Changing sausages

It would appear that as 2012 progresses my blogging does the opposite. I have not been as prolific in the past few weeks and need to get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis especially as the itinerary for the sausage trail is filling up. The subject of actually writing the book has begun to plague me recently, when I say recently I mean this morning, with the question foremost in my mind of how to turn the twenty-thousand or more words into a meaningful and interesting chapter on the finest sausage traditions of the Shetland Islands. I am hoping that my missus will be able to help me out with this as she is turning into a very competent editor.

Next, a bit of an experiment to see if anyone actually reads my blog. The sausage calendar, for those not aware it sits at the bottom of the blog page, is experiencing a drastic revamp (I do hate that word) as the Shetland trip has proved that my initial approach was somewhat hopeful and flawed. I now understand that the key to the success (or failure) of the sausage trail completely relies on the people involved with the selected events, locations and activities so much so that anything that I did have planned where I do not a potential contact will be removed from the calendar. One of the potential new activities involves a visit to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Farm Cottage for a course on sausage-making, Emma doesn't know yet but I hope she'll be able to share the experience with me. The course colourfully termed, 'pig in a day' involves all activities from butchering a carcass to making the end product and should give an insight to the whole sausage experience and put my quest into context.

Sausages aside, dad is thankfully making a swift and strong recovery and will hopefully be fully able to move into the caravan when it opens in a couple of weeks. Emma has been tremendously supportive with all of my ridiculous ideas and deserves more credit. I hope that when the time comes and I do get a publisher for the sausage trail I will be able to credit her as she deserves.