A tithe

The two stray cats who arrived some years ago, never left.  We named them the Tractor Shed cats because that's where they stayed when they suddenly appeared.  Initially they were very shy and reclusive, but they have since become far bolder, and now, most days, can be found lounging on my patio table or even sitting on my patio chair - waiting very patiently for the one meal I provide them at the end of each day.  The other meal(s) they have to source or themselves, because that is the whole point of farm cats.

Tractor shed cats patiently waiting for their daily meal

By other meals, I generally mean rodents who enjoy feasting on my tomatoes, strawberries or baby butternut.  But occasionally, the farm cats need some variety to their diet, and this morning I found evidence of a mousebird who wasn't quite quick enough.

Evidence of a mousebird who wasn't quick
enough for the farm cats

There are plenty of mousebirds here in early spring - with the early season blackberries to devour.

There were so many a few weeks ago that I feared that I wouldn't get a berry crop this year.  Please, don't get me wrong.  I have no problem with paying a tithe, but sharing 90% and being provided with 10% isn't quite my idea of a tithe.

Partially eaten fruit

At least most of these berries were consumed

The mousebirds are also so wasteful.  If they would just eat a whole blackberry before moving onto the next tender morsel it wouldn't be so bad, but they seem to prefer sampling as many as possible.

Broken branch-lets = wasted fruit

They seem to be such an eager lot - in their rush to sample as many berries as possible they completely disregard the integrity of the bush - with many broken branch-lets being the evidence of this feeding frenzy.

A sample of the blackberries I have managed to
harvest for my freezer

I can't really complain though.  I have managed to pick sufficient blackberries for my freezer - for blackberry pie and jam in the future. 

 

Anniversary gift

Firstly, thanks to everyone for their good wishes on my last posting.  It was a wonderful relaxing day (in front of the Rosie) - with snow falling on the higher mountains in the Eastern Cape & Lesotho.  Sadly, not on our mountains though...

The 31st was Tweedle Dee's due date.

But, nary a peep was heard, not chick was spotted.

I feared that her three week semi-starvation was all in vain.  Was Tweedle Dum not up to the task?

I felt so bad for her...

An anniversary gift from Tweedle Dee - the
sight of a baby chick :)

However, the afternoon of our anniversary I went out to check on her progress, and what did I spy peeping out from next to her?

A baby chick :D

What excitement.  S'truth!  You'd have thought RMan and I had won the lottery lol

Such proud "parents" bwahaha.  T'was the easiest childbirith ever!

In anticipation of the arrival of a chick (or two) I had been voraciously reading up on all aspects of making Tweedle Dee's first experience of motherhood as "perfect" and as comfortable as possible.

Most sites advised keeping the hen and baby chicks apart from the rooster.

The chicken coop we made out of
the frame from the water container

That was a problem as we only had one coop - the one we made from the water container frame.  Knowing that trying to source another frame in a short space of time was not feasible I racked my brains as to what we could do.

I even resorted to googling buying a new chicken coop, or small garden shed...

Until I had a brainwave.

I sent the local tile shop an e-mail, asking them if they had any pallets for sale.  I knew that tiles were delivered to them on pallets, and wondered if they had to return them to the supplier, or whether they kept them?

Sure enough they e-mailed back giving me the name of someone to call / speak to the next time we were in the area.

RMan, in anticipation of woodworking chores ahead, is not always keen on "quickly stopping to see if they have anything suitable" but I managed to get him to drop in.

They had pallets which were very solid, and had to be returned to the suppliers.  But, then they also had these:

Scrap pallets - with our name on them :)
 Any idea's what we could do with all those
outdated bathroom fittings - they're due to be
smashed shortly - because the new loo seats
don't match / fit.  What a waste!

Less study pallets, but they would certainly do the job.

Five were loaded in our trailer.

George, the carpenter from "The Wood Shop" had offered us some old nesting boxes which he could no longer use because the otters in the nearby river, kept eating his chickens.

Those got loaded into the trailer at the same time.

Offloading everything at home we got to work.

The new pallet chicken coop in the making

The pallets got stripped and the wooden slats were moved closer together to make walls.

We added one of the two nesting boxes to the one
side of the coop.

 One of the two sets of nesting boxes was added to the one side.

Collecting eggs from here in future is going to
be a breeze :)

A door was added...

Apart from the roof, the entire structure was covered in chicken wire - even the floor - so that if any otters fancied digging underneath they would find their way blocked. 

We placed the new coop next to the old one, and covered both of the roofs with a piece of IBR sheeting (corrugated roofing), and a double layer of shadecloth - to prevent the coop from becoming an oven in the hottest time of the day / year.

"His" and "Hers" chicken coops lol
Tweedle Dums is on the  right,
and Tweedle Dee and the chicks pallet
coop is on the left.

Literally, as we finished that coop, Tweedle Dee became a mama.  Of 4 chicks (clever Tweedle Dee - and Tweedle Dum lol) :D

And, watching them, the chicks started clambering all over the quaddie tyre nest.

They wouldn't stay in there long.

I was concerned that they would get out of the nest and fall 2 - 2.5 feet to the floor.  Would they survive?  I doubted it.

Plus, when Tweedle Dum came near Mama hen rose up menacingly with wings widely spread.

Definitely time to move them. 

But - how do we transfer her and the chicks to the new coop?

How to move this bulky nest to the new coop?

Three days after we had spotted the first chick, 4 chicks were toddling round the nest, I said to RMan that it was time - we couldn't wait for the other two eggs to hatch / not hatch.

He carefully picked up the tyre and base and tried to manoeuvre them out of the frame coop and into the new pallet one.

Naturally, the chicks leapt out of the nest - together with mama.  Now they were running round the frame coop.

Oh, how to catch a chick.  Not bloody easy, is it, but, bless RMan, he did it.

Transferring all of the chicks (and the two remaining eggs) to the new coop, all that was needed was for Mama to now locate them but their frantic chirps.

Finally, they were are securely ensconced within their new dwelling.

We have fenced off the area outside the coop
so that Mama and the chicks have access to outside
without fear of Tweedle Dum interferring

Mama wasn't interested in the last two eggs, so they ended up being sacrificed for the good of the 4 chicks.

Clever Tweedle Dee - teaching the chicks
to scratch for their food

The first couple of days the chicks couldn't make it out of the coop - the lip under the door was too high.  Strategically placed bricks soon sorted that out.

Tweedle Dee is forever going inside and out of the
pallet coop - I reckon she love it :)

Tweedle Dee has been amazing - I am blown away by her mothering instinct!!

Firstly, when she was sitting on the eggs, she only got off them for about 10 minutes every 3 days.  Every THREE days?!  I kid you not.  Her comb went almost colourless, and her feathers lost their lustre.

What dedication!

Now they are hatched, she does not let them out of her sight for a second.  When chick feed is sprinkled on the ground, she rushes up and "pretends" to peck at it.  Naturally, the chicks follow suit.

When she is happy that they are all eating, I then scatter her normal chicken feed down, and she then proceeds to fill her stomach.

And - whoa!  Have you ever given your baby chicks ( and Mama of course) some cottage cheese?  They absolutely love it - the baby chicks grab a mouthful and rush away to the corner to eat it - so that no-one can steal it from them.  They have even swiped Mama's mouthful straight out of her beak!

At bedtime, it used to be a chore to get Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum into the coop.  Food had to bribe them inside each and every time.

Bed time - everyone safely ensconced in
their bed 

With the new coop, in the late afternoon Mama toddles inside when she's ready, settles down in the nesting box, with the baby chicks rushing to join her as fast as they can.

All I have to do is close and lock the door behind them.

The new coop is a brilliant success - everyone is happy, and have accepted it as their new home.

What did it costs us?

A pair of hinges and a dead bolt for the door, a packet of screws, 10 mtrs of chicken wire - and some of our time.  The IBR roofing and the shadecloth we had already.

And the wood shavings - well, it's nice to have a friendly carpenter in town - he's only too happy to get rid of his waste :)

What about Tweedle Dum?  He has settled down into his coop on his own - well, the rest of his family is right next door, aren't they?!  He probably enjoys having the entire roost to himself, if the truth be told...

I have a sneaky suspicion that one of the chicks is a rooster - it has a dark "line" on it's head, and it's wings have dark markings which the others don't have.  So, for a period, Tweedle Dum may have company - until the "spare" rooster is ready for the pot.

Summer is on it's way...

Well, we certainly finished off September better than it started.

Rainfall figures for 2015 - with comparisons to previous year(s)

As you can see we have had record months of rain this year for June, July and September.

August's total was lower than last year - but because it wasn't hot, the garden didn't suffer.

But, now our rain tanks, and our dam, are all overflowing - again.

RMan managed to get the concrete base done for one of the two extra rainwater tanks we purchased a couple of weeks ago and we pumped water from the other overflowing tanks into the new one.  We have positioned those tanks near the fruit trees - that, together with the solar pump, will allow us to easily water the fruit trees / grape vines without too much hassle nor having to pull 100mtr inflexible hosepipes around.

All the tanks are now overflowing, and the dam too.

Two days after the rain the water is still flowing
into the dam :)

So, we're definitely set for summer.

We noticed that two bushes next to our front entrance steps, which normally get hit by the frost (i.e. the leaves go black/brown and shrivel up) in winter, are both fine.  Just shows you that we had no frost this winter.  Not too sure what that will mean for the fruit on our fruit trees...

The fruit is starting to appear on the fruit trees, and on the grape vines too, but will it set?  We'll just have to wait and see.

Watching the weather report on the news at nighttime, the northern part of South Africa are already being exposed to temperatures in excess of 33 - 34°C.  In mid-September???  That's crazy - what are the temperatures going to be like in the hotter months of summer (Jan - March)???

The chickens are doing well - DeeDee is producing an egg a day - which allowed me to take 6 to Cape Town with me to give to RSon.  He can't conceive how chickens can lay an egg every day - "does production of the next egg start as soon as she has laid one?"  I can't wait for him to cook one of those eggs so that he can see how "firm" and tight the white albumen is, and how incredibly yellowy-orange the yolk is.  What we have been eating as 'free-range' eggs before has no comparison.

Other than that, we are extremely busy with our business (with great gratitude) and that is consuming most of my time.  So much for retiring to our smallholding...  But, I'd rather we were busy than scratching to find work.

But, it does limit the news I have to share with you all.  And, it limits my visiting your blogs too.

Today, I am taking some time off work, and am planning to get into my veggie patches to do some very necessary weeding.  I have planted (and replanted) tomato seeds in various places but nothing seems to be coming up - or has it?  I have a sneaky feeling that DeeDee and DumDum are eating the "wrong" things i.e. luscious tomato seedlings.  So I have started yet more seedlings - but this time they are on my kitchen windowsill...  That should thwart the chickens :)

I'll be chatting to you later in the week - hopefully.  Until then, enjoy yourselves :)

Thwarted

Oh, my...

Even the best laid plans can be thwarted.

Back on the 8th of July I introduced you to the latest additions to our farm animals.  In this case, it was Dilly and Dolly.

So cute - Dilly & Dolly

I was so excited - finally the possibility of having tiny new born ducklings was within a few months grasp.

I have tended them well - catered for their every need, protected them from the bullying drakes, and ensured that twice a day they have fresh water and food. Never mind cleaning out their filthy bath (ducks are not the cleanest of creatures).

What is the thanks that I get? 

There are defintely curly tail feathers on all four

They're all bloody drakes!!!!  Dilly & Dolly are, in fact, Donald & Daniel.

I ain't gonna get no ducklings from this lot.

From another angle - there are still curly tails on
them all

If, and when, I find some more Pekin ducklings for sale again soon, how can I introduce any baby hens - given that there should be 3 - 5 hens / drake?  I have no wish to have an instant duck family of 16 minimum.

RMan and I are unable to slaughter anything (except a field mouse or a snake) so it's not as if we could enjoy three duck l'orange meals in the near future either... (sigh)

Hmmmm, perhaps I can barter the well fed potential meal(s) for a couple of hens... :)  Let's see.

Feed storing

Firstly, I'd just like to give a quick welcome and thank you for hitting the followers button to my latest readers :

Helen Blom - I can't see a blog for you Helen
Wendy of http://whishinrecipes.blogspot.com/; http://whishin.blogspot.com/;
http://whishincolony.blogspot.com/
Murphy's Law of: http://lagniappeslair.blogspot.com/
Jean of http://shrimptonandperfect.blogspot.com/
Ken Alviti of http://www.englishhomestead.com/; http://www.sawdustinmysocks.com/
The_Shroom of http://rsandss.blogspot.com/

Thanks guys and girls - appreciate it :)

.......................................

Then - onto today's topic...

November 2012 - the garage in all it's glory :)

When we built the garage section it was so that we would have somewhere to stay whilst the house build was completed.  Well, that - and somewhere to give one of the cars some shade during those blisteringly hot summers days.(Where we are two cars is, to us, vital and ensures that we will never be marooned - if one doesn't start for any reason, the other one should be able to get us to emergency medical attention if, and when, required.)

We had a garage added to the plans so that if at any stage we wanted / could afford the garage it would just be a case of getting it built - no resubmission to the municipal housing plans department would be required.  Bear in mind that initially we started building here so that we could escape to the country for a weekend / week now and then.  Little did we know that it would be required to store boxes, and us, when we moved here permanently.

November 2013 - the carport is added - for the
tractor and for a feed storage area

Then RMan got an old tractor.  So we needed somewhere to protect the tractors exposed electrical parts / gearbox from the rain.  So we added on a "carport" to the entire side of the garage.  The garage is long enough that the carport can protect both the tractor and a car from the weather - sun or rain. RMan left it open at both ends so that the tractor could enter from one end, and a car from the other.

But, we also store the back-up generator there - noise and pollution dictated that positioning LOL

And then we decided to get our alpacas.

As you can see, the lucerne bales are right next to the
back-up generator - not good!  Especially given the
exhaust is pointed right at the bales.  RMan
tried to create a "barrier" between the genny and
the bales

And we needed somewhere to store their feed.  So, the car got ejected from the carport, and the tractor, genny and the feed took precedence.  But the genny was right next to the lucerne bales - with the exhaust unfortunately pointed right at them.

So, we needed to make another plan.

Back to the sawmill in town to purchase more of their (cheap) offcuts.  well, we don't need the feed storage to be in an airtight space - just protected from the rain.

The carport now has a enclosed end...

RMan has "enclosed" the one end of the carport for the feed and for the genny - and we have moved the genny.

...and the genny is situated so that the exhaust
points outside of the feed storage area

It is now situated with it's exhaust extending out of the feed storage area.

Happy days :)

It's amazing how your outbuildings, which you try and plan so carefully, can adapt to new requirements.

But, I have a feeling that once we harvest the oats, we will require more feed space and the tractor may have to move to the 2nd shadecloth veggie hut which is still incomplete.  It will mean reforcing the roof structure and putting IBR sheet (corrugated iron) roofing on it, but that shouldn't prove too problematic...

And, it will move the field mice, which are sheltering inside the bodywork and under the tractor's slasher, just that little bit further away from the house. Win-win :)

Introducing Dilly & Dolly

Boy - are we having frost this year.

Check out the layer of ice which formed in a puddle of water on RMan's trailer this morning...

Scaallywags inivestigating this new phenomenon in
his life...

.. that ice is roughly 1.5 cms thick!  It has wiped out my sweet potatoes, and is even affecting my peas - for goodness sake!!!!

But, I love the cold :)

On to other things...

I have discovered that I am very slow on the uptake.

Very, very slow.

And I have proof positive.

I first mentioned that we had been adopted by a pair of fully grown (adult) Quacker (or Peking) ducks back in November 2013.

Well, it has taken me all this time to realise that they aren't "ducks" per se, more drakes.

No bloody eggs is how I figured it out.  And given that they are sexually mature at 18 - 24 weeks...

The past (almost) year has scuttled by at such a pace - I still thought of them as ducklings.  Until I suddenly thought, hang on, they've been here a while - how come they're not laying eggs?  So, naturally, I Googled at what age are quacker ducks fertile.

Curly tail feathers indicate that both of the ducks
are, in fact, drakes!
No wonder they didn't produce any eggs.

I discovered that our two ducks, who have curly feathers at end of their tail feathers, are, in fact not ducks, but drakes.

Idiot.

I need some female ducks.

Our ducks have given us so much pleasure - they made us smile at how they greet us so vocally every time they see us, they've made us laugh out loud whilst watching their comical waddling round the yard and they've helped contain the insect population.

So, what's not to love?

So, the word went out.  Where can I buy some female quacker ducklings?

In May I finally found a lady who lives in the nearby village of Suurbraak. Suurbraak was established as a mission station back in 1812.  The land around the mission station was given to the locals by the Moravian Church and the village that sprang up around the mission station is now inhabited by the future generations of those early members of that mission.  It is a very quaint village - in an extremely scenic setting.  And, as there is very little work / industry nearby, it is a very poor village - with most of the villagers living from hand to mouth.

Anyway, the "duck lady" told me her duck was sitting on eggs, and that they should hatch shortly and be available in June / July.

I booked two immediately LOL

Sure enough when I mailed her, she told me that the ducklings were ready to go to their new home.  We organised to collect them last week on Monday.

Arriving at the "duck lady's" home - this was the
view which greeted us as we stepped out of the car.

The "duck lady" (she also has rabbits) lives high on the north facing hill above the village.  And has a stunning view from her front gate.

This is the duck lady's chicken coop -
quite cute, I thought :)

Just to the left of her chicken coop I spied our future ducklings - nestling in the grass.

Three little Quacker ducklings catching some
rays whilst they nap

I noticed that the one had black spots on its tail feathers.  Ha!  Apparently that is how you identify the male Quacker ducklings from the female ducklings.  And, when the ducks are fertile, they get a black spot on their beaks.

The duckling on the right has the black tail
feathers - so he's a future drake.

Oh man, they were just too cute.  I wish we could've taken the male, but apparently too many drakes round ducks means drake duck fights.  And we have two drakes already.  I hope they remember their long sabbatical and behave themselves in future...

Time will tell.

As soon as we got the ducklings home the drakes were immediately inquisitive.  Walking round and round, and up and down the outside of the duck enclosure - quacking, quacking, quacking...

"What is this?  Oh, my, they are ducks, just like us" seemed to be the translation of all the quacking that was bandied back and forth.

In the meantime, the ducklings weren't fazed by the drakes, and whilst they quacked ever so softly in reply, they acquainted themselves with their new surroundings.  I have been advised to keep them within the enclosure for 7 - 10 days - to acclimatize them to the enclosure, their surroundings and to me.  And to being fed in there - that is so that they happily return to it every night ;)

Inquisitive drakes outside and two curious
ducklings inside

But the drakes - they couldn't get enough of these two new arrivals.  They settled down for a ducknap outside the fence right next to the ducklings and didn't budge - even when I fed them.

Travelling from their old home, arriving at their new home,
and having a quick welcome munch made them thirsty

And the ducklings - they had a munch, they had a slurp - and then a swim, and then they settled down for the night...

On the first night the ducklings refused to even
inspect their shelter, and just settled down
on the straw I had place inside and in front of it.
But, at least they are under cover and protected
from the rain and wind

It feels good.  And it feels right :)

This is where I found them on the second night
- floating in the small pool made out of the
repurposed stainless steel kitchen sink that
we scored off Freecycle so many years ago

Last Sunday I let the ducklings out of the enclosure.

Did she mean to leave the gate open, should I
go outside...?

 At first they were a bit tentative...

Hmmm, it doesn't smell too bad, perhaps we
should venture out...

 ...can I, should I, may I...?

The drakes rushed up to finally meet and greet the
new ducklings

 But, the drakes came to "welcome" them, so they couldn't resist.

...and then proceeded to start nipping at
their tail and neck feathers!

I reckon they thought they had made an enormous mistake...!

The drakes proceeded to make their lives hell for the first 24 hours.  So much so, that I didn't allow the drakes into the enclosure that first night.

Settling down (hopefully) before their insect
hunting jaunt

This morning?  Well, after a nip or two from the drakes, they all seemed to settle down and are travelling all over the land searching out insects...

The drakes are in the front, and the ducklings
are against the fence at the back

...and, after their forage, have even taken up voluntary residence in the enclosure together.

Peace reigns - for now.  But, from what I have read, one of the drakes is probably going to have to find a new home...

And, within the next 3 - 4 months we will (hopefully) have some real (yellow) baby ducklings waddling round the farm :D

Simple tomato supper

At the end of a long, hot, productive day in the garden, a simple but tasty and nutritious meal is called for.

As long as it has meat of some kind RMan is happy.  So he had bacon rashers added to his plate.

Yummy heirloom tomatoes - so much more
substantial than the commercial varieties
which are so widely available

Then, with my bountiful garden produce I made the following dinner.

All it took was the following :

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried coriander seeds
2 - 3 "large" whole tomatoes (skin, seeds and all - finely chopped)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
4 eggs (I scored half a dozen completely free range eggs from a generous neighbour :)  )
handful of fresh basil leaves
1 red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped) Optional
grated cheese Optional

100% free range eggs poached in a homemade
tomato sauce

Heat the oil in a frying pan that has a lid, then soften the chopped onions, garlic, crushed coriander seeds, and chilli (if using) for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar, then bubble for 8-10 mins until thick (at this stage the the mixture can be cooled, and then frozen for a couple fo months).

Using the back of a large spoon, make 4 "holes" in the sauce, then crack an egg into each one. Put a lid on the pan and cook over a low heat for 4 - 5 minutes, until the eggs are done to your liking. If your adding grated cheese, sprinkle it over the top now, scatter with the sweet basil leaves and serve with a fresh baked crusty breadloaf or rolls.

Yum :)

Minimal cooking and cost and maximum goodness :)

Eco-friendly pest control

I have long waxed irritatingly with regard to the field mouse problem here at Foothills Farm.  I realise that we are invading territory which they have inhabited for centuries, but, I have to ensure that they stay within their natural environment and don't invade ours.

So, this last week we took steps to ensure that no more of those incontinent field mice gain access to our home, and those pesky flies stay outside - permanently.

Firstly, I have an aversion to rodents.  Not only for their incontinent disease spreading capabilities, but also because each and every time they have entered our home, it has resulted in my having to wash anything that I think they may have traversed.  Spring cleaning a kitchen 10 - 12 times a year is not fun!

And, having to clamber up onto a chair whenever I saw a mouse inside was disruptive to say the least.  Hey, just because I live on a farm - no one said I had to be or was brave ;)

Way back in 2008, when we initially built phase 1 of our farmhouse, it was only planned that it would be a weekend / holiday situation, so open plan kitchen shelves were part of the "farm" look we were willing to embrace.

Before - open plan kitchen shelves

But, the open plan decor made it easy-peasy for the mice to climb into everything that was at floor level, and, through a gap in the shelves, up onto the shelves and into their contents.  That included pots and pans, casserole dishes, and the basic kitchen appliances which were stored in open boxes under all the shelves.

After - kitchen cupboards LOL

I guess I wore RMan down with my field mouse nagging, because, when we were in the local Co-Op and I saw an advertisement for work posted by a local carpenter, and I suggested that we "just" get a quote from him, and RMan finally succumbed.

Receiving his quote, and checking the references he gave, we gave him the go ahead to make cupboard doors for the open shelves.

As I only had the one drawer my kitchen utensils
were stored in "trays" on the shelves.  What a
waste of shelf space!

 The difference was immediately noticeable.

After - kitchen utensils are in their proper
place.  Can you tell where they are...?

Because the beautiful clay floor tiles are hand made, the floor is not completely level.  Some of the tiles are concave, and others convex.  That creates a problem when you are trying to create an opening which is less than a pencil width.  Why a pencil width?  Well, apparently a mouse can squeeze through any opening wider than a pencil.

A mouse proof strip across the entrance at floor
level takes care of the gap below the doors.
Note the big drawer above the cupboard...

Thus a strip was installed across the opening of the cupboard at floor level.  It will also help in preventing dust and dirt from accidentally "brushed" into the lowest section of the cupboard.

But, not only did he make doors, he also made me a wonderful, wide and deep drawer.

...Ha! This is where all my utensils are now
stored :)  For the drawer runner we have used
a sliding mechanism usually reserved for a
drawer / sliding shelf in a TV cabinet - so we
 know it is strong enough to handle the weight
of all those utensils without collapsing in future 

It is the perfect size to accommodate all those carving knives and forks, hand whisks, potato mashers, egg lifters, scissors, garlic press, wooden spoons, etc. that one accumulates after 31-odd years together.

It is too wonderful - everything is now in one place- no more searching through individual "trays" in a shelf :) 

We kept the old drawer from the caravan drawer
- why not, it was perfectly usable.  We
merely changed the face of it to match the
new drawer and cupboards.

And the old caravan drawer is now allocated only for our daily knives, forks, spoons and teaspoons, as well as the tin opener, cup measures, peelers and spoon measures.  Which gets the old cutlery caddy off my work surface, and gives me that little bit more room to work.

Sigh - I love it :)

Then - the fly problem.

Flies are part and parcel of farm life.  But there are just so many fly strips we can hang in a day, and just so many flies that I can, and will, handle crawling over me in the evenings when we are relaxing in front of the TV.

That's where the carpenter came in useful again.

A very solid fly screen covers
our kitchen door entrance

 He made us very sturdy fly screens - for both the back kitchen stable door...

A double fly screen was installed at
the Happy Doors :)

 ... and for the front "Happy Doors" which lead onto the patio.

Fly screens are commonplace in the US of A - I know because I have seen plenty of them in sitcoms and movies - both on TV and on the big screen the few times RMan and I have gone to the movies.

But, here, in fly country / continent, they are uncommon.

Why?????

Who cares - I finally have some, and they work! It is the strangest sensation to stand at what looks like a closed door, and feel the breeze wafting through. Quite peculiar LOL

Yeeeeeha!  No more complaints about field mice or flies on this blog ever - I promise.