One fence up, one fence down

Been out in the far field, well it isn't really that far because we are only a small farm, but it is our furthest field which is why we call it the far field. It is a lovely tranquil space, and has mostly been left unvisited by us except for haymaking time and the occasional dog walks, but it has a high bank on one corner and we are worried in case the dogs fall off it into the river so we tend not to take them down there too often. As for haymaking, we have decided not to take any more hay from the field because of the time and effort it takes and we now buy hay bales from a local farmer. We also need more grazing now we have two cows so the far field is needed to help support the grazing on our other fields.

This field has been fenced, but not all the way round, but it does have the fencing poles all in place except for the line of fencing poles which fell into the river after the heavy floods of last year when we lost a chunk of bank to the river plus the poles which were on that section. This is the where I worry about the dogs taking a dive into the river. As I said, the bank is high.

So the immediate project is to get the rest of the poles in, but using temporary metal poles which can then be moved should more of the bank take a tumble into the river. We have put fencing wire of about half the remainder of the fencing line, and that is what we were doing yesterday.

And wow, but it was a truly lovely morning out there. But the grass is now romping away and if we don't get the fencing done tout suite, so we can get the cows and sheep onto the field, then we risk the grass getting too high and then we will have to cut it, and then we will have to make hay again and although we love haymaking we really do not have the time to give to that task this year.

But we were pleased with the progress we have made, and another week should just about finish the fencing. Well.....that was the plan, and then this happened yesterday afternoon......

.....a Frenchman lost the road and instead pointed his car in the direction of our back field via our fence, which was not good, although he did not decease himself, neither did he get even a bump nor even a scratch, although the odd angle of the front left wheel on his car would suggest that the car was wounded, but all in all he came off quite lightly. Not sure why he let the car come off the road, neither was he. 

I suppose our fence got away lightly as well, although four posts are now broken, and a long run of fencing wire is permanently damaged, all of which will need replacing. What cannot be replaced is the damaged line of trees and shrubs, which had been growing quite happily after being planted last year. 

So what to do first....... repair this fence so the dogs can't get out on to the main road, neither will the pigs should they get out of their paddocks, or continue on with the fencing in the far field so that the cows and sheep can save us the job of making hay. Not to worry, we'll get them both done. 

And saying thank you to our neighbours, Claudine and Bruno,  who took the time to help us with the translation needed to sort out yesterday's minor, but repairable, difficulty.

Bye for now

Vx