I'll take even the smallest victories

I did go back last night to finish clipping a path through the blackberries, but I was thwarted once again. For one thing, I always feel like I'm clipping in more or less a straight line, but that often turns out not to be the case. Last night my path was spectacularly awry. I clipped and clipped and kept thinking I should be coming out into fresh air, and it kept not happening. I finally realized that I had been moving steadily downhill, making my job that much longer.

After a fair amount of despair, a lot of sweat, and a whole bunch more scratches, I finally got to a place where I could see light at the end of the tunnel. I was about at the end of my rope, energy-wise, and was so relieved to be so close to the end, when something buzzed around my head. I have a little PTSD about things buzzing around my head, but most of the time they are flies and I can just ignore them. This was a little bigger. I scampered back down the tunnel a few feet and carefully watched to see who was strafing me. I didn't see anything so I carefully walked back, keeping low and keeping a close watch. Then I saw the hornet nest, hanging like a little paper Death Star right over my head. I can't believe I didn't get stung, but that was the end of that path, at least until the little buggers are removed. I tried to clip a path diagonally that would meet up with my tunnel before the Death Star, but I was too exhausted, so I gave up and just fed them.

On the way out there last night, I got a call from the kid who is farm sitting for my friend Tracy, whose puppies I have for two weeks. He said one of the goats had a nasty cut on her ear and was looking for guidance. So after the blackberry/hornet debacle, I went over there to take a look. It was pretty gnarly.

Sadly, it was pretty obvious that the injury had occurred a couple of days ago, and was too scabbed over to be stitched up. She will have to live with a funky scar. I put antibiotic ointment on it, but that's about all I can do without a suture kit and a time machine.

This morning we had more rain, which kept it cooler, and I went back out to tackle the impossible fence move. I gave up on the path I had been cutting, and instead followed the original path up the hill over the big rocks. Once I got it cleared, I ran the fence through and jammed the spikes between the rocks. It should hold pretty well, but I will be keeping my fingers crossed until I go back to check it tomorrow. The goats were over the moon about all the new salad. They have been pretty bored and hungry for the last couple of days while I have been dealing with all of the above.

I realize that the first half of this post was heavy on narrative and short on pictures, but I have trouble remembering to take pictures when I am so tired and frustrated that I am fighting an urge to find a tall bridge.

I'll shut up for a minute and just show you pictures of very happy goats.

I went up on the second story deck of the house to take a couple of shots with more perspective. In this one, the goats are standing at the edge of their fenced area, wondering what on earth I am doing.

This one is a panoramic shot that shows most of the area I am working on. There is more behind the trailer.

After all the fence drama, I went to check on the little herd, who were also out of snacks. I figured I would execute the super cool move where I pinch off the fence, blocking them in, and move the remaining fence to better grazing. Works like a charm and I don't have to slog up and down the hill to lock them in the trailer and then let them back out. This time, however, they were carefully watching me and when I touched the fence without getting zapped, they figured they wouldn't get zapped either! So they plowed through the fence and went rogue while I did all the work.

This next shot is for @carolkean. This whole field is canary grass! The goats like it, but that doesn't make it any less invasive!

I got their fence adjusted and I managed to lure them back where they belong. This whole adventure today took about three hours, but it felt so very much longer. Here's a little shot of yellow, just because it's Wednesday.

Good night, everyone! I will go pass out as soon as I figure out why all six dogs are barking!