Poor Old Dog :(

Vasko is having a bit of a tough time lately, poor thing. We now think he was hit by a log falling off the pile a few nights ago, making him sore all down one side and not too good on his legs. He's improving every day and is managing to get around, eating well and even got a little excited at tea time yesterday so must be feeling better. Since he arrived here his life must be very different, but hopefully in a good way. He's a quiet dog that likes to lie in the shade all day and sleep, not very boisterous and slowly learning that he can trust us. His skin is clearing up well, fleas and ticks are gone and he has new hair growth on the leg that was covered in tar when he arrived.

But since he's been a lying about more lately due to obviously being sore on his side he's been plagued by flies. They swarm all over his face and beard and have been laying eggs beside his mouth! Over 2 days I must have washed hundreds of them away and I assume they can't be good for the dog. So I'm trying to find a natural fly repellent to help Vasko.

Flies and mosquito's are abundant here this year due to the amount of rain we've had and Vasko isn't the only one being affected. Hubby is constantly bitten on the ankles by what we call "Stable flies" and I've got some rather huge and sore mosquito bites in places that are luckily never seen in public! We're on tick watch with the horses and donkey as we have a different village shepherd(ess) at the moment and she insists on allowing the goats and sheep to graze the field outside our house for large parts of the day while she has a snooze in the bushes!

Mafia, the cockerel and his harem are of course enjoying any bugs that stray into their pen, the girls are looking a little tatty at the moment so Mafia must be enjoying his time with them! Not one of them has been broody this year, which is fine by us as we keep them as layers only now. The silly turkey hen however, is sitting on rancid eggs and won't let me take them away grrrr. Admittedly with the losses we've had due to foxes or beech martens this year we won't be breeding any more turkeys for the table. When you work out the cost to feed them and time taken to care for them properly it's actually more economical to buy them from the supermarket, although I doubt they'll taste as good.

The piglets are getting more confident and energetic by the day and all wanted to come and investigate who I was at lunchtime when I went to give Charlotte some apples as a treat. Mum is much more chilled out this time and has no problem with either hubby or I being around or handling the babies........but she still doesn't like our friend Jordani and I doubt that will ever change now. I'll try and get some new photos of them all tomorrow.