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Real Food For Dogs
The Holistic Approach to Health and Nutrition
John Burns' Blog
Price of wheat; TB testing; Gregory’s Girl; memory loss
Price of Wheat
My
mother in law has given me a copy of the Western Mail Farming Section from
June 1995. Wheat was £124 a tonne. This week the Farmers Weekly is quoting
£93 a tonne.
TB Testing
Countryfile highlighted the problem of TB in cattle which is rife
in Wales and the West Country. Cattle are tested using a measured dose of tuberculin
using a McLintock Syringe. This was designed and patented by veterinary surgeon
John McLintock and his brother who was an engineer. As a student I saw equine
practice with John in Norwich. He was a tiny, very wiry man who came from Paisley
in Renfrewshire. He had about 20 vets in the practice which was unheard of
in 1970. On the rounds he would ask me all sorts of questions on anatomy and
when I didn’t get it right I had to go and read up on it at lunchtime. He also
developed a special technique for rumenotomy on cattle, an operation to remove
wire from a cow’s stomach. This was a common problem in the days when hay bales
were tied with wire rather than twine and the cows would eat stray pieces of
wire. His method involved a rubber sheet (normally used to keep the mattress
dry when a child wet the bed), a section of old car tyre inner tubing and a
pram wheel. I don’t think that was patentable.
Gregory's Girl
Last week marked the 30th anniversary
of the release of the film Gregory’s Girl which was celebrated by a reunion
by the cast in Glasgow. I thought it was just me but the film is one of the
best loved British films with a huge following. I’ve watched it many times
but I always get a buzz. A few weeks ago I retired to bed leaving our youngest
(Ewan Gregory!) watching it. I could hear his roars of laughter and next morning
he was still enthusing about it.
Memory Loss
On Sunday I came into the kitchen to the strains
of Classic FM which was playing a section of Chopin’s “Andante Spianato”, a
piece I tried to learn when I was about twelve. As it progressed it became
less familiar; it was actually a piece by Grieg. Plagiarism or coincidence?
I decided finally it was my memory which was faulty.
