We had planned to go to a movie and out to dinner Sunday night but the farm had other ideas. Spring Madness is here, the sudden appearance of green grass makes sheep and donkeys a little crazy.

They tore the chicken wire off of one of the gates and we discovered breaks in the fence in the far pasture. Anybody with a farm and livestock takes fences seriously, especially when you live on a busy highway.

Last week one of the sheep plowed through the wire fence out back to eat grass from our neighbors wide field. She came in by herself, but we took it as a warning signal. Last summer, the utility company came to cut down all of the brush near the fences, they did more cutting than they said they would do, and they exposed parts of the fence that were vulnerable.

It took about four hours to get the new fencing up in the right places.

Since the California wildfires, the utility company here has been on a rampage cutting down tree limbs and brush, often blamed for the wild fires there.

They didn’t care much about our fence.

We found some spaces in the wire fence big enough for a hungry sheep to squeeze through and some footprints and wool traces that suggested that they had.

We also found wool on the wire where the sheep had gotten out and back in. This had probably been going on for a week or two, we might not have known about it if the neighbor hadn’t come by to warn us.

After eating dry hay for months, sheep go wild for fresh green grass, and the sugar in it makes them a little nuts. I called Greg Burch, our firewood supplier and ordered seven cords of wood. April and May mean it’s time to prepare for winter. Next week I’ll order first cut hay.

The price of everything goes up every year, it never stays static and it never goes down.

So we started putting up wire mesh. Maria did most of the work tying the mesh to the fence, it’s hard for me to kneel – the sheep won’t challenge fencing like that. Our electricity is out because of all the flooding, and sheep with their heavy wool don’t feel the shock anyway.

We also got out the staple gun and some chicken wire and secured the mesh on the Pole Barn gates. We also got  Giselle and Zelda into the barn for some grain, they are fattening up, Giselle’s ribs are disappearing once more.

So no movie, and my legs are protesting from all the walking and hauling brush around. Maria is happy and cheerful, she loves farm chores outdoors in beautiful weather. I am lucky, lucky.

I’m also happy to report that our Easter Podcast on Brenee Brown, us, vulnerability and courage got 100 plays in just the first few minutes. We weren’t expecting that on Easter Sunday.

We’re planning on once a week, except for breaking news.

I’m cooking tonight, where staying home and I want to write more about vulnerability tonight. Tortellini I think with Artichoke Pesto.