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I’ve just remembered that back in the day, the same thing used to apply to pig-killing too!

Not Olives, no, but acres of bleedin’ potatoes, and stone-picking too! Mind, I must admit that the fields were generally quite flat, so I’ll give you that one. The worse of it was having to occasionally work with a gang of overly excitable, feral women - they scared the hell out of me! It was...

There is even a mild culinary version that you can plant from bought seed, which doesn’t have quite such a bitter taste.

In the Black Country we called this game ‘buggy’ or ‘buggy-warning’ - and it usually ended in tears; especially if some fat kid joined in!

Yep, the correct pronunciation is indeed ‘forrid’ - although it was spelled as an abbreviation of forehead, but I cannot now recall exactly how. ‘Forehead’ is actually an anatomical term, which has only relatively recently gained in popularity. ‘Recent’ to me being the last fifty years!

One of the old names for ‘dandelion’ was ‘wet-a-bed’ - and with some cause, as they were once frequently used in medicine as a diuretic. They also have an amazingly therapeutic effect upon dodgy gallbladders.

Alberta: how lovely to have been born, and part-raised, amidst the Staffordshire moorlands. Even to this day one of the areas of England least explored, and yet often very beautiful.

I recently came across a mention of the ‘white rabbits’ saying, in a book about folk lore, legends, and witchcraft; although there was no explanation as to why it was said, or why it was said when there was an ‘r’ in the month - but seemingly it was originally said whilst turning ‘three times...

I still occasionally say ‘oss road’ - I don’t think I ever heard it as ‘orse road, leastways not in the Black Country.

“Donny” derives from an old Norman-French expression, which I think I might have written something about, elsewhere on this site; but I can’t now recall the exact meaning ... sighs, it comes to us all ...

Worked in a photographer’s shop 1962-64, from just turned the age of ten. Began 8.30AM to 6.30Pm, for ten shillings for the first year, and £1 for the second. Began the day sweeping-up outside the shop, mopping the doorway and, if necessary, polishing the store window; vacuumed front of...

No body parts as yet, but I have several more ‘finds’ which I shall photograph and upload - my i-pad camera has died, so I’ll have to get someone else to do it for me. Apropos my post of Wednesday: as stated, I used my washing-line ‘prop’ to stir up the silt and, as was almost inevitable...

I’ve been using a metal detector for years, and have had several models, the price of which increases every time; but the best detectors are very expensive indeed. Which is why I’m now amusing myself with magnet fishing - magnets are relatively cheap, they don’t require expensive batteries, or...

Recently came across another old rural name for lunch: ‘Baggins’ (baggings) - delivered to field workers by their wives/children, in tightly woven flour sacks, of the smaller variety; which were relatively narrow, compared to their length. Perhaps the origin of R.R.Tolkien's ‘Bilbo Baggins’...

Newcastle Uni had them too, in a relatively new tower block during the 1980’s - I don’t know if they are still in use. I was always nervous when using them, often waiting until an empty one came along. I used to hate it when trying to get off when others were trying to get on. I wonder if...

I saw a YouTube video of someone actually catching someone’s lost magnet - they were ace pleased! I tried mine out for the first time, this afternoon, just for half an hour, in the village stream. I am now the proud owner of a kiddie’s matchbox-type car: an early 1970’s model Toyota...

That’s always a possibility, as we are an outlying part of the Otterburn military training area. I’ve found loads of stuff over the years, just whilst out for a walk: ammunition, knives, spent mortar rounds, sleeping bags, water bottles, backpacks (one containing a full radio kit - which I...

Oddly enough, my daughter found an old kettle, lying in the village stream. I nailed it, spout down, to the back of my shed, and a variety of birds have since nested in it. No real otters as yet; despite laying box-traps, there are too many mink about the place - nasty wee vicious buggers...

I could do with a shopping-trolley for use in the garden, but I doubt there are many, here in the depth of the forest, in Northumberland. I’d more likely turn up bits of old tractor, and other discarded farm machinery. I’ll just have settle for the odd Viking sword, or two.