Working on Vacation

I've been on vacation this week. So nice to be able to set my own hours and do what I want--even if it is working! The only trouble is is that it goes too fast. Way, way too fast.

Today I've gotten quite a bit done--some of the more tedious 'preparing for winter' tasks have been marked off my list.

Here are Callum and Jeffery --Shetland wether and ram. They are twins, in case you can't tell. I had just opened up a new pasture for them and they were sampling some of the goodies. I'm hoping Jeff will stay put, as he can see the girls during the day--even though it is way across the pasture. If he doesn't, I'll have to move him back to their old pen and start feeding hay...and hope he will stay in there!

After moving Jeff & Cal, I went up and started working on the back line fence. Remember that big wild Cherry tree that fell on the fence during the Spring? Well the guy that owns the land behind me finally got it sawed off the fence, and I had the fence sorta 'jerry-rigged' all summer, so it was time to get it fixed. In the first picture I've removed the flattened post. Afterward I took down the new piece of wire, drove two more fence posts, straightened the old wire as best I could, and then put the new wire up again, stretching it as I went. It's not too pretty, but it's nice and solid, with everything triple wired to each other and the posts. I also attached several large cut limbs to the bottom of part of the fence. This is where the roots of the old tree were and there was an indentation, so the fence had a small gap along the bottom. This fence faces about 40 acres of pasture and woods, so I want it to be as coyote proof as possible. (The orange fencing isn't mine--it was put there by the guy to keep his cows from breaching the fence).

Next it was time to fix the eyesore, also known as Blue and Lanny's 'hoop house'. This is their shelter during the winter. The tarp has lasted almost three years, but really started falling apart this Spring. I cut away most of the rotten part, and wired the new tarp into place.
Now, should be nice and snug for the winter, and looks so much better! The breeding group will actually be using it for awhile and then later on after I break them up, I'll move Lanny and Blue back over. Those two are most unhappy right now, and refuse to use the part of the Shetland barn that I opened up for them. Such creatures of habit!


I wanted to show you the mess I cleaned up Monday! What you are looking at is cockle burrs. Last winter I had some hay that had some cockle burrs in it. It wasn't a happy discovery. There was one little area where I fed hay, that the sheep couldn't get to this summer, and these things sprouted up everywhere. The sheep will eat them, especially when they are young and tender and have no burrs on them. They'd probably eat them with the burrs, but it would also trash their fleeces. I let them in there once during the summer and they ate them all down, but then I forgot all about them, and they put burrs on. I spent close to a half hour or better, pulling them and stuffing them into feed sacks. Then I picked up all the escapee burrs that fell off on the ground. I ended up with three feed sacks crammed full. I guess I'll try and burn them on the brush pile, once they dry out a little.
I've also gotten some windows washed today and my storm door up, and I think I'm gonna call it day!