Orchard creek crossing.

 It is done!  The orchard fencing is completed.  Sarah and Monica went out with me today and we installed the wire and a few ton of rocks to hold the embankment in place.  Sarah fetched rocks for four hours while Monica and I built fence.  We used the rocks to stiffen the low spot where the creek had diverted and dug a channel through the orchard.  I filled in about two feet of the ditch last year with the tractor.  Luckily, we only had to add a couple of extra layers of smooth wire just over the white posts to make up for the height difference. 

Orchard far corner,

 The white posts are pressure treated 4×4 from an old fence behind the in-laws house that got torn down this winter.  I am reusing the posts.

We used cattle panel to go down both sides of the creek and across it.  They just seem to work the best for creek crossings.  I have tried other ways but the ability to raise and lower them as the water level changes is amazing.  Plus, it is very had to support a woven fence across open water.  Too much hassle.  I managed to salvage off one full panel and 3 partial pieces after fixing all the fence. 

Low spot, repurposed fencing and 3 ton of rocks.

When we went in for lunch the cows ran through the open fencing and down to the school house in the bottoms.  The bull had been trumpeting all morning.  Well we went inside and he ran down to the school house because on the other side of the road there are 20 full size angus bulls.  He got up on the road and stomped up and down making a weird noise somewhere between a sick bull bellow and a bull elk whistle.  It is pretty odd to hear.  Annmarie was just coming back from town and called me on my cell phone.  So we sent Zeke her way and walked down to the school house. There were holes all over the fence down by the road.  More holes to fix when I start in on the perimeter fencing.  My next fencing is to install wire on my new divider I installed last fall.  Once that is done then I will start working on the perimeter fence.  Most likely down by our in laws house.  I need to install a gate and then start putting the sheep fencing back into the fence. 

Winter is not quite over.

Subfloor supports down and second layer of insulation done.

Well it snowed yesterday all the way down to the foothills.  Winter is not yet over.  This morning it was 28 F.  I went up and worked on the attic.  Got most of it framed out.  Only one more spot (four boards) left to install.  Once that is all done then I need to cut the plywood to go over the supports.  You can see how full the attic is already.  This is the reason I need more space.  More space = more junk (I mean stuff) that can be stored up in the attic.  I think we have 10 bins of just Christmas stuff in the attic now.  With the extra space I can bring in the stuff still stashed out in the old house.  That second layer of insulation is more than welcome.  We burned 350 gallons of propane last month to keep the house heated.  Only about 10% of that is for hot water and cooking gas.  I am extremely glad we have a 500 gallon tank now.  They will only fill the tank to 85% full so the most we can have is 425 gallons at any one time. 

I had to start in on the fencing today. The stupid sheep were out on the bag hillside.  We had been chasing an occasional stray out of the front yard lot but almost all of them were out on the hillside.  So Zeke and I went out with Monica and he chased them back into the ram pasture.  We isolated them from the orchard pasture.  They found another large hole down by the creek.  This afternoon the girls and I went out on the back hillside and attempted to put in metal posts on the rocky hillside.  Four of the five posts went into the ground.  It just rained in the last two days so I was hopeful they would go into the ground.  I could not get any posts in the ground last summer in those areas.  There was one spot were I will have to add another rock jack.  The ground just will not take a metal post.  Sarah and I went out and tore out the old fence in the orchard that has been patched five times.  We sunk in four wooden posts and two metal posts.  Tomorrow we will finish stiffening the posts and adding new wire.  We need to get that area opened back up.  We are feeding the sheep extra while they are cut off from the orchard pasture. 

Another day yesterday dedicated to wall.  One stone at a time…



Road completed.

The Northern side of the road is completed.  I haven’t dug into the Southern side (gate is the dividing point) yet.  The southern side just needs to be leveled.  I don’t have to dig into the hillside to make it flat.  I want the dirt from leveling the road to move it next to the rock wall.  I am going to put out some grass seed on the road bed and see how it does.  Hopefully, the chickens will leave the seed alone.  I have started planning the wall across the entire hillside and digging out the base flat spot for the base level.  I am also digging out dirt from in front of several rock bluffs to expose 8-12 inches of rock to use in the wall.  The best part of that is I don’t have to lift those rocks into place.

Tomorrow I plan on getting into the attic and working on the floor.  We need the storage space.  Our ad in the Agri Times is going to run for four issues at $10/issue.  No calls yet. 

More dirt so the wall can go higher.

The tractor started!  I thought I might have to charge the battery after winter but it fired right up.  Zeke and I went up on the back hillside and worked on the road for five hours.  I need him to keep guard while the upper gate is open.  No, he does not just sit by the gate, he roams all over and keeps the sheep away.  I worked on cutting into the hillside but almost every pass I had to stop, get off the tractor and throw rocks over the fence. The only good part about all the rocks is I need them for the rock wall.  I am still going

Rocks picked out of the road while leveling it.

to have to go up on the hillside and scavenge rocks regardless.  It is taking a LOT of rocks to build the wall.  Surprisingly, it is also taking a lot of dirt.  I have the compost pile and every year we are generating around 3000# of compostable straw and manure.  As I start to relevel different areas I will take off some surface dirt and use it for the hillside.  This will let me plant new grass seed in stages around the place. 

Upper road is almost completed.

more dirt.

On the plus side, this is getting me in shape.  It was a lot easier getting started this year than normal.  Working out at work for the last month has been paying off. 
We put an add in the Agri-Times for the whole month of March.  The paper prints every two weeks and gets mailed to farmers.  I am going to put an add in the nickel next month.  We are going to alternate months until we start getting some phone calls.