It'll be fine

That's what I have been saying for the last three days. I started a project on Thursday, or rather I hired people to start a project. I decided that it was in everyone's best interest if we were to run power and water out to the new sheep barn. Lynn poo-pooed the idea several times and, as usual, I ignored her protest and proceeded. Why am I so callous? Simple. Foresight. I know full well that on a day in January or February 2014 when Ms. Lynn heads out to the barn in -10 degrees while dark out at 5:00 a.m., she will be thankful that she is not lugging a bucket of water in complete darkness, only to freeze up while in the barn within 10 minutes.

And so I push through the complaints. From the dogs, sheep, and Lynn. Even the rabbits are shunning me. And here is a picture of why.

It's a 400 foot by five feet trench cutting through the dog area and up the sheep pasture to the barn. Okay, so it looks a bit ominous at this time. I have named it the Lee Canyon with the Fountain River flowing at the base. (Turns out we had a lot of H2O that kept seeping in the trench. Bummer. Two pumps, a few extra yards of sand, several hours, and the project picked up again.) Oh and the rocks. Or should I say boulders. Ha. There are plenty of them. Thankfully we have plenty of space in the woods to pile them. Well, again, not me, but my new peeps.

Speaking of them, my new best friend is our excavator Doug. He is 60 something, a former professional snowmobiler for Polaris, and has ridiculously mad skills on the mini excavator. We joked that he could play golf with it, but he probably could. And you will never believe what happened. Karma is everything kids. And let the following be a lesson in that.

Throughout this project I have been a very understanding and supportive client. I bought the crew donuts the other day and handed them out. I did not freak when we fell behind. I did not yell when I learned we were running a little over budget. I leant my precious Ranger to our beloved electrician Howard for this entire project, and even my Kubota if needed. I am a reasonable person when it comes to this stuff. I could see the water issue clearly, and the boulders. These things slow down a project.

This afternoon I was informed that the backfill was not going to take place. Ugh, another day of the sheep not grazing(they were 5 minutes away from uprising in a big way). Another day of walking the dogs out on leashes to the garden field and not letting them in and out as they like. And Lynn. I responded sympathetically to the news, thanked him for his candor, and mentioned that the sheep were about to open a can of whoopass but we would deal. With my head down, I proceeded back to the house, the walk of shame if you will. I had to let Lynn know the bad news. She was less than pleased but surprisingly was not violent, lol. I headed back out to ask about the water connection when Howard informed me that Doug(my new best friend and you will find out why soon) decided to stay longer(on this Saturday) to backfill the sheep area so the little cuties could graze. How awesome is that? So I went back in to share the news with Lynn. She was very pleased. I made a pitcher of iced tea and gave some to Howard and brought some out to Doug. While he was drinking, I was praising his abilities and asking him how long he had been doing this. Then, the most spectacular words came out of his mouth. "would you like to try her out?" at first I thought I was dreaming. I think I dropped the pitcher of tea in my excitement. he laughed and said "get on in". And so I did. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a pic of her. I pulled back two piles of dirt for the back fill.

The moral of the story kids is, be reasonable, nice, and supportive and people will respond in kind. And maybe, just maybe, you will get to drive an excavator.