Building Fence

On Saturday, the 17th, we spent the Saturday building fence.  We have a master plan for the land at Seth's parents' house and it includes a couple of pastures, fenced off from one another, so that we can move cows and newborn calves in the spring.  We also want to keep the cow/calf pairs separate from those who haven't given birth yet.  Thankfully, the weather was agreeable (better than the 100 degree weather this coming week).  

When a farmer is building fence, it was vital and an added bonus to have the farmwife and farm children contributing.  We all had a job to do and that job contributed to the overall completion of the project.  With all of us working together, we were done in less time than Seth thought it would take!  Three cheers for teamwork!

First of all, Ephraim and I were a team together.  We gathered all the posts and then spaced them out on the ground.  That was our first trip around the pasture.  

For our second trip around the pasture, we (or I, Jenny) pounded all the posts into the ground.  I've been told that I earned my PhD on this day  . . .  a certified Post Hole Driver.  It was hard work and I got them all in the ground except for two that just needed a strong man's touch.  

Seth, Emmet and Grandpa Arlin setting the barbed wire around a corner post.  Emmet was a pretty good "go-fer" boy.  He'd go for more posts.  More wire.  More water.  He'd go for the fence stretchers. Anything you needed, he'd go for it.  And he enjoyed it because he got to drive the 4-wheeler.

Whoa!  Who's driving the E-Z-Go!  That's Eliza at the wheel.  She did pretty good, too.  She was a "go-fer" girl for a while!

Eliza has her pliers and she's ready to help.  Eden's got her gloves on and she's ready to attach the barbed wire to the yellow insulators on the posts.  

For our third trip around the pasture, we connected the wires with a wire stretching from one side to the other and then an additional wire connecting the top and bottom wires.  This will ensure a good connection when we electrify the fence.  

"From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."  Ephesians 4:16