Oh, gods. I'm so sore! I'm aching all over.
Guess I did a little bit too much work yesterday. It's a nice sight to wake up to though, the walls of my house almost half built. I slept in it last night, which was nice.
The house is on hold for today though. My muscles need a rest, and also, I woke up today to a cow trying to check if my hair was grass.
Time to put the animals away.
Because of all the trees I have used for the house, all of which I had to trim the branches off, I have a lot of smaller stuff in a pile. I didn't use many for the walls yet, and future trees will have plenty of twigs for my walls. That leaves me with a free source of sticks and branches for making fences. Now I have a source of rope, I know I can weave the branches into a fence. That's going to be my job for today.
The fences need to be very solid, because, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, Cows are big animals. There's no point keeping the bull separate from the cows, and I'm not sure I have the skill to build a fence strong enough to keep a bull from nine cows if he's desperate. Besides, if I have calves dropping any time of year, then I'll have a continuous supply of cows, and when the calves are older, beef.
The chickens also need to be fenced away, so it's most efficient if I use the one paddock. Thus the fence not only needs to be sturdy, but also have no gaps for a small chook to escape from.
The sheep should stay in for a fence that keeps in cows and chickens, so they should be fine when I manage to catch them. Currently, I've only seen glimpses of them, but I know they're there. They will probably need to be fenced before I have veggies growing.
Speaking of things I have to do soon, I need to (erk!) fix the dunny shed that was here when I came up. It's serviceable, but I want the walls a little more opaque and wind-proof. What fun that'll be! (note the sarcasm)
However, today the fence. Taking my trusty knife with me, I first journey into the heart-stopping maze of corridors to collect vines. I swear, this place is like a maze. A maze for giants. And, where I turned left yesterday, there's now a solid wall. I swear there's something wrong with this place.
At least the vines are strong. I tested some of the ones I cut yesterday, and whilst they're a little stiff, they haven't gone brittle.
With thick skeins looped over my arm, I move slower. But before long, I'm ready to build, and I still don't know quite how I'm to manage this.
I start by gathering the longest branches, plus a few of the skinniest trees I could find, and make a rough frame for a straight fence. Then, I gather smaller sticks and weave them with ivy until I cannot see through it.
When I have quite a length of this done, It's well past time for lunch. I really need to get a fire and cook food, because my supplies will go faster when I'm working. When I have the chickens penned, I'll be able to raise pullets for the fire, and that will help. My garden-to-be is also quite a priority.
After lunch, I test the strength of my fence, by propping one end against a tree and leaning on it. Any areas that bend too much, I strengthen, then test again.
By evening, I'm ready to bend the length around and join it to the start. I decided that one line bent into a circle would be both easier and stronger than a square, so my fence, though it may only be temporary, will be a circle.
It's unimaginably difficult to join the two ends! They don't want to stay bent at all, and they sure don't want to stay bent while I join them.
The only way I can stop the ends from parting is to jam them into the forest, which takes quite some time. But then I realised I forgot I had to move it to the final location, which I can't do if it's over a tree!
Eventually, I use the cattle to pull it together with ropes, but in doing that, I've had to leave some of my precious real rope in the fence.
By nightfall, the fence is up, with a stile to get in and out, and a temporary ramp for the cows. I only manage to get three cows in before dark, and four chickens I found nesting in my blanket, but that'll give me a good idea for the success or not of my fence.
Sitting curled up in my blanket, propped inside one of the walls of my house, I think I've made good work. This glade looks almost like someone lives here. Like I can continue to live here, and survive. Like I have a hope, me. A girl with no memory, living within four walls to keep the monsters out, not knowing why I'm here, or where 'here' really is, or whether there is even anyone else alive in the world.
Why would anyone be sent to a place like this? What if I don't manage to farm myself enough supplies to live? Even if I do, how long will I be here for? Am I to live the rest of my live inside four walls, alone?
I think I've always been a bit of an introvert, but to truly be alone in the world is eerie, even for me. Humans are, by nature social creatures, and whilst I don't think I was much of a party animal, I do miss being around my own kind.
Is this my fate? To live forever with cows, sheep, and chickens for company?