Rain, Rain, Rain

Tom had cleared the gutters, but not the short gutters on the dormers, and at 1:00 AM he let me know that water was coming into the bathroom. Great! The power went out, briefly, around the same time. Irene climbed into bed with us and settled down for the rest of the night under the covers until the alarm went off. Tom installed the exterior stairwell sump pump last night and this morning it was working like a champ - basement is dry, too. We only got one 'run' of cattle carpet down. We have to finish that tonight - the gravel man must be scheduled for a delivery - Friday or Saturday. The barn is going to be delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. And we want the carpet and gravel to be down before the pieces arrive.

Expecting 4-6 inches of rain today, some localized flooding and now there is a tornado warning! Can it get any better? The pasture is wet, and some spots there is standing water. It is good to know the way the water flows from the contours, we've had such a drought that we have never witnessed anything like this. It is a learning experience.

Another Beautiful Evening

Spent the evening off-loading the fence boards and posts from the flat bed. Sixteen-foot Red Oak boards, smell like peaches! And they were covered in Stinkbugs. Some of those bugs got squished, but the boards smelled so good and the breeze was picking up, never smelled a single one. Dozens were killed.

Today Tom is hoping to pick up the roll of cattle carpet from a local supply house. It also would be great if he could pick up hay, but if not we'll make time to do that over the weekend. If we run out our neighbor and good friend will surely lend us a bale or two.

This morning it was 37 degrees! Wow - Fall is upon us. Supposed to rain a little this afternoon, too.

Gravel Man

The gravel guy came over last night - almost dark, too. He proposed a base composite topped with fine gravel. Cattle carpet, the geo-textile fabric that we used in West Virginia, will go under all of it. He can deliver on Wednesday. We need to get the cattle carpet right away, have to unload the fence lumber from the flat bed so that we can pick up the roll of cattle carpet. It's a relay race! The barn will be delivered next Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Penn Dutch will finish the on-site installation. Too much excitement!

Rainy Monday

Misting this morning when I fed the boys. Pasture a little slick with rain soaked into the top. Looking forward to having the barn delivered next week - time flies but this seems to be taking forever! We need to have hay delivered, but would love to hold off until we have a barn to put it in. That's not going to happen, we need hay before that barn is installed. Need a load of gravel, hope that happens sometime this week.

Last Weekend in September

Another month is ending - time is just slipping away. Did not find the time to ride this weekend, but did lots of horse-related stuff. Went to THREE horse-centric stores and still didn't get everything on the list. We're making progress.

Don't want to leave out the update on the ground hogs. Tom blew up three burrows with the bombs. He also drug the pasture, which filled in the holes. Later we let the two little guys out into the field to run around. It was a sight! Kicking and racing around, doing laps. Supposed to rain this week so spent a lot of time putting things away, covering the new fencing materials and like that.

Had a chance to go to the dump, too. That's been on the list for quite a while, glad that is done. Most of that load was from the bathroom project, still not completed, but love what is done so far. Great shower experience, too.

Cut grass at Grandin, mowed some here on the farm, too. Tom got a haircut but I did not. That's been on my list for a while, but I didn't want to wait for the ladies that I prefer to cut my hair, so I didn't. Air is escaping from the rear truck tire. We filled it up with the portable air compressor while at the store Saturday morning. Later at home Tom pulled out a large broken screw and plugged the tire. We do need new tires, but that's not going to happen for a few weeks. I'm sure the plug will hold. The tires are almost seven (7) years old, but have only 30,000 miles on them. The tires need replacing, but we also need roof repairs at Grandin and here on the farm, gravel for the barn installation, and a couple other things. It all costs money and we need everything NOW.

Since Friday after work I've found over 20 golf balls in the pasture. I vacuumed the broken glass there, too. Have collected over a hundred golf balls, yellow and white, since April. Incredible.

My Little Pony x 2

'Super' Harvest Moon this week - so bright, surely helping with the chasing daylight thing, but also using our 'headlamps' to work the little guys around the pasture. Wednesday night I took Lil Fred around four times. Tom took Sprite around after he moved Lil Fred's portable enclosure and it didn't end well.

Lil Fred is an absolute angel; he looks great and acts the same. He's just the best little guy! I can't say the same for Sprite. She took Tom for a 'ride' up the hill, in the ensuing kerfuffle he lost his glasses. I did manage to find them for him, and they were a little bent. She has more horsepower than she looks like she has.

Thursday night I took her for three laps with Tom and Lil Fred. The final lap she was good as gold. She's getting it. She's learning not to drag me around, easier to take it easy then to strong-arm, honestly.

The Barn Footers Are In!!

Tuesday the Amish dude, Steve, and his co-worker, Levi Bieler, came down from Glen Rock to dig and install the concrete footers - Twenty of them! It was a beautiful day, too, couldn't have asked for better weather to do this kind of work. Not a cloud in the sky, low humidity. Also my Aunt Pat came down with Jodi (road trip!!) and visited with all of our animals.

We are eight now - whew! That happened fast. Sprite and Lil Fred are completely settled in, like they've been here forever. Lil Fred and Tom have become the best of friends. Lil Fred follows him around like a little dog! Very sweet.

On top of that, Kevin the farrier came over late in the day to put new shoes on the boys. He stood me up for the Saturday appointment. At least they are done now, next time Kevin comes over, should be in November, the barn will be here.

So much needs to be done in a very short amount of time - we need to ditch from the house to the barn site for electric and water, plus get sand and gravel to level out this area before the barn is delivered. Money is just evaporating from our bank account. Oh well, like we didn't know this was going to happen? Reality will sink in one of these days, but not today. Too much to do.