I’m not a pet person, but agreed that we could get one as Hannah blatantly is. We settled on chickens – useful animals. Then Tim and Nepo got excited about a goat lawn mower, so Belinda arrived. She was lonely so we got her a friend (as yet unnamed – we were thinking of ‘Little’ but after a couple of weeks lawn mowing that’s no longer appropriate). When we visited Nepo in his village last weekend he gifted is a rabbit…and all of a sudden we have 5 chickens, 2 goats and a rabbit. A farm!!!
Animal Corner (with an unfinished outdoor kitchen the hospital was building in the middle): rabbit hutch to the left, hens to the right and goats far right.
The rabbit lived up until now in a very small box, which I learnt from Nepo when I commented with surprise that she hadn’t tried once to jump out of our washing basket, even after a few days in there! She is now learning to jump and chooses to spend as much of the day as possible out in the sun.
Above you can see Nepo climbed into the hutch with the kids to show them how to handle the rabbit.
(N.B. We had a very funny moment when Nepo arrived at night to find the finished rabbit hutch with rabbit inside and spent several minutes trying in vain to figure out how on earth we had got her in there before Tim demonstrated the lid.)
Our hens stopped laying while our neighbours kept some roosters with them for a few days (we heard they were delicious). Now we’re happily back to 4 eggs a day.
Nepo and his friend built the goat enclosure to the right for us. The goats are 10 and 6 months old. They will get bigger.
The latest additions to the tree house: a sand pit, shop (kiosk) and climbing frame. I thought it would be impossible to get good sand locally, but Nepo knew where to get it and some men carried the sand in bags on their heads to his house. Then I picked them up in the car. I’m really excited that it’s been a big hit; the kids sometimes start using it in their pyjamas!
We’re in the second rainy season of the year and everything is growing so green. The herb garden has really taken off.
Nepo’s project today: a new compost hole (you can see loads of beautifully composted dirt in the foreground from the old one). The banana tree started out a tiny baby not long ago. Soon we will have little lady fingers growing!
And to end on a high note, I got my second jigger today. A flea that lives in the soil lays an egg sack in your foot. When it gets to a certain size it gets itchy and you dig it out. It sounds disgusting and I was quite worried about them, but as it turns out it’s a bit like picking a scab – there’s something satisfying about getting them out! Still, I hope it’s my last.
No comments:
Post a Comment