There
are a lot of first's for me now that we're farming. Putting up a fence
is one of those things that in my mind didn't seem too difficult. I
figured the worst part would be digging holes since we have an abundance
of rocks around here. Nope, that may still end up being it, but so far
it has been the rose bushes. Not the pretty little roses retirees grow
in front of their homes. These are the multiflora rose bushes. Here is
a great description of them. My favorite line: "Do not plant multiflora
rose." Back in the day, they thought it would be a good animal barrier.
Maybe so but when you remove animals from the land, the roses take
over. In order to get a fence line cleared out, I've been beating and
cutting these bushes for almost 2 weeks now. Finally, the fence line is
clear! It's such a relief. My body is scratched, my hands ache, and my
feet are really starting to feel the pain of standing and climbing up
and down the side of a mountain. It is so worth it though. The goats
love rose bushes so they get to take care of the rest of them!
It's
so refreshing to work outside that I actually enjoy the aches and pains
at the end of the day. Here are some of the views from the top of the
future fence line.
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| Looking behind me at the path that has been cleared. We're lucky
enough that the deer keep this part of the property trampled down. |
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| Another view from the top |
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| Looking over towards the rock quarry. You can almost escape the noise of the dump trucks from this high up. |
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| I'm slightly jealous of our neighbors property. Somehow, he doesn't have a single rose bush!! |
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| Marcell looks pretty amazed at how big that tree is | | |
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| Looking up into the big tree. I love trees. They're all so unique and beautiful. |
Marcell, our cat, was my hiking buddy yesterday. He didn't know what to
think about all the noises and things going on around him. His eyes were
huge the entire walk. Maybe he was waiting to pounce on something or
perhaps he was terrified of all the new surroundings. He was a great
hiking partner until we got back down to the goats. He's familiar with
Sunny, the baby, but he's never met Daisy before. Her size and spastic
ways seemed to frighten Marcell. Mama carried him out of the woods and
back to the house while earning a few more scratches.
