Tuesday 17 April 2018


1. Use a fresh chicken that has not been frozen if you want to freeze the joints.

2. Remove the string that is trussing the chicken, if there is any.
IMG-20180323-00186
3. Remove any feathers that have been left on the bird.

4. Cut off the end of the wings. They have very little, if any, meat, and so are going to be removed after cooking, anyway.
IMG-20180323-00196

5. Remove the legs. To do this, cut the skin , then bend the leg backwards. This breaks the joint allowing you to see where to cut.
IMG-20180323-00188 IMG-20180323-00189 IMG-20180323-00190

6. If you want, you can separate the thighs from the drumsticks. this depends on preference, or the size of the chicken. With a small chicken, you might want to leave them whole.

IMG-20180323-00192

7. Remove the wings, taking some of the breast with it. To locate the joint, use your finger. It's easier to find with some of the breast there Wings have very little meat on them. and this makes them a bit more substantial.

IMG-20180323-00198

8. To remove the breast, feel for the breastbone with your finger, then, with a sharp, pointed knife, cut straight down until you meet the main carcass.

IMG-20180323-00201

9. Then, using the point of your knife, gently loosen the meat from the carcass, keeping as close to the bones as possible.



IMG-20180323-00202

10. Do the same on the other side.

11. Don't throw away the carcass. There is still quite a lot of meat on it if you search. I cut as much off as I can, then freeze the bits. The next chicken I joint, I add the bits to the bag. Remember to date the first lot, though, so you know when to eat them by. You can use these in stir fries.

IMG-20180323-00206 IMG-20180323-00207 IMG-20180323-00208

12. Don't forget to freeze all the joints immediately. Freeze the carcass as well and use it to make stock for casseroles, gravies and soup.

Here are the joints you will now have in front of you, including the carcass that I've cut in half for freezing/
IMG-20180323-00205 IMG-20180323-00200 IMG-20180323-00194
IMG-20180323-00209

To find out some recipes as to how to use these joints, why not buy Viv's Family Recipes? Click on the picture on the side bar and you will be taken to Amazon in your own country or follow the link above.

I love hearing from you, so please add a comment.

Tuesday 10 April 2018



The 9th legion is the legion that appears in Vengeance of a Slave. It has an interesting history.
It was known as Legio IX Hispana, or the 9th Spanish Legion. It existed from the 1st centuryBC until around 120AD. It was said to have been founded in Hispania (modern Spain) by Pompey around 65BC.

They are one of the oldest Roman legions. They were taken over by Julius Caesar when he became Govenor of Hispania. They fought all across Europe with Caesar and came to Britain with him when he made his ill-advised invasion in 55 and 54BC. At this time, the Romans did not manage to conquer Britain, although Julius Ceasar empbroidered the truth a bit in order to boost his credentials in Rome.

The 9th came again to Britain, along with three other legions, in 45AD with Claudius's more successful invasion. It took 4 entire legions to subdue the Britons.

The brutal rebellion of Boudicca, in which 70,000 civilians were slaughtered brought more conflict for the 9th legion. They were the first legion to fight Boudicca's army and they were routed.

They had, however, bought time for the rest of the army to come down from Angelsey where they had been subduing the druids. They met Boudicca's hordes in the Midlands, and, along with the remnants of the 9th, they fought and won, even though they were outnumbered 10 to 1.

It was Roman discipline that won the day against the ill-disciplined hordes of Britons.

In Vengeance of a Slave, Ailbert realised this when he planned his raids against the Roman army.
When they conquered the Brigantes in the north of Britain, the 9th was stationed in York. But there were still the wild tribesmen of what the Romans called Caledonia, and we call Scotland. For the Romans to feel safe, these tribes needed to be subdued. and so the 9th was sent there.

In 64AD, under Agricola, the 9th met with the Caledonian tribesmen in open battle. The Romans won. They had slaughtered many of the Caledonians.

For a while, all was peaceful until 117Ad when the 9th again went north to supress the Caledonians. That was the last anyone ever heard of them. They never returned. Were they all killed in battle, or were they lured into the bogs and mires of that wild land? No one ever found out.

Please add a comment to this post and let me kow how you liked it.

Tuesday 3 April 2018

Horselords. Training



Davrael was taking his turn at leading Moonbeam while Kimi rode. The usually dour and serious young man was smiling. He had never felt so happy in his life. He had no possessions, just his horse, which he reasoned they would have to sell when they reached Hambara, no family left except for Kimi, and no idea where their next meal was coming from, but he had never been more optimistic in his life. Of course, it was all because of Kimi and his love for her. At last they were together, and that was all that mattered to him. He turned and smiled up at her.

She smiled back. ‘I think it’s your turn to ride now, Davrael,’ she told him, stopping the mare and sliding down from her back.

‘Let’s both walk for a while, Little Mouse,’ smiled Davrael. ‘I want to hold your hand.’

Kimi reached out and took her new husband’s hand in hers, twining her fingers through his. They walked on together, not speaking, but just contented in the company of each other and the contact made through their handclasp.

It was a slightly warmer day than they had known recently. It was always a bit warmer in the lee of the mountains, but they had now left the range they knew as The Barrier far behind. The sun was shining too, adding to the feeling of optimism they shared.

‘Davrael,’ Kimi said suddenly, ‘I feel so happy. It doesn’t make any sense. Here we are, destitute and in a strange land. I should be feeling at least a bit nervous about the future, but somehow I don’t. I know everything will turn out well, somehow. Ever since we were married in that glade, I’ve had a feeling that we’re being looked after. It doesn’t make any sense,’ she repeated.

‘It’s because we’re together at last. Now nothing can separate us,’ Davrael replied, ‘Not even our parents. Somehow, I too know things will be fine. We’ll find work and somewhere to live, don’t you worry.’

Kimi laughed. I’m not worried, I just told you, didn’t I, you silly goose.’

They decided to stop for a break and something to eat as it was almost six hours since dawn and time for the mid-day meal. As they sat on the grass by the side of the dusty road, Davrael thought he heard something moving in the trees behind them. He quickly signed to Kimi to remain quiet and sit still. He then rose, drawing his two knives, and crept silently to the trees behind them. A man rose from the under-brush with a short sword drawn and ready. Davrael yelled a war cry and slashed with his left-hand knife.

The man was not expecting this, thinking Davrael would use his right, a fact that Davrael was counting on. Davrael’s left-handedness had often caught unwary opponents in the Games held by the tribes on the plains. The man parried the blow, but then was surprised by Davrael spinning and then bringing his right-hand knife into play. After a few more parries and attempts to get past Davrael’s guard, he took off into the trees. He had been unnerved by not only Davrael’s skill and the fact that he had never before faced an opponent wielding two weapons, but also by the frightening aspect of the Horselord with the hawk tattoo on his face. Davrael returned to a frightened Kimi.

‘Are you all right?’ she asked him, probing him with her eyes for any blood. ‘Do you think there are any more of them?’

‘Yes, Little Mouse,’ replied Davrael, ‘I’m fine. I think the man was just an opportunist who saw what he thought were two helpless travellers and thought he would try his hand at robbery. Maybe he wanted Moonbeam. She is after all a Horselord horse.’

‘Maybe,’ replied his wife, ‘But I think we should be moving on, just in case he comes back with friends. You know how these Grosmerians covet our horses.’

The pair set off again. After a while, Davrael spoke again to Kimi, who was once again riding.

‘I’ve been thinking, my love,’ he said, ‘That you should learn to fight. There are only we two, and we are vulnerable. If there had been more than one man back there, we would now probably have no horse at the very least, and maybe we would be dead.’

‘I can use my bow, Davrael,’ replied Kimi. ‘I often had contests with my brothers, and also went hunting with them.’

‘Yes, that I know, Mouse,’ replied the other, ‘but sometimes a bow is not enough. Sometimes an enemy can get in close before you can damage or kill him. Then what?’

So they decided that each evening, Kimi would learn to fight using a pair of long knives like those Davrael wielded so efficiently. The Horselords did not use swords as did most of the folk of the northern part of the continent of Khalram, preferring to either attack with short bows from horseback, controlling their galloping mounts with their knees. If they were on the ground, they used two knives, longer than daggers, but considerably shorter than short swords.

That evening, Davrael began Kimi’s lessons. He told her to find a stick about the same length as one of the knives, and he did the same. He began to teach her the rudiments of defence with one knife, using a stick in lieu of a wooden practice knife. At first, he managed to ‘kill’ her every time. At the end of their first practice, which he only allowed to go on for about a half-hour, she felt her bruises where Davrael’s stick had got past her somewhat imperfect defence. She complained to him, and thanked the gods that he had not decided to use real knives or she would really have been dead, several times over.

‘Young boys begin their training at six years old,’ Davrael told her. ‘You are eleven years past that age. They would all be expert knife fighters by the time they are seventeen. You must forget how old you are, how good your brothers were at your age. Remember, you are as a six-year-old in this.’

She smiled at this thought, but it did bring her a little comfort. She had, in fact, been thinking that she was nowhere near as good as her brothers, but, as Davrael had pointed out, she remembered them practising in their teens, not as small boys. Both her brothers were older than she was, four and eight hers her senior, and had always seemed so grown up to her. She could not remember them being as inept as she seemed to be with the knives.

‘You did very well, for a first attempt, Kimi,’ Davrael told her, and he pulled her to him and kissed her soundly. ‘We will practice every evening. Next time it will be for an hour.’

Kimi groaned at the thought of all those extra bruises.

‘You’ll just have to stop me getting through then, won’t you, my love?’ laughed Davrael as he pulled her towards him once more.

Each evening, when they stopped, they practiced with their sticks. Soon Davrael was hardly able to touch Kimi, and he began to teach her to attack as well as defend. He felt very proud of the way she had taken to the skill. She learned much faster than he had hoped, or even considered she could learn. She was a natural, as he told her one night, after they had made love under the light of both Lyndor and Ullin. He hoped that she would be able to handle a real knife by the time they reached Hambara. He would buy her one there, he determined. She would like that.

And so the pair continued on their way towards the second biggest city in Grosmer, unsure of why, or what they were going to do once there, but both as happy as they had ever been.


If you enjoyed this episode, please add a comment.