Workin' Five To Nine

     This has been the busiest week imaginable.  We have worked so hard, almost around the clock, but accomplished so much.    

     I finally feel like we are going to get our fencing done.  Our "new" guy from Springfield (with two of his workers) came Tue at 8am. We all helped, along with two other collage guys we hired, and got 16 large corner and gate posts put in (4 ft down). It took 96 bags (80lbs each) of cement, which we hand mixed.  Dad would have been proud of us.  We finished at 4:30 pm.....what a long day. 

Britney coming home from a run
as we are getting started.  

All of the poles we need to
dig holes for and "plant".



The auger used to drill the holes.  This hole was actually dug later in the day.



We filled the stock tank with water which we used for making concrete.




We had two wheel barrows going and two people mixing to keep up.





Most holes had to be finished by hand, some needing more work than others due to sub-terrain obstructions.




A lunch break was enjoyed by
"our crew", while the fencing crew
went in to town to buy lunch.



Running the auger was very hard work, taking 3 strong men and one to direct.











It was a long, tiring day, but by the end it sure felt good to see what we had accomplished and to reflect on the cooperation and team work that pulled it all off.

       Friday we put in 28 posts (Joe rented an auger).  It took a little over 3 hours. The auger and holes were much smaller for line posts and only drilled 3 ft down. Joe cemented some of them yesterday and filled the rest in with dirt.  Of course Britney and Daniel have been helping with all of this as well.  We built eleven 8ft sections of wood fence yesterday also and will be ready to tighten up and add more electro-braid soon.  I still need to go around and clean up dirt piles from where all the post holes were drilled.

     There is also the ditch to fill in where the electrician (who was here yesterday) dug from the corn crib to the garage shed so we have electricity there and can easily run an extension cord to the chicken coop for a heat lamp and heated water dish this winter if needed.

      Courtney and I rode 2 horses for a second time early yesterday morning.  I am more interested in them than she is because they are more spirited than the 4 others we have looked at. They are being sold together.  I really like Blackie (a 16 year old Tennessee Walker gelding), but Aerial (a 7 year old mare) is a bit nervous.  I am going to have a friend who has broke horses try her out next weekend.  My trainer is willing to work with me and the horses to teach us both.

       Our freezer died Thursday night and the refrigerator died Friday night.  It was a mess each morning.  First thing Friday morning I discovered all the ice cream had melted, and mixed with blood that oosed out of the pork and hamburger.  I cooked the hamburger right away and marinated the pork which was then in the frig when it died. We grilled and ate it last night, and no one got sick.  Sat morning when I discovered the dead refrigerator, I swear it’s inside temperature was warmer than the room temp.  The milk and oj containers were bloated from the fermentation process. Needless to say, I threw a lot of stuff away. So Sat, instead of going grocery shopping I bought a new refrigerator/freezer.  But it doesn't come until Tuesday.What a pain.

     When the electrician was out, we also had him move this light in the barn from where a wall is going for the tack room, to this new location.  He was careful not to disturb this barn swallow nest too much. He then added another light with its own switch for the tack room.

        We also had a plumber friend out Friday afternoon to fix our sink in Dan’s bathroom and the bad leak under the kitchen sink.  Our disposal had knocked loose a pipe which Joe couldn’t get to stay tightened. Come to find out, the pipe from the disposal was not hooked up correctly, and to make it right we would need to tear into the wall under the counter.  Not going to happen.  Bob (the plumber) did what he could to fix the problem, but said we may need to get rid of the disposal.

     I helped Joe hang all of our gates this afternoon.  We have a 6 footer, two 8 footers, a 12 footer and a 16 footer.  They aren’t all perfectly straight, but they are done and don’t look too bad.











        School starts tomorrow and I haven't done much of anything to prepare.  I went to school after church today for the first time in quite a while.  I have not done any work here cause I am just too busy with other stuff.  I haven’t even cracked open a book. I am going to regret it later this week....but I just can’t get motivated to do any school work.  I need to pray for a better attitude.