Chicken killers, Mama’s big day, finishing touches

I mentioned taking up the electric fence in the back yard but there is a story behind finally taking the time to pull up that fence. We have not used the fence in a couple years, but it was originally installed to discourage Kobe from getting too close to the goats we had placed behind the house. She seemed especially interested in them. Since she has killed chickens, pigs and a couple goats, we wanted to discourage any interest in what might be considered walking food items. I generally do not abide dogs that will kill our other farm animals, but Kobe has escaped the death blow several times now thanks to Mama’s and Victoria’s intervention. Installing the fence worked. Once she was stung by the electric fence, she never got close again. But the fence sat in Mama’s way whenever she mowed so I have needed to take it down for some time now.

The impetus to do so came from Brittany Wycoff. She texted Mama Saturday afternoon to let Mama know that she could sell any excess eggs Mama could spare for her. A neighbor’s dog killed twelve of her hens. That is not the first time that has happened. I suggested several remedies to deal with the dog, but they were too final for Brittany. Then I suggested the electric fence. That, she was interested in trying. A strong, non-lethal deterrent. One we were not using. It took an hour or so to take loose the wire and pull up the special poles the wire was strung on, but we got it done and put in the back of the Sequoia so it could be delivered Sunday morning. I am anxious to hear if it got installed and if it was as effective as we had promised. I remember the first time Kobe got stung by the fence, she all but refused to go off the patio for several days. I found that quite humorous. I just hope the offending animal is equally impressed by the fence.

Sunday at lunch Mama mapped out a very big morning. She needed to go to Sam’s and the bread store in Denton this week sometime and for some reason she felt like she needed company on that cluster of errands, so she invited the girls to go with her. The only caveat was that she was leaving Decatur at 9 AM which meant that the girls would need to be up and ready fairly early. For Cheyenne, getting up at 8 AM is a very early morning. I imagine Yilin and Aubrey being up at that time. But not Cheyenne. I have no idea how that all worked out this morning, but I a fairly confident that Mama was up early enough to make the appointment. She was waking up when I kissed her goodbye and prayed with her this morning.

I have had the brush hog attached to the tractor for a couple weeks now and have not gotten to use it because of the persistent wet conditions. Now I need to drop it off of the tractor so I can use the tractor to move the trailer where I need it. Kenny and Kimberlyn brought the trailer to the house yesterday evening and picked up Victoria’s little freezer. They recently butchered a couple hogs and need to pick up the meat from that processing. They only have the freezer in the refrigerator to store the meat. Without Victoria’s little freezer, they would have had to give away most of the meat. What would have been left would have been some very expensive pork. Anyway, Mama and I were hoping to mow this evening before the rain starts again tomorrow. (Two inches of rain in the forecast for Wednesday.) That may not happen judging by the looks of the sky this morning. Today’s forecast did not include any rain, but I would not be surprised if the forecasters missed on that one. So, with Mama out shopping and entertaining this morning and more rain falling, our moving plans may be set back until some time in late July or early August.

Last night as we waited on the Cantrell’s, I finished all the cuts on the fence at the corner I am repositioning. I went through four cutting wheels on the grinder to get the cuts completed. Thankfully, the wet conditions inhibit the sparks from catching the leaves on fire. If the rain holds off, I will weld those pieces in place tonight. With the old corner post out of the way, the new fencing looks very nice. Like it was supposed to be that way. Cutting the fence away from the shop will allow me to finish the trim on that corner of the shop building. It’s a little thing, but it will finally give the corner of the fence and the shop a finished look.

That will be nice to complete those finishing touches.