dimanche 19 avril 2015

The turning of the Seasons



  Well, that's the end of lighting the stove in the morning when I get up. I've cleared out the ash drawer, removed the ready-use log supply and swept the hearth. I hope we don't have a real cold snap now, but I'm not going to start again barring a real return to the Ice Age...in real emergency, we've got the gaz heater, of course. Now is the time for planting (for Kim, that is, though I have rotovated the potager) and cutting grass. Time to look forward to swimming and a trip to the Pyrenees. Winter is finished, long live Summer.
  Bye for now, nearly tea time

samedi 18 avril 2015

Debugging. Nothing to do with computers!


   When you're running an Ark, with three dogs and up to a dozen cats, you will find that you have also acquired other, uninvited livestock, what an aristocratic seller of Pekingese dogs we met used to call 'lodgers'. I refer of course to fleas mainly, though ticks and mites are not unknown. It is therefore of intense interest to come across a product,which not only keeps its promises, but comfortably exceeds them!
  When confronted with this problem, we have usually used Frontline,either in its spray or spot-on form. However, the chemical seems to have lost its potency lately and a kitten continued to have fleas after as many as three applications in a week, clearly not a good thing. Our vet advised a product called Sorresto for the dogs, and we fitted all three with these special collars. They look like grey, plastic collars, and had a faint chemically smell which soon wore off. They were a bit expensive, but last at least six months, so worked out reasonable compared with the more frequent spot-ons.
  After a few days we were pleased to find the dogs were free of fleas, but most surprisingly, so were all the cats as well!! The house seems to be a no-go area for fleas and we haven't seen one for months. It's not often that a product proves so unexpectedly efficacious and I would thoroughly recommend it if you are pet owners plagued with flea infestations!

  Bye for now, going to enjoy the feeling of a flea-free house and pets that don't scratch!