A Routine - maybe

Gosh I’ve almost settled into a routine. There is the daily looking after the chickens and alpacas that always takes longer than I assume it will. The chickens always take longer because I invariably stand around to watch them scratching about under the leaves and pecking away at the grass. Even though they are in a large hen house one of the first things they do on being let out is stretch and flap their wings. The alpacas take longer because I forget to factor in the time spent with Cid when he sees me at the hay bail and Snowy when she sees me clearing out the paddock. Both cats regard those times as their one-to–one time with me.

Noisette still hasn’t had her cria, which is a pity since the weather has been so warm. The weather is turning tonight and we have rain forecast for the next 3 days. The winds are due to be high as well but the weather is not supposed to be as bad as he UK is having at the present. So tomorrow is very definitely designated an indoor day.

This morning was spent back at the prunery where Ann and I made a start on heaping all the cut branches into the middle of the rows of trees. They are then ground up and turned into mulch in situ. I think that our Thursday session will be cancelled, which is a pity, as I want to try out the serpe I bought. A serpe is that machete looking thing in the foreground of the picture of the prunery a couple of posts back. I managed to find one exactly the same, with a cutting edge on both sides, and it is a remarkable efficient tool but you do need to keep your holding hand well away from the cutting area. This one set me back €26 around £18-20 I think. Not cheap but so much easier and faster than trying to clean branches using secateurs.

An inside day will also mean further cleaning of the kitchen. With the dust being so fine it flies into the air as you try to clear it so a few hours after cleaning there is another layer over everything again. Still it is slowly getting less. I may even be able to get the first coat of whitewash onto the wall where I’m planning to put the first kitchen units.

I also had the estimate for the electrical work I want done. Deep intake of breath, it’s roughly €12000.00. More than my first estimate but then it is to do a lot more than I first thought. It looks like none of the lights or sockets in the house are earthed so an earth connection is one of the extras along with replacing all the wiring.

Having started with the chickens today, I’ll end with them too. One of my Lacey Ladies excelled herself over the weekend.

And it was a double yolk too – I’ve not had one of those for years. Lunch yesterday was boiled egg and Marmite dips and it was scrummy.