Changing Weather, Stuffed Mussels and a new Duck House

I can't remember which day now, but perhaps Thursday, the temperature soared to a high of 15°C by lunchtime and there was wall to wall sunshine.  It hasn't been the same since and I have now got into the habit of breaking the ice on the animal drinking water containers each morning. 

The hailstones which fell at 5.00pm on Thursday afternoon were still there well into Friday and it was very cold out there.

Camelias are flowering everywhere now, in spite of the frost covered ground when I go up the lane to let the animals out in the morning.

Early one evening this week, as I drove to collect a Sky+ box to replace my faulty one, the sky was beginning to blacken and soon all the clouds were really dark and the rain started, and boy did it rain.  Everywhere was sporting great big puddles.  Thank goodness they cleared all the ditches round here last week which stops the roads flooding.  When I lived in Cornwall sometimes the two lanes leading from Boswinger to the main road were completely flooded and impassable.  At least that doesn't happen here.

I bought a Drizabone long riding coat secondhand from the expat forum this week.  It was too far to drive so I paid for the postage to get it sent to me which was less than the diesel would have been.

This is going to keep me dry when I walk up the road to do the animals in the pouring rain. I just need a souwester or something similar for my head, as it doesn't have a hood.

This morning I drove with my worker to collect a play house which looks ideal for a duck house.  We brought it back and installed it on the duck field next to their pond.  The inside had fitted carpet and gripper rods.  We removed them and put lino in on the floor before strewing it with straw.  An attachment was added to fix the door back in the daytime and once it has been painted black it will look ok.  It will certainly be good to have the ducks in their own house instead of mixed in with the hens.

The door's about 4ft high, luckily I am not a tall person. However, it will still be a struggle cleaning it out. I am hoping to be able to reach all corners with a long rake. Under the straw is lino, so I can pull that out, if necessary and give it a good wash outside the house.

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We had so much trouble getting them into their new house tonight, I can't tell you how difficult it was. They all stood by the gate waiting to go into the hen area and then on to the barn and henhouse. In the end, as it was dark, we had to let them go into the barn and catch them one by one and carry them through to their new home. Hopefully that won't have to be done too many nights before they realise where they sleep and go in happily!

Three things I like:

1.   Getting a delivery of English groceries today.  However much I enjoy French things, somehow there are always things you miss when you aren't in your original country.

2.   Finally getting a duck house after looking for something affordable and suitable for ages.

3.   Enjoying stuffed mussels, a first for me, for supper yesterday and again for lunch today.