Silage #2

This week, while some like Farmer Müller were cutting grass for the first time, others of the silage brigade were doing the second cut.

Farmer Müller's daughter in law, MrsMY came over in the early morning and rode out with Angie. They had another good hack but the horse flies are now getting to work.

I think that the UK is largely saved the pain of the monster horseflies we have here. It has always confused me. Here one talks about "Bremsen" (Bräme or in north Germany Dase) which Wiki shows it's Latin name as "Tabanidae" and the English version shows this as "Horse-fly". We have these by the hundred in the time from April/May to August, one says until the cereal fields have been harvested. These small beasties adore horses, their riders and generally humans. We have one part of the garden that they really love and one can guarantee when one takes a dip in the pool, one or two will always come for a snack. Thankfully once they sit on you, they are easy to kill. They don't move about. And they seem to send out a message for their companions to stay away. Just need to go through the agony of one or two stings and then you are OK.

But we also have a super mutant version about the size of a Jumbo jet which is less seldom and almost only associated with horses. I don't remember hearing of a human being bitten. These things drive the horses totally crazy. German uses the word "Pferdebremsen" literally translated "Horse horse-fly" or Latin "Tabanus sudeticus" and on clicking the English Wiki, one gets virtually no info except "Tabanus sudeticus also known as the dark giant horsefly is a species of biting horse-fly. It is the heaviest fly in Europe."

For me, these mutant giants are the first and only factual and understandable argument for Brexit. It's taken me two years to find that out. And where there is one, there is more than likely another. So I will tirelessly continue to pursue my endeavour to justify Brexit. Don't hold your breath waiting for the next good reason. Could take another few years.

In other matters, general tidying up in the garden with chainsaw and carting trimmings off to the compost unit. Otherwise a great day weatherwise and no thunderstorms in the evening. Must be a record