The fence- our trip to TSC

Tractor Supply Company, or TSC as it is known to those who work the land, was alien terrain. What are those thingies that allow you to attach fencing to a wooden post, and how are they different from the thingies that allow you to attach fencing to a metal post- t-posts they are called, I hear. You have to screw those huge thingies in to the posts to hold the gate, and you need the bolt cutters to size the combo panels. What is a combo panel- a 16 x 5 foot steel fence with smaller openings at the bottom and larger openings at the top- as opposed to hog panels or cattle panels.

Learning computerese was easy compared to this.

We rented a huge truck to move the 8 combo panels, 4ft x 16ft, each weighing in at 30 lbs. Fortunately an employee helped us load the monstrosities. It took us an hour to drive to the nearest TSC and an hour to get back. Then as we were nearing home, it looked as if no one would be available to help us unload.

Fortunately Corey, a student biodiesel scientist, and his ex girlfriend, were there to help unload. Then it was on to post hole digging, dug by hand, two feet deep and fast curing quick crete, a square level- back and forth to Home Depot for more cement- each hole seemed to take two 50 lbs bags to fill- those were the posts for the gate.

We still have 16 t posts to set in the ground, each needing to be driven 2 1/2 feet down. Then the thingies that hold the fence to the posts have to be the next subject of frustration and learning.

I must be out of my mind! The goats aren't even here and terminal exhaustion has set in. Will there really be a breakdown of the nationwide transportation system? It is probably all pathological paranoia.

Most of the world lives in a way that they would see goat ownership as a privilege. Those that have the goats are comparatively rich! Living simply with bees, goats, and a garden is strenuous. It is the life I have chosen for now.