View attachment 124270 View attachment 124271 View attachment 124274 Are those re-purposed or original construction?
I'm sure, lots of agriculture here. Have to put out feelers at the farm store. I've seen hay bails in it.
The used bags will be split down the middle so you end up with a liner around 300 ft long and up to 30 ft wide. They can’t be reused so farmers are happy to get rid of them—for free. The problem is they weigh a lot. We generally handle them with skid steers or loaders so I’m not sure what they weigh, but I’d guess over 300 lb. You could probably get someone to let you cut one up on site though. They are about 10 mil thickness and UV protected.
I like that. We used to have a bit of hand hewn posts and beams in barns from the 1880’s but it’s mostly gone now. Before that it was just teepees and maybe a soddy or two!
Well, that part of France is chock a block with castles and I reckon I could take one for myself with a decent trebuchet.
LOL. Might start another 100 Years’ War. Better idea than my progressive neighbor who a few years ago was asking me questions about being prepared for storms and power outages, etc. I thought it was good he was interested in such things. Some years later I was on the volunteer fire department and got called out to his house that was engulfed in flames. All we could do was keep the surrounding vegetation hosed down to keep the fire contained to the house. It was toast. After a while I noticed the guy talking to some other guys on the fire dept. and he was laughing and smiling. I thought that was odd for a guy who just lost his house, so when he was done talking to the other guys I went over and asked him how he could be in such good spirits. He said “remember when we talked about being prepared for disasters?” I was like “yeh”. Then he said “I have tried to be prepared for anything. I know it looks bad me losing my place to a fire, but I have bought and stored enough lumber in the attic to build a new house.” (The above is mostly fiction)
I’m actually ignorant on the subject. I have an iPhone. LOL I thought the fawn was a great shot for it being in motion.
I'm not used to seeing snakes in my neck of the woods. Very rare. However, last year I had to go to France in early spring to deal with the ivy and wisteria which was threatening the house. I also had to cut down the brambles which were running out of control in the garden. I saw more snakes in that month than I'd seen in the rest of my life including a viper which crossed right in front of me. Before... After...
I really like your house. I can see wisteria would love it too. Are any of the snakes there venomous? We only have rattlesnakes that are venomous. All others are harmless. This was a bull snake and they are hard to tell from a rattlesnake driving down the road. Have to slow down and look. The bull snakes get relocated if too near young domestic fowl but the rattlers all get a bullet or the shovel guillotine!
The vipers are venomous. They're only about 2' at their largest though so their striking distance is only about a foot. You'd have to stand on one to be in any real danger. The snakes do help with rodent control, the roof is infested with dormice and in the summer you can hear them scrambling about overhead. Dormice hibernate and are only active for about 5 months of the year so it's late spring before they start to move around.
The Vipera aspis or Asp is the most venomous. Famously the snake Cleopatra used to commit suicide. I'm fairly certain that this is the snake that slithered across my path about a yard in front of me. Picture from Google images.
Asp vipers come in several colours including black. I've seen these twice, once in the garden and once in the house in the service pit containing the gas shut off valve. I'm very careful before putting my hand in there now.
Ok. I’ve heard of asp vipers but didn’t know where they lived. Are they native to France? I’m assuming they don’t have any warning mechanisms, just bite your *ss? Yes, that’s why we leave all but rattlesnakes alone. They kill lots of vermin. The rattlers I’d leave as well but we lose cows to them quite often. It’s a terrible slow death for a cow and even if she pulls through she never fully recovers. The black snake is kind of pretty. We have blue and green racers but no snakes that are truly black. I have a picture of our most colorful snake I’ll attach below. Most people call them a corn snake but I’m not sure that’s accurate. They are pretty rare. This one surprised me at the garage a couple years ago.
Yes, Asps are native but declining in numbers. Apparently their warning is to bite you with little or no venom first time. Not something I'd like to test though. I'd hear snakes moving around the garden more often than I'd see them. My tactic was to make as much noise as possible to give them a chance to move away from me.
