Red!

Arghh! Red mites in the nesting boxes this morning! Major clean ensued not helped by the girls trying to get into the boxes to lay their eggs! I also discovered the breaking egg culprit - big old Penny! Not only was she in the box with the broken egg, she had yolk and egg shell on her big feet!  Both her and the mites pose quite a dilemma - the shavings need to be deep to soak up the broken egg and prevent it drying onto the wooden base and making a funky smell, but obviously the mites have decided to hide in the shavings  given that all their other hiding places have been discovered and are being sprayed! I have given it careful thought and decided on newspaper to line the boxes and soak up the broken eggs, and a thin layer of shavings for the girls to sit on! Then the whole lot can be removed daily and replaced by clean! 
After a thorough clean of the coop  I grabbed my containers and headed for the fruit cage - long over due picking of berries! The red Gooseberry bush has surpassed itself this year - ended up emptying 2 containers into a plastic bag there were so many! That left one  container for the  blackcurrants and one for the redcurrants, and a punnet each  for the Blueberries and then the  Blackberries growing along the edge of the plot. However although the latter looked ripe and came off easily, many were very tart not honeyed sweet, so these were given to the girls along with the past it currants, they didn't seem to mind! When I finally gathered all my pickings and got back to my car I realised it was 1 pm! 5 hours of cleaning and picking! 
After taking portly for a short walk - even shorter as the rain started after a glorious morning of sunshine and a warm wind - I tackled the Port Eliot photos once more! So Day 3 done and ready to be blipped! Only day 2 left to be completed! At least it is making me take less photos for the daily blip which is a good experience!