Here at Struan Farm we are committed to "kaizen," also called "continuous improvement." The theory is that small, ongoing changes can reap major benefits. And both Clifford and I can attest to this.
This week after noticing that Clifford was continuing to go into the garden beside the house, digging himself a hole in the mulch to lay where he was protected by both the side of the house and shrubs, I decided that getting him a new bed wasn't going to be sufficient. While he loves his new bed and old blanket, he seemed to be telling us that he wanted more shelter, even though he has given up on getting into his house. I suggested to John that he build a wooden box for Clifford's bed beside the workshop, providing him with sides to nestle against and a roof over is head. John found an old wooden pallet to use as the floor of the box and knocked up walls sized to fit Clifford's bed. This has done the trick, he's much happier.
And then there's my fig picker, the tin/can on the wooden stick. The edge of the tin just wasn't proving sharp enough to cut the figs as easily as I wanted. More often than not I found myself either shredding the fruit against the rim of the tin or sending the figs flying. I asked John to cut a "V" notch in the tin to make a sharper edge, making it much easier to cut the fig stems.
Yes, continuous improvements here at Struan Farm. Little things making big differences. But do you get the sense from this that I'm the only one having the ideas and John does the work? It doesn't always work that way, I promise you that!
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