Thursday, July 28, 2016

P. R. O. G. R. E. S. S.

I'm so excited. The building crew showed up Wednesday and re-started. Whoop!  One by one they began to dig the holes for the posts. The engineer told them to move ahead as planned and flag any spots where they were concerned and we'd address those spots specifically. After some research the engineer uncovered that there was a erregation ditch 50 years ago that ran on the farm property, so that is probably why some holes are fine and others we see a bit of wet. Now we know and now we have the fix.
The front wall of posts are in. This is the
view from my barn. A ride only 60' away. 

It continues to be a roller coaster ride for each hole. Is it good? Yep dry. Pack and post it. Again and again. Like a nail biter of a movie. But at least I'm home on vacation to watch. :). In the morning they were able to get the entire front side posted. All just fine. After lunch they got the south end in. At this point I can see where the big sliding doors will be and can visualize the peak on the end. Exciting!  Late in the afternoon they hit the first hole that showed a bit of wet. Not bad, but we flagged it. Better safe than sorry. They then moved around on that length of wall and made a few more holes. We all determined we'd hold on that wall.  Finally on to the north wall. Will it be fine?  Yep...and that peak is set and up. The engineer will come back to make the final directive. We'll probably need to dig deeper and either put in footings or stone. But at least it is only one wall.

By the end of Wednesday they had all the posts up for three of the walls and on Thursday they were back and begin to tie all the walls together.  I'm glad as I kept having nightmares all night that those posts would fall over into my paddock. I'll sleep better knowing those posts are connected and reinforced now.
My view from the porch over coffee. 

It's fun to watch the building materialize right in front of you. I'm drinking my morning coffee, the clouds are fluffy and the temperature broke so it's really comfortable. I think I just may sit here on the front porch and watch my dream appear.  Little by little. Board by board. The crew consists of three guys. Two of them definitely are seasoned. The third guy is still learning. I can tell the two are doing the work of the three. Lol. And those two aren't too pleased about it. They have the music going. Must be classic rock. The Stones, The Family Sledge, lots from the 80s. They have set the grade boards and are now setting the wall boards every four feet in preparation of where the siding will be attached.

The horses could care less. They hardly pay attention, despite the ongoing sounds of hole diggers grinding, skidsters moving piles of wood, hammers hammering, and circular saws sawing. They eat their morning hay and glance up to munch and watch. Or just go on about their loafing business as usual. The dogs are much more alert and attentive. Both sitting monitoring every move. A little muffled bark now and then just to remind everyone that they are on the case. The kittens are inside right now. They mewed yesterday to be let in as soon as the digger started up. Not fans of the noise.  A little finch has made a nest in a hanging bird house in the crabapple tree between me and the arena. She comes and goes. Maybe her baby has hatched and she's feeding it. Ahhhh....this is perfect. I can't believe it.


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