Last Monday
- cattle continue to eat the grass in the fruit tree and garden area
- added fence and other methods to protect the flowers, trees, and shrubs in the yard
- other stuff I don't remember now
Tuesday
- let cattle into yard to eat the grass
- pounded in nine steel fence posts to support loose and wobbly wooden posts in the north pasture fence
- other stuff I don't remember now
Wednesday
- Cattle finished eating the grass in the yard
- went around the north pasture and hammered in loose nails and replaced missing nails
- let the cattle into the north pasture
- took down most of the fencing used to protect the yard and the fruit tree and garden area plants and trees
Thursday
- in Glacier Park I hiked over Howe's Ridge to Trout Lake and then to Arrow Lake. 13 miles total. Total elevation gain/loss 4200+ feet. Slept 12 hours that night.
Friday
- checked pocket gopher and regular gopher traps. Found new holes under pine trees and in a pile of dead branches
- checked middle pasture's fence. Only had to add some nails. All posts okay.
- burnt nine tree stumps and one large ant hill.
Saturday
- moved cattle to middle pasture
- moved gophers traps out of middle pasture; found new gopher holes in north pasture, set five traps there.
- Now that I have more posts and wire, I built a new fence in the middle pasture to keep cattle out from a larger area of steep river bank
- rebuild an old fence along the river in the middle pasture
- The cattle discovered me before I was through with the fence rebuild and they had to check out what I was doing. As the herd crowded around me a number of the cattle walked right on the river bank's edge which made me nervous. The bank was only a few feet above the water but the river was deep and fast moving in this area. "Emily" had to get up close to the water in an effort to see what was in the water. The river bank gave way and she was able to jerk back before her front feet went completely in the river. *whew*
Hence the reason for the fence in this area. Not learning her lesson, "Emily" continued to walk right next to the river and two times tried to look in the water. These two times the river bank held. - while I was waiting for the herd to move on so I could get back to my fence rebuild, two of them decided to wash me and each took one arm and licked it from my hands to above my elbows. They must have wanted the salt from my sweat. Else the really, really liked me.
Sunday
- finished the rebuilt of the fence along the river in the middle pasture
- checked gopher traps
- checked south pasture fence: added four steel posts, hammered loose nails on fence posts and replaced missing nails and also wire holders for steel posts
- burnt one tree stump
Monday
- added the fifth and final steel post to south pasture fence
- picked up and placed in a pile a number of tree branches I had trimmed around south pasture from trees this past Spring. Forgot about them until I moved the cattle's salt blocks from middle to south pasture
- moved the cattle to the south pasture
- fixed the south pasture fence where the deer had bent it. A few years ago in the low area I had added 7+ ft tall wire panels to the fence to reinforce the fence and stop the deer from jumping over it. One tried. I am not sure if it was successful as the fence in one area was half bent over. I straightened the wire panel, added a new tall (well over 7 ft tall) post to the fence in this spot, and did a few other maintenance things to the fence
- moved over half of a large pile of old dead branches in this low area that had been sitting there for a number of years. I only moved half the pile as the cattle discovered me before I was done and had to come watch me. I stopped working until they lost interest. When I started up with raking a number would come over to check me out. I stopped, they wandered off. I started they came back. Eventually a number of them thought they would be sneaky and would stand behind some of the small trees and would peek out at me not realizing they small trees didn't hide their fat bellies.
- hauled and dumped Bob and Jan's small trailer of grass, lawn, weed, and tree trimmings
- got another pickup load of scrap wood to use in burning the tree stumps that remain and I placed the wood near the five stumps that did not completely burn and near the two stumps I had not burnt yet. Sunday's tree stump was still smoldering so I left it alone. The larch stump I had burnt last Friday is still burning and following the stump's roots to their very ends.
- burnt two large ant piles
- checked pocket gopher traps, caught another two
- started to water my very dry garden until it got too dark to see. My poor garden... between the two nights of light frost and the transition from indoors to transplanted outdoors, a number of plants did not survive.
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