Each year since we moved to the farm here south of Thunder Bay, there has been “construction”. Some of it more minor – fence re-building or new fencing, new watering systems, and road repair for example, while some has been more major – new pens, a small addition to the farmhouse Beverly and I live in, and a “mill” building. This year, there are two major builds – first, and by far the most ambitious, is a new house for Gwendolyn and Brody. The second is a new equipment building.
While the equipment building hasn’t really started, the house building is in full swing! Gwendolyn has put a great deal of thought into what she and Brody want. My job now is to oversee the construction to help her get the finished product she has envisioned. Taking on the role of “general contractor” is something I have done many times before, and there is a lot of daily activity involved in the role that takes up a lot of my time. But while I am focused on the goals for the week, I am also thinking about the finished product, as the other day when we were out in the back field I started noticing that we had some potential Christmas trees that will fit in her new 9-foot ceiled living room!
The equipment shed build is the result of needing more space – right now most of our equipment is stored in our open (well mostly open) pole barn or out in the yard. But we are a start-up in growth mode so as we expand our operations, we are going to need more space in the barn for the livestock and more closed-off areas. This means the equipment that is in the barn has to move out – hence the new equipment shed. While some things would probably be fine outside, we will get more out of much of the equipment if we can keep it out of the elements.
At the same time, all the day-to-day things continue on the farm and they can keep us busy just on their own. These construction projects just add to the to-do lists, instead of taking anything away. Right now, with all the rain, getting haying done is a big priority but as I sit here writing this after a morning of rain, I’m not a happy camper!
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