It's that time of year again!

It's the time of year when the sun is at it's hottest that these horse flies appear in the paddocks.  Thankfully they seem to fly around singly or twos and threes and not in swarms.  The boys don't like these monsters landing on them and they stamp their feet and shake them off.  They are fairly easy to swat when they land on fence poles but it gets a bit tricky when they are on or near one of the boys as the boys think they are being swatted and not the horse-fly!

Apart from keeping cool in the sand pit, the boys know to lie down when there are flies around so that the flies can't get underneath them where it is most irritating.  Here are (L to R) Wee Eck, Gully, Rufus, Fergus and Gaucho.

Another hot day (we've had several this week!) and the sand pit and water trays get full use.  Faro has his tail up and is checking out the photographer whilst Fidget lies on the grass and (L to R) Gaucho, Fyta, Fergus and Rufus are in the pit.  Gully and Wee Eck have wandered into the adjoining paddock.

We had a visit from old friends Alan and Kath this week and here is Alan asking Wee Eck, "Whey, can ye speak Geordie, marra?"    He's deaf Alan - try hand signals!

Guess who has just been spitting?  Several of the boys, if they have been spitting, pick up mouthfuls of hay and just stand, letting the foul taste get soaked up by the hay.  Fidget is doing this having had a slight disagreement with Wee Eck behind.  Unfortunately for Wee Eck, being deaf, he can't hear the audible warnings the boys give each other if their personal space is being invaded and if he misses the visual warnings too - then thats when spitting starts.  Eck then gets the message and usually gives as good as he gets! 

And finally..........all of this sunshine is clearly doing wonders with the veg.  Swedes in the nearest bed, then Rooster main crop tatties behind, peas behind that and at the rear are onions and root veg.  The freezers will soon be bulging with peas and beans after hours spent shelling!  One disappointment this year is in the orchard where we have very few apples but plenty of growth.   Clearly the late frosts have nipped all the buds so the boys won't have so many to eat this winter.