July 12th to 14th - 100 Mile

July 12th – Tues
Marg, Terry & I repaired fences this morning. A corner post needed to be pounded in some more & braced and then we had to add on a section of page wire to fill in where an old, temporary gate had been. Then I walked along the same fence checking the posts as Marg knew there were more that were loose. When I found a loose post, Marg maneuvered the tractor in with the post pounder, we took out the staples, hit the post a couple of times and put the staples back in. Due to the slope of the ditches, we couldn’t fix 2 posts so we will have to return and do them manually. The amount of rain this year has made it a good time to fix posts as the ground is softer than usual and the posts will go in further than in the normal dry ground.
After lunch we dug out the bottom of a broken corner post in a corral, put in a new post and a couple of new boards. Then we went to a fence between Marg & a neighbor where a corner post was breaking because of trees coming down on the wires a couple of years ago. It is a huge job to replace a corner post so we put a new post in right beside the old one and fastened the two together. On the way to this repair job, we stopped to cut up and haul away a tree that had fallen over another fence.

July 13th – Wed
After getting Dad going on a new project in the shop, we loaded up supplies & tools on the tractor & ATV to repair yet another corner post in the furthest corner of Marg’s property. Before we could get going, it started to rain so we waited until after an early lunch to go out.
There was no way that we could get the tractor in to put in a new post right at the corner so we put in 3 posts as close to the corner as we could get, braced them together and transferred the electric wires to the new posts. This left a gap in the electric wires between the old post & new post but we will fill it in with page wire and one electric wire on top. Rain was threatening so we hooked up the electric fence with temporary wire, checked that the current was OK and headed back in. Marg has to take the tractor through the brush to get to this location and saw evidence of a bear in the property – rotten trees & stumps clawed apart to get at bugs. This is the field where the sheep are grazing right now so it is a worry. Terry & I followed her back on the ATV and then made a loop along another fence but didn’t see the bear.
Marg & I went golfing this evening but first Marg got insurance for her truck and I picked up a prescription refill for Dad. We didn’t get rained on while golfing but neither of us had a good game.

July 14th – Thurs
Marg & Terry went to finish the corner fence while I got out my sewing machine to do some mending and alterations for Marg & Dad which I finished just in time to get lunch on the table.
After lunch, we were preparing to go out for some more fencing when it started to rain. Terry worked on a puzzle while Marg & I found a curtain rod and used some pillow shams for a curtain in the guest room – you’re welcome, Pat & Rick! The rain let up so we went to the lagoon (septic pond) to replace 3 posts that had totally rotted. We ended up also picking up a load of branches and cutting down a dead tree and hauling it away.
Just as we finished, Nicole arrived with her nephew & his wife (Guy & Monique) who are visiting from France. We chatted with them for a while and then the rain returned as they were leaving. But it was time for happy hour and dinner.
I got ambitious after dinner and baked a big batch of cookies.