The Project

Well today had its good parts and its bad parts. We had a great crew for our fencing project. Mike, Karin, me and Steven Marchal. We started in the morning before the ground defrosted. Got all the holes dug and started setting the posts, then came the mud. We could not use the skid steer to get the cement and posts close to the holes. We had to carry 60 pound bags of cement down a slippery muddy ravine, then up the other side. If Steven hadn't of shown up we would have quit. He was invaluable, strong and steady as a horse. Karin and I gave up after carrying just a few each, He just kept picking up a 60 pound bag down the hill and up the other side. Karin and I worked on setting the posts in the ground. Mike kept us supplied with cement and poles and finally Karin said something to him about us not being men and carrying the cement was wearing us out. Mike told us it can't be that bad and had Karin load 2 bags on his shoulders. He made it down, up and over to the dug holes, then said, "that about KILLED me!" We burst out laughing. We were short 2 post as we ended up putting more on the long side than we thought we would. Then Mike's truck got stuck in the mud and we had to get the big tractor to pull it out. Everyone was so tired that when we knew we needed chains the thought of walking through the mud to the barn was to awful to comprehend. Mike decided to use the tractor to push the truck out. The tractor still had the bale spear on the loader so he thought he could very gently put the spear into the trailer hitch and push. Good thought but didn't happen, the spear went between the bumper and hitch and punctured his spare tire. That's what happens when we take short cuts. Will we ever learn? All in all it was a good day.