Submitted by Preeceville area farmer, Kaare Askildt
"SPROING"! It's a word that describes a sound, most often used in comic strips.
I bet most farmers that have taken down barbed wire and rolled it up, have heard that sound many times.
Tim Olson our neighbour had allowed us to use the fence on his property as our southern fence line for our eastern pasture, and he was taking down the old wire on the rest of his field just south of us. He stopped by one afternoon and told me that he had rolled up some good barbed wire, and he offered it to me for nothing as he is setting up an electric fence.
I of course accepted his offer, and asked if I could drive around the field on my quad to look at the rest of the wires. We both drove around and saw that there was indeed a lot of good strong barbed wire that we could use. We made a deal that my wife and I would take down all the wires for him, and we would keep the good wire. In return he would pound in the posts for our replacement fence, and even provide some posts if we were short.
Then the fun started! I'm sure those that have done this before can visualize what happened next. My wife is an expert wire roller, her coils stays together no matter what. I on the other hand can't make a good coil to save my life. I tried rolling holding the coil in the air. It starts out good for the first dozen loops, then the loops fly off to the sides, and I'm standing there with what looks like a giant slinky held together in the middle. "Roll it on the ground," my wife suggested, "and alternate from side to side."
It was a little easier rolling on the ground, but when I had finished and laid the coil on the ground, it went "SPROING", and now there was a giant barbed wire slinky laying on the ground. I became the staple puller and my wife the barbed wire roller.
Worked like a charm! This was what is known as a "win / win" scenario. The Olsons got the barbed wire taken down, and the Askildts got the posts pounded in and good strong barbed wire for our new fence and to fortify our other fences, at no cost to either family. That's how good neighbours work together!
"NOW DON'T GET MAD, BUT!" (The "Red Button").
How many husbands have heard this from their wives to "prep" you before they go on? Personally my nape hairs get up right away, and I'm super alert as to what is coming next. My wife phoned me from work last week, and started the conversation with that "phrase." It must be bad; otherwise she would not start the conversation like that. Rapid thoughts raced through my mind! "Did she wreck the car?" "Did she do something bad at work?" What could be so bad that I shouldn't get mad?
The more these thoughts raced through my mind, the hotter I got. I have told her before, that the quickest way to get me mad is to start a conversation with: "Now don't get mad, but!"
Then she continued and told me the rest of it, and it's nothing to get mad about at all!
She sold some of our four months old layers to a woman that wanted chickens to lay enough eggs for her own use. She thought I would get upset, because I love our fresh eggs! And lots of them! She apologized for getting me upset. We agreed that it would be much better if the "phrase" was moved to the end of the sentence, to avoid the push on the "red button."
I just love that girl!
