Other stuff

What else have we been up to you may wonder - well lots of varied jobs actually and not all the stuff we expected to be doing;

Fruit; we have had a bumper fruit crop of peaches, plums, pears, tomatoes and apples that we have spent many a hot evening processing them for the kilner jars.  We are constantly on the look out for second hand jars (they are very pricey new) and the we have been to more "brocante/vide grenier" (car boots) than you can shake a stick at.  We have haggled and negotiated and now our store room is rapidly filling up.  The tomatoes have become pizza/pasta sauce made with garlic and fresh basil (we aren't into tinned tomatoes) and the fruit has been bottled with cider and cinnamon or simply poached for the best stuff like the peaches off our own trees.  We intend to prune well this autumn (with Al's Dad's guidance) and start a proper care programme for the trees so we expect less fruit but of a higher quality next year.  We will also be planting strawberries and other soft fruits for next summer.

Kitchen DIY;  the €150 kitchen is nearly there but we await delivery of oak worktops and the splash back tiles need to be fitted but otherwise we are done.  It has been a slog with two coats of paint and a coat of mat varnish to protect the drawers and cupboards but we are happy.

Reclaimed Terra Cotta floor; We have sourced some very cheap reclaim terra cotta tiles that have just been dug up from a farm  house kitchen a few miles away.  They now need scrubbing and laying over the top of the ghastly kitchen, hallway and bathroom tiles on the ground floor.  We'll need to treat them with several coats of warmed linseed oil with turps in it to protect them but the should look very pretty and more in keeping with the style of our mill.  Only around 1000 to do!

Solar system; Klaus the plumber has nearly finished the heating system and we have Houston control centre in our store room.  The solar system is also in place and we hired a digger for another day for filling in the trenches and moving earth around.  Al also pumped out (yuk) and removed the grease trap sited just in front of the septic tank and now feels he is a qualified sewage engineer as our system now meets the legal requirements for septic tanks (we had to do this within one year of buying the place).

While the digger was on site, we also dug a shallow trench where the new chicken run is going (around 75metres long and backing on to the chicken shed) in order to bury the chicken wire into the ground around 30cms (to stop the foxes digging their way in; like The Great Escape in reverse).  It is a work in progress but the wire and posts are in and another layer of wire needs to go on the top half of the poles and an pair of electric fence wires (again anti fox) installing all the way round.  We are going for a low fence and clipping the chickens wings as this area will also become our future apple orchard (planting expected in November)  and we don't want it to look like a prison.  The pressure is on though as the chicks are getting ready to see the outside world.

Ultimate boys toy

Despite having the hay cut 6 weeks ago and relatively dry weather, the grass is going pretty mad so we have just had to buy a tractor and loads of dangerous looking implements to run with it; Al is officially very happy!

The tractor is a 1963 Massey Ferguson 65 which is the quintessential little red tractor from story books, cartoons and kids films.   We have also purchased a broyeur (topper for cutting grass), a small (2 soc) plough and acquired for free a disc harrow, a spike harrow (found covered in briars in our field), a log carrying frame and a fertiliser spreader (left behind by previous owner).  Our neighbours Didier and Aline are also happy to lend us some other implements for the use of some of ours.

As our knowledge of tractors is quite limited - mostly from car repairs and a bit of common sense - we purchased a tractor based on recommendations from friends and neighbours and the 65 has a Perkins engine which means it is an easy starter and solid - the last thing you need is a tractor that is difficult to start.  Its reputation seems to be true and since we got it home and we have had no serious trouble so far.  Al is currently waiting for some araldite to set on the glass fuel filler as he found a fuel leak and traced it to that.  We are also looking for a second hand starter motor as it is a bit sticky and needs several attempts to kick the old girl to life.

As you can imagine the kids are pretty impressed with it and their ultimate treat is a ride on it.  Ben has even been promoted to steering while sitting on daddy's knees.

We tried using the first implement today - the grass cutter and all has gone well.  It isn't that easy to do detail but at 150cms wide, it is a whole lot quicker than our old push along petrol mover (by about 100cms).  We are yet to try the plough but that is another skill all together so we may take some guidance from Jacques the friendly farmer (who cut our hay) and make sure we don't break anything or dig up the telephone line etc. 

The topper:

 The Plough:

 The Disc Harrow (Cover Crop):

 The (slightly battered) Fertiliser Spreader and Frame:

Chicks born

As we previously posted, we brought the two hens from Chamonix and they settled straight in.  The cockerel that had survived Cooper's last visit was a lot happier to see us than we expected - no doubt his reaction was improved by the sight of two unplucked (excuse the pun) hens which trotted out of the transport box.  Before we set off for Wales around 5 weeks ago, the red hen was showing signs of being broody and when we got back she was well and truly settled on around 10 eggs.  Only 4 of them were still warm when we checked so we put the 4 eggs and her in solitory confinement and she made a lovely nest and settled down properly.

Yesterday we were just discussing how long we would give it and wondering if we should place an order for some more stock when Bee spotted Cooper taking a serious interest in the confinement pen and lo and behold the squeek of tiny chicks could be heard.  3 out of the 4 eggs hatched and the kids (especially Scarlett) were overjoyed.

Now we just have to keep them safe from dogs, cats, buzzards and foxes and of course cross fingers they are all female!