when a friend loaned us the use of a large front end loader. I dug two open pits in the middle of the pasture. In one, I buried all the junk that would not burn. In the other, I had a continuous fire going for a week to burn the combustibles.
Once the fences were mended, we bought an Angus bull and six Angus cows. The cows were no trouble as long as they were fed regularly. The only time they were unhappy was when the calves were taken away. Then they set up a mournful bellowing that lasted a few days. We named the bull "Bruno" after a German friend, teasing him that the American Bruno could handle six wives. This bull was so strong that he could just walk right through a fence if he wanted to. While we were on our trip to Germany in 1984, Bruno did just that - three times - much to the consternation of our neighbors.
The puzzling thing about Bruno's escape was that the fences were all still in tact. No one could figure how he got out. On the third time, it all came clear.
I had put up new fencing using four foot hog wire topped with two strands of barbed wire around the entire perimeter of the property - except for one 100 foot long section which was already closed with chain link fencing around our neighbor's property. Mistake!
Bruno had grazed his way up to that chain link fence and just kept going. The chain link fabric just slid up on its posts, and Bruno walked out. The fencing then slid back down, leaving no evidence of how he had gotten out. On the third time though, the neighbor's front gate was closed, so he found himself unable to go any further than their yard. They had the shock of their lives when they opened their garage door to find Bruno staring them in the face. After some heated phone calls, our son John managed to get Bruno back in his own pasture, secured in a back section where he couldn't get at the chain link fence again, and there he stayed until I got home and filled in that 100 foot long section with regular fencing.
On another occasion Bruno grazed his way through the hog wire fence. I finally put a strand of barbed wire about an inch from the bottom to discourage any more of that. We kept Bruno and his five cows for five years, selling the calves every year. When I retired, we sold everything and took to the road.
In 1983 we purchased 7.5 acres on Pearson Road
in the Bloomingdale community near Brandon, Florida.
The little house that was there was about 50 years old
and loaded with termites. The junk the family had
accumulated over the years was stacked under the
trees, and the fences had deteriorated badly. A lot
of work had to be done to get it all cleaned up. There
were about two dozen huge old live oaks on the place
which led us to think it had potential for a nice home
site. The cleanup went a lot faster than first imagined
