No Posts and No Pictures

I’ve been getting very lax with my postings of late, so what’s up? As with many things, it’s not due to anything in particular but a mix of things. Over the last three weeks or so I’ve had two colds, one on the back of the other. The first cold went to my chest and the second one to my sinuses so both managed to slow me down a bit.

On top of that I got a reminder from the UK Tax Office to say that the date to file the taxes and get them to work it out had change and was no longer January but the end of this month – time to panic.

Having got the data together I got round to reading the accompanying booklet and discovered that the form they had sent me shouldn’t be used if you are resident abroad as I am. So I duly telephoned the helpline;

“No idea why we’ve sent you that then, but fill it in and send it anyway”

was the comment. So I have, along with a covering letter to say that I was resident abroad and I had queried the form but had been told to submit it. Now all I have to do is wait and see if they accept it.

The other thing that’s reduced my time in front of the computer is that I’ve discovered BBC 4. I found an episode of Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, a programme I watched with my parents back in 1969. Re-watching it only confirmed that a lot of documentaries today are pap in comparison. It’s sad that in an age when we are all supposed to be better educated we are treated like children when back in 1969 you were treated as an adult.

Tonight’s offering is the second part of ‘The Story of Maths’. When I watched the start of the first episode my heart sank when it announces that it was going to make wide use of computer graphics – I have to admit I have a loathing of CG being used as a time waster in documentaries having watched Horizon going from an informative hour long programme to a quarter of an hour of content padded out with flashy but superficial CG and the content repeated four or five times to make an hours programme. However I was really pleasantly surprised that the CG was not intrusive so I’m looking forward to that. Maybe it will diminish my cynicism of what we are fed on TV – but I will take note of what Lord Clark said:-

"It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs."

Sick Chick Back With The Flock

Sick Chick still has the hole beneath her vent but it’s much smaller. I followed Debs & Bob’s advice and have given her a dose of Dectomax (Ivermectin) and today she was looking better but pining for the company of the other chickens.

While I can keep her isolated I can’t keep her totally fly free. In the house she’s in a cat box which is fine when she’s feeling poorly or for transport but is really too small for long term containment and the house is not fly free either – especially not this year, the flies have been really bad
.
Outside I have the concrete rabbit hutches which give her more space but again they are not fly proof so having checked her again I decided that it would be better for her to take her chances out with the rest of the flock and I will catch her at least once a week and check her.

So after a final dose of iodine I put her in with the others. Her tail went up to the highest I’ve seen it for ages and she was clucking away for all her worth. She’s been really quiet for ages so that was a real surprise. She came over as a really happy chicken and overjoyed to be back on the grass and foraging. She still has diarrhoea but it doesn’t seem to be bothering her, maybe the Dectomax will deal with that in time. In the meantime, she appears to be happy and I will be watching very carefully for any signs that she’s not doing well and will deal with her as and when she needs it.

Chickens again

I spent a bit of time yesterday watching the chickens. They are loving it being crane fly season and every so often dash madly across the grass in hot pursuit. The two broody ones have now given up sitting and one of the four has started laying again so I’m back in eggs at least for me.

The Sussex Three are now happily established, while they do still keep a look out for Mr L they generally just mill around on the edge of his group. Cheep Cheep is still cheeping but being the smallest he keeps himself well out of the way of the others. He’ll still let me stroke him when he comes out of the house but won’t come to call any more.

I caught Sick Chick yesterday and checked her out. The hole beneath the vent was looking much smaller and the skin quite normal. This morning she was roosting up against the Sussex Three who quite happily cooed their way past me to go down the ladder to the outside and left me able to catch Sick Chick again - much to her consternation.

The maggots are back! Only very small at the moment so once I’ve got breakfast down me it’s back to the hot iodine bath and tweezers. I’m just hoping that as the weather starts to get a bit colder, – it hit 25°C yesterday, that the flies will go and maybe she will heal properly.

I’m really not sure what to do about her, sometimes she looks really well but her tail is never up, she eats but is very picky about what she eats, preferring bread and layers mix to maize and wheat and she has diarrhoea. When I try to catch her she usually outruns me – unless the maggots are there and on the whole doesn’t appear to be in any discomfort it’s just that every three weeks or so she gets another infestation of maggots.

Two Steps Forward, One And Three Quarters Back

I should expect it since nothing ever seems to be straightforward. I’ve been ploughing, then ploughing and then ploughing some more. G and I managed to get about a third to half the field done before he left and I’ve been trying to get the remainder done. The field is about 5.5 hectares and is outlined in the picture below. My tractor is the tiny dot at the top of the field indicated by the arrow and probably not visible unless you enlarge the picture.


The reason my tractor is there while I am somewhere else is simple. There I am in my own little world, trundling up and down the field when I allow myself the little thought that I am nearly finished. That was the big mistake I made. Never expect to finish anything easily. I glanced up to see how close to the end of the field I was and noticed that the radiator was boiling even though the temperature gauge wasn’t in the red.

A few choice words went through my head sort of on the lines of ‘bother’ as it was late and I wouldn’t have time to get to the shops for suitable coolant and it would be dark before the tractor would be cool enough to open the radiator cap.

This morning I looked into the radiator and it was empty so having bought the recommended stuff I refilled it. So far so good, no fluid gushing out so I set off back down the field. Having got everything warm and pressurised by the time I got to the end I could see the coolant dripping out the bottom of the radiator. A trip to the repairman was in order but having got there I found out that he’s away today so poor old MF is now abandoned at the back of the house awaiting repair.

I’m beginning to think that the field will never be finished.

Another Gift From Debs

As I was leaving yesterday, Debs handed me these:



They are Chayote, also called choko, chaco, xuxu and christophene. These two have both started sprouting from the single seed at the base of the fruit and I’m now scouring the Internet on the best ways to grow these. I will have to plant carefully as they produce a vine that can grow to over 30 ft and work out what to use to support the vines but I’m looking forward to growing them.

Jane Grigson has some interesting recipes using them, Chayote Creole and a sweet of Chayote in Red wine that sound rather nice. Roll on next September.

Cat Food Shortage?

Well only locally and caused by me.

I was feeling pleased the other day when I received a 5€ voucher from a local (well local-ish as there’s nothing really local here), gardening store. The cats were just about out of their food and the price of a 10kg bag has risen to over 63€. So that brought the cost back to around 58€, about the same as it was a year ago, so I duly bought a sack. Why is it, by the way, that cat food cost so much more than dog food?

Then at the beginning of the week I was going through the ‘publicity’, the lists of offers at the various supermarkets delivered weekly by the posrman, and couldn’t believe my eyes. The farming chain was selling the very same at the amazing price of 45€90. That was just too good an offer to miss – so I bought 3.

I may not have much in store for me this year but the cats are in food until the new year.

Many Thanks Debs

Just a very quick post tonight as I’m finishing the day feeling a lot worse than when I started it – hopefully another early night will do the trick. I eventually got to Debs house this morning despite every best effort to delay me; two tractor drivers stopped in the road having a chat, then two car drivers doing the same, then no cars in sight on the lovely long stretch of road but as I come up to the bends and very limited visibility at the end I come up behind a tractor and trailer, you get the picture.

It was really sad to see the house in the throws of packing up but I’m sure Debs and Bob will be happy back in the UK and that’s what counts.

As I said yesterday, Debs was giving me the last 3 chicks she’s reared; so here they are, and aren’t they beautiful.


So many thanks again Debs, hope the move goes well and we’ll all miss you.