Favourite seasonal scenes from books No 2, Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Just amusing myself by reading this set of short stories. Imagine dropping in at Cold Comfort Farm on Stir Up Sunday to find these items included in the ‘pudden for luck’ by Adam (  an old man and the sort of resident cook).

• a small coffin nail
• a menthol cone
• three bad sixpences
• a doll’s cracked looking glass
• a small roll of sticking plasters

Adam reckons each of the items will foretell the lucky diners luck for the coming year, his idea of luck being ‘  him as gets the sticking plaster’ll  break a limb, menthol cones’ll means you’ll be blind wi’ headache, bad coins means you’ll lose all yer money and him as gets the coffin nail will die afore New Year,’ and of course the broken mirror will bring seven years bad luck for someone.

And as if that’s not bad enough he stirs it up with an old rifle butt ,’ once used by Figg Starkadder in the Gordon riots. Yuck!

When challenged as to the cooking times, whether to boil it for up to eight hours, Adam declares, ‘ A good hour and un’ll be done. Well, niver fret about puddens. None of ’em here has niver tasted any puddens but mine, and they won’t know no different.’

Delia Smith, Nigella Lawson and Mary Berry, look out!