Sometimes disagreements can be funny. I don't always have to be right. Neither does my DH. In fact, we are really good at both being wrong about some things. I do have a hard time keeping my opinion to myself, though. And occasionally I've let slip the awful, "I told you so." I know, I know, bad wife. Some of our arguments are over the silliest things: how to fold his shirts, which Nascar driver to root for, how many squash plants we need, etc... One ongoing disagreement that has brought some humor- and frustration (got to be honest, sometimes my mom reads this blog and she will call me on a fib)- is the fence line in the goat pen. From the day we put the pen up I have tried to tell him that a shared line is a bad idea. And ever since he has begged to differ. BEGGED TO DIFFER. About MY goats. Can you imagine?
So our bucks and does share a fence line. And the only way to get into the buck side of the pen is through a shared gate on that shared line- the same shared line that has been busted through and mended over and over since the very first rut season. That line that has the shared gate that has been busted through and knocked plum off the hinges every year that the fence line held. Yes. That one.
This was one of the seasons when the fence held longer than the gate. Once the gate was broken, the pen was a free-for-all for all the happy goats until this past week. Because we were down to the wire, again, on getting everyone separated for kidding. (Not that kidding is an issue but feeding and milking is.) Trying to keep the bucks out of the grain for the milker- we don't feed grain to the bucks ever- and off the milk stand- which is still freestanding in the outdoors- is a nightmare.
Allow me to show off our mended gate, which I have been assured is now goat proof. It was SUPPOSED to be goat proof the last time it was mended but this time DH is sure- absolutely, positively, stainless steel scrap welded- sure that no excited (ahem) buck is going to be able to bust through in an attempt to get to the attractive doe on the other side.
You can also see the section of fence that was the first site of damage before the gate was attacked. Since it had been repaired with another panel, DH was able to block it off with a piece of plywood between the panels. That will prevent any kids from getting stuck while they are young but that section will need to be repaired before next rut season. Unless... we decide maybe it's time to not share a fence line before then. OR, on the off chance that DH is right and stainless steel is the way to go, maybe he will have collected enough scrap by next season to weld up a goat proof fence. Who knows? Meanwhile, though, I'm working out which side of my tongue I'll have to bite in case an "I told you so" is warranted.
