Lots going on while horses rest

While I get a few days off from riding, and somehow work as well; everything fell together nicely as the rain trickles down at a perfect pace it is still just warm enough to work and get things in order before fall and winter really set in.

There was a huge tree on the west side of my barn, the more I looked at it the more it had to go.  It was a soft although somehow considered hard wood Poplar ... that with the first ice storm would have ended up on my barn.  So as its base is about 5 feet across it split off into 4 other trees and all of them were a problem!

There are several still up hill from the barn, I hope to save my money again and have them trimmed / unbalanced to fall AWAY from my barn if and when they do.  I also got a quote on the trees ABOVE my neighbors house... my property wraps around their house within 20 feet and I worry about it all winter as well.


I got the huge one around my barn taken down by a good tree climber/ surgeon ... good guy! Great prices! good at what he does! and does what he says hes going to! Call me if you need one! I recommend this guy! really!

I then had some quotes on the decks I've been planning for years... Besides I've got to at least get the footings done so I can plant those beautiful Japanese Maples I've been nursing all spring and summer!


Today I have to take down a fence, dig a hole for the fish pond, dig more holes for some grass I hope to get from a friend this month or next... , reset some t post around the barn ( thanks to a silly horse)   and work some plumbing from the fish pond so I can eventually get over flow down to the garden!  yep! I'm all about using everything I've got.   Down to the fish poop!

horse tails and pest eating plants are ready to be put around the pond... hopefully two ponds but i'm dreaming now! One will do me today.

After all I only have a few hours to get these things done before I have to get back to work myself!

Oh well I'm sure you day will be more productive!
Love Amber.

back after a few hours.  Fence down, another made more stable, fish pond in the ground, horses fed, rocks collected for dry creek for over flow from pond (for the moment! till I get my plumbing in for the garden only...4 acres away!) at any rate I'm home again covered in layer after layer of red clay, one jacket looks horrible, pants a new color and two shirts are ? well beyond donation status.

Gotta get the clay from under the nails and get to another job!   But I enjoyed playing in the rain, and making mud pies around the new pond!

more later.

Got Help Today!

I got help with the old Gravely today!
I to mentioned the guy, this was my largest obstacle at the moment, he just laughed! If this is the your largest you've got it made.  I do! I admit it! My life is as simple as it gets!   I make sure I do what I can for myself, and do what I can for others.

BUT the two things in life my Father did NOT allow me to do was ... Electricity and Chain Saws.  Two things I desperately need assistance with at this point in my life.

Turns out it is an Electrical issue with the gravely!  Alternator, Ground, or ? who knows what

I can only pass on this information as it was told to me by Ed.
Ed of ER Lawn Equipment Repair... will travel to Fairview NC, his numbers are... 828 582 9595 or  686 3934 both of which are now in my phone till the gravely dies!

Having said that He does have a YouTube video... Click Here!  as he said... "it is a little of red neck heaven"

He allowed me to ask a million questions! ( of course it is likely the reason he wants me to take it to his shop!) ha ha ha... BUT I am happy to have someone who is willing to work on the old thing!

My life just got even easier, considering I have someone else to worry about getting the old thing right.  I said Oh you will have a customer for life!   He sadly looked up at me and said, NO I will eventually have an unhappy customer, as I will no longer be able to get parts.

I know my machine is old, archaic! and about to die... but knowing it is not a mechanical issue, I am not willing to bury it just yet!  Everything works, as long as I can keep it running!

Thanks to ED I hope to keep it running as long as I can, so I can hopefully in the future afford to replace EVERYTHING this silly old machine does.

It is amazing how powerful this old thing is.
Besides the neighbors wouldn't have me to laugh at as they drive by seeing me mow my pasture with a walk behind.

Water for the barn,

While NOTHING is done yet.  I had an appointment yesterday with a woman in the area who specializes in water solution's for animals and gray water systems.

We are both in agreement on a LARGE water container, but it will have to go on the south side for winter exposure and I want a solar pump!  I do not plan on running any other electricity to the barn.  That money will be used for clean energy systems.

I am enjoying my barn more and more everyday.   But I digress...

Both women agreed, we needed to use only one tank in order to use the system to it's fullest. 

I am in the process of getting clutter???? free??? gutters. I am only getting bids at this point.
then I need to install down spouts to the area the cistern will reside.

I also need to worry about the cistern base.  Do I bury it?   or Do I create a concrete platform?

I am looking into both?  I have no idea which I will decide on at this point.  It may depend on how much rock or bolder we run into when digging it.  we shall see!   They each have their advantages.

Concrete... a clean area to walk around the cistern? but harder to hide into the natural setting I have. And it will be colder in the winter? what will it do to my freezing issue? All matters I will have to research.

Digging a hole?  Well it will look better from the road and in the barn BUT what about settling?  I may have to go down 3 feet or more for this to work for YEARS ... which is what I am expecting... and nothing less. Which will cost me as well.   Labor is not cheap and now that the barn is up this is not an easy area to get to!  Which is why I called her earlier(over a year ago) but she ???? needed something to go on, as where I would have dug the hole at the same time I was digging for the poles.  BUT that is me!  and as I always say... I have never fit into a perfectly shaped whole/ group in my life, why would I expect to now?   NOT...

Moving Horses.

Well... it has only been years (4) in the making... The barn is NOT finished or complete it has a few things to go.

1. Water.  I have no water system as of yet but am hauling water everyother day for the horses.
2. Gravel. I have no real footing beyond 20 feet of the barn over hang.

I am split with emotion.

I am excited the horses are finally on our place.
I am terrified the horses are finally on our place.

I am worried to death about the horses trying to get out and not having a friend around to warn me, call me, or ? anyone to say hey???? are you just out having fun?

I am about to create a flier, with color photos... to put in every mail box up and down the road. with pictures of the horses, ALL my phone numbers etc... I also want to figure out if I can put my trailer on the property I think I have a spot it will fit with out any issues for the horses or me. ? but this is one of the last things I will worry about this week.

I have LOTS to clean up at Joe's!
I have LOTS to figure out at my place.  ?
    a. Compost bins.  Where, How far from barn, how much exposer to sun, air, wind etc...
    b.  Gravley ... getting me a cleared path to my compost piles.
    c.  life in general...

I am a nervous wreck... How is it I can worry so much about horses?

As of this morning both horses are a nervous wreck as well.
SweetPea has thrown a shoe, She is snorting at everything! on guard, ... protective mode...
Navarre has loose stools? but water is no longer well water, so the tap water could have killed some of the bacteria in his stomach... or as normal SweetPea could be trying to kill him every 5 seconds I am not there!

I think I am going to get a cheap bottle of wine... take my table and chairs over there and sit with the horses after work... I have asked one friend to show up... and I am extending this invite to anyone else who doesn't mind the horse smell. 

The art of relaxing will be required.

What are you reading these days?

This is a question we all get asked, we ask of others, and if not... then your not a reader!

I am not a good reader. 
I rarely have a good book just for relaxation, most of my reading is about learning or searching for answers.

Forest Gardening, Cultivating an Edible Landscape, by Robert Hart ( sorry can't figure out how to underline it)...

What I was looking for was almost a blue print of sorts that I could apply to my own space. After all there are so many gardening books out there, with square foot marked off with suggestions out the yang?  .. NO such luck, but the book did inspire more thought to my estate and what more I may expect of it.

This little book was more on the history of, the use of, the development of and hoping most of all to PUSH the reader into do more agroforestry. 

I didn't need to be sold, and I'm not like most who likes to be preached at about ANY subject.  So the GREEN is REAL chapter did me little to no good, but the... "where do we go from here" chapter actually kept me up most of the night with my mind racing about exiotic things I should try in my garden, how I could protect them and make them work in my zone.  Which is AGAINST my entire reason for wanting a forest garden. 

I want a forest garden so I can tend to it very little and get as much out of it as possible.

There are things that grow well together, that feed each other and the life growing around them. 
For Example... My Paw Paw ALWAYS grew his green beans with his corn.  As a kid I never understood why people put wood in the ground in the middle of their gardens?  What in the world?  Not only did this little understood planting seem like no big deal to me I just thought that was how everyone was suppose to do things.  Come to find out this relationship between Corn and Beans is one few people today take advantage of.  Especially where I live right now!  I just drive by and laugh.

What I know now is... Beans put Nitrogen in the ground AS THEY GROW!   Corn TAKES such a high amount of Nitrogen it can easily rid soils of such nutrient.  So these two veggies not only  support each other above ground, save space in a garden, cause less work for the human ( no poles, no strings), but they feed each other under ground where no one thinks about.  In this book ... it talks about how Indians always grew their pumpkins with the corn, and beans... as the pumpkins covered the ground and kept weeds from growing between the stalks.

Simple things like these are what I am looking for in my readings.  I did not find too many in this book, but I will push the limits of zones in some micro climent areas I am going to try to create.  Sense the estate is south facing I may just be able to push the limits of several things. cold and hot zones.

My next reading... is because of this book... I got more out of the Indian ways than I did others. So I am thinking of getting an Indian Herbal book that concentrates on my area.    I'll let you know how it works out.

I can tell you ... I am serious about doing a forest garden so if anyone has ideas, experiments that have worked OR just wants to know more about what my plan is let me know...

Magazines.

I find one of my HUGE fetishes is magazines!  How did this happen? Why do I love them so much? What good do they do me?   All very.... good questions, and quite frankly these are questions I get each time I try to share a magazine with someone face to face.

Lets see... I think it all happened from the basics of being a child.  Didn't you love that new notebook of paper for school, how perfect it was, and to imagine what you were going to do with it.  A New Notebook pad for school made me want to do more homework, be organized, and look as pretty as my new clean notebook did.  

Of course... I always got as sloppy as I was before, but that doesn't mean I didn't try each time I got something new.  And truly I knew how hard it was for my parents to come up with the same supplies for three children.  They always played fair... if one of us got something so did the others. 

Even at Christmas, as ADULTS we got to ask for what ever we wanted from OUR PARENTS and Daddy always made sure that what ever the most expensive item was..... the other two got EXACTLY the same amount of money.  Down to writing us checks for pennies. 

So to get a new magazine makes me more happy than getting a new pair of shoes, a dress or even a hat. ( I love hats)

My first magazine is one I only have 4 of them, but reference them for ideas all the time.

Artful Blogging    Art full Blogging Mag information
Visually Inspiring Online Journals
        I enjoy this magazine because I inspires me to take pictures I would not normally take. I took photography as a kid, developed films...black, white and yes color, learned to manipulate photos as I was developing them in the dark room.  But after getting out of high school I never touched a camera, unless I was on vacation.  what a waste! Life has so much to offer in the everyday! It's my passport into my imagination... I look, read, and dream! So I get this magazine as it feeds my soul every four months...

OK... so my next favorite mag is again another I am happy to share, would love to give this as the perfect Christmas Gift, but few in my family think the same way as I do... except my Mother's husband Bill and Daddy.

 number TWO is... Urban Farm  Urban farm online information

I don't care who you are this magazine has something in it you can try! 
Who doesn't love home grown tomatoes?
Who wouldn't enjoy a cheaper grocery bill?
Even if not any of the above, it assist you in searching out local foods so you support your local area, have better quality foods and get out!
Of course every magazine out there that has anything to do with the out doors is pushing composting! so to is this one... but it also gave me alternatives to my composting decisions.  slow, quicker, and as quickly as possible.
Balcony gardens... ?  this is all I had for YEARS... and I've been known to throw plants in the back of a uhaul if I had to.
At any rate it brings the outside challenges down to any ones level as where Hobby Farms is WAY over my head although I have a "hobby farm" expecting someone to have the perfect land, animals, fences, machinery is WAY too much for me to be challenged with.

I have six acres and an OLD gravely no one wants. Do I need to spend 12,000 dollars on a tractor? I wish I could but reality is, I'll be doing most of my work by hand, truck, horse, or gravely so reading magazines that make me feel like I have to keep up with "the Jones'" society does me no good.  so yes I like hobby farm magazine but I no longer get it as it only made me feel worse about my own inabilities.

I can do what ever this magazine has to offer.  I see its ideas and want to apply them in the small scale they are being offered for.  It helps me to dream about the expansion of my little stall barn into other things...

xmpl... using chickens to keep the bugs down on the estate.

I could use them but they would also supply us with eggs, we eat on average an egg and a half a day! It's an average.  Jerry eats ONE egg a day,every day for breakfast.   I eat several if I eat any!

This magazine is only ... like the last published only every season.  I miss having it more and maybe it will grow as time and companies allow! 

So the third mag I get... is Hobby farm HOME...Hobby farm home info...

This one is an in between magazine for me. It gives me ideas, helps with out of the box management of the estate.   BUT it gives me wonderful ideas of how to make money out of my house, or save money within my house, or how to live a little more simple life.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy the finer things in life, but going to a museum, or seeing things displayed beautifully is more rewarding to me than having to keep them clean, make sure nothing happens to them.

I live in a world... that if I am not going to use it, it needs to go!  This applies to everything from closes to fine china.  If it has no purpose, it has no place in my life.  (I will have to post my packing routines soon, as a few have asked of late.)  Although my life of fewer things is more like the rest of the world as apposed to the aggressive practices of most US citizens...
Although taking or saving less physically is starting to become more the practice of more U.S. Citizens each year. 

Personally I am not concerned with the entire world, I am simply trying to do what I can to stand on my own two feet if I need to...AND doing all I do physically is better for ME than paying for a gym membership I would never drive into town to use!  I'd love to have a membership to the Y but ? would I ever get up and go?  probably not.  So why spend the extra money when that money can go into creating a place cheaper for my horses, and then start to support me more than me it!    It's just a dream but... I'm on my way.

Update on barn.

I find that sense I have been away, I can more appreciate what has happened to the estate.  Sound funny?

Every day I got up and the first thing in my mind was... what's the list for the day.

What do I need done today,
In What Order,... thinking through every task in detail in order to not touch things twice, getting things done in a needy fashion.
What is that going to leave me for the next move, what prep do I need to do for tomorrow? 
How can I build this or that and save time, materials, and energy.  What materials do I have that I can use, What materials are going to be necessary to purchase.
Who do I need to call for the barn, metal, wood, etc...
What supplies do I need for the day, Do I have them, What do I need for tomorrow?
Who has the cheapest prices today? Great... call suppliers ASAP... again...
Gas... Gas do we have enough gas and oil?

It was non stop

I find now that I rarely ever just stopped! Looked at all the progress and while I was estattic with daily results I was NOT seeing the full picture.

I now see this place is beautiful... even if I do say so myself!

Thank you Troy, for getting all of this on a roll, I could have never gotten up that first pole without your guidance, help,and teachings.  You are the person that put ALL of this in motion.  Yes I had the thoughts and plans done but I had no one to help me get the thing UP and Ready for animals.

Troy did EVERYTHING he could to stop the world on its axis, and did so. While his life got very busy I was blessed with another man who wanted to work and was willing to work but best of all had the skill to work.  He worked under Troy's direction till I took over having seen all the work Troy had and needed to concentrate on at his real paying job.

Karl is the person that helped me with the roof, walls, floors etc... There is so much detail, we spent hours each day talking things over in detail, making sure we were on the same page of what I expected, wanted and needed long term.

Karl is to be credited with all the craftmanship that has gone into my little barn.

Its functions are simple but this is what I wanted,
Its looks are rustic, but this is what I needed in order to fit into the area I have placed the barn.  I did not want it to stand out too badly in the winter.  I can only hope my neighbors can see the thought I put into making sure it was not a RED BARN with a GREEN ROOF that screamed at them as they drove by...

Barn at a standstill...

I can't do much more work on the barn for several reasons.

The track (door) company has put me behind, not delivering on date promised.

I need to purchase gutters.. seamless...

I need to get appt with Sistern Sister, but they too are on a back log.

All three of these things are NOT cheap and there is no way I can do them any cheaper... These three things along with more gravel are the four most expensive things to do with the barn. 

Small steps from here on. 

Update on pictures.

Above is my stall DOOR solid and it matches the grain/45 degree angels on the back wall of the barn, so it looks good from a distance. and is more sturdy for the horses...

Again this is just the inside but now all the walls are two and three layers think as where the last update they were outside walls and stall kick boards only.

I like my new horse stalls and can not wait to get the horses settled in their new place but... first a trip out west to get me settled!

ok.. for those of you who are NOT horse people this may make NO sense.

But Below is my walk through....

Having to never open a gate to get into my paster while the horses will be able to run freely.

It is too narrow and too sharp of a turn for a horse to make but plenty big for me to get in and out with no issues...  Just one more thing that makes my life a little easier on a daily basis.

This funny picture is my 30 mile fence charger... solar charged! I am very happy to finally have it up and FULLY charged now all I have to do is run the insulated wire to the fence and ground the silly thing.  This will take all of 10 minutes! So I'll do it when I get back

Pasture from the barn!

While it is not pretty yet my one area planted a year and a half ago... is so think I wasn't able to cut it with the mower, and using my bush hog that cuts through young saplings like butter... I could only cut one foot with each circle...

It took me all day to do what little is done! BUT at least I know it's good hay/grass for the horses... and the smell! I love that fresh cut hay smell.

A closer look to the holding pen till they get used to the rich grasses... Nice Clean and ready for the kids...

And finally ... getting settled in... Tools I've already had to use and find a home for.

barn update.

ok... sit back relax... take a deep breath... I keep repeating these things...

My barn is starting to look like more than just a building with a purpose.  It is starting to show signs of holding horses specifically.

I am so excited.

This is Sweetpea's stall...

Both stalls... and yes although any horse person will tell you NOT to put door openings next to each other .  You will see as the design plays out I wanted this ... it is my barn .... and I am having the doors made to my specifications instead of the norm.  Just wait you will see.

I know... I know it is a mess but it is still a work in progress.

Expectations for my B Day...

While today is just another day, I have had wonderful cards and gifts arrive today, I am thankful for them all.

My goals for the day are 1/2 way done.

fly retardant for the horses,
cedar for the birds,
chem spray on the pasture again.

and cutting apples off my poor young trees.

 While I love having these apples I only planted the trees last fall, and the tiny limbs are bent from the weight of these (could be... lushious) apples.

One must sacrafice at times and this is one of those times.

It is the Heirloom varieties that I planted that are abundant with apples.  The graphed / bred standards are fruited but not as weighed down.  All of them have to go TODAY!

The back yard... as you can see has been  all a buzz with hay production for the year.  But again the weather makes it another bad year for horse hay.  This hay will pickle and has been rained on each day, cattle will be fine but this would kill a horse.  You have to know what you are getting and thus far, most the local hay is NOT going to be good, clean, dry for horses.  Hope it is better where you are!

a HOT day in June.

For the longest I was wondering if spring would ever come, then the weather almost passes over spring and throws up into a deep humid summer heat.

Today Sunday there is a plow day at a near by farm and while I have no pictures, I did take the camera only to find out there was no card in it.  I just have to laugh at myself sometimes.

A dear young relative of mine has been in Singapore as of late and I am eager to hear of her night time andventure with animals, but we had a little adventure here as well.

Remember this is not a zoo, this is my front porch, front bedroom but I loved it!  Some of you will not like my pictures but I am happy to share.

We were so excited to see THREE bats on our front porch.  It must have been the heat, here they were hanging out on the window screen in the shade of the front porch.  Our house is ROCK, solid rock and with the sun as bright as it was yesterday I can only imagine how hot it was up on the cornice of the roof.

There are THREE... MOTHER with all her red hair, baby ONE is on the RIGHT of this picture hidden under her left wing... you can only see one foot from this angle.  baby TWO is on the left of this picture and you can see it pretty well, meaning you see a part of the head and one little ear.   

Why didn't I number them left to right... because baby one has more hair than baby two.  Two has no hair at all while one has a nice coat, one is older!  Want a better look?

This is baby TWO! see almost pink ... no hair.

This is baby ONE... see it is a nice brown color not as pink...

The mother was attentive, but apparently allowed me pretty close.  Her ears would twitch... but she appeared more worried about the babies than me.

At any other rate... my barn is coming along pretty fast... here is the latest picture of the roof, the padded flooring, and the back outside wall being up.

Roof is a neutral color, unlike most barns but this is what I wanted... Jerry wanted RED... but he liked this color as well which worked out good for our marriage! ha ha ha...

I swept the floor and laid other pads on top of it to allow them to flatten before applying them outside the barn, you will see as time goes on, but all is necessary in the plan.  

Was today another MONDAY?

Today was a day to put out fires.  Not one thing went as scheduled, Not one thing (for me) went smooth.

While I feel like there are still smoldering embers in my day I can now sit back and share pictures Jerry and I just went and took of the barn.

As funny as it is I was asked several times today how my barn was going.  I normally answer with ... nice and slow.  But today! Oh my!

My day always starts around 5:30am the ball starts rolling VERY fast by 7 am and and by 8 I feel like I am in warp speed for a few hours, then I slow down a little again.

Today started in warp and is only now (after my bed time) starting to slow down.

Work had me awake most of the night, worrying about German deliveries.  The barn I had taken a short break from, (three days) slapped me in the face today requiring several things immediately!  Mats... which are NOT cheap, more pressure treated wood, gravel, more labor and in the mist of it I find out my metal roof is here and will be delivered tomorrow.  Which means we have a tool we need to get for the edges etc...

While I do not live in Joelton, there are no straight roads over here to get from one place to another. 
While working I called every farm store that had equine mats to find the sale of the day, and drove the 8 miles to get them but that takes a good 30 minutes due to curves etc... So getting anything done takes all day.

If I did drugs, If I had anything to relax today would be one of those days... but no worries no beer or wine in the house besides tomorrow will be a full day and a glass of anything only wakes me up at 2am and that is the last thing I need in my life right now.

But I can sit here and look at all the progress on the barn,

The barn is starting to look like a place with purpose.  I have always loved the OLD barns, and that is the style I wanted to look at when we finally get a house on the estate.  SO... OLD it is... Old barns have character, and style so a pattern was applied to the outside of the barn. 

Jerry is being incredibly supportive, he likes what is going on and said it looks better than he thought it would. 

So tomorrow, metal goes on the roof and mats go into the stalls... a full days work if not more.  I'll  take more pictures as we go along, but I'm happy to see what I have right now.

It has all come a long way, yet still has a LONG way to go.

I am however a little upset with the metal roofing as it did NOT come in as predicted... Tiz life as we all know it. NOW they plan on having in it WEEKS instead of days... but... this is life in construction!

Although this allows me to go have fun with TROY instead of having to ask him to do work on his day off.  I hate having to ask him, when there are so many things we want to go do around town or in Western North Carolina that we have yet to do.

I am still going to move the horses this Friday Saturday or Sunday and put them in the lot over night and in the shade lot during the day if work is going on.  But this means I have to be extra careful with finishing up nail heads as I go along and getting up the walls as soon as possible.

At this very moment I am about to go dig trenches for the stalls and put stall pads over them as soon as I can get my work done for the morning.

Aside of rhino, shipping, and other things going on today... I hope to leave here by 11am.

I can only hope the horses will be as happy as I am with the place.  ... I have so much more to do but to have them on my own property is a HUGE step in the right direction.

So Much Going On...

A topo... of the mountain the estate is on.

Life is going FAST like everyone elses.... but the mornings are so sweet!

It is the smell, the sounds, and the drive up to the estate, that are as relaxing as going to the barn where the horses are today.

The big difference is I relax when I go see the horses, and my mind goes crazy with a to do list once I get out of the truck and take a deep breath when I am on the estate.

I am VERY happy with the progress of the stall barn, but just as much I have not mentioned all the plants and what not that are coming in with extream beauty as the seasons change. 

I have Apple Trees I only planted this fall that are lush with apples.  All four are rich with seed,but I am not expecting a full crop but to have beautiful blooms AND now seed/premature apples I am full of joy.

I also have honeysuckle I have purposely planted that is doing well, as well as the blooms on the wisteria (that I never expected for YEARS) are stunning.

I have lavender that will need to be planted this month, as well as hen and chicks to keep weeds down in a specific area, then I also have thyme of different types that I will use as accents to an area... life is fast and full.

I can only hope your to do list is going as well.

Hope to see friends and family soon.

My barn as of yesterday. 

This this is coming along nice and fast!  I am so excited!....

Yesterday, we had the gravely started, only slid down the hollow/gully twice, ha ha ha... but we got the road mowed to look a little better AND got started on bushhoging the "garden" area. 

That old machine beat me up! I feel it in my back...

But the guys got up the rafters so I am going to have to look at metal roofing this week and get it ordered.

Thank you Troy, and thank you for using Karl for help.

Karl has done all of my land work for the last three weeks and works under Troy when Troy needs another hand on this construction.

Tomorrow. 

Rebar to finish the railroad ties, and what ever else Troy put on Karls list.

Otherwise...

Replace starter and Battery on Gravely?  what next for this old thing?

Then I have to worry about footing for the dry lot.

Everything changes daily.

This is my lovely little stall barn without rafters or a roof... but this is so much more than I thought I would ever have up at this point in the year.

I am very happy with all the progress!

While this looks like nothing to most, it is a master piece to me!  It's mine and it is paid for!

I am so happy with the progress.

I have a few issues, but they are MY issues... I need to get over there and clean up all the mess!  I am hoping to do this over the weekend.  I suppose when building one must own stock in trash bags...

I can't burn a lot of this due to regulations AND a lot of the scrap has nails in it that would cost me too much in a vet bill to be so careless, so tomorrow is a cleaning day...

While I am cleaning, I hope to have help "cleaning" limbs from butt logs and moving the butt logs so they can be stacked to form a fence.

I also hope to have Karl finish the sides to hold my sand/footing in for the barn area.

I also hope to get rid of some of the bad wood around the area, but we shall see, I think I am expecting too much from myself and others to have it all done in one day.

WE shall see... I will not have the camera for the weekend, it travels to VA for the next few days... ha ha

Update on barn.

Life gets so confusing we forget from where we come or what we have achieved.

Here is a picture of the property Before I started building the barn.

Notice as published last year I planted the area with wheat and clover to keep from loosing any dirt/ground...

This is what it looked like just last weekend.  All NINE poles in the ground.

This is what it looked like just yesterday... After all the guys Troy, Karl, and one more hand... tied it all together.   Troy is my man in charge, but as I will take yet another picture tomorrow you will see he has instructed Karl to put up the 45 angles and it looks more and more like a barn everyday.

I can not wait till I have have a huge barn yard party...

But as usual, more trips to the lumber yard are required tomorrow....

An appt WITH TROY and the roofing options are needing to be scheduled....

I need to get land scape tembers around the area to save my ???? footing I hope to purchase some tomorrow but I am not holding my breath!

then I will need to have rock and sand brought in  and leveled out as much as possible.

It never stops...