Standing the fence up

Wow, has it been month since I have updated thisblog? I have been busy! It is now late April in Tennessee, and while peopleexpected it to be short-sleeve weather, we woke to sub-freezing temperatures,yesterday.

I guess I will break this up into three blog posts.On April 6, I finally got a break in the weather and was able to continue workon the fence! Hoo-Zah! We woke up to a temp of 32ºF… OK… I woke up to thattemperature. Everyone else was still asleep. However, the day promised to bewarm, and I took it at its word.

After a good breakfast, I set out to get something going on this fence. I held nohopes of finishing the thing. I knew I did not have enough pallets, but I wantedto know how close I was. Now, I feel I must say, if I have not before, thatthis is a temporary fence line. I will expand it. Getting pallets proved to bea bit slower than I anticipated. If I wait until I get my full goal of 100pallets, it may well be next fall before I start on the fence! Let’s not evendiscuss how my darling wife would feel about 100 pallets stacked up in theyard, country life or not.

 

 

Between the time I started to place pallets and thisday, I found out that I was placing the pallets incorrectly. I had placed themwith the slats horizontally. When I checked this with the people on The Goat Spot,I found that the better idea was to place the slats vertically, so the goatscould not use them as a makeshift ladder. It would also be harder for them toget their heads and horns stuck. So, I changed the direction of the pallets.

I found this to be good and (possibly) bad. The goodpart was my pallets were now longer per unit, so I would need less pallets tocomplete the goat yard. The bad was the fence was shorter when I turned thepallets. My 48” fence suddenly became a 40” fence. Hmmm… On well, wait and see.I can always add more to the top.

I had the area laid out and a few pallets set, itwas time to start the work. I took the experience from putting the dog pentogether and used it on the fence. I had my braided wire. Starting at the nearestpallet, I stood up the next one from its two-week resting place and tied themtogether. I wrapped the wire around the pallets and used it like a garbage bagtie. I was wobbly, but it stayed. I was able to get the help of my eldest son,but it did not last. After a short while, he wandered off to see what his brotherand sister were doing. I was annoyed, but really could not blame him. It wasthe first nice, if cool, weekend in some time. I did not call him back unless Ireally needed his help.

After I tied the existing line together, one by one,I walked the next pallets down the path, setting them in line along the string,tying them as I went. Most times, I used one length of wire, at the top of thepallets, sometimes, two. I was, again, pleasantly surprised when they did not immediatelyfall. I was able to get three sides and three pallets on the fourth side. Ifelt pretty good. They moved, they swayed, it was nowhere near perfect, but itwas a start and that was my goal for the day. It looks like I need about sixmore to make the circuit. I am still unsure how I am going to secure them, nowthat I have them standing upright, but I am working on that.