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Sunday 2 June 2013

Sepia Saturday 179; a barrel of...



My three girls in the barrel in the late sixties.  It was supposed  for a dog, but our dogs never used it, but the girls loved it to play hide and seek.

The canton of Thurgau is known for its fine agricultural produce. Particularly, apples, pears, fruits and vegetables are well-known. The many orchards in the canton are mainly used for the production of cider.

Farmers had a barrel like this one in the cellar. In autumn after the apple harvest it was filled with sweet apple juice that fermented slowly. Every night 1 full jug  was taken up and drunk, as the barrel had to be emptied and cleaned out again for the next harvest.

8 comments:

  1. It set me thinking about Calvados and Normandy and seeing almost empty barrels being collected to be emptied and cleaned before the new pressing season, by the local distillery I understood. My father was in France in early 1940, and he used to tell me that they ran their motor bikes on Calvados, as well as having to stop for a glass and a sugar lump with the locals having their breakfast. I never believed this story, I still don't, but I did just read at Wikipedia, what may be correct, and the root of my father's story..."During World War I cider brandy was requisitioned for use in armaments" due to its alcohol content"

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  2. Calvados is a fine apple brandy, a real good one I would not like to waste on running a motorbike. Where I grew up, a factory produced alcohol from wood and it was used to run cars. It is popular to have a small glass of calvados or Kirsch with a sugar lump.

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  3. Magnifica foto Titania :)))
    Buona domenica :))
    Myriam

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  4. My head still aches from Calvados consumed in Dunkirk when I worked there for a month (in the 1960s).

    I have seen caravans shaped like a barrel.

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  5. That's the best! Yeah, I'd have liked crawling into that barrel too.

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  6. Perfectly framed! A fun playhouse; far too good for the dog.

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