Sun Cream and Stock Strainers
Hi folks. Welcome back once again to the life of a busy fencing contractor and crofter up here in the north of Scotland.
At the point of writing this latest column, it’s absolutely roasting. Last week has been awesome and the sunshine provides a real boost of positivity given the recent ‘dreich’ weather which tends to be the default setting up here!
Those ‘bitey’ wee midges and horseflies may be about but a decent spell of weather makes all the difference, especially when it comes to the fencing. I’ve always enjoyed building a good spec fence line but with the weather on side, it’s a proper pleasure to be working outside. It’s the best office anyone could wish for.
Since my last column we have been mega busy as per usual, flat out with the fencing with a few different specs thrown into the mix. Off the top of my head, we did 1240m of double barbed fence on 6ft timber posts that featured a HT tornado net with 2 line support wires.
Immediately after that one was another field boundary over in Dornoch with 910m on creosoted timber with an 80 HT net with line support wires and a top electric hot wire.
Then it was off to a local estate to get on with a variety of work from deer fence repairs, new stock fences and a good chunk of post and five bar rail on some seriously hard ground. The good old rock spike was required there on almost every post. It’s a long day when the ground is like that but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
At the time of writing this column, we are on with 130m of 1.8m high slatted timber fencing which is a nice wee change from the wire work and creo timber especially in the baking heat!
On the crofting side, things are just as busy. From getting the hay organised for winter feed to getting the sheep shearing done, there’s always something to keep us out of mischief.
Show season is also well upon us now too and we try and get along to as many as we can. Beer tents and burger vans are never a bad idea…well until the next morning!
It’s currently the summer holidays for the kids and they are a couple of weeks into their seven weeks off and the World Cup is reaching its finale. The less said about Scotland’s performances, the better although our travelling Tartan Army provided plenty of party spirit. Well done to England for getting so far into the tournament…yes, I actually said that!
I’m really trying to find the balance a bit more so we can take the ‘bairns’ to some nice places and explore this awesome country we are lucky enough to call home. The phone might never stop workwise but we have to remain mindful that life is for living.
As every self-employed fencer would say, we’ve just got to keep our heads down and the metres up.
I hope you all have a fantastic summer. Stay safe and we will catch up in the autumn.
Mark — M Fence
