easter begins

 Technically i'm now on easter break!

No volunteering till Tuesday next week.... and nothing in front but good times.

Today we have been mostly fencing..... i say "fencing" in the loosest possible sense of the word..... let me explain to you what we actually did......

We went up to Deer Hill, a place that holds a fondness in my heart as i've done many a walk around there, and indeed one of the few places i have ever heard a cuckoo!!  As we got there today, and exited the pickup truck, we were greeted with the unmistakable call of the curlew.... what a treat.

Tools for today..... 2 x fencing bags (each bag contains 2 sets of fencing tools..... two claw hammers, 2 pairs of fencing pliers, wire cutters, a "flamingo" (a tensioning tool) and a tub full of galvanised staples).... 2 x post knockers..... 2 x 6 foot digging bars...... and a heap of fence posts.

The task... alongside the shooting club, runs a fence..... from the culvert, up the side of the hill.... and disappearing over the top of the cliffs.  A previous work party had been up and made a start, and had positioned a lot of replacement fence poles along the length of the fence where previous posts had rotted.  Take out the staples on the rotted posts..... remove the rotted posts..... replace the post with a new one...... reattach the fence..... retrieve the rotten fence posts to a place from whence they could be collected.

Sounds easy, and indeed the first few fenceposts were really easy to hammer into the soft soil..... it's just heavy grunt work......  use the bar to prep a pilot hole...... stand the pole in the pilot hole...... lift the post knocker onto the pole and probably ten or twelve whacks and in she goes.......  slap a few staples into the fence and bob's your uncle....

The upper half of the fence was not so simple, as the fence line seemed to be following an old wall line or something, and the ground was rocky and hard.  The bar would not penetrate, and even when the post WAS going in, the rocks would quickly decide which angle and how far it would go.

Hot, sweaty work, while dancing around the Molinia tussocks that could easily break an ankle as quickly as look at you.

Finish one post......  get your breath..... lug all the gear up the hill to the next spot..... rinse and repeat.

I'm pretty knackered, and the sunshine, and wind do take their additional toll on physical and mental levels.

Had a long bath and listened to a couple of David Sedaris episodes on Radio 4.

Once again, no pictures of the day..... but this is the area where i was working today.....  Don't ask me why but something or someone won't let me upload any images.... i give up - today is finished!