ODE' TO DUCT TAPE

Question of the day. What can't duct tape fix?
This story is totally going to show you what a redneck I can be and maybe even prove to you that duct tape can fix almost anything.

Tonight after class, I went home, changed into my pjs, and sat down to watch a little tv. Half way through the show my dogs started to make a little fuss outside. Knowing that if they are making some kind of commotion there has to be something out there they are not sure of. So I got up out from under my nice warm blanket and check on what could possibly be wrong. It being completely dark outside, I didn't see anything. So I shut and locked the door and proceeded to get back into my comfy spot. Well about 5 mins past and they were still barking and seeming to get a little more vocal so Chris got up this time and check it out. Well, he saw the reason. My horses had gotten out of the pasture somehow and were right on our front porch, close to my feed for Gerdie (my goat).

I ran, got my coat on, and grabbed a lead rope, threw it over Missy's neck and proceeded to lead her down Grandma Avery's driveway where the main opening is to the pasture. I thought for sure, someone had accidentally left the gate open and they just wondered out. But the closer I got, I could see that the gate was up and secure. So I lead both horses back into the pasture, gave them extra feed and went on my merry way.

Well on my way back I decided to check the perimeter around my house to see if I could see where they might have gotten out due to a barbed wire fence or something being down. As I was walking towards Gerdie I noticed that all of her feed that I had just given to her not even 1/2 hour ago was gone. And I know there is no way she could eat it that fast. So I started to look for hoof prints by her house and sure enough, there they were. So I followed them out of my yard(the only thing great about snow, it make tracking easier) , over my cement bridge between my house and Grandma's and shined my flood light on the fence. The wire fence was up and straight and tight as it should be, so I was a little perplexed. Where could they have gotten out?

So I decided to scan the whole fence, including the really sturdy wooded fence and right in the corner I could see that the fence at the particular spot was 2 railings instead of 3, (which would normally hold them in, but because of the high amount of snow, they were able to walk right over it, with out much trouble.) That had to be the spot where they had escaped. So I walked over to the corner and sure enough, hoof prints everywhere.

I came back into the house and asked for Chris' help. We had to come up with a way to fix the fence, especially now that they now know where I keep my grain. That is when I saw my roll of duct tape (light bulb in my head went off). I could fix the fence temporarily with this until I have a chance to on Saturday and there would be light to work with. I grabbed the roll of tape and Chris rolled his eyes. I knew what he was thinking, "What on Earth is Stephanie going to do with that roll of tape?"

We walked out the door, I showed him where they had gotten out, and he started to look for the extra railing that had fallen down, but it was no where in sight. So I took out the tape, got the end started and gave it to Chris. I told him to go to the next post and stay there while I brought the roll to him. Yep, we were fixing the fence with duct tape. We were actually using duct tape to keep horses in their pasture. We made several passes with the tape, making sure that it was bonding together as we unrolled the emergency railing. By the time we were finished, you would not believe what a great job it did. Not only will it deter the horses from getting out, it saved Chris and I an hours worth of work, trying to come up with material and a way to fix the fence. I know it will hold until I have a chance to fix it, and I am pretty sure that it would work well enough, that I could even wait until spring to really fix the problem..

Who knew that you could fix a fence using duct tape? I love this stuff.