Today Ian is at a friend's house trying to repair the ancient tractor that he bought several years ago and I have a day to myself in the house. This is probably the first time since we have been here and I promised Ian that I would catch up on some 'proper' work at my desk while he was away! Well, I managed until now but what I really want to do is catch up on some blogging, without my thoughts being interupted by sounds of engines and cursing as something else breaks! All I can hear today is the drone of the flies as they get more and more exited by the approaching hot summer.
So, what is the cause of Ian's cursing? Well, he can never resist a good bargain when it comes to heavy machinery and one of the things we towed back from UK was an old roller; apparently we need it for when we do the drive. This was a bargain but sold on Ebay as 'spares or repair' so Ian set about repairing it only to find that it needs rather more repair than he had hoped! It goes forward and 'rolls' but apparently does not perform its secondary function of vibrating!
He has also been spending quite a lot of time on the digger and dumper trying to move earth. After the builders went we were left with two very large piles of earth that we have called Mont Blanc
and The Eiger
Truck loads of earth have been removed but the size of the piles never seems to decrease. While Ian was clearing Igor he accidently hit a snake with the digger bucket. The snake was probably searching for food in the pile. It was about a metre long and most probably a grass snake just awaking from hibernation. Unfortunately he wounded it but didn't kill it outright and then we didn't really know what to do. We probably should have killed it as it was unlikely to survive its injuries, but at this point it decided to try and fight back and so we had to let it go; maybe to be dinner for one of the birds of prey that fly over the field. Our encounters with snakes so far have been seen two, mortally wounded two!
So, just as I was halfway through writing this entry Ian returned declaring that the tractor was ready and we could go over an pick it up.
1 comment:
Part of our pile of debris has been taken by a neighbour who wanted topsoil for his garden reconstruction. Unfortunately he only made a slight dent in the pile (while filling up his garden to the brim).
I do wish you'd stop going on about all this equipment and plant. It quite sends shivers of jealousy down my spine. Next Ian will be buying a 'spares or repair' E-Type jag to rebuild. If he does, make up a guest room for me and Hay.
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