Tuesday May 17 - Hilary comes to visit - Lardy Cake

Hilary came for the day by train from Newport. She was met by a platform man at the station and handed over to us.  Yalena is very good on trains as she sits quietly under the seat or table.  We walked over to the Old Mill at Harnum where Yalena was let off to run around on the grass and she quickly jumped into the water.

She loves chasing after the ducks

Having given Yalena some exercise we had a long lunch in the pub garden after which we went for a walk along the river.  Yalena was not working as we took Hilary's arm.  The dog was chasing after sticks and playing with other dogs' balls.  At one point she made a mad dash into the river only to find the water was quite deep so she had to swim around.  Her fur quickly dried off and the water doesn't seem to penetrate to the skin.

WE saw a kingfisher sitting on a twig close to the water.  I first saw the orange brown breast then it turned sideways to reveal its beautiful iridescent green back - like a large humming bird and so different from the north American variety.

On the way back into town we noticed the sheep in the field have all been shorn.

A walk through town in worsening weather and we took Hilary back to the station where a platform attendant found a seat for her with a table which would give Yalena more room to go to sleep.  She is a very good dog when she is working but with all the exercise she had had she was looking a little sleepy and probably enjoyed a nap on the train back.

I found a lardy cake in a local bakery.  It is sweet and full of fat,  Very good but should only be eaten in small quantities.

Lardy cake, also known as lardy bread, lardy Johns, dough cake and fourses cake is a traditional rich spiced form of bread found in several southern counties of England each claiming to provide the original recipe. It remains a popular weekend tea cake in some of the southern counties including Wiltshire. 

The main ingredients are freshly rendered lard, flour, sugar, spices, currants and raisins. The cake is made by layering thinly rolled dough with the other ingredients. It should be turned upside down after baking so the lard can soak through. Despite contemporary concerns about high-calorie, high-fat foods, it is still widely eaten, However, lard, which is made from pigs, which are reared in large numbers in this area, has a significantly lower proportion of saturated fats than butter, a common cake ingredient.