Running a small farm means that you never have nothing to do. There is never a time when there aren't several jobs that need to be attended to. Many of these are essential maintenance or are related to the care of the animals but then, in a class of its own, comes fencing...
I can't remember a time when there wasn't fencing that needed to done, nor can I imagine a time in the future when there won't be still more that needs to be done. Maybe it's one of the basic physical laws of the universe, probably something to do with quantum - most things are these days.
Anyway, this weekend saw the start of another fencing project as the advancing army of Alpacadom annexes another part of the garden. It's a sensible idea - we're going to make a small area next to the house into a hospital and show paddock. Somewhere to keep clear of debris, clover and other nasties where we can put animals that need a close eye kept on them and where we can put the show team for a week prior to a show to try to minimise the rubbish in their fleeces.
So, Saturday morning comes along and the post hole borer won't start (let this be a lesson for me about buying cheap kit from EBay - it may be a third of the price, but it's a third of the price because it's a quarter of the quality of a decent make). After an hour of mixed and creative tinkering and swearing, the inevitable defeat is conceded and it's off to the hire shop where we were introduced to the Stihl BT360 two-man earth-auger. What a monster! It takes two people to lift it, let alone use it.
Then it's time to discover another failure in planning - there's a good reason why people round here don't do much heavy work on the land during summer - we're on clay - you know what happens to clay when it gets baked...
So, after two days of (very) hard labour, we have the posts in, but no gates or fencing yet and everything aches, creaks or is sunburned. It's almost good to get back to the day job.
Sounds familiar, well the never ending fencing and aches bit - no sunburn or sunbaked ground here, more dripping wet clothes and soggy ground!
ReplyDeleteHi Perry,.....its nice to know that other people too have the same fencing problems as we do....so you are not in the minority of 'small' farmers !....who have big problems with most big jobs.
ReplyDeleteI have refused to do any more fencing with my husband, we end up rowing, swearing and the last time. I got hit on the head with the post knocker....I think it was deliberate, however he swears it was an accident....Im not convinced !! so the moral of the story is..Im NOT doing any fencing !! I flatly refuse !...Let me know how the spinning gets on with your suri..far more relaxing way of spending the time and less dangerous !!....Jayne