The fence project is finished. The neighbor happily accepted the job of hauling the trash stock fence away. His sons (16 and 10, I think) turned up at exactly the right time, offering to do odd jobs for cash, and they got to haul the hay uphill, and trench under the gates for the cable. Best $10 I ever spent, I swear.

I wound up holding a number of things together with cable ties. Geek fencing, yum yum. And it all tests, and it all tests *beautifully*, and everything is tight enough. Each of the gates has a chain to hold it closed in case of equine pushiness. The new stock tank is installed (I drank out of it, ceremonially. *slurp*) Palisades has six tons of hay to contemplate, and I have some LMF to dole out to him to transition from what they've been feeding him at CW's.

I am satisfied from the top of my head to the bottoms of my feet. Completing physical projects is resoundingly satisfying in a way that is difficult to achieve with computer projects (as there is always one more bug, or one more missing feature).

Tomorrow the farrier will come, and I will probably require him to admire my handiwork (*snork*), and we will trim the mares, and then I will go and retrieve Palisades and everyone will be HOME.