General Chat

Being Burns Night I thought I would educate those who are not familiar with one of Scotlands favourite creatures ;-)

The Scottish haggis (Haggis Scoticus vulgaris ) is a shy creature that is not commonly sighted in the wild. It has adapted uniquely to the inhospitable terrain in which it lives, in that its left ipsilateral pair of legs (membra thoracici et pelvine sinistra) are considerably longer than its right ipsi- lateral pair (membra thoracici et pelvine dextra), allowing it to graze along the steep mountain slopes towards the rising sun and move through the heather.

The wild haggis is a seasonal breeder with a gestation period of 56 days. Mating takes place on November 30, when libido increases as a result of the few wee drams partaken at St Andrew’s night parties up in the glens. As a result of these indiscretions, most hagglets are born on January 25.

It is also on this date that the annual cull of mature hag-gii takes place. With the stappit (pregnant haggs) safely in their burrows, the entire village helps to drive the rest of the haggis scuddle towards the end of the glen where, forced to turn abruptly in a confined space, they are incapacitated by their uneven leg length and lose their footing to tumble down into strategically placed nets. The size of the mesh is carefully regulated to ensure that only mature animals are ensnared.

The writings of Rabbie Burns greatly increased the popularity of the haggis as a culinary delicacy (Burns 1786), and the day of the annual cull is now celebrated by Burns’ suppers.

However, because the harsh climate limits wild haggis fank (litter) size to only two or three hagglet, and most of the haggii for production in Scotland are now farmed to cope with demand, while preserving wild stocks.

:-D :-D :-D

So what are you going to do Barb ;-)

Hiyah Fly :-D <3

Don't look Barbs...... :-D

Oh dashing away with the smoothing iron
she stole my heart away...... :-S :-S :-D

Hiya Barb :-D <3 hide it ;-)

My ironing keeps looking at me :-0 :-0

I'm gonnna diddle for a bit longer so :-P :-P :-P to it :-D :-D

diddlin away Barbs :-D Just diddlin away :-D

Alls good in the hood Barbs :-D ;-)

Hi there One Foot , hows you ??

Dirty word in this house too. Who invented it ?? I hate it :-( :-(

Hi Emma <3 just had our dinner, the first roast for 3 weeks. OH happy now ;-) ;-)

Flippin cold and due to get colder I believe :-( :-(

Hows everything up there in Bonnie Aberdeen :-D

Hiya Barbs <3 ironing sounds like a swear word :-D

Hiya Barbs <3 :-)

How are you and yours today Sis :-D

Go Andy... go Andy yehhhhhhhh :-D

now..... ironing or chat ????? ironing or chat ???? hm um..... uh...

hi everyone :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Good for him Footy <3

I'm lucky that I have my OH to look after me
and our family are in touch everyday and near
enough to visit, when they are out they phone to
see if we need any shopping so nothing to complain
about here really :-D :-D

Emma <3 I can empathise with you about the weather restricting whether people with mobility difficulties can get out and about on their own - can be very annoying, especially if one has run out of fags :-D

And at last a bit of good news for a change :-) Andy Murray is through to the quarter finals in Australia :-)

We had a power cut yesterday and needed to go
to the reading room :-D
Well you can imagine me getting up stairs with
chairlift being off, R and I were in fits of laughing
but it wasn't funny later in the evening.
It is what it is Fly. loads of people worse off than me :-D

Dinners ready :-D

I can understand that Emma and your pain will be worse when it is cold and damp <3

Emma <3 I'm fine thanks ;-) just whiling away the day :-D

It's difficult at this time of year, depends on level
of pain and I use wheelchair or mobility scooter
so weather is a factor also.
Appointments I keep cause I have to. :-)