One of the benefits of old woodwormy doors is we know they are going to be unrepairable, so there’s no reason not to cut holes in them to make dog doors!
This time last year, we didn’t have a fence and gate, just a table and dog playpen blocking the garden from the road – so we kept the doors shut as the animals could get onto the road. This year we have our gate and fence and they can’t get out, so we’ve been leaving the front door open.
However, that means we are open to the elements! While it was similar in Villagarcia, we did have our wood burning stove which we used in the evening, and that did a good job of warming the back of the house. We could also use electric heaters if we needed them.
It’s different here though, as we don’t have any form of heating and our electric supply isn’t strong enough to run a heater. So we have no way to keep the house warm if we have the doors open to outside. We hung the ‘curtains’ up that we had in Villagarcia, as they did a good job of insulating the rooms while letting dogs and cats in and out – however there we did not have the winds from the sea and the curtain here over the kitchen door often is blowing like a flag.
So Ian cut part of the door out to make a pet door. Some are catching on to it quiker than others 🙂
This is a nose poking through
Unwanted Visitors
We’ve also had some unwanted visitors:
We’ve been catching them in these mouse-friendly traps and Ian was taking them down the road to let them free – until he read that they can return up to a distance of 2 miles! Admittedly, that figure came from a pest control website, who I guess has an interest in people not doing it themselves, but this little chap was on his way to Cervo this morning, which is a few km away. So hopefully he’ll not return!