A Visit from Junkman Jeff

Johnny's nephew Jeff from Illinois spent three whirlwind days here last week mostly digging a trench from shop to new goat barn for the electric line. "Junkman Jeff", as he likes to be known, is good at driving big machines. He put the backhoe on Dad's tractor to dig the trench, then filled it back in with the bucket of the tractor after the pipe was laid. Johnny was happy to get so much work done in so little time but he sure did get worn out trying to keep up with Jeff. The trench went through several goat and llama areas so many fences had to be taken down and then re-erected and animals temporarily relocated.

















Now Johnny is working on finishing the project by connecting the wire to a new circuit box in the shop. Six weeks after his back surgery, Johnny is out of pain, regaining energy daily, and eager to catch up on the many projects that have been on hold for months. Jeff jump-started him, I think, and he is off and running.



They did take a little time from work to deliver milk for me to Oregon Wildlife for a Cuvier's Gazelle baby. Jeff and Johnny both liked seeing the two White Rhinos, my nemesis during my winter raptor run (story on a Dec. 09 blog: "Excitement on the Raptor Route"). The rhinos are now in separate fields, having decided this summer that they don't like each other. Two fighting rhinos are not fun to have around so each is going to a new home in animal parks far away.
















Jeff liked the gentle giraffes, too. So do I. Much better than the rhinos. The photos at Oregon Wildlife were taken by Johnny.























Jeff was here last January for two days of fun described in my blog "A Visit from Jeff Fink". I guess he wanted to come back and work for his keep this time. Johnny certainly appreciated the help. Besides the trench, Jeff fixed a hose reel, helped Johnny put the new part in the electric golf cart so it runs again, and generally made himself useful. A nice guest to have.