Pete and I have not had many failed projects. In fact, we’ve been very successful with the majority of our hands on endeavors. I am most proud of our manure management system. We have just 2.5 acres, so we don’t have much room available for excess manure. At this point in time, our friend Bill hauls away most of the summer manure. And we compost the late fall/early spring manure. In the winter we drag it, by sled, and dump it behind the hoop

T-Posts waiting for their next project

house. This pile is several feet deep and is home to a thriving worm population.

Today we dealt with perhaps our only failed effort. A number of years back a neighbor said that we could use the area adjacent to his place as a grazing pasture. I checked it out – the two acres had a good feel. Pete and I put in fencing, and I began hacking away at the then very tall cow parsnip.

I soon discovered that time spent hacking away at the very tall cow parsnip and prickly devil’s club was time that would be better spent horseback riding. Plus, there was so much brush that I wasn’t able to get to it all.

We had a friend come in and mow down the area with his tractor. I then began working on what’s known as track fencing, which is when you create corridors, this way the horses graze more selectively. Some even plant certain herbs along the inside of these corridors.

I eventually abandoned this project because, again, I was more focused on riding.

We decided a few days ago to take down the fencing and bring it back home. Today I gave Pete an assist in taking down the braided wire and removing the T-posts. It was an onerous task, made more difficult by the fact that the area was already overgrown.

I felt despondent about having to do this. More than anything, I have wanted the horses to have a larger grazing area and more room to move around. It would have been different if the pasture was closer – the area’s being down road, where I was unable to keep my eyes on the horses, was also a detriment.

Pete was again the hero, doing the bulk of the work. I, like him, thought that we’d have the job done in short order. It soon appeared as though this would take two afternoons. I quit early and went home because the tooth the dentist worked on a few weeks ago was hurting me.

Yes, right now, the thing I want the most for the horses, pasturage, alludes me. I’d snatch it up if there was a place nearby that had what I was looking for. Pete, of course, would be more circumspect because after many years of backbreaking and painstaking work, he has a productive garden and fruitful (no pun intended) orchard.

Maybe someday we can buy the adjacent properties across the road and put in a super huge horse pasture. Then, too, Raudi can have her much desired foal. I have spoken to the universe about this, and I’m waiting for the universe to speak back.

Next: 171. 6/21/21: Uneventful Solstice