Nice People 12: Nice in Nice

Generali

Hi Spirit, hope things are going well. I would guess from the much improved typing that you are on the mend to some extent. That or you've learned to take your mittens off before you post!

It's been a glorious day here today. 28C and sunny. Unfortunately I've been feeling a bit post-cancerous so haven't really been able to enjoy it.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Do many people do shoots? That's a posh alert isn't it.....


I've never been to a shoot, never been aware of them, never known anybody to go, never heard anybody speaking about them.... only ever seen them on the telly programmes.

Shoots are a posh alert: shooting costs an absolute fortune. A mate of mine does it and reckons to spend £20,000 a year on it. He does do expensive shooting though. He shoots grouse in August which really isn't cheap; even by shooting standards it's expensive.

Fox hunting however which you'd imagine would be posh isn't at all.

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

Do many people do shoots? That's a posh alert isn't it.....


I've never been to a shoot, never been aware of them, never known anybody to go, never heard anybody speaking about them.... only ever seen them on the telly programmes.

Dh hasn't been. He's been offered lots of times, but when??? I think he should go beating at least once to see what he thinks it guess is its the kind of thing he'd only be interested in half a dozen times. Horses for courses. His office go annually but I cannot think of anything worse than an office outing shoot.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

Fox hunting however which you'd imagine would be posh isn't at all.

I'd imagine it would be posh. Surely to participate you have to have access to (cost of) a horse - plus the riding gear - and riding lessons at some point - and saddle/etc - and then being able to be socially acceptable enough to socialise with those people, even if it were just in the local pub afterwards (= drinks/food money).

So ... money. But 80% of the time money does = posh as having the money gives you access to the posh lifestyle.

I can't see many people wanting to socialise with a fox hunter that turned up in a denim jacket, riding a £20 bike they got off ebay, who brought their own tins of Special Brew to sit on the pub step afterwards

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd imagine it would be posh. Surely to participate you have to have access to (cost of) a horse - plus )

No, you don't. You can follow on foot, or in a four by four and on foot.

But lots of not very well off people have horses. Have known more than a few in receipt of benefits do so ( which is not meant to opens a discussion over benefit provision is too generous, just that I have known so e do so)


different spending priorities. Back lady for a horse here comes after going to some one down the road from me. Their horse has a back person, they Live in a caravan in horses field. Might not be a choice so e here would make, but they wouldn't make choices some here do.

On foot priority is dress warm and waterproof, on horse back there is a dress code, and dress codes within the group. They differentiate who is staff, who pays what ( ease of staff, sometimes what horse not to stand behind if you don't get kicked . And, from a distance, who is a kid......) sometimes they aren't well observed.

A cheap riding jacket often stands in for a hunt coat and is cheaper than leather jacket. At the pub afterwards you drink what you want, but only some go, others are taking their horses home!

The socially acceptable, group? Construct, 'these people' socialise together not just hunting for the day happily, but at hunt social events. Looks like you'd be avoiding them more than them avoiding you.

Some hunt followers are so unposh in have literally seen baler twine used as belts, looked for features like extra fingers, and had local dialects so strong, I have had to look around for help, and I get on alright with the accents in the areas I've lived...these are something beyond. The idea that people aren't welcomed is very wide of the mark. If you mean socially people chat and make tables at hunt balls etc with people they have things in common with or know or are related to, yeah, that happens, but.....isn't that kind of normal? Other hunt events are more mingle-y which prevents that.

I'll be getting my invitation, which I'll decline, as a 'farmer' again soon, to a drinks party just for being a 'farmer ' in the area soon. These sort of social events are important to some to network and forge links and as you see, even i count as a 'farmer'


Edit: caveat some hunts are posher than others in reputation and attract more people going as guests. ( which costs more) and they have better parties generally.

Rough rule of thumb is that a hunt with 'farmers' in the name is least likely to be one of these .....so NP heartland farmers hunt would have a smaller cap ( fee payable ) than a hunt called the nice people and pronounced the NashPurple

hjd

Generali wrote: »

Shoots are a posh alert: shooting costs an absolute fortune. A mate of mine does it and reckons to spend £20,000 a year on it. He does do expensive shooting though. He shoots grouse in August which really isn't cheap; even by shooting standards it's expensive.

Fox hunting however which you'd imagine would be posh isn't at all.

DS is a beater. They get fed and paid, then spend their pay in the pub afterwards.
He does have a shotgun licence. That can be quite amusing when pulled out as ID - it's usually on the list of acceptable ID but most people have never seen one.
The shoot is only a small one and so I don't think costs for guns would be anywhere near £20k. Certainly in the very low thousands annually, plus cost of guns and ammunition.

lostinrates

hjd wrote: »

DS is a beater. They get fed and paid, then spend their pay in the pub afterwards.
He does have a shotgun licence. That can be quite amusing when pulled out as ID - it's usually on the list of acceptable ID but most people have never seen one.
The shoot is only a small one and so I don't think costs for guns would be anywhere near £20k. Certainly in the very low thousands annually, plus cost of guns and ammunition.

My gun dog showing friend, whose dogs I walked while she had cancer treatment and helped her get to crufts for a couple of years, her dogs until recently worked and showe,( relatively unusual) . Stopped because her husband has health condition which has stopped him shooting).

PasturesNew

Not really getting any kind of TV signal this morning. It's all breaking up 95% of the time. Since the recent update it's been better than it was before, but this morning it's such a poor signal it's retuning itself every 10 minutes and never really finding a signal.

Yorkie1

lostinrates wrote: »

FINALLY its here. Autumn. Leaves all over the grass, cold dark morning, no chance of avoiding boots when doing chickens and station run this morning. Thoughts of proper bonfires, heady marsala spiked mushroom sauces, squash, squash, squash, soups and more soups. Pumpkin pie, game, pecan pie, toffee apples, fireworks, more nuts. Chestnuts. Dark nights for snuggling up under beautiful smelling warm things, misty mornings, for being excited by how amazing the world can look...and for being forced to slow down a little.

...

Oh, and I have a cold and a realLy bad back. I think the bad back is fro. Longer on motorbility lawn mower and the cold is just one of those things.

Throats raging, don't know what I can take because of my meds.

Very lyrical and evocative description of autumn

Sorry you're not feeling great- hope the cold passes really fast.

lostinrates wrote: »

Duvet is a change. In spring we 'splashed out' on a silk duvet. Its the nicest thing I've slept under. Very different from best Down, and not quite as light and cloudy ( but cheaper) and it does something else remarkable, it drapes around the body so draughts don't get in.


The light weight one is really light, like a sheet, never coped in summer under something so light, the two ( all seasons) to gather feel noticeable, but warm, really warm, quickly.

The aesthetic is odd, neater more blanket like than normal, but not perfectly so, but mean compared to normal duvets. I think its something one has to get used to.

Cats stay warm all night .

Electric blankets still rule.

I've wondered about a silk duvet, but thought it might feel too light when I do like a decent bit of weight on me. What do you think?

Generali wrote: »

It's been a glorious day here today. 28C and sunny. Unfortunately I've been feeling a bit post-cancerous so haven't really been able to enjoy it.

Hope tomorrow is better for you too.

Yorkie1

PasturesNew wrote: »

Not really getting any kind of TV signal this morning. It's all breaking up 95% of the time. Since the recent update it's been better than it was before, but this morning it's such a poor signal it's retuning itself every 10 minutes and never really finding a signal.

If you're having pants weather then that is more than likely the problem.