What I learned about barbed wire

I needed a change of pace, after so much blackberry cutting. I decided to try to cut barbed wire. First I had to go to the hardware store to buy whatever tool that cuts wire best. Then I had to test out all the different wire cutters on various cables and wire rope that they sell bulk. I had a lot of people trying to help me, I didn't want to get to my pasture and realize that the tool won't cut it.

As I type this my handy new snippers are sitting here next to the keyboard (can't wait to show my man when he gets home!) and 4 little pieces of barbed wire (gotta show him that too, so he can practice!). If I have some sort of typing spasm, I'm gonna get a bloody elbow.

Anyway, nothing could have prepared me for what happens when you make the first snip. With lightning speed, both ends fling themselves away, flailing barbed wire through the air. I shut my eyes instinctively, and wondered how I'd keep from really hurting myself today. Snip #2 was equally violent and unpredictable, the diretion the wire would fly. It must be under some sort of tension.

Snip #3 taught me that the wire always springs away from the cutters. It doesn't want to be near me, it wants to fly away, away! Good. That's better.

After the first section, post to post, I ignorantly thought that I'd have 4 strands lying on the ground. WRONG. Did you know that barbed wire winds itself up? This is fantastic! It coils ITSELF! All I had to do was cut each 3 meter section, and it would coil itself back into a neat little circle. I was blown away. This is gonna be WAY easier than I thought. (And since none of it is rusty, I don't have to go get a tetanus shot! Bonus!)

I learned to twist the wire cutters when my hands get tired. That helps them cut. Cutting the wire is not easy, but that moment when the wire snaps away and then coils itself is wondrous. A few small strips fell away and I realized how easy it would be to lose a small bit of barbed wire in the long grass at the fenceline. *shudder* Also, even the coils are hard to see in the grass - I had to be very very careful to keep my coils together in large stacks, and not keep making small stacks that would be harder to find later as the sun was setting.

It always startles me when the fish jump out of the water in the pond. I still haven't seen them, just the splashes and ripples they make when they jump. They approve of my change in fencing, I think.

I thought of the Sam Savitt book where the horse gets trapped in barbed wire, and waits all day, til they discover him and very slowly cut him free. I would not be the person for that job - each snip takes me some time and twisting and a lot of energy. After 4 snips I really need a rest. That patient horse!

I have to say that cutting that barbed wire was SO much more rewarding than blackberries, cuz 1.) when it's gone, it stays gone, and 2.) I removed a 20 meter section of barbed wire in about an hour, and in the previous hour I only made it ONE meter through blackberries.

Now I'm starting to find things in our beautiful pasture. Down by the creek, the other day, I found a horrid bathtub, apparently used as a trough for the cattle who once lived there. That has to go. It's a pet peeve of mine to recycle bathroom furniture as horse troughs. Well guess what, today I found ANOTHER ONE. This time in beige, but full of water plants and actually it had been there so long, it's almost implossible to find or see. Next to it I found another fence of barbed wire, this one rusty, and, standing back, I counted. How many barbed wire fences are down at the creek? In one spot, *5* in a row. GEEZ, this is gonna take a while. First to figure out which ones are actually on our land!

I also found lots of tires, two of them those monster truck ones. What is up with the tires? Oh geez, gotta get rid of them. I will not have junk in our pasture. I know what I'll do. I'll hitch up Baasha and make him pull that bathtub up the hill. And the tires. He's a good puller. I'm thinking a skijoring (sp?) set will do fine as a makeshift harness for pulling things out of the lower pasture.

The S's were there, they said the neighors I'd met said I was very nice. I think it really depends, but I'm glad they think so: ) The S's said they had the furnace inspected and the chimneys cleaned. They are so awesome, they are taking care of things to the very end. They said they'll be out in 2 weeks.

2 weeks!

I have to get the barbedwire out so I can put up a horsefence, so I can move!!

Exciting!