Deer, me

Went out to el rancho today to work on fencing.  It's amazing, but there are still tons of yellow flowers in the open meadow areas. While I was gone, the two Dans finished tieing all the wire we put up the week before and used the new Stihl chainsaw (The "Farm Boss") he got for birthday and Father's Day.  Along PR 4057, they felled trees which died in the drought. I sure don't want them falling on a new fence. The Farm Boss  "cuts like buttah".

Speaking of 'we,' it's sure nice to have the third member of the team with us again! Danny Severn (D3 in shorthand) has been discharged from the Marine Corps and is back home! He was a super help while I was gone last week, also helping big Dan pick up rolls of goat wire and haul them to the farm from Producer's Co-op. He really likes the place we bought and we hope he'll join us. 

We started at the property line along PR 4057 setting posts.  My tractor has the auger and I was driving to the dig site when I noticed Dan on his tractor, signalling me. Not a clue what he wanted, but noticed his iPhone in his hand. I looked the direction he was facing and thought he was taking photos of the markers along the property line, so, I backed up. Turns out I was wrong, wrong, wrong, He was pointing to a doe and fawn standing on PR 4057, not bothered a bit by three humans and two noisy tractors. Through the morning, we watched them come and go while we dug holes and placed poles. 

We didn't work too late today. I'm really exhausted from a week-long conference and there IS work tomorrow. While the Dans were putting up the tractors, another deer just watched them from not too far away (the picture up above). Thus, our deer seem happy. Since goats are also browsers, we should have happy goats! And speaking of goats, I am going to Goat Camp in October for a week of hands-on fun and learning. More camp news as that gets closer! 

Working with Old Blue

This weekend, we completed fencing on the northeast side of El Rancho. That's 488 feet! Next, the southeast property line of 920 feet along PR 4057.

Building fence with goat wire is challenging. We're using a 4" x 4" tied mesh and are installing from 'inside' the fence, which means there's a lot of wire cutting and stretching on corners. The mesh has thirteen horizontal wires, kinda like an American flag but only the top one is red. The roll of wire is 330 feet long and weighs about 261 pounds/ Rolling it out can be hard work, especially uphill! Then you have to stretch it just right and tie it to t-posts or staple it to wooden posts, not to mention the strand of barbed wire running along the ground. So, we use a lot of tools, including the generator, come-along, wire stretcher, and chainsaw. Lots of heavy tools. To move stuff from place to place, we have Old Blue to help.

Now, Old Blue is a legendary truck, a 1995 Chevy 3/4 ton diesel that Dan bought back in 1996. This Cheyenne model came with extended cab, 8' bed and a helluva rear bumper. He went with Dan to FBI National Academy in Virginia during a blizzard, took the three of us on several "Tours of Texas", and even excursioned in the Rockies one summer, scaling Pike's Peak and scoping out national monuments.


Blue has been part of our family for a long time.  Last year, after many faithful years of service, he was retired to farm truck status. Now, his job is pulling trailers and hauling things that need hauling. In between, he loafs in the barn.