Sunday 29 December 2013

The Fifth Veg/Day of Christmas - Slithery Guests

Today is the fifth day of Christmas. Sunday 29th December. Time I think to start a few of my clean the house resolutions.

Breakfast washed up and cleared away, I emptied the dehumidifier (how eco friendly of me) into a red bucket and set about removing leaves and guck from the overhangs outside my front doors. Rather a mucky affair.

That little task out of the way, it was time for lunch.....

Then I noticed that inside the windows needed a clean. So up the ladder I climbed. The vacuum made wonderful squealing noised as it sucked up the gross creations that had deposited themselves on top of the window ledges. 

Bucket of water and a cloth in hand, I attempted to rescale the ladders. But what was that? something wriggled, or did it slither in amongst the overhang? Eyes wide, I realised what I was staring at. A snake. 


A delightfully pretty paradise tree snake. Pretty, yes, but like all pretty things, they do not have a pleasant temperament - rather aggressive and mildly venomous, I closed the front door and called for help.


And here is:

THE FIFTH VEG OF CHRISTMAS




On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me,
Five golden corn.


Corn is also known as maize, and growing up in England, I knew it as both. It was a treat having corn on the cob for a dinner starter. Lightly boiled, drizzled with butter and sprinkled with pepper, then crunch. Yum. Hard to think that it is and was used as animal feed.

Maize was first cultivated by the Mayans and only came to Europe in 15th and 16th centuries.

Nowadays, it has become a popular source of ethanol. Bio Fuel. And now we are running out of food to feed a growing population as we seek an alternative to fossil fuels. Whatever happened to wind power (wind mills), water power (water mills) and the sun? 

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