Gratitude was in the eyes of all the pasture dwellers today. They had not been at all thrilled that a round bale of hay had been unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the entrance to their pens. They were equally irritated at the orange tractor sharing space with them.
Correct tractor and pens, but not the actual location.
Mysteriously, a front tire popped off its rim as Lee drove it into the horse area, intending to drop the hay bale in the pasture where the Powers That Be (horses) prefer it to be. So, they stayed there for two weeks awaiting rescue until today, when strong and clever men from DeWitt County arrived to perform tractor tire magic and get a new bale in the correct place.
Hay, where it is intended to be
I’m pretty sure the horses are also enjoying the pleasantly cool and sunny weather, too. They always charm me after they eat, checking empty dishes in case anyone left any tasty supplements. It’s one of those times when you just enjoy the moment.
Time to see if Spice left anything. Mmm. Dusty left some gravy. Dang, Apache just left salt. I’m gonna go eat hay. We can’t eat now! We must stare at this threatening truck and trailer until it leaves!
I hope you had a couple of moments in your day when you could just pause to enjoy the moment.
Let’s have a post that isn’t a pity party or poor me, shall we? Let’s talk about how we got our future tack room to the ranch.
Step 1: take tractor to the old church and former Hermit Haus.
So, before COVID when we thought we were going to fix the old church up and rent it out, we bought a cute little building to store seasonal supplies in. Later, when we thought we’d have an active office for the family business, we used it to store Christmas stuff. I decorated a lot.
Step 2: pick up house
Once the office became closed to visitors and periodically closed to everyone for safety reasons, the stuff just sat there, along with the old yellow ceiling tiles Lee wanted to insulate the building with.
Step 3: put house on trailer. That was impressive.
Fast forward to this year. The plan to make our portable building into a tack room was changed. A second portable building came over to be the tack room, that’s the one they moved earlier in the week.
Step 4: slide it forward
The men talked about how we weren’t using that building or another one on the next property we’re renovating. Hmm. Tack room and workshop! So yesterday we fetched the little red building.
Step 5: safety check and off we go!
I was really impressed that the men were able to get the building on the trailer with just our tractor. That takes skill. Lots of it. And coordination!
Step 6: head through Cameron, tailgated by someone with little sense. Tailgater kept following.
After checking that we were less than the height that would require an escort, Lee and I tried to follow the building, but were thwarted by a traffic light. I was glad when we turned off the main road and took the road that leads to our house the rest of the way.
Eat my dust!The building did not knock many branches down. Heading over the big creek Preparing to turn TurningSafely to our property!Getting to the ranch
Whew, I was glad when we were home. Of course, then the house had to come off the trailer, and we had left the helpful tractor back at the church. Never fear, the backhoe was here. I think removing the building was worse than loading it.
ReadyWhat the heck?Staged. Into position Down it goesNot its final position, but closeIt is so cute! And red. Interior with “insulation”There’s a loft on either endPlenty of space for feed and tack. Unloading
Now the house and shipping container need to be put next to each other and leveled. They got the leveling supplies today. Then the insulation will go in and the inside tricked out with saddle racks, hangers for tack, shelving, a little fridge, and more. And there will be space for an air conditioning unit to keep things free from mold. That will have to wait until electricity shows up.
Maybe I can have a chair, so I’ll have a she shed. Why not?
Stay tuned tomorrow for another positive post, this time about my first horse show. I’m sure grateful for the guys’ help on this!
The Hermits' Rest 