Meadow Creek Farm

As you may remember, last year Mark and I fenced our back fields.  We are happy to report that we now have 3 lovely horses living on that fenced pasture.  When the weather turned cold, we knew we needed shelter for our equine friends.  We were not able to build as Mark was still recovering from his accident and the weather was rapidly turning colder.   We decided instead to purchase a Cover-It.  While it has worked great for us, we knew we needed a permanent structure.  We started the excavation for our new run-in.  Once the site was prepared, we drilled the holes for our footers.  Easy peezy (cause Mark did most of the work) :p. 

We purchased the lumber and got to work.  We had done lots of research as to what we wanted and how we invisioned it would look.  We wanted it to span two pastures so that we'd have the flexibility to close off a field if necessary.  With a gate in the middle, we could make our large run in two smaller run ins if we needed to. 

We sank our posts in cement...and prayed the huge storm that blew in (and drenched us thank you very much) would not take them off of being level.  We lucked out.  The next day they were still perfectly level.  PHEW! 

We started hanging our side boards so that Mark could work on the roof framing.  I went to work and when I came home...he has almost all of the roof framing finished.  That man is amazing!  We have the second half of the roof and then we can move on to the wall framing.  I'm so excited to buy the roofing material and the wall material.  We plan to buy the walls is bright yellow...it will look so awesome. 

So we got the roofing material and the wall material and got to work.  Mark put the roof on while I was at work one day...I came home to find him up there with 3/4 of the roof done.  I did get to help with the last little bit...the material is nice...it's kind of rubbery so it is quiet when it rains.  Our other run in has a metal roof and boy is it loud in there when it rains.  I think the horses will appreciate the quiet.  The wall material is cement board.  Very nice stuff to work with...very weather resistant.  We were able to hang most of the walls in one day. 

We ran out of material, but were able to buy more the following weekend and finish up.  We also added kickboard to the interior...just in case a scuffle broke out.  Since we know that our horses like to rub on stuff, we also added oak boards to the corners to save the siding from getting destroyed.  ChiChi can really do a number on stuff with her butt.  :)  We priced this job out and found it would cost about 100% more than we paid...the labor is where they get you.  As with everything...we have muscles so we figure heck why not try?  I think we did pretty darn good!  We were debating colors and decided that we wanted the run in to portray our personal style...so...we painted the run bright yellow...with a blue rally racing stripe!  Fun!!!  The horses love it too!!!!

I have to say we are both so very pleased with our accomplishment...we are learning so much by building things on our farm...it sure does feel good at the end of the day. 

Everyone who knows Mark and Me, knows that we are frugal.  No, not cheap...frugal.  We try to get as much as we can for close to nothing...or better yet...FREE.  When we got the call that a neighbor about 10 mins away was clearing his front yard of trees, we hopped on it. 

On a Sunday morning we jumped in the truck and drove over.  Mark knocked on the door and inquired about the trees.  Basically could we have them?  The gentleman had already removed about 40 and had another 40 to go.  We told him we'd take them all.  We ran back to the farm and grabbed the flatbed trailer.  It took us about an hour to load all the trees.  Once we were back at the farm we started planting.  Thank GOD for our skid loader.  That piece of equipment has paid for itself at least 10 times over.  Mark quickly got all the holes drilled and we started dropping in trees.

We weren't worried they were straight...we had two very capable supervisors to steer us.  Cheyenne tried on numerous occasions to 'get to know' the skid loader.  The piece of wire across is electrified...and she knows it.  So she would streeeeetch her neck as far as she could to say hi.  It was really very cute...at least to me...her momma. 

Anyway, we started loading these trees at about 10:30am and were finished this first part of our project at about 4:30pm.  Not bad for two city kids. 

Two weeks later we went back to remove the remaining 40 trees.  This set were much bigger...most are over 10 ft tall.  Mark manned the skid loader and plucked them out one at a time and loaded them on the trailer.  We had to make two trips for the trees and one additional trip to get the skid loader.  Once we were home, we only had time to drill holes and plant about 15 of the trees.  Since Sunday, Mark has been planting about 5 a night.  We hope to be done soon. 

These trees really added alot of character to our farm and have provided a nice block from the road.  We are friendly folks, but we also like our privacy.  Anyway...after planting all these trees...we may need to rename the farm...Meadow Tree Farm.  hee hee  There are more photos in the 2008 Project Photo section for you to enjoy.