Waiting for Farmer John

Fence Repairs

Recently, Clyde and a calf have been wandering outside of the fence. Farmer John and I spent a couple cold afternoons fixing the places they were getting through. 

In places where all the strands of barbed wire are intact, we put in "fence-stays", which are the metal twisty things pictured below. They are placed in between two fence posts and twist down over four strands of wire. Fence-stays hold the wires together so that when a cow tries to push through the fence they end up pushing on all four strands - this makes the fence much stronger. They are very easy to install and we hope this will help prevent so much cavorting in the front yard.

There were several stretches where someone (probably Clyde) broke the barbed wire. In those spots Farmer John ran new strands of wire. 

I would hold the wire tight with the fence pliers. 

Then he would staple the wire to the fence posts.

We picked some cold and blustery days to work on the fence, but it is almost easier to do it now while there is less underbrush to work around. So far, the cattle have been staying where they belong.

Snowdogs

Winter hay

First Visitors of 2014

The farm has always been a place for family and friends to gather, even before we lived here. This year has been no exception, we've had lots of visitors already. 

Sam, the IT guy, has now become an expert at hanging drywall. He was here for several days and helped us put up the drywall in the cabin bathroom. This job was much easier with three sets of hands. 

Tori (above) and Solomon (below) stayed with us for a while this month. They enjoyed long naps by the woodstove and chewing through all the dog toys. 

We were very excited to see K+A+IX from Little Alexander. They drove from their homestead to ours for a weekend of visiting, good food, and playtime around the coffee table. 

We love having our friends and family visit (and help) us at the farm, we are looking forward to many more visits this year.