It's close to being enclosed...

Hi all- We had a nice steady work week which is something we have not had since the middle of January. The pictures were taken last night. You can see the cupolas and looking through the end door, you can see the west wall is almost complete. The bottom picture shows the walk out porch from the lounge and the doorways for the shop on the end. Early next week we should have stall posts, doors, and plywood starting to go up for the arena. Lots of smiles here!!! Where are the comments??? I so enjoy reading them!!!

Noir

Work has continued all week and I will take pictures today and post them. Here are some pictures and a video that my mom took while she and my dad were down here for a long weekend last week. Miss Meredith and the "rotten pony" Noir keep getting cuter and cuter.

Here is Riley on Fuzzy. Meredith took this picture (seriously!) last week during Riley's lesson. Lunge line lessons have helped Riley find new sense of balance on her horse.

It's been a while.....

It has been almost a month since my last post. For a while there, we had a real hard time getting anything done on the barn. We had similar trouble getting horses ridden and lessons given!
Work on the barn resumed briefly last Monday and then the rain for the history books started in that night. Here in Geneva we had between 8 and 9 inches in a 36 hour period. Everyone in the tri-state area had torrential rains and severe flooding. Fortunately, our farm is elevated above the flood plains here and does not have standing flood waters. It was just VERY miserable for man and beast here. The new building filled up with water again but this time it did not stay very long. The contractor and Chad had done some dirt work to maximize drainage away from the building, and also the ground is not frozen any longer - that was part of our problem earlier.

The picture above is the road leading to our house on Saturday. The Ohio River was above flood stage and we get "wet" like this from time to time. It never was too deep to drive a truck though and it has already receded from the road. We have had quite a tormenting 3 months weatherwise, and we all hope it is going to get back to normal (whatever that is!!) soon.

The holiday weekend pushed the next work day to yesterday (Monday) and it continued today. The picture shows the WONDERFUL progress outside my back door!! You can imagine the mood change around here when there is a leap in scenery like that!!!

It looks more like a barn now, don't you think? The west side of the barn is the only side that is not started and I assume they will get it going tomorrow. Once that is done, we can start dirt work in the arena. Yipppeeeeee!!!!!!!

That is all for now, I will update daily if it is warranted, so check back soon. I love reading the comments!!! I hope everyone is well and enjoying the rejuvenating effects of Spring as much as we are.

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.