When we moved in here, the land was neglected, largely overgrown, and devoid of effective fences.
Looking back, it’s quite encouraging that we have achieved so much. Behind the barn, there is neat fencing, trimmed grass, and a catch-pen which allows Val to groom and handle the breeding llamas.
But immediately behind this pen remained a huge ‘hump’ – where two fallen trees and many collected branches have become wholly overgrown with metre-high nettles and other vicious weeds.
This hump lay exactly in the path of the fence we shall soon have to erect to divide the big field in preparation for winter. Each morning, Val found it to be a frustrating obstacle to her interaction with the enlarged group of breeders.
So, it had to go!
During the last few weeks, Val and I had been working on hump reduction. Val clipped the nettles and the lighter vegetation, and I worked on some of the bigger branches. But it was taking so long! We’d taken a couple of loads of branches to the tip, and cut up a large pile of logs for winter burning. But other things kept getting in the way, and we began to wonder if we would ever finish.
So, when Mike said he would like to complete a “job” while he was on holiday, guess what we suggested . . . .
Mike seemed to love working in hot sweaty conditions. Day by day, through many sun-drenched hours, he toiled away – cutting, lifting, heaving, stacking. With only occasional little bits of help, and after four more fully loaded trailer trips, he succeeded in excising the whole hump. A hero indeed!
The improvement is dramatic and much appreciated. Thanks Mike! Anyone else for a working holiday? We’re getting the list of jobs ready . . .
Before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and after
