Short legs and electric fences!

We’ve been on the farm for just over a month now and thought we should wander over to our neighbours, Graham and Lorraine to say ‘hi’. They have been welcoming and friendly and have dropped by with the odd tray of fresh free range eggs. Graham is a treasure trove of farming advice and will buy our cattle for us as he is a cattleman and knows everything there is to know about bovine.  Their driveway runs parallel to our property and their home is about 300m away from ours. To visit them is like taking a long walk around a suburban block.

It was late in the afternoon on Sunday when we took off down our driveway to our gate, did a ‘U’ turn and walked back along their drive and down our boundary fences. Graham has sheep that had just had lambs (twins and triplets) a few days before. The little lambs were still wobbly on their long legs. We stopped to watch them play. They’re not snowy white yet. Their woolly coats are still grey and dirty from the birthing process. In a few more days they’ll be clean and soft.

 It was interesting seeing our place from a different perspective. There are a couple of magnificent camellias growing behind the big old shed. Graham sees them every time he drives along his drive. Their blooms are bright fuchsia and the size of saucers! We walked past a field of cattle which also held a big mean looking bull. We were hoping that the electric fence was working! On we went.

We visited for a while and had a cup of tea and some homemade cookies and headed back home. The sun was gone. It was getting dark. The moon had already risen and was hanging in the violet evening sky like a large Christmas bauble. Clouds were rushing past the white globe, casting an eerie glow on the fields around us. It was a beautiful evening to be walking out in the country.  

As we got close to our old shed, Frans decided that we could take a short cut over the fence. He didn’t think our own electric fence was on. (Although, I did hear it clicking a few meters down the road). However, he easily stepped over the fence into our garden.  Then it was my turn. Now I am not the most athletic or agile person around. So I gingerly grasped the top fence wire and pushed it down so I could hoist my leg over the top. Unfortunately, my short legs did not clear the top fence line easily, and I brushed against the second wire down. And THAT one had current running through it. If I tell you I was surprised by a sudden jolt of electricity that coursed through my body, then I’m sure you would understand. I either lurched over the fence or was thrown, whichever it was, I found myself on my substantial arse in the long wet grass. Frans had to drag me up. That was an effort. My legs felt like jelly. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Ok, I cried. Like a girl. I’m allowed to. No more fence jumping for me!