Storm vs horse fence

The kids in our state had a "hurricane day" today and didn't have to go to school. I agree with that decision - I would have stayed inside if I could have.

I looked out my window at 5AM to see if our greenhouse was still there. Yes? Wow. The wind was imposible to sleep through, it makes the slate shingles slap against each other.  

At 9 AM I looked out again and saw a huge tree on our fence. Scheisse.

I ran out there to see if I still had a horse and a donkey and they saw me and came running, excited that I was moving so quickly. 

That tree fell in such a way that it landed on two different fence sections, and pulled a portion of our street-side wooden fence onto the ground! 

Thank God my animals hadn't escaped, I quickly locked them up, something I never do during windstorms, because I trust they know where it's safest to be, and our little barn is not actually connected to the ground. 

In addition to the horse fence, a portion of the street-side fence of lot 72 was down, taking a concrete post with it. What a shame, we had just ordered horse-safe mesh fence for 72. 

But J wants more than just safe fencing for 72, he wants the entire street-side of our pasture redone. After 12 years of lovely wooden fence, we have rotten wooden fence, standing precariously, the diagonal posts we put in as supports are the only things holding it up, I think. 

Never again, no wooden fences. 

Our Tpost fence, despite having a tree on it in two places, is 100% undamaged, and not the first time, every time a tree falls on our Tpost fence, we remove the tree, put the wire back up, and it's good. If only I'd known how incredibly practical Tpost fencing is in 2009. 

So we spent 6 hours today getting that tree off the fence, and it was pretty scary out there with the high winds and sudden bursts of hail (ok hail isn't scary, but I'd make announcements, "The rain is solild again!"). 

We are so glad to have invested in a set of tools that all run on one battery, 6 different attachments including a mini chainsaw on a very long arm (if you are nowhere near the saw part of the chainsaw, it's harder to hurt yourself - still no "real" chainsaws on our property!). 

Today we did not have to call for help. Today J put on his goggles and earplugs and went out there and chopped the critical parts of the tree into tiny pieces. You almost don't need earplugs, these tools are so quiet I don't think people across the street knew we were chainsawing. 

Working out there today, it was pretty clear which trees are the ones most likely to fall and crush us - we have 20 remaining dead fir trees. Last year Germany lost most of its fir trees to a bug. We already had 16 removed, and since then 20 more have succombed. Most of them are being held up by birch trees or hazelnut trees. "I'm counting on you, birch" I said to the one supporting the only remaining tree out there that, if it falls, would land on our fence and we might lose our animals. Unfortunately our mini chain saw isn't enough to take it down. If our good neighbors offer to help, that will be the help we'll ask for! We're so glad we were here today to manage it - if our housesitter had been, who knows what she would have done.

We have one good windstorm per year, it seems, and the good news is the wind always comes from the same direction - the south. So we can predict which way the trees will fall, all around our fenceline. We have no trees to the south of our house, so we have no danger there. There is definite danger working on fences during a storm, but what can you do? 

The horse-safe fence company (the only company that makes knotted "no climb" type fencing mesh in Germany!!!!) has offered to come out and put in new wooden posts that they will attach their mesh to. I'm like, nooooo....no more wood! I grabbed my horse catalog and turned to the page selling composite recycled material posts, which go for 10 bucks each for 175cm. If they refuse to work with composite, I will simply put up Tposts myself. We only need 24 and since acquiring 72, we have more Tposts than we'll ever need. 

My prayers were answered today - our animals are safe, our tool did its job and the tree is off the fences, and our fences are back up again. 

The storm will continue through Friday afternoon, so I'll be praying that our greenhouse holds it together, and the living trees support the dead ones. 

Last year we had a normal February. With snow. When a horse could not find mud to roll in every day, so a horse with a white mane! I have really missed that color mane.