Blood and sausage

Flo and Eben want a duck and a rabbit and having been told that they would be to eat Florence has devised a plan of reproduction to ensure she always has a pet duck. We'll see if they have any at the next foire in Corbigny. There used to be loads of people selling poultry and rabbits but with changing habits and the worry of bird flu it has diminished and last month there was only one seller. We mentioned it to Robert when he was here earlier and he says he remembers being 5 or 6 and them living in one room with a dirt floor and a bed for his parents and one for him and his sister. His parents were killing a duck and his mother held it whilst his father chopped its head off. She then let go and the thing ran headless under one of the beds whilst spraying blood all over the place. A duck may only have a pint of blood but it would look like a damn site more when it was sprayed all over your house! He also told us of the time when they were sticking a pig. The butcher arrived and whilst six people held the pig (weighing about 150kg) he stuck the knife in its throat. Normally one of the women would have come in with a bucket to catch the blood for making black pudding but the people holding the pig let go and it ran off with the knife in its neck. The village chased after it complete with bucket to collect any left over blood. The pig ran for 2km and down a gully and came to rest under a bridge. Needless to say that year there was no boudin (black sausage) and everyone had to help with dragging the now dead pig back up the 2km to the village.