Fencing

With the tragedy of little Amber disappearing from the field, we had to abandon all other projects in favor of working on fencing.  The first thing to be done was to clear all blackberries and brush away from the fence line so it can be restrung and hot wire put up.  Blackberry, small trees, and wild roses were growing up in the fence line and probably have been for a good 10 years.  We started by clearing with the tractor digging and dragging roots, cutting down the trees, and making piles to burn later on in the fall.  By Sunday evening, we had gotten down into the thickest part of the brambles.  Hopefully, we can finish that this weekend and maybe start restretching the fence.

Flip flops are not the best shoes for bramble cutting...

Cutting the fence so we could access the field with the tractor.


The grass field at the edge of our property all finished from the harvest.







There is a big pile of boulders under the Ash tree.



The animals were so happy to be let out while we were working.  They have been locked up in the small barnyard pen.

At the end of the day, we were sitting on the porch admiring the progress and I spotted a creature sitting in the tree snag.  I guessed a Great Horned Owl.


Indeed it was.  I walked down to the bottom of the field but he flew off before I could get any closeups.

The day's end.

The next morning after church, I came home with the children and immediately got started on the fence line.  Phil was ushering so he joined us in the afternoon.

The children made an impressive fort using the downed saplings.


The animals were very happy to have blackberry treats tossed over the fence.  




And then Phil unearthed what must have been a very large yellow jacket nest.  We both got stung and since it was already evening, we called it a day.  We have permission to remove all the blackberries here and clean up under the trees.  

Lots of scrapes and scratches


Progress!

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