Damn clever these flies. Totally fed up with them 20 minutes ago I went and got the hand held hoover and placed it on the desk beside me. Not a single one arrived, so I moved it to one side and started to type this. 2 words in and one of the little buggers flew straight onto my specs. 
Depends whatās in your waste bin. All our waste fruit veg etc goes into a lidded compost bin on our worktop - I use a small enamel bread bin. Most of the rest goes into recycling. Only a few (dry) bits and pieces go in our waste bin. (Itās 30l, no way would we need the 100l bin that @David_Spardo talks about.) We have no more than one small black bag a week. Any flies are going for the compost bin, so we are emptying it regularly.
The 100 litre bags originated because our Rottie, Boss (see avatar), could easily flip the lid of a smaller one and the big bags are the only ones that fit almost to the bottom of the wheely bin we bought to combat him. Very little fruit or veg waste in this family, apart from orange and banana skins and other waste is fairly minimal too.
Rather than buy different size rolls of bag I use the big ones for re-cycling too. That one hangs from a partition around the shelves (also dog related, our Setter, Galys, on her first day here started sweeping everything on the shelves to the floor, the folding partition, bought to redirect cool or warm air into the bedroom when Fran was bedridden). Almost everything which is not consumed here is re-purposed (fridges and freezers, stoves and washing machines all used for garden tool storage outside) which is why the dechet and I have been almost divorced over the past 10 or 15 years or so. 
I became a midwife yesterday.
After my customary 28 metre swim I was ready to start towelling off in the sunshine filtering through the leaves when I spotted a dragonfly, immobile, on the surface. I was worried that my overarm crawl might have brought it down, I often watch a single dragonfly patroling up and down and, occasionally, driving off a rival.
So I lowered myself back in and reached out with my arm, palm open, underneath him and gently raised it out of the water. It was tricky climbing out, I normally do this using both hands clutching tightly the stout cargo strap stretched across the end of the pond. I did manage it though one handed and then studied the creature, it fluttered a bit, so not dead and then I spotted the dark brown hulk of another insect attached below it. Understanding dawned, this was a brand new dragonfly struggling to emerge from the husk of its first life as a ferocious denizen of the deep.
By now it had crawled part way up my arm, drying its wings I thought, so moved a little so that it was in the sunlight. I gently touched the nymph still attached and soon it separated from the new creature and fell onto the table top below my arm. The newbie hung on tight, I could feel the 6 prickly legs grasping my skin and watched its wings quivering as it slowly crawled a bit further. There was nothing I dared do as I saw the sunlight drying the wings. I was willing it to take the next step, although the sun was warm, I had been diverted before drying myself off and was feeling the need. So I waited, sitting on the chair and slowly using the towel with my free hand when at last he took off and and flew up into a small tree.
Sometime later I saw a dragonfly on patrol and wondered if it was him, or perhaps the 2nd one which he chased off. I often sit there just watching the pond and these ancient creatures going about their lives and always think it a shame that they canāt share the space as they are almost certainly siblings but who am I to advise? They have been around for eons, even predated the dinosaurs, so I am content just to watch, and help if needed.
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So last week, having both sets of house martin babies fledge and all the adults disappear, on Saturday morning with the sudden warm air and sunshine, all the adults martins were back. Really weird - we thought that had gone for the winter.
Not thrilled with French wildlife right now.
This time of year is always a āchallengeā as, with the end of harvesting, mice decide to move en masse chez nous.
We have guests arriving in the cottage tomorrow and Iāve found mouse droppings in five different places in the kitchen. I put down five mouse traps yesterday evening - needless to say no joy. Just been working in the kitchen and heard mouse scrabblings upstairs. 
Friends live in the country so hoping they will be sanguine about all of this.
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though you may wake up to find a present in the kitchen.
Have you tried the plug in sonic things Sue? I got some in desperation when we moved into our UK rural home, had them over 4 years now and no sign of mice in the house since,despite being surrounded by fields and farm buildings containing seed etc. Might be worth a try, ours were about Ā£25 at the time from Amazon.
Thanks for the thoughts @Wozza and @Debby_Wade Unfortunately OH doesnāt like cats and we have a dog so I am wary of ultrasonic sound around her.
I agree with you about the sonic solution not being good for dogs, or cats. (Or bats!)
Have you checked all around the exterior of the building for entry holes? Sometimes there are old fridge vents, washing machine or cooker holes you can quickly and quite easily plug using fine steel wool.
What a handsome lad! (or ladess ?)
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Do they not use it for bedding? If so, thatās useful to know as they happily demolish the expanded foam our plumber used to plug holes in our kitchen in the house.
Whilst plugging holes will help, I reckon the mice usually just walk in with their suitcase through the French windows our guests leave open from the kitchen onto the terrace.
Sheās our garden tiger, I named her Socks, she has white feet. It took her 6 months before she entered the house. I think she was abandoned during the November/ Christmas holidays. Before that she slept under the toilet space where the septic tank is, I built her a box lined with polystyrene and a bed of blankets, though put out water and food by the kitchen door, she arrived in December & would run away whenever we opened the door at first. Now is a different storyā¦
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Mice (and larger āmiceā) cannot chew through steel wool, so itās a great barrier. Pack holes tightly. Another thing they donāt like, because itās noisy, is tin foil. If itās laid in drawers or behind cupboards they will start to avoid there.
By making many areas not so likeable to mice, and making sure thereās no loose food, including pet food around, theyāll stop coming in. Eventually.
I canāt help thinking
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I know. Iād rather not be doing this.
Ours prefers to donate in the bedroomā¦
Very thoughtful, breakfast in bed.
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Itās usually breakfast under the bed, often before the breakfast is deadā¦
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Very considerate, fresh meat and still warm,
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Not sure that anyone on SF would try these methods to get rid of fruit flies, gnats etc but interesting to know about. The last method is probably the easiest.
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