Yes, groan, I know. I've got nothing else to show you....sorry. But that's all we've been doing for what seems like weeks now. Putting in metal T-posts, pounding gravel around 4x4 posts and hanging 2x4 welded wire fencing. So, you'll just have to bear with me as I share some more pics of our labors.
Ta da! Observe the end of the fence......where it gets stapled onto the 4"x4". We only pounded our fingers about 20 times as hundreds of these little metal torture staples got hammered onto the posts. Yeah. Not my favorite part of fencing. But, a very necessary part of the process as these staples helped to hold the fencing taut, resulting in a much straighter line of fence.
These green metal posts with the white tops are called t-posts, are 6' long and several in a row at 8 foot intervals get pounded into the ground with this mama.......
......the dreaded post pounder. Jeremy would groan when he came home from work and we met him at the door announcing we were going out to pound in more t-posts. You see, it weighs in at a hefty 16 lbs. And you have to hoist it over your head in order to lift it high enough to slide it down onto the t-post. Once in place on the t-post (which, by the way, I was holding upright as I squatted down to avoid the pounder), it had to be lifted and "pounded" down on the t-post to drive it into the ground. Again and again until the t-post was inserted all the way into the ground.
Joel's job was to stand a few yards away and tell us if the t-post was starting to lean in one direction or another. You can't have a crooked fence! Oh, heavens, no! Someone might come along and think we didn't know what we were doing.....horrors! Gasp! Um, yeah......anyone watching us during the last few weeks could write a book about family dynamics. Hey, don't judge until you've walked in my shoes! Bah-ha-ha-ha....
Ok, I digress. Sorry. Must be fencing hallucinations or something like that. Anyway, after the 4x4 wooden posts are in the ground at 48' intervals, it was my job to run a string line and measure out where the t-posts went so they would be spaced out properly. Don't ask me why this was my job. Maybe I was the only one who could still do math at this point. I don't know. OH! I remember now. It's because I couldn't lift the danged post pounder over my head.
And then we would all call it a day and head inside to lick our wounds and soak our aching muscles. But the fence was nice and straight. See? Not too bad for a bunch of city people whose knowledge of farming comes from books and internet videos secretly watched repeatedly.
'Enuf said,
Debbie
