The west was not won by people portrayed like the rugged individualist Marlboro man or the John Wayne type shooting a six shooter in a standoff.  It was won by pioneers helping one another build homesteads.  The last big piece of infrastructure is going up.  We contracted with a local builder to put up a 30 x 40 metal pole barn with a 12x 40 overhang for storage.  The theory at this point is that it is a livestock barn to house Nigerian Dwarf Goats, a couple of rescued Donkeys from a local shelter, a turkey coop, and a chick brooder and still have room to stack hay for said critters.  The goats require some pretty fancy fencing and the donkeys need a corral to create security and a place to fed them and care for them so there has been a flurry of work to have things ready for spring.

We have joked that the initial post setting reminds us of buying something from IKEA.  Some assembly required.  Come Monday, after the 7 yards of concrete sets, the crew will be out framing.  They seem to think it will all be ready for inspection in about three weeks.  Too late to change its location now!

In the mean time, after getting the 1350 feet of posts set, I set to task pulling fence.  This one is affecting my back.  There is a lot of bending and stooping and each roll of fencing weighs 200 lbs.  After throwing momma on an airplane today I started getting the fence stretching routine in place.  The first section looks pretty good.  The come-along, stretcher and the tow hooks on the big pickup make a good combination.

We’ll keep you posted as it progresses.  Thanks for looking!