20th November - Spit Roast

Turning a pig by the light of the moon

Today's blogging is really just an excuse to post a few pictures of a pig turning on a spit, though I shall try to fill in the last couple of days a little bit as well.

Shooting on Saturday morning was fine, but marred a little by the knowledge that I had a concert to perform later. I had one appalling attempt at a hen bird which left me wondering if I'd ever been able to shoot the dammed things but I did knock down a jay as I waited at the end of a shore. I regretted that really, for despite the shot being a nice bit of snap shooting, I already have blue feathers in my hat and what harm do they really do?

Practising at D&G’s is a rather civilised affair and an Earl Grey blend, taken with a slice of fruitcake was just the thing to alter my mindset from country boy to performer. The concert, despite being a modest affair, was very successful. I genuinely believe that people were entertained and that being the sole objective negated concerns over voice trembles, cords not meeting and other singery worries. Old Man River went down particularly well and I was rather embarrassingly showered with compliments as I ploughed through two complimentary plates of beef casserole (the beef wasn't saying I had done well, it was just free).

The spit roast was, as spit roasts always are, tiring, hot, a little stressful and ultimately satisfy. Kindling the fire pits in thick fog at 4:45 AM proved a challenge but after the embers had built up the cooking process was rather uneventful save for a couple of big fat flare ups. The meat proved to be rather good and though to my shame I cannot claim it was ‘cooked to turn’ (we could have done with a couple more hours) when C and I carved the beast at 1:30 PM there were mounds of succulent pork. The taste was superb, but whether that was due to the acorns, the breed, the age or the copious fat on the thing I shall never know.