(Refuge Farm viewed from the lower pasture. Photo Socotra.)

The Internet is always a bit of a crap shoot down at Refuge Farm. But it is OK.  The sun is shining and the temperature is good on the skin and the critters are happy in the fields below the little house.

I managed to get a couple things done- fixed the gate to the back of the fenced-in part of the property. It had fallen down and required a stop at the big box Lowe’s on the business route into town. Finding a strange assortment of Raven’s tools- the Sears Craftsman metal case had all sorts of things I had not seen in years.

Carriage bolts did the trick- I have no idea why the fencing people had used the squat short bolts to hang the hardware on. A little rot and the drying of the pressure treated lumber had caused them to pull out of the wood.

The drill bits are in Arlington, of course, but the phenomenal news was that a disassociated ¼ inch bit was in the bottom of the old ammunition case in the garage. Horsing the gates around to get access to the top and bottom was a challenge, but not a large one and I was filled with the well-being of actually solving a problem.

I was going to work on the Dwarf next: I got the fine-grade sandpaper to clean up the mended metal of his black boot, and have an idea of how to replace the fixture of his ancient electrical light, but I was bathed in sweat by the time the gate was done, and that was just enough for the afternoon.

I looked out over the fields this morning, dewy and green. The silence was broken by the call of the birds. So what if the internet is spotty?

The question, I guess, is about what you are connected to, rather than what it is you are hooked up with.

(Maybe next trip for the Dwarf.)

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com