I am a list maker too! Lists on top of lists! And I can not throw my old lists away. Yesterday two items listed early last spring got crossed off by me. I washed the teeny tiny greenhouse that sits beside the teeny tiny garden and cleaned out the teeny tiny gutters that were packed with rotted leaves. Here all dirty and grungy...
Now nice and clean...
I then pulled all the weeds from a small flower bed near the back steps...
We've simply got to add more red crushed brick stone to this oldest path in the yard.
Friends, I've come up with a plan. A plan I'm telling you! The greatest plan EVER for our little hobby farm. But getting Poppy to listen and be excited and get involved. Oh my, there's got to be a way to do this, my dream. I've spent many an early morning hour lying awake working on this project and just this morning did I finalize the plan.
Anybody who reads my blog knows how much I want a donkey, or two donkeys. We have a small goat lot but no pasture. If we fence in the back of our property, the entire back, beginning at each back corner of the house...
running a fence from the right (the chimney) to the left (past the swing) with a gate opening to the path that leads down to the dam of the pond (the green you see behind the little red shed), then run the fence all the way down the side of the dam, turn right at the far end and then run the fence across the back side of the pond along our property line...
view across the back of the pond (lots of green grass back there)...
Then on the right side of the house...
from the corner of the house (the screened-in porch), run the fence to the right, into the woods, then turn and run the fence down our property line, which would be opposite the dam side of the pond to join the fence at the right back corner of our property.
This hill and green grass is on the right side of the pond...more green grass...
Whew! Did I actually explain all this? Sorry for the ugly muddy pond right now from the four and a half inches of hard rain last week.
The fence I have in mind would be made from eight foot metal T-posts and probably dog wire? or cattle wire? What I need to do is figure the cost, yeah, this should blow the plan all to heck. The area would probably be three acres to fence in, maybe? And then there is Eli. We could let this big fellow out the back door to run free all around the back fenced area.
After Poppy had his coffee this morning I quietly, calmly mentioned my dream, my plan. Poppy's response...Mel, at our age I'm not going to make a change that big to this place. My response, if I, at the age I am now, decided I wanted to become a doctor...really really wanted to become a doctor, I would go for it. Why not? I'm not quite ready to settle in and wait to die. I may not live another day, but then again there may be twenty years ahead to watch two donkeys grazing in the grass on the hill above the pond. So there!
Oh my! Time to jump off my soap box and get busy sweeping the kitchen floor. Thank you if you have managed to get through this ranting. :) Thank you friends!
Love,
Henny Penny
Now nice and clean...
I then pulled all the weeds from a small flower bed near the back steps...
We've simply got to add more red crushed brick stone to this oldest path in the yard.
Friends, I've come up with a plan. A plan I'm telling you! The greatest plan EVER for our little hobby farm. But getting Poppy to listen and be excited and get involved. Oh my, there's got to be a way to do this, my dream. I've spent many an early morning hour lying awake working on this project and just this morning did I finalize the plan.
Anybody who reads my blog knows how much I want a donkey, or two donkeys. We have a small goat lot but no pasture. If we fence in the back of our property, the entire back, beginning at each back corner of the house...
running a fence from the right (the chimney) to the left (past the swing) with a gate opening to the path that leads down to the dam of the pond (the green you see behind the little red shed), then run the fence all the way down the side of the dam, turn right at the far end and then run the fence across the back side of the pond along our property line...
view across the back of the pond (lots of green grass back there)...
Then on the right side of the house...
from the corner of the house (the screened-in porch), run the fence to the right, into the woods, then turn and run the fence down our property line, which would be opposite the dam side of the pond to join the fence at the right back corner of our property.
This hill and green grass is on the right side of the pond...more green grass...
Whew! Did I actually explain all this? Sorry for the ugly muddy pond right now from the four and a half inches of hard rain last week.
The fence I have in mind would be made from eight foot metal T-posts and probably dog wire? or cattle wire? What I need to do is figure the cost, yeah, this should blow the plan all to heck. The area would probably be three acres to fence in, maybe? And then there is Eli. We could let this big fellow out the back door to run free all around the back fenced area.
After Poppy had his coffee this morning I quietly, calmly mentioned my dream, my plan. Poppy's response...Mel, at our age I'm not going to make a change that big to this place. My response, if I, at the age I am now, decided I wanted to become a doctor...really really wanted to become a doctor, I would go for it. Why not? I'm not quite ready to settle in and wait to die. I may not live another day, but then again there may be twenty years ahead to watch two donkeys grazing in the grass on the hill above the pond. So there!
Oh my! Time to jump off my soap box and get busy sweeping the kitchen floor. Thank you if you have managed to get through this ranting. :) Thank you friends!
Love,
Henny Penny
It's a good plan and very easily accomplished if you rethink the fencing. You could fence the entire area by yourself in an hour using electric fencing and it would only cost a couple hundred dollars to do it. The fencing I have in mined can also be used for dogs, I've done so in the past. It is also easy to move or expand at any time if your fencing needs change. Check out this post I wrote a couple years ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://thedancingdonkey.blogspot.com/2013/01/fencing.html
One other thing to keep in mind....donkeys can't be allowed to eat too much grass. Check this out for some other fencing options that would work very well with your situation:
http://thedancingdonkey.blogspot.com/2013/07/fat-farm-or-herbivores-dilema.html
You could make a very nice, much safer setup for a couple of donkeys at a fraction of the cost and effort of wire mesh.
Thank you so much! I've read both of your posts. That fencing idea is great. I appreciate the information. The time and cost savings compared to wire fencing is amazing. Gives me something to hope for. Thank you.
DeleteI enjoyed reading about your dream. Don't give up and keep googling how others get by on a fraction of cost. Your hubby will get on board when he knows your passion and if you run by him the alternative ways to do your dream. Keep him in the loop. He will feel like he's a part of it without knowing he's a part of it. Did that come out right? Your property is beautiful. As in the movie Steel Magnolias...I'd rather have 20 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special at all. I hope I got that right. Ennaway I'm rootin for ya and am in your cheering peanut gallery!
ReplyDeleteOh, I appreciate that! And I like that line from Steel Magnolias..I agree totally! Thank you.
DeleteYour greenhouse doesn't look that teeny tiny to me...
ReplyDeleteWhy apologize for a muddy pond? I wish I HAD a pond to get muddy. :-)
Good luck on your list!
The greenhouse is small 6'x8 but it's all I need. I had not thought about the pond that way. Guess I should appreciate having a muddy pond. Thank you! :)
DeleteYour place is really pretty! I am so with you on living life to the fullest however many days we get, all the way to the end :O). Yep uh huh... I am busier and have more things on my list of want to do now at 50 than I did at 25 lol. How about finding someone to do the fencing for you a segment at a time so you dont have to absorb the whole cost at once? Maybe if your DH knew he didn't have to actually do the fencing and you were willing to break it up over time to slowly absorb the cost. If your DH is anything like mine, he will think on it and think on it all the while insisting it isn't going to happen LOL ...you keep bringing it up :O) and then poof one day he will say "you know I have been thinking how we could do this donkey fence" will keep my fingers crossed for ya :O).
ReplyDeleteThank you! Now that's a good idea too. The job as a whole looks overwhelming..the cost and the time. I know what you mean about husbands, how we drop little hints until it becomes their idea. :) The little greenhouse happened kind of that way. We did get the greenhouse at Harbor Freight. It is small 6' x 8'. It is sturdy and has been through a few storms. None of the panels have ever blown out. Honestly, now that I have a greenhouse I don't know how to use it. I need to look back at your blog. Have you posted about your greenhouse? Thanks again!
DeleteI think I have only done one post on my greenhouse, where I cleaned it up and talked about us moving it from full sun to partial shade. Here in Texas full sun was a disaster! It takes a bit of experimenting using one. They heat up fast, keep that in mind. I open my window and door on mine so I can keep the heat down inside it. Once we get warmer I can't use mine as it hits 100 plus degrees easy even in the partial shade. Its wonderful for over wintering my citrus in. I put a small space heater with a thermostat on it inside it .. Its also great for seedlings coming off winter into spring... you just have to watch then as the temps start to warm up...
DeletePS
ReplyDeleteDid you by chance get your green house at Harbor Frieght? I have one DH built me but we need a second one as we have so much citrus that needs to be kept in during the winter and then I need space come spring for growing all the garden seedlings.. We saw one at Harbor Freight that looked much like yours well the little tiny model they have to show does... It was a decent price .. If you did are you happy with it?
I love your plan of the fence and the donkey. I think Poppy should jump on board right away. I hope that you can convince him with out a lot of trouble. I would love all kinds of animals but I only have a few cows.
ReplyDeleteLove You
Thank you Vicki. I hope we can do the fence too. Do you still have the two donkeys? Love you too!
DeleteYou can't kill an idea,once it's made a home in your brain.
ReplyDeleteJane x
I know! I just want to get started right now, but have to take it slow. Thanks Jane!
DeleteI think we all have dreams that sometimes get done . It really takes some support to achieve these dreams . Go for it. Good luck. I'd like to read some donkey posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you. This one is a pretty big dream, but maybe it will happen.
DeleteSounds like a good idea to me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that fence and a couple of donkeys just for you.
ReplyDeleteIt always helps to have a definite plan instead of some vague idea-----even if changes have to be made along the way it gives you something to seriously work from. You've got the plan and just need to stick to it.
You're right. I can't just give up too quickly.
DeleteWell, good luck with your plan. sounds like you've got your work cut out for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It will take some work!.
DeleteA wonderful dream, which will come true in the end.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope so. Thank you.
DeleteI'm sure Poppy won't appreciate me poking in with my two-cents-worth, but a wise woman at http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/ wrote a few days ago about a conversation she had with the mother of a friend of hers. The blogger is in her 70s, the mother is 104. After the conversation, the writer realized that Holy Cow, I could still have another thirty years left! Something to think about before use our age to limit our ambitions.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Sounds like something I would like to read. I will look at that website now!
DeleteDreams are important to have, at any and every age! Don't give up on yours. Poppy hasn't had as long a time to think about it as you have so maybe he just needs more time. Your place is beautiful in your photos.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you're right. I mentioned the fence today and it did not go over so good. Thanks for the encouragement!
DeleteDreams keep us going:) I too was going to suggest electric wire, so glad someone suggested that right off the bat. So maybe you could suggest that idea to Poppy in a few days if you haven't already. Since it is so much cheaper than the alternative, hopefully he will be enthusiastic about that.(fingers crossed) There are metal pipe post pounders for putting in the t-posts, I think one person could handle one. Eli could certainly be taught to respect the electric fence. You've got to find a way to make this work, tell Poppy that we are all rooting for you! He'll probably just call us a bunch of interfering women.....ha ha ha!
ReplyDeleteHey! Thank you. I was glad to hear about the electric fence too and was wondering about Eli. If it would work for him.
DeleteWe all have to have dreams, Electric Fence might work...get out your tape measure and do an estimate on supplies! Good Luck and keep talking about it and maybe the idea will grow on Poppy:)
ReplyDeleteDear Henny, my only experience with Donkeys is when my son attended a couple of birthday parties and they brought donkeys to take the kiddies for a little ride and have a picture taken. Now, all you will need is some way to take your donkeys to parties (they love to party!), and put a couple of silly hats on them, and you have your investment back in a couple of years! Hee Haw!
ReplyDeleteI love your plan and I am glad the real donkey folks are able to suggest good alternatives to corralling them.
I like it, sounds like a great idea.
ReplyDeleteWatching donkeys in old age, what could be more soothing.
Have you thought of explaining it this way?
Hey Henny! You go for it! Remind Poppy we only have one life! Lets get to fencing. XOXO Terry
ReplyDeleteHey Henny! You go for it! Remind Poppy we only have one life! Lets get to fencing. XOXO Terry
ReplyDelete