hermit from Sanday


I hope you're not thinking of throwing them at Tws and his Hippy Party....or maybe it was Lippy...can't quite remember. (mjc hasn't been in Stromness on Mischief Night, or he wouldn't be so free with the throwing eggs!)

Flying Cat from A husting


The last time any eggs were thrown here, was at me daughters Blackening...thankfully, they were a` fresh, as was the beer....

Hermit from Sanday


Hello MacQ, good to see you. Cavalry reinforcement is welcome any time. Anyway, lemon curd sounds good.

mjc from NM,USA


What happens on Mischief Night? and what is Blackening? It all sounds very violent :-)

Jill from safe and sound in EK


(This is pasted from the Orkneyjar site, note though, nowadays the bride tae be gets the Blackening too, at least on the Outer Isles. :) When me lassie got back hame, I had tae hose her doon ootside afore I could let her indoors. ) The Wedding Blackening There still exists within the islands a pre-wedding tradition simply referred to as "the Blackening". The Blackening is a fairly rough ceremony in which the groom-to-be is waylaid by his friends. He is stripped (winter and summer!), bound and "blackened" using a messy mixture that usually contains treacle, flour and feathers. The unfortunate groom is then paraded around on the back of a truck, while his comrades make as much noise as possible by blowing whistles, shouting, beating sticks, banging drums and generally creating a din with anything they can lay their hands on. The parade through the streets can last a few hours and it is not uncommon for the party to end up in the sea. The sight of a blackening in full swing is usually something that causes visitors to raise a quizzical eyebrow. The tradition described in recent years by the Sheriff as an "accepted breach of the peace." As to the origin of the Blackening - that I cannot say with any degree of certainty. An interesting idea is that the current Blackening ceremonies may be a corrupted variation of the old feet/hair washing traditions, the purpose of the Blackening being to ensure the groom is dirty before the washing takes place. The washing element has perhaps been forgotten over the centuries - unless, of course, we can count the unfortunate groom's dip in the cold sea water. However, now the aim is simply to get the groom as messy and drunk as possible. The general din created during the Blackening may also have some connection to the tradition of noise-making common not only during the Wedding March but at other Orkney festival times. In these cases the noise was thought to keep the trows or fairy-folk at bay, otherwise they might attempt to spirit away the bride or groom. In the realms of pure speculation but could the Blackening itself be symbolic of such a fairy abduction? It is highly unusual for a groom to go to his Blackening willingly. Off course, at the end of the day, one is also left wondering whether the noise generated is simply another way of humiliating the groom and ensuring as many people as possible see him in his sorry state.

Hermit from Sanday


hermit,any hance of your recipe for rhubarb wine???xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

carol from havingjust boughtrhubarb


Thank you Hermit for this good explanation. It sounds dreadful! Similar to barbaric customs here of tying groom to lamppost, parading bride around pubs etc with funny hat and paper flowers, also lots of noise and utensil rattling. My own colleagues were threatened with a painful death if they even *tried* any such thing when I got married ... But the Orkney way sounds much worse! I'm sure these customs are rooted in pagan times, warding off fairies or evil spirits etc but the humiliation element is pretty strong, I would say. Some people just love that kind of thing ...

Jill from EK


The blackening isnae sae bad as it sounds though, the truck hauling the bride and friends visits the houses on the island and they all get invited in for a drink and a bite tae eat, or if they are progressively more mucky, a bite and a drink is brought oot tae them! It`s a` guid fun and the more rowdy the Blackening is, the more guid luck is thought to come after it. :-)

Hermit from Sanday


Really funny reading through all of this, eggs and wine and "Blackening". Don't know of any really strange customs like that here. But do know the significance of good rubarb! Grandma had a good plant over there and my folks absconded with a piece to Norway back in the 70"s, "Scottie" is still producing!

macQ from NMtoo,USA


Yes! Yes! Lemon curd recipe, please!

Stromness Dragon from World of toast


"...accepted breach of the peace" - a wise sheriff, indeed. Does he get to throw an egg, or two? # I had missed the headache part following the rhubarb consumption. How bad is it, Hermit? Incapacitated for more than two days?

mjc from NM,USA


Ahhh...the wondrous, magical traditions of my dear pagan ancestors...now that's living. ;)

Vera from Boston, Massachusetts


This is a note to Hermit from Sanday. I am doing research on blackening, and would appreciate being able to quote your descriptions of this ceremony. Please respond. Thanks!

Dr. Nan from Indiana




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