A bit about pigs, the wind and other things.

It's a tad drafty at the moment so we have stayed put, in fact no one seems to be moving on the cut. We decided on a stroll yesterday and Marmite insisted that she accompany us; she has never been an enthusiastic rambler and with increasing age her enthusiasm has waned even further so walks with her are inclined to be somewhat curtailed, but even a short walk is better than none.

It's an old folk belief that pigs can see the wind, I often wonder what they would see, little arrows as on a weather map? Or maybe just lines of varying colour depending on temperature?

Churchill once said that he liked pigs because,"Cats look down on us, dogs look up to us but pigs treat us as equals," food for thought.

As is:

'Twas an evening in October, I'll confess I wasn't sober,

I was carting home a load with manly pride,

When my feet began to stutter I lay down in the gutter

And a pig came up and lay down by my side.

I lay there in the gutter and my heart was all a flutter

'till a lady passing by was heard to say,

"You can tell a man who boozes by the company he chooses,"

And the pig got up and slowly walked away.

The country around here is mostly arable and somewhat flat.

The canal winds its way across the landscape and because of the lack of orogeny in the area they never had to bother with expensive toys like locks, must have saved a bob or two on construction costs.

The last regular long distance coal traffic on the canal system was on the Ashby with coal being shipped south from Gopsall wharf until the 1970's. Would the old boatmen have allowed a bit of wind to stop them moving? I wouldn't have thought so, thankfully we can sit quite happily while it blows itself out.