Nearly.
We were sat in my workshop and heard a loud clucking. Went to investigate and found that one of the cockerals had got its head stuck in the garage door. Luckily we managed to get it out and only his pride was hurt. Chickens just go limp, so he wasn't struggling, which would have made things really difficult.
We're still uncertain about Blackie, he/she looks boy-ish, but I'm not 100% convinced. we've definitely two boys and two girls, so we're just waiting on Blackie. They ought to start laying eggs soon, but I am not sure if they will start laying now in late summer in their first year.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
If you think the snake was bad
It now transpires that Ian uses one of his old socks to filter our water when we fill our water container from the pillar.
I cannot think how bad the threat of things getting into the water must be to warrant the water being filtered through one of Ian's socks(which really belong in the natural history museum).
I'm also a bit bemused as to what nasties we are expecting to catch in a sock - I think it is something that it is best not to contemplate....
I cannot think how bad the threat of things getting into the water must be to warrant the water being filtered through one of Ian's socks(which really belong in the natural history museum).
I'm also a bit bemused as to what nasties we are expecting to catch in a sock - I think it is something that it is best not to contemplate....
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Floors and Things
I'm not sure which disturbed me the most, the house falling down or waking to find a Spanish man in the bedroom. As it so happened, neither was true, but a disturbing way to wake up. It transpires that the house next door but one is being re-roofed and the builders are starting early. What woke me was the builder's cheery morning banter as they dropped tiles from the roof to the floor. As our bedroom is now at the back of the house, it has the added benefit of allowing us to hear the builders in the morning - hence the fact that I woke thinking there was at least one in the room, and/or the house was falling down. They start early and finish at 2, but at this time of year they don't bother covering the roof - it must be funny living there and looking to the sky!
Ian is finishing the cleaning of the floors. It has been a long and arduous task, but because he only works on them at the weekend it just feels that it has been going on for months. The biggest job was the hallway - not unsurprisingly. The smooth tiles in the other rooms are cleaning up really quickly.
We're going to turn one of the small room-things up stairs into a proper storage cupboard. This will be useful - particularly during the summer, when we live in shorts and t'shirts. We can store our winter clothes properly.
No sign of any fires around here - the main problem seems to be further south.
We're also in the middle of a dog trimming session. The pack of our clippers says that dogs enjoy the special one-to-one time with their owners. So why do we have to wrestle them to the ground and clip them while they're held in an armlock? Obviously our dogs haven't read how much they are supposed to enjoy it.
Ian is finishing the cleaning of the floors. It has been a long and arduous task, but because he only works on them at the weekend it just feels that it has been going on for months. The biggest job was the hallway - not unsurprisingly. The smooth tiles in the other rooms are cleaning up really quickly.
We're going to turn one of the small room-things up stairs into a proper storage cupboard. This will be useful - particularly during the summer, when we live in shorts and t'shirts. We can store our winter clothes properly.
No sign of any fires around here - the main problem seems to be further south.
We're also in the middle of a dog trimming session. The pack of our clippers says that dogs enjoy the special one-to-one time with their owners. So why do we have to wrestle them to the ground and clip them while they're held in an armlock? Obviously our dogs haven't read how much they are supposed to enjoy it.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
16 Euro Tomato
I did something that you should never do yesterday. I worked out how much our one tomato had cost us, and it came to 16 euros. That includes compost and fertilizer for all of our plants - but I am averaging it over the produce, so when (or if) we get another tomato, then this will bring the price per tomato down to the bargain price of 8 euros each. Happily we do have some peppers ripening, and Basil has left us with 6 peaches, so all in all we may be looking at a euro per item of fruit or veg come the end of harvest.
What made it worse was that I had to pick our one tomato early as the chickens were showing much too much attention to it.
And to make things doubly worse, we can buy a kilo of tomatoes in the shop for about 60 centimos - and we can't say 'ah, but ours are home grown, not like these nasty shop ones', because we know that the man in the supermarket sells his own produce.
Next year it won't cost so much as we have our own compost which is rotting nicely in the back yard - and of course chicken manure is also good for gardens. We'll also use water from our well and we're going to put an irrigation system in.
We're thinking about getting the back yard sorted later this year. We'll try and borrow a rotivator and dig it over. We'll then plant some trees - we're thinking that we'll have two each of olive, fig, peach, almond, pear and grapefruit.
Sam has started yodeling, which is quite funny during the day, but immensely annoying at night. I hope that they others don't start to get ideas...
What made it worse was that I had to pick our one tomato early as the chickens were showing much too much attention to it.
And to make things doubly worse, we can buy a kilo of tomatoes in the shop for about 60 centimos - and we can't say 'ah, but ours are home grown, not like these nasty shop ones', because we know that the man in the supermarket sells his own produce.
Next year it won't cost so much as we have our own compost which is rotting nicely in the back yard - and of course chicken manure is also good for gardens. We'll also use water from our well and we're going to put an irrigation system in.
We're thinking about getting the back yard sorted later this year. We'll try and borrow a rotivator and dig it over. We'll then plant some trees - we're thinking that we'll have two each of olive, fig, peach, almond, pear and grapefruit.
Sam has started yodeling, which is quite funny during the day, but immensely annoying at night. I hope that they others don't start to get ideas...
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Snake Under the Bed
Saturday a snake appeared from under the bed.
Aaaaaagh
We think that it has been outside for a while, as Schnookems (who is not the brightest button) has been staring at the wall outside the new bedroom for - it must be about 5 weeks. Seeing that she is quite capable to stare for days at where she once saw a fly we didn't think much of it. However we're now wondering if she was, in fact, trying to alert us to the fact that there was a snake in the yard. I think it must have slithered in through the window. Ugh. No idea how long it had been in the bedroom - double-ugh.
To make matters worse, Schnookems has been staring at the little boiler housing on the side of the house. We're too scared to look inside in case she's found something else...
(Ian was delighted that I spent time finding the camera to record this horrendous event rather than helping him catch the snake!).
Aaaaaagh
We think that it has been outside for a while, as Schnookems (who is not the brightest button) has been staring at the wall outside the new bedroom for - it must be about 5 weeks. Seeing that she is quite capable to stare for days at where she once saw a fly we didn't think much of it. However we're now wondering if she was, in fact, trying to alert us to the fact that there was a snake in the yard. I think it must have slithered in through the window. Ugh. No idea how long it had been in the bedroom - double-ugh.
To make matters worse, Schnookems has been staring at the little boiler housing on the side of the house. We're too scared to look inside in case she's found something else...
(Ian was delighted that I spent time finding the camera to record this horrendous event rather than helping him catch the snake!).
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Everything in the Garden is....
.... Green! Now there's a surprise. I think it is normally this time of year when we bemoan how everything is brown and shriveled. I believe that this show of green loveliness is down to it not being so hot this year and that we have moved the plants from the back wall of the house to the wall in the middle. It gets sun at mid day, but not in the afternoon, which is when things roast.
Oh, that and the fact that most of the plants are prickly pears or figs - on the assumption that if they grow in the wild they can grow in our patio!
Arrived home on Monday after a four hour delay - meant we didn't get back to the house till 3.30, which was disappointing.
Henry has been to the vets who is really happy with his eye. Poor Henry isn't so happy though. No more eye drops = no more sausages. Oh dear!
Monday, July 06, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Henry's Eye
Henry's stitches didn't fully dissolve, so the poor little chap needed to be sedated again so the vet could take them out. Henry's eye is very swollen, but now all the stitches are out it is looking better.
We've taken his lampshade off and he seems very happy. Sam is happy too, as he was scared of Henry's lampshade. I wonder if this is another sign of Sam's eyesight being poor - he was unable to work out why a lampshade kept wanting to play with him.
Our peach tree is dripping with baby peaches. So far, although the dogs have scrumped a few, there are still plenty left. I just hope that the dogs aren't waiting until they are ripe before they tuck in. The chickens are also showing too much attention to our tomatoes.
I woke up to find two mosquetoes inside the mosqueto net over the bed. I am sure that this is not how it should work!
We've taken his lampshade off and he seems very happy. Sam is happy too, as he was scared of Henry's lampshade. I wonder if this is another sign of Sam's eyesight being poor - he was unable to work out why a lampshade kept wanting to play with him.
Our peach tree is dripping with baby peaches. So far, although the dogs have scrumped a few, there are still plenty left. I just hope that the dogs aren't waiting until they are ripe before they tuck in. The chickens are also showing too much attention to our tomatoes.
I woke up to find two mosquetoes inside the mosqueto net over the bed. I am sure that this is not how it should work!