What To Do With Flies

For much of the morning and the first half hour of a sweltering afternoon Jackie continued weeding the Brick Path, taking her own

before

and after photographs;

meanwhile I filled several trug-loads of dead-headed roses and weeds pulled up from the beds along the way.

Afterwards I printed another batch of A4 prints of him at work for Nick, who finished his work today.

Early this evening Jackie and I took a drive into the forest.

There seemed to be three options for photography when we arrived at Hatchet Pond: a man throwing sticks into the lake for his dogs to splash after, crows pecking in the grass, and, as a last resort my lens might reach a few groups on the far bank. As I disembarked from the Modus the man and his dogs walked away, and the rooks flew off.

Fortunately, a young lady aimed a judicious kick on the far side.

On Furzey Lane, a young foal, looking enviously at his mother’s tail, the switching of which he tried to emulate with no effect, did his best to dislodge the flies which pestered him, with ineffective kicks and waggling of his abbreviated little brush.

Along Lodge Lane a colourful pheasant strutted in the verge grasses, and inquisitive field horses displayed their fly protection gear.

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s pasta bolognese with fresh salad. The Culinary Queen and Ian drank Hoegaarden, Becky drank Zesty, and I finished the Côtes du Rhône.

76 comments

  1. That foal stands so straight and proud. Nick certainly did a lot of work in a sort period of time – a real pro.
    Jackie you’ve done a great job on the garden!!

  2. Wonderful pictures in this post, Derrick. Jackie is to be applauded for her diligence in weeding the joints in the pavers. What a chore that is! A cute blaze faced foal and a striking portrait of the pheasant round out the gallery today. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Great job, Jackie on the stone paths! That is tedious work. I just finished weeding between our brick pavers in the front and back so I know her pain 😉

  4. The paths look beautiful, Jackie! 🙂 Great job! 🙂
    The pleasant pheasant is handsome! The young foal is a beauty! 🙂
    Oh, those pesky flies! 😮 ? 🙁 Wish we could shoo them all away from the equines! YAY for fly protection gear! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) ❤️ 🙂

  5. Great work on the path, Jackie! What a difference that makes.

    The foal and its Mama are precious. I never realized their tails were so short until you pointed it out.

  6. Jackie did a wonderful job with the garden path!
    I love the header photo, and the pheasant is quite striking, too.
    (BTW, it looks like all the legal papers for my mom’s estate have finally been filed.)

  7. I read your title three times before I realized it concerned flies, not files. Thank goodness — as bad as the flies are for the horses, I fear if the problem had been files, you’d have been the one to deal with them.

  8. Ah, how the young envy the old folks (ie, parents) and yet the parents envy the young, even with smaller tails. 🙂 Incredible photos, Derrick. May the flies go away.

  9. At least the horses in the fields have some protection from the dreadful summer flies, and I imagine an equine fly repellent sprayed on by a thoughtful owner.

  10. I’m glad the foal knows to hang out around mom’s tail. It’s a good thing the three across the pond seem to be smiling, letting us know the kick is all in fun, and no assistance is needed.

  11. The before and after pictures of the Brick Path bespeak of assiduous enterprise. Flies are a real menace to the equine population. Hopefully, the young foal would soon have a prominent, hairy tail.

  12. You have captured some interesting scenes for this post. Over time I have come to realise that the fly problem is probably a lot worse in your area than where I live – and we regard them as being pesky 🙂

      1. Happy Father’s Day, Derrick. My hand is getting stronger and my fingers a little more flexible every day. Thanks for your good wishes.

  13. Such beautiful horses, Derrick. Also a lovely garden path. I cannot imagine the work that went into laying it. I laid six stepping stones in our front lawn one year. That took me the better part of a day and was exhausting. (And then Dan came home and had to take them out and redo them so they were even. ?)

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