The grills for the stalls came in today on a semi. Unfortunately, work is shut down until the mud situation is remedied. We should have a bulldozer her this afternoon or tomorrow to start leveling inside and outside the building, and also creating some waterways to keep run-off water from travelling toward the new building. This temporary pause in progress will hopefully allow the completion to happen 3 times faster that it would otherwise. We are all concerned about the big picture, right? We are already far beyond the estimated completion date, thanks to Mother Nature, so whatever we can do to speed it up is necessary. Happy trails!!

The ice is still here, so no work for today either. Hopefully Monday will bring workmen back at a scurried pace! I have a horse update for everyone-

The favorite lesson horse out here, Spike, has been placed on "injured-reserve" until further notice because of a broken tooth. An upper molar on his right side has a large piece of it missing and may require surgery to remove the rest of it. This is not a life-threatening condition for a domesticated horse, but it would be for one in the wild. Right now we are in a wait-and-see mode to see if the hole that is there will heal. If it does, he may not require surgery. He will be out of rotation (which I realize has been almost non-existent) until he has been deemed healed by the vet. Spike's owner, Carol Lambert, and I, along with all of Spike's admirers would like to thank Dr. Hillary Henson for her quick diagnosis and encouraging words. Keep your thoughts with Spike for a speedy recovery!!!

Something New and Something OLD!!!

Well. here is the new roof...and it is covered in ICE, which is getting very OLD!!!! For the second time in a week, progress is stopped by freezing rain and ice. This time the roof is on, which means progress may continue in some fashion even before the ice has melted. In true Kentucky winter fashion, however, plain old rain is forecasted for tomorrow. The rain will melt the ice but the rain will stop the work, too!!

As soon as the dirt dries out inside the barn stall posts and boards can start to go up. Nobody can predict how long it will take the dirt to dry to the point of being "workable". Maybe I should get some big fans....

The Roof

The roof is complete, ladies and gentlemen. Cross your fingers for mid-80's temperatures for this weekend, and we'll be riding in it by the end of next week....hahahahaha. Do cross your fingers for no snow and ice for us in the next few days, though. Work will continue tomorrow if the weather permits. We should see some sides and doors going up pretty quickly. I will take pictures in the morning as I ran out of daylight tonight.

Work is furious here this morning. I think they wish they would have stayed yesterday afternoon when the wind died down to finish the roof. Now the wind is blowing 10-12 miles an hour and they are handling 37 foot sheets of metal. There is light at the end of the tunnel! The tunnel is supposed to be coated with snow, sleet and ice again tomorrow and Friday, though, so they really want to get the roof on!!

Back to Work!!

The kids finally went back to school, and the workers returned on Monday. The weather was perfect for roofing for only a couple hours and then it turned very windy and dangerous. Therefore, the roof is still incomplete at the end of business Monday. I have been told, though, that there will be a full size crew here Tuesday (12-15 men) in hopes of getting the roof completed Tuesday. We shall see!!! This morning (Tuesday) it is a bit breezier than we though it would be so I do not know if it will happen or not. The ground is frozen today so at least they can get around a little easier.

Some people feel right at home already.

Mother Nature

Notice the MUD???? Disgusting!! The crew has worked better in the bitter cold than in the warm weather because the mud was frozen. This picture was taken the day after we got like 5 inches of rain. Rain and cold tend to get the work crews some home cooked treats... and they have eaten well since they've started. Cinnamon rolls, vegetable soup, cookies, you name it, they'll eat whatever I bring them!
Here (if you use your imagination) I will help you pick out the parts: The outermost wall you see is the east side of the long lean-to. It will house the tack room, cross tie areas, wash rack, large storage area, and the lounge. The posts at the end (they do not have header boards up in this picture) are where the covered porch will be attached to the lounge. On the internal side of the 22' wide lean-to is the main building with a 70x135 indoor and 12 stalls at the end.
The lounge has become Chad's "baby", and will entertain not only horse folks but hunters and tree farm customers and will be a place for our very popular impromptu gatherings of all those traveling Geneva roads. It will be the the addition to our house that is not attached to the house!


These two pictures were taken Monday morning. They started putting the roof metal on, cool huh? There was a crew of 13 guys there that day and they really had hoped to make a lot of progress. Unfortunately, Mother Nature stepped in and slowed the progress and then stopped it completely! The winds were picking up Monday morning and then the snow started falling. In case you are wondering, you cannot get a man to walk on a metal roof in the snow no matter what home-cooked treats you offer him. Oh man! it was sad to see the progress stop. It has not started back up yet either, because this is what followed the snow:

On top of the 2 inches of snow that fell, we have 1/4 to 3/4 inch of ice on everything, including the frame of the barn. While it may be pretty to look at, it is no fun for anyone with 2 legs or 4 legs to be outside in it. Schools will be closed tomorrow for the 3rd day in a row because some roads are still impassable. The sun was out this morning and melted some of the ice but not enough. Barn progress is at a stand-still until the ice is gone. We lost power for 14 hours because of tree limbs falling on power lines. It will be in the 40s tomorrow but rain and snow is forecasted for Friday, Sunday and Monday. Arghhh!!

To all of my wonderful and patient students out there......continue being wonderful and patient, will you please? 2008 will be great... as long as we wait, and wait, and wait. Sorry!! It will all be worth it and existence of the new, albeit incomplete, barn is because you all are so wonderful!! Thanks.

Here it is! We cannot quite ride in it yet though. The pictures show from just the posts and headers, to the first day of trusses, to the last day of trusses, and finally with the lean-to off the side. The construction crew has been very hard at work when the weather has allowed. They don't mind the cold! I especially like the second picture; it shows the back corner of the old barn our little wash tubs that we had to use last year, but no more!!! Notice the very LARGE stacks of lumber... What so you think Max thought of those?
The picture with the crane putting the last truss in place was taken standing in my back door. It was less than 20 degrees that day!!! All of their hard work will really be appreciated next winter when we will be able to ride through this weather and not just look at it!
More pictures to come, they started putting the metal on the other day, and just wait until you see the mud!!!

New Year's Eve- Dirt work began for the new facility. The weather was chilly, so some of the Blue Moon ladies covered up with a horse cooler in the back of the little truck to watch the excitement!!! We were all very excited to see some progress!