They Came. They Conquered.

They labored mightily.  Yesterday was an exceptionally full day - even for me.  I was up at my usual 4a, did my chores by 8a and started pulling the clips off my 'temporary' fence.  At 10a, two of my neighbors/friends arrived with fencing gear and we were off!  I provided the fetching, the lunch, and comic relief.  They worked steadily and moved the cattle panels off the t-posts and put up honest-to-god sheep and goat fencing.  We were still going strong at 3p, when I had to excuse myself to meet my dairy farmer neighbor who had kindly offered his farm truck to pick up hay - it was wonderful to have 50 bales of beautiful first-cut hay dropped into the back of this behemoth without having to stack it, drive to the barn and unload and stack it again.  He backed up to my barn and hit the hydraulics - 50 bales in a nice big pile right by the door.  The fencing crew stopped pounding posts and the three of us stacked it in no time.  By 4:30p I had nice, tight fencing, a new gate, posts pounded in for paddock #3 with enough fencing left to cover it, and 50 fresh bales of hay stacked neatly in the barn.  I was going to go in and throw myself on the hay (I love the smell of it) but I only had two hours in which to throw a roast in the oven, prepare a mess of vegetables to be roasted, vacuum, dust, sweep, take a shower, feed the dogs, and make hors d'oeuvres.  Since the crew refused payment, I made dinner.  A full and fulfilling day.

You go ahead - I'll just guard this piece of rawhide with my life.

P.s.  The median age of this crew was 65!  Viva la oldsters!