June 6th to 8th - 100 Mile House

June 6^th – Fri

We all worked on the fence this morning.  We used little “orchard posts” which are 2 ½ inches in diameter and too small to use the post pounder on the tractor so Terry had to use the heavy hand pounder.  It is a big cylinder with a closed top and two large handles which you lift above the post and slam down.  The ground is dry, hard and full of rocks so it is a slow process.  When you hit a large rock directly in the way of the post, you have to dig it out as the spacing of the posts can’t be changed.  Marg used a “chisel” to start the holes for the posts and helped keep the posts vertical as Terry slammed them down.  Pat & I put on the 1x4 boards in a staggered pattern.  Luckily Pat insisted that we use screws rather than nails as the posts would have been pretty wobbly after hammering in nails.

We called it quits after about half the 26 posts were done.  Marg, Pat & I went to town for groceries and some more fence supplies.  I also had to get contact solution.  I bought the WalMart brand for the first time and just started using it here.  My eyes have been bothering me so I decided to go back to the brand name solution to rule out one variable.

Marg wasn’t happy with the spacing on the fence boards so when we came back we stopped by the fence and finally decided to change the boards – tomorrow.

June 7^th – Sat

Back to the fence building after a late breakfast of French toast with fresh strawberries.  Pat & I changed a section of boards and we all decided that it looked better so we had to change them all.  It didn’t take us too long to catch up to Marg & Terry as they were putting in the rest of the posts – and running into rocks.  We finished the fence – except for a small gate – about 3.

We took the 2 quads on an inspection ride around the farm and found a tree fallen across the fence – a project for another day.  The dogs had a great time running and cooling off in a little water hole.  Pat’s dog Row is a Golden Retriever and launches himself off the bank when you throw a stick in the water.

We put meat in the crock pot this morning for another fairly easy dinner.

June 8^th – Sun

Pat went to help her sister Bev plant her garden today.  After we had breakfast, Marg, Terry & I went to do some “logging” to deal with the big tree that broke off and fell across the electric fence at the back of the farm.  Marg ran the chainsaw, Terry drove the tractor and I was the grunt.  After cutting the big tree in half, Terry lifted it with the tractor so Marg could cut it into rounds – some good enough for fire wood.  Terry pushed the root out of the ground which made room to push over another dead tree behind it.  Then we took out 4 smaller trees that were bent over so Terry could push over a huge, dead spruce tree – more sawing &removing branches.  There was a nearby burn pile which became several times larger by the time Terry was done dumping buckets of branches, roots & rotting wood.  Luckily the chainsaw ran out of gas so we loaded the fire wood into the bucket and were done with that job.

Marg worked in her garden, Terry & I took turns in the shower and I did laundry.

I put a roast for pulled pork in the crock pot this morning and Marg made a salad for an easy dinner.  We had invited Bev & Dianna for dinner but Dianna was sick and stayed home.  Bev came back with Pat as she is borrowing Pat’s car for a couple of days.