the best thing about fencing

Ah, windows live writer how you have changed my blogging life. Folks, you can download this for free from Microsoft if you don’t have it already….you won’t regret it!

So, fencing.  A few weeks ago my husband sweetly requested (snort) that the children and I (well, it was more that if he wanted my assistance, the kids had to come too, as there were a lack of babysitters) go fencing with him for the day.

My joy at this request was unbounded (snort again!) but we did indeed don our work boots, jeans and hats and head off into the wild yonder for some family bonding fencing time.

Turns out, this was a great day – especially so as I got to drive the tractor – COMPLETELY unaccompanied by any person under the age of ten, and HE got the pleasure of all three kids in the front of the ute with him.  Ah…bliss!

(my view as I bounce along behind, in my tractor..)

Turns out it wasn’t so much fencing with wire and steel pickets, but cementing  in the gate posts and strainer posts and the like (before the barbed wire and pickets happen)

This involved quite a bit of shovelling on behalf of my beloved (see the little cement mixer on the back of the tractor) and wielding of the level and other dogsbody jobs by yours truly – as well as the expert tractor driving of course.  We had to cement in around 21 posts spread over about 11 kms of prospective fenceline.

This also involved about 16 in and out of the Toyota movements for the kids… as they wandered out from under bushes and behind trees or from balancing on top of log,s at the threat of being left behind. His blood pressure was tested as of course the kids were never in ANY sort of rush.

My handy dandy little magnetic level…that fell into the cement on more than one occasion as it apparently isn’t as magnetic as one might believe.

And in effort to YES include myself more often, here is a timer shot from the back of the ute, as we had lunch with the cows. 

You (as was I) will be pleased to note that no photographs were taken of the peeing behind bushes, especially of the episode where I explained to my oldest daughter HOW to do so without peeing in ones boots and on ones pants (jeans obviously are an obstacle, as I KNOW she’s had to do this before!)….I had to walk away and let her figure it out for herself.  Youngest daughter has no problems with this concept as she can pee squatting on the ground with one leg behind her ear and singing the national anthem. Boy obviously has no challenges whatsoever, apart from what target he can find to liven up the whole process (with luck not a moving one, although those provide much amusement apparently!)

And an end of day shot that I begged the Grumpy One to take :-) (he had after all been in the front of the ute – not a whole lot of space -  with three kids all day! but he got over it) I call it poetic justice for not being home to spend more time with the kids lately. Catching up all in one BIG dose! ;-)

And one last one:

Bit o’ sun flare there.  Did it deliberately, I swear! 

All of these shots are SOOC, and the only thing I have done is reduced them for web from within Live Writer (have I mentioned how I love it so?!) I have many many other cool shots from the day that of course I will have to do something scrapbooky with them.

Housekeeping:  I have a huge new screen – and the images on the blog seem medium sized to me – are they slow to load or the same as they ever were?  Would you prefer smaller images, or happy with the way things are?