Flies and not nice

Flies 

A couple of weeks ago we had quite a few flies buzzing around the house. There is a farmyard across the road so it’s no surprise in hot weather. Olivier suggested I buy fly spray or sticky strips. I think sticky strips are disgusting to look at and spray means humans get dosed with chemicals too.

 I researched online and tried out three homemade traps: I cut three plastic water bottles in half and put sugar syrup in one, cider vinegar with water in another and the third was a fruity smelling washing up liquid, in my case grapefruit, with water. The tops of the bottles were turned upside down and placed to make a funnel down to the trap. The idea is that flies are not clever enough to find the way out again.

 Results: Not one fly got caught in a trap and I have the feeling that not one fly was tempted. I managed to swat one or two in the early in the morning when they were still sleepy. I got double scores a couple of times when I managed to swat mating couples (you can really creep up on them when they are at it). The flies have disappeared now as the weather is a lot cooler. Perhaps they took the hint?

Not nice 

Rob and I are trying very hard not to use the word nice. I didn’t realize how much I used the word. The challenge is to find another adjective to use. The synonym finder has been very helpful, but is a little heavy to lug around in my handbag .

 One afternoon while out on a walk, we went through the alphabet trying to find alternative words to use. We haven’t found a nice beginning with X yet.

 Do you know what or who a “nice-nelly” is?

I'm still alive!

I seem to have been too busy to visit blogs, let alone write a blog post. Olivier is home for the summer and Rob has had some time off, so I haven’t had much time to myself at all. In three weeks we will be back in the UK again to see M-I-L.

I’m suffering from conjunctivitis at the moment. It’s not at all painful, but my eye waters a lot. The vision in my left eye is blurred most of the time which is quite tiring. I’m keeping my eye clean with diluted cider vinegar, it stops the stickiness at least. If you know of any good home remedies please leave a comment!